Geological Survey Bulletin 707 Guidebook of the Western United States: Part E. The Denver & Rio Grande Western Route

CRIPPLE CREEK BY WAY OF THE "SHORT LINE."^16a

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^16aAt the time this guidebook goes to press the Cripple Creek Short Line is not in operation, no trains having been run on it for two years. It is hoped, however, that operation will be resumed and that the traveler will have the opportunity of taking the trip here described. Otherwise his best substitute is a trip by automobile to this world-renowned camp.

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The trip from Colorado Springs to Cripple Creek over the "Short Line" affords the traveler an opportunity to see some fine and extremely diverse mountain scenery and to visit one of the active gold-mining districts of Colorado.

The route extends directly west from Colorado Springs, past some of the big mills that were built to reduce the Cripple Creek ores, and then passes up along the right side of Bear Creek canyon. Here the sedimentary rocks are upturned so steeply that they stand on edge and make great hogbacks across the country. (See p. 40.) The train passes the limy outcrop of the Niobrara and then goes through a projecting point of the Dakota sandstone. Just beyond this ledge the railroad crosses Bear Creek canyon and swings back on the other side. At the point where it crosses the canyon the Dakota sandstone abuts "end on" against the granite of the mountain. Such a contact is not normal, and it means that the two diverse kinds of rocks were brought into contact by a great break, or, as the geologists call it, a fault, in the rocky crust of the earth, the granite having been thrust up out of place until it rested against the broken edges of the beds of sandstone. This fault is the one that separates the granite from the red sandstone a few rods below the station of the Cogwheel Road in Manitou, and its course is marked by Ute Pass, which it produced and through which the Midland Terminal Railway (formerly the Colorado Midland) finds a way to Woodland Park. South of Bear Creek the fault is marked by the base of the mountain, and to it is due the abrupt change from steep mountain slope above to flat-lying plain below.

The "Short Line" climbs the mountain front, gradually attaining higher and higher altitudes, until it rounds Point Sublime, from which the traveler can look down nearly a thousand feet into North Cheyenne Canyon. The view from this point is shown in Plate XXV, A. Beyond this point the railway winds in a serpentine course around spurs and ravines as it adjusts its course to the contour of the slopes. But here and there a mountain spur is so large or so rugged that the cost of grading the roadbed around it would be very great, so the train plunges through the spur by a tunnel that reaches its very core, and in some places it crosses on high trestles rushing torrents that cascade down the steep granite walls, as shown in Plate XXVI. In this manner the train circles around the slopes of North Cheyenne Canyon far above the rugged scenic part and then tunnels through the dividing ridge and circles around the slopes of South Cheyenne Canyon, all the time climbing so as to cross the divide at its head.

PLATE XXV. A (top). POINT SUBLIME. The Cripple Creek Short Line, after climbing the east front of the mountain to an elevation of 1,000 feet, turns abruptly into North Cheyenne Canyon. From this turn, called Point Sublime, the traveler may look down nearly 1,000 feet into the rocky canyon and far out over the wide expanse of plains to the east. Photograph by L. C. McClure, Denver; furnished by the Cripple Creek Short Line. B (bottom.) DEVILS SLIDE. The Cripple Creek Short Line curves around the heads of ravines, tunnels through the projecting spurs, and passes great bare rounded granite masses that have received fanciful names. The domelike mines shown in this view is known as the Devils Slide. Photograph furnished by the Cripple Creek Short Line.

PLATE XXVI. SILVER CASCADE. When this photograph was taken but little water was flowing over the rocks, but earlier in the season, when the snow on the mountain is melting, the water leaps from ledge to ledge and slides down the rocky slopes in sheets of lacy foam. The smooth, round slopes and mountain tops show clearly how readily the most massive granite softens and decays. Photograph by L. C. McClure, Denver; furnished by the Cripple Creek Short Line.

In this long climb the traveler may obtain many beautiful views of rugged mountain slopes covered with a stately forest of evergreen trees, of foamy cascades that plunge down gulches and ravines, of great bare rock slopes, such as the one shown in Plate XXV, B, and of far-off Colorado Springs, spread out on the level prairie like a miniature garden.

