Gold Mines Of Colorado

Whíle süver siill renLaloa a mo.-ái atiueí ïhan (in eronuinical issue in olor&do, and a citizem'8 opinión on he coinnge question establUshes bis x-ial status is nis views on laptiam vould have dome in another decade laoe, tlie year 1894 ia vvl.iv, s-ing the volutlon of the state froin a silverprodiuctag to a gold-prodr.c:ng one. ■Maidin; it impotsible to mine silver i-oiitail,y at preeenit prlcee, the Coioado jniiiers iiave siinply turned their attemtion to felve gold-learins veins of taie gr&at mtoeral belt reachlng fiom Ivong's Peak to beyond the soulh west corner of the state, and they iroaniise to dig up during the year rom fifteen to twenty millions of dollars in the yellow metal. Nor is lils estímate am extravagant one. Besides the newly discovered üi trict at Cripplo Creek, wiiere there are milions almost literally "In sight," and he -'Kttle Kingdoaii of ( -ilpin," which has ben steadily pi-oducing lts quota of gold for moa-e taan a quarter of a century, there .are est'jmated to be tiw tliousaaid oiened veins in old or abandioned camps mnhich have lain dormaait s'.nee tüie mining of silver has las l e n noinuch more profitable than of gold, but wihdeh have beui taken up lile spring. Anil in the di-tri.-ts oí I.fiulvüli-, San Jaun, Boulder. Clear r.M'k, SUver (lifí, Rosita, Breekcnridge, Red öliff, and innumerable o:her camp;', tliousMiids of Jh Iver min ars of u y-e&r ago are now at work m the [iO-ld tninee, and thousnnds more ire pi o peeting in 'ïhe mimntain--, ml daily looatJng nnv claims. All tiLrough this vast gold territory, two limndred miles long ly eighty miles wide, ihcrc i sr4U-c 'ly ;i síjuare mile of Jiillf ile wbere the oonditions of mn ernlizatkm. sxi-t that does not bear the jnarks of th.e gold humt er- eit her ttue on.iine in' f uil operaüon, with lts shaít-houíe and "dump," or the email mound of yellowish Moil wberé the miner has pcrhaps unu-cesslully put hls probé., or which marks a spot wbere a mining-plant is to be erected ; ibut nowihere throughout the gold región do tlie tides of the grand old mountains rema in unsearred. Cripple Creek is the camp on the liocwn," iind henee the most Interesting to the mere Kht-seer. It is alf-o th.e most produetive camp in the state, over two aaid a quarter millloofi of dolíais liavtng been taken out oï the giouiid last year, and the estlmated produötion of 'this year witji two railroads Boom to be completed into the camp, being ;?7,000,000. Tlie Cripple Creek dtetrlot lies near the Wiestern base of P:ke's Peuk, 9100 ieet atove taie bea level, at a di:st;ince fioin Colorado Springs of miles as tine ilies, or more thaai thirty miles if the crow preierred to go by ihe Winy of the Midland Railroad and the Btage-coach line. It is not til the itraveler board the train ffiat ■wúnds aniong the lofty hi'.ls trom Col orado Sptóngs to Midland, Avhenoe the rest of the dist-am&e Is ly sfcage or wagon over the mountain?, that tlie appearanoe of his íeillow-passengers leg!ns to suggysst tli wilderness and the rugged Ufe oí Ihe m'.nes. Until we reaclied Colorado Springs the patsengers on the trains -vere the usual heterogeneous lot that one eees on tle railroads all over the country. The oocupants of the train that left Midland, however, were all obviou.