The Treasure of the Cripple Creek Mining District

[Music] [Music] if you were prospecting for gold or silver in Colorado in the second half of the 19th century you would have found a lot more than gold and silver the unspoiled scenic splendor of Colorado makes you wonder if finding precious metals wasn't an excuse for these early prospectors to leave their families and friends for the solitude of mounted life for almost twenty years a cowboy from Kentucky and a carpenter from Indiana worked independently looking for precious metals in Colorado without any success the cowboy bob Warmack spent his time prospecting the southwestern side of Pikes Peak certain the float he discovered and triple creek would lead him to a rich gold vein the carpenter winfield scott stratten had spent his winters as a carpenter in Colorado Springs saving up his money for prospecting during the summer months he had prospected in every corner of Colorado without success and after 17 years of futility was a discouraged and bitter man only because of his friendship for the cowboy bob Womack did Stratton agreed to ride to Creek in May of 1891 to check out an ancient volcanic crater that walnut was certainly contained gold the goal that Womack discovered would eventually make more than 30 people millionaires to save the United States economy after the silver crash of 93 and create the wildest of all Western towns in that era in the city of Creek the Creek mining district became one of the top five greatest gold producing districts in the world at the height of the district's gold production the town of Creek was the fourth largest city in Colorado with more than 35,000 people 27 saloons 300 sporting ladies and 72 attorneys the story of Creek is the story of fortunes made and lost it is the story of a carpenter who became one of the richest men in the country but was unable to find any happiness in his wealth it is the story of a cowboy who discovered this famous bowl of gold but never made more than a few hundred dollars from his original claim the story of Creek is the story of a young country rediscovering itself in the West after a bloody civil war and emerging into the 20th century enriched from its natural resources as the strongest nation in the world [Music] cattle rancher Levi Welty and his three sons decided to find a better location for their ranch in El Paso County after the founding of Colorado Springs in 1871 the new town was making ranching difficult and Levi decided to investigate the west side of Pikes Peak for raising his cattle in what is now the town of Creek Levi and his sons found a perfect valley with a small stream an ideal location for their ranch concerned about wild animals following their stream the Welty's built a small Shack over the spring that was a source of their water supply while building a shack a log rolled on one of Levi's sons and injured him while running to help his son Levi accidentally discharged his gun and injured his hand their pet calf was startled by the gunshot and tried to jump over the stream breaking its leg while it tried to escape with everyone injured and groaning in pain Levi was claimed to have said well boys this is sure some creek it wasn't until the Gold Rush of 1891 that Edward De La Verne suggested their discoveries should be named after the small stream and created the creek mining district [Music] Bob wall Mac was born in Kentucky in 1844 he came out to Colorado at the age of 17 with his father Sam in 1861 to search for gold and silver in the Colorado mountains and also to avoid conscription in the Union Army his father had modest success looking for silver in the Leadville area and saved over ten thousand dollars from his efforts with his health failing Sam decided to settle his family on a cattle ranch in El Paso County on the banks of fountain Creek eventually the wool Mac family purchased the Welty homestead and Bob moved to the west side of Pikes Peak to help the family with her new cattle ranch the confirmed bachelor built a small Shack on their property and called his new home poverty Gulch Bob loved living in the mountains and was delighted that he could not pursue his two loves being a ranching cowboy and looking for gold in May of 1878 Bob found a float in Creek that contained gold he knew that if he could find the source of this outcropping he would probably find a rich gold vein for the next 12 years Bob worked his way back up the stream looking for the source of his float during that time Bob did his best to convince the people of Colorado Springs that there was gold on the west side of Pikes Peak but nobody believed baa and they had two very good reasons not true the first reason was because Bob loved to drink whiskey and when he wasn't being a cowboy or looking for gold bob was carousing in the wild saloons of old Colorado City the second reason was the Mount Pisgah hoax at 1884 a few business owners of Canyon City perpetrated a hoax that there was gold on the west side of Pikes Peak the extra business from the curious prospectors was the only gold anyone found this hoax made the people of Colorado Springs very skeptical about any new claims and they laughed at Bob and his tales of gold but the discovery of gold at Creek may never have happened if Bob wool Mac didn't need to see a dentist about a toothache [Music] there are many monumental events that have affected the history of our great country but who would have ever imagined that something as insignificant as Bob Womack's toothache would have such an impact on the history of the western United States dr. John Grannis was a modest Colorado Springs dentist who had a great passion for science dr. granite listened with great interest to Bob Womack's mantra about gold and the western slope of Pikes Peak while he was filling one of Bob's cavities dr. Grannis was well aware of Bob his reputation as a drunk but he was intrigued by Bob's story and decided to investigate it for himself so dr. Grannis arranged a meeting with geology professor dr. lamb at Colorado College in Palmer Hall and tried to learn as much as he could about the nature of gold there were many theories on how gold was formed and one of them suggested gold came from the center of the earth brought