The crest is passed at the station of Summit (altitude 9,913 feet), and the train then begins the descent of the west side. This side is much less steep than the one up which the train has laboriously climbed, and along it the roadbed winds about from one valley to another as it crosses the headwaters of a number of mountain streams. Many of the valleys of these streams contain ranches, but some are mere gorges in the rugged granite, such as is shown in Plate XXVII, B.

PLATE XXVII. A (top). THE OLD AND THE NEW IN RAILROADING. That the term "baby railroad," applied in derision to the Denver & Rio Grande when it was first put in operation, was not inappropriate is shown by a comparison of the first locomotive used on the road with a standard freight locomotive of the present day. Photographs on the same scale furnished by the Denver & Rio Grande western Railroad. B (bottom). CATHEDRAL ROCKS. Curious forms which the granite assumes in weathering are shown in the Cathedral Rocks, which the train passes a short distance west of the summit. These forms are produced by the scaling (exfoliation) of the granite in curved layers resembling the layers on an onion. Photograph furnished by the Cripple Creek Short Line.

The train finally arrives at Goldfield Junction, in the midst of some of the largest gold mines of the Goldfield district (Pl. XX VIII, A). If the traveler wishes to see the big mines and mills to the best advantage he should here transfer to the "High Line" trolley, which carries him around mountain tops, among mines, mills, and dump heaps of waste rock, and finally lands him in the once famous town of Cripple Creek, the center of one of the best-known mining districts in Colorado. Returning he can see most of the low-lying part of the Cripple Greek district from the steam cars, especially the great mines at Victor and Goldfield. The district was prospected at several periods, but it was not until the autumn of 1890 that Robert Womack discovered gold in place at what is now the Gold King mine, or in the flank of Poverty Gulch, just southeast of the town of Cripple Creek. Since then the district has produced more than $300,000,000 in gold, and its present yield is about $350,000 a month. A more detailed account of the discovery, development, and present condition of the district is given below by F. L. Ransome.¹⁷ Further information concerning the district is given in the Geological Survey's Professional Paper 54.

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¹⁷The Cripple Creek district is one of the most interesting, productive, and thoroughly studied gold districts in the United States. The historic rush of prospectors to Pikes Peak in 1859, with its well-known slogan of "Pikes Peak or bust," resulted in no important discoveries and is significant rather because it was the first determined attack upon the wilderness than because it had any direct connection with the history of Cripple Creek. It was not until 1874 that the region adjacent to Cripple Creek began to attract the attention of prospectors. The report that gold had been found near Mount Pisgah drew a number of men to that locality. A few loose fragments of ore were picked up on the surface, and the Mount Pisgah mining district was organized, but as no valuable deposits were uncovered the district was gradually deserted. There was a brief renewal of activity in 1884, caused by the reported discovery of rich placer deposits near Mount Pisgah, but the supposed discovery appears to have been fraudulent, and the grassy hills of the Cripple Creek region, now thoroughly discredited in the eyes of mining men, were given over to the grazing of cattle. For a long time the only habitation in the region was the log house of Bennett & Myers's Broken Box ranch, which still stands in the southern part of the town of Cripple Creek. A few prospectors continued to work in the district and met with some success, but the event that was destined to transform a lonely cattle ranch into one of the greatest gold-producing districts of the world was the discovery by W. S. Stratton, on the Fourth of July, 1891, of the Independence vein, on what is now the site of Victor.

Notwithstanding the fact that many mining men of capital and experience looked askance at what they regarded as another Cripple Creek bubble, the development of the district was extraordinarily rapid. Before the opening of the spring of 1892 the hills swarmed with prospectors, and on February 26 the town of Cripple Creek was incorporated. The main route into the district at this time was from the north, by wagon road from Florissant.

In the autumn of 1893 the list of producing mines included the Blue Bird, C. O. D., Dead Pine, Doctor, Eclipse, Elkton, Gold Dollar, Granite, Ingham, Logan, Mary McKinney, Moose, Morning Glory, Portland, Raven, Stratton's Independence, Strong, Tornado, Zenobia, and many other well-known properties. (See Pl. XXVIII, B.)

PLATE XXVIII. A (top). BULL HILL, CRIPPLE CREEK DISTRICT. This view in the heart of the district shows how throughly the rocks near the surface have been prospected for gold. Most of the prospects have yielded little or no return, but some have been developed into large mines. Photograph furnished by the Cripple Creek Short Line. B (bottom). ANACONDA AND MARY McKINNEY MINES. There is scarcely room between the mine dumps for the towns in the Cripple Creek district. Photograph furnished by the Cripple Creek Short Line.

