Western Yesterdays; Victor-City of Gold Mines

Are you in the home. Were the book. Oh Rome or the new little or the old home mover photos in the Scruggs or not. Oh oh oh you know we present Western yesterdays with Forest crossing. Mr. Cross Senate author of twelve volumes of Western yesterdays books which are collections of true adventure stories told to him by old time Westerners in their own words. He is also author of the collector's item railroad the this with hidden train of America. Which was re published in 1978 and now Mr. crossing How are you folks. Welcome to Western yesterday. We found that standing there at the corner of 2nd Street and

Victor Avenue was rather thrilling experience. Jewel and I liked it. We could look up at the great slopes of Battle Mountain and see the tremendous mind dumps where so much gold had been hoisted from the shafts and the man working in the tunnels and drifts of stopes. Victor had had a wonderful history and it was evident all around us. I learned something about the miners up there. The big producers first of all there was the end of penguins. It had sort of set the pace for the mining and the

Cripple Creek district. William Scott Stratten was a poor man. He had come out from farther east and had the dream of gaining wealth in the mines. He had taken a short course in geology and mineralogy enough to fit him for practical prospecting. So Harry was a carpenter by trade who was attracted to the Cripple Creek district. Now this was known blaze as far as gold mining was concerned. Prior to the discovery of the all possible owed by Bob Womack but Stratton seemed to feel that this was a place for him to prospect and he would

work during the coal mines in Colorado Springs at his trade. Saving is money and then want to spring came. He would load his tuberose with his camping outfit his mining tools food and away they go. He'd stay up there all summer. And on this particular summer 1891 fortune was to smile upon him. On the third of July he came up on a big outcropping of granite on the lower slopes of Battle Mountain. And that night so the story goes he had a dream that at the junction of this granite outcropping and the porphyry rock he would find gold. Anyway this was

so strong within him. This impression that the next morning after he had breakfast he went up there and he staked a claim calling at the end of penance. He said this is the day of independence of our country. And that's the name I'll give the mine. He staked another claim adjoining calling at the Martha Washington. He apparently had great admiration for Martha Washington and he began digging. And it wasn't long until Lee hit this big vein of very high grade gold or he was a later day of course. After all these years of struggling he had at last had it. And so with the help of others he developed the mine and

he was soon a millionaire. Stratton did a great deal of good with his money. I know at one time he bought bicycles for all the laundry girls and women in Colorado Springs so it would have a means of transportation. Well. And there was another famous mind up at the top of the hill with a big square shaft house in the Portland. It was normal all over the world like Stratton's Independence Day. Two man from Maine James Doyle and James Burns one was a carpenter and one was a plumber as I remembered and didn't know anything about gold mining. But they went up to the top of this sale and I got control of a triangular piece of ground there.

Apparently nobody else wanted the vault one sixth of an acre and they put down a shaft annoying about it. But anyway they were working away and here came a practical mining man named Harmon and he said You boys have got something good here. After he looked around carefully. But you are not miners are you. They said no were not well they said I am. And he said I'll show you how to develop this mine. They said if you will we'll give you one third. All right. So he started to work and he ran across cut from their shaft. It wasn't long until he hit this fabulous vein of high grade gold or they called it the Portland because Doyle and Burns were from Portland Maine.

And they had not recorded this claim and they feared that people all around them would jump in there if they found out about this strike. So they mind at night. One man standing guard at the top of the shaft with a shotgun. And they got out the best of this high grade ore to lay out a shipment that a man could carry on his back down to Colorado Springs and they sold it there. I don't have to tell where they came from. Well they've got enough money together to buy a wagon and a team of horses. And they started up to the mine. They got there all right but they wrecked the wagon. But here were the wheel marks on the surface and these men around them

knew that they were up to something. So they started filing litigation against them suits and. So Stratton heard about this and I guess Abe must have gone to Stratton for help. He said Boys you form a company and I'll take seventy five thousand dollars in stock. He said that would be enough money to fight disease. He gave me a bad name. Off he said you own testament of course and you buy up all the property you can around here. That's what they did. They beat everybody in the courts and they bought quite a lot of property until they had a big block around. Well then I went to mining in a businesslike manner and the Portland was a fabulous producer. They were all made in errors in a comparatively short time. Well

there was another mine on bottle mountain farther down that had a very interesting history. This was a question he had been discovered in the early days of the crippled boom. And a man named HARBECK from Chicago had bought a lot of stock really the controlling interest in it. Well it didn't amount to anything it didn't he didn't receive any dividends. So we went back to Chicago a disappointed man and he died several years later and his son inherited all his property. One day this son a young man was going over the papers of the estate. And he came upon his stock

certificates of the Crescent Mine and the Cripple Creek district Colorado. And he was about to throw them away and then the thought struck him before he did this. He'd better go out to Colorado and investigate and that's what he did he took the train out to Colorado Springs and then rode up on the train to Victor. He had the good fortune to meet mineralogist and metallurgist. You know a geologist I believe was and metallurgist an honest man too. And this man said Well you know a little something about the crescent property. I don't think it's ever been worked properly. Well this young man said if you will work it I'll make you want a general manager.

So this man said All right let's first go back to Chicago. You form a company here you sell stock so it will have some money to develop the mine with you get back out here. The young man did this and they began mining and it wasn't long until they hit a drug as miners commonly called it. It was literally a chimney in the mountain there and the gold was so rich that it festoon off the broken rock. And a lot of the fall in down and could be shoveled up. Oh it was just fabulous Larry Rich. They put a guard on it immediately around the clock and they shipped or out of there. That was just amazing. If I'm not mistaken they had one carload that

was valued at a million dollars. Well you know my HARBECK found himself in the midst of these big dividends $400000 a year. And it wasn't long until he was a millionaire and his general manager was a very wealthy man. So. These are some of the stories of three of the big binds there are many other stories of man who literally went from rags to riches in the Cripple Creek district. The ore was there and it was very rich and they mined it in great quantities. Little wonder that there were such immense dumps there all need is Hills and on Battle Mountain. So now

folks until next time when I'll tell you another story of the West. I'm going to say So-long. The rule. No Lulu. You know we've been listening to Victor Colorado City of Gold mines this week's Western yesterday's program composed and narrated by Old West storyteller forest crossing. So for. Those whose are not known. Hugo told.

Us so.