Land of Contrast: A History of Southeast Colorado BLM Cultural Resources Series (Colorado: No. 17)

Railroads were the region's mainstay for a period of ten years prior to 1885. Not only did transportation systems develop, but so did major industries. Pueblo became the center of industrial Colorado when, in 1880, the Colorado Coal and Iron Company was founded by William J. Palmer as a subsidiary of the Rio Grande Railway. Of course, Palmer intended to produce iron for rails which, in turn, would assure self-sufficiency in his railroad construction. [1] The General, realizing that abundant natural resources lay at his feet, built a steel mill at Pueblo to be fed by coal from the Huerfano River country and iron from the San Luis Valley. Mines along the Purgatoire and Huerfano Rivers began producing in earnest during the early 1880's, while the Orient Mine in the San Luis Valley was opened in 1880 to produce iron ore for Colorado Coal and Iron, which coincidently was an investor in the nearby Trinchera Estate. Orient City, by 1880, had two restaurants, a saloon, and other businesses to serve its iron miners. In 1881 the Rio Grande built a spur from Villa Grove to Orient (also called Hot Springs), by which then had a population of 400, and produced 30,000 tons of limonite ore annually.

Pueblo's burgeoning steel industry also helped Palmer expand the Rio Grande. In 1878 the road reached Alamosa, and by 1880 it was extended to Antonito, then Chama, New Mexico, prior to reaching Durango in 1881. As noted earlier, the Rio Grande built up the Arkansas River toward Leadville in 1880, and this, in turn, caused construction over Marshall Pass in 1881. A spur was built over Poncha Pass in that same year to Villa Grove (and Orient), while a new line was constructed from Alamosa to Del Norte, and then on to Creede to tap the mineral potential of this new mining camp. [3] All of this activity was either directly or indirectly connected with the incorporation of the Colorado Coal and Iron Company in 1880. Capitalized at $10 million, this organization bought up coal lands around Trinidad and Walsenburg, opened iron mines at both Orient and Calumet, began quarrying limestone near Pueblo, at San Carlos Station, built a full-scale iron mill at Bessemer (south of Pueblo) and opened coke ovens from Trinidad to Crested Butte to serve smelters in Leadville, Denver and numerous other places. [4] But the year 1883 saw Pueblo's iron mills running at half capacity due to slowdowns in rail purchases. While the Rio Grande and the Burlington were still buying these goods, times were hard. Additionally, CC&I suffered legal setbacks in a battle with the Department of the Interior over illegally acquired coal lands south of Pueblo. While the mid-1880's may have been a little slow for Pueblo, there were other events that tended to overshadow development along the Arkansas. [5]

The Bassick Mine, located at Querida, Colorado, sparked the silver boom that took place in the Wet Mountain Valley during the 1880's. There is still some mining taking place around Querida and Rosita. (Photo by F.J. Athearn)

Silver discoveries at Leadville in 1878 unleashed a whole new boom in Colorado. Everywhere miners sought to locate silver lodes and make their fortunes. Silver prices were stabilized when the U.S. Government agreed to purchase virtually all domestic output in the nation. Sure prices meant that production could increase, while new transportation systems made discovery and development of low-grade ores possible. Areas like the Wet Mountain Valley were explored during the mid-1870's, and 1877 saw E.G. Bassick locate and develop the first silver mine in the valley. The Bassick Mine was soon drawing population, and Querida was founded in 1877. As exploration spread, silver was located at the southern end of the White Hills, and by 1878 a rush into the Wet Mountain Valley was underway. Silver Cliff was founded at that time, and the Silver Cliff Mining District became a major silver producer. The Bull-Domingo Mine was one of the most productive properties in the region. [6] By the early 1880's, Silver Cliff's population was between 5,000 and 8,000 citizens, and there was talk of it becoming Colorado's capital. Obviously since statehood in 1876, the question of location was not settled. Custer County was formed in 1877, and towns such as Rosita, Querida and Silver Cliff boomed. This was a far cry from Carl Wulsten's aspirations of 1868.