up through volcanic activity the area that Bob told dr. Grannis contained gold just so happened to be in the crater of an extinct volcano this volcanic crater was later referred to as the bowl of gold because of that information dr. Grannis decided to grubstake Bob will Mack $500 for half interest in any gold claims he found Bob finally had a respected person to give him credibility and it had an amazing effect on his self-confidence Bob redoubled his efforts to find gold and on October 20th 1890 he filed his first claim for the El Paso load 12 years after finding that first float in creek now a middle-aged man at the age of 46 Bob Womack finally found his gold mine some of the samples assayed over $250 a ton and the so called Creek gold rush began with a whimper [Music] hardrock mining was a very expensive business back in 1890 and Bob Womack and dr. Grannis faced many obstacles even though they had a legitimate gold claim it was very difficult to convince the moneyed people of Colorado Springs to believe that they had found an actual gold mine let alone to invest in it and their claim was virtually worthless without the money needed to develop it into an actual mine it wasn't until four months later they were finally able to convince a respected mining expert Edward de la verne to check out their claim they knew if they could convince de la verne' of the legitimacy of their claim the rest of the respectable people on Colorado Springs might be interested in investing in it in January of 1891 De La Verne traveled up to Creek to see for himself he was not disappointed with De La Vergne involved the Colorado Springs Gazette decided to run a story on the discovery of gold the Creek gold rush finally had the credible publicity it needed to get started on April 5th 1891 a meeting was held at the broken box ranch on the side of the original wealthy homestead to create the Creek mining district Frank Costello Bob Womack edward de la verne fred and fire frisbee George and Emma car and the Welty's and the Wilsons were all in attendance at this historic meeting to organize their mining efforts after 12 years of futility Bob will max dream finally came true and he was overwhelmed by the attention and praise he was given at this meeting as the evening wore on Bob drank more and more of Frank Costello's bourbon all the attention embarrass Bob and he took another drink every time someone praised him by the end of the evening this humble cowboy who discovered the creek mining district was passed out on the floor in a drunken stupor [Music] winfield scott stratten was a 42 year old carpenter when he arrived in creek in May of 1891 he had spent the last 17 years prospecting throughout Colorado during the summer months living on his savings from working as a carpenter during the winters in Colorado Springs he estimated in 1890 that he had spent over $20,000 on his fetal efforts to find gold and silver during those 17 years it was a cynical and frustrated man who arrived in Creek to check out the mining district that his friend Bob will make it talks so much about although Stratton had experienced bad luck over the years he was probably one of the few prospectors in Creek at that time but actually knew plenty about mining he had taken professor lambs geology class at Colorado College and believed that gold would probably be found on the edge of this ancient volcanic crater wanting to get away from the tender feet that we're looking for gold nearby boom exclaimed he decided to concentrate his efforts on battle mountain a location three miles southeast of Creek near where the town of Victor now stands at the foot of battle mountain on July 4th 1891 Stratton staked his first claim and called his discovery the independence mine in honor of the July 4th date that was the beginning of one of the greatest mining fortunes ever to be acquired in the early West [Music] in 1884 the Womack family decided to sell the original wealthy homestead so that Bob's brother William and Williams wife Ida could return to Kentucky life at 10,000 feet was too much for Ida Womack and they sold the homestead for five thousand dollars to a family of furniture dealers in Denver named Thompson the ranch changed hands a couple of times that was finally purchased by two real estate businessman and denver horace bennett and julius myers Bennett and Myers hired a cattleman from Garden City by the name of George car to run their ranch the ranch was now called the Hausman cattle and land company but George car gave her the unofficial title of the broken box ranch during the time the ranch changed hands Bob Womack remained in the Creek area continuing his search for gold Creek first started as a Tale of Two Cities hayden placer commonly known as Creek was the hilly property northeast of the current town that Edward De La Verne had founded Fremont the current site of Creek was planted by Bennett and Myers who used their own names to identify the two main streets the two adjoining towns did not last long because in February of 1892 the citizens voted to combine them creating what is currently known as the city of Creek hardrock mining in the 1890s was very expensive dangerous and labor-intensive for two years Stratton worked his mines but he had very little to show for his efforts after he paid his expenses he became frustrated with creek and decided to put his mines up for sale LM Pearlman offered Stratton a lucrative offer for his independence mine he would pay Stratton a $5,000 option and an additional 150 thousand dollars if Pearlman decided to purchase the independence before a 30-day option expired Stratton agreed and while he was removing his equipment from the independence mine he accidentally discovered a rich vein of ore in a forgotten crosscut he secretly had a sample examined and an assayed for $380 a ton strapped knew this vein would be worth at least three million dollars it could only hope that Pearlman's men wouldn't look in this remote cross cutting before the option ran out so the waiting began and for 30 days Stratton prayed Pearlman wouldn't discover his secret near the end of the option period Pearlman asked Stratton to meet him at the Palace Hotel on creek to talk he complained to Stratton that