The Colorado Midland Railway (now the Midland Terminal), which connects Cripple Creek with Colorado Springs by way of Divide, was completed December 16, 1893, and the Florence & Cripple Creek Railroad was opened to traffic July 2, 1894.

The year 1894 is memorable on account of a strike, during which the miners resorted to arms, property was destroyed, and lives were lost. In spite of these disturbances the development of the district made notable strides, and the Independence mine in particular, which at this time was only 70 feet deep, revealed bodies of ore that were the marvel of the camp.

In 1895 the Portland mine had reached a depth of 600 feet and the Independence a depth of 470 feet. The Independence was the most profitable mine in the district, and Stratton, now a rich man, began to buy outlying property. Considerable excitement was caused by the discovery of the remarkably rich ore shoots in the Moose, Raven, and Doctor mines on Raven Hill. About this time several of the mines reached water and had to begin pumping.

During the next few years the number of producing mines continued to increase, and in 1900 the district made its maximum output, $18,000,000. The Victor and Isabella mines were highly productive up to 1898 and 1900, respectively, and shipped large quantities of very rich ore. Four long drainage tunnels, the Chicago, Good Will, Ophelia, and Standard, were begun about this time. Another notable event of the year 1900 was the sale of Stratton's Independence, the most famous mine in the district, to the Venture Corporation (Ltd.), of London, for $10,000,000.

In 1901 the Colorado Springs & Cripple Creek District Railway ("Short Line") was built into the district. About this time many of the larger mines, having worked down to the water surface determined by the outflow through the Standard tunnel, were again compelled to seek deeper drainage. A drainage commission was formed, subscriptions were collected, and in 1903 the El Paso tunnel was begun. Connection was made with the El Paso mine, under Beacon Hill, in the autumn of the same year.

Early in 1903 a strike was ordered by the Western Federation of Miners in all mines shipping ore to certain reduction works in Colorado City, and for about two years the district was the scene of many deeds of violence.

With the deepening of the mines the El Paso drainage tunnel became inadequate, and in May, 1907, the Roosevelt tunnel was started from Cripple Creek canyon, about 5 miles below the town, at an elevation of 8,033 feet above sea level, or 750 feet below the El Paso tunnel. This tunnel reached the porous volcanic rocks and began to drain the mines about the end of 1910.

The Cripple Creek hills lie near the eastern border of a lofty and deeply dissected plateau, which slopes gently westward for 40 miles from the southern end of the Colorado Range, dominated by Pikes Peak, to the relatively low hills connecting the Mosquito and Sangre de Cristo ranges. The prevailing rocks of this plateau are granites, gneisses, and schists. During Tertiary time volcanic eruptions broke through these ancient rocks at several points and piled tuffs, breccias, and lavas above the uneven surface of the plateau. The eruptive rocks of the Cripple Creek district are the products of one of the smaller isolated volcanic vents of this period, a vent that erupted phonolite, a kind of rock that does not occur elsewhere in this general region. The most abundant products of the Cripple Creek volcano now preserved are tuffs and breccias, which cover a rudely elliptical area in the center of the district about 5 miles long from northwest to southeast and about 3 miles wide. The main breccia mass fills what once must have been a steep-walled chasm of profound depth. From the Conundrum mine, on the western slope of Gold Hill, to Stratton's Independence mine, on the south slope of Battle Mountain, the old granite walls plunge steeply down, with slopes which range in general from 70° to vertical and which in places actually overhang the breccia. This entire southwest contact represents a part of the wall of the great pit formed by the volcanic explosions that produced the breccia. In most of the other parts of the contact the walls are also steep. The general conclusion reached is that a tremendous volcanic explosion blew a great hole in the older rocks of the plateau. This hole was subsequently fined, perhaps partly with the fragments produced by the first explosion, including bits of granite and schist and pieces of the trees that were growing on the plateau at that time. To these materials were added, probably by later eruptions and explosions, fragments of phonolite and related igneous rocks. Finally, as shown in figure 12, a volcanic cone, consisting chiefly of fragments of rock was built up above the breccia-filled abyss.

FIGURE 12.—Sections showing supposed outline of the Cripple Creek volcano.