Things were so bustling, that in 1881, the Rio Grande built a narrow gauge line up Grape Creek to serve the mines of Silver Cliff. The Grape Creek route was wiped out by a flood in 1888. [7] By the mid-1880's, silver production in the valley was declining, and by the end of this decade most mining came from reworking old mine dumps and hand-sorting ores. Population dropped and Silver Cliff was slowly abandoned. Rosita and Querida also lost their populations, but localized mining persisted. During the 1890's cyanide leaching was used to extract small amounts of gold from Wet Mountain Valley ores. After 1890, annual production of gold and silver rarely exceeded $40,000. That there was still profitable mineral activity in the valley was seen in 1901, when the Denver and Rio Grande built a standard gauge line from Texas Creek to Westcliffe. Silver Cliff citizens dutifully moved the one-mile west and settled in Westcliffe. Ranching and farming provided the economic base for the Wet Mountain area after 1900. [8]

Silver Cliff's town hall was built in 1882 with the hope that it might become Colorado's next capitol. But by 1889 the boom was over and so were Silver Cliff's hopes. (Photo by F.J. Athearn)

As the Wet Mountain Valley boom went on, Leadville continued producing vast quantities of lead, silver, zinc and other minerals. Silver prices remained high because the United States government was buying everything produced. The Sherman Silver Purchase Act of 1890, was an extension of the Bland-Allison Act of 1878, by which silver would be purchased and used for coinage in the United States. Silver became embroiled in national politics during the late 1880's, when a debate arose over basing the American economy on either silver and gold or just gold. The gold standard is what backed America's currency, and was in vogue throughout the world by 1890. National politics came to the forefront during this period. The election of 1892 saw a struggle between silver and gold coinage developing. Both major parties were swept up in this issue. Republicans supported a "solid" gold standard, while Democrats were split. Some factions favored gold, while others wanted "soft money" in the form of both silver and gold backing. To further confuse the issue, a third party appeared in 1892. [8] The People's Party, or more commonly the Populist Party, arose during the late 1880's in protest to big business, corrupt government and inequitable distribution of the national wealth. The Populists were mostly farmers and small businessmen who wanted basic reforms, like the secret ballot, recall, referendum, graduated income tax, regulation of the railroads and other rights that we assume today. Among the Populist Party's demands was a silver-gold standard at a ratio of 16 to 1. This, of course, was popular in Colorado. [9]

The battle reached its climax during the election of 1896. Populists "fused" with the Democratic ticket and William Jennings Bryan was nominated as a silver candidate. William McKinley was chosen as Republican standard bearer, and the fight was on. Colorado, for one, was convinced that right-seeing voters would cast aside McKinley and turn the country into a silver-based, reform-minded nation. So deeply divided were the national parties, that in Colorado the Republicans formed a Silver-Republican party that supported the national party's platform except for the gold standard. The Colorado situation was further complicated by a strong Populist Party. Davis P. Waite of Aspen had been elected Populist governor in 1892. His attempts at reform were generally not successful, and he became involved in several violent disputes that revolved around mining. Waite also had the misfortune of being in office when the Panic of 1893 wiped out Colorado's silver industry. [10] Waite was involved in a bitter strike at Cripple Creek during 1894, when miners went out seeking better pay and shorter hours, not to mention union recognition. The Western Federation of Miners (WFM) led this strike, and, while Waite's sympathy was with the miners, he sent in the state militia to restore order, benefitting local mineowners. [11]