his men didn't find enough to cover his $5,000 option for the independence mine and asked Stratton if he was willing to take back his option like a good poker player Stratton kept a straight face and told Pearlman to throw the option on the fire Stratton would eventually sell the independence mine for 11 million dollars and he became one of the richest mining men in the world [Music] as soon as gold was discovered in creek it became obvious that an inexpensive way to ship the ore to the refineries in Colorado Springs was needed a race began to see who could be the first to build a railroad to creek the florence and creek railroad was built from the south up the scenic phantom canyon this route was a difficult 40 miles with a steep climb that could only accommodate a smaller narrow gauge train despite the difficult task of building this railroad the florence and creek was the first train line to make it to the mining district on july 1st 1894 unfortunately on the return trip the train derailed and one man was killed the florence and creek operated as a profitable line for the next 18 years after a flash flood destroyed several bridges and ten miles of railroad track the line was permanently closed in 1912 the colorado midland railroad already had a rail line to divide in 1894 when they decided to build an extension to creek they had the advantage of being able to use the larger standard gauge tracks on July 4th 1894 three days after the florence and purple creek railroad reached the mining district the midland terminal steamed into creek the Midland terminal was immediately a financial success since it offered the larger standard gauge railroad cars for hauling ore the Midland terminal continued to operate as a freight line until 1949 in April of 1901 the Colorado Springs and creek district railroad was the third rail road to reach creek popularly known as the short line because it traveled the shortest route of only 46 miles from Colorado Springs the standard gauge railroad traveled up what is now known as gold Camp Road the most scenic of these three train routes Teddy Roosevelt praised the shoreline and said it's beauty bankrupt the English language [Music] most of the people who inhabited creek at the turn of the century would not millionaires but hard rock miners who did this hazardous work for $3 a day an excellent working wage for the time their high wage was offset by the fact they risked their lives in the mines before the gold discovery and Creek Colorado had been primarily a silver mining state and the silver mines and towns like Leadville employed thousands of miners after silver prices dropped these miners were suddenly out of work and they looked to Creek for employment with a glut of labour to work in the mines the mine owners decided to increase the workday to nine hours for the same amount of pay this started two years of labor strife which pitted the populist Governor David wait who is sympathetic to the miners cause against the conservative mine owners and Republicans of El Paso County 700 of the striking miners took over bull Hill and governor waste sent a militia force to supposedly end the strike however governor Wade only sent a paper tiger militia because he had no intention of interfering with the miners with whom he was sympathetic the mine owners were outraged at El Paso County Sheriff Frank Bauer deputized 1200 men to take back bull Hill after arriving in creek these deputies retreated after being shot at by the strikers who had the higher ground in the advantage in the so-called battle of bull Hill On June 10th 1894 the mine owners gave in to the strikers demands and the eight-hour day was restored this was the beginning of eight years of relative labor peace and the golden era of creek [Music] if you had visited creek between 1894 1902 you would have seen this gold town in its prime around 50,000 people lived in the creek mining district during that era 35,000 people in the town of Creek which made it the fourth largest city in Colorado the seven adjoining boom towns included the towns of Victor Gillette Alban Independence Goldfield Elton and Cameron they were all connected by a modern light rail system many people came through Creek to attempt to make their fortune future heavyweight champions Jack Johnson and Jack Dempsey spent time at gripper Creek Jack Johnson as a bouncer and club fighter and Jack Dempsey as a mucker in the mines and later as a fighter who fought under the name of Kidd Blackie in Creek at the beginning of his career cowboy film star Tom Mix comic actor Groucho Marx future Colorado Governor Ralph Carr Teddy Roosevelt and William Jennings Bryant all passed through Creek during its golden era during the boom there were 150 saloons of the Creek mining district 49 grocery stores 12 casinos 34 churches 118 teachers 90 doctors 15 newspapers 9si offices 10 barber shops 72 lawyers and 300 prostitutes an interesting aspect of life is a minor in creek without everyone's supplement of their income through high grading high grading was stealing rich gold ore from the mines and having that gold milled through both legitimate and bootleg milling operations a miner or Foreman could supplement his income as much as one-third through high greeting and it was an accepted practice in Creek by even the most law-abiding citizens rich gold ore could even be found in the collection plates of the various churches an estimated 1 to 2 million dollars of more per year was stolen from early creek mines through high grading entertainment was at a premium in creek and the miners spent their money freely on amusement from boxing matches to opera every type of entertainment was available at creek during its golden era the Grand Opera House and Meijer Avenue could seat 1,200 people and was the site of the world's first indoor rodeo every major entertainment show in the country eventually came through creek one of the most unusual events to take place in the mining district was the first and only bull fight in the United States staged in Gillette by con man Joe wolf the bull fight was almost stopped by the local humane society despite the opposition the bull fight took place on Saturday August 24th 1895 five days later Joe wolf and his business