The Elk Mountain pilot. [volume] (Irwin, (Ruby Camp), Gunnison County, Colo.) 1880-19??, 1919-08-28
EARLIEST AUTHENTIC
MINING IN THIS COUNTY

MIR. Editor:
The first lode mining In the Gunni-
son country of which there Is any
knowledge, was possibly as early as
1869. About 1870 The Yule and Jim
Preston were on Rock Creek; about
1872 Mr.. McGlothlin had recorded the
Little Annie claim In the County
Clerks Office at Grant,. which was
the county seat Of Lake county. to
which all of the Gunnison country
was then attached before the county
of Gunnison was formed.
In 1861 a party of miners caem
over from California Gulch, looking
for placer mines. California Gulch is
the present location of Leadville, and
placer mining was started there at
what was then known as Malta. in
1860.
In 1861 party Of miners came
over the divide, down Frying Pan
creek. to where Aspen now stands,
thence up Maroon creek and down
Copper creek to where Gothic is To-
Gated. and from there went into
Washington Gulch. at the base of
Mt. Washington. some six miles north
of Crested Butte. There they found
good placering, and history tells US
that they took out upwards Of a mil.
lion dollars. but there is no authen-
tic record as to how much they did
take out. The deep snow coming
early in the fall of 1861 and their
food supply running short they were
obliged to return to Malta, the near
est point that supplies could be ,pur-
chased. They suffered terribly in
crossing the divide to get back to
Malta. which they had to do or perish.
Unaccustomed to the country. the
snow had fallen so deep their horses
became exhausted and 1t was a strug-
gle for life to make the trip.
These prospectors were only look
ing for placers and made no lode
claim locations. Doubtless they may
have camped right where the Won
derful rich Sylvanite mine was To-
Gated some eighteen years later. but
silver mining at that time had no at
traction for them.
| Never has much gold been found or
taken from Washington Gulch since.
In the eighties M. ]. Gray. a mer-
chant Of Crested Butte, and Captain
E. w. Burton. hardware merchant
of Gunnison- undertook hydraulic
mining operations up there, but I do
not think they accomplished very
much. There is an abundance Of wa.
ter for hydraulicing In the summer.
When I mention Rock creek. I
mean what is known today as Crystal
river. Up to 1885 Crystal river was
known as Rock creek. 1t was so laid
down and designated as such on all
Of the early government maps. and
the old timers could never get over
calling it Rock creek.
About 1885. ]. A. Kebler and ]. G.
Osgood. came into the country, ac-
auiring coal lands; afterwards organ
izing the Colorado Fuel & Iron Co..
operating the coal mines and coke
ovens at Crested Butte. They asked
me If l could not suggest some other
name for Rock creek as there were
so many Rock creeks all over the
country; 1 suggested the name OF
CRYSTAL river" and so stated it in
the Pilot. and forever afterwards
called it Crystal river. and by custom
of long years of standing it is now
known permanently as Crystal river.
At the head of Crystal river there
were many promising claims located
and much work was carried on in
the early eighties. The camps OF Eiko
and Schofield were flourishing places.
Quite a town was built in Crystal or
Elk Park. by name of Schofield. Tom
Parrish Of Colorado Springs, sent in
four big teams of four horses each,
loaded with supplies and prospecting
equipment. Dick Lloyd, well known
prospector, headed this expedition,
and they established camp at Elko,
where they had many mine locations
1t was one of Tom Parrish's teams
that hauled away from the Syfvanite
mine. nugget of silver that weighed
1900 pounds. in 1880. Many nuggets
of smaller size were taken from that
mine, which really was the founda-
tion for the boom in Gothic. The
whole country was staked and pros
pected Prospectors fiocked in and
Gothic grew and enjoyed boom
equal to that at Irwin. Even after
the boom period it was restful
place to stop over on the road to
CRYSTAL CITY. as one could always get