Ironically, Cripple Creek was the one mining district that survived the crash of 1893. First staked in 1890 by Bob Womack, these claims precipitated a gold rush resulting in creation of the Cripple Creek Mining District on April 5, 1891. The region west of Colorado Springs and on the backside of Pike's Peak turned out to be one of the richest gold-bearing areas in Colorado. What was unique about Cripple Creek was that the gold was locked in volcanic rock with certain areas of vugs that were amazingly rich. In late 1891, a town site was laid out by Horace Bennett and Julius Myers. They named the eighty-acre site Fremont. The next year another 120 acres were platted and called Cripple Creek. By February 1893, the two townsites had merged into modern-day Cripple Creek. In 1893, the town got electricity, a sewer system and water works. By the end of that same year, telephone service to Colorado Springs was in place. Cripple Creek was a legendary boom town drawing thousands of miners into the region. [12] Other towns arose around Pike's Peak. Victor was founded in 1893 and soon became a "rival" to Cripple Creek's claim as the last great gold rush town. Smaller settlements served specific mines. Anaconda, Gillette, Goldfield and Independence all represented home to miners whose livelihood was nearby.

As fast as towns were built and as mines produced, construction of roads into the district began. Early routes into the gold camp included a wagon road from the Colorado Midland stations at Divide and Florissant while an El Paso County road called the Bear Creek Road ran south of Pike's Peak into the area. In 1892, several Florence businessmen created the Florence and Cripple Creek Free Road Company and opened a road up Eight Mile (Phantom) Canyon. Rivals quickly built a toll road up Four Mile (Oil) Creek from Canon City to Cripple Creek. The "Shelf Road" was used by Dave Wood, one of southwestern Colorado's most prominent early freighters, to haul goods into the newborn mining camps. [13] Wagon roads helped move goods into the booming region and to cart ores for smelting at Pueblo, Colorado Springs, Denver and even Leadville. But transportation was not cheap. As in earlier days, railroads raced for Cripple Creek and the millions of dollars worth of ores to be transported.

Right behind the wagon roads, rail companies sought to connect the place with steel. In late 1891, the Midland Terminal (MT) was incorporated to build a line from the Colorado Midland at Divide. A series of problems, including finances and being forced to rebuild the entire road from narrow gauge to standard gauge kept the MT out of Cripple Creek until 1895. On the other hand, David H. Moffat of Caribou, Colorado fame, determined to tap the riches of Pike's Peak, began construction on the Florence and Cripple Creek (F&CC) in late 1893. Wishing to win this race, Moffat threw 1750 men into the fray and proceeded up Phantom Canyon, reaching the district on July 1, 1894. The F&CC reaped the windfall revenues in the absence of competition. W.S. Stratton's Independence Mine, David Moffat's own extensive holdings, and numerous other operations were all served by the F&CC. The Midland Terminal did not reach Cripple Creek until December 1895, hence ending the F&CC's monopoly. [14]

These two major connecting lines then built feeders throughout Teller County. F&CC's subsidiary, the Golden Circle Railroad, built from Victor to Altman and then down Squaw Creek into Cripple Creek, thus tapping Battle Mountain's mines. Other short lines, like the Cripple Creek District Railway (CCD), were built in 1898 from Cripple Creek to Midway by way of Poverty Gulch. With these two roads fighting over ore haulage, competition was restored. Mills at Denver, Colorado Springs, and Pueblo vied for the right to process Cripple Creek ores. In order to capture this market, Denver investors organized the Denver and Southwestern Railroad (D&SW) as a holding company. This corporation control led both the F&CC and the Midland Terminal, along with various short lines. As a result, ore was diverted to Florence, where Denver interests had major investments in mills and smelters. Once again, a monopoly existed. [15] Colorado Springs businessmen immediately objected to this diversion of trade. Mine owners like W.S. Stratton, Irving Howbert, Frank Woods, and others formed the Colorado Springs and Cripple Creek District Railway (CS&CCD) in 1899 to combat the D&SW. This new line ran from the Springs to Cripple Creek and then later to Victor. The railway was electrified and carried both freight and passengers. This line cost $4.5 million to build and was the most expensive railroad in Colorado to date. [16]