acquaintances were arrested for cruelty to animals and they were taken to the El Paso County Jail [Music] with open flames common before electricity the Shapley built homes and businesses of this boomtown were tinderboxes on Saturday morning April 25th 1896 the first fire to incinerate creek fittingly began on Myers Avenue the fire started as a result of a dispute between a bartender and his prostitute girlfriend on the second floor of the central dance hall on Myers Avenue their struggle resulted in a lighted oil lamp being thrown by a window which set fire to the curtains most of the buildings and Myers Avenue burned to the ground before the fire was finally put out on the following Wednesday April 29th a second fire broke out when a cook at the Portland hotel spilled a kettle of grease on a hot stove this fire traveled from second and Myers to Bennett Avenue and one third of Creek burned to the ground when word reached colorado springs winfield scott stratten and the citizens of colorado springs generously responded a shipment of clothing tents and supplies were sent on a special train on the Midland line in some ways the fire was a blessing in disguise the town was rebuilt and this time they used brick and better construction methods many of these new buildings still stand today on Bennett Avenue [Music] [Music] with more than 8,000 hard rock miners living in a Creek during its golden era and most of them making what was considered a good wage of $3 a day it's not surprising that the town attracted a small army of sporting ladies who set up their businesses on Myers Avenue one of the most notorious Tenderloin districts of the early West almost anything was legal on Myers Avenue if you were to walk down the street in this modern Gomorrah you would have found over 300 prostitutes 20 houses of ill-repute dozens of one-room cribs and several opium dens if you were discreet you could get almost any drug imaginable and a creek pharmacy including morphine the drug of choice for most of these women of the half world not only was prostitution allowed to flourish until the 1920s but it was actually taxed by the city of Creek at a rate of six dollars a month for each girl and 16 dollars a month for each madam from the wealthiest millionaire to the humblest $3 a day hard rock miner all walks of life could be found patronizing the businesses of Myers Avenue the life of a miner was precarious and brutal and most of these young men worked hard in the mines and then played hard on Myers Avenue one of the most famous sporting ladies of Myers Avenue was pearl de Vere that madam at the infamous old homestead house a beautiful redhead with a silky white complexion pearl de Vere captured the imagination of most of the men at creek the old homestead house was a high-class house of prostitution whose women would charge at that time upwards of $250 a night it was frequented by only the wealthiest mine owners and businessmen of Creek and was a very modern house for the time with electric lights running water a telephone and an intercom system one unique aspect of the old homestead house was a viewing room where a man could discreetly choose his companion for the night one afternoon pearl de Vere excused herself to her room and took a fatal overdose of morphine says pearl left no suicide note no one has ever been able to determine if it was an accidental overdose or a deliberate suicide and the sister come to claim the body thinking that she had been running a millinery shop in the West making hats but when she looked at the death certificate and saw that she was listed as a prostitute she had absolutely nothing to do with her pearl got on the train went back to Chicago this really upset the girls off the Avenue here and some of the minors too because as I told you she was very good to these people they said they would take care of pearl and they started making all the arrangements they had all the bands they could get in and all the wagons and series in a small collection when a letter come through the mail and it said to bury her in this beautiful gown and there was a check for $1000 she had one of the most elaborate channels ever had here in creek she is the only one of these this kind of a woman that is buried in a cemetery with a marker to her grave and the bands were out all night they played all the appropriate funeral marches going out they even played goodbye little girl goodbye but coming back in their sorrow was short-lived because they struck up very there'll be a hot time in the old town tonight the second old homestead house built after the fire in 1896 still stands and meyers avenue and is now a museum celebrating a unique time [Music] in a town filled with tough hard rock miners who were quick to use their fists maybe the toughest man to ever pass through a creek was a harvard graduate by the name of spencer Penrose spencer Penrose expect to his friends was the son of a prominent physician in Philadelphia and left a privileged life to make his fortune in the Wild West along the way he set about proving to the world that his blue blood was as red as any man's not one to shy away from a fistfight young Spencer Penrose was a dashing figure arriving in Colorado in his mid-20s Spencer Penrose was the most eligible bachelor in Creek and he happily lived up to his reputation as a ladies man a skilled horseman and a brilliant businessman Spencer Penrose was a great man of vision whose wealth continues to benefit the state of Colorado through the lpar foundation his boyhood friend and Charles touch was a real estate man at Colorado Springs was responsible for inviting Penrose to the Pikes Peak region they became partners in several real-estate ventures and had a joint interest in the C OD mine at Creek it was a start of a long professional and personal relationship between Spencer Penrose and the Tuck family that has lasted several generations although speck had no children of his own the Tut family has continued his legacy through their involvement into the Broadmoor Hotel in the old home our foundation but it wasn't Creek gold that made the fortune of Spencer Penrose he was his investment in Utah copper mines that made him a multimillionaire with his mining wealth he built