Evening star., 1935-02-02
WALSH BUILDINGS
REARED ON GOLD
Millionaire Mining Engineer
Built Colorado and 0uray
Structures.
(Continued From First Page.)


from q certain Yellow Bird mine, in
the Camp Bird district of Colorado.
Walsh was owner Of most Of the pay
ing properties in this area. That
symbol of the yellow bird Walsh made
extensive use of, later, in his private
company seals and on his stationery.
Legend Of Discovery.
Still today there is a current story
in Leadvile about the discovery of the
location Of the Yellow Bird claim. 1t
relates that on a certain day Walsh
was out prospecting by himself, hav-
ing gone into the mountains on the
pretext of hunting bit of game. He
had had bad luck in both ways all day
long.
Then he turned homeward. As he
did, he saw rise from the bushes to
one side yellow bird. He raised his
gun and fired, getting the bird. AS
he walked forward and stopped to
retrieve it, he noticed that the charge
Of shot had ploughed up the side of
o bank behind the bush. There was a
yellow gleam shining through the
soil. It was the lead to the famous
Yellow Bird mine, which later be-
came one Of the greatest producers
Of gold in the West.
There is another story, probably
more authentic. It is curious, too,
that this latter tale is pretty well
borne out by "reminiscences passed on
some years ago to Frank P. Leetch,
present Washington counsel for the
Walsh real estate interests. There
came into Leetch's Office one day
1eathery, weather-beatens stranger, who
announced himself as an old fellow
prospector with Walsh, in the days
when Walsh had grub-staked him. He
said he merely wanted to talk about
old times, and what he told CORE
spends rather accurately with what
seems to be the true story about the
Yellow Bird mine.
Walsh Gets Theory.
Based upon his studies, Walsh con-
ceived the idea that great bodies of
ore ought to be found on the SUBMITS
of mountain ranges where volcanic
action might be expected to have
reached the maximum Of its fusing
power. Experts laughed at him, but
he continued occasionally to pros
pect in the peaks of the San Juan
range, and to buy several abandoned
claims up as high as $4,000 feet above
sea level.
One day there came to his Office
one Of a stream of griZzled old pros
pectors with some samples.
"Where'd you get this?" asked Tom
Of the fellow who had handed him a
fstful Of rocks
up in Ouray County, Tom," re-
piled the miner. Just picked it up
from q pile of tailings at the aban-
doned Camp Bird mine. Why? Is it
any good?"
walsh informed the prospector
that he'd take a chance" and asked
the old fellow if he thought he could
buy the Camp Bird outfit for $4,000.
Owner Finally Sells.
Ultimately Walsh got the mine. Be-
fore he would part with it, however,
the original owner, suspicious that
something had been going on behind
his back at the diggings, made hur-
ried trip there. When he saw it
looked the same as when he had aban-
doned it, he came to Leadville and
took the check which Walsh had
left there for him.
The original owner had worked the
mine the best he could by the only
methods familiar to him. Then he
had given it up. What Stag and
waste was left over, he had cast up
in the huge, conventional "tailings
pile" near the mine mouth. Walsh,
knowing something new about meth
ods of extracting gold from ore, saw
possibilities in the chunks the old
prospector had brought in. Besides,
there was q new railroad just coming
through Ouray County at that time.
So Walsh bought the Camp Bird
property, on which the Yellow Bird
mine was located, and began to work
over the tailings. From his first three
or four shipments Of pay-dirt, he
made back the purchase price Of the
mine.
Engineers Scoff.
Still scoffed at by mining engineers
who said that these claims were too
high in the mountains to work profit
ably, Walsh went ahead and bought
other claims there until he owned
practically all the land which gave
any promise Of mineral wealth In the
vicinity of the town now called
Ouray, which he later founded.
Mining men said that avalanches
here would wipe out all his workings
II he ever did begin them. But Walsh
stayed to build one Of the best
equipped groups Of gold mines in the
world here, the Camp Bird group, and
the best one-the Yellow Bird-netted
him more than $3,000,000 in few
years.
Luck and keeping abreast of devel-
oping metallurgical knowledge had
brought Tom Walsh to a fortune.
Then, just before the turn of the
century, he decided to sell out many
of his interests and retire. He came
to Washington to live and invest
his money.
Turns TO Real Estate.
Real estate seemed the most likely
venture. He decided to erect a few
buildings, and planned, eventually. to
rear three. Two went up.
One, the first, he built in 1903, and
called it the Colorado building, To-
Gated at the corner Of Fourteenth and
G streets. A friend, who was an
artist, Walsh engaged to 60 back to
his mountains for him and paint
picture for the new building. That
panorama, pixies Peak and the Gar
den Of the Gods" Is hung as one of
the decorative panels In the lobby Of
the building.
The second building, erected on the
heels Of the first, Walsh named the
Ouray building, built on his property
ut the corner Of Eighth and G streets.
Thus he perpetusted the name Of
the State where he had made his
fortune, and the city which marked
the spot In the mountains to the
west that marked the turn In the
road for him.
Garage Permit Granted.