HomeMy WebLinkAboutRESPONSE - RFP - P814 CULTURAL RESOURCE INVENTORY�f 6/DU
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ENV]RO NMENTA4 CONSLTANT$ `
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November 29, 2001
City of Fort Collins, Colorado
Purchasing Division
215 Mason Street, 2"d Floor
Fort Collins, Colorado 80254
970.221.6675
Denver Offs.
8461 Turnpike Drive, Site 100
Warn inter, Colorado 80031
Tel 30348711 B3 fax 303.487,1245
Subject: Response to Solicitation for Proposal P-814
Dear Review Committee:
We are pleased to respond to the solicitation for the cultural resource inventory of the
Buckingham, Alta Vista, and Andersonville Neighborhoods and the development of the Sugar
Beet, Russian -German, and Mexican Contexts (Proposal P-814) by offering the following
proposal. We are presenting ourselves as being able to complete the tasks outline in the proposal
an enthusiastic, competent, professional, and timely manner. Given the high quality of our staff,
our state-of-the-art equipment, and our long record of producing quality products for our clients,
we will feel that we will provide the City of Fort Collins an outstanding product and service.
Should any of you have questions, comments, or concerns regarding this proposal, please feel
free to contact me at 303.487.1183. We look forward to working with you on this exciting
project. Thank you for the opportunity to be of service.
SinceKly,
Bill art*
Senior haeologist/P
Enclosures
ect Manager
A
Proposal Number P-814, Historical Context and Inventory, City of Fort Collins, Colorado
SCOPE OF WORK: Class III cultural resource inventory of 1,127 acres within Matthews/Winters
Park. A total of 20 isolated finds, 7 historic sites, I prehistoric site, and l multicomponent site
was evaluated during this project.
PROJECT: Cultural Resource Inventory Lair O' The Bear Open Space Park
CLIENT: Jefferson County Open Space
CONTACT: Frank Kunze 303.271.5983
SCOPE OF WORK: Class III cultural resource inventory of 384 acres within Lair O' The Bear
Park. Two isolated finds and 3 historic sites were evaluated during this project.
PROJECT: Cultural Resource Inventory of the Bear Creek Canyon Open Space Property
CLIENT: Jefferson County Open Space
CONTACT: Frank Kunze 303.271.5983
SCOPE OF WORK: Class III cultural resource inventory of 1,577 acres within the Bear Creek
Canyon Open Space Property. Four isolated finds, 1 historic site, and 1 previously recorded
historic site were evaluate during this project.
PROJECT: 5PA142 Testing and Analysis
CLIENT: Federal Highway Administration, Central Federal Lands Highway Division
CONTACT: Steve Hallisy 303.716.2140
SCOPE OF WORK: Performed archaeological test excavations and National Register of Historic
Places evaluation on Site 5PA142 (the Tumbling River Rockshelter)
PROJECT: Regional Context Concerning the Prehistory of Colorado: the Platte River Basin
CLIENT: Colorado Council of Professional Archaeologists
SCOPE OF WORK: SWCA, Inc. recently completed one of five context documents concerning
the prehistory of Colorado. This document discusses the Platte River Basin area, which covers the
northeastern quarter of the state. The context addresses previous archaeological research in the
region, cultural chronology, property types and site significance, as well as directions for future
research.
PROJECT NAME: Archaeological Investigations at the Summitville Superfund Site
CLIENT: Bureau of Reclamation
CONTACT: Warren Hurley, 970.385.6548
SCOPE OF WORK: Class III cultural resource survey of sites in and near the Summitville
Superfund site in the San Juan Mountains of southern Colorado. Included re-recording of the
historic town of Summitville, as well as the re-evaluation of numerous previously recorded sites in
the area.
PROJECT NAME: Trinidad History Museum Archaeological Investigations
CLIENT: Colorado Historical Society, funded by a Colorado State Historical Fund Grant
CONTACT: Paula Manini, 719.846-7217
SCOPE OF WORK: Conducting archival and on -sight research regarding the archaeological
potential of the Trinidad History Museum. Products included the mapping of potential features, a
preliminary archaeological research design, and the identification of archaeological processes.
PROJECT NAME: Archaeological Survey and Cultural Resources Management Plan for the
Rocky Mountain Arsenal
CLIENT: National Park Service, Rocky Mountain Region
CONTACT: Greg Kendrick, 303.969.2894
SCOPE OF WORK: Cultural resource inventory of 11,000 acres at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal,
Colorado. Other tasks included site testing, National Register of Historic Places Evaluation and
the preparation of a cultural resource management plan.
SWCA Inc. - 9 -
lighter than cages because they did not
have the combined dead weight of the
vehicle and an ore car, and the reduced
weight resulted in energy savings. Skips
also offered the benefit of being quickly
filled and emptied, resulting in a rapid
turnover of rock. Shortly after the turn -
of -the -century, large Western mining
companies began replacing cages with
skips for use in vertical shafts. The
change over proceeded slowly through
the 1900s, it accelerated rapidly during
the 1910s, and by the 1930s most large
and many medium-sized Western mines
used skips. Of course, mining companies
were able to switch skips and cages at the
shaft collar when necessary by unhooking
the hoist cable and pulling the vehicle off
of the guide rails.
Mining engineers recognized that
cages and skips were the vehicles of
choice for productive mines, and they
relegated ore buckets strictly to a status
of shaft sinking and minor ore production.
Cages and skips permitted hoisting speeds
far and above what was possible with
free -swinging ore buckets, from 300 to
400 feet per minute up to 3,000 feet per
minute in deep shafts, and with them
mining companies hauled great tonnages
of rock from the underground. Miners
were able to rapidly load cages and skips,
while they had to hand -shovel rock into
ore buckets. Despite the advantages
offered by cages and skips, small and
poorly financed mining companies
continued to use relatively inexpensive
ore buckets into the 1930s because they
did not require expensive guide rails and
support timbering constructed the length
of a shaft.
41
Figure 4.11 Top left is the traditional cage used in vertical shafts. Top right is a vehicle that some
engineers referred to as a cage for inclined shafts, and at bottom is a skip. The skip proved to be the most
efficient vehicle for hoisting rock out of inclined shafts. International Textbook Company, 1906 A53 p9;
International Tent book Company, 1899 A23 p 79, 86.
Hoists
When prospectors and mining
companies decided to sink a shaft to
explore a mineral body at depth, they
were forced to install a hoisting system to
permit vertical work. Like other surface
plant components, hoists came in a wide
range of sizes, types, and duties suited for
prospecting and for ore extraction.
Hoists designed for prospecting adhered
to sinking class characteristics, and hoists
intended for ore production adhered to
production class characteristics. The
42
hand windlass was the simplest form of
sinking -class hoist, and prospectors used
it for shallow work. The windlass was an
ages -old manually powered winch
consisting of a spool made from a lathed
log, fitted with crank handles, and its
working depth was limited to
approximately 100 feet. Prospectors
sinking inclined shafts had the option of
using what mining engineers termed a
geared windlass or crab winch, which
offered a greater pulling power and depth
capacity. Geared windlasses cost much
less than other types of mechanical hoists,
and they were small and light enough to
be packed into the backcountry. The
winch was not easily used at vertical
shafts, however, because the rope spool
and hand -crank fitted onto a frame which
had to be anchored onto a well-built
timber structure.35
Prospect operations often worked
at depths greater than the limitations
presented by windlasses, and they had to
install a more advanced hoisting system to
permit work. The horse whim proved to
be a favorite in the mining West, because
it was relatively inexpensive to purchase,
operating costs were low, it was portable,
and it was simple to install. Through the
1860s the Western mining industry
accepted the horse whim as being state-
of-the-art hoisting technology for both
prospecting and ore production. But by
the 1870s practical steam hoists were
finally coming of age, and the status the
mining industry had accorded to horse
whims began a downward slide. By
around 1880 medium-sized and large
Western mining operations had fully
embraced steam hoists, and mining
engineers felt that horse whims were well -
suited for backcountry prospecting, but
they were too slow and limited in lifting
power for ore production. The problem
with horse whims, according to mining
engineers, was that they had a load
capacity of around 800 pounds, a depth
limitation of 300 feet, and a painfully slow
hoisting speed of 50 to 80 feet per
minute. However, they were ideally
suited for work at remote locations
because they were light and could have
been transported on mule -back, they were
easily disassembled, and inexpensive.
Horizontal reel whims weighed between
600 and 800 pounds and cost as little as
$150, while geared whims weighed twice
as much and cost a little more. The draft
animal that labored in the harness
constituted what we know in the late
twentieth century as a renewable energy
source, requiring only local feed and
water. Because of these factors, whims
fit a special niche among poorly financed
Western prospect operations, including
those at Creede, into the 1910s.36
Mining companies and prospect
outfits could select from several varieties
of horse whims. The simplest and oldest
version, christened by Hispanic miners as
the malacate (mal-a-ca-tay), consisted of
a horizontal wooden drum or reel directly
turned by a draft animal. Early malacates
featured a wooden cable drum, a stout
iron axle, and bearings fastened onto both
an overhead beam and to a timber
foundation.
43
i
Figure 4.12 At left is a typical windlass, and at right is a crab winch. Prospectors used windlasses for
feet deep, and they
crb
raising light small exploratoryto service ,
loads
incline s allshasshafts
Inteless
rn than
h a1100 Textbook Comp ang, 19t06tA50 p2a C oft, Teerrell 923
p605.
Figure 4.13 An artist's rendition of a complete horse whim system. The hoist, employed by small remote
prospect operations, consists of a geared whim affixed to a timber foundation, a cable trench, and a small
hewn log tetrapod headframe. The hoist cable passes from the whim through the trench to a pulley bolted
onto the headframe's base, up and over small sheaves at the headframe's top, then down the shaft. The
horse whim was the only system to feature this odd manner of routing the hoisting cable. The hoistman,
who doubled as the topman, manipulated brake and clutch levers located at the shaft collar. The control
linkages passed through the cable trench as well. Note the track for the draft animal. Ingersoll Rock Drill
Company, [18871 p62.
44
Prospectors usually positioned the drum
so that it rotated in a shallow pit that they
lined with either rock -work or wood
planking. The cable extended from the
drum through a shallow trench toward the
shaft. It passed through a pulley bolted to
the foot of the headframe, then up and
over the sheave at the headframe's top.
The draft animal walked around the whim
on a prepared track, and the party of
prospectors usually laid a plank over the
cable trench for the animal to walk across.
The controls for the malacate consisted of
brake and clutch levers mounted to the
shaft collar, and they were connected to
the apparatus by wood or iron linkages
that passed through the trench.37
Mining machinery makers offered
factory -made horse whims which were
sturdier and performed better than the
hand -made units used by impoverished
miners. The Risdon Iron Works in San
Francisco began manufacturing a variety
sold as the "Common Sense Horse
Whim". Similar in form to the malacate,
Risdon's machine consisted of a spoked
iron cable reel mounted on a timber
foundation that miners had embedded in
the ground. These horizontal reel horse
whims remained popular among poorly
funded prospect operations into the
1900s. The geared horse whim appeared
in the West during the 1880s and it
remained popular among prospect
operations into the 1900s. The machine
consisted of a cable drum mounted
vertically onto a timber frame, a beveled
gear connected to the draft animal's
harness beam. Geared horse whims were
supposedly faster and could lift more than
horizontal reel models. They also
featured controls and cable arrangements
like the other types of whims, and the
drum and gearing was bolted onto a
timber foundation buried in waste rock.38
In keeping with the themes of
impermanence and limited budgets
common to prospecting during the Gilded
Age, mining operations erected small and
simple headframes in conjunction with
horse whims. Prospectors favored using
either a tripod, tetrapod, or a small four -
post derrick that was just wide enough to
straddle the shaft. The. primary stresses
these headframes had to contend with
were vertical, consisting of the combined
weight of the loaded hoisting vehicle and
the cable paid down the shaft. The lack
of other stresses permitted prospect
operations to erect structures that were
simple and unique to horse whims. The
headframes were made of light -duty
materials, and they did not need
backbraces, a firm foundation, and other
structural elements necessary for power
hoisting. Further, prospectors often used
hewn logs up to 25 feet long that they cut
at little cost.
Prospect operations working in
deep shafts began to use steam hoists in
large numbers by around 1880. 'These
systems were beyond the financial means
of simple, poorly financed partnerships,
nor were they easy to transport deep into
the backcountry. Steam hoists and their
associated boilers required capital, and at
least several men among the crew had to
have knowledge of how to install and
operate such machinery. Deep prospect
operations equipped with mechanical
hoists usually fell under the auspices of
organized mining companies.
Steam hoisting systems required a
relatively substantive infrastructure. They
consisted of a heavy hoist and boiler,
cable, pipes, a headframe, and
foundations. Because of the numerous
45
heavy components, the steam system had
to be planned, engineered, and the claim
made ready with a road. The mining
company had to provide a reliable source
of soft water and a source of fuel for the
boiler. Investors and company
management expected deep prospect
operations to work year `round until they
found ore or until the money ran out,
necessitating the construction of a shaft
house to fend off the elements.
Prospect operations throughout
the West active after around 1880
typically used geared single -drum duplex
steam hoists, known simply as single
drum steam hoists. These hoists became
the ubiquitous Gilded Age workhorse for
shaft mining. Single drum steam hoists
consisted of a cable drum, two steam
cylinders flanking the drum, reduction
gears, a clutch, a brake mechanism, and a
throttle. The steam pistons chuffed away
Eke a railroad engine and turned the drum
through the gearing. Single -drum hoists
featured durable and simple controls, and
they were easy to use. All hoists had a
clutch that uncoupled the drum from the
drive shaft, and they also had a reverse
link that permitted the engine to run
backward. The reverse lever moved a rod
that switched the positions of the exhaust
and steam valves, closing one if it had
been open and opening the other if it had
been closed. While the reverse link
proved invaluable for slowing the hoist
and vehicle during long descents in deep
shafts, hoists also featured a mandatory
brake.
Mining engineers selected the
specific model and size of hoist primarily
according to the budget granted by the
company, and secondary on the speed and
depth he anticipated working. Nearly all
of the sinking -class hoists that engineers
selected for deep prospecting had
bedplates smaller than 6 by 6 feet in area
and were driven either by gearing or by a
friction drive mechanism. A friction -
drive consisted of rubber rollers which
pressed against the hoist's drum flanges,
and while these systems cost less than
geared hoists, they were slow and apt to
slip under load. Both types of hoists had
limited strength, which was often less than
40 horsepower, a slow speed of 350 feet
per minute, and a payload of only several
tons. Professionally educated engineers
defined such hoists as meeting the criteria
for sinking -class mine machinery and not
for ore production, which applied well
into the twentieth century.''
A significant number of deep
prospect operations in the West fell into
an awkward niche where horse whims
were inadequate, but the outfit could not,
or would not, come up with the capital
necessary to install a conventional
stationary steam hoist and boiler. During
the late 1870s machinery manufacturers
introduced a revolutionary type of
hoisting system that met the needs of
these small operations. The steam donkey
hoist, so named for its broad utility,
consisted of either a small single cylinder
or duplex steam hoist and an upright
boiler mounted onto a common wood or
steel frame. While donkey hoists were
not manufactured exclusively for mining,
being used for logging and in freight
yards, they endeared themselves to
Western prospect operations. The
durable machines withstood mistreatment,
they were relatively inexpensive, they did
not require much site preparation, and
they could literally drag themselves
around the landscape. In addition,
donkey hoists did not require a deep
understanding of engineering, and nearly
anyone on the payroll of a mining
company could have operated one.
46
i�
Figure 4.14 The single -drum duplex geared steam hoist, popularly known as the `single drum hoist"
revolutionized shaft mining because it permitted companies to efficiently raise great weight from deep
workings. The installation of such an apparatus and the associated mandatory steam boiler required
capital to purchase and engineering skills to install. The front of the illustrated hoist is at right and the
rear, where the hoistman stood to operate the controls, is at left. Ingersoll Rock Drill Company, [1887]
p56.
Figure 4.15 Prospect operations engaged in deep subsurface exploration employed highly versatile and
modestly priced donkey hoists. The durable machines were self-contained on a common bedplate, and
because they were heavy when assembled, they required no anchor foundation. When the hoistman
disconnected the drum's clutch, he could have used the drive -belt pulley at far right to power other
machines such as ventilation blowers while the steam engine idled. Ingersoll Rock Drill Company,
(1887] p54.
47
Table 4.2: General Hoist Specifications: Type, Duty, Foundation
Hoist Type
Hoot Class
Foundation
Foundation
Foundation
Foundation
Slze
Foot riot
Profile
Material
Hand Windtass
Shallow
Rectangular
\4'uN frame over
Timber
Sinkin
shaft
Hand Winch
Shallow
30 ft.
Square or
Flat
t hnber
Sinking
Rectangular
Hum Whim: Malacate
Shallow
7 to 10 ft.
Ovoid
Cable Reel Axle
Timber
Sinking
Diameter
Depression
Located in Pit
Horse Whim:
Sinking
4x4 tL
Rectangular
Timber Footers in
Timber
Horizontal Reel
Depression
Horse Whim: Geared
Sinking
4x4 ft.
Rectangular
Timber Footers in
Timber
Depression
Steam Donkev
Sinking
Portable
Rectangular
None
None
Gasoline Donkev
Sinking
Portable
Rectangular
None
None
Single Drum Gasoline
Sinking
1.5x8 ft. to
Rectangular
flat
Timber or
4xi4.5 ft.
Concrete
Single Drum Gasoline
Sinking
2.5x8 R to
T-shaped
Flat
Timber or
4x14.3 fl.
Concrete
Single Drum Geared to
Sinking
3x8 ft. to
GShaped
Flat
Timber or
Gasoline Engme
8x14.5 ft.
Concrete
Single Drum Steam
Sinking
6x6 fl. and
Rectangular
Flat
Timber or
Smaller
Concrete
Single Drum Steam
light
6x6 ft. to
Square or
Flat
Concrete or
Production
7.5x10 ft.
Rectangular
Masonry
Single Drum Steam
Moderate
7.5x10 H.
Rectangular
Irregular
Concrete or
Production
and Lama
Masonry
Double Ihurn Steam
Moderate
40 R to
Rectangular
Irregular
Concrete or
Production
7x12 ft.
Masomv
Double Drum Steam
Heavy
7x12 R and
Rectangular
Irregular
Concrete and
Production
Luger,
Masoruv
Single Drum Geared
Sinking
5x6 ft. and
Square or
Flat
Concrete
Electric
Smaller
Rectangular
Single Drum Geared
Production
6x6 IL and
Square or
Flat
Concrete
Electric
target
Recum Iar
Single Drum Direct
Production
5x6 R and
Square or
Flat
Concrete
Drive Electric
Larger
Rectangular
Double Drum Geared
Heavy
6x12 ft.
Rectangular
Irregular
Concrete
Electric
Production
Double Drum Direct
Heavy
6xl2 ft.
Rectangular
Irregular
Concrete
Drive Electric
Production
(Copied from Twitty, 1999, p291).
Mining engineers recognized that
donkey hoists strictly met sinking -class
specifications because of their limited
performances. The machines possessed
slow hoisting speeds, the boilers offered
poor fuel economy, and the hoists had
limitations of up to an 8,000 pound
payload and a 1,000 foot working depth.
Preparing a donkey hoist for use was
extremely easy once it had been brought
to the prospect shaft. A crew of laborers
graded a platform a short distance from
the shaft and placed the donkey hoist on
it. Usually the shear weight of the
machine was enough to keep it in place
during operation, but in many cases
prospect operations staked down the rear
as a safety precaution. Like all steam
hoists, donkey hoists required sources of
fuel and water.40
Prospect operations seeking riches
deep in the backeountry reluctantly spent
the capital required to install steam
equipment. The problems they faced
43
were twofold. Not only did these
operations have to ship and erect the
hoisting system, but they also had to
continuously feed it fuel and water, which
proved costly. In the early 1890s the
Witte Iron Works Company and the
Weber Gas & Gasoline Engine Company
both began experimenting with a new
hoisting technology that alleviated many
of the fuel and water issues faced by
remote prospect operations. Witte and
Weber both introduced the first practical
petroleum engine hoists. These
innovative machines were smaller than
many steam models, they required no
boilers, and their concentrated liquid fuel
was by far easier to transport than wood
or coal.
Despite their potential advantages,
Western mining companies did not
immediately embrace petroleum hoists.
Steam technology, the workhorse of the
Industrial Revolution, held convention in
the mining industry through all but the last
few years of the nineteenth century for
several reasons. First, many mining
companies and practicing mining
engineers were by nature conservative,
and out of. familiarity they stayed the
course with steam into the 1910s.
Second, during this time petroleum engine
technology was relatively new and had
not seen widespread application,
especially for hoisting. The few
operations to employ petroleum hoists
during. the 1890s found the engines to be
cantankerous and that their performances
were limited. Further, petroleum hoists
were slow, possessing speeds of 300 to
400 feet per minute, they could not raise
much more than 4,500 pounds, and their
working depth was limited to less than
1,000 feet. For these reasons
professionally educated mining engineers
felt they were barely adequate for sinking
duty, and total acceptance took
approximately fifteen years.41
The petroleum hoists seen among
Western prospect operations were similar
in form to the old-fashioned and well -
loved steam donkey hoists. The engine, a
large single cylinder oriented either
vertically or horizontally, had been fixed
to the rear of a heavy cast iron frame and
its piston rod connected to a heavy
crankshaft located in the frame's center.
Manufacturers located the cable drum,
turned by reduction gearing, at front, and
the hoistman stood to one side and
operated brake and clutch levers, and the
throttle. Because the early petroleum
engines were incapable of starting and
stopping under load or of being reversed,
they had to nun continuously, requiring
the hoistman to delicately work the clutch
when hoisting, and disengage the drum
and lower the ore bucket via the brake.
Miners truly placed their lives on the line
when riding an ore bucket controlled by a
petroleum hoist.
Western prospect operations
began showing interest in petroleum
hoists during the late 1890s because the
small sizes and light weights of the
machines made the apparatuses easy to
ship. Equally important, petroleum fuel
cost much less to pack to a prospect site
than coal or wood, and the purchase
prices of the hoists were modest. By the
1900s professionally trained mining
engineers granted the hoists recognition
for the ability to play an effective role in
deep prospecting at remote sites. But
their means of operation bothered some
mining engineers, such as the famous
Herbert C. Hoover:
"Gasoline hoists have a
distinct place in
prospecting and early-
49
stage mining, especially in
desert countries where
transport and fuel
conditions are onerous, for
both the machines and
their fuel are easy of
transport. As direct gas -
engines entail constant
motion of the engine at the
power demand of the peak
load, they are hopeless in
mechanical efficiency."
(14)
Despite running at full throttle much of
the day, many early petroleum hoists
consumed at most 10 gallons of gasoline,
diesel, or kerosene per ten hour shift,
which cost a total of approximately $2.00
in turn -of -the -century dollars. By
comparison, a cord of wood, typically
consumed by a sinking class steam
hoisting system during a shift, also cost
around $2.00 where cut, but then it had to
be shipped to the prospect site, raising the
total cost to as much as 510. Some
prospect operations under the guidance of
clever engineers put the constant running
of petroleum hoists to efficient use by
adding a pulley to the flywheel, which
then powered air compressors and shop
appliances via canvas belting. This at
least partially negated Hoover's criticism
of the inefficiencies of petroleum hoists.42
The Western mining industry did
not begin to truly embrace petroleum
hoists for deep prospecting, let alone
minor ore production, until the late 1900s.
By the 1910s gas engine technology had
improved and hoistmen understood how
to operate the machines without stalling
them, and even to work the throttle to
maximize efficiency. Petroleum hoists
had made such an impact by this time that
steam hoists were becoming obsolete
among remote prospect operations in the
Great Basin and Southwest, but in areas
where cord wood or coal was plentiful,
such as Creede, the transition was slower.
Steam technology maintained
supremacy among Western mines for
production -class hoisting systems until
gasoline and electric power superceded it
in the early 1920s. During this time
period mining machinery makers such as
Allis-Chalmers, the Lidgerwood
Manufacturing Company, the Lambert
Hoisting Engine Company, Hendrie &
Bolthoff, the union Iron Works, and the
Ottumwa Iron Works offered steam hoists
in a wide array of sizes. These
manufacturers also offered hoists
equipped with either first -motion or
second motion drive trains. First -motion
drive, also known among mining
engineers as direct -drive, meant that the
steam engine drive rods were coupled
directly onto the cable drum shaft, much
like the way the drive rods were directly
pinned onto a steam locomotive's wheels.
Second motion drive, also commonly
known as a geared -drive, consisted of
reduction gearing like the sinking -class
hoists discussed above.
The difference in the driving
mechanisms was significant in both
performance and cost, and each served a
distinct function in Western mining.
Gearing offered great mechanical
advantage, which permitted the use of
relatively small steam cylinders. The
arrangement of the gear shafting and
cylinders on a common bedplate
permitted the hoist's footprint to be
compact. First -motion hoists, on the
other hand, required that the cable drum
be mounted at the ends of large dual
steam cylinders so that the drive rods
could gain leverage. Where the footprint
of geared hoists was almost square, the
50
Proposal Number P-814, Historical Context and Inventory, City of Fort Collins, Colorado
PROJECT NAME: Bureau of Reclamation On -call Services
CLIENT: Bureau of Reclamation
CONTACT: Warren Hurley, 970.385.6548
SCOPE OF WORK: Class II and Class III cultural resource survey, testing, and data recovery
throughout the Four Corners region.
PROJECT NAME: Columbine Townsite Testing
CLIENT: National Park Service, Rocky Mountain Region
CONTACT: William B. Butler, Ph.D., 970.586.1332
SCOPE OF WORK: Archaeological testing and data recovery at the historic townsite of
Columbine near Steamboat Springs, Colorado.
PROJECT NAME: Cottonwood Pass Survey
CLIENT: Federal Highway Administration
CONTACT: Steve Hallisey, 303.969.5912
SCOPE OF WORK: Cultural resource inventory of 623 acres along Colorado Forest Highway 59
in Gunnison County.
PROJECT NAME: Huntington Lands Exchange
CLIENT: Bureau of Reclamation
CONTACT: Warren Hurley, 970.385.6548
SCOPE OF WORK: Cultural resource inventory of 6031 acres in the La Plata River drainage of
southwestern Colorado. The project involved the recording, analysis and eligibility assessment of
175 sites.
PROJECT NAME: Grand Valley Wildlife Project
CLIENT: Bureau of Reclamation
CONTACT: Warren Hurley, 970.385.6548
SCOPE OF WORK: Identification, inventory, and evaluation of historic standing structures for a
200 acre proposed wildlife area in Grand Junction, Colorado.
PROJECT NAME: Animas -La Plata Research Design
CLIENT: Bureau of Reclamation
CONTACT: Warren Hurley, 970.385.6548
SCOPE OF WORK: Preparation of a research design for a Class II survey of approximately
90,000 acres of the proposed irrigated lands of the Animas -La Plata project in southwestern
Colorado.
PROJECT NAME: Animas -La Plata Survey
CLIENT: Bureau of Reclamation
CONTACT: Warren Hurley, 970.385.6548
SCOPE OF WORK: Intensive survey of approximately 9,000 acres in the Mancos and La Plata
River drainages in southwestern Colorado.
PROJECT NAME: Arboles Point Project
CLIENT: Bureau of Reclamation
CONTACT: Warren Hurley, 970.385.6548
SCOPE OF WORK: Excavation of a Basketmaker III and Pueblo I Anasazi village site threatened
by shoreline fluctuations and looting at Navajo Reservoir in southwestern Colorado.
SWCA Inc. - 10 -
footprint of first -motion hoists was that of
an elongated rectangle with the long axis
oriented toward the shaft. First -motion
hoists were intended by manufacturers to
serve as high -quality production -class
machines designed to save money only
over protracted and constant use, while
geared hoists were intended to be
E
inexpensive and meet the short term needs
of small, modestly capitalized mines.
r
First -motion hoists were stronger, faster,
and more fuel -efficient than geared
models. The large size, necessity of using
high -quality steel to withstand
9
tremendous mechanical forces, and the
fine engines made the purchase price of
first -motion hoists three to four times that
j
of geared hoists, the latter costing from
approximately $1,000 to $3,000 for light
to heavy production -class models. First -
motion hoists had a speed of 1,500 to
3,000 feet per minute, compared with 500
to 700 feet per minute for geared hoists.
J
These hoisting speeds reflect the ability of
1
first -motion hoists to work in shafts with
E
depths well into the thousands of feet.
Geared hoists usually relied on old-
fashioned but durable slide valves to
admit steam into and release exhaust from
the cylinders, while first -motion hoists
usually were equipped with corliss valves
for the engine, which were initially more
expensive but consumed half the fuel.43
Not only were the costs of
purchasing first -motion hoists high, the
expenses associated with their installation
were exorbitant. Because geared hoists
were self-contained on a common
bedplate, the surface crew at a mine
merely had to build a small foundation
with anchor bolts projecting out of a flat
surface, and drop the hoist into place.
First -motion hoists, on the other hand,
I`
required raised masonry pylons for the
steam cylinders, pylons for the cable drum
bearings, a well for the drum, and anchor
bolts in masonry between the pylons for
the brake posts. The hoist pieces then
had to be brought over, maneuvered into
place, and simultaneously assembled.
Mining engineers chose specific
hoists based on the power delivered by
the engine, which had a proportional
relationship with the hoist's overall size.
Geared hoists smaller than 6 by 6 feet
were usually made for deep exploration
and delivered less than 50 horsepower.
Hoists between 7 by 7 feet and 9 by 9 feet
were for minor ore production and
offered 75 to 100 horsepower. Hoists 10
by 10 feet to 11 by 11 feet were for
moderate to heavy production and
generated up to 150 horsepower, and
larger units were exclusively for heavy
production. Mining engineers rarely
installed geared hoists larger than 12 by
12 feet, because for a little more money
they could have obtained an efficient first -
motion hoist.44
Regardless of the nature of the
drive mechanism, single drum geared and
direct -drive hoists were restricted to
serving a shaft with a single hoisting
compartment, which had inherent
inefficiencies. Double -drum hoists, on the
other hand, offered greater economical
performance because they increased the
tonnages of rock produced while saving
energy costs. They achieved this through
a balanced hoisting system, which
required two hoisting vehicles. As the
hoist raised one vehicle, the other
descended down the shaft in a balanced
fashion. Not only did the hoist only have
to do the work of raising the ore and not
the deadweight of the hoisting vehicle,
thus saving energy, but also two vehicles
raised more rock than one. However,
double drum hoists possessed several
drawbacks that limited their appeal to
51
particularly well -financed mining
companies. The hoists were considerably
more expensive than single drum models
to purchase and install, and sinking and
timbering a shaft with two hoisting
compartments and the obligatory utility
compartment constituted a great cost.
Like single -drum hoists, double -
drum units came with geared or first -
motion drives, which were either self-
contained on a bedplate or consisted of
components that had to be anchored to
masonry foundation piers. Double -drum
geared hoists, ranging in size from
between 7 by 12 feet to 12 by 17 feet,
were slower, less powerful, and noisier
than their direct -drive brethren, and they
cost much less to purchase, transport, and
install. Like single -drum geared hoists,
double -drum geared models had weight,
speed, and depth limitations mining
engineers with
Figure 4.16 "'Made by the mile and cut off by the yard", mining companies throughout the West favored
the single drum duplex geared steam hoist above all other varieties until electric power and petroleum fuel
replaced steam in the early 1920s. These hoists were relatively inexpensive and easy to install because
they came assembled onto a common bedpl'ate. However, geared hoists lacked efficiency. The rear of the
hoist where the controls were located is at left, and the front where the drive shaft rotates is at right.
International Textbook Company, 1906. A50 p8.
;7
Figure 4.17 First -motion steam hoists consisted of two powerful steam engines coupled directly to the
drum shaft. The direct -drive motion enabled these mighty machines to raise loads much quicker while
using less fuel than the geared hoists illustrated above, suiting them for heavy ore production. Because
first -motion hoists were very costly, generally only well -capitalized mining outfits installed them. Note
the level gauge in the upper left which displayed where the hoisting vehicle was in the shaft. The hoist in
the illustration has been wound with two hoist cables for balanced hoisting. International Textbook
Company, 1906. A50 p17.
Figure 4.18 Double drum first -motion steam hoists represented the culmination of efficient and costly
production -class hoisting systems. The line drawing provides a rearview of the complex machinery
comprising the hoist. The hoist components include two massive steam cylinders flanking the hoistman's
platform, the cable drums, and steam cylinders located in the pit that powered the clutch and brake. Few
mining companies were productive enough or possessed sufficient capital to install these types of hoists.
International Textbook Company, 1906. A50 p18.
53
high expectations would not tolerate. The
ultimate answer for raising the maximum
quantity of ore in minimal time was the
installation of a double -drum first -motion
hoist. The extreme difficulty and
exorbitant costs of transporting and
installing these massive machines
relegated them to only the most heavily
capitalized mining companies with highly
productive operations in well -developed
districts, such as the Last Chance Mine on
Creede's Amethyst Vein. Not only did
these types of double drum hoists permit
mining companies to maximize profits,
but also they served as a statement to the
mining world of a company's financial
status, levels of productivity, and quality
of engineering.
Double drum first -motion hoists
ranged in size from approximately 18 by
25 feet. to over 30 by 40 feet in area, and
their visual impact mirrored their
performances. Small models, large by
comparison to other types of hoists,
generated a tremendous 600 horsepower
while large units created over 1,200
horsepower. The power behind these
hoists' massive steam pistons permitted
the machines to raise over many tons at a
speed of at least 3,000 feet per minute,
making geared hoists seem like toys.
Their working depths were well over
3,000 feet.d5
The installation of such immense
hoists required exacting engineering,
highly skilled labor, and significant site
preparation. While mine machinery
makers shipped the smaller geared hoists
either intact or in several large
components which were easily assembled,
the large first -motion units came in many
pieces, weighing between several pounds
and several tons, and they required special
arrangements of anchor bolts built into
elaborate masonry foundations. The
steam assist cylinders that powered the
clutches and brakes, as well as the brake
posts, control linkages, and the main hoist
parts all had to be perfectly mounted onto
bolts set in masonry pylons placed at
exact heights and locations. Because
these powerful machines were highly
specialized and their installation required
precision work, manufacturers such as
Webster, Camp & Lane, Wellman -Seaver -
Morgan Company, Allis-Chalmers
Company, and the Steams -Roger
Manufacturing Company dispatched
mechanical engineers to assist in site
preparation and final assembly. During
the Gilded Age, the installation of a first -
motion hoist usually represented the
culmination of a production -class plant.
While the mammoth machines delivered
savings in terms of producing ore in
economies of scale, they also consumed
much money. Double drum steam hoists
required frequent maintenance and they
required huge quantities of fuel. As a
result, mining engineers began to replace
them with double drum electric hoists
when electrical technology had attained a
competitive state by around 1920.
By the Great Depression,
professionally educated mining engineers
celebrated the industry's embrace of the
electric hoist for most types of shaft
work. Machinery makers had ironed out
wrinkles in the technology experienced by
the mining industry during the 1900s and
1910s, and by the 1930s they were
producing a variety of single and double
drum models for shaft sinking and for
heavy ore production. Like the steam
hoists of old, electric models came in four
basic varieties: geared single and double
drum units, and direct -drive single and
double drum units. The geared electric
hoists were built much like their steam
ancestors in that the motor turned a set of
34
reduction gears connected to the cable
drum, and the components came from the
manufacturer assembled onto a heavy
bedplate. The gearing permitted hoist
manufacturers to install small and
inexpensive motors ranging from 30 to
300 horsepower. Direct -drive electric
hoists, on the other hand, had huge
motors rated up to 2,000 horsepower
attached to the same shaft that the cable
drums had been mounted on. These
hoists, considerable in size, had to be
assembled as components onto special
foundations, as did the old direct -drive
steam hoists.46
Any twentieth century mining
engineer felt immense pride when his mine
became host to a direct drive electric
hoist. These machines were fast,
powerful, efficient, and clearly intended
for heavy ore production. They had
hoisting speeds in the thousands of feet -
per -minute, their payload capacity was
over ten tons, and they were able to work
at great depths. But because they were
very costly, only highly profitable and
heavily capitalized mining companies
could justify installing such machines.
Further, the electrical systems required to
operate direct -drive hoists were expensive
to install. These large machines typically
operated with DC electric current, and as
a result they required a substation where
the AC current wired to the mine could
have been converted. In addition,
because the massive motors for direct -
drive hoists drew heavily from the
electrical circuit upon starting, mining
companies that installed direct -drive
hoists found it best to put in an associated
rotary converter to moderate the power
drain.47
Like the antiquated steam hoists
used during the Gilded Age, during the
1930s mining engineers classified single
drum electric hoists smaller that 6 by 6
feet in area as meeting the qualifications
for sinking duty. Most of the production
class hoists installed by engineers during
this time featured motors rated to at least
60 horsepower for single drum units and
100 horsepower for double drum units.
Even with large motors, these geared
hoists had slow hoisting speeds, being
under 600 feet -per -minute, their payload
capacity was limited, and they were not
able to work in the deepest shafts. Yet
out of economic necessity during the
capital -scarce Great Depression, many
mining companies had to settle for these
machines, even though they hindered ore
production. Less -fortunate mining outfits
severely constrained by tight budgets had
to settle for small, slow, sinking -class
hoists. It was not uncommon for these
companies to use hoists with motors rated
at only 15 horsepower, which in better
times might have been used instead for
work over win.48
zes
Some outfits attempting to
recondition abandoned mines on
shoestring budgets cobbled together
hoists from machinery that had been cast
off at the close of the Gilded Age. Miners
employed creativity and talent in making
old machinery work, and their solutions
fell into several basic patterns. One
method common among operations in the
mountain states involved obtaining an old
geared steam hoist, stripping it of the
steam equipment, and adapting an electric
motor to turn the hoist's large bull gear.
Miners used what ever type of motor they
could get their hands on, and they
understood that large motors were most
desirable because of their performance.
To adapt the motor to run the hoist, they
had to build a small foundation with
anchor bolts adjacent to the hoist, and
they had a machine shop custom -make a
;5
pinion gear for the motor that had teeth
capable of meshing with the bull ;ear.
The only other modification that the
mining outfit had to make to the hoist was
to mount the electric controller on the
hoistman's platform. After ensuring that
the original clutch and brake worked and
that the hoisting cable was sound, the
miners were ready to go to work. S9
Mining outfits with limited
funding practiced another clever means of
bringing new life to antiquated steam
hoists. Unlike the method described
above, the miners left the steam
equipment on the hoist intact, and they
went so far as to ensure that the pistons,
piston rings, and valves were in good
condition. They reconnected pipes to the
steam intakes on the hoist's cylinders and
instead of routing the line to a boiler, they
used compressed air to power the hoist.
As far back as the 1890s mining engineers
had found that they could adapt steam
hoists to run off compressed air,
especially for work underground in
winzes where piping in steam was
uneconomical. The only drawback to
such an innovative use of compressed air
was that a large multi -stage compressor
had to be installed. In a few cases
impoverished mining operations were
fortunate to have as a neighbor a well -
funded mine equipped with just such a
compressor.
The third practice that
impoverished mining companies adhered
to when rehabilitating old mines involved
assembling mechanical hoists from odd
and unlikely pieces of machinery. A
favorite system favored by outfits lacking
money, resources, and an understanding
of fine engineering consisted of installing
a small friction -drive hoist or geared hoist
stripped of everything but the brake and
clutch, coupled to the transmission of a
salvaged automobile. Ugly, slow, noisy,
and of questionable reliability, these
contraptions worked well enough so that
shoestring mining operations were able to
turn a small profit. Lacking the will,
money, and possibly the knowledge of
how to construct a proper foundation,
miners simply bolted the hoist onto a
flimsy timber frame that had not
necessarily been anchored in the ground,
and they mounted the engine to an even
less formal timber frame. These small
outfits commonly obtained either a
wrecked automobile or one in disrepair,
they stripped off the body, cut away the
rear portion of the chassis, and left the
engine, transmission, firewall, and radiator
intact. They aligned the chassis so that
they were able to connect the drive shaft
to the hoist's gears, the connections being
made with custom-made and adapted
hardware."
Small and medium-sized mining
outfits that had access to modest capital
were able to afford to install factory -made
gasoline hoists similar to the type
introduced to the mining industry during
the 1900s. Mining companies continued
to use the old single -cylinder gasoline
hoists, and they also purchased factory -
made donkey hoists offered by machinery
suppliers such as Fairbanks -Morse and the
Mine & Smelter Supply Company. The
donkey hoist manufactured during the
1930s consisted of a small automobile
engine that turned a cable drum through
reduction gearing. The makers designed
the little machines to be portable, and they
affixed all of the components onto a steel
frame. The affordability, portability, and
independence suited these machines for
backcountry use, especially during the
capital -poor times of the Depression.
Several conditions played into a
small outfit's decision as to which type of
�6
I
hoisting contraption they would attempt
to build. Available capital constituted the
most fundamental factor because mining
outfits lacking funding had to find
alternatives to new equipment. In light of
the lack of capital, another influential
factor consisted of whether the mine an
outfit intended to rehabilitate was
fortunate enough to retain its original
hoist. In such cases mining outfits elected
to work with what the remains of the
mine plant offered them. Retrofitting
steam hoists with motors seems to have
been a popular means of bringing hoisting
system on line. The visitor encountering
such a mine site today may observe an old
steam hoist bolted onto its original
foundation, constructed of either masonry
or natural concrete, with an adjacent
portland concrete motor mount, usually 2
by 3 feet in area studded with four anchor
bolts."
In the event that a mine under
rehabilitation did not possess its original
Steam Boilers
Steam boilers were an absolutely
necessary component of nineteenth
century power hoisting systems. While
specific designs of boilers evolved and
improved over time, the basic principle
and function remained unchanged.
Boilers were iron vessels in which intense
heat converted large volumes of water
into steam under great pressure. Such
specialized devices had to be constructed
of heavy boilerplate iron riveted to
exacting specifications, and they had to
arrive in the mining West ready to
withstand neglect and abuse. The
problem that boilers presented to mining
companies was that they were bulky,
hoist, the mining company was forced to
install another apparatus afresh. Outfits
with limited capital may have opted to
buy a small new or used factory -made
electric model, or they may have
attempted to retrofit a hoist salvaged from
a neighboring defunct mine. For
economic reasons, some operations
intentionally purchased used steam hoists
because their obsolescence had rendered
them extremely inexpensive. Due to lack
of funding and possibly a lack of training
in engineering, small mining companies
operating during the Great Depression
rarely poured new concrete foundations
for their hoists. In most cases the mining
outfits affixed the hoist to a substandard
timber foundation, or they adapted the
new hoist to an old foundation that
already existed at the mine, employing the
methods discussed above in association
with air compressors.
heavy, cumbersome, and required
engineering to install. The mere thought
of attempting to maneuver even a small
boiler deep into the backcountry was
enough to convince many poorly financed
mining companies to continue using
traditional horse whims.
Adhering to the objectives of
maximizing performance and minimizing
operating costs, mining engineers used
calculation and mechanical specification in
their attempts to meet the power needs of
a mine. The mining engineer had to add
up the steam demands of all machines,
usually measured in boiler horsepower, to
calculate the size, type, and number of
57
boiler units he would need. Between the
1880s and 1910s the main surface plant
components an engineer may have
included in his calculations consisted of
the hoist, an air compressor, and a tiny
water pump to feed water to the boilers.
Small mines may not have had a
compressor, while large operations may
have included several. Engineers working
in most of the West also had to figure on
generating enough steam to run a small
dewatering pump at the bottom of the
shaft and possibly a donkey engine to
drive a ventilation fan or mechanized shop
appliances.
During the 1880s the
Pennsylvania boiler, the locomotive
boiler, and the upright boiler, also known
as the vertical boiler, quickly gained
popularity among the West's prospect
operations. These boilers were well -
suited to the mining West because they
were self-contained and freestanding,
ready to fire up, and able to withstand
mistreatment. Because the above three
types of boilers were designed to be
portable at the expense of fuel -efficiency,
mining engineers declared them fit only
for sinking duty.
