Jan MacKell - Cripple Creek District: Last of Colorados Gold Booms

The writing of this book would not have been possible without a number of people and organizations. First and foremost, the Cripple Creek District Museum has been an integral part of this project, providing roughly 90 percent of the photographs used herein. I am so thankful that museum benefactors and directors, such as Richard Johnson, Blevins Davis, Leland Feitz, and Erik Swanson, had the foresight to preserve everything they could get their hands on with determined dignity and grace. Without the museum, such very important documents, photographs, maps, letters, diaries, and books would be lost foreveror be up for sale on eBay.

A fair amount of credit also must go to Marshall Sprague. As the author of Money Mountain , as well as a number of other wonderful books about Colorado, Sprague continues to set precedence for recording the Cripple Creek Districts incredible story. Money Mountain is considered by many as the Bible of the districts history. In this book, I have attempted to provide details that Sprague did not, rather than surpass the fine work he did. My hat is still off to him and I will be forever indebted to his spirit for providing a starting point for writers like myself.

Also, the following people and organizations were of immense help and inspiration not only during the writing of this book, but also in subsequent projects I have undertaken. They include, but are certainly not limited to, Dick Johnson, president of the board at the Cripple Creek District Museum; Erik Swanson, director of the Cripple Creek District Museum; Art and Loretta Tremayne; Margaret and June Hack; Harold and Lodi Hern; Charlotte Bumgarner; Mary Davis at Penrose Library in Colorado Springs; Encore Videos; Stephanie Hilliard; Georganna and Bud Peiffer; Mary Sanders; Ohrt Yeager; Mike Moore; the Denver Public Library; the Internet Goddess; all the helpful folks at Cripple Creek and Victor City Halls; the Teller and El Paso County Courthouses; and every other library within a 300-mile radius of my home.

In retrospect, I would also like to thank the people who inspired me most in my writing. They include Eleanor Smith, my mother, mentor, and best friend; Jimmy, Victor, Dawn, and Tricia for reminding me to be young and think freely; my dad, Wally Smith, for giving me business smarts and letting me do things against his better judgment; Irene Smith for asking me, So, you want to be a writer?; Buck Gibbons, my paramour, copy reader, and friend for life; Russ Williams for encouraging me to be myself; Tom Noel, Cathleen Norman, Linda Wommack, Sharon Sweeney, David Lichtenstein, Richard Marold, Larry Ferguson, and Kathy Kniss for being my associates in crime; and all of my rowdy friends who put up with my temperamental tendencies and understand what the word deadline means.

~ Jan MacKell

Cripple Creek was just a budding boomtown in 1893. Before long, the town and its namesake district would be known around the world. (Courtesy Cripple Creek District Museum.)

Author unknown. Florence R.R. History. Unpublished manuscript, date unknown. From the collection of Jan MacKell.

Bauer, William H., James L. Ozment, and John H. Willard. Colorado Post Offices 18591989 . Golden, CO: Colorado Railroad Historical Foundation, 1990.

Brown, Robert L. Colorado Ghost Towns . Caldwell, ID: The Caxton Printers, Ltd., 1972.

. Ghost Towns of the Colorado Rockies . Caldwell, ID: The Caxton Printers, Ltd., 1968.

Calhoun, W.C. History of Cripple Creek, Americas Famous Gold Camp. The Quarterly Sentinel . Vol. I, No. 1. February 1896: 15.

Chronic, John and Halka. Prairie Peak & Plateau, A Guide to the Geology of Colorado. Colorado Geological Survey Bulletin 32 (1972): 5761.

Cornell, Virginia. Doc Susie . New York: Random House, Inc., 1991.

Cripple Creek District Directories, 18931918.

Cripple Creek District Museum. Official Cripple Creek Up to Date, 1896 . Cripple Creek, 1896.

Denver City Directory, 1892.

Eberhart, Perry. Guide to the Colorado Ghost Towns and Mining Camps. Chicago: Swallow Press/Ohio University Press, 1959.

Emrich, David. Hollywood, Colorado. Lakewood, CO: Lost Modern Company, 1997.

Feitz, Leland. Cripple Creek Railroads . Colorado Springs, CO: Little London Press, 1968.

. Victor, A Quick History . Colorado Springs, CO: Little London Press, 1969.

Fetter, Rosemary. Lowell Thomas: A Victor Legend. The Colorado Gambler Magazine . 22 January to 28 January 2002: 18.

A Guide to the Hornbek Homestead at Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument. Published by Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument, Florissant, Colorado.

Hughes, J. Donald. American Indians in Colorado . Denver, CO: University of Denver, Department of History, 1977.

Jameson, Elizabeth. All That Glitters . Chicago: Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois, 1998.

Levine, Brian. Cripple Creek: City of Influence . Historic Preservation Department, City of Cripple Creek, 1994.

Lewis, Allan C. The Florence & Cripple Creek Railroad . Denver, CO: Sundance Publishers, 2001.

McFarland, Edward M. The Cripple Creek Road . Boulder, CO: Pruett Publishing Co., 1984.

Mehls, Steven F. and Carol D. Goin Up To Cripple Creek . Prepared for the Gold Belt Tour Scenic and Historic Byways Association, Inc. and the Bureau of Land Management, Canon City Field Office. Bureau of Land Management, May 2001.

Ormes, Robert M. Tracking Ghost Railroads in Colorado . Colorado Springs, CO: Green Light Graphics, 1992.

Perlman, Dr. Selig. History of Labor in the United States, 18961932, Volume IV, Labor Movements . New York: Macmillan Co., 1935.

Pettit, Jan. Ute Pass, A Quick History . Colorado Springs, CO: Little London Press, 1979.

. Utes, The Mountain People . Colorado Springs, CO: Century One Press, 1982.

Smits, Angel Strong. Sam Strong: Cripple Creeks Notorious Millionaire. Wild West Magazine . August 2001: 3942.

Spell, Leslie Doyle. Forgotten Men of Cripple Creek . Denver: Big Mountain Press, 1959.

Sprague, Marshall. Money Mountain . Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press, 1953.

Stephens, Autumn. Wild Women . Emeryville, CA: Conari Press, 1992.

Taylor, Jean and Ann Cott. A Century in the Shadow of Pikes Peak: Don Laurie, His Mountain, His Life . Pueblo, CO: PaperWork Inc. , 1999.

Victor Centennial Committee. Victor Centennial 18931993 Commemorative Book . Victor, CO: Poco Libro Press, 1993.

Voynick, Stephen M. Colorado Rockhounding . Missoula, MT: Mountain Press Publishing Co., 1994.

NEWSPAPERS
Chicago Times
Colorado Springs Gazette
Cripple Creek Gold Rush

INTERVIEWS
Bumgarner, Charlotte
Hack, Henry and Margaret
Hern, Harold and Lodi
Hilliard, Stephanie
Johnson, Richard
Cripple Creek Times
Denver Post
Rocky Mountain News
Victor Record

Johnson, Sally McCready
Kane, Steve
McCormick, David
Swanson, Erik
Tremayne, Art and Loretta
Twitty, Eric

Find more books like this at www.imagesofamerica.com

Search for your hometown history, your old stomping grounds, and even your favorite sports team.

1. BEFORE THE DISTRICT AND HOW IT WAS FORMED