-ly m'ning men intent on mining busimese ot tourLsts bent on little else than pdeaeure. A fine-looking lot of men bhiey ïvere, too, b'g feïows with )uo,h Juats mil trouwers in doots ior the miost part, m aie-owners, pro-pectors, and speeulators. One of tin m was nM-ompanied liy apretty little girl, jiot inore than iive or nis years of age, who was eviiUiitly a veterau traveler, to judge from the experleneed air with which she töok off lier fur tippet, cloak, and hat, and handed the.m, ome after the otlier, to her fatlier to place ia the rack above her head beiore tlie settled her small self comfoi-tally at the wiadows. I was toUl that i-he had leem born in a miains caanp, where her mother died, and tfoat, foUowing her father's varying fortunes, ishe fhad during her brief oareer roughed it in most of the campa of the state, a.iid a more contented little Kirl tlian she appeared tobe I have seldom Been. The only others of lier sex were two brilliaaitly attired laaies who reinaimd under middle )ge witli a coismetie effort, aad who, like their iollow-pasingers, were going to Cripple Cretk- "advtoituresses" they would b called in polite eoeiety. There was in eivl-faced gambler, acoampíunled by a lame buil pup, ior which he eviineed a tender solicitude ; aind au Englteh eapatalist, wlio was satd to repi-t-sent a syndicáte that wa.s prepared to invest largely in mimes, travelled with us m charge of au American promotor, who liud brought the otlier acroEB in ocean and a continent. At Midland everything was delight fully pptanttive, prtstiaie :nv frontierliek- whrai we thrned our backs upon the engine. Two old-fashioned stage-coaciiiea of the earliest type, exactly ns if they had been moilpl'cd Bíter nne of Rominston's picu o , -.v .e w i -ó' nt the st-t'on, ,-i,,M m. eaafa ol Hwwe were attaehed six powerful horsee, obviousiy bred 1 y anotlier ïteim,:ngton student. The (Mvers were jast the eort of mea th:u Bret Hurte has ni,i ns all about -big nd pioturesque. and each aliso lute lord of his equipnge aaid all wlio embai'ked wltli iiim. There were passengere enough to more tlian crowxl botli i:tages incide aad out ; and --lien the overloaded vehicles starteil, with th amall and experíenced traveler niorementioned lookiag out of tlie -vviudow oí oiie, and ithe lame bull-pup tlvrough the legs oí tlie driver of the other, those who uno left were obüged to wait lor tibe etages that met the aftemoon train, or to hire a special conveya.nce tit ilie livery stable. Four of us drove over tlie mountain t-oget lier in a liiurry drawn by a pair of brisk hoises, whereby it was that we reathed the hotel at Cripple Creek moie tliaai au hour ahead oí the stages. ïae drive irom Midland to Cripple Creek on. a freli spriug morning is tometihjig to be renienibered. The marrow road winds along tlio edge oï ilie zuountaius abo- precipitous oliffs, occasioaially taking a sliort cut th:oug-h the f-parsely growig t'unber to Lssue ota ü narro w ledge over anoilier deep gorge. At varyiug disan.-us the road was broadened to uLow teams to pass eai-li otlier, on which occasions there were very few u hes to epar.e bëtween the wheeLs oí tche outside vehlciee aaid rhe edge oí' til precdploe. Our driver tokl us titat til-ere was no dauger oí our ojiS ove:-, but ilie tooas:ouul boules Oj i.cad liores 111 lile ro.-ks in tile liuü.t's below us iil iiot u-iid t weakcii un iaiipierrsion thit the locality miglit be iMihealtliy iu sonie circumM.-nn-es. liiit it was not any íaiu-iíul danger oí failimg oíi Uie mountain that made the drive memorable. 'llie Bcediery. alouii tihite stage route is as raagnificcui a.s alnno.se anyw.licre in the Kockies Fiom. oma jioint the eye takee ia ia sweep o-í 300 ïniles of mountain ranges, wltJi Pike's and Long s peaks looaning grandly in the middle distamce, wkile far to the southwest the white cresis oí the Bamgre de Cristo are outliued against the sky, and the intei-"eaiing landscape presents i scone of tangled foiest, black lu-lis, and glooeiy valleys that i-oiises the latemt barbarie instinct th-it exists in every Ivuanaai breast, and makes one feel ain impulse to turn his baek fore'S'er upon civilization and roam those pr.imeval eoCltudes in savage ireedom