In general, all of the above
sinking -class boilers consisted of a shell
that contained water, flue tubes extending
through the shell, a firebox inside the shell
at one end, and a smoke manifold. When
the fireman stoked a fire in the firebox, he
adjusted the dampers to admit enough
oxygen to bring the flames to a steady
roar. The flue gases, which were
superheated, flowed from the fire through
the flue tubes, imparting their energy to
the surrounding water, and they flowed
out the smoke manifold and up the
smokestack.
Great danger lay in neglecting the
water level. An explosion was imminent
if the flue cases contacted portions of the
shell that were not immersed in water on
a prolonged basis. Usually the front of
the boiler featured a glass sight tube
much like the level indicator on a coffee
urn. When the water began to get low,
the fireman turned the valve on the main
that had been connected to the boiler, or
he operated a small hand pump if the
plumbing had no pressure. Boiler tenders,
often serving also as hoistmen, usually
kept the boiler three-quarters full of
water, the dead space being necessary for
the gathering of steam. When the fire
grew low the boiler tender opened the fire
door, the upper of two sets of cast iron
hatches, and threw in fuel. Self-made and
professionally educated mining engineers
recognized that cord wood was the most
appropriate fuel to feed boilers in remote
and undeveloped mining districts, because
poor road systems and great distances
from railheads made importing coal too
expensive. However, coal was the most
energy -efficient fuel, a half ton equaling
the heat generated by a cord of wood, and
as a result mining operations proximal to
sources of the fossil fuel, such as in the
eastern and central Rockies, preferred it.
During the 1880s mining
companies came to appreciate the utility
and horsepower of the locomotive boiler.
The locomotive boiler, so named because
railroad engine manufacturers favored it
for building locomotives, consisted of a
horizontal shell with a firebox built into
one end and a smokestack projecting out
of the other end. Nearly all of the models
used in the West stood on wood skids and
were easily portable, but some units
required a small masonry pad underneath
the firebox, and a masonry pillar
supporting the other end. Locomotive
boilers were usually 10 to 16 feet long, 3
feet in diameter, and stood up to around 6
M
8
I
1
1
1
a
J
i
I
feet high, not including the steam dome
on top. These workhorses, the single
most popular sinking -class source of
steam into the 1910s, typically generated
from to 30 to 50 horsepower, which was
enough to run a sinking -class hoist.
Large locomotive boilers capable of
powering a big sinking -class hoist and
compressor were available, but prospect
operations rarely used them. When a
mine attained the size large enough to
include such apparatuses, the engineer
usually upgraded the plant with an
efficient production -class return tube
boiler.52
Upright boilers were the least
costly of all boiler types. They tolerated
abuse well, and they were the most
portable. However, because upright
boilers could not generate the same
horsepower as locomotive or
Pennsylvania units, they could not power
large sinking -class hoists, let alone
additional machines such as air
compressors. Upright boilers consisted of
a vertical water shell that stood over a
firebox and ash pit that had been built as
part of a cast iron base. The flue tubes
extended upward through the shell and
opened into a smoke chamber enclosed by
a hood and smokestack, which appeared
much like an inverted funnel. The flue
gases' path up directly up and out of the
firebox made these steam generators
highly inefficient, and the rapid escape of
gases and the quick combustion of fuel
caused great fluctuation and inconsistency
in the pressure and volume of steam. The
short path for the eases and intense fire
put heavy heat stress on the top end,
causing it to wear out quickly and leak,
and the firebox and doors also saw
considerable erosion. However, upright
boilers required little floor space, little
maintenance, and were so durable that
they almost could have been rolled from
site to site. The West had plenty of
remote prospect operations with limited
capital that saw great advantage in the
qualities offered by vertical boilers, and
consequently these steam generators
enjoyed substantial popularity during the
Gilded Ages'
The third basic type of sinking -
class boiler that Western prospect
operations used in noteworthy numbers
was the Pennsylvania boiler. This unit
consisted of a cross between the form and
portability of the locomotive boiler and
the function of the Scotch marine boiler,
discussed below. Like the other portable
boilers, the Pennsylvania boiler featured
an enclosed firebox that was surrounded
by a jacket of water. The flue gases
traveled through a broad tunnel in the
shell, they rose into a small smoke
chamber, then reversed direction and
traveled toward the front of- the shell
through flue tubes. The gases escaped the
boiler through the smokestack. The
Pennsylvania boiler, which originated in
the Keystone State's oil fields, proved to
be remarkably efficient and saw use at a
number of Western mining operations."
39
Table 4.3: Boiler Specifications: Type, Duty, Age Range
Boller
T
Boiler Design
Popularity
Sinking -clam
aas
Production{lass
Plain
Water-filkd took with no lt= tubes.
Age Range
1800-I860s
I
Size Ranite
Up to 6 1 diam
Size Range
6 ft. diam., 20 ft. L to
CvH. drica!
Flue
1-2 ft flue tubes through shell. Smoke stack
1820-1870s
! a a L
Up to 3 fL diem.
4 ft. diem 4n ftr
4
at front
ft. diam, 16 R L to
ReturnMultiple
3-4" flue tubs extending through
1870s-1920s
14 a L.
Up to 3 ft diam
5 11 diam., 22 ft L.
3 ft. diam, 12 ft. L to
Tube
Scotch
shell.
Firebox and flue chamber ht
121 L
7ft. diam, 20 it L
Marine
enclosed
horizontal shell. Flue tubes throughshell.
I890s-1910s
All Sizes.
Locomotive
Firebox etxlosed im steel casing under shell.
1870s-1920s
All Sizes.
Not Manufactured.
Flue tubes through shell, smokestack at rear.
Upright/
Boiler shell is vertical and stands on cast non
1880s-1920s
All Sizes.
Not manufactured.
vertical
base. Firebox is at base. Flue tubes through
shell, smokestack on
Water Tube
Water tubes and header drums suspended
19008-1920s
Not
All Sias
over brick i2g t steel tdrdl,, Game.
Manufactured
Water Tube
Water tubes and header drum are suspended
I900s-1920s
Not
over firebox enclosed in a cast iron shell
Manufactured
All Sizes.
f nm
T.,d� n llrrl _
(Copled
Figure 4.19 By 1880, if not earlier, mining companies throughout the West used locomotive boilers to
power sinking -class hoists, and possibly small compressors. Manufacturers mounted locomotive boilers
on skids to facilitate portability. The model illustrated appears to be wood -fired, and the ashes probably
dropped through an opening in the bottom of the firebox. Note the water level sight tube and pressure
gauge. Ingersoll Rock Drill Company, [1887] p45.
MI
Proposal Number P-814, Historical Context and Inventory, City of Fort Collins, Colorado
PREVIOUS CONTEXTS
SWCA's Colorado office recently completed the Prehistoric Context for the Platte River
Basin for the Colorado Council of Professional Archaeologist. Mr. Twitty has prepared over 15
contexts for Colorado historic properties over the past 10 years. An example of a context
prepared by Mr. Twitty is appended in the back of this document for review.
REFERENCES
Mr. Warren Hurley, Archaeologist
Bureau of Reclamation
Western Colorado Area Office
835 East 2"d Avenue, Suite 300
Durango, Colorado 81301
970.385.6548
Mr. Frank Kunze
Jefferson County Open Space
700 Jefferson Parkway, Suite 100
Golden, CO 80401
303.271.5983
Ms. Tracy Houston, Director
Humphrey Memorial Museum and Park
620 S. Soda Creek Dr.
Evergreen, CO 80437
303.674.5807
SWCA Inc.
Figure 4.20 Durable, inexpensive, and highly inefficient, upright boilers had the capacity to power small
sinking -class steam hoists or other mine machines. The great ease of portability rendered upright boilers
popular among small, poorly funded mining operations working in remote areas. However, because
upright boilers could not have generated much steam they saw limited application. Note the water level
sight tube and pressure gauge. Ingersoll Rock Drill Company, [18871 p47.
9
2 J
Figure 4.21 Cut -away view of a Pennsylvania boiler. The path of the flue gases, indicated by the arrows,
extended through a tunnel in the bottom of the water shell, it reversed direction in the smoke chamber and
traveled through the flue tubes in the central portion of the shell, and rose up through the smokestack.
- , Pennsylvania boilers were mounted onto timber skids like locomotive boilers, and while they were
introduced during the 1880s, the efficient power sources did not experience even mild popularity until the
` 1890s due to a high initial cost. Mining companies with limited funding in remote areas used
Pennsylvania boilers to power small production -class hoists. Rand Drill Company, 1886 p46.
1
Gil
Developed in Scotland for
maritime purposes, the Scotch marine
boiler was the least popular sinking -class
steam generator in the West. Scotch
marine boilers consisted of a large -
diameter shell enclosing the firebox, and
the path for the flue gases was similar to
that of the Pennsylvania boiler. While this
type of boiler was one of the most
efficient portable units, it never saw
Popularity in the West primarily because
convention dictated the use of the other
types, and because it was heavy, large,
and difficult to haul to remote locations.55
Engineers equipping production -
class surface plants almost never relied on
portable boilers to supply steam because
of their inefficiency. Rather, the masters
of mine mechanics predominantly used
return tube boilers in masonry settings, or
they erected water tube boilers, which
offered the ultimate fuel economy. In a
few rare cases, engineers working deep in
the backcountry were forced to make due
with Pennsylvania and locomotive boilers,
but they preferred not to do so.
Manufacturers designed most
steam machinery to work under pressures
ranging between 100 and 150 pounds -
per -square -inch. At this pressure a return
tube boiler 5 feet in diameter and 16 feet
long provided enough steam to run a
hoist, a Cameron sinking pump, heating
pipes in the shaft house, and another
engine for a small tramming system, all
totaling approximately 80 boiler
horsepower. A slightly larger boiler was
needed to run additional machinery such
as a small air compressor, or a
compressor could have been substituted
for the tramway engine. Mine plants that
included production -class single and
double -drum hoists, duplex compressors,
and other large, production -class
machinery usually required the steam
generated by at least two to three return
tube boilers totaling over 200 boiler
horsepower. Mining companies with a
progressive engineer and plenty of capital
often installed an extra boiler so that in
the event one of the others had to be
cooled off for servicing or following a
malfunction, the mine could have
continued ore extraction. 56
The concept behind the return
tube boiler was brilliant. The boiler shell,
part of a complex structure, was
suspended from iron legs known as
buckstaves, so named because they
prevented the associated masonry walls
from bucking outward. Brick walls
enclosed the area underneath the boiler
shell, and a heavy iron fagade shrouded
the front. A firebox lay behind the fagade
underneath the boiler shell. Under the
firebox lay an ash pit, and both were
sealed off from the outside world by
heavy cast iron doors. When afire
burned, the superheated flue gases
traveled from the firebox along the belly
of the boiler shell and rose up into a
smoke chamber at the rear of the
structure. They reversed direction and
traveled toward the front through large
flue tubes extending through the shell, and
then exited through the smoke manifold.
The path under and then back through the
boiler shell offered the flue gases every
Opportunity to transfer energy to the
water within and convert it into steam.
Retum tube boilers were
workhorses that withstood the harsh
treatment and neglect endemic to westem
mines. Boiler tenders and firemen had to
ensure that they carried out a few basic
services to avoid life -taking disastrous
explosions and ruptures. First, they had
to keep the boiler at least two-thirds full
1,
62
of water. Second, the fireman had to
clean the ashes out of the ash pit regularly
to ensure that the fire did not suffocate.
Shoveling ashes was a foul and dirty job
that no one enjoyed. Usually the fireman
shoveled the unwanted refuse into a
wheelbarrow and trundled it out to a
crook in the waste rock dump where the
crew regularly dumped other trash. Pity
the unfortunate worker who had to
undertake such an unpleasant task on a
gusty day! Third, the fireman ensured
that the water and steam valves were
operational, and that the pressure did not
exceed the critical point. Last, the
fireman had to feed the fire. Skilled
firemen were able to throw on just
enough fuel in an even distribution so that
the fire kept a fairly constant glow. To
ensure that firemen and boiler tenders had
easy access to plenty of coal, the mining
engineer usually had a coal bin built facing
the firebox doors. In other circumstances
cordwood may have been stacked in the
bin's place.
Professionally trained mining
engineers with access to plenty of capital
employed additional devices designed to
improve the energy efficiency and
performance of their return tube boilers.
First, they may have elected to install up
to three feed water holding tanks to allow
sediment and mineralization to settle out.
Second, some engineers working in the
West installed feed water heaters, which
were small heat exchanging tanks that
used some of the boiler's hot water or
steam to preheat the fresh feed water.
These had been proven to moderate the
shock of temperature changes to the
boiler, prolonging the vessel's life, as well
as increasing fuel efficiency. A few
engineers working at the largest mines
attempted to mechanize the input of coal
into the fireboxes of heavily used boilers
with mechanical stokers. While they were
costly, mechanical stokers did a better job
than laborers. Engineers also fitted
heavily stoked boilers with rocking or
shaking grates that sifted the ashes
downward, promoting better combustion
of the fuel. Last, many engineers had
mineworkers wrap the heater, the steam
pipes, and exposed parts of the boiler with
horsehair or asbestos plaster as an
insulation. Except for feed water heaters
and insulation, only a few large Western
mining companies spent the capital to
employ the other accessories because of
the expense involved."
During the time that boiler
technology was young, in 1856 an
American inventor named Wilcox devised
a boiler radically different and much more
efficient that the best return tube models.
Wilcox's system consisted of a large brick
vault capped with several horizontal iron
water tanks. The vault contained a
firebox, an ash pit, and a smoke chamber,
all underneath 50 to 60 water -filled iron
tubes. The tubes drew water from one
end of the tanks and sent the resultant
steam to the other end. By 1870 the
design, known as the water tube boiler,
had been commercialized and was being
manufactured by the firm Babcock &
Wilcox.58
After Babcock & Wilcox's water
tube boiler had proven itself in a number
of industrial applications, mining
engineers began to take an interest. The
fact that the water ran through the tubes,
not around them, greatly increased the
liquid's heating area, which resulted in
much greater efficiency than return tube
boilers. In addition, the threat of a
catastrophic explosion was almost
nonexistent. By the 1890s a number of
mechanical engineers had devised other
water tube boilers that saw production,
63
such as the Heine, the Sterling, the
Wickes, the Hazelton, and the Harrisburg -
Starr.
The problem with all of the above
models, however, was that they required
much more attention than the rugged
return tube boilers, they were significantly
more costly to purchase, and they were
beyond the understanding and field skills
of average mining engineers. As a result
water tube boilers saw use only at large,
well capitalized mines under the
supervision of talented, professionally
trained engineers. As the prices of water
tube boilers fell during the 1900s and
capital became more abundant as the
mining industry recovered from the Silver
Crash of 1893, the popularity of the
efficient steam generators began growing.
However, the introduction of practical
electricity in the 1910s prevented the
widespread adoption of water tube
boilers.
64
Figure 4.22 The lithograph illustrates a typical return tube boiler. The frill facade, the only uncommon
feature depicted, includes double doors providing access for cleaning the flue tubes, a firebox door under
the shell, and an ash pit door underneath the firebox door. Removable iron grates form the floor of the
firebox, and the masonry bridgewall stands behind the firebox. The boiler has been suspended by riveted
brackets resting on the setting walls, which engineers only allowed when masons had used cement mortar.
Rand Drill Company, 1886 p44.
Figure 4.23 Water tube boilers consisted of a tank and water tubes suspended from a steel girder
framework encased by a brick setting. Water tube boilers functioned in a manner opposite to the workings
of return tube boilers. The flue gases swirled around tubes filled with water, rather than the other way
around. Water tube boilers saw application in the West beginning in the 1890s, and their high cost, high
maintenance, and great efficiency relegated them to productive and well -capitalized mining companies.
t Interior brick baffles kept the flue gases in close contact with the water tubes. The unit illustrated is a
Babcock & Wilcox boiler. International Textbook Company, 1899 A18 p36.
65
Headfrarnes
Nearly all mechanical hoisting
systems in the West required that the
mining operation erect a headframe over
the shaft. The purpose of the headframe
was to support and guide the hoist cable
into the workings, and to assist in the
transfer of rock from and supplies into the
hoisting vehicle. Professionally educated
mining engineers recognized six basic
structural forms of headframes, including
the tripod and tetrapod used with horse
whims, the two -post gallows, four and
six -post derricks, and the A -frame.
The two post gallows was one of
the most common headframes erected
throughout the West, and self-made and
professionally educated engineers
unanimously agreed that it was best for
prospecting. The variety used by small
operations usually consisted of two
upright posts, a cap timber and another
cross -member several feet below, and
diagonal braces, all standing at most 25
feet high. The cap timber and lower
cross -member featured brackets that held
the sheave wheel in place. The gallows
portion of the structure stood on one end
of a timber foundation that crews built
equal in length to the headframe's height.
The diagonal backbraces extended from
the posts down toward the hoist, where
they were tied into the foundation footers.
The foundation, made of parallel timbers
held together with cross members, rested
on the surface of the ground, and it
straddled the shaft collar.
The four -post derrick erected for
prospecting was similar in height,
construction, and materials to two -post
headframes, and it too stood on a timber
foundation. The A -frame was based on
the same design as the two -post gallows.
The difference between the two types of
structures was that the A -frame featured
fore and all diagonal braces to buttress
the structure in both directions. A -frames
were not erected directly over an inclined
shaft, rather they were placed between the
hoist and shaft so that the angle of the
cable extending upward from the hoist
equaled that extending down the incline
shaft.
The common features shared by
the above structures included a small size,
simplicity, minimization of materials, ease
of erection, and portability of materials.
For comparison, a two -post gallows
frame 20 feet high cost as little as $50 and
a slightly larger structure cost $150, while
a production -class A -frame cost $650,
and a production -class four -post derrick
headframe cost up to $900. 59
Sinking -class headframes had to
withstand only a few basic stresses that
the mining engineer had to consider. The
three most significant forces consisted of
the live load, created by the weight of a
full hoist vehicle and cable, the braking
load, which was a surge of force created
when the hoistman quickly brought the
vehicle to a halt in the shaft, and the
horizontal pull of the hoist. To counter
these forces, mining engineers had
workers build their headframes of 8x8
timbers, and they installed diagonal
backbraces to counter the pull of the
hoist. Usually carpenters assembled the
primary components with mortise-and-
tennon joints, 1 inch diameter iron tie
rods, and lag bolts. Professionally trained
mining engineers specified that the
diagonal backbraces were most effective
when they bisected the angle of dead
vertical and the angle formed by the hoist
cable ascending to the top of the
headframe. By tying the backbraces into
66
the foundation between the shaft and
hoist, engineers had determined that the
total horizontal and vertical forces put on
the headframe would have been equally
distributed among both the vertical and
the diagonal posts. When a miring
engineer attempted to find the
mathematically perfect location for a hoist
after erecting a headframe at a prospect
shaft, he merely had to measure the
distance from the shaft collar to the
diagonal brace, double the length, and
built the hoist foundation. Most Western
prospect operations followed this general
guideline and arranged their hoisting
systems accordingly, but a few poorly
educated engineers strayed and gave the
diagonal braces either too much or too
little of an angle.60
Unlike the simplicity of sinking -
class headframes, production -class
headframes were more complex, and
designing them was an art. The mining
engineer had to plan for a variety of
significant stresses, consider the
structure's multiple functions, and
coordinate the structure with other
hoisting system components. Western
mining engineers have been criticized for
overbuilding their headframes and hence
wasting capital. However, the stresses
mining engineers had to consider were
many. They had to build a structure
capable of withstanding vertical forces
including an immense dead load, live
load, and braking load generated when
the hoistman brought to a halt the descent
of heavy machines and supplies sent
underground. Engineers had to calculate
horizontal forces including the powerful
pull of the hoist and windshear, which
could not have been underestimated in the
rugged West. Last, mining engineers had
to plan for racking and swaying under
loads, and vibration, and shocks to the
structure.61
Building a headframe that could
stand under the sum of the above forces
was not enough for service at a producing
mine. Mining engineers had to forecast
how they thought the headframe would
interacted with the mine's production
goals, and how it would interface with the
rest of the hoisting system. The depth of
the shaft, the speed of the hoist, and the
rail system at the mine directly influenced
the height of the structure. Deep shafts
served by fast hoists, such as direct -drive
steam units, required a tall headframe,
usually higher than 50 feet, to allow the
hoistman plenty or room to stop the
hoisting vehicle before it slammed into the
sheave at top. Highly productive mining
operations often utilized vertical space on
their claims, which required multiple shaft
landings. Some mines using skips as hoist
vehicles had rock pockets built intothe
headframe, and this also required height.
The headframe had to be tall enough to
permit the hoistman to raise a skip to a
point well above the rock pocket where a
special guide track upset the vehicle,
emptying the rock into the bin.
Both self-educated and
professionally trained engineers had the
skills to erect structures that proved
lasting and functional under the conditions
of Western mining, but perhaps the
headframes built by professionally trained
engineers possessed the greatest
economical value and grace. Mining
engineers found four basic designs
adequate for meeting the rigors of heavy
ore production. These included the four -
post derrick, the six post derrick, an A -
frame known also as the California
frame, and a heavily -braced two -post
structure known also as the Montana
type. As the names suggest, engineers
67
working in specific regions in the West
favored certain headframe designs over
others. While the above structures were
intended to serve vertical shafts, two -post
gallows headframes and a variety of A -
frame up to 35 feet high were also erected
to serve inclined shafts.62
To meet the combination of
horizontal and vertical forces and the
performance needs endemic to ore -
producing mines, nearly all [tuning
engineers in the West built their
headframes with heavy timber beams
assembled with mortise-and-tennon joints,
timber bolts, and iron tie rods. In general
they used 1Ox10 posts for headframes up
to around 40 feet high, 12xl2 to 18x18
stock for headframes up to 60 feet high,
and up to 12x24 timbers for large two -
post headframes. Mining engineers
attempted to allocate full-length uncut
timbers for the posts and backbraces
because of the solidity they offered.
Skilled carpenters assembled the materials
into towers that featured cross -members
and diagonal bracing spaced every 6 to 10
feet. Solid, relatively clear 16x16 inch
timbers 60 to 70 feet long are almost
unimaginable commodities today, yet
these were the standard materials mining
engineers and their crews worked with.
All four and six -post headframes featured
stout backbracing anchored between the
shaft and the hoist, and the entire
structure stood on foundation footers
straddling the shaft. The posts on A -
frames, on the other hand, were set at an
exaggerated batter, meaning they splayed
out to absorb all of the vertical and
horizontal stresses, and as a result A -
frames used in association with both
vertical shafts and inclines rarely had
backbraces. Four and six -post
headframes were much more common in
the West than A -frames, even though they
were more materials -intensive and costly
to build, because these vertical structures
were within the technical means of most
professionally educated and self-taught
engineers. A -frames, on the other hand,
required a greater knowledge of
mechanics and physics, and they were
harder to build.63
Mining engineers determined that
production -class headframes, which
weighed dozens of tons, required a sound
and substantial foundation in order to
remain stable. A pre -planned and well-
built foundation was one factor that set
these structures apart from sinking -class
headframes. When an engineer erected a
production -class surface plant from
scratch he simply put a crew to work
clearing soil to bedrock around the
proposed shaft, on which the crew built a
timber framework for the headframe. The
engineer who inherited a semi -developed
prospect shaft had significant and
expensive work ahead of him, because the
previous operation may have left a large,
unconsolidated waste rock dump that
workers had to clear away to expose
bedrock.
Professionally educated and self-
made engineers used one of three basic
types of foundations to support
production -class headframes. The first
consisted of a squat timber cube featuring
bottom sills, timber posts, and caps bolted
over the posts. Construction workers
stuffed logs, timber blocks, and boulders
under the bottom sills to level them when
the foundation was built on sloped
ground. The other types of foundations
included a group of hewn log cribbing
cells assembled with saddle notches and
fastened with forged iron spikes, and a
hewn log or timber latticework consisting
of open cubes between 4 and 6 feet high,
capped with dimension timbers. When
68
Figure 4.24 Two -post gallows headframes were ubiquitous across the West and were favored, by prospect
operations because of their relative ease of erection and light use of materials, which translated into low
costs. A horizontal beam is visible in the profile near the headframe's top, which held the dumping chain
for emptying ore buckets. Forsyth, Alexander, 190T.
Figure 4.25 The illustration depicts a large two -post gallows headframe erected for deep shaft sinking.
This structure and the above headframe lack guide rails for cages or skips, indicating the mining
companies used ore buckets. Forsyth, Alexander, 1903.
R
Figure 4.26 The Montana type headframe can be described as a large version of the two -post gallows
headframe. The struchne illustrated belonged to the Goldfield Consolidated Mines Company in
Goldfield, Nevada, and it stood 55 feet tall. The Montana design, which incorporated less timber than
other forms of headframes, was well -suited for productive mines in remote districts where the cost of
materials was high. Barbour. Percy E., 1911.
70
Proposal Number P-814, Historical Context and Inventory, City of Fort Collins, Colorado
INVESTIGATIVE PLAN FOR THE PROJECT
The following provides an outline for the methods we will use during this project. As
part of its Historic Preservation Program , the City of Fort Collins has solicited proposals for
professional services for an inventory of the Alta Vista, Buckingham, and Andersonville
neigborhoods in Fort Collins and to develop three separate but interconnected contexts for the
sugar beet industry, the German -Russian community, and the Mexican community in Fort
Collins in general and the three specified neighborhoods in particular.
The National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 established the National Register of
Historic Places, the official list of recognized properties of local, state, and national significance
maintained by the National Park Service for the Secretary of the Interior. The Secretary of the
Interior has issued Standards for Preservation Planning (Standards) for archaeology and historic
preservation. These standards include: establishing historic contexts; utilization of historic
contexts to develop goals and priorities for the identification, evaluation, registration, and
treatment of historic properties; and integration of the results of preservation planning into the
broader planning process.
The Standards define a historic context as "an organizational format that groups
information about related historic properties, based on a theme, geographic limits and
chronological period." The historic context is the cornerstone of the preservation planning
process as it results in an understanding of the full significance of historic resources. Historic
contexts may be as narrow as the discussion of a specific property type or as broad as a major
research theme. The elements of a historic context may include such items as: a series of events
or activities, patterns of development, or associations with a person or group or group of persons;
a stage of physical development; or a research topic or site that will expand the existing
knowledge base. A group of contexts may summarize a community's history.
This project will emphasize the development of the sugar beet industry in Fort Collins
and the history of the three neighborhoods and the German -Russian and Mexican communities
within those neighborhoods. A number of topical and chronological historic contexts will be
created: the Development of the Sugar Beet Industry in Fort Collins; the German -Russian
Community in Fort Collins; and the Mexican Community in Fort Collins. Within each topic, the
influences shaping Fort Collins' residential and commercial development during particular time
periods will be investigated. The potential property types associated with each context will be
discussed as a physical reflection of the socioeconomic development of the city and three
neighborhoods as it relates to the sugar beet industry. The contexts help explain the how, when,
where, and who of the sugar beet industry and the roles that the German -Russian and Mexican
communities in the three subject neighborhoods played in its development.
CONTEXT DEVELOPMENT
Research Design for Colorado's Sugar Beat Industry
The 1890s were a time of great change for the state of Colorado. The Silver Crash of
1893 wrecked the mining industry, which created a ripple effect that impacted the rest of
SWCA Inc. - 12 -
I
U
4
Figure 4.27 The Line drawing depicts a classic production -class four -post derrick headframe. The
structure stands 60 feet high, it is well -braced, and features two sets of sheave wheels and guide rails for
balanced hoisting. The headframe belongs to the Portland Shaft and can still be seen looming over
Victor, Colorado. Forsyth, Alexander, 1903.
1 71
FRONT ELEVATWNB
ER.KIN6 OF INELINE
RUNNERS
/ ...............
/ 610E ELEVATION
Figure 4.28 Mining engineers favored erecting A -frames for inclined shafts. Because inclined shafts
were favorable to the use of a skip, A -frames often featured rock pockets to accept the loads disgorged by
the skips when emptied. E&MJ 5/30/14.
Table 4.4: Specifications of Headframes: Type, Material, Class
72
any of the three foundation systems were
built, workers sided the shaft walls with
plank lagging and shaft -set timbering, and
filled the surrounding foundation
framework with waste rock as quickly as
the miners underground generated it. The
last two above -mentioned foundation
systems were the most popular in the
West because many mining districts
featured the raw materials, and they
required little exact engineering. The
problem with all of the above systems was
that the perishable wood rotted when
covered with waste rock, especially when
the rock was highly mineralized. A few
forward -thinking mining engineers
attempted to substitute concrete for wood
to gain a lasting foundation, but only well -
financed companies anticipating lengthy
Like mining operations active
during the Gilded Age, hoisting systems
used by Depression -era mining companies
required a headframe to guide the hoist
cable into the shaft and to facilitate
materials handling. Some miring outfits
rehabilitating abandoned mines were
blessed to find that the headframe put up
by the previous operation still stood in
good repair. In the and West some
fortunate mining companies rehabilitating
old mines merely had to have few mine
laborers examine the structure for
integrity, oil the sheave bearings, and
ensure that the signal bell functioned.
Much to the dismay of many
Depression -era mining operations
rehabilitating abandoned shafts, the
headframe had been removed, which they
had to replace. Erecting a new structure
proved to be much less of a burden for
well -funded mining companies than it did
for shoestring outfits. Large mining
companies, under the guidance of a
formally trained engineer, continued the
operation spent the time and money to
erect such foundations.6d
In the 1890s professionally trained
mining engineers working for the West's
wealthiest and largest mining companies
began experimenting with steel girders for
headframes as an alternative to timber. In
the eyes of many prominent professionally
educated mining engineers, steel was the
ultimate building material for production -
class operations because it did not decay,
it was much stronger, it was non
flammable, and it facilitated the erection
of taller headframes. However, steel was
significantly more expensive than timber,
especially in the West where the distances
from steel manufacturing centers was
vast. As a result, only the most heavily
capitalized and highly productive mines in
the West put up steel structures
practice of building four and six post
derricks and A -frames to meet the rigors
of ore production. Mining engineers still
considered steel to be the ultimate answer
for production -class headframes, although
out of financial necessity in many cases
they had to resort to timbers. Still, the
structures they put up were well-built and
handsome. Yet, it seems that a certain
element of quality in construction typical
of mining prior to the 1910s had been
lost. Construction crews no longer took
the pains to assemble the structure with
intricate mortise-and-tennon joints.
Instead, the workers simply butted the
timbers against each other, or created
shallow square notch joints, and bolted
the frame together.
Impoverished outfits had neither
the funding nor the means to build
substantial production -class headframes.
Instead they assembled small structures
designed to be functional while
incorporating little material. When
possible these small mining operations
73
relocated entire headframes from
abandoned mines to the property they
sought to rehabilitate. By nature the
headframes they either built or relocated
tended to be the old-fashioned sinking -
class two -post gallows type because they
were simple, inexpensive, and required no
formal engineering. In a few cases these
small mining companies built what
amounted to small four -post derricks of
the sort that academically trained
engineers would have classified as
conforming to sinking duty. Poorly
funded and well -capitalized mining
companies both installed timber A -frames
to serve inclined shafts.
One factor that many mining
companies shared, rich and poor, was the
utilization of salvaged timbers for building
their headframes. Stout timbers were a
precious and costly commodity during the
Great Depression, and in hopes of saving
capital mining companies reused the
heavy beams left by abandoned
operations. As a result, today's visitor
examining headframes built during the
1930s may note that some of the timbers
seem out of place in the context of the
overall structure. Salvaged timbers may
differ in terms of exact dimensions,
weathering, and quality of the wood. In
addition, they frequently exhibit
abandoned mortise-and-tennon joint
sockets, old bolt -holes, and nail holes.
Heavy use of such material for use in
headframes, as well as for other
structures, is fairly typical of Depression -
era construction.
During the last several decades of
the Gilded Age, professionally educated
ini mng engineers at a few productive
mines began to use skips as the principle
hoisting vehicle in vertical shafts, instead
of the ubiquitous cage and ore car used
during the Gilded Age. Skips were
nothing new by 1930, having been used in
Previous decades for extracting ore and
waste rock from the depths of inclined
shafts. As mining engineers sought ways
of increasing ore production over less
time while consuming less energv, they
came to realize that the skip provided
great economy. Because the vehicle
consisted of a boilerplate iron box, it had
the capacity to contain more rock for less
dead-weight that the combination of an
ore car on a traditional cage. In addition,
the skip's open top facilitated rapid
loading from an ore chute underground
and equally rapid disgorging of its
contents once the hoistman had brought it
up to daylight. The rapid filling and
emptying of the skip increased the
tonnage of rock brought out of the mine
during a given shift.
The use of a skip was in some
ways much easier and safer than relying
on a cage. Miners riding up and down the
shaft in an enclosed skip were much less
likely to snag their arms and less and
suffer dismemberment in the mine
timbering, as had happened with cages.
When raising rock, the hoistman lowered
the skip down the shaft to a station where
he stopped it at the mouth of an ore
chute. A chute tender or trammer opened
the chute gates and let the ore pour forth,
then rang the signal bell to communicate
that all was ready for the trip up to the
surface. The hoistman slowed the ascent
of the skip as it approached the shaft
collar and he raised the vehicle into the
headframe. Typical skips consisted of an
iron box held by heavy steel hinges in an
iron frame that embraced the shaft's guide
rails. The box featured small iron wheels
or iron pins fixed to the sides. As the
hoistman raised the skip into the
headframe the wheels entered a special set
of curved iron guides bolted onto the
headframe. The guides forced the box to
pivot until it reached a point of instability
and tipped over, spilling its contents. The
hoistman reversed the action and the
box's wheels were dragged back through
the guides, righting the hoisting vehicle.
Not only did the employment of
the skip require miners to drill and blast
rock pockets for ore and waste rock at
shaft stations underground, but the mining
engineer had to retrofit the headframe on
the surface with a rock pocket to accept
the skip's load when dumped. In mines
simultaneously experiencing underground
development and ore production, the
engineer had to arrange for two rock
pockets, one to catch waste rock and the
other for ore. To avoid compromising the
headframe's integrity and stability,
engineers commonly designed rock
pockets that consisted of a sloped floor
built onto an adjacent and independent
timber frame. The engineer had to build
the pocket high enough so that the rock it
contained could tumble through a chute
into an ore car below.
Air Compressors
The alterations mining engineers
customarily made to headframes for use
with a skip may be apparent to visitors
examining the remains of yesteryear's
historic mine sites. When a Depression -
era mining company retrofitted a
headframe with a rock pocket, they were
rarely able to match the hue, grain, and
cut of the headframe's original timbers,
which today manifest as a visible contrast.
Out of financial motivation many
Depression -era mining companies
constructed rock pockets with hewn or
raw logs, salvaged lumber, and
corrugated sheet steel which typically
exhibits old nail and bolt -holes. Further,
elegantly built heavy timber -work seemed
not to have been the forte of many
construction workers rehabilitating old
mines during the Depression, and this
manifests today as a notable disparity
between the well-built heavy beam work
of the headframe and a modestly
constructed rock pocket.
Additional Surface Plant Components
Blasting was of supreme
importance to mining because it was the
prime mover of rock underground.
During the Gilded Age miners throughout
the West traditionally drilled holes by
hand, loaded them with explosives, and
fired the rounds. Hand -drilling proved
slow, but no practical alternative existed
to take its place underground until mining
companies began introducing mechanical
rockdrills during the 1870s and 1880s.
When drilling by hand, miners typically
advanced tunnels and shafts only one to
three feet per shift in hard rock. Using
the types of drills manufactured during the
1880s and 1890s, miners were able to
advance a tunnel or shaft approximately
three to seven feet per shift, instead. The
mechanical drills permitted miners to bore
greater numbers of deeper holes in the
same length of time. Further,
improvements in drilling technology
75
effected during the 1890s and 1900s
permitted miners to make even greater
progress. The rates of work achieved
with the greasy and noisy machines
convinced many mining engineers that the
relatively high costs of installing and
running a compressed air system to power
the mechanical rockdrills was justified.
The air compressor lay at the heart of the
compressed air system."
While air compressors
manufactured between the 1880s and
1920s came in a variety of shapes and
sizes, they all operated according to a
single basic premise. Compressors of this
era consisted of at least one relatively
large cylinder, much like a steam engine,
which pushed air through valves into
plumbing connected to an air receiving
tank. The volume of air that a
compressor delivered, measured as cubic
feet of air per minute (cfin), depended on
the cylinder's diameter and stroke, as well
as how fast the machine operated. The
pressure capacity, measured as pounds
per square inch (psi), depended in part on
the above qualities as well as how stout
the machine was, its driving mechanism,
and on the check valves in the plumbing.
Generally, high pressure -high volume
compressors were large, strong, durable,
complex, and as a result, expensive.
The mechanical workings of the
air compressors manufactured prior to
around 1890 were relatively simple. The
two most popular compressor types
manufactured during this time were the
steam -driven straight-line and the steam -
driven duplex models, and both styles
served as a basis for designs that served
the mining industry well for over 60 years.
The straight-line compressor, named after
its physical configuration, was the least
expensive, oldest, and most elemental of
the two types of machines. Straight-line
compressors were structurally based on
the old-fashioned horizontal steam engine,
the workhorse of the Industrial
Revolution. A mechanical engineer in the
eastern states created the straight-line
compressor in the 1860s, and machinery
manufacturers such as the Clayton Air
Compressor Works began making the
revolutionary machines by the early
1870s. The earliest compressors were no
more than a compression cylinder grafted
onto the end of a factory -made steam
engine, and the compression piston had
been coupled directly to the steam piston
via a solid shaft. By the early 1880s when
large mining companies throughout the
West were beginning to experiment with
rockdrills, field -worthy straight-line
compressors had taken form. These
machines featured a large compression
cylinder at one end, a heavy cast iron
flywheel at the opposite end, and a steam
cylinder situated in the middle, all bolted
to a cast iron bedplate. The steam
cylinder powered the machine and the
flywheel provided momentum and
smoothed out the motion.66
During the 1870s and early 1880s,
before mining began at Creede,
mechanical engineers ironed out many of
the inefficiencies attributed to straight-line
compressors. First, engineers modified
the compression cylinder to make it
double-acting, much like an old-fashioned
butter churn. In this design, which
became standard, the compression piston
was at work in both directions of travel,
being pushed one way by the steam piston
and dragged back the other way by the
spinning flywheel. In so doing the
compression piston devoted 100% of its
motion to compressing air.
The other fundamental
achievement attained by engineers during
the 1880s concerned cooling. By nature
76
air compression generated great heat,
which engineers found not only fatigued
the machine but also greatly reduced
efficiency. As a result early compressor
makers added a water -misting jet that
squirted a spray into the compression
cylinder, cooling the air and the machine's
working parts. While the water spray
solved the cooling issue, it created other
significant problems. The water caused
corrosion, it washed lubricants off internal
working parts, and it humidified the
compressed air, all of which significantly
shortened the life of what constituted an
expensive system. By the mid-1880s
American mining machinery makers had
replaced the spray with a cooling jacket
consisting of one large void or multiple
ports for the circulation of cold water
around the outside of the compression
cylinder, leaving the internal working
parts dry and well-oiled. Mining
companies installing compressors amid
their surface plants had to include a water
system for cooling and they had to
allocate a water source. Generally the
system erected by engineers was no more
that a water tank connected to the
compressor through input output lines
consisting of one to one-half inch
piping 67
During the early 1880s mechanical
engineers forwarded several other
significant improvements in the workings
of compressors, creating a foundation for
further evolution of the technology.
Engineers found that coupling the
compression piston to the steam piston
with a solid rod, so that both acted in
perfect synchronous tandem, proved
highly inefficient.. The steam piston was
at its maximum pushing power when it
was just beginning its stroke, while the
compression piston, also beginning its
stroke, offered the least resistance. When
the steam piston had expended its energy
and reached the end of its stroke, the
compression piston offered the greatest
resistance because the air in the cylinder
had reached maximum compaction.
Mechanical engineers recognized this
wasteful imbalance and designed a breed
of straight -fine compressor with an
intermediary crankshaft, so that when the
compression piston had reached the end
of its stroke and offered the most
resistance, the steam piston was beginning
its movement and was strongest. Despite
the superior efficiency of this design,
mining companies usually selected the
simpler compressors with solid shafting.
During the late 1880s and early
1890s academic mining engineers fine-
tuned compressed air technology used for
hardrock mining. During this time they
applied cost -benefit analyses and science
to further improvements that remained
with the mining industry for decades. The
most significant advance was the design
of compressors that generated greater air
pressure than had been used by the mining
industry up to that point. Mining
engineers found that they wanted more
pressure because it made their drills run
faster, enabling miners to bore through
more rock than before. Engineers had
also found by experience that the
pressurization of the maze -like networks
of plumbing in large mines placed a heavy
burden on compressors. In response,
mining machinery makers began offering
straight-line and duplex compressors
capable of achieving what the industry
termed multistage compression.
Mechanical engineers found that
attempting to squeeze more pressure out
of the conventional 1880s straight-line
and duplex compressors required an
uneconomical amount of power and
energy. Instead, they realized that they
77
could achieve the pressure demanded by
mining engineers if they divided the
compression between high and low
pressure cylinders in several stages,
instead of in a single cylinder. They
designed the low-pressure cylinder to be
relatively large, and it forced semi -
compressed air into the small high-
pressure cylinder, which highly
compressed the air and released it into a
receiving tank. Compounding the air
compression between several cylinders
generated heat which threatened the
efficiency that engineers hoped to achieve
with their marvelous machines. Like the
simpler single stage compressors,
engineers designed effective cooling
apparatuses for the added cylinders, and
they also found that chilling the
compressed air between stages
significantly improved efficiency. The air
rarely passed directly from one
compression cylinder to the next. Rather,
the air exited the machine altogether and
passed through an intercooler, which
essentially was a heat exchanger cooled
by circulating water, and then it entered
the high -compression cylinder.
Mining machinery makers released
variations of multistage straight-line
compressors with two and even three
compression cylinders coupled onto the
steam drive piston, and they produced
duplex compressors with several
multistage cylinder arrangements. The
most common multistage duplex
compressor was the cross -compound
arrangement, in which one side of the
machine featured the low-pressure
cylinder, and the air passed from it,
through an intercooler, to the high-
pressure cylinder on the other side. For
mines with heavy air needs mining
machinery manufacturers offered a duplex
machine with high and low pressure
cylinders on both sides, which produced
twice the volume of high-pressure air.
�s
Figure 4.29 During the 1880s and 1890s only well -financed mining companies wishing to power
numerous rockdrills spent the lavish sums of money to install massive duplex compressors such as the
unit illustrated. Each compression cylinder (on the right), each steam cylinder, and the flywheel bearings
bolted onto individual masonry pylons underneath the plank flooring. Note the potted plants on the right
windowsill. Rand Drill Company, 1886 p20.
Figure 4.30 Mining engineers realized that multi -stage compression was best for fulfilling the high -
volume and high-pressure needs of expansive mines. The machines were large, the costs of purchasing
and installing them were exorbitant, and they were not easily shipped into the backcountry. While the
illustration depicts a multi -stage duplex unit, many mining companies favored multi -stage straight-line
compressors. Multi -stage compressors can be identified by the asymmetry of the compression cylinders C
and D, and the mandatory intercooler E between the cylinders. Compound steam cylinders A and B
equipped with corliss valves, the most efficient type of engine the Industrial Revolution offered, drove the
machine. International Textbook Company, 1899 A20 p34.
79
Fig+ire 4.31 An attendant stands ready with an oil cadger as he watches the action of a strai_sht-line
iLessed air system, mcluding
the steam line : xtending down to the compressor's steam cylinder, the air line connecting the compression
cylinder .o the receiving tank, the line extending away from the top of the tank, and the coolant line
descending from the compression cylinder. Note the pressure gauge and blow -off valve on the receiving
tank. Ingersoll Rock Drill Company, [1887] p30.
Air Co,,p
''AldIua Aim —
r+d ton
Figure 4.32 Profile of a small belt -driven straiglit-line compressor. using a belt was the most popular
means in the West for transferring the power from the motor to the compressor. Nlining engineers
applied the same technology for powering the small duplex compressors shown in previous illustrations. ]
Croft. Terrell, 1923 p398.