While the Cripple Creek gold boom turned the area into a thriving metropolis of 25,000, creating in turn, Teller County in 1899, all was not well in the gold fields. Fire swept Cripple Creek during 1896, after which the city was rebuilt in brick. Victor fell victim to fire in 1899, when the business district was wiped out. Despite these setbacks Cripple Creek produced considerable gold during its first ten years. From 1899 to 1902, mining output declined as it became harder to find the precious mineral. In addition, labor unrest by the Western Federation of Miners led to bloody strikes in 1903, climaxing in the Independence (Mine) station bombing that killed 13 miners and set off violent retributions. The state militia was sent in to restore order and the strike was broken in early 1904. Not only did the District's miners pay a heavy price, so too did the mineowners, for production never recovered. [17] Another major problem that Cripple Creek's mines faced was continual water seepage. The El Paso Tunnel, built in 1903, was intended to drain part of the mines. Others followed, like the Roosevelt Tunnel in 1908, and later the Carlton Tunnel. These improvements, along with a new cyanide roasting process kept Cripple Creek's mines going up to World War I. By 1917, total cumulative production was $293,202,811; not bad for a place that twenty-five years earlier was a cow pasture. [18] Cripple Creek might have been Colorado's mineral savior during the Panic of 1893, but it was not all that went on in the southeast corner of the state.

Agriculture developed to a point of major contribution during the 1880's and 1890's. The Arkansas River, near Canon City, provided water for Colorado's first orchards, dating to 1869. Irrigation, it was soon discovered, was needed to provide upland benches with water. The riverbottom itself may have been fertile, but there was precious little of it. Ditches were dug during the 1870's to water fruit orchards, like "Dall" DeWeese's nursery at Canon City. DeWeese offered not only fruit trees, but also 500,000 shade trees and 300,000 ornamental shrubs for the many homeowners in Denver, Colorado Springs and Pueblo. Water projects along the Upper Arkansas included the Missouri Park Ditch, the Hill and Sprague Ditch, the Willowdale Ditch, and several others. At one time, Chaffee county's pear and bean production was second only to Conejos and Otero counties. [19] Irrigation along the Arkansas River, below Pueblo, provided homesteaders with an opportunity to raise crops like hay, onions, peas, wheat and corn. These agricultural enterprises were the underpinnings of towns along the river from La Junta to Lamar. They all became agricultural service centers. Not only was water divertable, but local railroad transportation could haul goods east or west. The Santa Fe provided monopolistic service until 1887, when the Missouri Pacific Railroad reached Pueblo from St. Louis. [20] Now that city was connected to the east by two mainline railroads and agriculture was able to gain a solid foothold, thanks to these events. Thousands of homestead applications were filed during this period on the southeastern plains. From 1861 to 1961, 22,140,000 acres of public lands went into private hands in Colorado alone. Of this, considerable acreage along the Arkansas was put to the plow from 1880 to 1920. As settlers moved away from the river, they found that the land was not suitable for agriculture as practiced in the mid-west.

Dryland farming became a way of life during the 1890's in southeastern Colorado. Since there was not much natural moisture, farmers depended on soil retention and winter snowfall to keep the ground wet enough to grow wheat. The turning point for dryland farmers was the introduction of strains from the Ukraine that could withstand both droughts and wind. These "Turkey Red" wheats were a boon to great plains farmers, who soon planted every available acre in "dryland" wheat. The advent of so-called "suitcase farmers" caused massive problems, like soil erosion due to gross overplanting and considerable overproduction on the plains. Once the virgin topsoil was disturbed, nature, in the form of wind and drought, blew millions of tons of soil eastward. The Federal Government, in an effort to populate the arid plains, ignored warnings about dryland damage and encouraged farmers further by enlarging the amount of acreage available through homesteading. In 1909 the Enlarged Homestead Act provided for 320 acres while the Stockraising Homestead Act of 1916 raised farm sizes to 640 acres. The hope was that 640 acres would also encourage grazing on the plains. [21]

When the Missouri Pacific arrived in the 1880's, the area north of the Arkansas River was opened to homesteading. Towns like Eads, Arlington and Sugar City were founded. Today, the Missouri Pacific hauls coal unit trains to St. Louis. (Photo by F.J. Athearn)

