MINEBK00316

• County: Teller
• Document: Manager
• Suffix: E

THE CRIPPLE CREEK MINING DLSTRICT.
The Cripple Creek mining district is located in Teller County, in central Colorado, just west
of Pike's Peak, and about thirty miles from the city of Colorado Springs.
The district is located in a mountainous region, with an altitude varying from 9,000 to 10,000
feet above the level of the sea. The mineral-bearing area embraces a region about three miles by
five miles iu extent, which is being steadily enlarged as new discoveries are made. The population
of the district is over 50,000, and is rapidly increasing. The principal city of the district is Crip-
ple Creek, which has a population of from 15,000 to 20,000. The district contains several other
cities and towns of considerable size, among which may be mentioned Victor, Anaconda, Goldfield
and Altman. The district is well supplied with shipping facilities. The Florence and Cripple
Creek Railroad connects it with the Rio Grande system at Florence, Colorado, and the Midland
Terminal connects it with the Colorado Midland at Divide.- These roads give the camp close rail
road connection with Deaver, Colorado Springs and Pueblo. A third company has been organized
for the construction of a railroad line from Colorado Springs direct to Cripple Creek. The stock
and bonds of this company have been sold, and the funds for the completion of the line are now
available. Contracts for the construction of the line have been let, and a large portion of the
grading is already completed. The line should be iu operation within the next ten months.
In addition to these lines, an electric road rues through the district, connecting the principal
towns, and reaching many of the large mince.
The climatic conditions are most exceptional, and mining and shipping is carried on at all
seasons of the year without cessation.
The mines of the Cripple Creek district are situated in a complex o£ volcanic rock, occurring
through the mass of granite, which is the basal rock of the region. While the geological map of
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the gold field exhibits a great variety of volcanic rocks, the principal one is andesite breccia. The
breccia and the granite in the vicinity of the contact is penetrated and traversed by later~rolcauic
rocks, of which phonolite and basalt are the most important iu their relation to the occurrence of
ore, for in a great majority of cases where ore has been found iu the Cripple Creek cstrict it has
been directly associated with dykes of these materials. In many cases these dykes are themselves
heavily mineralized, and return high values.
FIGURES AND STATISTICS.
Gold is the one product of human industry for which there is an unlimited market at a
fixed price, nor is there any other product so closely allied with our commercial and industrial
welfare, for by it the value of all other products is measured. The scarcity of gold breeds com-
mercial disaster; a plentiful supply, industrial prosperity and expansion. The history of the
United States affords nuwerous illustrations of this fact. The discovery of gold in California in
1848 was followed by a long area of prosperity in all branches of business. In the years preceding
1893 our prod'uetion of gold had failed to keep pace with our development in other directions,
which was cue of the chief factors in bringing about 'the panic of that year. Since that time the
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