Proposal Number P-814, Historical Context and Inventory, City of Fort Collins, Colorado
Colorado's economy. Agriculture, already experiencing difficult times, was particularly hard-
hit. The potential offered by processing sugar beats for sugar, feed stock, and other products
presented opportunities that could bolster the sagging agricultural industry. In the 1890s, a
number of influential Colorado promoters and businessmen began forwarding a shift in farming
toward sugar beats that had far reaching and long lasting impacts to Colorado in many ways, and
in particular agricultural towns on the Front Range.
The historical context produced by SWCA would chart the evolution of the sugar beat
industry from its beginnings early in Colorado's history up to the present. The context would
include the impacts the industry had on the state, such as irrigation and water distribution, the
environment, the economy, agricultural practices and processing, labor, settlement, and business.
The context would also consider the impact that outside influences, such as the economy,
competition, technology, and politics had on Colorado's sugar beat industry.
To gain a comprehensive perspective, research aimed at gathering information capable of
addressing the above topics is necessary. Research would seek to identify trends in the industry,
as well as significant companies, persons, legislation, farming and processing technologies,
locations of activity, social issues, and environmental issues. Research would be carried out at
Colorado's prime archival institutions, including the Colorado Historical Society, the Colorado
Office of Historic Preservation, the Denver Public Library Western History Collection, Pueblo
Public Library, Grand Junction Public Library, Fort Collins Public Library, Colorado State
Archives, U.S. Geological Survey, Bureau of Land Management, University of Colorado at
Boulder Norlin Library, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
This context would include five illustrated chapters. Below is a tentative outline for the
context report.
Chapter 1: Introduction
Summary of the context and methodology of research.
Chapter 2: Physical Setting of the Sugar Beat Industry
Discussion of the climate of northeastern Colorado, and its influences on farming.
Chapter 3: Sugar Beat and Processing Technology
Discussion of the methods and technologies used to grow, harvest, and process sugar
beats.
Chapter 4: History of Fort Collins's Sugar Beat Industry
Comprehensive history of the sugar beat industry in the state and around Fort Collins,
including references to material discussed in the previous chapters.
Chapter 5: Conclusion
Summary of the context. Legacy of the sugar beat industry in Fort Collins. Discussion
of data gaps.
Research Design for Ethnic Context
The historical context produced by SWCA would chart the German -Russians and
Mexican immigration to Colorado, from the beginnings of the state's history up to the present.
The context would discuss the factors that created the conditions for the German -Russian and
SWCA Inc. - 13 -
Table 4.5: Air Compressor Specifications: Type, Duty, Foundation
(
After installing straight-line and
duplex compound machines at large
Western mines in the 1890s technically
trained mining engineers found that
multistage compression was by far most
economical. Further, they determined
through both empirical studies and
calculation that single stage compression
was most economical in the short run and
long term for air pressures up to around
90 psi, two -stage compression was best
for between 80 and 500 psi, and three -
stage compression was most economical
for 500 to 1000 psi. Four -stage
compression existed, but Western mining
companies almost never used it.68
During the 1880s most major
compressor makers such as the Rand Drill
Company and the Ingersoll Rock Drill
Company offered single stage
compressors designed to be powered by
canvas or leather belting, instead of by an
integral steam engine. These machines
were made for mining companies that
relied on a single large steam engine to
drive multiple surface plant components
81
and mill machines simultaneously.
Western mining companies rarely used a
central power source, however. As a
result belt -driven compressors were a
rarity in the West during the 1880s and
1890s.
The titanic steam -driven
compressors that once made engineers
swell with pride fell out of favor with the
mining industry during the late 1890s,
because smaller and faster models became
available. While the small compressors of
turn -of -the -century vintage were not able
to generate as much air as their huge
cousins, their higher working speeds did
grant them a substantial output. By
around 1900 many of America's leading
mining machinery makers offered a
variety of improved steam -driven duplex
compressors less than 15 by 15 feet in
area fitted to suit with a variety of single,
double, and triple stage compression
cylinders.
Table 4.6: Air Compressor Specifications: Type, Popularity Timejrame, and Capital ln,,.,t. .r
As the 1890s progressed toward
the turn -of -the -century, mining machinery
makers began to offer air compressors
that were smaller, more efficient, and
provided better service for the dollar than
the duplex and straight-line designs
manufactured up to that time. Machinery
makers adapted several designs to be run
by electric motors and gasoline engines,
which were energy sources well -suited for
remote mines. Progressive miring
engineers working in regions where fuel
was costly eagerly experimented with
electricity and gasoline, while mining
companies in areas where coal and cord
wood were more plentiful continued to
install steam compressors as late as the
1910s. Gasoline and electric compressors
underwent a process of acceptance, rather
than being embraced overnight, but once
they had proven their worth by the 1910s,
many mining companies throughout the
West replaced their aging steam
equipment with electric and petroleum -
powered machinery.
Motor -driven compressors were
ideally suited for progressive mining
districts wired for electricity, such as
82
I
Creede. Further, because motor -driven
compressors lacked steam equipment and
needed no boilers, they cost less. The
motor -driven compressors offered by
machinery manufacturers around the tum-
of-the-century were a take -off of the old
belt -driven types they had make since the
early 1880s. The new units were
designed to run at the high speeds
associated with electric motors. By the
late 1890s mining machinery makers
offered three basic types of electric
compressors, including a straight -fine
machine that was approximately the same
size as traditional steam versions, a small
straight-line unit, and a duplex
compressor. Duplex models, conducive
to multistage compression, were most
popular among medium-sized and large
mining companies. Small mining
operations favored the small straight-line
units. Due to limited air output compared
with a relatively large floor space, the
large electric- straight-line compressors
never saw popularity.
Mining machinery manufacturers
offered their electric compressors with
five basic means of coupling to motors.
The first method was a belt -drive, the
second was direct -drive in which the
motor was integral with the flywheel,
third was a gear -drive, fourth was a chain -
drive, and the fifth consisted of a rope
drive. Western mining outfits by far
favored the belt -drive because it was a
widely understood technology, it was the
least expensive, and it was easiest to
install. Gearing and direct -drive
compressors were more energy efficient
and quieter, but they were unpopular
because of their high cost. Gearing also
permitted one powerful motor to drive
several duplex compressors through one
main drive shaft. The motor turned the
drive shaft through gearing. The drive
shaft rotated in heavy bearings that were
bolted onto each compressor foundation,
and the shaft featured additional gears
that turned the compressors' flywheels.
Rope and chain drives were very
unpopular for compressors, and had little
to recommend them.
Compressor makers also
developed economically attractive
gasoline units ideal for remote and
inaccessible operations. The gasoline
compressor, introduced in practical form
in the late 1890s, consisted of a straight-
line compression cylinder linked to a
single cylinder gas engine. Most mining
engineers considered gas compressors to
be for sinking duty only. Large gasoline
machines were capable of producing up to
300 cubic feet of air at 90 pounds per
square inch, permitted mining companies
to run up to four small rockdrills.69
The noisy gasoline machines had
needs similar to their steam -driven
cousins. Gasoline compressors required
cooling, a fuel source, and a substantial
foundation, and they came from the
factory either assembled or in large
components for transportation into the
backcountry. The cooling system often
consisted of no more than a continuous -
flow water tank, and the fuel system
could have been simply a large sheet iron
fuel tank connected to the engine by '/4 to
'/z inch metal tubing. Most mining
engineers agreed that petroleum
compressors required substantial concrete
foundations due to severe vibrations.
Generally, engineers had laborers pour a
rectangular foundation slightly longer and
wider than the machine, and up to 3 feet
high. In a few instances small, poorly
funded mining companies bolted the
machines to impermanent timber cribbing
foundations conforming to sinking -duty
characteristics.
83
The types of compressors
developed around the turn-of-the-century
possessed footprints as distinct as the
early steam -driven models discussed
above. The high-speed duplex models,
whether steam or motor -driven, usually
stood on substantial U-shaped concrete
foundations featuring totally flat surfaces.
Unlike their massive steam -driven
brethren, the small and faster duplex
machines consisted of components both
bolted to and cast as part of a large
common bed plate that had to be
anchored to the concrete foundation. The
hollow portion of the U in the foundation
accommodated the flywheel. Multistage
duplex compressors featured additional
cylinders and an intercooler that extended
out beyond the foundation edges, while
the bedplate remained the same as that
used by single -stage units.
The distinguishing characteristic
between both steam -powered straight-line
and duplex compressors manufactured
between the 1890s and 1910s and their
belt -driven cousins was a detached
rectangular motor mount featuring four
small anchor bolts. Because the drive belt
passed from the motor pinion to the
compressor's flywheel, engineers had
workers construct the motor mount
between 6 and 18 feet away from the
compressor and offset to accommodate
the belt. The use of a drive -belt required
a tension pulley, which was an adjustable
roller that pressed down on the belt to
keep it tight. The pulley was often bolted
onto the compressor frame, and it was
anchored to small timber foundations at
floor level in association with large
compressors. Direct -drive electric
compressors tended to be large, and they
required more width in the " U" portion of
the foundation to accommodate the
motor. Geared compressors featured
mounts for the drive shaft bearings at the
open end of the "U'.
By the 1910s, the use of rockdrills
had rendered hand -drilling uneconomical
except for special applications. The trend
continued through the 1920s as rockdrill
makers offered an ever widening variety
of machines that accomplished even the
limited specialized work previously
completed by hand -drilling. Mining
during the Great Depression was no
exception, and miners had come to rely on
drills more than ever to achieve the
necessary production of ore in economies
of scale.
Motor -driven duplex and straight-
line compressors, introduced in the
waning years of the Gilded Age,
maintained supremacy among Western
mining operations through the 1910s.
Well -financed mining companies requiring
high volumes of air at high pressures
continued to favor belt -driven duplex
compressors, while companies with
slightly reduced air needs, such as running
at most six stoper or sinker drills,
continued to use relatively inexpensive
single -stage belt -drive straight-line
compressors.
Despite the common reliance on
older designs, compressed air technology
had undergone dynamic changes since the
close of the Gilded Age. Mechanical
engineers began to experiment with
unconventional designs beginning in the
1900s, and during the 1910s several of
these models experienced commercial
production. By the 1930s, a few Western
mining companies with substantial capital
became interested in installing some of the
modem designs in hopes of maximizing
efficiency.
The popularization of automobile
engines had given rise to the invention of
several alternative forms of compressors.
sa
By the 1910s an upright two -cylinder
compressor with valves and a crankshaft
like an automobile engine had become
popular. Used on an experimental basis
as early as the 1900s by prospect
operations, these units were inexpensive,
adaptable to any form of power, and
weighed little. Further, mining machinery
makers had mounted them onto four-
wheel trailers or simple wood frames for
mobility. As a result, impoverished
Western mining outfits embraced them
because they required no engineering and
were ready to use. During the 1930s
Western mining companies hauled these
two -cylinder units to mine sites where
they bolted them to simple timber frames
and coupled the drive shaft to salvaged
automobile engines, single cylinder gas
engines, or motors for power.
The angle -compound compressor,
developed during the 1910s, was a major
break -away from traditional Industrial
Revolution compressor designs. The
angle -compound machine consisted of
two large compression cylinders oriented
901 from each other, one lying horizontal
and the other extending upward vertically.
The piston rods for both cylinders bolted
onto a common crankshaft in an engine
case, much like the piston arrangement
for V8 and V6 automobile engines. A
large belt pulley that also served as a
flywheel turned the crankshaft. One of
the cylinders had been designed for low -
compression and the other for high
compression, and the air passed through
an intercooler between them.70
The operating principles behind
the angle compound -compressor were the
same as those for compound duplex
compressors, and mining and mechanical
engineers claimed that the new machines
were by far more efficient when driven by
an external source such as a motor.
These innovative compressors were able
to deliver a volume of air up to 900 cf n
at high pressures for less energy and for
less floor space than either duplex or
straight-line units. Despite superior
performance of angle -compound
compressors, only a few Western mining
companies experimented with them during
the 1910s and 1920s because of the high
purchase prices and the unconventionality
of the design. These factors continued to
suppress employment of angle -compound
compressors into the 1930s, at a time
when many mining outfits were forced to
be fiscally conservative to maintain
profitability. As a result angle compound
compressor never saw great popularity in
the West.
The last break -away from
traditional compressor form employed
during the Great Depression consisted of
another design that mimicked the
structure of the automobile engine. The
Chicago Pneumatic Tool Company and
Gardner -Denver both introduced
compressors known in the mining industry
as V-cylinder compressors and as feather
valve compressors. The machines were
virtual adaptations of large -displacement
truck engines with between 3 and 8
compression cylinders arranged in a "V"
configuration, and the pistons were
coupled onto a heavy crankshaft. Further,
the new designs no longer relied on
circulating water from a storage tank for
cooling. Instead they featured grossly
enlarged radiators similar to the types
auto -makers had been installing on the
fronts of cars. The compressor makers
designed the large machines to be
powered by electric motors directly
coupled onto the crankshaft. Small
machines were belted to a motor. V-
cylinder compressors frequently came
from the factory mounted onto a heavy
85
steel frame that the mining company
bolted onto a concrete foundation.
The variety of new compressors
sold by mining machinery makers were of
little consequence to small operations,
because they were economically forced to
employ salvaged and used equipment.
Impoverished companies combined any
type of compressor they could get their
hands on with a likely looking drive
motor, creating odd, mismatched sets of
machinery installed in a seemingly
haphazard manner. Some poorly funded
mining operations that worked old claims
deep in the backcountry where electric
power did not exist employed old-
fashioned and inefficient straight-line
gasoline compressors.
Like the defunct operations of
decades past, when the Depression -era
mining companies went broke and shut
down, creditors, neighboring mines, and
salvage crews dismantled and removed
the serviceable portions of their air
systems. Visitors to 1930s mine sites
today will most likely encounter evidence
of compressor systems in the form of
foundations. Each of the types of
compressors discussed above usually
required foundations that conformed to
specific footprints. The trait that they all
shared, however, was that construction
crews almost invariable used portland
concrete during the 1930s.
The small upright two -cylinder
compressors did not requite substantial
foundations. Instead, the small outfits
that used them bolted the machines onto
timber frames, or onto small timber
foundations set in the ground. Usually
the compressors required anchor bolts
to 1 inch in diameter set in a rectangular
footprint approximately 2 by 3 feet. The
drive motor or engine foundation had to
be placed near by. Motor mounts were
usually less than 1 by l feet in area while
gas engine foundations were larger.
.angle -compound compressors
were much larger and more complex than
other compressors used at Western mines,
and as a result their foundations were
asymmetrical and presented uneven,
stepped profiles. The foundations were
often 10 by 8 feet in area and their
footprints conformed to "L" and "T"
shapes. The central portion of the
foundation was typically elevated to
provide clearance for the compressor's
drive pulley/flywheel, and the surfaces of
other portions were lower to anchor
different parts of the machine. Angle -
compound compressors required anchor
bolts ranging from 1 to 2 inches in
diameter. The foundation for the drive
motor, ranging from 2 by 3 to 4 by 5 feet
in area and studded with four anchor
bolts, should be located within 12 feet and
aligned with the compressor foundation.
Like large straight-line compressors, high -
capacity angle -compound units often
featured an independent concrete pylon to
support the heavy flywheel's outboard
bearing.
V-cylinder compressors required a
foundation that was unlike the footings
for the compressors discussed above.
Because the manufacturers bolted the V-
cylinder's components onto a steel frame,
mining engineers found that the new
compressors required remarkably simple
foundations that were easy and
inexpensive to construct. Small V-
cylinder compressors required concrete
foundations that possessed a slightly
rectangular footprint, and engineers
usually specified that they be capped with
timbers, which cushioned the vibrating
machine. IN/fining engineers usually bolted
the steel frame down onto the timber
pads. The large compressor units
36
s
t
i
required concrete foundations similar in
shape to the footings associated with the
antiquated straight -tine steam
compressors. Today's visitor to historic
mine sites can identify the foundation for
a large V-cylinder compressor by its
composition of portland concrete,
because the anchor bolts are typically less
than 1 inch in diameter, and by its
association with other circa 1930s surface
plant features.
The visitor to today's mine sites
will find that the foundations for the
electric duplex and straight-line
compressors, the most common types
employed during the 1930s, are the same
in form and footprint as the models used
in the 1900s and 1910s. The foundations
for duplex compressors continued to be
Electricity
Mining engineers working in the
West began experimenting with electricity
as early as 1881 when the fabulous Alice
Mine & Mill in Butte, Montana attempted
to illuminate its perpetually dim passages
and buildings with Edison's new light
bulbs. At that time electric technology
was new and its practical application
evaded not only mining engineers, but
many industrial engineers as well. During
the . 1880s visionary inventors
demonstrated that electricity was able to
do work, which enticed mining engineers
who dreamt of sending power to hoists,
compressors, and pumps, and other
machinery through slender wires rather
than through cumbersome and expensive
steam pipes."
During the late 1880s and into the
1890s mining engineers working for
profitable and well -capitalized Western
mines in developed districts attempted to
U-shaped and the motor mounts for belt -
driven units tend to be located a slight
distance away. Straight-line compressors,
on the other hand, stood on rectangular
foundations up to 10 feet lone and 2 feet
wide, with the motor mount located up to
six feet behind. Some well -capitalized
Depression -era mining companies used
large multi -stage belt -driven straight-line
compressors. The remaining foundations
often consist of a long and narrow
portland concrete block broken into
several individual pads for the
compression cylinders, a concrete pylon
that supported the large flywheel's
outboard bearing, and a motor mount
aligned with the pylon. The drive belt
passed from the flywheel to the motor.
turn their dream into reality. Mining
engineers made their first attempts to run
machinery in locations that featured a
combination of water and topographical
relief where they could generate hydro-
power. In 1888 the Big Bend Mine on
the Feather River experimented with
electricity, and the Aspen Mining &
Smelting Company, in Aspen, Colorado,
used electricity to run a custom-made
electric hoist that served a winze
underground. Two years later
progressive mining companies in
Telluride, and in Creede by 1892,
attempted to adapt electricity to run
machinery and illuminate the darkness.
Electric plants were a rarity in the West
until the late 1890s when a growing
number of mining districts attempted to
utilize the curious and promising power
source.
87
Several factors came into play that
excited interest in electrification during
this time. First, the nation's economy and
the mining West were recovering from the
severe economic depression associated
with Silver Crash of 1893, and mining
companies once again had capital to work
with. Second, electrical and mining
engineers had made great strides in
harnessing electricity fortheunique work
of mining. The earliest electrical circuits
wired during the 1880s and early 1890s
were energized with Direct Current (DC)
which had a unidirectional flow, and
during this time nutting engineers were
experimenting with Alternating Current
(AC), which oscillated.
Neither power source, as they
existed during the 1890s, was particularly
well suited for Western mining. AC
current had the capacity to be transmitted
over a dozen miles with little energy loss,
but motors wired to it were totally
incapable of starting or stopping under
load. Therefore AC was worthless for
running hoists, large shop appliances, and
other machines that experienced sudden
drag, or that required variable speed. AC
electricity was effective, however, for
running small air compressors, ventilation
fans, and mill machinery because they
were constant -rotation machines that
offered little resistance. DC electricity, on
the other hand, had the capacity to start
and stop machinery under load, but the
electric current could not have been
transmitted more than several miles
without suffering debilitating power loss.
Therefore DC currents had to be used
adjacent to their points of generation. In
addition, DC motors were incapable of
running the massive production -class
machines mining companies had come to
rely on for profitable ore extraction.'
In general electrical technology as
it ex sted during the 1890s offered mining
companies little incentive to junk even
small pieces of sinking -class steam
equipment. However, enough
progressive industrialists and engineers
saw the benefits that electricity offered to
the miring industry to keep the movement
going. As a result, in the mid and late
1890s a few capitalists formed electric
companies that wired well -developed
mining districts such as Cripple Creek and
Central City, Colorado, Mercur, Utah,
and several portions of California's
Mother Lode. More companies formed in
districts of similar magnitude during and
shortly after 1900. The characteristics
that these mining districts shared was that
they were compact and limited in area,
lending themselves to DC power
distribution, and they encompassed a high
density of deep, large, and profitable
mines, which constituted a potentially
significant consumer base. To further the
demand for power in these districts, the
electric companies leased motor -driven
hoists and compressors to training
operations at discount rates. As a result
small operations with little capital
installed electric hoists and compressors
amid their surface plants. Large mining
companies used electric hoists
underground to serve winzes, and they
equipped their shops with motor -driven
Power appliances.
Around 1900 electrical appliance
manufacturers had made several
breakthroughs. Electricians had
developed the three-phase AC motor,
which could start and stop under load
while using a current that could be
transmitted long distances. The other
major breakthrough consisted of the
development of practical DC/AC
converters, which permitted the use of
=I
88
DC motors on the distribution end of an
AC electric line. The net result was that
electricity became an attractive power
source to a broad range of electric
consumers.
Still, most Western mining
companies were not yet willing to
relinquish mighty steam technology
because even the new three-phase AC
motors were capable of orily driving
sinking -class hoists and small
compressors. In addition, voltage,
amperage, and current had not yet been
standardized among machinery
manufacturers or among the various
power grids in the West, which
discouraged engineers from embracing the
use of motors for critical mine plant
components. Many pragmatic,
professionally educated mining engineers
felt that while electricity indeed offered
benefits during the 1900s and 1910s, it
was no where near ready to replace steam
power.73
The rigors of mine hoisting proved
to be one of the greatest obstacles
electricity had to overcome, but by the
1900s mining machinery manufactures
had developed a variety of small AC and
DC models that were reasonably reliable.
The early electric hoists were similar in
design to sinking -class geared steam
hoists, and they were manufactured by
mining machinery makers with motors
wholesaled from electric appliance
companies such as General Electric.
Most of the hoists consisted of a cable
drum, reduction gear shafts, and motor
fixed onto a rectangular bedplate. In
many cases the controller, which served
the same function as a throttle on a steam
hoist, was also mounted onto the
bedplate. A second popular electric hoist
configuration consisted of a cable drum
and a gear shaft fastened onto a main
bedplate, with the motor bolted onto an
extension projecting outward from the
side. While electric hoists utilized
bedplates similar to seared steam hoists,
the performance rating for the bedplate
size for electric models was less than it
was for steam hoists.
Even though the electric hoists
made during the 1900s were able to start
and stop under load, they were very slow
and had a limited payload capacity. Most
of these hoists featured motors rated 75
horsepower or less. The early electric
hoists had speeds under 600 feet per
minute, payloads less than 3 tons
including the weight of a hoisting vehicle,
cable in the shaft, and ore, and their
working depths were rated to around
2,500 feet.74
By the 1910s applications of
electricity had progressed to the point
where professionally educated mining
engineers could not deny the potential
savings in operating costs, and that the
performance of electrical machinery was
rapidly approaching that of all but the
titanic direct -drive steam hoists. As
steam machines such as hoists and
compressors began showing wear after
years and even decades of use, the
engineers in charge of large and medium-
sized mines began replacing them with
electric models. Many mining operations
were clearly demonstrating that electricity
was more efficient than steam. One
engineer asserted that in well -developed
mining districts, a steam -driven
compressor cost up to $100 per
horsepower per year to run while an
electric model cost only $50. The cost
savings were probably even greater for
hoisting.75
Electric technology had come a
long way by the 1910s, and many
reputable professionally educated and
89
even many self-taught minim_, engineers
began to accept it at least for lighting, and
even for running critical mine machinery.
Mining operations getting underwav
during this time installed factory -made
electric hoists while some older
operations attempted to retrofit their
steam models with motors. These
electrical converts wisely maintained their
steam boilers in an operable condition in
the event the motor, or the entire
electrical grid, failed, which occurred at
times. Electrical engineers had
standardized electric grids and motors in
the West's mining districts for either 220
or 440 volts and 60 cycle AC current;
other voltages and DC current had fallen
out of favor by this time.76
Mining machinery makers had
made the greatest advances with electric
hoists during the 1910s. Not only had
electrical engineers and machinery makers
improved the performance and reliability
of single -drum electric hoists, but also
they introduced effective double -drum
units for productive mines interested in
achieving economies of scale through
balanced hoisting. Within ten more years,
except for remote and poorly capitalized
operations, most of the mining West had
adopted electric power for hoisting, as
well as for running other types of mining
machinery.
During the 1910s mining
engineers had developed two basic
electric systems they could choose from
for production -class operations. They
could have wired their machinery directly
to an electrical substation connected to a
power grid, or they could have first run
the hoisting circuit through a rotary
converter which had the potential to save
electricity and moderate the demand on
the system. The biggest problem large
hoists presented to electric circuitry was
that when they came under great load,
such as beginning movement with a
loaded cage, they siphoned a tremendous
amount of power from other plant
components, resulting in a brown -out. In
response, electrical engineers in both
America and Europe, which was also
developing electric power at this time,
introduce rotary converters that played a
dual role in the hoist's circuitrv.
The converter fed electricitv to the
hoist when needed, but it allowed the
hoist motor to act as a generator when the
hoistman shut off the power and used the
motor's mechanical drag to lower the
hoisting vehicle down the shaft. The
electricity generated by the hoist motor,
being turned by the descending hoisting
vehicle, went to the converter and
powered a motor there that set in motion
a large iron flywheel. When the hoistman
powered up his machine and raised
another load from the depths of the mine,
the hoist again drew full current, but the
motor in the converter, kept in motion by
the flywheel, reversed its role and became
a generator that supplemented the power
drawn by the hoist.
The mining industry used three
basic types of rotary converters. These
included the Lahmeyer system, the
Siemans Ilgner system, and the
Westinghouse system, the latter of which
was by far the most popular. Rotary
converters were capital -intensive, and
because electricity by nature was
inexpensive, few mining companies saw
the necessity of installing such machinery.
However, a few heavily electrified mining
companies operating their own generators
found converters to be economical, and
because one converter was able to serve
several mines at once, some electric
companies also found them to be cost-
effective to wire into their grids. But in
90
Proposal Number P-814, Historical Context and Inventory, City of Fort Collins, Colorado
Mexican migration from their places of origin, and the geographic stops enroute to Colorado.
Such conditions include the political, social, and economic environment in their place of origin,
and the attractions Colorado provided. The context would discuss the German -Russians and
Mexicans actual experience once they arrived in Colorado, and their social and political
response. Of equal importance, the impact that the German -Russians and Mexican had on the
state's culture, politics, economy, industry, and settlements would be examined. Further, the
discussion would focus on the Front Range and the German -Russians and Mexican areas of
greatest influence, such as agriculture.
To gain a comprehensive perspective, research aimed at gathering information capable of
addressing the above topics is necessary. Research would seek to identify general historical and
cultural trends among the German -Russians and Mexicans, as well as significant persons,
families, institutions, businesses, legislation, settlements, social issues, and broad economic
issues. Research would be carried out at Colorado's prime archival institutions, including the
Colorado Historical Society, the Colorado Office of Historic Preservation, the Denver Public
Library Western History Collection, Pueblo Public Library, Grand Junction Public Library, Fort
Collins Public Library, Colorado State Archives, Bureau of Land Management, University of
Colorado at Boulder Norlin Library, and the Colorado Genealogical Society. Additionally, we
will conduct an intensive web search for pertinent resources.
The context would include five illustrated chapters. Below is a tentative outline for the
ethnic contexts.
Chapter 1: Introduction
Summary of the context and methodology of research.
Chapter 2: Homeland and Immigration
Discussion of the German -Russians and Mexicans area of origin, including political,
social, and economic environment. Examination of reasons for leaving, and attraction to
Fort Collins and Colorado.
Chapter 3: Journey to Colorado
Immigration to Colorado, and cultural stops along the way. The German -Russians and
Mexicans first experiences in Colorado, with an emphasis on the Front Range and Fort
Collins.
Chapter 4: Colorado as the New Homeland
Discussion of the integration of German -Russians and Mexicans in Fort Collins. The
impacts to the state's culture, economy, labor, industries, politics, and settlements.
Chapter 5: Conclusion
Summary of the context. Legacy of the German -Russians and Mexicans. Discussion of
data gaps.
i►` A04aYlfflWA
Field personnel will conduct intensive -level historic surveys of each property to address
and complete the seven major sections of the Colorado Cultural Resource Survey Architectural
Inventory Form (OAHP 1403): identification, geographic information, architectural description,
architectural history, historical associations, significance, national register eligibility assessment,
SWCA Inc. - 14 -
general rotary converters saw little application in the West.
Architecture
Once a mining company had
proven the existence of ore the investors,
who often had influence over management
policy, fully expected the operation to
perform throughout the year, during good
weather and bad, until the ore had been
exhausted. Attempting to comply with
company wishes, mining engineers
responded by using available capital to
erect structures that sheltered important
components of the surface plant against
the summer sun and against arctic winter
winds. To this end engineers understood
that buildings served two purposes:
mollifying the physical needs of the mine
crew, and sheltering plant components
that were intolerant of or performed
poorly when exposed to adverse weather.
The engineer and the mining company had
a tacit understanding that the mine
buildings also possessed the ability to
inspire investors and prominent figures in
the mining industry. Large, well-built,
and stately structures conveyed a feeling
of permanence, wealth, and industrial
might while small and poorly constructed
buildings aroused little interest from
investors and promoters.
Building materials, architectural
styles, and structure layouts for mine
buildings in the West changed between
the 1890s and the 1920s. Perhaps small
mining outfits in remote areas realized the
greatest gain from changes in
conventional construction practices of
mine buildings as the expanding network
of roads and railroads reduced the costs
of purchasing building materials.
Regardless of a mine's location, the
buildings erected by well -financed,
profitable, and large miring companies
tended to be substantial and big, while the
buildings belonging to poorly funded and
limited mining companies were crude,
small, and rough.
Professionally trained miring
engineers considered four basic costs that
influenced the type, size, and constitution
of the buildings they chose to erect. First,
time had to be spent designing the
structure. Second, basic construction
materials had to be purchased and some
items fabricated. Third, the materials had
to be hauled to the site, and fourth, the
mining company had to pay a crew to
build the structure. Between the 1880s
and around 1900 nearly all mining
engineers in the West attempted to meet
the above considerations by directing their
carpentry crews to build wood frame
structures and side them with dimension
lumber. In a few cases small and poorly
funded operations working deep in the
mountains substituted hewn logs, but they
understood that the log structures were
intended to be impermanent, either to be
replaced by dimension lumber should the
mine prove a bonanza or totally
abandoned should the mine go bust.
The introduction of steel and iron
building materials to the Western mining
industry in thel890s radically changed the
structures erected by mining companies.
A number of steel makers began selling
iron siding for general commercial and
residential construction nation-wide in the
1890s. While much of the siding was
decorative, a few varieties were designed
91
with industrial applications in mind. One
of these types, corrugated sheet iron,
found favor with the Western mining
industry and its use spread like wildfire.
Engineers increasingly made use of the
material through the 1900s, and by the
1910s it had become a ubiquitous siding
for all types of mine and many commercial
buildings in the mining West. The
advantages of corrugated sheet iron were
that it cost little money, its light weight
made it inexpensive to ship, it covered a
substantial area of an unfinished wall, the
corrugations gave the sheet rigidity, and it
was easy to work with. These qualities
made corrugated sheet steel an ideal
building material where remoteness
rendered lumber a costly commodity."
The other significant use of steel
in mine buildings occurred during the
1890s when a few prominent Western
mines began to experiment with the use of
girders for framing large buildings such as
shaft houses, paralleling the rise in the
construction of steel headframes.
Architects began using steel framing to
support commercial and industrial brick
and stone masonry buildings as early as
the mid-1880s, but Western mining
companies found that wood framing met
their needs as well and for less money.
By the 1890s architectural steelwork had
improved, and steel makers offered
lightweight beams which mining engineers
adapted to the framing of huge shaft
houses. Further, engineers found that
steel not only offered a sound structure
able to rebuff the high winds of the West,
but it often cost less money than the
thousands of board -feet of lumber
required to erect the massive and
imposing buildings, and steel had the
added benefit of being fire -proof.
However, taking shelter in a steel building
during violent lightning storms
undoubtedly stirred at least a stoic
concern among otherwise hardened
miners.
The general forms, types, and
layouts of mine structures followed a few
general patterns, regardless of the
building materials the mining engineer
used for construction. During the 1880s
and 1890s most mining engineers
enclosed the primary surface plant
components, usually clustered around the
shaft, in an all -encompassing shaft house.
The plant components associated with a
tunnel or adit were enclosed in a tunnel
house. These buildings contained
machinery, the shop, the mine entrance,
and a workspace under one roof. The
buildings therefore tended to be large, tall,
and unmistakable edifices in a mining
district. Relatively small shaft houses in
the West were constructed of stout post -
and -girt frame walls, gabled rafter roofs,
and informal or no foundations.
Particularly spacious shaft houses
required a square -set timber skeleton
capable of supporting the roof
independent of the walls. Regardless of
the type of frame, carpenters clad the
walls with board -and -batten siding or
several layers of boards nailed either
horizontally or vertically, and they used
shakes for roofing material. During the
1880s and the 1890s, electric lighting was
virtually unheard of, and mining engineers
instead had carpenters install large multi -
pane windows at regular intervals in the
walls for lighting.
Most shaft houses built in the
West conformed to a few standard
footprints that the arrangement of the
mine machinery influenced. Overall, the
structures tended to be long to encompass
the hoist, which the engineer had usually
anchored some distance from the shaft,
and they featured, lateral extensions that
92
accommodated the shop, a water tank, the
boilers, and either coal or cord wood
storage. Professionally educated mining
engineers recommended that at least the
boiler, and ideally the shop as well, be
partitioned in separate rooms because
they generated unpleasant soot and dust
which took a toll on lubricated machinery
such as compressors and hoists.'$
The roof profile typical of most
Western shaft houses featured a louvered
cupola enclosing the headframe's crown
and a sloped extension descending toward
the hoist that accommodated the hoist
cable and the headframe's backbraces.
Tall iron boiler smokestacks pierced the
roof proximal to the hoist, the stovepipe
for the forge extended through the roof
near the shaft collar, and the shaft house
may have also featured other stovepipes
for the stoves that heated the hoistman's
platform and the carpentry shop. The tall
smokestacks and stovepipes usually had
to be guyed with baling wire to prevent
being blown over by strong winds.
The mining engineer working at
high elevations often had the shaft house
interior floored with planks to improve
heating. In some cases the shop and
boiler areas, where workers dropped
smoldering embers, hot pieces of metal,
and nodules of fresh clinker were
surprisingly also floored with planking,
which presented an enormous fire hazard!
Customarily the mining engineer designed
the flooring to be flush with the top
surfaces of the machine foundations,
permitting the steam, air, and water pipes
to be routed underneath and out of the
way.
Shaft houses colossal enough to
cover a bank of boilers, a large hoist, air
compressor, and a shop were extremely
costly to build and they required
expensive upkeep. In addition, the heat
generated by the shop forge, boilers, and
a few woodstoves proved no match for
the frigid drafts of winter. In response to
the economic drain posed by large shaft
houses, during the 1900s and 1910s many
mining companies began sheltering key
surface plant components in individual
buildings. The appearance of the surface
plants of many mines changed to consist
of a cluster of moderate -sized buildings
surrounding the exposed headframe.
Instead of a shaft house, at
particularly large and well-equipped mines
the engineers had carpenters enclose the
hoist and boilers in a hoist house, the
compressor in a compressor house, and
the shop in its own building. The mine
plant may have also featured a miner's
change house also known as a dry, a
storage building, a stable, a carpentry
shop, and an electrical substation. Small
and medium-sized mines often combined
the hoist, boiler, compressor, and shop in
one large hoist house, while the
headframe and shaft collar remained
exposed to the weather. It is important to
note that sheltering the vital surface plant
components in a single hoist house was
standard for poorly -capitalized mines and
prospect operations in the Great Basin
and Southwest from as early as the 1870s,
and the practice continued into the 1930s.
Wood frame and steel buildings
consisted of structural materials that other
mining operations, creditors, and district
residents prized, and they were quick to
remove a building for the lumber
following a mine's abandonment.
Further, federal tax laws levied
assessments on the owners of property
with improvements such as structures,
and as a result private parties demolished
mine buildings in hopes of avoiding
payment. As a result, only a tiny fraction
of the mine buildings that had dotted
93
mining landscapes across the West prior
to the 1930s have endured until today.
Visitors seeking to identify the size, type,
and shape of buildings at mine sites must
turn to archaeological remains in the
forms of foundations, footprints, and
artifacts. Most mine buildings were
impermanent and hastily built, so that
thorough salvage efforts left scant remains
behind
In a few rare cases, mining
engineers instructed their construction
crews to lay either concrete or masonry
wall footers, which can help the visitor in
determining the footprint of a structure.
Due to lack of funding and the general
impermanence associated with Western
mining, workers rarely built formal and
lasting foundations. Instead, they built
informal foundations consisting of dry -
laid rock alignments or heavy timbers set
in the ground. The visitor to historic mine
sites may be able to identify the footprints
of shaft houses, hoist houses, shops,
stables, and compressor houses by abrupt
changes in soil character and linear
depressions where building walls had
stood. Heavy foot and animal traffic,
grease and oil deposits, forge clinker,
dark soil with a high organic content, and
differential soil weathering had the
potential to result in the ground
underlying a structure being different in
appearance and texture from the
surrounding soil or waste rock. To
further aid visitors puzzling over historic
mine sites, the soil differences created by
structures affected revegetation patterns.
Brush and grasses may outline a
structure's footprint.
The assemblage of artifacts
around the surface plant core may also
help the visitor to identify the types and
locations of mine buildings. Heavy
concentrations of nails, window glass, lag
bolts, stovepipes, and stovepipe flashing
often were left after a wood frame
building had been disassembled. Usually
the artifact assemblages at mine sites
active after around 1900 include at least a
few pieces of corrugated siding. Some
mining companies with limited funding
used a variety of other forms of sheet iron
siding to cover holes and gaps in mine
buildings from the 1880s into the 1930s.
Prior to the 1890s, mining outfits
flattened the corrugated bodies of blasting
powder kegs to obtain sheet iron, and
between the 1880s to 1910s mining
operations flattened square 5 gallon
kerosene and gasoline cans. Last, the
concentration of lumber fragments and
light industrial artifacts such as small
machine parts, electrical insulators, and
nuts and bolts is often greater within the
boundaries and immediately surrounding
the location of a mine building than at
short distances away.
The general construction methods
and architectural styles of the 1930s
changed little from the practices of the
late nineteenth century. Like their
predecessors, 1930s-era engineers
designed stout structures that consisted of
a dimension lumber frame and rafter roof,
which laborers sided with corrugated
sheet steel. Engineers continued t7take
advantage of natural light by designing
buildings with multi -pane windows at
regular intervals in walls, and they
provided broad custom-made doors at
important points of entry.
During the 1930s the use of
flooring materials for well-built buildings
became more common than during the
Gilded Age. Engineers either floored
Principle structures with poured Portland
concrete, which had become an
inexpensive material due in part to the
proliferation of the truck, or they stood
91
j
4
the buildings on proper foundations and
used wood planking. Mining engineers at
impoverished operations attempted to
maintain a high level of quality by
designing properly framed buildings, but
they were forced to make due with plank
flooring nailed onto joists placed on the
ground, or they had to be satisfied with a
floor of mother earth.
Depression -era buildings that had
been erected by well -capitalized mining
companies shared a few broad
characteristics that, in addition to the
construction features and materials noted
above, separated them from the simple
structures typical of lesser mines. Mining
companies with funding tended to erect
buildings that were spacious with lofty
gabled or shed -style roofs. The materials
the companies provided their workers
included virgin lumber,.virgin sheet iron,
and factory -made hardware. The
workers, often skilled in their trade, built
lasting structures with a solid, tidy, and
orderly industrial appearance. In most
cases mining engineers emphasized
function and cost in their designs and
added little ornamentation, contrary to the
large buildings erected during the Gilded
Age.
Poorly funded mining outfits were
economically forced to keep construction
within a tight budget, and within their
skills. These outfits could not afford first-
rate construction materials and tools, they
were not able to hire an experienced
engineer or architect, and they lacked the
funding to hire a skilled construction
crew. As a result, the buildings that the
small companies erected tended to be
small, low, made with high proportions of
salvaged materials, and poorly
constructed overall. The buildings
fabricated by small outfits were personal
and unique to each operation, being a true
expression of the outfit's nature, and
assembled as the builder saw fit.
While large and well -financed
mining companies customarily erected
several buildings such as a hoist house, a
compressor house, and a shop, the small
and impoverished operations tried to save
money by enclosing their crucial plant
facilities in a single building. At shaft
mines this structure usually consisted of
the hoist house, or a combination shop
and compressor house at adit mines. The
construction of one building, with minor
additions and extensions, minimized the
outlay of precious capital and the time
and effort required of miners to erect a
structure. A compromise that many
impoverished mining companies enacted
involved moving entire buildings to the
mine from abandoned operations nearby.
In so doing a small mining company could
have added to its assemblage of structures
for little money. Mining outfits that
engaged in this practice made little or no
effort at altering the appearance of the
relocated buildings, and these structures
stand out today as being different in
materials, construction, workmanship, and
architectural style from the other
vernacular buildings at the mine site.
The structures erected by poorly
capitalized mining companies during the
Depression can be divided into two
categories. Some small outfits had at
least a little capital and a crew with
modest carpentry skills, and they built
mine structures that consisted of a rough
but sound frame, often of the post -and -
girt variety, sided with salvaged lumber
and scavenged sheet iron. These
buildings appeared rough and battered
even when relatively new, but they were
fairly well-built and offered miners shelter
against icy winter blasts and summer
thunderstorms. Construction crews
95
assembled the buildings with the materials
they had on hand. They often sided the
walls and roof with a patchwork of
mismatched sheets of corrugated sheet
steel in various stages of rusting. Miners
salvaged doors and window frames from
abandoned houses. Some structures even
had mismatched walls, each face of the
building having been sided differently
from the others.
The quality of workmanship
defines the second category of
Depression -era mine buildings from the
first. Buildings that fell into the second
group appeared even rougher and had less
structural integrity than the structures
described above. The laborers frequently
built such structures with no formal
frame. Instead, they preassembled the
walls, stood them up, and nailed them
together, or established four corner -posts,
added cross braces, and fastened siding to
the boards. The builders may have used a
combination of planks and sheet steel for
siding, which was often layered to prevent
being ripped apart by high winds. Many
mining outfits favored the shed structural
style, which featured four walls and a roof
that slanted from one side of the building
to the other, because it was simplest to
erect.
The workers comprising small
mining outfits constructed these buildings
poorly for several reasons. First and
foremost they sought to minimize costs
and the effort of labor. Second, many
workers at Depression -era mines were not
the jacks -of -all trades that had
characterized miners during the Gilded
Age. Rather, they came from a variety of
urban and rural backgrounds, and as a
result they lacked carpentry skills and
proper construction tools. Last, workers
built shoddy structures because they
wanted to fulfill an immediate need and
anticipated abandoning the mine after a
period of time. The architectural style of
the mine buildings erected by such mining
companies during the 1930s may truly be
termed Depression -era Western mining
vernacular.
One of the subtle factors that
gives the buildings erected by
impoverished outfits an overall beaten and
ramshackle appearance is the use of
unconventional building materials. As
noted, Depression -era mining outfits
extensively used salvaged lumber,
recovered sheet steel, and in the mountain
states raw logs still clad with bark. The
visitor examining 1930s vintage mines
today may note that the structures consist
of lumber which, when considered on a
piece -by -piece basis, contrasts from the
other pieces in tone, grain, exact
dimensions, and cut. The lumber and the
siding will . exhibit old nail holes,
abandoned nails, and signs of differential
weathering where it had previously been
fixed onto another structure.
Mine workers assembled buildings
with these types of materials as best as
they could, but they often neglected to
trim the boards and sheet steel to even
lengths which greatly contributed to an
overall rough appearance. They left the
boards comprising roofs and walls uneven
lengths, they left sheets of corrugated
steel uncut only to bend them edges of the
way, and they neglected to trim the posts
supporting structures such as ore bins to a
uniform length. Economic hardship, the
fatigue it fostered, and the rag -tag
workforce spawned by the Great
Depression overrode the drive for
regularity and order at the mine.
Q6
I
r
Aerial Tramways
In Creede, like other Western
mining districts, prospectors had
discovered many productive mines in
impossible terrain. Some of the locations
were so inaccessible that pack trains
proved to be the only viable means of
transporting in the materials of mining and
hauling out ore. Unfortunately the
carrying capacity of pack trains was
severely limited, approximately 11 burros
or donkeys required per ton of ore, which
greatly inhibited a mine's production
levels and, by direct association, profit.