The rather large schoolhouse at Arlington, Colorado is testimony to the size of the last homesteading boom. Now the town and its citizens are gone. (Photo by F.J. Athearn)

Water, of course, was the key to farming success on Colorado's eastern plains. The national government, in efforts to encourage irrigation, sponsored the Carey Land Act of 1894, by which up to 1,000,000 acres of public domain could be given to individual States for irrigation projects. This effort was a dismal failure, for the states were unable to manage the various "Land and Irrigation" companies that cropped up, and in the end, almost no acres were irrigated. [22] Irrigation got a serious boost in 1902, with the passage of the Newlands Act. A Reclamation Fund was established to help water users build dams and canals to irrigate farm lands that hitherto were unusable. The Reclamation Service was formed to oversee these projects. Southeast Colorado was not generally affected by the Newlands Act for most local canals and dams were already in place. However, during the 1950's the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers became an important force along the Arkansas River. [23]

Irrigation for agriculture actually had its start in the San Luis Valley during the 1850's. Logically, the Valley continued to be the leader in irrigation projects in southeastern Colorado. The 1880's saw a proliferation of canals in the central valley when such projects as the Travelers Canal, the Monte Vista Canal and the Empire Canal were all built with eastern capital. They tapped the Rio Grande's seemingly endless water. The 1880's were a period of canal building by corporations rather than by individuals or the government. Both British and American companies put up the money to build ditches in the hope that they would not only make a profit, but that the lands around these canals would become more and more valuable. Of course, some major landholders in the area were the very same companies that held mortgages on the ditches. That many such projects were not small in nature was seen in the fact that during 1887 the La Junta and Lamar Canals were both enlarged and reincorporated as the Fort Lyon Canal Company. This organization built canals off the Arkansas River to the point that the Fort Lyon Canal was over 113 miles long, forty-five feet wide and six and one-half feet deep. It is still the major water carrier for the river. [24]

The sugar beet boom that took place at the turn of the century, lasted until the 1970's. But there are many abandoned sugar processing plants along the Arkansas now. This plant at La Junta was converted into a warehouse. (Photo by F.J. Athearn)

Irrigation and dryland farming notwithstanding, agriculture continued to dominate the San Luis Valley, the lower Arkansas Valley, and South Park. Hay and cattle were South Park's main products, while the San Luis Valley provided beans, vegetables, corn and other staples. The 1890's saw a dramatic change in crop production throughout the Arkansas drainage with the introduction of sugar beets. Beets were a well-known European crop and became popular in Colorado during the 1890's as a cash crop. Sugar beets were first planted on the west slope, in the Grand Valley, which is also where Colorado's first sugar beet plant was erected in 1899. Then, "beet fever" spread like wildfire. Soon thousands of irrigated acres were planted along the Arkansas and South Platte Rivers. Water was the key to sugar beets, and where there was an abundance, sugar beet plants were built. John Campion, of Leadville, and Charles Boettcher, of Denver, were primary investors in the sugar beet boom. These men helped finance early processing plants, but returns were not as great as expected. Nonetheless, sugar beets were planted. George Swink developed the Arkansas Valley's industry. Swink was also credited with introducing cantaloupes to the Rocky Ford region. [25] The sugar beet boom did well along the Arkansas, and by 1900 the American Beet Sugar Company built a plant at Rocky Ford, while the National Sugar Beet Company put up a factory at Sugar City that same year. In 1906, the Holly Sugar Corporation was chartered at Holly, Colorado, and it ended up controlling most beet enterprises in the lower Arkansas Valley. Sugar fever spread into the San Luis Valley from 1911 to 1913, where several factories were built. They proved costly failures, and the Valley never did become a major competitor in the beet boom. So popular were beets that by 1909, 79,000 acres of Colorado's agricultural lands were in sugar beets. The beet industry continued, over a period of sixty years, to provide a cash crop that was easily grown and that was also in ever-increasing demand. Recently, however, with the advent of corn syrup, demand for beet sugar has greatly weakened. [26]

