Cripple Creek Gold Mining Town in Colorado
by George Garcia
Title
Cripple Creek Gold Mining Town in Colorado
Artist
George Garcia
Medium
Photograph - Photography
Description
Although, this quaint historic town is known for gold mining and now gambling, I have a personal story to tell.
During the summer of 1974, I lived here. I moved in with a high school friend, Robert James during my summer break from attending Colorado University in Boulder, Colorado. He had a garage that was full of stone lapidary, silver soldering equipment. We learned how to solder silver metal and create simple jewelry projects, such as finger rings, etc. in a 9th-grade craft and hobby class back in Pueblo, Colorado when we were both about fourteen years old, which was about seven years prior. The summer in Cripple Creek was a great adventure living in this awesome mountain town. Colorado mountains are so beautiful!
Here are some ways that we earned some money. We collected ‘Cripple Creek Turquoise’ from the town street curbing gutters. The city engineering company shoveled turquoise mining tailings of dirt and turquoise pieces in the streets when the rainwater would wash away and erode the loose soil. How lucky can you get! Eureka, turquoise! I thought that the city planned this operation to attract tourists and to solve an erosion problem at the same time. I think you may have an idea where I am going. I had a coffee can with a handle and an extra-large digging spoon. So, when it rained in the afternoon which was about every day we head downtown to walk the streets looking for the beautiful turquoise rock that was mixed in with the soil from the mine. It was a perfect process! The contrasting color of turquoise and dark brown dirt was easy to spot as the fresh summer's rain fell upon the ground. We made turquoise and silver jewelry to sell to the tourists. Pendants, necklaces, and pins to name a few were some of the projects that we worked on. It was so fun collecting 'Cripple Creek Turquoise', which was a bright bluish turquoise color and easy to spot in the dirt mix.
We also had other odd jobs as well. Jack and Lucy Faye kept us busy when they needed some hard-workers for several projects. One of the perks was that they would feed us a big hearty home-cooked dinner so that we wouldn't run out of energy. They were wonderful people. We had some fun experiences in Cripple Creek, that summer!
History:
Cripple Creek is the Statutory City that is the county seat of Teller County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 1,189 at the 2010 United States Census. Cripple Creek is a former gold mining camp located 44 miles (71 km) southwest of Colorado Springs near the base of Pikes Peak. The Cripple Creek Historic District, which received National Historic Landmark status in 1961, includes part or all of the city and the surrounding area. The city is now a part of the Colorado Springs, CO Metropolitan Statistical area.
For many years, Cripple Creek's high valley, at an elevation of 9,494 feet (2,894 m), was considered no more important than a cattle pasture. Many prospectors avoided the area after the Mount Pisgah hoax, a mini gold rush caused by salting (adding gold to worthless rock).
On the 20th of October, 1890, Robert Miller "Bob" Womack discovered a rich ore and the last great Colorado gold rush began. Thousands of prospectors flocked to the region, and before long Winfield Scott Stratton located the famous Independence lode, one of the largest gold strikes in history. In three years, the population increased from five hundred to ten thousand. Although $500 million worth of gold ore was dug from Cripple Creek, Womack died penniless on 10 August 1909.
In 1896, Cripple Creek suffered two disastrous fires. The first occurred on April 25, destroying half of the city, including much of the business district. Four days later, another fire destroyed much of the remaining half. The city was rebuilt in a period of a few months; most historic buildings today date back to 1896. By 1900, Cripple Creek and its sister city, Victor, were substantial mining communities.
During the 1890s, many of the miners in the Cripple Creek area joined a miners' union, the Western Federation of Miners (WFM). A significant strike took place in 1894, marking one of the few times in history that a sitting governor called out the National Guard to protect miners from anti-union violence by forces under the control of the mine owners. By 1903, the allegiance of the state government had shifted, and Governor James Peabody sent the Colorado National Guard into Cripple Creek with the goal of destroying union power in the gold camps. The WFM strike of 1903 and the governor's response precipitated the Colorado Labor Wars, a struggle that took many lives.
The 1904 silent film short, Tracked by Bloodhounds; or, A Lynching at Cripple Creek, directed by Harry Buckw alter, was filmed in the area.
Through 2005, the Cripple Creek district produced about 23.5 million troy ounces (979 1/6 troy tons; 731 metric tons) of gold. The underground mines are mostly idle, except for a few small operations. There are significant underground deposits remaining which may become feasible to mine in the future. Large scale open pit mining and cyanide heap leach extraction of near-surface ore material, left behind by the old-time miners as low grade, has taken place since 1994 east of Cripple Creek, near its sister city of Victor, Colorado.
The current mining operation is conducted by Cripple Creek & Victor Gold Mining Company (CC&V), run currently by Newmont Mining. The mine operates 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Mine operations, maintenance, and processing departments work a rotating day/night schedule in 12-hour shifts.
With many empty storefronts and picturesque homes, Cripple Creek once drew interest as a ghost town. At one point, the population dropped to a few hundred, although Cripple Creek was never entirely deserted. In the 1970s and 1980s, travelers on photo safari might find themselves in a beautiful decaying historic town. A few restaurants and bars catered to tourists, who could pass weathered empty homes with lace curtains hanging in broken windows.
Colorado voters allowed Cripple Creek to establish legalized gambling in 1991. Cripple Creek is currently more of a gambling and tourist town than a ghost town. Casinos now occupy many historic buildings. Casino gambling has been successful in bringing revenue and vitality back into the area. It also provides funding for the State Historical Fund, administered by the Colorado Office of Archaeology and Historic Preservation. In 2012, Colorado casinos produced over $104 million in tax revenue for these programs.
Geography:
The gold-bearing area of the Cripple Creek district was the core of an ancient volcano within the central Colorado volcanic field, last active over 30 million years ago during the Oligocene. Free or native gold was found near the surface but at depth autoxidized gold tellurides and sulfides were found.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 1.1 square miles (2.8 km2), all of it land.
The community takes its name from nearby Cripple Creek. I hope you enjoyed the history information. Thanks for stopping by! Feel free to like, share, and comment!
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January 15th, 2021
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