the Broadmoor hotel in 1919 and eventually with his wife Julie Penrose created the el Palomar foundation each year the el Palomar Foundation awards millions of dollars to deserving Colorado based nonprofit organizations and is the single largest private foundation in Colorado [Music] although the sporting ladies of that era have received most of the attention in the creek history books the truth is that the vast majority of women in creek during the time period were hard-working god-fearing respectable Western women in fact several creek women have received recognition for being pioneers and changing traditional rules for women one of the first female attorneys in the country practice law and creek early in her career Daisy barbi the second cousin of Creek history and Mabel Barbie Lee defended the poor and often represented the abused women of Meyers Avenue in one celebrated case she successfully fought for the rights of Meyers Avenue prostitute Blanche Lacroix to keep her baby Molly O'Brien arrived in Creek is a stenographer in 1893 a shrewd businesswoman molly eventually became one of the wealthiest women in Colorado and owned several gold mining companies by the early 1900's she was the first woman in Colorado to have an official seat on the gold mining stock exchange dr. Susan Anderson or doc Susie as she was known was one of the first female physicians in Colorado the television showed dr. Quinn Medicine Woman is loosely based on Doc Susie's life as a country physician in the early West Susie arrived in Creek with her father and brother as a young woman of 22 in 1892 her father was a successful creek businessman and sent Susie to the University of Michigan to go to medical school she returned to Creek as a physician in 1897 and opened up her first practice when her beloved brother died of influenza in 1900 she left creek and became a well-respected country doctor in Grand County Colorado when she died in 1960 at the age of 90 her wish was to be buried next to her brother in creeks Mount Pisgah Cemetery unable to locate her brother's grave they buried doc Susie in a different section of the cemetery years later the citizens of Grand County finally located her brother's gravesite rather than exhume her body they paid for a second gravestone to honor dr. Susie and placed it by her brother's grave dr. Susan Anderson has the unique distinction of being the only person the Mount Pisgah cemetery to have two gravestones Molly Kathleen Gortner discovered the Molly Kathleen gold - September of 1891 she became the first woman in history to register a mining claim in her own name she went down to sign the papers and they said what you can't do this you're a woman you don't have to have somebody I'll sign this and she hurried up and grabbed the papers and signed it and said now you argue with my husband when he gets back and by doing that she became the first woman in the history to strike a gold claim in a woman's name so she was pretty pretty quick however she couldn't hire anybody the men would not go to work for him because well there again she was woman so she got her son to manage the mine and he actually managed it clear up until 1949 when he died however Molly she just every time she came onto the property the men would come out from underground because of the superstition and they'd wait until she left and then they'd go back to work of course she just smiled all the way the bank you know that was didn't bother her a bit the Molly Kathleen gold mine is the only remaining underground gold mine in the area and has been operating continuously since 1891 now a tourist attraction visitors to Creek can experience the life of a hardrock miner and travel 1,000 feet underground on this remarkable tour the Molly Kathleen goldmine is a living monument to one of the most amazing women to ever work and live in the Creek mining district [Music] the beginning of the end of the golden era of Creek began with the death of winfield scott stratten on September 14th 1902 Stratton was not a Content person before finding his great fortune but ironically his wealth seemed to make him an even unhappier man the people he cared about including two of his partners Jimmy Doyle and Jimmy burns let great wealth interfere with their friendship Burns eventually sued Doyle and Doyle claim burns tried to kill this greediness and fighting just made Stratton more depressed and he turned to whiskey for relief where Stratton did find some contentment was through his generosity to working people since Stratton spent most of us adult life as a carpenter he was extremely generous to common working people he bought a bicycle for every laundry woman in Colorado Springs to make their jobs easier and he built a modern streetcar system in Colorado Springs he was a soft touch for any miner that approached him for a grubstake but his great wealth was a burden and he spent most of his time protecting his wealth from lawsuits in a letter to a friend he wrote how he regretted not taking the $150,000 option for his independence mine he felt that he would have been much happier with a smaller fortune to manage although the official cause of his death was cirrhosis of the liver Stratton actually died from his alcohol addiction at the age of 54 in a final act of great generosity to the common man Stratton left the bulk of his fortune to the Myron Stratton home which was named in honor of his father this nonprofit charity still operating today was created to benefit indigent children and the elderly people of El Paso County but even in death Stratton had to fight off the attorneys several lawsuits and liens were filed against his estate and it took nearly 15 years of litigation to clear up the mess despite the bittersweet life of winfield scott stratten he will go down in history as one of the most important men of his era and certainly one of the most generous men of this region I love the story about Stratton's testimonial dinner he was the first citizen of Colorado Springs no one had money to match that of linphea scott stratten and so the city decided it was high time that they paid some kind of an honor and the night was set and the banquet was arranged at the old antlers hotel and Keene time and Stratton