The Santa Fe depot at Holly, Colorado looks as if it was built to last. Unfortunately, the sugar boom here did not. (Photo by F.J. Athearn)

There were many significant events that occurred in southeastern Colorado during the twenty-year period prior to 1900. But perhaps none was more important than the impacts caused by what became known as the Conservation Movement. The General Revision Act of March 2, 1891, proved one of the most important and long-lasting decisions ever made by the Federal Government. Until 1891, governmental policy was disposal of public lands. When the nation was founded, hundreds of millions of acres lay in a state of wilderness. To encourage settlement and to help pay for government, vacant land was sold for $1.25 per acre. War veterans were given free land. This system was under the supervision of the General Land Office (GLO) from 1812 to 1946. Disposal of the public domain was considered essential for development by farmers, miners, businessmen and others who would buy cheap land, improve it and help expand the United States into the West. The Homestead Act of 1862 provided for "free" lands. Now, settlers could improve 160 acres over a five-year period and then the land would be deeded to the claimant. This policy resulted in legislation such as the Desert Land Act, the Timber Culture Act, and various other incentives for settlers in the west to take up land. In addition, millions more acres of public land were used for grants to various railroad companies, that used them to pay for construction costs by selling the land or using it as collateral. Perhaps the most famous grant was that of the Union Pacific (Transcontinental) Railroad across Nebraska and Wyoming. [27]

As the West developed, mining, lumbering, farming and ranching took their tolls on public lands. Cattlemen overgrazed, miners stripped back the soil, lumbermen denuded hillsides, and farmers plowed under virgin grass. During the 1890's, the Populist movement, so actively involved in the Silver Crusade and other reform efforts, also promoted awareness of natural resources and our environment. For years, concerned citizens expressed outrage over the devastation of western lands. Primarily eastern in nature, these complaints were finally heard in Washington. In March, 1891, the General Revision Act authorized the President "to reserve any part of the public lands" and to establish boundaries for these withdrawals. President Benjamin Harrison, on October 16, 1891, took advantage of the act and withdrew about 1,200,000 acres in Colorado. The White River Timber Reserve was the first such withdrawal in this state, and it caused an incredible uproar in the West. Cattlemen, in particular, protested that they could no longer graze freely. Miners cried that they would be shut out of the public lands (which was and is not true) and timber interests decried the loss of forest lands. Nevertheless, in 1892 the Pike's Peak Timber Land Reserve was created from 184,320 acres in the Rampart Range country. In late 1892, Harrison also withdrew the South Platte Timber Reserve consisting of 683,520 acres in Park, Summit and Chaffee Counties. This was done to preserve and protect Denver's South Platte watershed. [28]