In some cases mining engineers spent
lavish sums of capital to build circuitous
wagon roads in hopes of mitigating
transportation problems. However, the
steep and winding wagon roads proved to
be only somewhat better than pack trails,
economically squelching what could have
otherwise been a highly profitable
operation.79
In the greater West, mining
companies began experienced these
transportation -related problems as early
as the 1860s when prospectors began
finding tantalizing deposits of gold and
silver in the rugged Great Basin and
Rocky Mountains. At that time mining
engineers dreamt of fanciful solutions to
magically move great tonnages of ore to
points of rail shipment, or directly to local
reduction mills. One such engineer and
mining machinery maker in San Francisco,
Andrew S. Hallidie, was the first to turn
fantasy into reality. Combining his
knowledge of wire rope, his engineering
skills, and familiarity with European
mining technology, he hit upon an
invention that solved the transportation
problems presented by high mountains
and impassable winter snows. In the late
1860s Hallidie developed and patented
the first practical aerial tramway in the
West. Hallidie's system consisted of a
series of strong wooden towers featuring
cross -members tipped with idler wheels
that supported a continuously moving,
endless loop of wire rope. The loop of
rope conveyed a series of ore buckets that
traveled a circuit between large sheave
wheels at the top and bottom stations.
The tram's wooden towers were built to
heights dependent on the relief of the
terrain in efforts to keep the pitch of the
tramway consistent, and Hallidie
ingeniously designed the system to move
under gravity. The loaded buckets gently
descended downslope, pulling the light
empties back up to the mine.
Hallidie's design changed little
from the 1870s until the 1910s. Empty
buckets entered the tram terminal, they
were loaded with payrock, whisked
around the sheave wheel, and traveled
down the line to the bottom terminal. In
the top terminal, ore poured through a
chute from a bin into the empty buckets
while in they were in motion, and they
continued down to the bottom terminal.
When the bucket entered the bottom
terminal a steel guide rail upset it,
dumping the contents into a receiving bin
undemeath as it passed around the bottom
wheel. A few feet past the ore bin, a
group of laborers may have been busy
loading empty buckets with dynamite,
drill -steels, food, and forge coal to supply
the miners at work high above.
By the 1880s enough mining
companies had installed Hallidie aerial
tramways to enable academic engineers to
evaluate their economic worth and
performance. The mechanical wonders
remained unrivalled for moving large
volumes of ore across untraversable
97
terrain in districts such as Creede, but
they possessed several undeniable
limitations. The tramways had distance
and elevation limitations of 2 miles and
2,500 feet, respectively. Longer circuits
required very expensive transfer stations.
Because the buckets were fixed to the
wire rope, they had to be filled and
unloaded while in motion, limiting their
load and Giving them the greater potential
to wreak havoc with the system. When
the grade traversed by Hallidie's tramway
was less than 14 feet rise per 100 feet
traveled, an expensive steam engine had
to power the rope. Last, because the
system relied on one rope to both carry
and move the buckets, the weight
capacity of each bucket had to be
curtailed to minimize strain and ultimately
the cataclysmic event of breakage,"
With these problems in mind,
Theodore Otto and Adolph Bleichert, two
German engineers, developed an
alternative system first employed in
Europe in 1874. The Bleichert Double
Rope tramway utilized a track rope
spanning from tram tower to tram tower,
and a separate traction rope that tugged
the ore buckets around the circuit. The
track rope was fixed in place and the
buckets coasted over it on special hangers
featuring guide wheels. The traction rope
was attached to the ore bucket's hanger
via a mechanical clamp known as a grip.
Like Hallidie Single Rope tramways,
Bleichert Double Rope tramways
incorporated top and bottom terminal
stations where the buckets were filled and
emptied, and they too usually ran by
Gravity.81
Bleichert's system offered
advantages that endeared the marvelous
systems to academically trained
technology -loving mining engineers.
Even though Bleichert systems were up to
50% more expensive to erect than
Hallidie tramways, they proved to be
better for heavy_ production because they
were able to handle greater pavloads
which resulted in higher production for
the mininG company. In addition, the grip
fastening the buckets to the traction rope
was releasable, permitting workers to
manually push the buckets around the
interior of the terminal on hanging rails,
permitting them to fill the buckets at
leisure without spillage. The double -rope
system also permitted the entire tramway
circuit to be extended up to four miles in
length and work at almost any pitch.
Vining companies began
experimenting with Bleichert Double
Rope systems in the 1880s, ten years after
Hallidie began manufacturing his
marvelous aerial tramways. Due to
superior performance, the popularity of
Bleichert systems eclipsed the less
expensive Hallidie tramways by the
1890s, when the use of tramways in
Creede, and the rest of the West, surged.
Still, many Western mining companies
with limited production and moderate
amounts of capital continued to install
Hallidie systems after the turn -of -the -
century.
Purchasing and installing aerial
tramways was beyond the rough-and-
ready skills of many mining engineers.
The systems were complex and very
expensive, they required economic and
engineering calculations, and a state of
mind bordering on the experimental and
progressive. Even professionally trained
mining engineers installing aerial
tramways usually required direction from
engineers dispatched by the tramway
maker. While mining companies
purchased basic tramway components
from mining machinery makers such as
A.S. Hallidie & Company, Park & Lacy,
98
and Bleichert & Company, each set-up
was a custom affair tailored to a specific
mine's needs. Mining engineers and the
builders of tramways assembled systems
from fairly standardized technology, but
rarely were two systems alike in the West.
Tramways offered mining
companies the economic advantage of
producing ore in economies of scale, but
perhaps greatest of all in the eyes of
engineers was the statement such a system
made about the engineer himself, and
about the mining company that backed
him. The constant aerial parade of loaded
ore buckets inspired management and
investors alike, it spoke of prosperity and
wealth, and was a mechanical fascination.
The action inside the loading and
unloading terminals was no less inspiring.
A busy crew of mine workers uncoupled
every bucket as it arrived, they pushed the
empties over the hanging rail to the ore
chutes where another worker filled them,
and workers recoupled the buckets onto
the ever -moving rope for the ride down.
Tramway systems were very
materials=intensive and required
substantial structures. As a result they
almost always left characteristic forms of
evidence at a mine site following
abandonment. The basic components
discernable to today's visitor include a top
terminal near the adit or shaft, a bucket
line featuring towers, and the bottom
terminal located adjacent to either a road,
railroad grade, or an ore reduction mill
site. In many cases a visitor can evaluate
the remains to determine whether the
more efficient and costly Bleichert system,
or the less -expensive Hallidie system
serviced the mine.
Engineers recognized four basic
types of tramway towers for both
Bleichert and Hallidie systems. These
included the pyramid tower, the braced
hill tower, the through tower, and the
composite tower. The pyramid tower
consisted of four upright legs that joined
at the structure's crest. The through
tower resembled an A -shaped headframe
consisting of a wide rectangular structure
stabilized by fore and back braces, and the
tram buckets passed through the framing.
Composite towers usually had a truncated
pyramid base topped with a smaller frame
supporting a cross -member. The braced -
hill tower was similar to the through
tower, except it had exaggerated diagonal
braces tying it into the hillslope.
Tramway towers for both
Bleichert and Hallidie systems required
stout cross -members to support the wire
ropes at a distance that permitted the
buckets to swing in the wind and not
strike the towers. Hallidie systems, with
their single wire rope and fixed buckets,
needed only one cross -member that
featured several idler wheels or rollers.
Because the buckets were suspended from
a long hanger fixed onto the cable, the
cross -member was bolted to the top of the
tower. Bleichert systems, on the other
hand, required a stout cross -member at
the tower top to support the stationary
track cable, and a second cross -member 3
to 7 feet below to accommodate the
moving traction rope. The second cross -
member almost always featured either
idler wheels or a broad steel roller.
Engineers found great challenge in
attempting to design tram towers. They
had to minimize the quantity of
construction materials, yet create a tall
structure that resisted a complex interplay
of forces. Building a sound structure that
met the last criterion was perhaps the
most rigorous engineering goal. Tram
towers had to withstand the sum of three
basic stresses. The first was the
downward pressure exerted by the weight
99
of the cable and ore buckets. The second
consisted of horizontal forces parallel to
the cables created by starting and
stopping the system. The third consists of
sideways horizontal forces created by
windshear on the towers, cables, and
buckets. This last force was not to be
underestimated in the rugged and
mountainous West, and it had caused a
number of major malfunctions at mines.
The choice of tower form and
spacing was a function of topography,
local weather, and the pitch of the line.
Pyramid and composite towers could have
been built higher that the other types, and
they were the least costly. Hillslope
towers were best for very steep terrain,
and they, as well as through towers, gave
greatest stability during severe weather.
Engineers recommended using steel
beams for construction, but this was far
too expensive, and most mining
companies in the West built with timber
ranging from 6x6 to 1Ox10 inch stock,
fastened with bolts. Where the bucket
line traversed forested hillslopes, laborers
had to cut a path through the trees.
Tramway terminals presented
engineers with no fewer design problems
than did the towers. Terminals had to be
physically arranged to permit the input
and storage of tons of ore from the mine,
they had to facilitate transfer of the
payrock into or out of the tram buckets,
they had to resist the tremendous forces
put on the sheave wheel by the traction
rope, and in the case of Bleichert systems,
they also had to anchor the track cables.
Mining engineers designing small -capacity
tramways attempted to solve all of the
above problems literally under one roof,
while the terminals for large -capacity
tramways were enclosed in complex
buildings.
Regardless of the type of tramway
a mining company had installed. special
accommodation had to be made for the
sheave wheels in both terminals. They
had to resist the significant horizontal
forces of keeping the traction rope taught.
The sheave in the top terminal was usually
fixed onto a heavy timber framework
anchored to bedrock and partially buried
with waste rock ballast. The wheel was
canted at the same angle as the pitch of
the bucket line so that the cable did not
derail, which would have resulted in a
costly and potentially life -taking
catastrophe. Typical sheave wheels, six
feet in diameter for small systems and
twelve feet for large systems, featured a
deep, toothed groove for the rope, and
they were fixed onto a heavy steel axle set
in cast iron bearings bolted to the timbers.
The teeth in the groove gripped the rope
in the event that a terminal worker had to
throw the brake and stop the system.
Brake levers, usually installed in both
terminals, were typically very long to
provide great leverage, and they were
located on a catwalk immediately over the
wheel, or adjacent to the wheel at ground -
level, both of which afforded the straining
worker a view of the system he was
attempting to stop. The lever controlled
heavy wooden shoes that pressed with
much force against a special flange
fastened to the sheave wheel. These
brakes may seem dubious to today's
visitor when inspecting a tram station, but
they were reputed to easily bring to a halt
entire lines of full buckets.
Terminals for Hallidie systems
featured the sheave wheel placed high in
the framework to provide ample space to
clear the hanging buckets, which passed
directly under several ore chutes designed
to fill them in motion. In most cases the
chutes extended downward from ore bins
100
Proposal Number P-814, Historical Context and Inventory, City of Fort Collins, Colorado
and recording information. In doing so, they will obtain the information necessary to create a
unique name identification for each property and record its geographic location. Architectural
descriptions will be based on -site visits and correspond to lexicon tables included in the
Colorado Cultural Resource Survey Manual. They will construct the architectural history from
interviews and archival sources, such as property records, Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps, and
photographs. The historical associations will be completed in a similar manner, extending the
history of each property to local, regional, and national historical trends and contexts. Project
personnel will assess each property's historical significance in terms of the National Register's
four criteria and applicable standards of local landmarks status. Similarly, physical integrity will
be assessed relative to the seven aspects of integrity defined by the National Park Service and the
Colorado Historical Society: location, setting, design, materials, workmanship, feeling, and
association. National Register eligibility assessment will be based on the merits of individual
properties, their contribution to the architecture and culture of the neighborhood, and their place
within existing historical contexts and those being developed as a result of this project.
The completion of these intensive -level surveys and resulting architectural inventory
forms will be accomplished in three steps: on -site evaluations, archival research, and form
completion. On -site evaluations are necessary to accurately access the architectural style,
construct an architectural description, and supplement the construction history. Project historians
will take photographs of each significant structure on a property and take measurements to
produce an accurate site map. Archival research will include the construction of a property chain
of title through public land and utility records, as well as city directories and phone books. This
creates a framework from which to obtain biographical information on property owners and
renters. Finally, this information and corresponding United States Geological Survey 7.5'
quadrangle maps will be completed in a FileMaker/Access database capable of producing
appropriate Architectural Inventory Forms and attachments, as well as providing a variety of
formats for digital data analysis and storage.
Photographs will be taken in digital format using the black -and -white mode. Photos will
show the environment and location of the property with respect to distinguishing local features,
both natural and cultural. Appropriate photographic documentation will be maintained.
The inventory report would include five illustrated chapters. Below is a tentative outline
for this report.
Chapter 1: Introduction
Summary of the project and methods.
Chapter 2: Historical Background
Discussion of the history of Fort Collins and the three subject neighborhoods.
Summarizes sugar beet and ethnic contexts.
Chapter 3: Results
Presents the results of the inventory.
Chapter 4: Discussion
Discussion of the results as they relate to the history of the neighborhoods and the sugar
beet industry.
SWCA Inc. - 15 -
located directly over the terminal, and in
fact small terminals and ore bins shared a
common stout structure. At the bottom
terminal the sheave had be moveable to
take up slack in the rope line. In many
cases the wheel was fastened onto a heavy
timber frame pulled backward by
adjustable anchor cables or threaded steel
rods. The wheel carriage also featured
hardware that automatically upset the ore
buckets, and they emptied their precious
contents into an ore bin underneath the
terminal.
The tramway terminal at the lower
haulage runnel of the Bachelor Mine in
the Creede Mining District in Colorado
serves as an example of a large complex
facility. Empty tram buckets coasted up
into the terminal and were routed onto a
hanging rail by a special fitting lashed
over the track cable. Workers unfastened
the buckets' grips and pushed them along
the rail which curved around behind the
sheave wheel framework. The bustling
workers filled them at one of the
terminal's three ore chutes, and pushed
them on to refastening point. The
terminal was spacious, it featured a
centrally located woodstove, and the
tramway brakeman stood on a platform
over the sheave. The ore bins were
located on two sides of the structure, and
they received payrock from a feeder
tramway descending from tunnels high up
on the mountain, as well as material from
the adjacent ore sorting house.
As grand a solution as Hallidie and
Bleichert tramways were for facilitating
the procession of ore from a mine, they
were too big and expensive for many
small operations that possessed modest
amounts of capital. Yet, rugged terrain
and locations high on the sides of
mountains presented no less a problem for
these limited operations. The high relief
and steep slopes also provided an answer
to their dilemma of access. Rather than
install the large and efficient but
exorbitant tramways relished by academic
engineers. the smaller companies strung
up single -rope reversible aerial trams.
Well -engineered single -rope trams
typically consisted of simple components.
A fixed line extended from an ore bin
located high up at the mine down to
another ore bin below. A hoist at the
mine wound and unwound a second cable
that pulled a bucket. The cost of
installing such a tramway was very low,
but many engineers scomed them because
these conveyances were slow and
inefficient, relying on one vehicle moving
back and forth between the bins.
The primary materials a mining
company needed to build a single -rope
tramway were abundant and inexpensive.
A mine crew required two lengths of
cable, lumber, a hoist, and a vessel hung
from a pulley. In many cases mining
companies, especially those with little
capital, purchased a used steam hoist and
an old upright or locomotive boiler, or a
small gas hoists, and impoverished outfits
used prospectors' hand -cranked
windlasses or crab winches. The lines
that mining operations strung up may
have been retired hoist cables, and the
bucket possibly fashioned from an ore car
body, but proper ore buckets were
preferred. The mining outfit often
anchored the hoist high up at the mine to
a sound timber foundation that they tied
into bedrock, and they often anchored the
ends of the track cable to timber deadmen
buried in waste rock. Ramshackle though
they might be, miners working high up on
mountain sides would have agreed that
the single -rope aerial tramways saved
them immense aggravation and effort at
bringing down their precious pay rock and
101
M
sending up drill -steels, dynamite, and the occasional passenger.
Figure 1.33 Plan view of the upper Bleichert tramwav terminal at the Bachelor Mines lower tunnel.
Tram buckets entered the structure on the rail in the upper left corner of the bottom floor, where a worker
uncoupled it from tite traction rope. He rolled the bucket around to the other side of the terminal and
stopped it underneath the ore chute, filled it, and a second worker reconnected it to the traction r
Engaging the band brake encircling the sheave could have stopped the tram. Author. ope.
Southeast Sig
Top Floor Northwest Side Bottom
Floor
LEGEND
= Window
— = Dootwav
= Door
= Timber
Direction Down
Scale: d ft. _
Ore
Chutes
102
t
nT
J
Ore Storage
While capitalists, mining
engineers, and miners often held differing
opinions as to how to set up and run a
mine, all were in agreement that the
primary goal was the production of ore,
and lots of it. Most Western hardrock
mines, of course, were failures, producing
little or no pay rock and passing into
history unknown. A few operations,
however, proved to be profitable, and a
tiny fraction made millionaires of their
owners. Those mines with any
measurable output of payrock usually
included an ore storage facility as part of
their surface plants, and operations that
produced either miniscule amounts of
payrock or were dry holes almost never
featured ore storage facilities. Like most
of a mine's facilities, ore bins and ore
sorting houses reflected the financial state
of the mining company, the mine's
volume of production, and the type of ore
the miners drilled and blasted.
Ore bins were functionally
different from ore sorting houses, and the
mining engineer based his choice on
which structure he wished the company to
erect on the type of ore being mined.
Free gold, tungsten, and copper usually
occurred in veins and masses that were
fairly consistent in quality and rock type,
and they warranted storage in an ore bin.
The quality and consistency of silver and
telluride gold, on the other hand, varied
widely in any single given mine, and they
required sorting, separation from waste
rock, and rudimentary concentration in an
ore sorting house. Both types of
structures required a means of inputting
ore from the mine, and a means of
extracting it for shipment to a mill for
finer concentration.
Mining engineers recognized three
basic types of ore bins: the flat -bottom
bin, the sloped -floor bin, and a structure
which was a hybrid of the above two
known as a compromise bin. Flat bottom
bins, which generally consisted of a flat
floor, high walls made of heavy planks,
and a louvered gateway in one wall had a
greater storage capacity per square -foot
than the other two types of structures.
However, laborers had to stand on the
pile of shifting payrock and work in
choking dust to shovel it out into a
waiting wagon or railroad car. Sloped
floor bins, on the other hand, were
expensive to build, they required proper
engineering, and they were conducive to
automatically unloading the ore, which
naturally flowed out of the structure
through chutes. Compromise bins
combined the above two designs, half of
the floor being sloped and half being flat,
to create a bin which automatically
unloaded when full, and required
shoveling when almost empty. 82
Mining companies with substantial
capital backing and heavy ore production
often erected large sloped -floor ore bins.
These structures were lasting, strong, and
had a look of permanency, solidity, and
they inspired confidence. Well-built
sloped -floor bins, which cost more than
twice to build than flat-bottomed bins,
typically consisted of a heavy post and
girt frame made with 8x8 inch timbers
sided on the interior with 2x6 to 2x12
inch planking. The structures generally
stood on foundations of posts tied to
heavy timber footers placed on terraces of
waste rock. To ensure the structure's
durability in the onslaught of the
continuous flow of sharp rock coming
from the mine, construction laborers often
103
armored bin floors with salvaged plate
iron. Mines of a small order used sloped -
floor bins consisting of a single -cell, for
example 20 by 20 feet in area. Large
productive mines erected long structures
that included numerous bins to hold either
different grades of ore, or batches of
payrock produced by multiple companies
of lessees working within the same mine.
Nfining companies with limited
financing and minor ore production
erected flimsy flat bottom bins because
such structures were inexpensive to build.
Rarely did these ore storage structures
attain the sizes and proportions of their
large sloped -floor cousins because the
walls were not able to withstand the
immense lateral pressures exerted by the
ore. Flat-bottomed bins had to contend
with pressures on all four walls, while
sloped -floor bins directed the pressure
against the front wall and the diagonal
floor.
By nature of the their function,
ore bins and ore sorting houses had to be
linked to the mine tunnel or shaft via a rail
line for the input of fresh ore, and they
had to provide for the removal of stored
ore. Trammers and miners filled ore bins
with precious payrock by pushing loaded
ore cars from the mine, across a small
trestle, and over the bin. To facilitate a
rail connection featuring a level gradient,
the rim of the ore bin had to be at the
same elevation as the tunnel portal or
shaft collar, and as a result mining
engineers usually located sloped -floor
bins, which tended to be rather tall, out on
the flank of the mine's waste rock dump.
Many flat -bottom bins, and some small,
poorly built, flimsy sloped -floor bins,
were located at the toe of the waste rock
dump where stable ground lay. Trammers
loaded ore into these holding structures
by dumping the rock from the ore car into
a chute that directed the rock into the
open bin. Prior to the 1900s some mining
companies extracting very limited
quantities of ore countersunk small flat-
bottomed bins into the waste rock dump
near the adit portal. Such bins, often no
more than 20 by 20 feet in area, were
accessed by a mine rail spur curving off
the main line, and the trammer merely
pushed a loaded ore car to the bin's edge
and disgorged the car's contents.
Ore sorting houses were generally
more complex and required greater capital
and engineering to erect than ore bins.
The primary functions of ore sorting
houses were both the concentration and
the storage of ore. In keeping with
gravity -flow engineering typical of
mining, engineers usually designed sorting
houses with multiple levels for the input,
processing, and storage of ore. These
structures usually featured a row of
receiving bins located at the top level, a
sorting floor under the receiving bins, and
a row of holding bins underneath the
sorting floor. Receiving bins always had
sloped floors, and in most cases the
holding bins below did too. In the cold
and windy mountain states a gabled roof
cupola sheltered the top level, and the
sorting floor was fully enclosed and
heated with a wood stove. Large and
well -capitalized mines provided steam
heat for the sorters. The holding bins at
bottom were similar to the sloped -floor
ore bins discussed above, and the
structure usually stood on a foundation of
heavy timber pilings, or a combination of
pilings and hewn log cribbing walls.$'
Like the processes associated with
ore milling, mining engineers utilized
gravity to draw rock through ore sorting
houses. The general path the ore
followed began when the drilling and
blasting team, the mucker, or shift boss,
104
1
i
all working underground, characterized
the nature of the ore they were extracting.
They communicated their assessment of
the ore's quality to the trammer via a
labeled stake, a message on a discarded
dynamite box panel, or a tag. The
Crammer subsequently hauled the loaded
car out of the depths of the mine and
pushed it into the sorting house, which
stood on the flank of the waste rock
dump. He emptied the car into one of
several bins, depending on how impure
the ore was. High-grade ore went into a
small and special ore bin at one end of the
structure, run -of -mine ore, which was not
particularly rich but required no sorting,
went into another bin at the opposite end
of the structure. Mixed ore that was
attached to or combined with
considerable waste rock went into one of
several bins located in the center of the
ore sorting house. When released from
the car, the mixed ore slid into a receiving
bin that featured a heavy grate at the
bottom known as a grizzly. The principle
behind the grizzly was that the rich
portions of telluride and silver ores
fractured into fines, and the large cobbles
that remained intact through the blasting,
mucking, and unloading contained waste
rock that needed to be cobbed, or
knocked off by surface laborers. The
valuable fines dropped through the grizzly
directly into holding bins at the bottom of
the structure, while the waste rock -laden
cobbles rolled off the grizzlies and into
holding chutes that fed onto sorting
tables. There, laborers worked by
daylight admitted through windows, and
by kerosene or electric lighting to
separate the ore from waste.
The visitor back in time viewing
the scene on the sorting floor of a
moderate -sized ore house would see a
bustle of activity. Dusty wool -clad
laborers, all wearing slouch hats and
gloves hovered over a row of around four
to six iron -clad sorting tables. A few
workers would loosen the stoppings on
chutes holding mixed ore until their tables
were full of cobbles, then they sorted
through the rock, occasionally using a
hammer to knock off waste. The workers
would drop the recovered ore through
unguarded openings in the floor where it
fell into holding bins below. They tossed
waste rock onto the floor or swept it into
ore cars parked on a rail line inside the
structure.
Mining companies transferred
stored payrock from the ore bins or ore
sorting house into wagons or railroad cars
for quick shipment to a mill. Most mines,
even in well -developed districts, were not
productive enough to warrant direct rail
access, and they had to be served instead
by teamsters, who, shouting and cracking
their whips, maneuvered stout wagons
directly underneath the ore chutes
projecting out of the ore bins. When a
wagon had been positioned, a surface
laborer crept along a plank catwalk that
linked all of the chutes, and he opened the
gates which allowed the ore to pour forth.
The types of chute stoppings on both
early and late ore bins included louvered
boards, iron gates raised by gearing, and a
pivoting gate that opened when a laborer
pulled down on a long lever. The
louvered plank stopping proved to be
most popular in the West because it cost
least and was easiest to install.
The layout and nature of roads for
large and productive mines differed from
the roads at small mines. Most medium-
sized and large mines were served by
broad roads forming a circuit, or they
featured spacious flat areas that granted a
teamster plenty of room to pull his rig
underneath the ore chutes and turn
105
around once the wagon had been filled.
Such traffic control facilitated the efficient
movement of entire wagon trains.
Inefficient dead-end roads, on the other
hand, often served small mines. Where
possible a wise teamster turned his wagon
and team around and backed up into the
loading area, and when turning room did
not exist he had to unhitch his team while
mine laborers manually turned the wagon
around and loaded it with ore. Such
roads were not intended to maximize the
flow of materials. Rather, mining
companies graded them in hopes of
minimizing labor and the expenditure of
capital.
Large and productive mines
always hoped for rail service, because
trains hauled much more ore for less
money than ore wagons. However,
except for operations in wealthy mining
districts with developed rail networks,
only mines rich enough were directly
served by railroad lines. Even without
direct rail service, the mere presence of a
railroad in a mining district benefited all
operations because the costs of shipping
ore and the prices of machinery and other
goods dropped significantly.
Overall, intact ore storage
structures are a rarity in the West.
Instead, the visitor to a historic mine site
is often faced with remains. Large ore
bins and ore sorting houses were usually
complex buildings made of heavy timbers
and lumber fastened with large nails,
bolts, mortise and tennon joints, and iron
tie rods. As a result, even after the
structures had been disassembled or
demolished, they usually left distinct
traces. The most common evidence left
by an ore bin or sorting house following
its removal consists of groups of hewn log
or timber foundation pilings projecting
out of the flank of a waste rock dump.
The pilings should be arranged in a rough
rectangle and be situated adjacent to
either a road or railroad grade. In a few
instances the visitor may have additional
evidence suggestive of an ore bin,
including hewn log cribbing walls or drv-
laid rock walls that served as foundations,
and the eroded terraces of a waste rock
platform which once supported the head
or toe of the ore structure.
Flat -bottom ore bins may be
somewhat more distinct that the clumps
of timber pilings vaguely denoting the
former location of a sloped -floor bin. The
remains of a flat-bottomed bin may appear
as an open -topped wood box embedded
in the edge of a waste rock dump. Often
the remains of flooring and plank walls
are visible, but in instances where the
building materials have been removed, the
bin location may appear merely as a
rectangular depression with a flat floor.
Occasionally flat-bottomed ore bins stood
on raised platforms made of waste rock
which were retained by hewn log cribbing
or dry -laid rock walls. Whether
embedded in waste rock or free-standing,
the outside edge of a flat-bottomed bin
may be open, or it may feature the
remains of an ore chute, either of which
should have been adjacent to a road.
Because ore bins and ore sorting
houses were materials -intensive, they
usually left a distinct artifact assemblage.
Invariably laborers dismantling an ore bin
left behind relatively large quantities of
intact and fragmented hewn logs, heavy
timbers, and other types of dimension
lumber in the approximate place where
the structure stood. The laborers also left
hardware such as lag bolts, heavy nails,
large -diameter construction washers, iron
brackets, and iron tie rods. The former
locations of ore sorting houses, where
mine workers spent a day's shift, may also
En
0
feature food items, stove parts, and small
industrial items.
Magazines and Change Houses
Before leaving this chapter, we
should consider several additional surface
plant manifestations which may exist at
historic mine sites. All were solutions to
problems mainly large and productive
mining operations in the West grappled
with. A survey of any wealthy mining
district would confirm that miners literally
turned the earth inside out in the pursuit
of riches, creating immense waste rock
dumps at the mouths of tunnels and
shafts. Extensive underground workings
translated into waste rock dumps that in
some cases were so large, they threatened
to envelop structures and roads
downslope and spill onto neighboring
properties. As the dumps slowly grew,
carload by carload, mining companies
were forced to confront the containment
of the spoils from their profits.
Under the advice and planning of
engineers, large muting companies
employed two solutions. Wealthy outfits
anticipating long-term operation
purchased adjacent claims both to gain
mineral rights underground and to obtain
the surface rights that permitted their
operations to sprawl. The other solution
that small and medium-sized outfits
commonly enacted was to erect bulwarks
of either log cribbing or dry -laid rock
masonry to retain waste rock. Log
cribbing tended to be the most structurally
sound, consisting of a series of waste
rock -filled cells ranging from 8 by 8 to 15
by 15 feet in area. Mining companies in
the mountain states favored cribbing,
while outfits in the and Great Basin and
Southwest favored rock masonry, which
toppled over more easily.
Large mining operations that were
bent on turning the earth inside -out for
profit often employed dozens of mining
crews underground to drill and blast. In
the process of bringing down ore in the
large quantities that made investors
happy, the crews of miners consumed
hundreds of pounds of dynamite per day.
The mining company had to store enough
dynamite to carry them through the
several weeks spanning freight deliveries,
and all -too -often they stacked 50 pound
boxes, the standard shipping container, in
shaft houses, compressor houses, storage
sheds, and in vacant areas underground.
Worse, during cold months, which
spanned much of the year at high altitude,
mine superintendents had boxes of
dynamite stored near boilers, in
blacksmith shops, and near hoists where it
remained in a thawed and ready state, so
they hoped. Such storage practices were
absolutely dangerous at mines that kept
on hand large volumes of dynamite. In
response mining engineers had
construction crews build explosives
magazines where storage could have been
carried out in a more controlled and
orderly manner.
Well-built magazines came in a
variety of shapes and sizes, but they all
shared the common goal of concentrating
and sheltering the mine's supply of
explosives away from the main portion of
the surface plant. Academically trained
mining engineers felt that magazines
should have been bulletproof, fireproof,
107
dry, and well -ventilated. They also felt
that magazines should have been
constructed of brick or concrete and if of
frame construction, the walls needed to be
sand -filled and sheathed with iron. These
structural features not only protected the
explosives from physical threats, but also
they regulated the internal environment
which was important, especially in
summer. Extreme temperature
fluctuations and pervasive moisture had
been proven to damage fuse, caps,
blasting powder, and most forms of
dynamite. This in turn directly impacted
the miners' work environment, because
degraded explosives created foul and
poisonous gas byproducts that vitiated
mine atmospheres. In extreme cases
degraded caps, fuse, and dynamite
misfired when in the drill -hole, meaning
they failed to explode, until a miner
attempted to extract the compacted mess
a little too vigorously with a drilling
spoon. Dynamite exploding in the faces
of miners m this way was a leading cause
of death and injury in the mining West.
Regardless of direct and obvious
safety hazards and degradation of the
explosives, many small and medium-sized
mining companies stored their explosives
in very crude and even dangerous
facilities. Engineers, often self-educated,
had crews erect sheds sided only with
corrugated sheet -iron that offered minimal
protection from fluctuations in
temperature and moisture. In other cases
small capital -poor operations took even
less precaution and stored their explosives
in sheet -iron boxes similar in appearance
to doghouses, in earthen pits roofed with
sheets of corrugated iron, or they used
abandoned prospect adits. Lack of
funding appears to have been a poor
excuse for improper storage practices,
because most operations had the ability to
erect fairly safe, inexpensive vernacular
dugout magazines. Large mining
operations, on the other hand, found it
within their means to build proper
magazines.
Proper magazines manifest as
stout masonry or concrete buildings
around 12 by 20 feet in area with heavy
arched roofs and iron doors in steel
jambs. Usually these magazines have
been erected a distance away from the
main portion of the mine's surface plant.
In other cases mining engineers had
construction crews built a concrete,
masonry, or timber -lined bunker with a
stout iron door. Well-built vernacular
magazines, on the other hand, often
appear similar to root cellars. Generally
they take form as a chamber workers
excavated out of a hillside, often 8 by 10
feet in area, and roofed with earth, rubble,
and rocks. Timber posts support the roof
beams, and the front wall may have been
made of timbers, planks, logs, or dry -laid
rock masonry. The front of the structure
usually features a vernacular wooden
door set into a wooden jamb. The
interiors of well-built magazines had
shelves for boxes of dynamite, while
miners merely stacked the boxes up in
vernacular magazines.
The last principle surface plant
component the visitor to today's historic
mine sites may encounter pertains to
particularly harsh climates, such as at
Creede. Miners working underground
had to contend with highly humid, warm,
still air, and dripping water. During their
shift in such an environment, they became
sodden. While this condition was not a
problem on warm summer afternoons, it
was potentially life -threatening during
freezing winter days. Miners who may
have already contracted pulmonary
illnesses risked significant degradation of
108
their health while en route back home.
One response that companies undertook
on behalf of wet and cold miners was the
installation of change houses near their
shafts and tunnels. There, miners
removed their filthy, damp work clothes,
washed if they felt so motivated, and put
on clean, dry clothes. These change
houses, often incorporated into other
mine buildings, also served as warming
rooms for the mine's surface workers.84
Ore Milling
The ore produced by mines
throughout the West, including those at
Creede, was considered by mining
companies to be a raw product, at best.
Gold, and especially silver ores, usually
consisted of a natural blend of metals
mixed in with host rock. Silver ores were
rarely pure, and they were instead
compounds that included to varying
degrees lead and zinc. The finished
product derived from the ores that
investors and metals buyers sought was
purified metal, known as bullion. To
produce bullion, the blend of metals had
to be separated from the host rock,
separated into their individual
constituencies, and purified. This process
was accomplished in specialized facilities
known as mills and smelters.
Mills and smelters differed in the
processes that the workers used to
separate the metals from the host rock,
known as gangue. Mills were able to
produce metals from simple gold and
silver ores by physically reducing the rock
to a slurry, then chemical treating the
slurry to extract the metals. Ores that
consisted of complex compounds of silver
and industrial metals, on the other hand,
required the additional processes offered
by smelters, which included roasting to
drive off sulphide minerals, melting the
mass, separating the metals, and refining
them.
Mining companies rarely
possessed sufficient capital nor produced
enough ore to warrant the erection of a
dedicated smelter. Instead, they shipped
their ores to custom smelters, which
extracted the metals for a fee. The
shipping charges and smelting fees often
constituted a heavy expense, and in
response, well -capitalized training
companies attempted to save money by
building concentration mills near their
workings. Concentration mills relied on
mechanical and some chemical processes
to reduce the ore, separate the
metalliferous materials from the gangue,
and prepare the resultant concentrates for
shipment to a smelter for final roasting
and refining. In so doing, mining
companies accomplished many of the
steps smelters charged fees for, and they
did not have to pay to ship the worthless
waste usually integral with raw ore.
Concentration mills were not equipped,
however, to produce finished bullion.
The reduction tills typically built
by mining companies were modest and
equipped to handle limited tonnages of
rock. By the time the Creede district
boomed, milling technology was fairly
uniform and the processes well-
109
1
understood by engineers. While each mill
was a custom-built facility, engineers
usually incorporated standard machines
and appliances suited for concentrating
silver compound ores. Because the ore
underwent a series of stages of physical
reduction and concentration, engineers
typically erected mills on terraced ground
to permit gravity to draw the rock from
one process to the next. Large mills.
usually required stone masonry and
concrete terraces to support the building
and the heavy machinery, while earthen
terraces and substantial beamwork were
sufficient for small mills.
The upper -most portion of a
concentration mill consisted of several
receiving bins which contained raw ore
brought from the mine. The milling
process began when mill workers fed rock
from the bins into a coarse crusher,
intended to reduce the material to cobbles
ranging from 1 to 4 inches in size. Most
mills favored jaw crushers to accomplish
this, while a few large operations
employed gyratory crushers. The crushed
material passed into a screen system
designed to permit acceptably small rocks
to proceed to the next process, while
returning oversized rocks back to the
crusher. By around 1900 engineers
favored using trommel screens or shaking
screens to sort the rock. A trommel
consisted of a concentric series of
cylindrical screens that rotated, allowing
fine material to drop through, while the
oversized cobbles rolled out of an open
end.85
At simple mills, the rock then
proceeded to a fine crusher for further
reduction. For much of the Gilded Age,
millmen favored using the traditional
stamp mill for fine crushing. The stamp
mill consisted of heavy cylindrical iron
shoes fitted onto the ends of a battery of
between 2 and 5 iron rods known as
stems. A camshaft raised the stems,
which were over 8 feet high, and let them
freefall in a staggered order. A heavy
beam frame braced the ironwork, and a
canvas or rubber belt passed around a
bullwheel to provide the battery with
power. The stamps dropped onto ore that
millworkers had fed into a cast iron
battery box bolted onto a laminated wood
base. The stamp battery reduced the rock
to a sand slurry, which proceeded to the
next mill process once it passed through
fine classification screens. Mills equipped
for simple ores featured mercury -coated
tables fixed underneath the discharge
ports for the stamp battery, and the
mercury amalgamated with the silver and
gold in the sand. However, this proved
futile with complex ores.
By the 1890s machines known as
crushing rolls came into favor for
pulverizing certain types of ores. A set of
crushing rolls featured two heavy steel
rollers with a gap between. As the rollers
rotated under great power, they
pulverized the rock until the fine material
was able to pass through the gap.
Machinery manufacturers offered crushing
rolls with different gaps between the
rollers to produce fines of varying grades.
When an engineer desired a grade
consisting of minute particles, he arranged
a series of rolls with ever -closer gaps
between the rollers, each machine
reducing the material incrementally.
Before the pulverized rock could proceed
to the next process, it had to pass through
another set of screens.86
Tube mills and ball mills offered
the finest grinding. Each appliance
consisted of a large cylinder which
millworkers partially filled with rock
slurry and a little water. The cylinder
slowly rotated, and iron rods in tube mills
110
Proposal Number P-814, Historical Context and Inventory, City of Fort Collins, Colorado
Chapter 5: Management Recommendations
Presents management recommendations as they relate to the potential for the three
neighborhoods to be listed as landmarks.
This report will be supported by one appendix that will contain the Architectural
Inventory Forms for the roughly 150 properties.
NOMINATION
Based on the results of the inventory and context development and discussions with City
of Fort Collins officials, SWCA personnel will prepare the landmark nomination forms for all
those neighborhoods determined to be eligible for listing as landmarks. They will complete the
forms following the procedures and protocols established by the city.
PUBLIC MEETINGS
Project personnel will attend all meetings that will be held in conjunction with this
project.
SWCA Inc. - 16 -
or iron balls in ball mills, tumbled in the
chamber. Over time this action further
pulverized the slurry within. Both types
of grinding appliances saw use beginning
around 1900, and millmen used them to
reduce partially concentrated
metalliferous fines. By the 1930s ball and
tube mills were used in place of crushing
rolls and stamp batteries.
After machinery reduced the rock
to a desired size, usually ranging from the
consistency of sand to dust, it entered the
concentration phase. By the time mining
was in full swing at Creede, millmen
selected from a variety of appliances to
process complex silver ores. The Wiley
table was by far the most popular
concentration appliance, and it saw heavy
application at Creede. The Wilfley table
consisted of a tabletop, approximately 10
feet long and 6 feet wide at one end, and
5 feet wide at the other, coated with
linoleum and thin wood rifles. The
tabletop was mounted at a slant on a
spring -loaded iron frame, and the machine
imparted a jerky oscillation, which
permitted the heavy metalliferous fines to
gravitate to the bottom rifles, while the
light gangue remained on the highest
rifles. Mining machinery makers offered
several variants of the Wilfley table, and
each featured a slightly different tabletop,
but all operated according to the same
basic premise. The finest material at the
bottom rifles may have passed on to
additional tables for finer concentration,
the middlings, which collected in the
center riffles, may have returned to the
fine crushing stage, while mill workers
threw the gangue was away.8'
Millmen used two other types of
appliances for concentrating metalliferous
fines. The jig was an old appliance, but it
saw use well into the twentieth century.
The jig consisted of a heavy, iron -lined
wooden trough featuring cells with
screens placed above their floors.
Plungers reciprocated in the water -
flooded cells, and their action forced
heavy, fine metalliferous particles to work
through the lighter material, kept partially
in suspension, and through the screens.
Wilfley tables often subsequently
processed the fines produced by jigs.
Vanners, developed in the 1880s, utilized
vibration and gravity to separate
metalliferous fines from gangue. The
vanner featured a broad rubber belt kept
wet with water jets. Like the Wilfley
table, the belt mechanism was slanted and
assembled on a spring -loaded iron frame
which vibrated vigorously. The heavy
fines sifted through the material and
adhered to the belt, while the water jets
washed the gangue downward. The belt
slowly advanced and dropped its coating
of fines into a trough below. As with the
jig, the fines produced by vanners were
processed afterward by Wilfley tables."
Most of the ore reduction and
concentration processes required water to
mobilize the material being worked, and
to allay dust. However, excess water
became a problem for concentration.
Engineers installed various de -watering
devices, which ranged from conical and
pyramidal settling boxes to Dorr
thickeners. Mill workers introduced
watery slurries into settling boxes, where
the fines accumulated and were drawn out
through spigots in the bottom for
concentration. The Dorr thickener,
devised for high volumes of material,
featured a tank, at least 20 feet in
diameter, with a conical floor. Radial
arms rotated slowly within the slurry and
they forced settled fines toward the tank's
center, where the material passed through
a large spigot.89
Gravity drew the metalliferous
fines from one reduction and
concentration process to the next.
However, each step had to make
allowances for returning inferior material
back for reprocessing, be it for reduction
or concentration. This meant defying
gravity and sending heavy material uphill.
To accomplish this, millmen used either a
bucket line or a spiral feed. Bucket lines
were often a series of closely spaced sheet
iron pans stitched to an endless canvas
belt, and they scooped material from one
bin and deposited it into another. Spiral
feeds, which were effective for moving
fines short distances, typically featured an
auger that rotated in a sheet iron shroud.
As the auger turned, it moved the material
upward and deposited it into a bin.
Material handled in such a way had to be
moist enough to act as a solid. When too
dry, the pulverized rock created dust, and
when too wet, the machinery could not
move it.
Supplying power to all of the
machinery located throughout a mill
presented engineers with a considerable
problem. Convention of the day dictated
that when workers built a mill, they
suspended overhead driveshafts from
bearings bolted high in the building's
frame. The drive shaft featured broad
pulleys, and canvas or leather belts passed
from them to drive pulleys on each mill
machine. During most of the Gilded Age,
steam engines powered the overhead
driveshafts via more belts, and when
electricity began to experience popularity
after 1900, engineers substituted motors
for the steam engines. Electricity came
early to Creede, and while the power
source was not well -suited for operating
many types of machines used at mines, it
was conducive to running mill appliances.
Most of Creede's mills relied on motors
for power, and some had steam engines
for backup.
Today, mill sites typically possess
characteristic telltale evidence, even after
the machinery and building components
were removed. Mill building foundations
often appear as a group of terraces on a
hillside with roads at the head and toe.
The terraces may feature machine
foundations, plank decking, residual
crushed rock, and structural and industrial
artifacts. The engineer usually designed
the mill processes to extract the mill
tailings, which are the powdered gangue,
at every step of reduction and
concentration, and eject them from the
facility. The tailings left the mill in the
form of a slurry and were piped into the
nearest waterway when nearby, or
deposited in a dump downslope. Tailings
often also abound in and around the mill
remains. While determining exactly which
machines a mill included can be difficult,
most concentration facilities followed the
series of processes outlined in this section.
112
End Notes
I Bramble, Charles ABC's ofIlimng Geology, Energy, & Minerals Corp, Santa Monica, CA [ 1898[1980 p11-13.