said I'm not going that's all of us do it he didn't want any attention he just did these things because he he was his heart told him to do them he didn't care about the fame or the credits he just did it buried in the Evergreen Cemetery in Colorado Springs the inscription on his gravestone reads it is not enough to help the feeble up but to support him after the biography of Winfield Scott Stratton's life is beautifully written in Frank waters book the Mitas of the Rockies [Music] with the death of Stratton the peace between the unions and the mine owners ended a second labor war started in August of 1903 the politics in Colorado had changed and now conservative Republican governor James Peabody was in office after nine Union men were fired from a non-union refinery big bill Haywood executive secretary the Western Federation of miners called a strike Haywood was a socialist was willing to use any means necessary to beat the mine owners even if it meant resorting to terrorism On June 5th 1904 he would engineer the blowing up of a train platform filled with non-union workers thirteen men were killed instantly and 20 men were badly injured after the bloodbath any public sympathy for the Union was lost governor Peabody finally had both public support and the mine owners money to help him get rid of the Western Federation of miners governor Peabody declared martial law and suspended due process he sent in the militia and rounded up the loyal wfm members and heard of them in the bullpens around 300 of the Union miners were put in boxcars at gunpoint and abandoned in the prairies of eastern Colorado as well as the Kansas and New Mexico borders 200 other Union men were imprisoned those who were lucky enough to escape fled into the mountains by the end of the summer the Union was non-existent in Creek the mine owners had won with the help of the governor and the non-union workers agreed to work at nine-hour day for $3 33 men on both sides were killed during a union unrest and Creek was never the same [Music] Bob Womack's problem with alcohol cost him his fortune he sold a share of the Womack plaster for $500 so he could pay for his alcohol addiction at age 50 Warren down from his drinking bob watched his friends become richer and richer while the man who discovered creek gold had nothing to show for it by 1894 he had left creek for good to live with a sister Lyda in her boarding house in Colorado Springs her influence convinced him to take the cure for alcohol abuse and he never drank again for the next 10 years Bob worked as a cook for his sister and he enjoyed a quiet life surrounded by his family although Bob lived in relative obscurity in Colorado Springs the city of Creek had not forgotten his contribution in 1902 Bob took the short line to Creek as he invited guest of honor for the 4th of July parade as he sat on the grand float Bob waved proudly as a ton of Creek applauded him in this final gesture of respect for discovering the world's greatest goal camp it was Bob's last hurrah and the respect and praise from the town of Creek meant more to him than any fortune he might have lost he might not have had a really good business hadn't he shoulders but I always admired bottleneck he stuck with what he believed in until he found it and look what happened not twice to have millionaires and two huge communities and years and years of great prosperity for a lot of people he opened the door to a real treasure chest two years later in 1904 Bob had a stroke and he lived with his sister as an invalid for the next five years on August 10th 1909 Bob Womack died at the age of 66 it was a sad ending for this remarkable cowboy who spent 14 years of his life trying to convince the people of Colorado Springs there was gold on the southwest side of Pikes Peak right after World War two the population of Creek had dropped to less than 1000 and gold production had gone from a high of 18 million a year to only $200,000 Creek was at a crossroads and the city looked desperately for another way besides mining to survive so the city turned to its storytellers to help revive an interest in its history and to promote Creek as a tourist destination in 1946 Dorothy and Wayne Mackin bought the Imperial Hotel and what about the hard work of restoring it they had the vision and energy to promote tourism and produced a classic melodrama in the gold bar theater the first year more than 4,500 people drove up to enjoy this unique entertainment and the mackins continued this very successful tradition of the melodrama for almost 50 years but in the early 1950s the mackins had a financial setback and they faced the real possibility of closing their Imperial Hotel for good unable to get a bank loan to save their business the Makin's turned to the Myron Stratton home for help 50 years after his death just like he had done after the fires winfield scott stratten it saved the town of Creek again by Grubbs taking the Makin's in 1953 nationally known historian Marshall Sprague published money Mountain a definitive history of Creek money Mountain helped launch a renewed interest in the legacy of the mining district at almost 50 years later it is still considered the Bible on the history of Creek international journalist Lowell Thomas the son of a victor physician was a strong proponent of the creek mining district he began his journalism career at the Victor Daily Record and he eventually became one of the most respected journalists of his time well I'm an enthusiast for all mining camps but of course particularly for my own hometown when I was a boy the creek district was regarded as the greatest gold camp in the world I imagine it's only rival in those days was the great camp at Johannes Berg on the Transvaal but anyhow the miners took some eight hundred million dollars out of these mountains right here in the creek district I worked in the mines as a boy I started working when I was about 13 years old I guess or maybe earlier than that the first mine I worked on was called the tornado and I worked in a tremendous stove where rocks were falling down constantly and I was very very glad to get out of that damn dough in 1958 Creek historian Mabel Barbie Lee published her first book entitled creek days arriving