In two short years, conservationists had won stunning victories. After these first withdrawals, a five-year period of nonuse lapsed before the Federal Government undertook active administration. In 1897, the Department of the Interior was designated forest manager, and rules were drafted to permit land use. The timber forest reserves were unlocked and locals could again use the land. Livestock grazing (excluding sheep) and water for irrigation was allowed. Homesteading and timbering were not. Nevertheless, sawmills operated openly in places like Florissant and Puma City without much Federal interference. Cattlemen adjusted to the new regulations, and generally the furor over forest withdrawals calmed down. [29] What destroyed the uneasy peace was the implementation of grazing permits in 1900 by Interior's General Land Office. Now to use the reserves, cattlemen had to have permits. What was worse, sheep were permitted to use forest grazing lands, too. These new rules drove cattlemen into the anti-conservation ranks almost to a man. Despite outcries from users and politicians like Henry M. Teller and Thomas Patterson, President Theodore Roosevelt, in 1902, created the San Isabel Forest Reserve, consisting of 77,980 acres in Fremont, Custer, Huerfano and Saguache Counties. Roosevelt, a hard-core conservationist, ignored protests by western ranchers and land users, proceeding to create the San Juan Forest Reserve in June 1902. This withdrawal consisted of 1,437,406 acres west of the Continental Divide, including the eastern side of the San Luis Valley and the Rio Grande watershed. Amid more howls of anguish, Roosevelt withdrew 1,129,947 acres in the Leadville Forest Reserve during May 1905. This massive forest extended from the Continental Divide to Central City, and from Idaho Springs back to Leadville. In addition, the Pike Forest Reserve was created from the older South Platte, Plum Creek and Pike's Peak Timber Reserves in 1905. In June of that year, the Wet Mountain Reserve of 239,251 acres was created, and one day later, on June 13, 1905, the Cochetopah Forest Reserve was withdrawn. The Cochetopah consisted of 1,333,300 acres and extended from Salida on the east to Creede on the west. [30] The year 1905 was the last of the massive Colorado withdrawals. Interior lost administration of these lands, and they were transferred to the Department of Agriculture in 1905. The Forest Service was created, and cattlemen, forced to pay grazing fees since 1900, took out their hostilities on the new Forest Rangers, who literally defied death enforcing the rules. Despite the protests, fears that the timber and cattle businesses would be wiped out, and resentment toward the Federal Government, the forest reserves stuck. From the various timber reserves evolved today's present National Forest system, and most of the acreage withdrawn at the turn of the century is still in Federal hands.

The significance of forest withdrawals lies not only in the fact that the Federal Government became a permanent landlord in the western states, but also that millions of acres were removed from homestead entry. A Public Lands Convention held at Denver in 1907 deplored the closing of the frontier, but the reserves prevailed. Now, if a settler wanted to homestead, it would have to be on the arid eastern plains. This is precisely where the last great settlements occurred a few years later. The timber reserves changed, for all time, settlement patterns and development in southeast Colorado. From this time on, the region's growth and development were locked firmly by the location of forest reserves. By changing governmental policy from total disposal to conservation and retention, Colorado's (and the entire West's) destiny was turned and fixed in a new direction.

CHAPTER X: NOTES

1. H. Lee Scamehorn, Pioneer Steelmaker in the West (Boulder: Pruett, 1976), p. 4.

2. Ibid., p. 50, and Athearn, Rio Grande, p. 123.

3. Athearn, ibid., p. 106. See also: Robert A. LeMassena, Rio Grande... to the Pacific (Denver: Sundance, 1978.)

4. Scamehorn, op. cit., p. 45, 46, 48.

5. Ibid., p. 52.

6. Samuel F. Emmons, "The Mines of Custer County, Colorado," in Whitman Cross (ed.), Geology of the Silver Cliff and Rosita Hills, Colorado District (Washington, DC: GPO, 1896), pp. 412-413. Also: Gayle Turk, The Wet Mountain Valley (Colorado Springs, Colorado: Little London Press, 1976.)

7. William Rathburn and Ed Bathke, "Bassick and His Wonderful Mine," Denver Westerners Brandbook (Denver: Westerners, Inc., 1964), pp. 319-349.

8. Percy S. Fritz, Colorado the Centennial State (New York: Prentice-Hall, 1941), pp. 349-351. and Ubbelohde, Benson and Smith, op. cit., p. 220.

9. Fritz, ibid., p. 352.

10. Ibid., pp. 353-354, and Ubbelohde, Benson and Smith, op. cit., p. 221.

11. George Suggs, Colorado's War of Militant Unionism (Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1972), p. 17 and pp. 45-64, also Emma Langdon, The Cripple Creek Strike of 1903-1904 (Victor: Victor Daily Record, 1904.)

12. Muriel S. Wolle, Stampede to Timberline (Denver: Sage, 1949), pp. 452-453; Frank Waters, Midas of the Rockies (Denver: Denver University Press, 1949); Edgar C. McMechen, "The Founding of Cripple Creek," Colorado Magazine, 12, (1935), pp. 28-29; Geology and Mining Industries of the Cripple Creek District, Colorado (Washington, DC: GPO, 1895); Catherine Rinker, "History of Cripple Creek, Colorado, 1891-1917," (M.A. Thesis, University of Colorado, 1934), and Leland Feitz, Cripple Creek: A Quick History of the World's Greatest Gold Camp, (Colorado Springs: Little London Press, 1967.)