Peale, Robert Mining Engineers'Handbook John Wiley & Sons, New York, NY 1918 p381-385. s
Young George Elements ofMining John Wilev & Sons, New York NY 1946 p19-26.
' Bramble, Charles.ABC's ofMining Geology, Energy, &'Minerals Corp, Santa Monica, CA [1898[ 1980 p11.13.
Peele, Robert .bfirung Engineers'Handbook John Wiley & Sons, New York, NY 1918 p381-385.
Young George Elements ofMining John Wilev & Sons, New York, NY 1946 p19-26.
s Bramble, Charles ABC's ofMining Geology, Energy, & Minerals Corp, Santa Monica, CA [18981 1980 p11-13.
Peele, Robert Mining Engineers'Handbook John Wiley & Sons, New York. NY 1918 p381-385.
Young George Elements ofMining John Wiley & Sons, New York NY 1946 p19-26.
a Twiny, Eric Reading the Ruins Masters Thesis, University of Colorado at Denver, 1999 p29.
'Colliery Engineer Company Coal &:'feral Miners' Pocketbook Colliery Engineer Company, Scranton, PA, 1893 p25T
International Textbook Company A Textbook on Metal Mining: Preliminary Operations atMetal Mines, Metal Mining, Surface
Arrangements ot:bfetal Mines, Ore Dressing and Milling International Textbook Company, Scranton, PA, 1899 A40 p8. -
b Twitty, Eric Reading the Ruins Masters Thais, University of Colorado at Denver, 1999 p30.
' Morrison'r Mining Rights Denver, CO, 1899 p17, 20. -
Peele, Robert Mining Engineers' Handbook. John Wiley & Sons. New York, NY, 1918 p1474.
a Twitty, Eric Reading the Ruins Masters Thais, University of Colorado at Denver, 1999 p27.
9 Twitty, Eric Reading the Ruins Masters Thesis, University of Colorado at Denver, 1999 p3032.
10 Peele, Robert Mining Engineers'Handbook John Wiley & Sans, New York, NY, 1918 p459.
Young, George Elements ofMining John Wiley & Seats, New York NY, 1923 p463.
International Textbook Company A Textbook on Metal Mining: Preliminary Operations at Metal Mines,Metal Mining, Surface
Arrangements a Metallviines, Ore Dressing and Milling International Textbook Company, Scranton, PA. 1899 A40 p42.
1a Twitty, Eric Reading the Ruins Masters Thesis, University of Colorado at Denver, 1999 p42.
• International Textbook Company ATextbook on Metal Mining: Preliminary Operations at Metal Mines, Metal Mining, Surface
Arrangements atMetalMinea, Ore Dressing and Milling International Textbook Company, Scranton, PA, 1899 A40 p53.
Young George Elements ofMining John Wiley & Sam, New York NY, 1923 p192.
Zeta, E.N. Mine Cars and Mine Tracks West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV, 1917 p31.
10 Twiny, Eric Reading the Ruins Masters Thesis, University of Colorado at Denver, 1999 p143.
10 General Electric Company Electric Mine Locomotives: Catalogue No. 1045 General Electric Power and Mining Department, -
Chicago, Jl_ 1904 p23.
Peale, Robert Mining Engineers'Handbook John Wiley & Sons, New York NY, 1918 p862, 871.
" Colliery Engineer Company Coal Miners' Pocketbook McGraw-Hill Book Co., New York, NY, 1916 p767.
International Textbook Company International Library of Technology: Hoisting, Haulage, Mine Drainage International Textbook
Company, Scranton, PA, 1906 A55 p6.
Intemational Textbook Company International Correspondence School Reference Library: Rock Boring, Rock Drilling, Explosives
and Blasting, Coal-CuningMachmery, Timbering, Timber Trees, Trackwork Intemational Textbook Company, Saan ton, PA, 1907
A48 p2.
International Textbook Company Mine Haulage: Rope Haulage in Coal Mines, Locomotive Haulage in Coal Mines, Mine Haulage
Systems, Calculations, and Cars International Textbook Company, Scranton, PA, 1926 pl.
Young George Elements ofMining John Wiley & Sons, New York, NY, 1923 p192.
" Hoover, Herbert C. Pnnciples ofMining McGraw-Hill Back Co., New York, NY, 1909 pl50.
International Textbook Company International Correspondence School Reference Library., Rock Boring, Rock Drilling, Explosives
and Blasting, Coal-CuningMachinery, Timbering, Timber Trees, Trackwork International Textbook Company, Scranton, PA, 1907
A48 pl3.
Peale, Robert Mining Engineer's Handbook John Wiley & Sons, New York, NY, 1918 p184.
Young George Elements ofMining John Wiley & Sons, New York NY, 1946 p87.
" Twitty, Eric Reading the Ruins Masters Thesis, University of Colorado at Denver, 1999 1>45.
19 Twitty, Eric Reading the Ruins Matters Thesis, University of Colorado at Denver, 1999 p65.
" International Textbook Company International Library of Technology: Mine Surveying, Metal Mine Surveying, Mineral -Land
Surveying. Steam and Steam Boilers, Steam Engines, Air Compression International Textbook Company, Scranton, PA,
1924 A24 pI. !
3t Twitly, Eric Reading the Ruins Masters Thesis, University of Colorado at Denver, 1999 p66. _
't Twitty, Eric Reading the Ruins Masters Thesis, University of Colorado at Denver, 1999 p67.
" Twitty, Eric Reading the Ruins Masters Thesis, University of Colorado at Denver, 1999 p67.
14 Twitty, Eric Reading the Ruins Masters Thesis, University of Colorado at Denver, 1999 p69.
a Twitty, Eric Reading the Ruins Masters Thais, University of Colorado at Denver, 1999 p71.
's Twitty, Eric Reading the Ruins Masters Thais, University of Colorado a Denver, 1999 p73.
r' Twitty, Eric Reading the Ruins Masters Thesis, University of Colorado at Denver, 1999 p76.
as Twisty, Eric Reading the Ruins Masters Thais, University of Colorado at Denver, 1999 p77.
29 Twiny, Eric Reading the Ruins Masters Thais, University of Colorado at Denver, 1999 p51.
t° International Textbook Company A Textbook on MetalMining:Preliminary Operations at Metal Mines, Metal Mining, Surface
Arrangements arMetal Mines, Ore Dressing and Milling International Textbook Company, Seration, PA, 1899 A41 p133.
International Textbook Company Coal and Metal Miners' Packet Book International Textbook Company, Scranton, PA 1905
p381.
113
'
Lewis, Robert S. Elements ofMimng John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York NY, 1946 p454.
Peale, Robert Mining Engineers'Handbook John Wiley & Sons, New York, NY, 1918 p1038.
Young, George Elements of Mining John Wiley & Sons, New York NY, 1923 p255.
n Twitty, Eric Reading the Ruins Masters Thesis, University of Colorado at Denver, 1999 p85.
a'
10 Twitty, Eric Reading the Ruins blasters Thais, University of Colorado at Denver, 1999 p326.
ss Twitty, Eric Reading the Ruins Masters Thais, University of Colorado at Denver, 1999 p179.
J4 Eaton, Lucien Practical Mine Development &Equipment McGraw-Hill Book Company, New York NY, 1934 p13.
International Textbook Company Coal and Metal Mtners'Pocket Book International Textbook Company, Scranton. PA 1905 p261.
- ,
Peels, Robert Mining Engineers'Handbook John Wiley & Sons, New York NY., 1918 p263 p251.
Young George Elements of Mining John Wiley & Sons, New York NY., 1923 p171 p461.
ss Twiny, Eric Reading the Ruins Masters Thesis, University of Colorado at Denver, 1999 p 177, 178.
Twitty, Eric Reading the Ruins Masters Thais, University of Colorado at Denver, 1999, p 196.
sr Twitty, Eric Reading the Ruins Masters Thais, University of Colorado at Denver, 1999, p197.
s Twitty, Eric Reading the Ruins Masters Thais, University of Colorado at Denver, 1999 p198.
19 Twitty, Eric Reading the Ruins Masters Thais, University of Colorado at Denver, 1999 p201.
-
40 Twitty, Eric Reading the Ruins Masters Thais, University of Colorado at Denver, 1999 p209.
" Twitty, Eric Reading the Ruins Masters Thais, University of Colorado at Denver, 1999 p211.
3
4' Twitty, Eric Reading the Ruins Masters Thais, University of Colorado at Denver, 1999 p212.
" Twitty, Eric Reading the Ruins Masters Thais, University of Colorado at Denver, 1999 p242.
l
' Twitty, Eric Reading the Ruins Masters Thesis, University of Colorado at Denver, 1999 p244.
" Twitty, Eric Reading the Ruins Masters Thais, University of Colorado at Denver, 1999 p246.
- L
w Eaton, Lucien Pracncalmne Development & Equipment McGraw-Hill Book Company, New York NY, 1934 p86, 295.
Lewis, Robert S. Elements ofMimng John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York NY, 1946 (19331 p187.
Staley, William Mine Plant Design McGraw-Hill Book Co., New York NY, 1936 p137.
Young, George Elements of Mining John Wiley & Saw, New York NY, 1946 p203.
Zurn, E.N. Coal Miners'Pocketbook McGraw-Hill Book Co., New York NY, [1890 Colliery Engineering Co.[ 1928 p760.
41 Lewis, Robert S. Elements of Mining John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York NY, 1946 [19331 p187.
Staley, William Mine Plant Design McGraw-Hill Book Co., New York NY, 1936 pl41.
i
Young, George Elements of Mining John Wiley & Sons, New York NY, 1946 p205.
48 Twitty, Eric Reading the Ruins Masters Thais, University of Colorado at Denver, 1999 p341.
t
49 Twitty, Eric Reading the Ruins Masters Thais, University of Colorado at Denver, 1999 p341.
s0 Twitty, Eric Reading the Ruins Masters Thais, University of Colorado at Denver, 1999 p343.
- t
" Twitty, Eric Reading the Ruins Masters Thesis, University of Colorado at Denver, 1999 p344.
" Twitty, Eric Reading the Ruins Masters Thais, University of Colorado at Denver, 1999 p204.
c
" Croft, Terrell Steam Boilers McGraw-Hill Book Co., New York NY, 1921 p48.
international Textbook Company A Twbook on MetalMining: Steam and Steam -Boilers, Steam Engines. Air andAir Compression,
Hydromechanics and Pumping, Mine Haulage, Hoisting and Hoisting Appliances, Percussive and Rotary Boring International
Textbook Company, Scranton, PA, 1899 Al p34.
Kleirdiew, Frank B. Locomotive Boiler Construction Norman W. Henley Publishing Co., New York NY, 1915 p 12.
Rand Drill Company Illustrated Catalogue of the Rand Drill Company, New York, U.S.A. Rand Drill Company, New York NY, 1886
p47.
Tinny, W.H. Gold Mining Machinery: Its Selection, Arrangement,& Installation D. Van Nostrand Company, New York NY., 1906
p50.
' !
sr Twitty, Eric Reading the Ruins Masters Thais, University of Colorado at Denver, 1999 p206.
- -
J6 Colliery Engineer Company Coal &Metal Miners'Pocketbook Colliery Engineer Company, Scranton, PA, 1893 p262.
International Textbook Company A Textbook on MetalMining: Steam and Steam -Boilers, Steam Engines, Air and Air Compression,
Hydromechanics and Pumping, Mine Haulage, Hoisting and Hoisting Appliances, Percussive and RotaryBoring International
Textbook Company, Scranton, PA, 1899 A18 p28.
Pale, Robed Mining Engineers'Handbook John Wiley & Sons, New York NY, 1918 p2083.
Thurston, RH. A Manual of Steam Boilers: Thew Design, Construction, and Operation John Wiley & Sons, New York NY, 1901 p31.
Twitty, Eric Reading the Ruins Masters Thesis, University of Colorado at Denver, 1999 p252.
s Ililseng, Magnus AManual of Mining John Wiley & Sons, New York NY, 1892 p581.
"
International Textbook Company International Library of Technology: Mine Surveying, Metal Mine Surveying, Mineral -Land
Surveying, Steam and Steam Boilers, Steam Engines, Air Compression International Textbook Company, Scranton, PA, 1924 A23
J
p53.
Keystone Consolidated Publishing Company Inc. The Mining Catalog: 2925 Metal -Quarry Edition Keystone Consolidated Publishing
Company Inc, (no location given), 1925 p115.
Peele, Robert Mining Engineers'Handbook John Wiley & Sons, New York NY, 1918 p2086.
1
se Croft, Terrell Steam Boilers McGraw-Hill Book Co, New York NY, 1921 p18, 53. -
Greeley, Horace; Case, Leon; Howland, Edward; Gough, John B.; Ripley, Philip; Perkins, E.B.; Lyman, J.B.; Brisbane, Albert; Hall, E.E.
"Babcock and Wilcox Boiler" The Great Industries ofthe United States J.B. Burr, Hartford, CT, 1872.
International Textbook Company A Textbook on Metal Mining: Steam and Steam -Boilers, Steam Engines, Air and Air Compression,
Hydromechanics and Pumping, Mine.Yaulage. Hoisting and Hoisting Appliances, Percussive and Rotary Borng International
Textbook Company, Scranton, PA, 1899 Al p35.
Linsuom, C.B. & Clemens, A.B. Steam Boilers and Equipment International Textbook Co., Scranton, PA, 1928 p30.
Peele, Robert Mining Engineers'Handbook John Wiley & Sons, New York. NY, 1918 p2083.
Thurston, R.H. AManual of Steam Boilers: Their Design, Construction, and Operation John Wiley & Sons, New York NY, 1901
p34.
114
Time,, W.H. Gold.biining,bfachmerv: Its Selection, Arrangement. & Installation D. VanNostrand Company, New York. N I, nvoo
p63.
39 Twitty, Eric Reading the Ruins Masters Thesis, University of Colorado at Denver, 1999 p215.
00 Twitty, Eric Reading the Ruins Masters Thesis. University of Colorado at Denver, 1999 p215. _.
61 Ilslseng, Magnus AManual of Mining John Wiley & Sons, New York NY, 1892 p91.
International Textbook Company A Textbook on Metal,Mining: Steam and Steam -Boilers. Steam Engines. Air and Air
Compression, $vdromechamcs ana'Pumping, ,bfine Haulage, Hoisting and Hmsung,t pphances, Percussive andP.o!ary Boring
International Textbook Company, Scranton, PA, 1899 A23 p105. international Textbook Textbook Company International Library of Technology: Hoisting, Haulage,,Nine Drainage hnemanonul Textbook
Company, Smntoo, Pk 1906 A53 p31.
Ketchum, Milo S. C.E. The Design of Mine Structures McGraw-Hill Book Co., New York NY, 1912 p11.
Peele, Robert ,Wining Engmeers'Hondbook John Wiley & Sons, New York NY, 1918 p926.
Twitty, Eric Reading the Ruins Masters Thesis, University of Colorado at Denver, 1999 p274.
" Twitty, Eric Reading the Ruins Masters Thesis, University of Colorado at Denver, 1999 p275.
6alnternational Textbook Company International Library of Technology: Hoisting, Haulage. Mine Drainage InternationalTextbook _
Company, Scranton, PA, 1906 A53 p35.
Ketchum, Milo S. C.E. The Destgn npdme Structures McCraw -Hill Book Co., New York NY, 1912 p7.
Peele, Robert Mining Engineers'Handbook John Wiley & Sons, New York NY, 1918 p935.
6' Twitty, Eric Reading the Ruins Masters Thesis, University of Colorado at Denver, 1999 p283.
66 Gillette,Halbert P. RockF=avation: Methods and Cost Myron C. Clark Publishing Corapany, New York NY, 1907 p15.
Hoover, Herbert C. Principles of'Mming McGraw-Hill Book Co, New York NY, 1909 p 150. ,
International Correspondence Schools Rock Boring, Blasting, Coal Cuffing, Trackwork International Te#book Co., Scranton,
Pennsylvania 1907 p13.
Peele, Robert ,Mining Engineer's Handbook John Wiley & Sons, New York NY, 1918 p184, 213.
Young, George Elements of Mining John Wiley & Sons, New York, NY, 1946 p87.
m Twitty, Eric Reading the Ruins Masters Thesis, University of Colorado at Denver, 1999 p102.
61 International Textbook Company Coal and Mera/Miners'PocketBoeik International Textbook Company, Scranton, PA 1905 p196.
bnemational Textbook Company A Textbook on Metal Mining: Steam and Steam -Boilers, Steam Engines, Air and Air Compression,
Hydromechanics and Pumping, Mine Haulage, Hoisting and Hoisting Appliances, Percussive and Rotary Boring international
Textbook Company, Scranton, PA, 1899 A20 p18, 25.
International Textbook Company international Library of Technology: Mine Surveying, Metal MineScranton,rvey!ng Mineeraa - 24 A25 Ili
Surveying. Steam and Steam Boilers, Steam Engines, Air Compression International Textbook Company,
p17. j
Lewis, Robert S. Elements of Mining John Wiley &Sons, Inc., New York NY, 1946 p442. Il
Pecle, Robert .Mining Engineers'Handbook John Wiley & Sons, New York NY, 1919 p1061.
Rand Drill Company Illustrated Catalogue of the Rand Drill Company, New York, U.S.A. Rand Drill Company, New York NY, 1886
p19.
M Keystone Consolidated Publishing Company Inc. The Mining Catalog: 1925 Metal -Quarry Edition Keystone Consolidated i
Publishing Company Inc., (no location given), 1925 p125.
Peele, Robert Mining Engineers' Handbook John Wiley & Sons, New York NY, 1918 p1062.
Simma, Theodore E.M., C.E. Compressed Air: ATreatise on the Production, Transmission, and Use of Compressed Air McGraw-Hill
Book Company, Inc., New York NY, 1921 p59.
Thorkelson, H.J. Air Compression and Transmission McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc., New York, NY, 1912 p90.
69 Twitty, Ede Reading the Ruins Masten Thesis, University of Colorado at Denver, 1999, p126.
i0 Twitty, Eric Reading the Ruins Masters Thais, University of Colorado at Denver, 1999, p329.
11 Twitty, Eric "From Steam Engina to Electric Motors: ElecOiScatio t in the Cripple Creek Mining District" Mining History Journal,
1998.
n International Textbook Company A Textbook on Metal Mining: Steam and Steam -Boilers, Steam Engines. Air and Air Compression,
Hydromechanics and Pumping, Mine Haulage, Hoisting and Hoisting Appliances, Percussive and Rotary Boring International
Textbook Company, Scranton, PA, 1899 A23 p5.
Peale, Robert Mining Engineers'Handbook John Wiley & Sons, New York NY, 1918 pl 126.
Twitty, Eric "From Steam Engines to Electric Motors: Electrification in the Cripple Creek Mining ITsuia" Mining History Journal,
1999.
n Twitty, Eric Reading the Ruins Masters Thais, University of Colorado at Denver, 1999, p269.
'4 Twitty, Eric Reading the Ruins Masten Thais, University of Colorado at Denver, 1999, p270.
15 Twitty, Eric Reading the Ruins Masters Thais, University of Colorado at Denver, 1999, p270.
16 Twitty, Eric "From Steam Engina to Electric Motors: Electrification in the Cripple Creek Mining District" Mining History Journal,
1998.
17 Twitty, Eric Reading the Ruins Masters Thais, University of Colorado at Deaver, 1999, p304.
18 Twitty, Eric Reading the Ruins Masters Thais, University of Colorado at Denver, 1999, p306.
19 ihherr& Magnus AManual of Mining John Wiley & Sons, New Yolk, NY, 1892 pl37.
BO lhlseng, Magnus AManual of Mining John Wiley & Sow, New York NY, 1892 p137.
Tremert, Robert A "From Gold One to Be Guano:Aenal Tramways in the West" The Mining History Journal 1997 p5.
n 0lseng, Magnus AManual of Mining John Wiley & Sans, New York NY, 1892 p138.
International Textbook Company Coal and Metal Miners' Packet Book International Textbook Company, Scranton, PA, 1905 p122.
Lewis. Robert S. Elements of Mining John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York NY, 1946 p372.
Pale, Robert :Mining Engineers'Handbook John Wiley & Sons, New York NY, 1918 p1563,
Trennert. Robot .4 "From Gold Ore to Bat Guano:Acrial Tramways in the Wen" The Mining History Journal 1997 p6.
115
a' Twitty, Eric Reading the Ruins Wasters Thesis, University of Colorado at Denver, 1999 p150,
es Twitty, Eric Reading the Ruins blasters Thesis, University of Colorado at Denver, 1999 p 153.
Wyman, Mark Hard Rock Epic: Western Mining and the Industrial Revolution, 1860-1910 University of California Press, Berkeley,
CA 1989 [19791 p81.
Young, Otis E. Western Mining University of Oklahoma Press, 1987 [19701 p223.
jj 85 Peele, Robert Mining Engineer's Handbook John Wiley & Sons, New York, NY, 1918, pl623, 1627.
r j Tinney, W.H. Gold Mining Machinery: Its Selection. Arrangement, & Installation D. Van Nosvand Company, New'i ork, NY, 1906,
P191.
4 86 Peale, Robert Mining Engineer's Handbook John Wiley & Sons, New York NY, 1918, pl630.
87 Peele, Robert Mining Engineers Handbook John Wiley & Sons, New York NY, 1918, pl680.
Tinny, W.H. Gold Mining Machinery: Its Selection, Arrangement, & Installation D. Van Nostrand Company, New York NY, 1906,
p204.
t 88 Bailey, Lynn Supplying the Mining World: the Mining Equipment Manufacturers of San Francisco 1850-1900 Westem LorePress,
Tucson, AZ, 1996, p64, 112.
j Tinney, W.H. Gold Mining Machinery: Its Selection, Arrangement, & Installation D. Van Noslrand Company, New York, NY, 1906,
p204.
89 Peele, Robert Mining Engineer's Handbook John Wiley & Sons, New York NY, 1918, p1669.
116
CHAPTER 5
THE HISTORY OF THE CREEDE MINING DISTRICT
Silver is Diseovered
For centuries the San Juan
Mountains were the exclusive domain of
the Ute Indians. Rugged, remote, and
inhospitable, Spanish, then American
explorers examined the piedmont areas
surrounding the mighty range, but few
ventured deep into the mountains.
Rumors circulated that the Spanish had
mined silver in the mountains as early as
the late 1700s, and if so, their impact was
limited. Then, in 1865, the Utes saw their
isolation and peace begin to erode. A
party of prospectors led by Charles Baker
penetrated deep into the Animas River
drainage in search of placer gold. The
party encountered minor amounts of the
metal near present-day Silverton, and
while they did not locate economic
quantities of gold, the prospectors' impact
was great. The Baker parry reported that
the San Juan Mountains held great
promise for mining, and they proved that
the area could be accessed. During the
next 10 years other prospecting parties
imitated Baker, and in addition to placer
gold, they sought hardrock gold and
silver, which the San Juans offered in
abundance. Their success in finding
riches stimulated mining, which led to the
growth of settlements such as Silverton,
Ouray, Telluride, Lake City, and Rico.
Due to the remoteness of the San Juans,
and because of the threat posed by angry
Ute Indians, mining developed slowly.
The Utes were not hostile at first.
They understood that Whites were
interested in minerals and not in extensive
settlement, and they permitted
prospectors to search the high country
unmolested. However, as more Whites
arrived in the early 1870s, conflict seemed
eminent. When faced with the disaster of
another Indian war, the federal
government employed the typical strategy
in which it coaxed the Indians into signing
a treaty. In 1873, Felix Brunot, President
of the Board of Indian Commissioners,
held negotiations with Chief Ouray, and
hammered out the Brunot Treatv.
According to the agreement, the U.S.
Government paid the Utes $25,000 for
4,000,000 acres of mineral -bearing land,
and the Utes retained the right to hunt on
the ceded territory. With the treaty in
effect and the threat of hostile Indians
mitigated, isolation became the main
impediment to mining in the San Juans.
To facilitate the region's development,
Colorado road -builder Otto Mears,
freight companies, and mining interests all
contributed to the development of a
network of roads, some barely passable
even after completion, between the many
settlements in the mountains.'
Ironically, the area that became
Creede lay just several miles north of one
of the most heavily traveled routes into
the deep San Juans. Prospectors,
freighters, and other travelers followed
the Rio Grande River on their way to
Lake City and the Silverton area, unaware
of the riches that lay near Wagon Wheel
Gap, which served as a way stop.
Further, the Denver & Rio Grande
Railroad graded a line through South
117
Fork, 20 miles south, increasing traffic
along the Rio Grande.
After the Brunot Treaty had been
negotiated, parties of prospectors felt less
inhibited and they fanned out, searching
remote and inaccessible areas of the
mountains for ores. In 1876, one group
including John C. McKenzie and H.M.
Bennett, examined the area that became
Creede, which was unsettled at the time.
After considerable prospecting they
discovered silver ore west of where the
city of Creede would stand, and they
staked the Alpha claim. The party failed
to rouse interest in their find, and, still
holding optimism for the area, returned on
subsequent prospecting forays. In 1878
McKenzie discovered another ore body
and staked the Bachelor claim, named
after his marital state. Little did
McKenzie suspect, as he erected his claim
Posts, that he was standing on one of
Colorado's richest and longest ore veins.
After prolonged failure to stimulate
interest and arouse investors, Creede's
first successful prospectors sold the Alpha
in 1885 to brothers Richard and J.N.H.
Irwin. McKenzie optimistically retained
title to the Bachelor. After attempting to
work the ores in arrastes, and after further
futile searches, the various parties gave
up.2
In 1889, 13 years after McKenzie
and Bennett first drew attention to the
area, another party of prospectors
encountered bonanza ore. In May,
Nicholas C. Creede, E.R. Taylor, and
G.L. Smith located the Holy Moses claim
on Campbell Mountain, which they named
after their exclamation of astonishment
and surprise at the strike's richness.
Nicholas Creede, for whom the district is
named, was no ordinary prospector.
Creede was bom William Harvey in Fort
Wayne, Indiana in 1842. He fell in love
with a young woman, and during their
courtship she left Harvey for his brother.
Harvey may have even married his
beloved. Horrified, Harvey left home and
changed his name to Nicholas C. Creede.
The young Creede arrived in Colorado in
1870, lured by the sirens of mineral
wealth. Creede successfully prospected in
the Collegiate Mountains, and he had
better luck than other hopefuls in the
range's Silver Creek area. There, he sold
an ore -bearing claim for a little money,
and within a short time the purchasing
company began turning a handsome
profit. Creede felt that he had been taken,
and vowed never to sell low again.'
Creede's demise was tragic. After
locating the Holy Moses claim, the party
of prospectors interested an investment
syndicate including mining and railroad
magnate David H. Moffat, U.S. Army
Captain L.E. Campbell, and Denver &
Rio Grande Railroad general manager
Sylvester T. Smith. The business trio not
only supplied capital to develop the
property, but they hired Creede to serve
as their professional prospector. Their
decision to retain Creede proved wise,
because he subsequently staked the Ethel
claim, and in 1891 he located the fabulous
Amethyst Mine. Creede sold a share of
each of his finds to his employers, but
remembering his lesson teamed in the
Collegiates, he kept a substantial portion
for himself Creede had accomplished
what other prospectors only dreamed of.
He encountered mineral wealth several
times and profited handsomely from each.
Within a short time Creede retired in
Pueblo, then moved to Los Angeles in
1893 to enjoy the mild, dry, sea -level
climate. A storm was brewing for Creede
in the East, however. By 1897 Creede's
estranged wife, of whom little is known,
had learned of her spouse's good fortune,
118
and she made it known that she was
planning on coming out West to live with
Creede. When Creede learned of his
wife's intent, he panicked, and in his
despair he took an overdose of
morphine.'
The word of Creede's find began
spreading through Colorado, and
prospectors traveled to the King Soloman
district, as the area was then known, in
1890 to examine the potential. Several
new -comers and seasoned prospectors
made further discoveries, lending to the
growing curiosity. Veteran prospectors
Dick Irwin and Nick Crude, who served
as one of Kit Carson's scouts,
encountered silver and lead ore near the
old Alpha claim. In 1891 a party of
prospectors including Theodor Renniger,
Ralph Granger, Julius Haas, and Eric Von
Buddenbock, subsisting on a $25
grubstake, set up camp and began their
search for wealth. The party encountered
samples of float along the banks of West
Willow Creek and followed the lead
upslope. Unsure of what they had found,
the prospectors asked Creede to examine
their strike and pass judgement. Creede
immediately recognized the richness of
the ore, and urged the prospectors to
stake claims, which they did under the
name Last Chance. Inspired by the party s
find, Creede calculated the orientation of
the ore body, traveled a short distance
north, and staked the Amethyst claim.
The Last Chance and Amethyst mines
became the district's wealthiest
operations.'
Creede and his parry of
prospectors interested the Moffat
syndicate in the Holy Moses in 1891. The
district was largely unknown to the
mining world at that time, and Moffat
probably surmised that he and his
associates were presented with a mining
investors' dream. Moffat's syndicate had
the opportunity to buy a cluster of
fabulous mines at low prices, before
attention from the mining world drove
prices up. The Moffat syndicate's interest
in Creede's claims lent legitimacy to the
area and served as a crack in the dike
retaining the waters of further investment.
Shortly after Creede and Moffat's
deal for the Soloman, Renniger and his
party acquired investors for the Last
Chance. Julius Haas sold his share in the
claim to the other three prospectors for
$10,000. Renniger and Von Buddenbock
sold their shares to investors Jacob
Sanders and S.Z. Dixon for $50,000 each.
Like Creede, the last of the Renniger
party, Ralph Granger, refused to
completely sell out, even when offered
$100,000. Granger, Dixon, and Sanders
interested Willard Ward and silver
magnate Henry O. Wolcott in the
property, and the men formed the Last
Chance Mining Company. The activity in
the district had finally drawn the attention
of the mining industry. The conservative
mining periodical Engineering & Mining
Journal described the finds as "immense",
lending fuel for a rush.'
Reports of the Creede district's
wealth began rippling first through
Colorado, then through the West, and
finally to other parts of the nation in 1891.
Mining industry workers, professional
miners, roustabouts, and hopefuls
ventured to the new area, causing the
area's population to soar. Most of the
newcomers stopped over in one of several
camps near the Rio Grande River, and
many continued several miles up to the
high country to stake claims. By 1891
prospectors had determined that the best
ore was concentrated in three vein
systems, the Amethyst, Holy Moses, and
119
the Alpha, discussed in the geology
section above.
East and West Willow creeks
served as the principal gateways to the
Holy Moses and Amethyst veins,
respectively, and camps naturally sprung
up at the creeks' confluence. Prospectors
had established the camp of Creede on
East Willow Creek as early as 1890, the
camp named Jimtown grew along the
main trunk of Willow Creek
approximately one mile downstream, and
South Creede sprang up downstream
from Jimtown. Crude's Camp, also
known as Sunnyside, rose to the west
near the Alpha ore system. Each town
became a commercial center, attracting
merchants, the offices of brand new
mining companies, and local government.
Tides of miners and prospectors coming
from and going to the workings ebbed
and flowed through the settlements.'
The Creede district's four main
camps were typical of the West's
boomtowns spawned by mining rushes.
The inhabitants focused on making
money, and as a result the development of
social and physical infrastructures became
a secondary priority. Architecture was
also a secondary consideration. At first,
the camps consisted of a mix of wall tents,
log cabins, and rough frame buildings, all
with limited floor space. Yet, businesses
such as saloons, hotels, and mercantiles
abounded. Like. other Western mining
settlements, Creede's camps grew in
topographically inappropriate places.
Except for Sunnyside, the other camps
were located in the deep and constricted
canyon of Willow Creek, which presented
traffic problems and the threat of
flooding. By 1891 the population of the
camps along Willow Creek soared from
several groups of prospectors to
approximately 1,000 inhabitants.'
The prospecting and mining
activity on the Amethyst and Holy Moses
veins was as frenetic as that in the
burgeoning settlements below. Prospect
operations, in varying stages of
development, extended for over two miles
along both veins. Prospectors had
blanketed the ground with claims, which
restricted the available surface space for
each operation. As a result, prospectors
and miners explored their claims at depth
predominantly through vertical and
inclined shafts, instead of adits. Parties of
prospectors using primitive hand
windlasses worked in the shadows of
advanced, heavily equipped steam
operations. All sought bonanza ore.
Great distances and a terrain that
can be described as treacherous, at best,
separated the settlements along Willow
Creek from the workings on the veins
above. Miners and prospectors found it
most convenient to live at or near their
operations, instead of making the twice -
daily trek. Not only would a commute by
foot or horseback have consumed too
much time and energy, but also such
travel bordered on impossible in adverse
weather, especially during the winter. As .
a result, several small camps formed.
When the search for ore gave way to
extraction, mining companies erected
boarding houses at their mines for the
same reasons.9
Creede's boom peaked in 1892
and 1893. The Denver & Rio Grande
Railroad graded a line up the Rio Grande
River from its main track at South Fork to
the settlement known as South Creede.
The D&RG RR later extended the rail line
to North Creede. During the boom, trains
were bringing up to 300 immigrants per
day to the district, and the population of
the Willow Creek settlements swelled to
8,000. During this time Jimtown and
120
ERIC IL TWITTY
Mountain States Historical
Historical Archaeologist / Historian
3750 Darley Ave, Boulder, CO. 80303
(303) 499-4334 twitty@flash.net
EDUCATION
M.A. American History, emphasis: American West and Mining, University of Colorado at Denver, 1999.
Thesis: Reading the Ruins:.4 Field Guide for Analyzing and Interpreting the Remains of Ffistoric
Western Hardrock Miner.
B.S. Environmental Science, San Jose State University, San Jose, CA., 1989.
HONORS AND AWARDS
Academic Scholarship awarded by University of Colorado at Denver, Graduate Program, American History
Department,1998.
Served on editorial board of The Colorado Historian, Spring, 1996.
Research Grant awarded by the Eleutherian Mills Foundation (nonprofit institute for the preservation of
technology) and invitation to study at the Hagley Museum & Library in Delaware for manuscripts Blown to Bits in
the i'viine: the History of Mining & Blasting and Blasting Powder & Dynamite - Makers, & Artifacts, 1993.
PROJECT
October, 2000
October 2000
Selective Inventory, Evaluation, and Interpretation of Mine and Mill Sites in the Granite Mining
District, Colorado
Contracted with the Bureau of Land Management.
October 2000
Selective Inventory, Evaluation, and Interpretation of Mine Sites in the Rosita Mining District,
Colorado
Contracted with the Bureau of Land Management.
May 2000-On-going
Selective Inventory, Evaluation, and Interpretation of the Principal Mine and Mill Sites in the Kendall
Mtn. Area, Silverton, Colorado
Contracted with the Bureau of Land Management.
Mav 2000-On-going
Selective Inventory, Evaluation, and Interpretation of the Principal Mine and Industrial Sites on the
Holy Moses Vein, Creede, Colorado
Contracted with the Willow Creek Reclamation Committee.
Mav 2000-On-going
Selective Inventory, Evaluation, and Interpretation of the Principal Mine Sites on the Alpha -Corsair
and Other Veins, Creede, Colorado
Contracted with the Willow Creek Reclamation Committee.
May 2000-On-going
Cultural Resource Management for Land Disposal Between Bureau of Land Management and Cripple
Creek & I rdor Mining Company, Victor, Colorado
Contracted with the Cripple Creek & Victor Gold Mining Company.
South Creede merged to form the town of
Creede, and the original Creede, located
on East Willow Creek, became North
Creede.10
The dramatic increase in
population and economic activity fostered
a need for a formal local government.
The problem with representation lay in the
fact that the Creede district overlay the
intersection of Saguache, Hinsdale, and
Rio Grande counties. In 1893 Mineral
County was carved out of the three
counties. Ironically, the town of Creede
was not the original county seat. The
honor went to the townsite of Wason,
located on the Wason Ranch south of
Creede. The residents of Creede were
outraged, and they thought Martin Van
Buren Wason, a powerful local rancher
and transportation mogul, pirated the
county seat, and after a considerable fight,
they moved it to Creede.
Not only did the Creede boom
offer possibilities to those seeking mineral
wealth and jobs at the mines, but the
lawlessness and abundant money
presented opportunities for gamblers and
criminals. People of mythic proportion,
both honest and crooked, called early
Creede home. Prize fighter Jack
Dempsey started his boxing career while a
boy in Creede. Bob Ford and Bat
Masterson both operated saloons and
gambling houses in town, and Poker Alice
practiced her questionable card games in
Creede. Gambling shark Bob
Fitzsimmons had a statue of a man cast in
concrete, and buried it in the mud of
Farmers Creek. One of his underlings
"discovered" the seemingly petrified man,
and Fitzsimmons used it for publicity.
But Jefferson Randolph "Soapy" Smith
was the most notorious criminal to live in
Creede. Smith earned his nickname in
Denver by playing a con game in which he
inserted a $20 bill under the wrapper of a
bar of soap and mixed it in with a bushel
of ordinary bars. For a small sum of
money, he permitted individuals to select
one bar from the bushel in an effort to
retrieve the salted bar that Smith had
buried. Curiously, few people ever won
playing Smith's game. By the early
1890s, Smith had become a well-known
and clever gambler, and was respected in
the underworld. Seeing Creede as an
opportunity, Smith established himself
there, and became involved in local
politics which he tied into his ring of
organized crime. He reigned for several
years, trying to walk a fine line between
Creede's honest citizens and his shady
syndicate. Smith appeased both sides by
permitting gambling, some of which was
crooked, as well as prostitution, while
squashing petty crime and overt
lawlessness. Smith left Creede in 1893
following the death of his friend, Joe
Simmons, and in the face of the economic
depression caused by the Silver Crash."
Silver ore began pouring out of
the district's principal mines by 1892, and
the towns along Willow Creek began to
exhibit signs of mature industrial
communities. In the town centers, the
ramshackle architecture of the earliest
inhabitants gave way to large, stately
frame buildings. Six sawmills, operated
by the Creede Lumber Company in
surrounding forests, supplied lumber. In
1892 Lute Johnson founded the Creede
Candle, and the famous Cy Warman
established the Creede Chronicle. The
Candle published newspapers until 1930.
Creede hosted the district's first school,
and the town of Creede was officially
incorporated. New comers and some of
the district's original prospectors, such as
C.F. Nelson, sat on local governmental
panels. Destruction visited Creede in
121
1892, when a significant portion of the
town burned, and the area near Willow
Creek succumbed to flood waters.
Activity in the towns continued unabated,
however, until the fateful year of 1893.12
To many residents, the experience
of life in early Creede was nothing less
that exciting. Above the noise, traffic,
bustle, talk of mineral riches, and money,
stood optimism and the romance of
Western mining. This environment
spurred Cy Warman to write the famous
poem capturing the essence of early
Creede:
CREEDE
Here's a land where all are equal -
of high and lowly birth —
A land where men make millions,
dug from the dreary earth.
Here the meek and mild eyed burro
on mineral mountains feed —
It's day all day, in the day -time
And there is no night in Creede.
The cliffs are solid silver
with wond'rous wealth untold;
And the beds of running rivers
are lined with glittering gold.
While the world is filled with sorrows
and hearts must break and bleed,
It's day all day, in the day -time
I And there is no night in Creede.13
During the early 1890s the mines
on the Amethyst Vein also began showing
signs of maturation. The large operations
drew a growing workforce, and they
required an infrastructure for fuel, water,
and transportation. The town of
Bachelor, named for the Bachelor Mine,
sprang up on a grassy area at the vein's
south end, and the town of Weaver grew
deep in West Willow Creek's canyon near
the vein's mid -point. Mine workers and
merchants serving the area's mines
established Bachelor in 1891, and they
platted the townsite in 1892. By 1893 the
town hosted 8 stores, 10 saloons, assay
offices, boarding houses, and several
hotels and restaurants. The town center
was small, but the residences and
boarding houses associated with the
numerous mines, up to several miles away
on the Amethyst Vein, were included,
peaking the population at a questionable
6,000. Because the town kept a fire
engine on hand, Bachelor's most
significant fire claimed only several
business buildings."
The town of Weaver never
attained the size or degree of formality
that Bachelor experienced. At its peak,
the town consisted of a collection of
rough frame and log cabins, and a few
wall tents, located at the confluence of
two deep canyons. Miners and workers
of the Amethyst and Last Chance
companies, and teamsters constituted the
bulk of Weaver's population. The town
hosted a school, which reflects the strong
presence of an industrial working
population. Bachelor and Weaver both
thrived until the disastrous year of 1893.
122
Figure 5.1 Jimtown as it appeared around 1891. The view is southeast, and the Rio Grande River valley lies in
the background. The district's first prospectors called the rough settlement home. Courtesy of Colorado
Historical Society (F-4850 S0025673).
Figure 5.2 In the early 1890s the city of Creede, known then as Lower Creede, was a tangle of merchants,
hostlers, restauranteurs, prospectors, speculators, and freighters weaving their way amid construction and
traffic. Courtesy of Colorado Historical Society (William Henry Jackson 30655 50025189).
123
The Mines
The towns of Creede, North
Creede, Bachelor, and Weaver would
have remained primitive camps were it not
for the rich mines on the Amethyst and
Holy Moses veins. Between 1891 and
1893 the Creede district's principal mines
included the Bachelor, the Last Chance,
the New York, and the Amethyst, all of
which penetrated the Amethyst Vein. The
Holy Moses, the Soloman, and the Ridge
mines, also exceedingly wealthy, lay along
the Holy Moses Vein. Of this group, the
Amethyst and Last Chance mines stood
out as the top producers.
The Moffat syndicate owned the
rich Holy Moses and Amethyst mines.
When the Moffat syndicate purchased the
Holy Moses, it formed a mining company
with L.E. Campbell as general manager,
and it, secured the services of a competent
mining engineer who equipped and
developed the property. Thirty workers
and miners erected a surface plant and
drove exploratory drifts and crosscuts to
block out ore. To the Moffat syndicate's
delight, they encountered 18 inches of
native silver and galena ore which assayed
at $1,000 per ton. Production began, and
miners brought 30 tons of ore to the
surface per day. By 1893 the value of the
ore had dropped to $100 per ton, which
was still a handsome return.15
Senator Thomas Bowen, a San
Juan mining magnate, purchased the King
Soloman Mine and the Ridge Mine from
C.F. Nelson, he organized a miring
company, and put these properties into
production. Like the Holy Moses Mine,
miners began developing the King
Soloman, and in 1892 they too struck
phenomenally rich ore.
On the Amethyst Vein, the Moffat
syndicate formed the Amethyst Mining
Company to work Creede's spectacular
find. During the mine's early operating
period, Senator Thomas Bowen and L.D.
Roundebush bought into the company.
The syndicate hired a capable mining
engineer who followed standard
convention when he developed the
property. The engineer equipped the
mine with a sinking plant, which he
upgraded once miners had blocked out
sufficient ore. In 1892 the engineer had
mineworkers erect a large shaft house
enclosing a new steam hoist and an 80
horsepower boiler. By this time miners
were producing 35 tons of ore per day,
and to accommodate this, and the greater
volumes anticipated, the mining company
financed the construction of an innovative
and efficient ore handling system. Miners
input raw ore from the mine into an ore
sorting house on the surface. There,
workers separated waste and deposited
the concentrated ore into several holding
bins. An aerial tramway transported the
ore from the ore sorting house across 2
miles of the most hostile terrain down to
another set of holding bins serviced by the
D&RG RR at North Creede. This ore
handling system permitted the mine to
produce ore in economies of scale.16
The Wolcott syndicate owned the
fabulous Last Chance Mine. Henry O.
Wolcott was a lawyer, eventually a
senator, a promoter of Colorado business,
and a member of Denver's elite. The
Wolcott family made its fortune in
Colorado silver through rich mines in the
central portion of the Rockies, and
through Colorado business and finance.
Henry's brother, Senator Edward 0.
124
Figure 5.3 In 1892 the Moffat syndicate financed the erection of a production -class surface plant at the
Amethyst Shaft. In the view, which faces south, workers have completed a return tube steam boiler, visible at
photo -center, and they are preparing to assemble the steam hoist. The hoist's components lie to the left of the
boiler. After the workers installed the machinery, they enclosed the facilities in a shaft house. The Last Chance
Mine is the complex of buildings at the upper left, and the New York Mine is at top center. Courtesy of
Colorado Historical Society (S0025678).