in creek as a young girl with her mother on a stagecoach in 1892 she tells the tale of how her stagecoach was robbed by gentlemen bandits who ended up giving her a silver dollar a graduate of Colorado College Mabel Barbie Lee returned to the town of Victor as a teacher and included among her students a young Lowell Thomas in 1953 the original Midland terminal Depot was converted into the crippled Creek district museum the creek district museum contains an extensive collection of photographs and artifacts that preserve and celebrate the history of creek in the 1960s creek newspaper publisher and mayor bill Robinson started the tradition of the aspen jeep tours the popular Aspen tours allow people to experience the history of the mining district while enjoying the beautiful Aspen turning in the fall later in the 60s the creek and Victor narrow gauge railroad was established to let tourists step back in time and enjoy creeks railroad legacy the hard rock miners best friend the donkey has always run free in creek the two mile high club manages and cares for the town's wandering herd and they sponsor the popular donkey derby days this annual competition in June is a comical and always entertaining race Tom Bennett Avenue because of the many wonderful storytellers and unique creek traditions the mining district was able to survive the tough times after the gold rush [Music] with gold prices rising in the 1970s and 1980s a second boom in gold mining began in Victor the old mines were revitalized and open-pit mining replaced the more dangerous underground hardrock mining it is believed that there is still more gold in the ground than was ever taken out of Creek in the past I have an opinion based mainly upon the people that know a lot more than I do the old mine owners the old mining engineers geologists and maybe more important than any of them the good sharp miners that used to work here there's a consensus of opinion among all these people that 80% of the gold was left in the ground now the big mining company was the open pit is trying hard to reduce that 80% but still most of it is still there because of the demand for this precious mineral the Creek and Victor gold mining company is now the largest employer in teller County Creek and Victor gold mining company currently employs about 288 individuals about 66% of those live in the teller County area and they actually have an annual payroll in teller County alone of about eleven point two million dollars we are the largest private employer in teller County statewide we have a annual payroll of about eighteen point two million dollars in 1991 almost 100 years after the city of Creek was incorporated a second Gold Rush began this time it was limited stakes gambling in October of 1991 the borders of Colorado approved limited stakes gambling for some of Colorado's economically depressed mining towns Creek Blackhawk and Central City revived their economies with plenty of jobs a new revenue for gambling many of the original creek buildings were renovated and thousands of tourists now visit this historic community each on a busy summer day Bennett Avenue is teeming with people just as it was over 100 years ago well my feelings are that these people that come up here primarily are right now here for gaming but what we would like to think is that we can diversify that economy and branch out and attract more of the families back up here like we used to and complement the gambling with that and that we can get a good diversity of people up here to enjoy our city like we enjoy [Music] to honor the man who discovered creek a statue of Bob Womack was erected in 1993 this tribute to the cowboy has him looking down Bennett Avenue at the town he discovered Bob would be proud to know that creek is a thriving community again with a strong economy from gold mining gambling and tourism the mining district he discovered resulted in the fortunes of great men like Winfield Scott's traveler Spencer Penrose and Charles Tucker men whose fortunes are still helping the entire state of Colorado the Broadmoor hotel penrose hospital the Myron Stratton home Colorado College and the many nonprofit organizations that have been funded through the el Palomar foundation all over success in part to Creek gold and even today when you talk to an old-timer you can hear in their voice that Gold Fever is still alive and well in a creek all of the roads and railroads that rebuild in Colorado were to go to mines to mining areas so it developed the state it made this state just blossom out all at once because of the mining otherwise it would have been years and years before there would have been much settling in the state of Colorado so it's extremely important to Colorado and to the nation because you have to have mining in order to exist modern-day living has to have things from the ground you either grow it or else you mind [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] until 1949 life and Creek revolved around train service in and out of the district in 1929 eighteen-year-old Colorado City resident Iowa current bought one of the first 16 millimeter cameras with his hand crank silent camera I recurrent decided to capture history his film is now one of the most remarkable motion picture archives of the mining district a lifetime photographer now in his 90s I recurrent talked about his amazing day in the Midland tell us about the day you went up to Creek why did you decide to do this film and well I just figured I ought to be done be a nice trip yeah and I just wanted to make it take a picture of it I shot a another series you've got that - I guess so the freight train going up you pass what do you remember from that day you had the tripod the camera and one thing that I've always was impressed by your films is your camera angles you're always looking for something different mounting at different locations and what do you remember from that day well first of all that camera the finders are very nice to use I mean it had one on top and one and back so you could actually see what you're doing very well the trouble of the maybe shooting out of the side of the Train of the side of the train going around curves as getting the camera mounted on the tripod