13. Zeke Scher, "On the Shelf," Denver Post (November 11, 1970), pp. 10-12; Fred and Jo Mazzula, The First Hundred Years: Cripple Creek and the Pike's Peak Region (Denver: Hirschfield, 1956); Zeke Scher, "The Man Who Kept the Mining Camps Alive," Denver Post (April 23, 1973) and see: Carl Abbott, Colorado: A History of the Centennial State (Boulder: CAUP, 1976.)

14. See: Tivis Wilkins, A History of the Florence and Cripple Creek and Golden Circle Railroads, Colorado Rail Annual Number 13 (Golden, Colorado: Colorado Railroad Museum, 1969) and Morris Cafky, Rails Around Gold Hill (Denver: Rocky Mountain Railroad Club, 1955.)

15. Tivis Wilkins, Colorado Railroads (Boulder: Pruett, 1974) and Robert Ormes, Railroads and the Rockies (Denver: Sage, 1963.)

16. Wilkins, Colorado, op. cit., pp. 127, 135; Ormes, op. cit., p. 145, and Irving Howbert, Memories of a Lifetime in the Pike's Peak Region (New York: Putnam's, 1925), pp. 281-285.

17. Benjamin M. Pastal, The Labor History of the Cripple Creek District (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1908), p. 125.

18. Charles W. Henderson, Mining in Colorado (Boulder: University of Colorado Press, 1926), pp. 57-58, and see: Marshall Sprague, Money Mountain (Boston: Little, Brown and Co., 1957.)

19. Campbell, op. cit., p. 149, 151, and Alvin T. Steinel, History of Agriculture in Colorado (Fort Collins, Colorado: State Board of Agriculture, 1926.)

20. Robert E. Riegel, The Story of the Western Railroads (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1926), p. 175, and Julius Grodinsky, Transcontinental Railway Strategy, 1869-1893 (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1962), p. 281.

21. Ubbelohde, Benson and Smith, op. cit., p. 259; Roy M. Robbins, Our Landed Heritage (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1942), and Fritz, op. cit., pp. 331-334.

22. Fritz, ibid., p. 332.

23. Ibid., p. 333, and Ubbelohde, Benson and Smith, op. cit., p. 264.

24. Fritz, ibid., p. 327, and Elwood Mead, Irrigation Institution (New York: MacMillan, 1909), and Ray P. Teele, Irrigation in the United States (New York: Appleton-Century, 1915.)

25. Ubbelohde, Benson and Smith, op. cit., pp. 266-267, and George W. James, Reclaiming the Arid West: The Story of the United States Reclamation Service (New York: n.p., 1917); Donald A. MacKendrick, "Before the Newlands Act: State-Sponsored Reclamation Projects in Colorado, 1888-1903," Colorado Magazine, 52, (1973), pp. 1-21.

26. Ubbelohde, Benson and Smith, op. cit., pp. 267-268; Dena S. Markoff, "The Beet Sugar Industry in Microcosm: The National Sugar Manufacturing Company, 1889-1967," (Ph.D. Dissertation: University of Colorado, 1980) and Joseph O. Van Hook, "Settlement and Economic Development of the Arkansas Valley from Pueblo to the Colorado-Kansas Line, 1860-1900," (Ph.D. Dissertation: University of Colorado, 1933.)

27. In: G. Michael McCarthy, Hour of Trial (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1977), and see: Robbins, op. cit., also Ubbelohde, Benson and Smith, p. 282.

28. McCarthy, ibid., pp. 29-36.

29. Ibid., p. 65, and Walter A. Voss, "Colorado and Forest Conservation" (M.A. Thesis: University of Colorado, 1931.)

30. McCarthy, ibid., p. 115, 136, 142, 146, and 147.