I25
Figure 5.4 View south of the Last Chance Mine during the winter of 1593. The shaft house is the prominent
building at right, and the blacksmith shop stands in front. The covered trestle supported the track for dumping
waste rock. Much archaeological evidence left by this operation currently remains at the site. Courtesy of
Colorado Historical Society (F-24096 S0025675).
126
Wolcott, heavily influenced Colorado
business and politics. The Last Chance
Mining & Milling Company secured the
services of a competent mining engineer,
like the Amethyst operation. The
engineer probably installed a sinking plant
to facilitate mine development, but once
this was complete, he had mineworkers
painstakingly erect possibly the most
extravagant production -class surface plant
in the district. To achieve ore production
in economies of scale, the engineer
equipped the mine with a massive direct -
drive double drum steam hoist, which
raised and lowered two hoisting vehicles
in a three -compartment shaft. The
surface plant also included an air
compressor, several return tube boilers, a
spacious shop, and a massive ore sorting
house. Freight wagons hauled the ore to
the rail line in North Creede.17
The Moffat syndicate, which now
included Senator Thomas Bowen,
purchased the Bachelor Mine from J.C.
McKenzie for $20,000 in late 1891 or
early 1892. The Bachelor Mine, which
lay south of the Last Chance operation,
did not experience production until 1892.
Miners began developing the property
through a tunnel, which prospectors had
driven 350 feet during the previous year
or two. Miners expanded the
underground workings and erected a
relatively simple surface plant. The mine
would become a substantial producer at a
later time.18
In 1892 A.E. Reynolds purchased
the Commodor Mine from McKenzie, and
he acquired the New York Mine. A.E.
Reynolds was not as well-known as other
Colorado mining moguls, however, he
invested heavily in San Juan mines, and
his capital made many operations in the
region possible. The New York Mine
occupied ground upslope from and west
of the Last Chance property. In fact, the
New York claim overlapped a portion of
the Last Chance claim, which led to
litigation between Reynolds and the
Wolcott syndicate. The mine's owner
hired an engineer who erected a modest
surface plant to facilitate exploration
during 1891, and in March of 1892 miners
struck rich ore. Unlike many mining
Western mining companies, Reynolds was
reluctant to see his profits go to lawyers
instead of his own coffers. As a result, he
formed a cooperative merger with the
Last Chance Mining & Milling Company,
and the interests consolidated their
holdings.19
Colorado's silver barons were
handsomely rewarded for their
investments in Creede's mines. Within a
year the mines produced $4,200,000 in
silver, 50% of which came out of the
Amethyst, and 30% of which came from
the Last Chance. And to their delight,
production increased during 1893.20
In marked contrast to the Creede
district's principal mines, the other
operations on the Amethyst and Holy
Moses veins remained in a primitive state
between 1891 and 1893. Nearly all of the
additional operations consisted of deep
prospects equipped with conventional
temporary or sinking -class surface plants.
Most of the mining companies on the
Amethyst Vein were either searching for
or had just encountered ore in 1892, but
had not proven the vein's extent. Most
operations of similar magnitude on the
Holy Moses Vein would prove to be
worthless. Because the topographical
relief on the south portion of the
Amethyst Vein varied, prospecting outfits
were able to explore their claims through
adits, which required less capital. The
topography overlying the vein's north
portion, however, was relatively flat,
127
necessitating that prospect outfits sink
shafts to search for ore.
During the early 1890s the
prospects at Sunnyside, in the western
portion of the district, appeared to hold
great promise. The strikes made by John
C. McKenzie and H.M. Bennett at the
Alpha in 1876 led to a close inspection of
the area by prospectors during Creede's
early boom, and several claims with
showings of ore were developed in 1892.
The Kreutzer-Sonata Mine, the Monon
Mine, and the Sunnyside were the most
significant operations. However, bonanza
ore failed to materialize, and the
excitement on the Amethyst and Holy
Moses veins eclipsed the activity at
Sunnyside. Further, the Silver Crash of
1893 snuffed out what little interest
existed in the marginal properties.
Sunnyside would attract attention again at
a later time.
Progressive mining engineering
and technology came early to Creede. In
1892 John W. Flintham, manager of the
Denver Consolidated Electric Light
Company, realized the potential electric
market that Creede presented. He
organized the Creede Electric Light and
Power Company and ordered a
construction crew to build . a small
electrical generating plant along the
D&RG RR right-of-way in Creede. The
plant consisted of a dynamo turned by a
steam engine, which was powered by a
return tube boiler, all enclosed in a 24 by
95 foot frame building. Creede's plant
was modest and capable of generating
only enough power to energize electric
light circuits and run some simple mine
machinery. Despite its modesty, Creede's
plant was important to the mining
industry, because it was one of the first
generating plants erected in the West.
More than 20 years would have to pass
before the mines in Creede would see
electrification to any great extent.Z`
The surface plants erected by
prospecting outfits to support work in
adits typically consisted of a simple
blacksmith shop, a mine rail line, a timber
dressing area, and often an associated
residence. The surface plants associated
with shafts included a hoisting system,
which ranged from the hand windlasses
erected over shallow shafts, to horse
whims, to steam donkey hoists, to
stationary sinking -class steam hoists and
portable boilers. Most of the district's
prospect operations never progressed
beyond their sinking class surface plants
for economic and for technological
reasons, discussed below.22
During the Creede district's first
boom, the mines and the needs of the
work force fostered an enormous demand
for food, dynamite, tools, and machinery.
By 1892, the district's principal mines
began producing ore in economical
volumes, which had to be delivered to the
D&RG RR railhead in North Creede.
Pack trains were far too costly and
inefficient to manage the district's freight.
The need to move the materials of mining
required the establishment of a
transportation infrastructure throughout
the district capable of accommodating
wagons. By the mid 1890s all of the
principal mines, most of the substantial
prospect operations, and the townsites
were accessed via roads. The network
was probably created by a combined
effort. Workers employed by individual
mining companies completed feeder
roads, and construction contractors
funded by subscriptions contributed by
the district's businesses and miring
companies graded main thoroughfares.
The roads between the towns on
Willow Creek and the mines up on the
128
Amethyst Vein handled an enormous
volume of traffic. The grades in West
Willow Creek's canyon proved especially
treacherous, both during construction and
while in use. An old-time resident of
Weaver recalled how a construction crew
was blasting a road above the town,
probably to the Amethyst Mine. During
one particular incident, the blast sent a
boulder rolling downslope, and it bounded
toward town. Just as a sick man rose out
of bed for a drink of water in a cabin
below, the boulder crashed through the
roof and crushed the bed in which he had
just been laying. While run -away wagons
and other accidents were not uncommon
on the steep grades to the mines, the
worst road in the district was the "Black
Pitch", between Weaver and North
Creede. Despite precautions such as
wheel locks and strong harnesses, wagons
broke loose and plunged into the ravine,
occasionally killing teamster and team.'
The teamsters who plied Creede's
roads were described as being rough and
rowdy. Most lived in either Creede or
Weaver, and they made approximately
two round trips per day between the ore
holding bins at North Creede and the
mines. Teamsters served all of the mines
on both veins, except for the Amethyst
and Holy Moses mines, which relied
chiefly on their aerial tramways to haul
ore.
All of the supplies hauled up to
the mines, and all of the ore that flowed
down from them had to pass through the
town of Creede. Local cattle king Martin
Van Buren Wason understood this. In
fact, he forecasted the need for a central
artery to Creede, and graded a toll road to
the promising camp in 1891 in
expectation of reaping a handsome profit.
The road to Creede was not Wason's first
experience with toll roads. Wason was
bom in New Hampshire and became a
sailor at an early age. He weathered the
dreaded Cape Hom during several sailing
voyages, and he spent much time in
Central and South America. While in
these remote lands Wason served as a
captain on a pearl boat, he became a
rancher in Argentina, and mined gold in
Central America. Wason returned to the
United States via California in 1870, and
there he acquired a small herd of fine
horses. In 1871 he drove his herd,
accompanied by Vaqueros, through parts
of the West until he arrived in Colorado.
On his way from Poncha Springs to the
San Luis Valley, Wason arrived at Otto
Mears' toll gate on Poncha Pass. Having
insufficient money to pay the necessary
toll, he was forced to retreat and sneak
around the gate by traveling a wide arc
through the surrounding mountains. This
included making numerous trips to
transport supplies and disassembled
wagons. When Wason established a
ranch on the Rio Grande, he remembered
his dependence on toll roads and graded
his own, in hopes of making a profit.
Wason's road, used by immigrants and
freighters bound for mines in the deep San
Juans, extended from Wagon Wheel Gap
at the south, past his ranch, and
terminated north. He linked the road to
Creede with his original trunk line.24
Wason's greed led to protracted
problems with the mining community. He
had workers erect a toll gate on his road
and charged wagons 75 cents to pass,
which was an exorbitant fee. The
citizens, and especially the mining
companies, were justifiably outraged, and
they considered the road to North Creede
to be a public thoroughfare. Their
outrage reached uncontainable
proportions in 1892, and they hung a
dummy of Wason in effigy. Wason,
129
fearful, hired Jesse H. Stringley as a
guardian. Stringley carried a six-gun and
a badge, but the gunfighter was arrested
on the grounds of impersonating an
officer of the law, and defrocked.
Sentiment against Wason continued to be
strong, and he was unprepared when the
powerful mining interests brought their
political and economic might against him.
As the mining interests went, so went
Creede. F.M. Osgood, M.J. Connolly,
Mike Regan, and L.C. Lowe appealed to
the Hinsdale County Commissioners to
force Wason to turn the road over to
public domain. The commissioners, upon
investigation, discovered that Wason's
underlings had levied tolls against all
wagons, and not merely those laden with
Mining at Creede Collapses
The excitement, the search for
wealth, and the conversion of the
wilderness into an industrial landscape
was just beginning to reach a crescendo
when the Silver Panic of 1893 struck.
Ever since hardrock mining began in the
West, the price of silver has fluctuated in
response to natural market forces, and in
response to the implementations and
revocations of federal price supports.
Western senators, such as Creede's Henry
and Edward Wolcott, and Thomas
Bowen, were instrumental in instituting
price support programs. The Bland -
Allison Act of 1878 mandated that the
Federal Government purchase silver at a
guaranteed price, which caused the value
of the semi-precious metal to rise to $1.15
per ounce. In direct result, mining in the
San Juans intensified. A decrease in the
price of silver in 1886 severely hurt
mining. In 1890 the Western senators
ore, as his contract with the county had
specified. Wason's toll officers were
arrested, and in their absence, under the
cover of night, some of Creede's men,
probably teamsters, dismantled and
removed the toll gate. It vanished
without a trace. Creede's war against
Wason was won, but not entirely over.
When Creede attempted to remove the
new Mineral County Seat from Wason's
under -populated townsite, Wason
retaliated by threatening to resurrect the
toll gates. The officers of the big mines
took political and economic aim at
Wason, and he backed down. The war
ended when Colorado's governor
purchased the road in 1899 for
$10,000.21.
again pushed for price supports and
passed the Sherman Silver Purchase Act,
which boosted the price of the white
metal to $1.05 per ounce. The artificially
high price affected Creede, because silver
barons such as David H. Moffat, Senator
Thomas Bowen, the Wolcotts, and A.E.
Reynolds began campaigns to acquire and
develop the mines.21
The silver tide ebbed in the West
in 1893 when reformists repealed the
Silver Purchase Act. The price of silver
plummeted from around $1.00 to 60
cents. Mining in Colorado, New Mexico,
Nevada, and Idaho completely collapsed.
The ripple affect caused a panic that
overcame at first the West, then other
parts of the nation, resulting in an
economic depression. Western silver
towns, including Creede, were devastated,
and Colorado's silver miners faced the
challenge of having to seek alternative
130
July 2000
Recordation, Evaluation, and Interpretation of Iowa Hill Hydraulic Placer Mine Site, Breckenridge,
Colorado
Contracted with the Town of Breckenridge.
July 2000
Recordation, Evaluation, and Interpretation of Reiling Gold Dredge Site, Breckenridge, Colorado
Contracted with the Town of Breckenridge.
Mav 2000
Selective Inventory, Evaluation, and Interpretation of Mine Sites, Leadville, Colorado
Contracted with the Bureau of Land Management.
Jan. 1999-Nov. 2000
Selective Inventory, Evaluation, and Interpretation of Mine and Mill ,Sites in the Cement Creek
Drainage, Silverton, Colorado
Contracted with the Bureau of Land Management.
Jan. 1999-May 2000
Selective Inventory, Evaluation, and Interpretation of the Principal Mine and Mill Sites on the
Amethyst Vein, Creede, Colorado
Contracted with the Willow Creek Reclamation Committee.
Jan. 1999-Mav 2000
Historical Context for the Creede Mining District, Mineral County, Colorado
Researched, authored, and published the Historical Context for the Creede Mining District.
June 1999-August 1999
Selective Inventory, Evaluation, and Interpretation of Mine Sites in the Lake City Area, San Juan
Mountains, Colorado
Contracted with the Bureau of Land Management.
June 1999-August 1999
Selective Inventory, Evaluation, and Interpretation of Mine Sites in the Mosquito Mountains, Colorado
Contracted with the Bureau of Land Management.
May 1999-July 1999
Catalog Mining Artifacts for the Vector — Lowell Thomas Museum, Cripple Creek Mining District,
Teller County, Colorado
Contracted with Denver City Restorations.
April -June 1998
Mining Historian/Directer, Paragon Archaeological Consultants, Inc., Denver, Colorado.
Developed interpretive public trail through historic mines in the Vindicator Valley, Cripple Creek Mining District.
Project included research, interpretation, and explanation of historic mine complexes for public consumption.
Directed inventory and class III recordation of, and report production for historic mines on Beacon Hill, Cripple
Creek Mining District, Colorado.
Served as interpretive guide for tours of hardrock mines during Archaeology and Historic Preservation Week in the
Cripple Creek Mining District, Colorado.
October 1995-May 1998
Director, Paragon Archaeological Consultants, Inc., Denver, Colorado.
Directed pedestrian survey, class III recordation, Level H HABS/HAER documentation, other mitigation, and final
analvsis of historic mine complexes, habitations, and ore reduction mill complexes within the Cripple Creek
=! �R!?!? 1 +7 r', Teller C.^.unty, Colorado. Co-authored reports of findings (see publications).
modes of employment. Lucky for them,
Cripple Creek, which was a gold -
producing district, was under
development and in need of skilled
miners. The silver barons lost fortunes,
and the less affluent mining investors lost
al1.27
Twilight overcame the Creede
Mining District. By the end of 1893 a
significant portion of the district's
population migrated elsewhere, and only
the Amethyst and Last Chance mines
continued to operate, albeit at low levels.
All of the district's other mines and
prospects were either totally abandoned
or idle. The towns of Bachelor and
Weaver, directly dependent on the
Amethyst Vein's mines, lost nearly all of
their residents and businesses. Creede
and North Creede also lost much of their
residents, and the D&RG RR dramatically
curtailed rail service. However, Creede
possessed two factors unique to other
silver mining districts also in economic
duress. First, the Amethyst and Holy
Moses veins contained amazingly rich ore
capable of providing income even at
silver's abysmally low prices. Second, the
mines' owners were adamant about
Profiting from their investments. The key
to success, they determined, was to
produce ore in unprecedented volumes.
They employed technology and
engineering to achieve production in
economies of scale, drastically reducing
the cost of mining.
By March of 1894 the Creede
Mining District began a slight recovery.
Several mines in addition to the Amethyst
and Last Chance properties resumed
operations, employing a total of 500
mineworkers. During 1894 and 1895
Optimistic investors resumed exploration
and development of several properties on
the Amethyst Vein, which would
ultimately net them profits. The Del
Monte Mining Company began to deepen
its shaft and explore its claim, which lay
southeast from the Last Chance Mine.
David Moffat, W.B. Felker, Byron E.
Shear, and W.H. Byrant used the hard
times experienced by investors during the
economic depression, and they purchased
the Happy Thought Mine, north of the
Amethyst Mine, and in 1894 they financed
a resumption of shaft sinking on the
Property. Last, O.H. Poole funded the
installation of a sinking class plant and the
erection of a 10 stamp mill at the Park
Regent Mine, located at the north end of
the Amethyst Vein. Most of the miners
working at these operations lived in
boarding and bunkhouses on-site.28
As the national and state
economies recovered in the several years
following the Silver Crash, mining in
Creede resumed. All of the principal
mines reactivated, and work resumed at
some of the developed prospect
operations. The principal producing
mines on the Amethyst Vein at this time
included, from south to north, the
Bachelor, the Commodor, the Del Monte,
the New York, the Last Chance, the
Amethyst, the Happy Thought, the White
Star, and the Park Regent. The principal
active mines on the Holy Moses Vein
included the Soloman, the Ridge, the
Holy Moses, the Outlet, and the Phoenix.
In all, the number of principal mines
active after the Silver Crash increased.
131
i
Figure 5.5 The big operations on the Amethyst Vein resumed mining by 1895. The Amethyst Shaft
complex lies at lower left, the Last Chance Mine is right of center, and the New York Mine is at top right.
Compare this photo with Figure 5.3. The view is approximately the same. The numerous smokestacks at
t the Amethyst Shaft indicate that the mining company added several boilers to the power plant. Note the
women and children standing at lower right. Courtesy of Colorado Historical Society (F-I 134 S0025676).
132
Figure 5.6 In 1895 O.H. Poole had the Park Regent Mine's facilities upgraded. Mine workers assemble
lumber and a return tube boiler shell (left of center) in preparation for construction. This north view depicts
the mine's shaft house and a portion of the associated residential complex at left. Courtesy of Colorado
Historical Society (F-29362 S0025674).
Engineers Come to the Rescue
Mining engineering played a key
role in the resumption of profitable mining
at Creede in the late 1890s. On an
individual scale, the district's mining
companies improved their surface plants
to facilitate the production of greater
volumes of ore at a lower cost per ton.
The Amethyst Mining Company installed
a larger hoist and set of boilers, which
permitted rapid hoisting speeds from
greater depths. The Bachelor Mining
Company hired a crew of miners to
develop its vein through a series of
tunnels, permitting the extraction of ore
simultaneously through several levels. To
efficiently move the great tonnages of pay
rock to the railhead at North Creede,
Bachelor engineers erected an aerial
tramway similar to those that operated at
the Holy Moses and Amethyst mines.
The Happy Thought Mine installed a
bigger hoist like the Amethyst. Many of
the large mines which did not have air
compressors to power mechanical
rockdrills installed the machines to
expedite the drilling and blasting process
underground.'
Another engineering tactic that
some of Creede's large mining companies
exercised involved milling the ore locally.
In the late 1890s and early 1900s the
Soloman, the Ridge, the Happy Thought,
and the Amethyst mining operations
erected small ore reduction mills near
their mines. The idea was not to produce
refined silver bullion, but to reduce and
concentrate the metals content, and ship
the concentrates to a smelter. Prior to the
erection of these mills, Creede's mining
companies exported all of its raw ore to
smelters at Pueblo and Denver, Colorado,
to Joplin, Missouri, and probably to
Omaha, Nebraska. The smelters crushed
and concentrated the raw ore, then
extracted and separated the metals. To
turn a profit, the smelting companies
levied a per -ton charge for processing.
By concentrating the ores on -site,
Creede's mining companies not only saved
a portion of the smelters' processing fee,
but they saved shipping costs, because the
heavy, worthless waste rock was
removed.3o
O.H. Poole erected the first
concentration facility at Creede when he
installed a 10 stamp mill at the Park
Regent Mine in 1895. Poole's mill,
however, was a failure. Poole relied on
two batteries of stamps to pulverize the
ore, and another mechanical process to
concentrate the slimes. The machinery
that Poole selected was inappropriate for
Creede's silver and lead ore. The mining
engineers working for the district's large
mining companies had theoretical and
practical experience with milling silver
ores, and they designed effective facilities.
The standard treatment for Creede's ores
began with reduction by a primary jaw
crusher. Cornish rolls, which were pairs
of heavy iron drums, and ball mills
pulverized the rock fragments. The rock
may have passed through up to three sets
of rolls or ball mills, each designed to
further reduce the crushed rock. The
fines produced by the rolls were sent to
concentration tables, which used gravity
to separate waste from metal -bearing
materials. The tables consisted of iron
frames bolted onto the mill floor, and
table tops designed to vibrate. The table
tops lay at a slight pitch and they featured
riffles, and as they rapidly vibrated the
light waste floated upward and the heavy
134
w. tea.=�R...... .. . ..._
Figure 5.7 The Bachelor Mining Company developed its property through two principal tunnels. The
lower tunnel, defined by the waste rock and log cribbing walls near photo -center, served as a haulageway.
The upper tunnel is denoted by a small waste rock dump above. The waste rock dump at lower left belongs
to either the Nelson Tunnel, or the Commodor Tunnel No.5. The photo was taken in the late 1390s, and
many of the structures at the Bachelor dating to this era remain. Courtesy of Colorado Historical Society
(S0025670). `
135
metal -bearing fines worked their way
downward. Creede's mills may have
included a series of such tables to further
refine the concentrates produced by
previous tables in the circuit. The mills'
end product consisted of shipping -quality
concentrates.
The mills erected by Creede's big
producers followed the technological
convention of the day, and their sizes and
assemblages of equipment were relative to
the mining company's volume of
production and capital. The Amethyst
Mill included several circuits for
processing ore, while the Happy Thought
Mill consisted of one circuit. Modem
electric motors powered the Happy
Thought Mill, and electric motors backed
up by a steam engine powered the
Amethyst Mill. The mills' engineers used
common means to transfer power from
the motors to the mill machinery. The
motors and steam engines turned
overhead drive shafts mounted in the
buildings' rafters, via canvas belts.
Additional belts extended from the drive
shafts to the mill machinery. The
engineers also followed convention when
they designed the mills to rely on gravity
to transfer the materials from one step in
the concentrating process to the next. To
achieve this desired gravity flow, all of the
mills were built on terraced hillsides.31
In 1901 the Moffat interests added
the Humphreys Mill to Creede's roster of
concentration facilities. The Humphreys
Mill was by far the district's largest, and it
represents another attempt to save money
by concentrating the ore locally.
Engineers applied state-of-the-art
technology when they designed the mill
and selected the appliances. Like
traditional mills, the Humphreys facility
used gravity to move the rock between
stages of reduction, and it included
several independent circuits for
concentrating ore. The mill, located on
the west bank of West Willow Creek at
North Creede, began operating in 1902
and it treated ore hauled out of the
Nelson Tunnel. While construction
workers were completing the mill, D&RG
RR track gangs graded a spur line to the
mill's base so that finished concentrates
could be shipped by train. Engineers
erected a hydroelectric plant by the mill to
supply power for drive motors. However,
they miscalculated the degree to which
West Willow Creek's flow fluctuated, and
to their chagrin, the creek slowed to a
trickle in the winter of 1903. In response,
the engineers installed a backup steam
plant to see the mill through future
winters. The Humphreys Mill operated
for well over 10 years, retuming the initial
investment plus profits to the mill's
financiers.32
In addition to improvements made
to individual mines and the installation of
ore reduction mills, the mining interests of
Creede applied engineering on a broad
scale to boost the volume of production
and lower the costs of mining. The mines
on the Amethyst Vein faced the problems
of a high water table, poor ventilation,
and an increase in operating costs with
depth. In 1892, when the district was
enjoying its first boom, Charles F. Nelson,
who discovered the Soloman Mine,
organized the Nelson Tunnel Company
with the intent of remediating these
problems for at least some of the mines.
Nelson served as the company's director,
A.W. Brounell acted as president, and J.S.
Wallace was treasurer. Nelson held
visions of using the tunnel as a prospect
bore to search for deep ore, of using the
tunnel as both a drain and enormous
ventilation duct for the mines, and as a
haulage way for ore trains. Nelson also
136
promoted the minor benefits of his
proposed tunnel, such as serving as an
escape route in instances of fire, and
acting as a platform from which mining
companies could develop deep ore.
Nelson proposed establishing a portal and
surface plant on West Willow Creek
below the Bachelor Mine, and driving the
tunnel along the Amethyst Vein, David
Moffat's and Henry Wolcott's mines were
at once interested. The cost of the project
would, of course, be enormous. Nelson
expected to cover the costs by charging
subscription fees, and levying a toll per
ton of ore hauled through the tunnel."
The Bachelor Mine possessed the
first workings that the Nelson Tunnel
would encounter, and so Moffat's
Bachelor Mining Company naturally was
the first operation to subscribe. Nelson
had mineworkers erect a surface plant
consisting of a well-equipped shop, an air
compressor that powered mechanical
rockdrills, and a generator driven by a
Pelton water wheel, on waste rock 400
feet east of the tunnel portal. Miners
managed to drill and blast 1,500 feet
before the Silver Crash of 1893 brought
the project to a halt. This distance
brought the tunnel within the Bachelor
ground, where tunnel workers
encountered ore. Work on the tunnel
resumed after the economic depression,
and when the tunnel reached 2,100 feet in
length, Nelson's contact was fulfilled.
The rate of progress and the
discovery of ore were crucial to the
success of Nelson's tunnel concept. The
Last Chance, New York, and Amethyst
mines offered subscriptions when the
Wooster Tunnel Company formed around
1897. The Wooster company leased a
right of way through the Nelson Tunnel,
and contracted to drive a drift from the
extant tunnel north to the Last Chance,
New York, and the Amethyst properties.
Using 4 heavy piston drills, miners
advanced the tunnel 6 feet per shift, and in
1899 they first reached the Last Chance
workings, then the Amethyst workings.
Even though the Wooster Tunnel
had reached the vicinity of the Amethyst
and Last Chance properties, the company
required time to make the final
connections. Because water was very
costly to pump from deep workings, the
Amethyst and Last Chance mines allowed
the lower passages to flood. This
presented the Wooster engineers with a
problem. To avoid a life -taking
inundation in the tunnel upon
breakthrough, the water in the deep
workings had to be drained. An engineer
had the bright idea of using diamond
drills, which were in the developmental
stage in the late 1890s, to bore long -holes
into the sumps of the Last Chance and the
Amethyst shafts. In 1900 trained drillers
from the Sullivan Drill Company arrived
and began boring holes toward the Last
Chance Shaft. In the process, they struck
a subterranean body of water pressurized
to such a degree that a jet of water forced
the drill away from the tunnel face. Much
to the disappointment of the engineer in
charge, Mr. Rowley, the hole penetrating
the Last Chance Shaft failed to yield the
volume of water that he anticipated.
After inquiry at the Last Chance Mine, he
discovered that a great quantity of silt and
mud had accumulated in the shaft's sump,
forming a barrier. To free the mass,
Rowley packed an iron tube with 50
pounds of dynamite and used drill -steels
to push it through the long -hole into the
Last Chance Shaft. After the charge
detonated, a tremendous volume of water
jetted through the hole. Once the Last
Chance shaft was drained, the process
was repeated for the Amethyst Shaft.34
137
Figure 5.8 In 1902 David Moffat's syndicate completed construction of the Humphreys Mill on West
Willow Creek at North Creede. The mill concentrated ore brought out through the Nelson Tunnel, and the
concentrates were shipped via rail to smelters in the Midwest. Horses drew ore trains along a rail line that
entered the upper -most structure. Workers sorted the ore, and sent recovered payrock into holding bins at
the top of the mill proper. Machinery crushed the ore and separated waste from metal -bearing fines. The
structure at photo bottom was an electrical generating plant. In 1902 electricity was a novel power source.
The view is west, and the Nelson Tunnel, not visible, lies up the canyon to the right. Courtesy of Colorado
Historical Society (S0025678).
138
-14r,
Figure 5.9 The view captures miners at the portal of the Nelson Tunnel, probably in the late 1890s. All
have the garb typical of Western miners, including felt hats. tin lunchpails, and the ubiquitous candlesticks.
Several Hispanics appear to be among the miners at left. The crew stands on plank decking erected over
the banks of West Willow Creek. The building at right is the blacksmith shop. Courtesy of Colorado
Historical Society (F-4809 S0025671),
139
I
1
i
Impressed with the success of the
Nelson and Wooster tunnels, the mines
farther north along the Amethyst Vein
subscribed to another tunnel designed to
undercut their workings. In 1900 the
Humphreys Tunnel commenced from the
end of the Wooster Tunnel. The
financing and logistical arrangements for
the Humphreys Tunnel were similar to
those of the Wooster company. Miners
drilled and blasted the passage around the
clock for two years, and by 1902 the
Humphreys Tunnel had reached the Park
Regent Mine, which was the northern-
most operation on the Amethyst Vein.
The aggregate length of the three tunnels
totaled 11,000 feet, and all major
operations except for the Commodor
Mine enjoyed decreased pumping and
transportation costs, improved ventilation,
and the discovery of new ore. Mining
companies found that the savings
achieved through the tunnel system offset
the cost of the subscription and the $1.00
per ton of ore passing out the mouth of
the tunnel.39
When constriction workers
erected the Humphreys Mill, they graded
a mine rail line to the Nelson Tunnel's
surface plant, and they built a flume
alongside the track which supplied part of
the mill's water needs. The tunnel served
as part of a large system in which ore was
mined and sent directly to be milled at
North Creede, on the banks of West
Willow Creek.
The owners of the Commodor
Mine thought that the Nelson Tunnel
Company's subscription rates and toll per
ton of ore were too. costly, and they
elected to drive their own haulage way in
the late 1890s. The Commodor Mining
Company hired an engineer who selected
the site for a surface plant and a tunnel
portal on the Manhattan claim, only
several hundred feet up West Willow
Creek from the Nelson Tunnel. However,
the Bachelor Mine lay between the
proposed tunnel site and the Commodor
claim, presenting the problem of trespass.
Other locations for the proposed tunnel
were out of the question, due to restricted
nature of West Willow Creek's canyon.
The Commodor Mining Company
negotiated with the Bachelor's owners
and secured the right to drive the tunnel
through their ground, probably for a
royalty.
The Commodor interests hired a
mining engineer who put a crew to work
erecting a surface plant and a crew of
miners to work drilling and blasting the
tunnel. The surface plant consisted of a
shop, an air compressor, and a return tube
boiler. By 1900 miners had driven the
Manhattan Tunnel, later known as the
Commodor No.5, 4,000 feet to the
Commodor claim, where they blocked out
ore with raises and drifts. After the tunnel
was complete, it served as the
Commodor's principal haulage way, and
the upper tunnel was abandoned, except
as an entry to the upper workings.36
The Bachelor and Commodor
companies were on good terms, which
facilitated the Commodor's right of
access through the Bachelor's ground. In
1900 the two companies became even
closer when the Moffat Syndicate
purchased a controlling interest in the
Commodor. The mining industry
subsequently recognized the two mines as
being one entity, and miners linked the
underground workings with numerous
passages. As a result, the upper -most
tunnel on the Commodor claim became
known as Tunnel No.1, the Manhattan
Tunnel became known as Tunnel No.5,
the Nelson Tunnel was unofficially termed
No.4, and Tunnels No.2 and No.3 pierced
140
Proposal Number P-814, Historical Context and Inventory, City of Fort Collins, Colorado
This document is part of the proposal submitted by SWCA Inc. Environmental
Consultants (SWCA) for the cultural resource inventory of the Alta Vista, Buckingham, and
Andersonville neighborhoods in Fort Collins, Colorado (Proposal Number P-814). SWCA
proposes to provide the cultural resource services for this project, and is capable of meeting the
goals and deadlines established by the Request for ProposaIV This project will entail recording
approximately 150 properties in the Alta Vista, Buckingham, and Andersonville neighborhoods;
developing a context of the sugar beet industry and two ethnic groups (the German -Russians and
the Mexicans); and prepare a Fort Collins Landmark District nomination for each neighborhood,
if warranted. To meet these goals, SWCA will review pertinent records and reports at the City of
Fort Collins and Laramier County offices; review local histories; record and evaluate all
individual properties associated with the three neighborhoods; and complete a technical report
with supporting site forms detailing the results and recommendations for identified properties.
SWCA INC. ENVIRONMENTAL CONSULTANTS
SWCA is a company of environmental scientists, analysts, and planners located across
the Southwest and Intermountain West. Established in 1981, SWCA has expanded to a
corporation employing approximately 300 professionals at 12 offices in seven states. SWCA has
maintained an office in Colorado since 1993. The Colorado Cultural Resources Division at
SWCA offers academic and professional experience in prehistoric and historic archaeology,
Native American consultation, preparation of planning documents, and familiarity with federal,
state and local government regulations. We combine this expertise with scientific research and
project management skills to meet a host of environmental challenges in both the private and
public sectors.
Our goal is to help clients successfully accomplish their projects while meeting
regulatory requirements in the most cost-effective manner. Specifically, we can help clients in
the private sector obtain permits and clearances, secure appropriate zoning, negotiate with
government agencies, or develop positive public discussion on controversial issues. We help
entities in the public sector achieve their management objectives within the context of
environmental regulations.
SWCA has existed as a corporation for over 20 years, and the Colorado Cultural
Resources Division has been conducting archaeological surveys, testing projects, and full scale
data -recovery projects in Colorado since 1993. SWCA's archaeologists and anthropologists
provide a wide range of cultural resources services that allow their clients to comply with
federal, state, and local agency regulations. These services include cultural and archaeological
surveys, preservation and treatment plans, site testing, and impact mitigation management.
SWCA's professional archaeologists have extensive experience with regulations that concern the
treatment of cultural resources. SWCA maintains offices and scientific laboratories required for
cultural resource undertakings. Permits to conduct projects involving most public and private
lands are kept on file, or can be obtained when necessary. Numerous technical reports,
professional papers, and research publications attest to our staffs abilities. SWCA's
archaeologists have conducted cultural resource surveys for several hundred thousand acres of
land throughout Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, California, Utah, Wyoming, Texas, and
SWCA Inc. - t -
September 1997
Director, Paragon Archaeological Consultants, Inc., Denver, Colorado.
Directed class III recordation and Level II HABSIHAER documentation of the Mary Nevins Mine and Ore
Reduction Mill complex, Cripple Creek Mining District, Colorado. Authored report of findings.
August 1997
Director, Paragon Archaeological Consultants, Inc., Denver, Colorado.
Directed pedestrian survey, inventory, and Class III recordation of cultural resources including historic homesteads
on land potentially impacted by Western Mobile Corporation, Boulder County, Colorado.
T..1.. A....^u^Lu '+ lOnField Director, Paragon Archaeological Consultants, Inc., Denver, Colorado.
Directed pedestrian survey, inventory, and Class III recordation of cultural resources, including historic clay
mining, sandstone gnarryin-g, and homesteads on .Jefferson County Open Space acquisitions, Colorado
May 1997
Director, Paragon Archaeological Consultants, Inc., Denver, Colorado.
Directed pedestrian survey, inventory, and Class III recordation of cultural resources, including historic hardrock
mines, prospect complexes, the Altman Pumping Station (which supplied most of the Cripple Creek District with
industrial and domestic water) and habitations in wetland corridors in he Cripple Creek Mining District.
Authored report of findines.
September -October 1995
Field Director, Paragon Archaeological Consultants, Inc., Denver, Colorado.
Directed pedestrian survey and inventory of cultural resources, including historic homesteads, prospect complexes,
and logging camps in Larimer County, Colorado.
June -August 1995
Crew Chief, Paragon Archaeological Consultants, Inc., Denver, Colorado.
------iced recordation of historic homesteads and sandstone quarries, and I-IABS recording of historic structures
Aoril-October 1994
Crew Member, Western Cultural Resource Management, Boulder, Colorado.
Pedestrian survey, Class III recordation, excavation, and NABS documentation of historic habitations, townsites,
mine complexes, ore reduction mill complexes, and other industrial features in the Cripple Creek Mining District.
August 1994
Crew Member, Western Cultural Resource Management, Boulder, Colorado.
Inventory of historic habitations, townsites, mine complexes, ore reduction mill complexes, and other
archaeological features in the Elkhorn Mining District, Montana.
October 1993
Crew Member, Western Cultural Resource Management, Boulder, Colorado.
Pedestrian survey and Class III recordation of parts of historic townsite, hardrock mine comp!-Z.=-.
Sentember 1993
Crew Member, Western Cultural Resource Management, Boulder, Colorado.
Pedestrian survey and Class III recordation of parts of historic townsite, hardrock mine complexes, and rare desert
placer nines of Tenabo, Nevada,
August 1993
Crew Member, Western Cultural Resource Management, Boulder, Colorado.
Located and preserved historic homesteads, ranches, and prehistoric sites in Pinyon Canyon, Colorado.
the ground upslope. In the combined
effort to extract ore efficiently, the mine's
engineer installed a Pelton wheel at the
Commodor No.S, which turned a
generator and an air compressor, and the
top two tunnels were abandoned.37
The Creede district experienced
steady production until 1907, when a
recession forced most of the mines to
temporarily close. After the economy
recovered, mining continued. During this
time, the application of engineering and
technology had a significant impact on the
population of the district. Because mining
was intense between around 1896 and
1910, the towns of North Creede and
Creede thrived. The need for workers at
the Amethyst Mill and on the Amethyst
tramway ensured that Weaver maintained
a small population. However, the
completion of the Nelson, Wooster, and
Humphreys tunnel series rendered the
surface plants on the surface above the
Amethyst Vein obsolete. The Nelson
Tunnel became the principal access to the
mines, and the population of miners and
teamsters shifted from the town of
Bachelor, which included the disbursed
bunk and boarding houses at the mines,
down to Creede. Only a few residences
up high were maintained. In 1900
approximately 1,150 people lived in
Creede and North Creede, 343 people
lived in and around Bachelor, and 84 lived
in Weaver.38
Between 1896 and 1910 most of
the mining companies had focused their
efforts on developing and extracting the
known ore deposits. By around 1910
these bodies began to show signs of
exhaustion, and within several years many
of the marginal mines closed. Not only
did the district suffer from depleted ore
bodies, but other silver -lead mining
districts such as Joplin, Missouri,
Leadville, Colorado, and some of those in
Idaho were presenting significant
competition, which kept metals prices
low. As Creede's mines closed, people
left the district. The populations of
Creede, North Creede, and Bachelor
decreased dramatically between 1905 and
1915. By 1910 Weaver became almost
totally deserted.
Contrary to the trend of the
implosion of mining on the Amethyst and
Holy Moses veins during Creede's second
boom, activity spread to several outlying
areas on the fringes of the district. As the
economy improved during the late 1890s
and early 1900s, investors became
interested once again in the prospects at
Sunnyside. An unknown mining company
developed the old Corsair property, and
they began shipping silver ore during
1902 and 1903. Captain Free Thoman,
who owned the Sunnyside Tunnel,
interested investors Albert Damm, Jeff
McAnelly, Perry Leamard, and M.H.
Akin of Fort Collins in his operation.
They supplied capital, which Thoman
used to drive a tunnel 750 feet, where
ruiners encountered a small ore vein. The
Kruetzer-Sonata and Motion properties
saw further exploration, and they
eventually produced a little ore.
Two more promising prospects far
up West Willow Creek also attracted
attention around the turn -of -the -century.
Miners began sinking a shaft on a
promising lead on the Captive Inca
property in 1903, and another company
drove a tunnel on the Equity claim. The
Captive Inca proved to be worthless and
it was abandoned by 1912, however the
Equity Mine produced ore for several
years beginning in 1912.39
The outbreak of World War I
benefited Creede's faltering mining
industry. The war fostered a heavy
141
demand for industrial metals, creating a
profitable environment for Creede's
mining companies. While the high metals
prices resuscitated mining, the renewed
activity was nothing like that of years
past. The need to handle greater
tonnages of ore than before while cutting
production costs convinced the mining
operations to spend capital on advanced
technology. Electrification was the most
cost-effective improvement that the
mining companies could effect. While
Creede boasted of being served by one of
West's earliest power plants, until the
1910s electric technology was not
advanced enough to significantly benefit
mining. However, when Creede
experienced its World War I revival, the
technology was sufficiently advanced.
In 1917 a new power plant was
built in Creede, possibly by the Creede
Tribune Mining Company, which leased
the Amethyst Mine. The plant was a
state-of-the-art affair, and it consisted of
four Heine water tube boilers which
powered a massive 500 horsepower steam
engine and 225 kilowatt dynamo. A
second engine and dynamo were kept on
stand-by. The mining operations on the
Amethyst Vein used the electricity
underground to power small hoists and
ventilation fans, and to light stations. The
Amethyst Mine proved to be the greatest
beneficiary of electricity. In 1918 the
Creede Exploration Company leased the
mine and installed an electric hoist and
motor -driven compressor at the shaft to
facilitate work above the Nelson Tunnel
level.40
The American Smelting and
Refining Company, part of the
Guggenheims' industrial metals mining
and milling empire, organized the Creede
Exploration Company in 1918 to lease
several of the properties along the
Amethyst Vein and extract what little ore
remained, and to search below the Nelson
Tunnel level for more deposits. During
previous years the Moffat syndicate's
engineer had miners drive a central shaft
within the Commodor workings, and it
penetrated ground below the Nelson
Tunnel level, which Creede Exploration
used for deep exploration. In 1918 or
1919 miners unwatered the shaft and
equipped it with a double drum electric
hoist which worked two skips. After
several futile years of searching, ASARCo
gave up on deep ore. Uneconomical
quantities had been found, but they were
too poor in content. Faced with
worthless properties, ASARCo sold its
holdings to individual mining companies.d1
During the 1890s, when rich ore
lay in the ground, mining companies
purchased claims, hired crews of miners,
and extracted ore under the umbrella of
their corporate structures. The depletion
of rich ore, the inefficiencies of large
company structures, and high operating
costs discouraged such an operating
strategy after around 1900. The growing
trend in Creede, as well as other Western
mining districts, was for the mining
companies to cease operations and lease
either the entire mine to a second -party
company, or lease portions of the ore
body to individual miners. The payment
schedule included either a royalty per ton
of ore, or a flat fee. This scheme shifted
the burden of minimizing operating costs
from the mine's owner to the lessee.
Under this system, lessees had every
incentive to minimize the capital that they
put into the operation since they had no
allegiance to the mine itself, and they
extracted the maximum ore in minimal
time. While lessees were able to make a
profit where large, cumbersome mining
companies could not, their tactics proved
142
problematic for the long term state of the
mine. Lessees rarely conducted
exploration for new ore bodies because it
was "dead work", as they termed it. They
also avoided investing in maintenance and
the long term well-being of the mine's
infrastructure. It was under this
environment that mining in Creede
continued during the 1910s.
During World War I mining and
leasing companies were producing ore
from the other mines on the Amethyst
Vein. The Mineral County Mining &
Milling Company extracted ore from the
Happy Thought property, which they
concentrated in the Humphreys Mill. A
succession of lessees profitably worked
the Last Chance ground, and more lessees
mined the Park Regent and the Del Monte
properties. In 1915 Norman Corson
organized a company that did well mining
the Bachelor ground. During the 1890s
and 1900s the Moffat and Bowen
interests had gutted their mines on the
Decline
The declaration of armistice in
1918 halted war -related industrial
production, which caused metal prices to
tumble. Mining at Creede once again
became unprofitable, and the district fell
on hard times. The end of the war proved
to be the death knell for the marginal
properties, and the end of surface
prospecting along the Amethyst and Holy
Moses veins. By 1920 all mines but the
Bachelor had become completely quiet,
many never to be worked again. With the
subsidence of activity, irreversible decay
set in. The surface plants of nearly all
mines fell into total disrepair, and shafts
and tunnels became unstable, except for
Holy Moses Vein, and interest in these
properties lagged. The only mine on the
Holy Moses Vein that possessed
profitable ore during World War I proved
to be the King Soloman. The leasing
outfit William Wright & Co. profitably
extracted ore and milled it at the Soloman
Mill until 1918.41
The demand for industrial metals
was high enough, and milling technology
sufficiently advanced to make the ores at
Sunnyside and at the Equity Mine, high
up West Willow Creek, economically
viable. After successful exploration,
lessees A.B. Collins and H.R. Wheeler
brought the Monon Mine into production
in 1916. In 1918 the Manitoba Leasing
Company took over operations at the
Monon and profitably extracted ore until
1921. The Creede Equity Mining
Company began drilling and blasting ore
in the Equity Mine in 1918 and quit in
1919.41
the Nelson, Commodor, and Bachelor
operations.