now I had to lean the tripod over the edge of the observation car of the Train and then tilt ahead and turned the camera sideways so that it would be square and then do my cranking there without knocking it over having it fall off or something like that and how much wasn't to take the Midland at that time to creek you know I think it was under five bucks I think I believe it was maybe two and a half but I was it still a pretty wild town or was it it was sort of dying down after the gold sort of petered out but there was as you saw in that picture an old prospector I wanted to be I wanted to be set up earlier to get him walking towards that the camera but I only got him as he came around the corner and put his pickaxe down I thought that's kind of nice in 1966 veteran television producer Bob fitzmorris took a primitive 16 millimeter optical camera to Creek and interviewed some of the people who helped make the district famous creeks mayor bill Robinson international journalist Lowell Thomas historians Marshall Sprague and maple Barbie Lee sat down at the Imperial Hotel to talk about three experiences and love for the mining district [Music] represent the new life of creek bill Robinson not one of the old-timers here although I think Bill's know is probably just as much about the district to anybody who's lived here for a long time bill came here originally as publisher of the creek gold rush and bill I understand your son is now publisher of the paper that's right you've been here since what was in 1960 1960 mark what brought you out o desire to live in an old-time mining camp I guess and like so many people you had relatives that lived here at once that's true back in the night when your grandfather came here yes sir my grandfather's in livery business in Creek in the 90s so not everybody was in the mining business in this area well as I mentioned you're kind of the new life of Creek it's often thought of as a ghost town an old mining town with nothing left but there is a new life as we mentioned and this is tourism what do you think of it I think right at the moment as long as the government has their unrealistic approach to gold mining that tourism is the only hopes for Creek this is an old mining town but as you mentioned we have plenty of life I think a person could spend his entire vacation and the Creek mining district and find plenty to do what I would consider one of the most entertaining and factual of historical accounts of the Creek district coming right from the time when they first ran cattle up in here right up to the present time gulp money Mountain the author of witches marshal Sprague marshal I unfortunately just finished the book I see unfortunately because many other people have read it before I ever got to it and it certainly is a very interesting book how long does it take to research a book such as money mom I think I took about two years on that job it was the first book of this region that I had written and I was pretty much in the dark about how it should be planned and so on and so I got up there and in that Colorado College Library and read because that I it's practically a rewrite of the Gazette what prompted you to do a book on Crippler district and it just seemed to me that people were so interested in this fantastic gold camp which is quite almost in a class by itself in world history of world gold rushes because it was so small and so much gold came out of a small area if young lady is well known for a couple of reasons she's one of the foremost authors concerning the Creek mining district and she was also Lowell Thomas's schoolteacher way back when Mable Barbie Leigh and Lissa's leave what what grade did you teach all colleges I taught him or tried to teach him history and Spanish he knew much more history than I did and I was always very much afraid he was going to ask me a question I couldn't answer this would have been somewhat embarrassed but I knew more Spanish than he did and even today I know this now the honey speaks of it he studied Spanish with me he's been studying history ever said yeah well there was a very brilliant scholar and I studied with his father a great deal at home and it put him ahead in school you see and handicap for the school teachers like me probably one of the most well known exponents of the Creek mining district Amanda who grew up in the mining district and lived a good portion of its life over in Victor and actually got a start in the journalism business and Victor as mr. Lowell Thomas Lola you've always been one that's been quite a plugger of the Creek mining district well I'm an enthusiast for all mining camps but of course particularly for my own hometown so when I was a boy the Creek district was regarded as the greatest gold camp in the world I imagine it's only rival in those days was the great camp at Johannes Berg on the Trance fall but these mines here they're all around us we're sitting in the Imperial Hotel in creek at the moment and I come back to the creek district to Victor's and to its suburb Creek as often as I can every two or three years and this time I'm here oh sort of playing host to a group of people who've been getting together every summer for all 50 years or so because the people who worked in the mines here in the creek district they seem to almost belong to a club and they enjoy coming back and trying to relive the old days alas alas so far I've been up here for two hours this morning already and so far I haven't met a single one hardrock we'll go back to the days when I was here none of my bindi so you see I've become a patriarch narrator it's great fun to come back and to come to the Imperial Hotel the home of melodrama where the first western melodrama was put on that is in what we call modern times this jet age and so long until tomorrow [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music]

Channel: Steven Antonuccio

Views: 33,129

Rating: 4.7548389 out of 5

Keywords: Cripple Creek, Cripple Creek Mining District, Steven Antonuccio, The Treasure of the Cripple Creek Mining District, Gold camp, Colorado Springs History, Cripple Creek History, Bob Womack, Winfield Scott Stratton

Id: 6co1tQnWMU0

Length: 71min 35sec (4295 seconds)

Published: Sat Jul 28 2018