After the eruptions had ceased the rocks adjusted themselves to the new conditions. Cracks were formed in them and in these cracks the gold ores were deposited by hot solutions that rose from deep volcanic sources. Rain and streams gradually wore away the cone and exposed the veins thus formed, which the keen eyes of prospectors afterward detected.

The gold ores of Cripple Creek occur partly as narrow veins or as groups of closely spaced narrow fissures (sheeted zones) and are partly distributed more or less irregularly through masses of altered granite near fissures. Neither form of deposit is conspicuous at the surface, and only experienced prospectors would have found them. The gold is present chiefly in the pale brass-yellow mineral calaverite, a combination of gold and tellurium, associated with quartz and purple fluorite. Native gold is rare, except in the upper oxidized parts of the veins. The ores average from 1 to 2 ounces of gold ($20 to $40) a ton, but the gold content varies widely, and comparatively small bodies of very much richer ore have been mined.

In this district, as in most others, the ore is not uniformly distributed along the veins but is limited to what are known as shoots and occurs particularly where veins cross one another. Some of these shoots, such as the one, found in the Cresson mine a few years ago, have been extraordinarily rich, but the larger mines, like the well-known Portland, depend mainly upon large shoots of ore of comparatively low grade. The great number of veins and the ever-present possibility of finding a rich shoot at some hitherto overlooked junction of inconspicuous fissures has made the district a favorite field for lessees, and many prizes have been won by men working small blocks of ground leased from their owners. The great Independence mine, which made a fortune for Stratton and whose history constitutes one of the romances of mining, is now worked entirely by the leasing system.

The production of the Cripple Creek district is shown by the following table, compiled by Charles W. Henderson, of the Geological Survey:

Gold and silver produced in the Cripple Creek district, Colo., 1891-1920.

Year	One (short tons).	Lode gold (value).	Silver.		Total value.
			Quantity (fine ounces).	Value.
1891	------	$1,930	------	------	$1,930
1892	------	557,851	------	------	557,851
1893	------	2,021,088	5,680	$4,430	2,025,518
1894	------	2,618,388	25,335	15,961	2,634,349
1895	------	6,166,144	68,428	44,478	6,210,622
1898	------	7,413,493	63,617	43,260	7,456,753
1897	------	10,131,855	59,879	35,927	10,167,782
1898	------	13,507,349	67,799	40,001	13,547,350
1899	------	16,058,564	82,299	49,379	16,107,943
1900	------	18,149,645	80,792	50,091	18,199,736
1901	------	17,234,294	89,560	53,736	17,288,030
1902	------	16,932,416	62,780	33,273	16,965,689
1903	------	11,840,272	41,605	22,467	11,862,739
1904	597,819	14,456,536	47,817	27,734	14,484,270
1905	716,358	15,641,754	56,951	34,740	15,676,494
1906	702,069	13,930,526	67,943	46,201	13,976,727
1907	451,082	10,370,284	51,630	34,076	10,404,360
1908	601,173	13,031,917	52,270	27,703	13,059,620
1909	575,670	11,466,227	63,204	32,866	11,499,093
1910	688,941	11,002,253	54,263	29,302	11,031,555
1911	756,900	10 562,613	57,783	30,625	10,593,278
1912	849,172	11,008,362	66,117	40,662	11,049,024
1913	917,406	10,905,003	71,349	43,095	10,948,098
1914	939,423	11,996,116	89,056	49,248	12,045,364
1915	948,082	13,683,494	87,767	44,498	13,727,992
1916	945,820	12,119,550	79,804	52,511	12,172,061
1917	1,084,656	10,394,847	64,568	53,204	10,448,051
1918	936,326	8,119,747	50,665	50,665	8,170,412
1919	775,986	5,827,816	35,442	39,695	5,867,511
1920	448,618	4,323,998	33,789	36,830	4,360,828
	------	311,474,372	1,678,192	1,006,658	312,541,030

Formerly a considerable part of the ore from the district was sent directly to the smelters at Pueblo and Denver, but about 96 per cent is now treated in mills in the district, chiefly near the town of Victor or in mills near Colorado Springs. The common practice has been roasting and cyanidation, but in the modern Victor mill of the Portland Gold Mining Co. concentration is effected by flotation and the concentrates are treated by the cyanide process.

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