The few miners that remained in
Creede glimpsed a ray of hope in 1922.
Western senators has passed the Pittman
Act, which mandated that the federal
government purchase silver at $1.00 per
ounce, in hopes of bolstering a failing
Western mining industry. The principal
mining operations in Creede geared up for
production, and activity at the Bachelor,
Commodor, Del Monte, Happy Thought,
Last Chance, and New York properties
resumed with vigor. All work was
conducted through the Nelson and
Commodor No.5 tunnels. The Ethel
i']
143
t
f
Leasing Company reopened the Soloman
on the Holy Moses Vein. The high price
for silver stimulated some prospecting,
and knowledgeable district residents
searched new ground. A find was made
near Windy Gulch northwest from
Creede, and local interests concluded that
it was lead -silver -zinc vein missed by the
prospectors of years past. The Pittman
Act expired in 1923, and Creede entered
another dark period. Some mining
activity continued, however. The
Commodor Mine continued to produce,
and lessees spent a short time in 1925
exploring the Bachelor ground. In 1925
E.J. Lieske, Dr. Thomas Howell, and
C.N. Blanchett formed the Bulldog
Leasing, Mining, and Milling Company to
explore and develop the new vein
discovered above Creede. The property
already featured a tunnel 1,050 feet long,
which they drove further. The operation
collapsed in 1926.44
The last significant mining
endeavor of the 1920s occurred at the
Amethyst Mine. The company's leading
Paradox: Boom During the Great Depression
Ironically, under the presidency of
one of the World's greatest mining
engineers, Herbert C. Hoover, the Crash
of 1929 brought the nation to its
economic knees. The subsequent Great
Depression destroyed what little was left
of nvning in Creede. The victory of
Franklin Delano Roosevelt over Hoover
in 1932 for U.S. President set in motion a
chain of events that spelled a revival of
mining in the West, including Creede, on
a scale not seen since the close of the
Gilded Age. In an effort to devalue the
U.S. dollar, in October of 1933 Roosevelt
engineer determined that economic ore
still lay in the upper levels of the
Amethyst and surrounding properties.
Hauling the ore out, however, would have
constituted a great cost. After years of
neglect, the Nelson Tunnel and the raises
and chutes necessary for transferring the
ore needed expensive improvement. The
surface plants and shafts of the Amethyst,
Last Chance, New York, and Happy
Thought mines were in a hopeless state.
The engineer elected to drive a new
haulage tunnel from the company's
property at Weaver on West Willow
Creek, instead of effect the required
improvements. In 1928 miners began
work on what then they named the Sloane
Tunnel, later known as the Amethyst
Tunnel. The passage provided easy
access to the Amethyst and surrounding
properties, and it permitted mining of
low-grade ore shunned by earlier
operations as being uneconomical. The
tunnel saw only two years of service
before mining at Creede once again
ceased.45
enacted a plan in which the Federal
Government bought gold at relatively
high prices. When price declines began to
interfere which this scheme, Roosevelt
and Congress passed the Gold Reserve
Act early in 1934, which set the minimum
price for gold at $35.00 per ounce. In
1934 Roosevelt signed the Silver
Purchase Act into law, which monetized
silver and set the price for the metal
artificially high. Creede experienced a
boom unlike anything seen since the
Gilded Age. Most of the principal mines
on the Amethyst Vein, the Soloman Mine
144
V
on the Holy Moses Vein, and the few
producers at Sunnyside underwent further
exploration and production.46
Lessees began exploring the
Bachelor, Commodor, and Amethyst
mines, and they initiated production
shortly afterward. Miners accessed these
three properties through the Bachelor
tunnels, through the Commodor No.S,
and the new Amethyst Tunnel,
respectfully. The Nelson Tunnel, which
was long -neglected, was no longer used.
Miners began drilling and blasting pockets
and small stringers of ore in the gutted
Amethyst Vein's hanging wall. Because
Table 5.1: Summary of Mining on the Amethyst Vein
capital remained scarce during the
Depression, ruiners working deep
underground revived the old practice of
hand -drilling, while miners working for
the large operations, such as at the
Commodor and Amethyst mines, had the
luxury of using mechanical rockdrills.
Miners completed nearly all other work
underground with hand -labor. In addition
to work underground, small companies
leased the rights to sort through the waste
rock dumps associated with the large
mines for low-grade ore tossed out by
earlier operations as uneconomical.
Mine Name
Relative Size
Location on
Operating Years of Surface
Operating Years of
Vein
Plant
Property
Amethyst
VeryLarge
Central
1891-1920
1891-1920; 1928-1929;
1934-1950s.
Annie RooneySmall
Central -South
1891-1892
1891-1892
Bachelor
Very Large
South
1378;1885; 1891-1893:1895-
1878; 1885; 1891-1893;
1)23;1525-i <9;1y34-iv4d;
1395-1923;1925-1929;
1944
1934-1940:1944
Commodor
Very Large
South
1891-1893; 1895-1910s;
1891-1893; 1895-1910s;
1916-1920; 1923.1929;1934-
1916-1920: 1923-1929;
1940; 1944-1983
1934-1940: 1944-1983
Del Monte
Medium
South -Central
1891-1893;1890s
1891-1893;1895-1900s;
1916-1923
Happy Thought
Large
Central
1891-1893; 1894-1907
1891-1893; 1894-1917;
1922-1923: 1928
Last Chance
Very Large
Central
1891-1893;18 55-1896;1898-
1891-1893;1895-1896;
1910s
1898-1920: 1923: 1937
Nelson Tunnel
Very Large
South
1892-1893; 1896.1929; 1935
1892-1893; 1896-1929;
1935 1945-1950s.
New York
Medium
South -Central
1891-1893; 1895-1902
1891-1893; 1895-1902;
1900s-1915;1923;1934-
1940
Park Regent
Medium
North
1892-1893; 1895;1898-1912
1892-1893; 1895;1893-
1912; 1916-1917
Surm side
Small
South -Central 1
1892-1893
1892-1893
White Star
Small
North 1
1892-1893, 1890s
1892-1893; 1890s-1917
I
145
•� iq�
J�
4Y
took
l
r,
•'_
"Y .d.'�' kA: ® '`A� ,_mac__,.
,.
Table 5.2: Summary
of Mining
on the Holy Moses
Vein
Mine Name
Relative Size
Location on
Operating Years of Surface
Operating Years of
Holy Moses
Very Large
Vein
Central
Plant
1891-1893: 1895-1910: 1934,
Property
1891-1893:1895-1910;
King Soloman
Large
South
1953-1958
1891-1893;1895-1918.
1934: 1953-1958
(Soloman)
1922-
1891-1893;1895-1918;
1923;1934;1945;1950-1952
1922-1923;1934,1945:
Outlet Tunnel
Medium
North
1890s; 1956-1958
1950-1952
Phoenix
Small
North
1891-1893;1900;1951-1960s
1890s; 19M-1958
1891-1893; 1900; 1951-
Ridge
Medium
South
1891-1893;1890s-1900s;
1960s
1891-1893;1890s-1900s;
1943-1949
1943-1949
Table 5.3: Summary of Mining on Upper West Willow Creek
Mine Name
Relative Size
Location on
Operating Years of Surface
Operating Years of
Inca
Medium
Vein
South
Plant
1902-1905
Pro ertv
tCative
Medtum
North
1900s 1912; 1918-1919;
2-1905
1900s; 1912, 1918-1919;
1927-1929;1953
1927-1929; 1953
Table 5.4: Summary of Mining on the Alpha -Corsair Ore System
Mine Name Relative Size
Location on
Operating Years of Surface
Operating Years of
Corsair Medium
Vein
South
Plant
1883; 1901-1904; 1922;1925;
Property
1883; 1901-1904;1922;
Kreutzer-Sonata Medium
North
1933-1934;1939
1892-1893;1926
1925;1933-1934;1939
1892-1893;1926
Monon Medium
South
1890s; 1916-1921; 1925;
1890s; 1916-1921, 1925;
Sunnyside Medium
Central
1938-1940;1953 1
1938-1940;1953
Tunnel
1892-1893;1901
1892-1893;1901
When miners had proven that ore
still existed in these trines, investors eager
for profit began a campaign to acquire the
principal mines on the Amethyst Vein. In
1935 the Emperius Mining Company
purchased the Commodor and Bachelor
mines and the Nelson Tunnel. In 1937
Emperius leased the Last Chance and
New York properties, and in 1939 it
completed its game of Monopoly when it
purchased the Amethyst Mine. Ore
extracted from the upper levels of the
New York and Last Chance were hauled
through the Last Chance No.2 Tunnel,
located near the abandoned Amethyst
Shaft. Miners brought ore extracted from
the lower levels of the above two
147
properties through the Amethyst
Tunnel"
Within a year Emperius invested
capital to locate additional ore veins,
which the company's engineers were sure
lay to either side of the Amethyst Vein.
During the following years miners in fact
encountered new ore, which ensured the
company's continued profitability. Then,
in 1938 Emperius miners discovered the
OH Vein, which was the most significant
find since the initial discoveries of ore in
the district. Previous mining companies
on the Amethyst Vein shortchanged
themselves by focusing time and effort on
gutting the known ore bodies and
neglecting exploration, leaving the
discovery of the OH ore body to miners
drilling and blasting four decades later.48
Because Creede's ores possessed a
lower value than times past, Emperius
continued to emphasize production in
economies of scale. The company
ensured that the surface plants at the
Commodor and the Amethyst mines were
fully equipped. Miners working
underground used rockdrills when driving
exploratory workings in hardrock, and
they drilled by hand when working in
softer ores. Miners used other pieces of
power equipment such as electric and
compressed air hoists at wines and to
scrape blasted ore out of stopes with drag
lines. Mules, which were inexpensive to
maintain, pulled trains of ore out of the
Commodor and Amethyst tunnels. The
surface plants of both of these operations,
and the Last Chance No.2 Tunnel,
included large ore sorting houses where
mine workers manually concentrated the
ore and separated out waste.
Like times past, mining men in
Creede sought to mill the ores locally in
hopes of saving the shipping and
processing fees associated with exporting
payrock to distant smelters. In 1937 T.P.
Campbell, W.B. Jacobson, and a man
named Mr. Weber organized Creede
Mills, Incorporated, which erected a
flotation mill south of the town of Creede.
While the flotation process was not new
to mining in 1937, Creede's past mills had
not applied the concept. The process
reduced the ore to a slurry, as other mills
had done, and it relied on oils and
foaming agents in tanks to "float" the
pulverized metalliferous fines away from
the waste. The mill proved successful,
and Emperius added it to its Creede
empire in 1940.49
The resurgence of mining
stimulated by FDR's programs reversed
the trend of the exodus from the dying
Creede district. In 1930 the town's
population dropped to around 334, and
during the following decade it increased
to 587. The proliferation of the
automobile and truck permitted miners in .
the 1930s to live in Creede and commute
to the centers of activity at the
Commodor and Amethyst tunnels.
Except for a few isolated residences, the
townsites of Bachelor and Weaver had
been long -abandoned. The Creede
business district experienced another fire
in 1936, which would have probably
precipitated the town's final abandonment,
were it not for the profitable mining.50
148
Table 5.5: Population of the Creede Mining District, 1890-1960
Population 1890 1892 1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960
Center
Mineral Not Not 1,913 1,239 779 640 975 693 424
Countv Extant Extant
Creede 1.000 8,000 938 711 500 334 587 433 424
North Part of Part of 235 122 Partof Partof Part of Part of Part of
Creede Creede Creede Creede Creede Creede Creede Creede
Bachelor 0 0 343 179 0 0 0 0 0
Weaver 0 0 84 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0
(Data collected from: Schulze, 1976 and from Nolie, 1947:59)
Unlike World War I, the outbreak
of World War II curiously did not foster a
district -wide resurgence of mining in the
Creede district, despite the need for war -
related industrial metals, but interest
increased, none -the -less. On the
Amethyst Vein, Emperius miners
continued drill and blast ore deep within
the Commodor, Bachelor, and Amethyst
properties, .and they may have continued
to work the lower levels of the Last
Chance ground through the Amethyst
Tunnel. In response to anticipated
production, in 1943 Emperius invested
much capital reconditioning unsound
portions of the Commodor No.S Tunnel,
and in 1945 the company did the same to
The Last Boom -Bust at Creede
Mining at Creede experienced a
boom -bust cycle yet again following the
end of World War II. War -related
production slowed, and the price for
industrial metals sagged. The ore bodies
in the old mines were becoming truly
exhausted and exploration conducted by
both Emperius and by partnerships failed
to discover new ore. The end of mining
the Nelson Tunnel, which had been
neglected for decades. In 1945 the New
Ridge Mining Company reopened the old
King Soloman, after I I years of inactivity,
and another group of lessees reopened the
Ridge Mine in 1943. Reopening both
properties on the Holy Moses Vein
required considerable capital, because the
King Soloman had been idle since 1934,
and Ridge was abandoned in the 1910s.
The mines that were active at Sunnyside
during the Great Depression had closed in
the 1930s, probably due to the exhaustion
of economic ore. In 1940 the partnership
of Larson & Soward leased the mine,
conducted some exploration, extracted a
little ore, and shut their operation downs`
at Creede seemed to be in sight.
However, the economic boom of the
1950s created a strong market for
industrial metals once again, and
improved milling technology made ores of
even lower grades economical. Not only
did this prolong the lives of Creede's
active mines, but a wave of partnerships
149
and lessees closely examined many lifeless
but formerly productive properties.
During the late 1940s the
Emperius Mining Company was the only
significant operation active at Creede. In
times past Emperius extracted ore from
various levels in the Commodor,
Bachelor, Amethyst, and Last Chance
properties. Following the post-war slump
in metals prices, the company curtailed its
operations and used only the Commodor,
Nelson, and Amethyst tunnels. The
company abandoned all other surface
facilities.
The wave of interest in Creede's
mines began rising in 1950. The long -idle
mines on the Holy Moses Vein attracted
the most attention. In 1950 the Mexico
Mining Company leased the King
Soloman property and conducted
underground exploration. The TOC
Development Corporation assumed the
lease and produced $20,000 in ore by
1952. In 1951 the Outlet Mining
Company reopened the Phoenix Mine,
conducted exploration, and by 1956 had
extracted an impressive $500,000 in lead
and silver. In 1953 the Sublet Mining
Company leased the Holy Moses Mine,
and it leased the Outlet Tunnel in 1956,
where the outfit conducted underground
exploration. The lessees began shipping
ore from the Holy Moses in 1954. In
light of the success miners were
experiencing with some of the district's
long -abandoned properties, lessees and
investors became interested in the
prospects at Sunnyside and those on
upper West Willow Creek. Lessees
reopened the Equity Mine in 1953, which
lay abandoned since 1929. They proved
unsuccessful and the mine closed
permanently. Another group of hopefuls
reopened the Monon Mine also in 1953.
They encountered small veins which were
rich enough to pique their interest, but not
sufficient enough to be profitable. The
lessees chased the ore stringers for the
next five years before they finally gave
Up.sz
Mining in Creede experienced one
last contraction in the late 1950s. All of
the operations that were active during the
1950s shut down permanently, except for
the Outlet Mining Company which
continued underground exploration at the
Phoenix Mine, and the Emperius Mining
Company which continued to profit from
the seemingly endless bodies of ore under
the Commodor and the Amethyst
properties.
During the 1960s the culture of
the Creede Mining District entered a
dichotomous state. The people, the
economy, and the physical landscape
retained characteristics derived from 70
continuous years of underground mining
based on traditional Gilded Age methods,
while the modern world was beginning to
exert a substantial influence. The
Emperius Mining Company continued to
work the Commodor and the Amethyst
properties, and the Bulldog Mine, long
idle, began production. Improved
technology permitted a greater tonnage of
ore produced per miner, but both mining
companies continued to drill and blast
using traditional methods. Both mining
companies began to use heavy equipment,
such as bulldozers and front-end loaders,
instead of hand -labor on the surface. On
the other hand, Creede's economy began
to enjoy a higher income from tourists
that in times past, and the culture began
changing to accommodate the passers -
through. During the 1960s a movement
began in which tourists ventured from
urban and suburban centers to historic
mining towns to commune with the
material culture of the American West.
150
May -August 1993
Crew Member, Western Cultural Resource Management, Boulder, Colorado.
Pedestrian survey, Class III recordation, and subsurface testing of historic habitations, hardrock mines, and
Paleolithic sites in Giroux Wash near Ely, Nevada.
November 1992-February 1993
Crew Member, Western Cultural Resource Management, Boulder, Colorado.
Excavation of archaeological features in the historic townsite of Riepetown near Ely, Nevada.
1990-1992
Geologist, RESNA Environmental/Applied Geosystems, Fremont, California.
Supervised drilling of water and vadose zone wells for environmental groundwater monitoring and remediation.
Supervised hazardous waste removal. Supervised groundwater and vadose zone monitoring. Participated in
underground storage tank removal.
PUBLICATIONS
Books
2000 Blown to Bits in the Mine: The History ofildining and Blasting in America Manuscript in press with
Western Reflections, Ouray, Colorado.
2001 Reading the Ruins: A Field Guide for Analyzing and Interpreting the Remains of Historic Western Hardrock
:dines. Manuscript under review with Western Reflections, Ouray, Colorado.
n.d Dynamite & Blasting Powder - Alakers and Artifacts Manuscript in production.
Archaeological Reports
Twitty, Eric Alining Cement Creek: A Selective Cultural Resource Inventory of the Principal Historic Mine Sites
th,-. Farr,c;d, nrrh, Cement Creek Drainage, San Juan County, Colorado Mountain States Historical, 2000.
R�au�r! in nnuto� tine
Twitty, Eric Mining the Amethyst Vein: Selective Cultural Resource Inventory of the Principal Historic Aline
"-nntain States Historical, 2000. Report on file with State Historic Preservation
Twitty, Eric Historical Context for the Creede Mining District Mountain States Historical, 2000. Report on file
with State Historic Preservation Office.
Sara, Tim; Twitty, Eric; et al Mining and Settlement at Timberline: Mitigative Treatment of Historic Properties
iTJcrive<i in G i.Giid FYGiiGi7ge Beirvecn i'i i�7pie Ci'eelii re. v'CiOr iniid ii%litiitg ampany and a
Tr ,viGiiagement wear Vicior, t: iifir•Zdfi Fimagon Archaeological Con ultants, inc. 1 "T nepO,i. On file
with State Historic Preservation Office and Bureau of Land Management.
Twitty, Eric; et al Site Recording and Level 11 HAB&HAER Documentation of the Mary Nevins Mine and Afill
(STL'I'?i 'r/car :':iior. Teller I"'. -- C ^.in.^ a {C PafagOII AIIehaeet^ G81 Cn; «"^'c +-._. _ . _ _ _
_ __ n___r;_ _ _ __r n_ ____ : r i_� _ _____ ......
Corridors Near Victor, Colorado Paragon Archaeological Consultants, Inc. 1997. Report on +file with State
Historic Preservation Office and Bureau of Land Management.
Sara, Tim: Cornelisse, Kimberly; and Twitty, Eric Historic Context., Denver Water Department West Portal
• fir?.nl. blarcns et cl i,'lncc J711. ,1(Igral R ovrre T ,vanotn, nt 7UN Parrelc Tvr.nlvo.l H O Rrnnn,curJ [nni3 rTch^n,re
i?onr aon lC7)1 Rfrron,/ nf'7 r7, !i 1.Iapnn _rand ( nnla !'rou{-.Y, iiigrn / n/rl d,/i:pnn !'nmL'mro T_1(or
i"n+/, '.irinraan Para ann uq_h?eC,jnorra, ,_nnc,irzq pr_c tnC, i a oi, wnrv0rr nn Me « rn _taro ryignrr .�*ecervarinn
-7.
Creede, with its dozens of intact historic
mine sites and ghost towns, was well
prepared to satisfy the waves of tourists.
The transition from mining to tourism
accelerated during the 1970s.
The end to mining in Creede
finally came.in the 1980s. After almost a
century of mining, all of the mines shut
down. Exhaustion of ore was partly to
blame, the skyrocketing costs of
underground operations were heavily at
fault, and competition from mining
operations in other countries and the
associated low metals prices contributed
heavily. Mining constituted a significant
portion of Creede's cultural fabric, and
the closing of the mines was a hard blow
to the area. However, Creede survived
well because tourism continued to grow,
and the town served as the region's
commercial and economic hub. Despite
Creede's transition from one of America's
greatest silver mining districts to a
historical destination that draws tourists
from across the West, the cultural fabric
created by almost 100 years of mining
remains intact. The heritage that is
Creede's, as well as that of a special time
and place in American history, lives on
through the people, the town of Creede,
and the surrounding historic mine sites.57
End Notes
I Abbott, Carl; Leonard, Stephen; McComb, David Colorado:.4 History of the Centennial State University of Colorado Press, Niwot,
CO 1994, p123.
Ransome, Frederick Leslie USGSBulletin No. 182: AReport on the Economic Geology ofthe Silverton Quadrangle, Colorado U.S.
Geological Survey, Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 1901, p19.
Smith, Duane A Song of the Hammer andDnll: The Colorado San Juans, 1860-1914 Cciorado School of Mines, Golden, CO 1982,
P12.
2 Henderson, Charles W. USGS Professional Paper 138: Mining in Colorado: AHistory of Discovery, Development, and Production
U.S. Geological Survey, Govetnn ut Printing Office, Washington, DC 1926, p5.
Emmons, William H and Esper, Larsen S. UEGSBu/1enn 718: Geology and Ore Deposits of the Creede District. Colorado U.S.
Geological Survey, U.S. Goverment Priming Office, Washington, DC 1923, p3.
Mumey, Nolie Creeds: The History ofa Colorado Silver Mining Town Artcraft Press, Deaver, CO 1949, p6.
3 Emmons, William H and Esper, Lusest S. USGSBulledn 718: Geology and Ore Deposits of the Creede District, Colorado U.S.
Geological Survey, U.S. Government printing Office, Washington, DC 1923, p3.
Graver, William S. Bonanza West: The Story of the Western Mining Rushes, 1848-1900 University of Idaho Press, Moscow, ID 1990,
p204.
Henderson, Charles W. USGS Professional Paper 138: Mining in Colorado: A History of Discovery, Development, and Production
U.S. Geological Survey, Govemmem Printing Ogre, Washington, DC 1926, p56.
Mumey, Nolie Creede: The History ofa Colorado Silver Mining Town Aircraft Press, Denver, CO 1949, p, 19-22.
Smith, Dame A. Song of the Hammer and Dnll: The Colorado San Juans, 1860-1914 Colorado School of Mines, Golden,CO 1982,
p9.
Wolle, Muriel Sibel Stampede to Timberline: The Ghost Towns and Mining Camps of Colorado Swallow Press, University of Ohio
Press, 1991, p320.
4 Brown, Ronald Colorado Ghost Towns Caxton Printers, Caldwell, ID, 1993, p85.
Emmons, William Hand Esper, Larsen S. USGSBulletin 718. Geology and Ore Deposits of the Creede District, Colorado U.S.
Geological Survey, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 1923, p4.
Francis, J. Creede Mining Camp Press of the Colorado Catholic, Denver, CO, 1892, p7.
Henderson, Charles W. USGS Professional Paper 138: Mining in Colorado: AHistory of Discovery, Development, and Production
U.S. Geological Survey, Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 1926, p56.
Mumey, Nolie Creede: The History ofa Colorado Silver Mining Town Artcnft Press, Denver, CO 1949, p21.
5 £MJ 9/21901,133.
Francis, J. Creede Mining Camp Press of the Colorado Catholic, Denver, CO, 1892, p7.
Mumey, Nolie Creede: The History ofa Colorado Silver Mining Town ArtcraR Press, Denver, CO 1949, p20, 38.
MuMahem, Thomas E. "The Ore Deposits of Creede, Colo." Engineering and Mining Journal March 12, 1892 p301.
6 L:WJ 9119191 p340.
Lallie's 1892.
Mumry, Nolie Creede: The History ofa Colorado Silver Mining Town Art' -aft Press, Denver, CO 1949, p3S
151
7 Bennett, Edwin Lewis and Spring Agnes Wright Boomtown Boy in Old Creede, Colorado Sage Books, Chicago, 111, 1966, p12.
Dallas, Sandra Colorado Ghost Towns andMining Camps University of Oklahoma Press, 'Normm 1934, p51.
Eb7J 8/2/90 p133.
Francis, J. Creede Mining Camp Press of the Colorado Catholic. Denver, CO, 1892, pl 1.
Mumey, Nolic Creede: The History ofa Colorado Silver Mining Town Artcraft Press, Denver, CO 1949, p37.
Wolle, Muriel Sibel Stampede to Timberline: The Ghost Towns and Mining Camps of Colorado Swallow Press, University of Ohio
Press, 1991, p321.
8 Mumey, Nolie Creede: The History ofa Colorado Silverblining Town Artcraft Press, Denver, CO 1949, p59.
9 Nearly all of the principal historic mine sites exhibit evidence of associated residences, and additional isolated residential sites may be
encountered in the vicinity of prospect' operations.
10 Greever, William S. Bonanza West.The Story of the Western Mining Rushes, 1848-1900 University of Idaho Press, Moscow, ID
1990,p204.
Henderson, Charles W. USGS Professional Paper 138, Mining in Colorado.' AHistory afDiscovery, Development, and Production
U.S. Geological Survey. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 1926, p11.
Money, Noce Creede: The History ofa Colorado Silver Mining Town Ancraft Press, Denver, CO 1949, p59.
Smith, Duane A Song of the Hammer and Drill: The Colorado San Juans, 1860-1914 Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO 1982,
p91.
11 Bernett, Edwin Lewis and Sprang Agnes Wright Boomtown Boy in Old Creede, Colorado Sage Books, Chicago, III, 1966, p29.
Feltz, Leland Creede: Colorado Boom Town Little London Press, Colorado Springs, CO 1963, p21.
Groover, William S. Bonanza West: The Story ofthe Western Mining Rushes, 1848-1900 University of Idaho Press, Moscow, ID 1990,
p206.
Mumey, Nolie Creede: The History ofa Colorado Silver Mining Town Artcraft Press, Denver, CO 1949, p125.
Smith, Duane A Song ofthe Hammer and Dnll. The Colorado San Juans, 1860-1914 Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO 1982,
13113.
Wolle, Muriel Sibel Stampede to Timberline: The Chair Towns and Mining Camps of Colorado Swallow Press, University of Ohio
Press, 1991, p325.
12 Bennett, Edwin Lewis and Spring Agnes Wright Boomtown Boy in Old Creede, Colorado Sage Books, Chicago, 111, 1966, p32, 60.
Dallas, Sandra Colorado Ghost Towns and Mining Camps University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, 1984, p54.
Feltz, Leland Creede: Colorado Boom Town Little London Press, Colorado Springs, CO 1963, p16, 26.
Greever, William S. Bonanza West., The Story ofthe Western Mining Rushes, 1848-1900 University of Idaho Press, Moscow, ID 1990,
p206.
Mumey, Nohe Creede: The History ofa Colorado Silver Mining Town Arteratl Press, Denver, CO 1949, p12, 75.
Wolle, Muriel Sibel Stampede to Timberline: The Ghost Towns and Mining Camps ofColorado Swallow Press, University of Ohio
Prose, 1991, p326.
13 Mornay, Nolie Creede: The History ofa Colorado Silver Mining Town Atteraft Press, Deriver, CO 1949, p2.
14 Mumey, Nolie Creede: The History ofa Colorado Silver Mining Town Artaaft Press, Denver, CO 1949, p156-157.
Wolle, Muriel Sibel Stampede to Timberline: The Ghost Towns and Mining Camps of Colorado Swallow Press, University of Ohio
Press, 1991, p331.
15 E1011/92 p470.
Mumey, Nolie Creede: The History ofa Colorado Silver Mining Town Artcraft Press, Denver, CO 1949, p33.
Schwar{ T.E. "Colorado" Engineering and Mining Journal Jan.2, 1892 p55.
16 Eel! 2/12192 p212; EbV 7/23192 p86; FAS/ 9/10/92 p252; &W 10/29/92 p421.
Smith, Duane A Song of the Hammer and Drill: The Colorado San Juans, 1860-1914 Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO 1982
p91.
17 Leonard, Steven and Noel, Thomas Denver. Mining Camp to Metropolis University Press of Colorado, Niwot, CO 1990, p150.
Smith, Duane A Rocky Mountain West: Colorado. Wyoming, &Montana 1859-1915 University of Nev, Mexico Press, Albuquerque,
NM 1992, p159,
The Author characterized the Last Chance surface plant during an archaeological field analysis.
16 Emmons, Willi= Hand Esper, Larsen S. USGSBullefin 718: Geology and Ore Deposits ofthe Creede District, Colorado U.S.
Geological Survey, U.S. Government Priming Office, Washington, DC 1923, p142.
MacMechen, Thomas E.'The Ore Deposits of Creede, Colo." Engineering and Mining Journal March 12,1892 p301.
Mumey, Nolie Creede: The History ofa Colorado Silver Mining Town Artcraft Press, Denver, CO 1949, p47.
Smith, Duane A Song ofthe Hammer and Drill: The Colorado San Juans, 1860-1914 Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO 1982
p92.
19 FEMJ 3/26/92 p358.
MacMechen, Thomas E. '"The Ore Deposits of Creede, Colo." Engineering and Mining Journal Match 12,1892 p301.
Smith, Duane A Colorado Mining: APhotographic Essay University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque, NM 1977, p75.
20 EMJ 1/20/94 p61.
Emmaus, William H and Faper, Larsen S. USGS Bulletin 718: Geology and Ore Deposits of the Creede District. Colorado U.S.
Geological Survey, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 1923, p4.
Henderson, CharlesW. USGS Professional paper 138:11ining in Colorado: AHistory afDiscovery, Development, and Production
U.S. Geological Survey, Government Priming Offioe, Washington, DC 1926, p56.
21 Mumey, Nolic Creede: The History of a Colorado Silver Mining Town Artcraft Press, Denver, CO 1949, pl 5.
126
r
Twisty, Eric "From Steam Engines to Electric Motors: Electrification in the Cripple Creek Mining District" Mining History Jovnal,
1998.
22 The Author conducted an examination of mine sites along the Amethyst Vein,
23 Bennett Edwin Lewis and Spring Agnes Wright Boomtown Boy in Old Creede, Colorado Sage Books, Chicago, 111, 1966, pl5, 18,
24 Mumey. Nolie Creede: The History ofa Colorado Silver Mining Town Anctaft Press, Denver, CO 1949, p81, K.
25 Mumey, Nolie Creede: The History ofa Colorado Edverxbfining Town Artcra8 Press, Denver, CO 1949, p81, 82.
26 EMJ 2/ 14, 86 p 119.
Smith, Duane A. Song ofthe Hammer and Drill: The Colorado San Juans, 1860-1914 Colorado School of dines, Golden CO 1982,
p92.
Smith, Duane .4 Rockydfountain West Colorado, Wyoming, & Montana 1659-1915 University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque.
;YM 1992, p157.
Voynick, Stephen M. Colorado Gold: From the Pike's Peak Rush to the Present Mountain Press Publishing Co., Missoula.'MT 1992,
p62.
27 Smith, Duane A. Song ofthe Hammer and Drill: The Colorado San Jvans, 1860-1914 Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO
1982, p92.
Smith, Duane A. Rocky Mountain West: Colorado, Wyoming, &Monona 1859-1915 University of New Mexico Press,.-Ubuquerque,
NM 1992, p157.
Voynick, Stephen M. Colorado Gold: From the Pike's Peak Rush to the Present Mountain Press Publishing Co., Missoula, NIT 1992.
p62.
28 EMJ 3/10,94 p230; afJ 1/6/94 p14; EWJ 2/17/94 p 158.
Emmons, William H and Esper, Larsen S. USGSBullerin 718: Geology and Ore Deposits ofthe Creede District, Colorado U.S.
Geological Survey, U.S. Government printing Office, Washington, DC 1923. p 168,
29 EVJ 7/9/98 p316.
Bermett, Edwin Lewis and Spring Agnes Wright Boomtown Boy in Old Creede, Colorado Sage Books; Chicago, Ill, 1966, p210.
Improvements to the Happy Thought Mine and Bachelor Mine were determined through field examination
30 Emmons. William H and Esper, Lassen S. USGS Bulletin 718: Geology and Ore Deposits ofthe Creede District, Colorado U.S.
Geological Survey, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 1923, p6.
EMJ 9/21/01 p368.
31 The Author characterized the Amethyst and Happy Thought ore reduction mills from field examdnation.
32 EMJ 12/7/01 p766; I:W 3/22/02 p425; EMJ 317/03 p384.
33 Emmons William H and Esper, Larsen S. USGS Bulletin 718: Geology and Ore Deposits ofthe Creede District, Colorado U.S.
Geological Survey, U.S. Government Printing ice, Washington, DC 1923, p5.
EFfJ 4/9/92 p407.
34 Colorado Historical Society Records, MSS Box 640, J24:7.
35 EMJ 2115/02.
36 EHfJ 719/98 p46; F.NJ 6/16/00 p718.
Lallie's 1892.
37 Colorado Historical Society Records, MSS Box 640, v24:34.
EMJ 6/16/00 p718.
38 Schulze, SusanneA Centuryof the Colorado Census University of Northern Colorado, Greeley, CO, 1976,
39 F-VJ 3/7103 p384.
Emmons, William H and Esper, Larsen S. USGS Bulletin 718: Geology and Ore Deposits ofthe Creede District, Colorado U.S.
Geological Survey, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 1923, p169,
Henderson Charles W. USGS Professiona/Paper 138: Mining in Colorado: AHistory of Discovery, Development, and Production
U.S. Geological Survey, Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 192, ply.
40 Colorado StateArchives, Mine Inspectors' Reports, Box 104053: Creede Exploration Co.
Emmons, William Hand Esper, Larsen S. USGSBulerin 718: Geology and Ore Deposits ofthe Creede District, Colorado U.S.
Geological Survey, U.S. Government Priming Office, Washington, DC 1923, p159.
41 Colorado StateArchives, Mine Inspectors, Repons, Box 104053: Creede Exploration Co.
42 Colorado State Archives, Mine Inspectors' Reports, Box 104053; Bachelor, Box 104053: Happy Thought; Box 104053: Happy
Thought; Box IW53: Last Chance; Box 104053: Soloman.
EMJ 6/3/16p1006.
43 Colorado State Archives, Mine Inspectors' Reports, Box 104053: Equity; Box 104053: Morton.
Larsen, E.S. "Recent Mining Developments in the Creede District: USGSBullerin 811: Contributions to Economic Geology U.S.
Geological Survey, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington DC 1929,
44 Colorado State Archives, Mine laspec[ors' Reports, Box IM53: Bachelor, Box 104053: Bulldog; Box 104053: Commodor, Box
104053: Happy Thought; Box 104053: Last Chance; Box 104053: Soloman.
Henderson Charles W. USGS Professional Paper 138: Mining in Colorado: AHistory ofDtscovery, Development, and Production
U.S. Geological Survey, Government Printing Office, Washington DC 1926, p17.
Larsen E.S. "Recent Mining Developments in the Creede District: USGS Bulletin 811: Contributions to Economic Geology U.S.
Geological Survey, U.S. Govermnem Printing Office, Washington DC 1929.
45 Colorado StateArchives, Mine Inspectors' Reports, Box 104053: Amethyst
127
46 McElvaine, Robert S. The Great Depression:.4merica, 1929-1941 Times Backs, New York, NY 1993, p164.
E 47 Colorado Stec .krehives, Mine Inspectors' Reports, Box 104053: Amethyst; Box 104053: Commodor, Box 104053: Last Chance.
{ 48 Rave, James C. and Steven, Thomas .4 "Ash Flows and Related Volcanic Rocks Associated with the Creede Caldera San Juan
Moumains, Colorado" LTGSProfessional Paper 524: Shorter Contributions to General Geology U.S. Geological Survey, Govemmenrt
Printing Office, Washington, DC 1965, p 10.
49 Colorado State Archives, Mine inspectors' Reports, Box 104053: Emperius.
50 Feitz, Leland Creede: Colorado Boom Town Little London Press, Colorado Springs, CO 1963, p16.
Schulze, Susanne A Century ofthe Colorado Census University of Northern Colorado, Greeley, CO, 1976.
' 1 51 Colorado State Archives, Mine Inspectors' Reports, Box 104053: Emperius; Box 104053: Holy doses Box 104053: Last Chance;
i
Box IG4053: Ridge; Box 104053: Soloman.
52 Colorado State Archive, Mitre Inspectors' Reports. Box 104053: Emperius; Box 104053: Equity, Box 104053: Holy Moses; Box
104053: Morton; Box 104053: Phoenix; Box 104053: Ridge; Box IM53: Soloman.
53 Colorado State Archives, Mine Inspectors' Reports, Box 104053: Bulldog, Box 104053: Commodo ,, Box 104053: Emperus.
J
128
CHAPTER 6
CONCLUSION
The Creede Mining District holds
a place of importance in national, state,
and local history. Creede has been
described as one of America's the most
significant silver producing districts, and
its mines made significant contributions to
the fortunes of powerful and influential
mining investors and politicians such as
Thomas Bowen, Henry O, and Edward O.
Wolcott, David H. Moffat, and A.E.
Reynolds. Because these men were
heavily invested in profitable silver mines,
including those at Creede, they put great
energy into a national policy that favored
the silver mining industry and Western
business. The ripple effect of their
actions, and the actions of other
politicians with similar interests, caused
economic cycles which reverberated
throughout the West, and ultimately the
nation. Federal Over price supports and
the revocation of such policies caused
boom -and -bust cycles that stimulated
settlement and industrialization of the
mining West when Over prices were high,
and required the population to be
transient when low prices forced mines to
close. The cycles ultimately impacted the
nation's economy, exemplified by the
Silver Crash of 1893 and the associated
depression.
The excitement over the immense
ore veins at Creede fomented one of the
West's last great mining rushes. The
potential for staking a rich claim at best,
and securing a well -paying job at the
least, acted as a siren calling tominers,
businessmen, and investors across the
nation. In response, people immigrated to
Creede from hardrock mining regions
across the West, as well as from
Michigan, Missouri, Wisconsin, Canada,
and Europe. At its peak, the rush to
Creede began to eclipse the excitement at
Cripple Creek, which was one of the
other great districts of the 1890s. Were it
not for the devastating Silver Crash of
1893, Creede may have overshadowed
Cripple Creek for many more years.
Creede served as a proving
ground for innovative mining and
industrial technologies, as well as an
example of the application of accepted,
conventional mining methods and
practices. The prominence of the district,
the problems associated with mining an
immense vein, the investors' wealth, and
the need to produce ore in economies of
scale contributed to the use of advanced
technology. Creede hosted one of the
West's earliest municipal and industrial
electric grids at a time when steam power
reigned supreme. To achieve production
in economies of scale, many of the
district's prominent mines made use of
aerial tramways at a time in mining history
when the devices were uncommon and
expensive feats of engineering. The mines
at Creede also saw the application of
advanced drilling technology. During the
late 1890s miners began using stoper
drills to bore blast -holes into the ceilings
of stopes and raises. The use of stopers
at this time is significant for several
reasons. First, stopers manufactured
during the 1890s and 1900s were one of
the first commercial versions of the
hammer drill, which replaced then-
155
conventional piston drills and evolved into
today's jackhammers and rockdrills.
Second, the stoper was one of the first
light -weight and inexpensive drills
portable and operable by one man. The
piston drill, which weighed up to 350
pounds and required a crew of two to
operate, was the convention among
mining companies until the 1910s, when
hammer drills became popular. The large
mines at Creede saw early application of
diamond drilling around 1900 for deep
sampling, and engineers in the district
used them for the unheard-of practice of
boring drain -holes into the sumps of
several flooded shafts. Like hammer
drills, diamond drills were still in the
developmental stage during this time, and
they proved themselves successful at
Creede.
During the 1890s mining
engineers bored the Nelson Tunnel for 2
miles under the claims on the Amethyst
Vein, linking many prominent mines
together in hopes of reducing production
costs and solving some of the problems of
mining. The tunnel served as a massive
drain and ventilation duct, and it became
the principal access and haulage way to
the mines, which caused a geographical
shift in the district's population. Boring
the Nelson Tunnel, linking it to the
principal mines on the Amethyst Vein,
and equipping it for haulage, ventilation,
and access to encompassing underground
workings required sound engineering
practices. The Nelson Tunnel converted
the individual mines on the Amethyst Vein
into an interrelated system.
The Creede Mining District holds
historical importance on a state level.
During the 1890s, Creede was a center of
mining excitement second only to the
world-renowned Cripple Creek. Creede
fueled Colorado's economy for four
decades, except for a brief period during
the Silver Crash of 1893. Economic
stimulation came from gross ore
production, from capital poured into the
district from outside the state, and from
immigrants moving to the district. To
that end, Creede drew a workforce
consisting of a variety of ages, ethnicities,
and experiences, adding color to
Colorado's population. Creede's
investors influenced state politics,
including the strong reaction to the
growing wave of unionism. Creede's
mining companies shipped their ore for
processing, and much of it went to
smelters at Denver and Pueblo, which
supported industries in those areas. And
in a contrary way, the mines at Creede
consumed thousands of tons of coal to
feed boilers, blacksmith forges, and
stoves. Most of the bituminous coal and
much of the anthracite coal came from
within the state, which supported mining
and settlement at Trinidad, Crested Butte,
Florence, and the Front Range. Creede
proved to be important to the state of
Colorado during the Great Depression.
When President Franklin Delano
Roosevelt signed the Silver Purchase Act
in 1934, Creede experienced a revival
which supported hundreds of workers and
their families. On a broad scale, the
return of silver mining helped see portions
of Colorado's population through the
Depression. Last, Creede's abandoned
mine sites continue to draw tourists to
Colorado, which support the state and
local economies.
The Creede Mining District also
holds a place of importance because many
of its historic elements are intact and
retain integrity. The district retains
cultural geographic integrity in terms of
its settlements, mine sites, and
transportation arteries. Many of the
156
settlements and historic mine sites feature
examples of Gilded Age and Depression -
era industrial, commercial, and residential
architecture. The towns of Creede and
North Creede and the townsite of Weaver
Possess little -altered historic commercial
and residential buildings in an intact
ambiance.
Perhaps Creede's most significant
cultural resource is its historic mine sites.
Many of these sites feature a combination
of intact archaeological and architectural
elements ranging in age from the district's
earliest boom years up to the 1970s.
While many of the mine sites have been
stripped long ago of their buildings and
machinery, the remaining archaeological
evidence often clearly reflects the physical
constitution of the surface plants, dates of
operations, the natures of the operations,
and associated residences. The
archaeological record also includes buried
deposits such as trash dumps, ceflars, and
Privy pits which have the potential to
enhance our current understanding of life
and culture in Western mining districts.
The large mine sites include many
standing buildings ranging from small
explosives magazines to offices to
massive ore sorting houses. The aerial
tramway terminals and sorting houses are
ponderous, well -engineered structures
unique to Western mining. On an
individual basis such structures are rare,
and the assemblage of these structures
Possessed by the Creede district is
exceptional. When all of Creede's
historic mine sites are considered in sum,
they provide fuel for the examination of
patterns related to mining. For example,
the assemblage of sites reflect both
changes and constants in underground
mining methods and technology employed
from the Gilded Age up to the 1970s.
The site assemblage includes many
examples of mines arrested in states
ranging from small, poorly developed
prospects to massive, industrialized
operations. The assemblage of mine sites
are both proximal to historic townsites,
and they include individual residential
complexes. As whole, the mines and
residential complexes can illuminate
settlement patterns.
The Creede Mining District
possesses many reasons that favor
preservation and future cultural resource
analysis. Today, other historic mining
districts are . loosing integrity to
development, gaming, and environmental
remediation, making Creede all the more
important to Mineral County, the state of
Colorado, and the United States. The
historic resources at Creede constitute a
rare example of a heavily capitalized,
wealthy, and well -engineered mining
district, and an example of a time and
place in history quite different from
today's culture and economy.
157
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International Textbook Company A Textbook on Metal Mining: Preliminary Operations
at Metal Mines, Metal Mining, Surface Arrangements at Metal Mines, Ore
Dressing and Milling International Textbook Company, Scranton, PA, 1899.
International Textbook Company A Textbook on Metal Mining: Steam and Steam -
Boilers, Steam Engines, Air and Air Compression, Hydromechanics and
Pumping, Mine Haulage, Hoisting and Hoisting Appliances, Percussive and
Rotary Boring International Textbook Company, Scranton, PA, 1899.
International Textbook Company Coal and Metal Miners' Pocket Book International
Textbook Company, Scranton, PA, 1905.
International Textbook Company International Library of Technology: Hoisting,
Haulage, Mine Drainage International Textbook Company, Scranton, PA, 1906.
International Textbook Company International Correspondence School Reference
Library: Rock Boring, Rock Drilling, Explosives and Blasting, Coal -Cutting
Machinery, Timbering, Timber Trees, Trackwork International Textbook
Company, Scranton, PA, 1907.
162
International Textbook Company International Library of Technology: Mine Surveying,
Metal Mine Surveying, Mineral -Land Surveying, Steam and Steam Boilers, Steam
Engines, Air Compression International Textbook Company, Scranton, PA,
1924.
International Textbook Company Mine Haulage: Rope Haulage in Coal Mines,
Locomotive Haulage in Coal Mines, Mine Haulage Systems, Calculations, and
Cars International Textbook Company, Scranton, PA, 1926,
Hoover, Herbert C. Principles of Mining McGraw-Hill Book Co., New York, NY, 1909.
Ketchum Milo S. C.E. The Design of Mine Structures McGraw-Hill Book Co., New
York, NY, 1912.
Meinhans, Frank B. Locomotive Boiler Construction Norman W. Henley Publishing Co.,
New York, NY, 1915.
Keystone Consolidated Publishing Company Inc. The Mining Catalog: 1925 Metal -
Quarry Edition Keystone Consolidated Publishing Company Inc., (no location
given), 1925.
Lewis, Robert S. Elements of Mining John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York, NY, 1946
[1933].
Linstrom, C.B. & Clemens, A.B. Steam Boilers and Equipment International Textbook
Co., Scranton, PA, 1928.
Morrison's Mining Rights Denver, CO, 1899 [1882].
Peele, Robert Mining Engineer's Handbook John Wiley & Sons, New York, NY, 1918.
Prelini, Charles Earth & Rock Excavation D. Van Nostrand Co., New York, NY, 1906.
Rand Drill Company Illustrated Catalogue of the Rand Drill Company, New York, U.S.A.
Rand Drill Company, New York, NY, 1886.
Simons, Theodore E.M., C.E. Compressed Air: A Treatise on the Production,
Transmission, and Use of Compressed Air McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc.,
New York, NY, 1921.
Staley, William Mine Plant Design McGraw-Hill Book Co., New York, NY, 1936.
Tillson, Benjamin Franklin Mine Plant American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical
Engineers, New York, NY, 1938.
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Tinney, W.H. Gold Mining Machinery: Its Selection, Arrangement, & Installation D.
Van Nostrand Company, New York, NY, 1906.
Thorkelson, H.J. Air Compression and Transmission McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc.,
New York, NY, 1912.
Thurston, R.H. A Manual of Steam Boilers: Their Design, Construction, and Operation
John Wiley & Sons, New York, NY, 1901.
Tinney, W.H. Gold Mining Machinery: Its Selection, Arrangement, &Installation D.
Van Nostrand Company, New York, NY, 1906.
Trennert, Robert A. "From Gold Ore to Bat Guano:Aerial Tramways in the West" The
Mining History Journal 1997 p4.
Twitty, Eric "From Steam Engines to Electric Motors: Electrification in the Cripple
Creek Mining District" Mining History Journal, 1998.
Twitty, Eric Reading the Ruins: A Field Guide for Interpreting the Remains of Western
Hardrock Mines Masters Thesis, University of Colorado at Denver, 1999.
Young, George Elements of Mining John Wiley & Sons, New York, NY, 1923.
Young, Otis E. Western Mining: An Informal Account of Precious Metals Mining,
Prospecting, Placering, Lode Mining, and Milling on the American Frontier from
Spanish Times to 1893 University of Oklahoma Press, 1987 [19701.
Mans
Sanborn Map Co. Creede,
Mineral County,Colorado, 1893 Sanborn Map Co.,
Brooklyn, NY 1893.
Sanborn Map Co. Creede,
Mineral County, Colorado, 1898 Sanborn Map Co.,
Brooklyn, NY 1898.
Sanborn Map Co. Creede,
Mineral County, Colorado, 1904 Sanborn Map Co.,
Brooklyn, NY 1904.
Sanborn Map Co. Creede,
Mineral County, Colorado, 1910 Sanborn Map Co.,
Brooklyn, NY 1910.
164
EDUCATION
• B.S. Environmental Science,
Bowling Green State University,
Bowling Green, OH
Spatial information analysis
using various GIS tools
Satellite imagery manipulation
and interpretation
Creation of Digital Elevation
Models using satellite imagery
SELECTED PROJECTS
• GCT/Tie point location and
mosaicking of IKONOS satellite
imagery for Yavapai County, AZ
• Creation of Digital Elevation
Models for San Diego, Missouri,
Mississippi, and Iran using 3
meter accuracy standards
• Development of false color
satellite images of Boulder, CO
to identify and classify important
geologic and urban features
• Research and development, in
conjunction with the BGSU
environmental department, of a
plan to construct peregrine
falcon nesting boxes on campus
and in the surrounding
community
JENNIFER L. CHESTER
GIS Specialist
Ms. Chester has extensive and varied knowledge
in the areas of environmental science, geographic
information systems and remote sensing. Past
projects have allowed her to gain skills in
environmental research, project design and
environmental assessment. More recently, she
has been focusing on using GIS and remote
sensing for spatial analysis in the environmental
field.
Ms. Chester joined SWCA in the Denver office as
a GIS technician where her responsibilities include
cartographic production, GIS analysis and
interpretation, and graphic support. Projects have
been focused on mapping the results of cultural
and natural resource field surveys in Wyoming and
Colorado for private companies and government
organizations. Many of these projects have
required the use, organization, and management
of databases in relation to spatial information.
Previously, Ms. Chester worked as a Digital
Imagery Associate at Space Imaging in Colorado.
There she was a major contributing member of the
production department as well as responsible for
quality checking many of the products before they
were released to customers. She was also
involved in process documentation, procedure
writing, identification of anomalies in satellite
imagery, GCP location, mosaicking, and creation
of DEMs at high accuracy standards.
adam thomas
9995 East Harvard Avenue
Suite 297
Denver, Colorado 80231
(303) 369-9755
aathomes®lamar.colostate.edu
education
Colorado Stab Univeraft
Fort Collins, Colorado
Master of Arts of History expected in December
2001. Public history concentration in historic
preservation and museums. Academic interests in
American architecture and material culture, indus-
trialization, and transportation.
professional experience
Froalanoe Historical ConsuNing
Deriver, Colorado
Independent Contractor — Conducted an irden-
slve4avel survey of 45 properties in Longmont,
Colorado's, East Side neighborhood, a National
Register historic district Duties included architec-
tural descriptions, property research, and a
neighborhood history. (May -October 2001)
Moyersdale Ana Niatorloal Socletr
Meyersdale, Pennsylvania
Summer Intern — Assisted historical society in
establishing a museum of local history. Organized
a public program on historic homes, and created
an archive for a century -old pharmacy. (Summer
2000)
Louisiana Pharmaalsb Assoolatbn
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Managing Editor — Managed the association's bi-
montidy journal, The Louisiana Pharmacist
Directed all communications among the associa-
tion's members, the media, and the general pub-
lic. (August 1998 to August 1999)
curriculum vitae
Medill School of Journalism
Northwestern Unhrerstly
Evanston, Illinois
Bachelor of Science of Journalism obtained in
June 1997. Dean's list student. Academic
concentration in American history.
Kohl Chlidron's Museum
Wilmette, Illinois
Communications Associate — Wrote, edited and
designed museum's newsletters and other prim-
ed materials. Wrote press releases and assisted
in handling media inquires and placing stories.
(November 1997 to May 1998)
Amtrak bteraHy
Chicago, Illinois
Acting Manager, Employee Communications —
Responsible for informing employees in 45 states
of corporate policy and news. Facilitated dialog
among various unions and with management.
Oversaw the production of an employee newslet-
ter. Also assisted in public and government
affairs. (October 1995 - October 1997)
Florida Tbres4Jnlon
Jacksonville, Florida
Staff Writer — Wrote news, features, business,
and sports for a daily, 180,000circulation news-
paper. Edited copy, wrote headlines and cutlines,
and designed pages. (Spring 1996)
2.
major articles published major papers unpublished
Thomas A. "It's a madness, a sickness." Florida Thomas, A. Be Specific: Determining the Eastern
Times -Union River City News. (May 8, 1998): 1. Terminus of the Union Pacific. Dec. 4, 2000.
Thomas A. "Baber closes shop after cutting gen- Thomas, A. The Allure of Speed, the Organization
erations of hair." Cumberland (Md.) Times -News Man, and the iMac: The Economic Influences of
58:173. (July 29, 1995): 1. Modem Design in America. Nov. 30, 2000.
Thomas A. "A Trip down the Salisbury branch."
Thomas, A. At the Tips of His Fingers: Lee J.
The New Republic. (Sept 8, 1994): 1. Reprinted
Kelfm and Loveland's Fight to Control Electric
In the journal of the Western Maryland chapter
Power. May 2000.
of the National Railroad Historical Society and
The Sentinel, the journal of the Baltimore and
publications edited
Ohio Railroad Historical Society.
71N Loulelana pharmacist. ISSN 0192-3838.
Thomas A. "Cleaning up the mines: Testing
Journal of the Louisiana Pharmacists Association.
grounds for new technology." The New
Kohl in Detail. A publication of Kohl Children's
Republic. (Aug. 11, 1994): 1.
Museum. (November 1997 to May 1998)
Thomas A. "A spring by any other name...." The
IntmMews. An employee
p oyee publication of Amtrak
New Republic. (Jury 28, 1994): 1.
Intercity. (October 1995 to October 1997)
e x h i b i t i o n s d e s i g n e d
Santa Fe Rai" News. An employee publica-
Presodirdon: 7►adRion. Core exhibit for the
tion of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe
proposed Thomas Drug Store Museum in
Railway. (Spring 1995)
Meyersdale, Pennsylvania
fellowships and awards
preservation projects
Rosser Family Award. Awarded to CSU's out -
Bee Centennial Farm Historic District.
standing history graduate student (Spring 2001)
Currently developing a National Register nomina-
tion for a century -old homestead on Colorado's
CSU Graduate Symposium Award for the busi-
high plains. The 180-acre site includes over 25
ness and humanities category. Presented for the
contributing resources.
oral presentation, The Allure of Speed, the
Organization Man, and the iMac. (Spring 2001)
volunteer projects
Fort Collins Munhiipal Ralhrq Socleft.
Graduate Fellowship. CSU. (Spring 2001)
Currently serving as motorman, operating a 1919
Bimey streetcar over a 1.5-mile right of way
7lsaching Assistantship. CSU. (Fall 2000 and
through Fort Collins, Colorado.
Spring 2001)
3.
graduate courses (completed)
Independent Study: Railroads TA: American History, 1876 to the Present
Dr. Janet Ore Dr. Jared Orel
Fell 2001 Fall 2000
Archival Records Management
Historic Preservation Internship: Mayersdele
Paula Sutton
Ares Historical Society
Fall 2001
John Albright
Summer 2000
Reading Seminar. American Material Culture
Dr. Janet Ore
Historical Methods: Historic Preservation
Fall 2001
John Albright
Spring 2000
Cultural Resouro" Management
Dr. James Zeldler
Research Seminar. State and Leoal History
Spring 2001
Dr. Janet Ore and Dr. Mark Flags
Spring 2000
Historical Methods: Museums
Anne Weinstein Bond
History of American Architecture
Spring 2001
Dr. Janet Ore
Spring 2000
PrwUoum: See Pam Historic District
Dr. Janet Ore
references
Spring 2001
John Albright
TA World History, 1500 to the Present
Assistant Professor of History,
Dr. Douglas Yerrington
Colorado State University
Spring 2001
(970) 491-6864
jalbril@lamar.colostate.edu
Reading Seminar: Woman and Gender In the
United States
Cad McWilliams
Dr. Ruth Alexander
President and Founder,
Fall 2000
Cultural Resource Historians
Fort Collins, Colorado
Hlatod" Methods: Historiography
(970) 4935270
Dr. Harry Rosenberg
Fall 2000 Janet Ore
Assistant Professor of History,
History of American Interiors Colorado State University
Carolyn Deardorff (970) 491-6087
Fall 2000 joreClamar.colostate.edu
EMILY SALAZAR
OBJECTIVE
To be in a career where I can make an effective and valuable contribution to
archaeology and historic preservation while implementing my skills, knowledge
and experiences.
EDUCATION
1994-1995 University of Colorado at Boulder Boulder, CO
1996-1999 Metropolitan State College of Denver Denver CO
B.A., History
2001 Metropolitan State College of Denver Denver CO
B.A., Anthropology
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Santa tuts B Project 17f-14M-8 South American Archaeology Santa Rita, Peru
June 2000-July 2000
• Developed and implemented a strong understanding of plan views and maps.
• Utilized several excavation methods.
■ Completed bilingual standardized forms.
Santa Rita B Project 17f-14M-8 South American Archaeology Santa Rita, Peru
June 2001-August 2001
• Led a team of 2-3 people as Crew Supervisor.
• Created plan views and maps of the site and units.
■ Refined skills for drawing artifacts and features.
• Developed and implemented a strong understanding of cataloging artifacts.
■ Created report on excavation results.
Bradford-Perley House 5JF997 Historical Archaeology Ken Caryl Ranch, CO
August 2001-Present
■ Performed artifact analysis by using statistic and distribution studies.
• Completed standardized forms.
■ Acted as supervisor, helping to teach others excavation methods.
PROFESSIONAL REFRENCES
Lr. Jonathan Kent Professor of Archaeology at Metropolitan State College of
Denver
Director of Santa Rita B Project
Director of Bradford-Perley House 303-556-2933
Shina Duvall Employment Coordinator at Metropolitan State College Career
Services
Colleague at Santa Rita B 303-556-3664
Emily Andrews Director of Marketing & Promotions, KXKL 303-228-2048
1518 S. GAYLORD STREET a DENVER, CO 80210
PHONE 303-765-4525 a E-MAIL SALAZAREMILY@HOTMAII COM
WILLIAM MARTIN, M.A.
EDUCATION
M.A., Anthropology, Southern Illinois University - Carbondale,1991
B.A., Anthropology, University of Georgia, Athens,1984
PROFESSIONAL REGISTRATION/CERTIFICATIONS
Mr. Martin is currently permitted to perform cultural resource investigations by the U.S.
Bureaus of Land Management and Reclamation, U.S. Forest Service, and/or State in
Wyoming, Idaho, and Colorado.
TECHNICAL SPECIALTIES
Mr. Martin has over 18 years of experience.
Cultural Resource Management
➢ Data Recovery Excavations
Site Inventories and Test Excavations
Historic Properties Treatment/Data Recovery Plans
Environmental Assessments and Impact Statements
Project Management
EXPERIENCE
Cultural Resource Management
Mr. Martin is currently a senior archaeologist/project manager with SWCA, Inc.'s Denver
office. Before joining SWCA, he served as project archaeologist for the cultural resource
management program at TRC Mariah Associates Inc.'s (TRC Mariah's) Laramie office. He
was responsible for directing specific cultural resource management projects in TRC
Mariah's northern service area. Mr. Martin ensured that projects meet the high quality
and standards of the company, are completed on time and within budget, and that the
client's needs are meet. He supervised crew chiefs and field technicians who were
conducting inventories, testing, and/or large, complex data recovery projects. Some of
his duties included interacting and coordinating with clients and government agencies,
planning and organizing projects, and writing and editing reports. Mr. Martin has over
18 years of experience working on small- to large-scale archaeological projects in Georgia,
Illinois, Arkansas, Kentucky, Missouri, South Dakota, Montana, Utah, New Mexico,
Wyoming, Idaho, Nevada, and Colorado. Before joining the staff of TRC Mariah, Mr.
Martin was an archaeologist with the Missouri Highway and Transportation Department
(MHTD) for over six years. He served as principal investigator for over 150 inventory
and testing projects for the MHTD's central and southern districts. His responsibilities
with the MHTD included supervising crews which ranged in size from one to 15 people,
ensuring the overall quality of the work submitted to the regulatory agencies, writing and
preparing reports, artifact analysis and curation, organizing and planning projects,
Martin, W., Pagel
(Ftrv. S/YR)
interacting and coordinating with regulatory agencies, preparing scopes of work and
contracts for work done by outside contractors, preparing Memoranda of Agreement,
Memoranda of Understanding, and other legal documents, serving on various task forces
and committees within the department, and preparing portions of environmental
assessments and impact statements.
Data Recovery Excavations
Mr. Martin directed the pre- and post -construction data recovery programs for the
Express Pipeline project in Wyoming, which included the excavation of 16 prehistoric
archaeological sites.
Data Recovery Excavations, Express Pipeline Project, Express Pipeline Co., 1995-2000,
Northern and Central Wyoming. Mr. Martin directed the data recovery program for the
Express Pipeline project in north -central and central Wyoming. This project was a large
complex project that included the excavation of seven sites prior to the construction of the
pipeline, nine sites after the pipeline had been constructed, and the preconstruction
blading of sensitive areas prior to construction. In addition to the data recovery effort, he
also assisted in managing the inventories of access roads, extra work spaces,
realignments, and other ancillary facilities associated with the project, and he assisted in
managing the construction inspection and subsequent testing program. Mr. Martin wrote
or co -wrote over 75 addendum reports to the initial inventory and evaluation report
detailing the results of the additional inventories, and he developed the supplemental
historic properties treatment plan for the post -construction recovery program and wrote
two interim reports detailing the results of the construction inspection and the 1997
testing results. He maintained close communications with the archaeological field crews,
regulatory agencies, the pipeline company personnel, and the engineering firm.
Site Inventories and Test Excavations
Mr. Martin directed the successful completion of approximately 200 small- to large-scale
inventory and testing projects. The inventories ranged from small highway
improvements totaling less than one acre to large linear surveys of telecommunication
facilities, highway realignments, and pipelines totaling thousands of acres to block
surveys of gold mines and barrow pits totaling hundreds of acres. About 65 of these
projects in Missouri combined the inventory and testing phases of a project to expedite
the Section 106 review and compliance process. About 90 of the smaller inventories in
urban areas resulted in negative letter reports to the Missouri State Historic Preservation
Office (SHPO). Information obtained from the inventory and evaluation projects were
used for developing recommendations regarding a property's eligibility status to the
National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) and in developing data recovery plans,
Memoranda of Agreement, and Memoranda of Understanding. These inventories -
which were completed for government agencies and private clients -- involved
intensively inventorying the area for archaeological remains, recording identified sites,
making NRHP eligibility recommendations, and completing the site forms and required
reports. Listed below is a representative sample of the hundreds of inventory and testing
projects directed by Mr. Martin over the past 15 years with the Missouri Highway and
Martin, W., Page 2
(IR" a/,e)
Proposal Number P-814, Historical Context and Inventory, City of Fort Collins, Colorado
Nevada, and have conducted excavations on projects of various sizes on the Colorado Plateau, in
the Intermountain West, on the Plains, and in the Desert Southwest.
The Colorado Cultural Resources Division is staffed by three full-time supervisory
archaeologists supported by the division director, a full-time GIS/graphics specialist, a full-time
archaeological technician, an office manager, and multiple on -call field personnel with divergent
areas of expertise. Additionally, we have immediate access to personnel, expertise, and
resources from the other 12 SWCA offices, including the Applied Anthropology Division. We
have successfully completed all aspects of numerous cultural resource management projects
across Colorado, Wyoming, Idaho, and Utah for an array of clients for both public and private
sectors. Our staff has more than 75 years experience conducting cultural resources management
studies in the Intermountain West for a variety of regulatory agencies, including the Bureau of
Land Management, Bureau of Reclamation, National Park Service, Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission, Forest Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and various state historic
preservation offices.
The Colorado Cultural Resources Division of SWCA operates within the context of a
larger corporate entity that provides a well -organized and proven support structure. That
structure consists of a highly qualified support staff and an outstanding inventory of equipment.
This system has been assembled and refined to provide the kinds of administrative, clerical, and
other support services that will ensure the professional and timely completion of this project.
Our services include literature and site file searches, treatment plans, site testing and
evaluation, data recovery excavations, construction monitoring, archival research, historic
structure evaluation, Historic American Building Survey (HAGS) and Historic American
Engineering Record (HAER) documentation, historical overviews, historical site treatment plans,
and Native American consultation.
SWCA's spatial information staff provides graphic support for general contracts as well
as designing and implementing specialized GISs for unique project needs. We utilize a Trimble
ProXR GPS unit that yields sub -meter accuracy and state of the art spatial information software
including ArcView, AutoCAD and ArcInfo in order to produce visual as well as textual
information. Our staff is able to perform aerial photo analysis of current or historic images,
predictive modeling, site density analyses, and environmental disturbance assessment and
prediction. End products are delivered as cartographic plots, legal exhibits, or in electronic form
for integration into existing GIS databases.
SWCA has a wide variety of in-house word processing and reproduction capabilities.
These are utilized in the production of a variety of studies, reports, plans, and specifications by
the firm and will be used in the production of the report prepared under this contract. Other
capabilities include reproduction (black/white and color) and the collating and binding of a large
number of diverse materials. The firm's word processing system consists of more than 100 PCs
capable of transmitting to and receiving from other computers. All offices are linked through
network services and facsimile machines, allowing for rapid communication of information, if
needed.
SWCA Inc. ?
Transportation Department (MHTD), TRC Mariah, and SWCA.
Site Inventory and Test Excavations, Altamont Gas Transmission Line Project, 1994-
1996, Montana -Wyoming State Line to Opal, Wyoming. Mr. Martin codirected the
Phase II archaeological testing operations at 112 sites found along portions of a 343-mile
natural gas pipeline facility in central and western Wyoming. He also oversaw the
inventory of over 25 realignments. The information was included in a massive, five
volume Class III cultural resource inventory and evaluation report and a Historic
Properties Treatment Plan. Mr. Martin oversaw one to three crews composed between
three and 14 field technicians.
Site Inventory and Test Excavations, Pioneer Expansion Pipe Line Project, 1999-2000,
Sinclair, Wyoming to Wyoming(Utah State Line. Mr. Martin directed the inventory and
evaluation phase along portions of a 180-mile oil products pipeline facility in south-
central and southwestern Wyoming. He also oversaw the inventory of three
realignments, access roads, pump stations, and other ancillary facilities. The information
was included in three Class III cultural resource inventory and evaluation reports and a
Historic Properties Treatment Plan. Over 175 cultural resources were identified and
evaluated during this phase of the project, including roughly 65 prehistoric archaeological
sites which required testing.
Site Inventory, US West,1995, Teton County, Wyoming. Mr. Martin directed a Class III
cultural resource inventory of a 7.9-mile long segment of a US West fiber optic cable near
the Blackrock Ranger Station, Teton National Forest.
Test Excavations, Express Pipeline, Express Pipeline Co., 1995, Northern and Central
Wyoming. Mr. Martin directed test excavations at eight prehistoric sites that had not
been previously evaluated for the Express project. The results of the testing project were
included in the two volume inventory and evaluation report.
Site Inventory, Wharf Resources, 1994, Lead, South Dakota. Mr. Martin directed a
Class III cultural resource management study of eight parcels totaling over 830 acres for
Wharf Resource's exploratory drilling operations associated with its gold mining
operations in western South Dakota.
Site Inventory, US West, 1994, Grand and Summit Counties, Colorado. Mr. Martin
codirected a Class III cultural resource inventory of 20.5-mile segment of a US West fiber
optic cable corridor in northern Colorado.
Site Inventory, Wyoming, US West, 1994, Carbon and Sweetwater Counties.
Mr. Martin directed a Class III cultural resource inventory 4.5-mile segment of a US West
fiber optic cable near Latham.
Site Inventory and Test Excavations, Missouri Highway and Transportation
Department, 1988-1994, Central and Southern Missouri. Mr. Martin managed and
directed over 150 small- to large-scale projects throughout the MHTD's three southern
districts and its central district. Inventories ranged from small urban turning lanes to long
Marlin, W., Page 3
(R., fi/.)
realignments covering over 25 miles. Some of the larger inventories resulted in recording
over 25 properties (including bridges, houses, and barns). Many of the projects resulted
in the recording of at least one archaeological site. Mr. Martin tested most of the sites
recorded during the various initial inventories. Over the six year period in which Mr.
Martin worked for the MHTD, he directed the testing of over 100 prehistoric and historic
archaeological sites throughout the state.
Data Recovery Plans
Mr. Martin authored or co-authored several data recovery and treatment plans that
detailed the proposed cultural resource investigations to mitigate adverse effects of
pipelines, telecommunication facilities, and highway projects. All of these plans have
been approved by the responsible regulatory agencies, including the U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers, Bureau of Land Management, various State Historic Preservation Offices, and
the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation.
Supplemental Historic Properties Treatment Plan, Express Pipeline Project, 1997,
Northern and Central Wyoming. Mr. Martin prepared the supplemental treatment plan
for the postconstruction data recovery program for 10 sites identified during construction
inspection in the fall of 1996.
Data Recovery Plan, Site 5GA869, US West,1995, Grand County, Colorado. Mr. Martin
prepared the data recovery plan for Site 5GA869, which was inadvertently impacted
during construction of a fiber optic cable near Granby.
Data Recovery Plan, U.S. Highway 60, 1994, Stoddard and Butler Counties, Missouri.
Mr. Martin prepared a brief treatment plan for this small site which was slated for impact
by improvements to the U.S. Highway 60 facility. The excavation of a small, isolated area
of intact deposits was proposed for excavation to gain clearance.
Data Recovery Plan, U.S. Highway 412 Relocation, 1994, Pemiscot County, Missouri.
Mr. Martin prepared the Memorandum of Agreement and data recovery plan for Site
23PM572, a large emergent Mississippian Village on the Mississippi River floodplain. The
Memorandum of Agreement was accepted by the Advisory Council on Historic
Preservation and the Corps of Engineers.
Data Recovery Plan, State Highway 100, 1994, Cole County, Missouri. Mr. Martin
prepared the Memorandum of Agreement and data recovery plan for a Late Woodland
period site outside Jefferson City.
Data Recovery Plan, U.S. Highway 60, 1993, Newton County, Missouri. Mr. Martin
prepared the Memorandum of Agreement and data recovery plan for excavations at the
Casa Blanca Site near Joplin, Missouri.
Environmental Assessments and Impact Statements
Mr. Martin has prepared the cultural resource sections for several environmental
assessments (EAs) and environmental impact statements (EISs) for large highway projects
Martin, W., Page 4
(ei, n/rn)
2000 The Carter Site in Northwestern Plains Prehistory. Plains Anthropologist 45(173):
302-322.
Martin, William, and LuElla Parks
1997 Early Middle Mississippian Land Use Practices and Settlement/Subsistence
Systems. Missouri Archaeologist 55:47-76.
Martin William, and Randall D. Dawdy
1993 A Mississippian House in the Big River Valley of Washington County, Missouri.
Missouri Archaeological Society Quarterly, July -September, pp.12-16,
Martin, William, LuElla Parks -Bales, and Lawrence L. Ayres
1994 The Early Middle Mississippian Occupation of the Western Lowland of Southeast
Missouri: A View from the Orr Site 23SO132. Missouri Archaeologist 53:21-64.
Smith, Craig S., William Martin, and Kristine A. Johansen
2001 Return Rates, Pit Ovens, and Carbohydrates: Sego Lilies and Prehistoric Foragers.
Journal of Archaeological Science 28:169-183,
SELECTED TECHNICAL REPORTS
Austin, David C., and William Martin
1988 Phase I Cultural Resources Survey, Route ZZ, Greene County. Prepared for Missouri
Highway and Transportation Department.
1988 Phase I Cultural Resources Survey, Route U, Cape Girardeau County and Phase II
Archaeological Testing of Sites 23CG182 and 23CG183. Prepared for the Missouri
Highway and Transportation Department.
1988 Phase I Cultural Resources Survey, Route AA, Greene County, and Phase II
Archaeological Testing of Sites 23GR682 and 23GR684. Prepared for the Missouri
Highway and Transportation Department.
Martin, William
2000 Archaeological Site Relocation and National Register of Historic Place Evaluation of 30
Archaeological Sites on F.E. Warren Air Force Base, Cheyenne, Laramie County,
Wyoming. Reported prepared for F.E. Warren Air Force Base and the Air Force
Center for Environmental Excellence by James Bretchel, Consulting Archaeologist.
1999 Authored or co-authored 28 sections in the six volume Archaeological Investigations
Along the Wyoming Segment of the Express Pipeline. Prepared by TRC Mariah
Associates Inc. for Express Pipeline Inc.
1997 A Class III Cultural Resource Inventory of the City of Cody's Raw Water Improvement
Project, Park County, Wyoming. Prepared by TRC Mariah Associates Inc. for the
City of Cody.
Martin, W., Page 6
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1997 Supplemental Historic Properties Treatment Plan for Postconstruction Data Recovery
Excavations, Express Pipeline, Wyoming Segment. Prepared by TRC Mariah
Associates Inc. for Express Pipeline Inc.
1997 Interim Report, 1997 Testing Results and Modifications to Supplemental Treatment Plan,
Express Pipeline, Wyoming Segment. Prepared by TRC Mariah Associates Inc. for
Express Pipeline Inc.
1997 A Preliminary Summary of Trench and Right -of -Way Inspection, Express Pipeline,
Wyoming Segment. Prepared by TRC Mariah Associates Inc. for Express Pipeline,
Inc.
1997 Interim Report, Trench and Right -of -Way Inspection, Express Pipeline, Wyoming
Segment. Prepared by TRC Mariah Associates Inc. for Express Pipeline Inc.
1994 A Class III Cultural Resource Inventory of the 69-kV Transmission Line from the Nanhe
Jensen Substation to Express Pipeline's Greybull Pump Station, Big Horn County,
Wyoming. Prepared by TRC Mariah Associates Inc. for Electrical Consultants, Inc.
1994 Authored or co-authored more than 75 addendum reports to the Inventory and
Evaluation Report, Express Pipeline Project, Wyoming Segment. Prepared by TRC
Mariah Associates Inc. for Express Pipeline Inc.
1995 A Class II Cultural Resource Reconnaissance of Two Disconnected Segments of the
US West Fiber Optic Cable Near the Blaekrock Ranger Station, Bridger-Teton National
Forest, Teton County, Wyoming. Prepared by TRC Mariah Associates Inc. for US
West.
1994 A Class III Cultural Resource Inventory of Three Parcels Associated With the Wharf
Resources (U.S.A.), Inc. Exploratory Drilling Areas, the Long Valley Area, Lawrence
County, South Dakota. Prepared by Mariah Associates, Inc. for Wharf Resources
(U.S.A.), Inc.
1994 A Class III Cultural Resources Inventory of a 14 Acre Parcel Associated with the Wharf
Resources (U.S.A.) Inc., Exploratory Drilling Areas, The Kate Putnam Area, Lawrence
County, South Dakota. Prepared by Mariah Associates, Inc. for Wharf Resources
(U.S.A.), Inc.
1994 An Intensive Class III Cultural Resource Inventory of Two Disconnected Sections of the
Proposed US West Line, Albany County, Wyoming. Prepared by Mariah Associates,
Inc. for US West.
1994 A Class III Cultural Resource Inventory of the Private Lands Associated with the US West
Telecommunication Line, Grand and Summit Counties, Colorado. Prepared by Mariah
Associates, Inc. for US West.
Martui, W., Page 7
1994 A Class III Cultural Resources Inventory of the US West Telecommunication Land, Grand
and Summit Counties, Colorado. Prepared by Mariah Associates, Inc. for US West.
1994 A Class III Cultural Resource Inventory of the US West Buried Telephone Cable Line from
Latham to the William Gas Processing Company Facility, Carbon and Szveetzvater
Counties, Wyoming. Prepared by Mariah Associates, Inc. for US West.
1993 Report of Findings During Construction, MHTD Job No. j5S0345, Route P, Osage
County, Missouri. Prepared for the Missouri Highway and Transportation
Department, Jefferson City.
1993 An Intensive Phase I Cultural Resources Survey of MHTD Job No. JOS0345, Route NN,
Dunklin and Pemiscot Counties, Missouri. Prepared for the Missouri Highway and
Transportation Department, Jefferson City.
1992 Phase I Cultural Resources Survey for MHTD Job No. J6P0742, the Huzzah Creek Bridge
Replacement, Route 8, Crau ford County, Missouri. Prepared for the Missouri
Highway and Transportation Department, Jefferson City.
1992 Phase I Cultural Resources Survey of MHTD Job No. J9S0264, Route 119, Dent County,
Missouri. Prepared for the Missouri Highway and Transportation Department,
Jefferson City.
1992 Phase 1 Cultural Resources Survey for MHTD Job No. 16P0744, The Bates Creek Bridge
Replacement, Route 8, Washington County, Missouri. Prepared for the Missouri
Highway and Transportation Department, Jefferson City.
1992 Phase I Cultural Resources Survey for MHTD Job No. j9S0269, The Meramec River
Bridge Replacement, Route 19, Dent County, Missouri. Prepared for the Missouri
Highway and Transportation Department, Jefferson City.
1991 Phase I Cultural Resources Survey for MHTD Job Nos. 10-P-60-187 and 10-P-60-187B,
Nezv Madrid County. Prepared for the Missouri Highway and Transportation
Department, Jefferson City.
1991 Phase I Cultural Resources Survey for MHTD Job No. 10-P-25-272, Cape Girardeau.
Prepared for the Missouri Highway and Transportation Department, Jefferson
City.
1989 An Overview of Cultural Resources Within the Vicinity of Four Proposed Corridors, Route
71, I-44 to the Arkansas State Line, Jasper, Newton, and McDonald Counties. Prepared
for the Missouri Highway and Transportation Department, Jefferson City.
1989 Phase I Cultural Resources Survey, Route C, Washington County and Phase 11
Archaeological Testing of Site 23WA215. Prepared for the Missouri Highway and
Transportation Department, Jefferson City.
Martin, W., Page
(N- E/98)
Martin, William, and Aaron Anglen
1993 Phase II Archaeological Testing at Site 23GA95, Route 10Q MHTD Job No. 16S0691.
Gasconade County, Missouri. Transportation Department, JeffersPrepared for the Missouri Highway and
on City.
Martin, William, Aaron Anglen, and David C. Austin
1993 Phase I Cultural Resources Survey of the Gasconade Bridge Replacement Corridor Route
100, MHTD Job No. J6S0691, Gasconade County, Missouri and Phase II Archaeological
Testing and Evaluation of Site 23GA132. Prepared for the Missouri Highway and
Transportation Department, Jefferson City.
Martin, William, and David C. Austin
1993 Phase 1 Archaeological Survey of a Section of the Route 63 Corridor in Boone County,
Missouri, MHTD job No. J5P0381E and Phase It Archaeological Testing and Evaluation
Sites 23BO1192, 23BO1039, 23BO1195, 23BO1194, 23BO1193, 23BO1196, 23BO1199,
and 23BO1198. Prepared for the Missouri Highway and Transportation
Department, Jefferson City.
1992 Phase I Archaeological Survey for MHTD Job Nos. JOU0321, JOU0412, and JOU0487, the
Mississippi Bridge Replacement, Route 74, Cape Girardeau County, Missouri. Prepared
for the Missouri Highway and Transportation Department, Jefferson City.
1992 Phase I Archaeological Survey of Selected Portions of the Proposed Route 71 Corridor
Through Southwest Missouri, Jasper, Newton and McDonald Counties, Missouri.
Prepared for the Missouri Highway and Transportation Department, Jefferson
City.
1992 Phase II Archaeological Testing of Sites 23JP184 and 23JP186, Route 71, Jasper County,
Missouri. Prepared for the Missouri Highway and Transportation Department,
Jefferson City.
1991 Phase I Cultural Resources Survey for MHTD Job No. 8-P-32-322, Polk County and Phase
II Archaeological Testing of Sites 23PO438 and 23PO439. Prepared for the Missouri
Highway and Transportation Department, Jefferson City.
1991 Phase I Cultural Resources Survey Along Five Disconnected Sections of Route A, Shannon
and Dent Counties and Phase II Archaeological Testing of Prehistoric Sites 23SH322,
2351-1323, 23SH325, 23SH326, 23DE94, and 23DE95. Prepared for the Missouri
Highway and Transportation Department, Jefferson City.
1991 Phase I Cultural Resources Survey for MHTD Job No. 8-P-83-422, Route 83, Polk County
and Phase II Archaeological Testing of Site 23PO444. Prepared for the Missouri
Highway and Transportation Department, Jefferson City.
1991 Phase I Cultural Resources Survey, Route 60, Nealon County. Prepared for the
Missouri Highway and Transportation Department, Jefferson City.
1991 Phase I Cultural Resources Survey, Route 60, Carter County and Phase II Archaeological
Testing of Prehistoric Sites 23CT356 and 23CT357, Volumes 1 and II. Prepared for the
Missouri Highway and Transportation Department, Jefferson City.
Martin, W., Page 9
(a..I.e/ex)
1991 Phase I Cultural Resources Survey, Route 49, Crawford County and Phase It
Archaeological Testing of Sites 23CR443, 23CR442, and 23CR90. Prepared for the
Missouri Highway and Transportation Department, Jefferson City.
1990 Phase I Cultural Resources Survey of the Route 8 Realignment, Phelps and Crawford
Counties and Phase II Archaeological Testing of Sites 23PH19, 23CR437, 23CR2601261,
and 23CR2411289. Prepared for the Missouri Highway and Transportation
Department, Jefferson City.
1989 Phase I Cultural Resources Survey, Route 160 at the Current River, Ripley County and
Phase II Archaeological Testing of Site 23RI439A. Prepared for the Missouri Highway
and Transportation Department, Jefferson City.
1989 Phase I Cultural Resources Survey, Route D (St. Francis River), Madison County,
Missouri. Prepared for the Missouri Highway and Transportation Department,
Jefferson City.
1989 Phase I Cultural Resources Survey, Route 54 (Sac River), St. Clair County and Phase II
Archaeological Testing of Sites 23SR274, 23SR276, 23SR1065, and 23SR1066. Prepared
for the Missouri Highway and Transportation Department, Jefferson City.
Martin, William, David C. Austin, and Jeffrey Brena
1989 Phase I Cultural Resources Survey, Route 34, Bollinger County and Phase 77
Archaeological Testing of Sites 23BR91 and 23BR92. Prepared for the Missouri
Highway and Transportation Department, Jefferson City.
Martin, William, and Lawrence L. Ayres
1993 Phase I Cultural Resources Survey of MHTD Job No. J5P0470, Route 5, Morgan County,
Missouri. Prepared for the Missouri Highway and Transportation Department,
Jefferson City.
1993 Phase 11 Archaeological Testing and Evaluation of Sites 23SO547, 23SO548, and
23SO132, MHTD Job No. JOP0367, the Route 60 Corridor, Stoddard County, Missouri.
Prepared for the Missouri Highway and Transportation Department, Jefferson City
1992 Phase I Cultural Resources Survey of MHTD Job No. JOS0396, Route 91, Scott County,
Missouri. Prepared for the Missouri Highway and Transportation Department,
Jefferson City.
1992 Phase I Cultural Resources Survey of the Hayti By -Pass, MHTD Job Nos. JOP0035 and
JOP0035B, Route 412, Pemiscot County, Missouri and Phase II Archaeological Testing and
Evaluation of Site 23PM572. Prepared for the Missouri Highway and
Transportation Department, Jefferson City.
1992 Phase II Archaeological Testing and Evaluation of Sites 23CG201 and 23CG42, The Cape
Girardeau Bridge Replacement Corridor, MHTD Job No. JOU0412, Route 74, Cape
Girardeau County, Missouri. Prepared for the Missouri Highway and
Transportation Department, Jefferson City.
Martin, W., Page 10
(r,, n/N
1992 Phase I Cultural Resources Survey of MHTD Job No. J8S0333, Route I-44 Business Loop,
in Waynesville, Pulaski County, Missouri. Prepared for the Missouri Highway and
Transportation Department, Jefferson City.
1992 Phase I Cultural Resources Survey of the Jerome Bridge Replacement Corridor, MHTD Job
No. J9S0394, Route D, Phelps County, Missouri. Prepared for the Missouri Highway
and Transportation Department, Jefferson City.
Martin, William, Lawrence L. Ayres, and William Anglebeck
1992 Phase I Cultural Resources Survey for MHTD Job No. J6S0769C (Tu)o Disconnected
Sections), Route C, Washington County, Missouri and Phase 11 Testing of Sites 23WA254
and 23WA256. Prepared for the Missouri Highway and Transportation
Department, Jefferson City.
Martin, William, Lawrence L. Ayres, and Theresa J. Piazza
1992 Phase I Archaeological Survey of the Route 60 Corridor, Stoddard and Butler Counties,
Missouri. Prepared for the Missouri Highway and Transportation Department,
Jefferson City.
Martin, William, and LuElla Parks -Bales
1993 An Intensive Phase I Cultural Resources Survey of the Stater Creek Bridge Replacement
Corridor, MHTD Job No. J6S0545, Route D, Crain ord County, Missouri and Phase II
Archaeological Testing and Evaluation of Sites 23CR478 and 23CR479. Prepared for the
Missouri Highway and Transportation Department, Jefferson City.
1993 An Intensive Phase I Cultural Resources Survey of the MHTD Job No. J9S0266, Corridor,
Route DD, Dent County, Missouri and Phase If Archaeological Testing and Evaluation
Site 23DE20. Prepared for the Missouri Highway and Transportation Department,
Jefferson City.
Martin, William, LuElla Parks -Bales, and Lawrence L. Ayres
1993 Phase II Archaeological Testing and Evaluation of Site 235O132, Route 60, Stoddard
County, Missouri, MHTD Job No. JOP0367. Prepared for the Missouri Highway and
Transportation Department, Jefferson City.
Martin, William, Jeffrey Brena and Dean Gray
1993 Phase I Cultural Resources Survey of the Route 124 Improvements, Boone County, Missouri. Prepared for the Missouri Highway and Transportation Department,
Jefferson City.
Martin, William, and William M. Harding
1994 A Class III Cultural Resources Inventory of Three Parcels Associated zaith the Wharf
Resources (U.S.A.) Inc., Exploratory Drilling Areas, The Copperhead Area, Lawrence
County, South Dakota. Prepared by Mariah Associates, Inc. for Wharf Resources
(U.S.A.), Inc.
Martin, W., Page 11
([I, v. 6/98)
Martin, William, Todd Kohler, and Lynn M. Morad
2001 A Class III Cultural Resources Inventory of Section 28, T29N, R108W, Johan Natural Gas
Field, Sublette County, Wyoming. Prepared by SWCA, Inc. for McMurry Oil and
Alberta Energy Company.
2001 A Class III Cultural Resources Inventory of Section 29, T29N, R108W, Johan Natural Gas
Field, Sublette County, Wyoming. Prepared by SWCA, Inc. for McMurry Oil and
Alberta Energy Company.
2002 A Class III Cultural Resources Inventory of Section 30, T29N, R108W, Johan Natural Gas
Field, Sublette County, Wyoming. Prepared by SWCA, Inc. for McMurry Oil and
Alberta Energy Company.
2001 A Class III Cultural Resources Inventory of Section 31, T29N, R108W, Johan Natural Gas
Field, Sublette County, Wyoming. Prepared by SWCA, Inc. for McMurry Oil and
Alberta Energy Company.
2001 A Class III Cultural Resources Inventory of Section 32, T29N, R108W, Johan Natural Gas
Field, Sublette County, Wyoming. Prepared by SWCA, Inc. for McMurry Oil and
Alberta Energy Company.
2001 A Class III Cultural Resources Inventory of Section 28, T29N, R108W, Johan Natural Gas
Field, Sublette County, Wyoming: Addendum Report. Prepared by SWCA, Inc. for
McMurry Oil and Alberta Energy Company.
2001 A Class III Cultural Resources Inventory of Section 29, T29N, R108W, Johan Natural Gas
Field, Sublette County, Wyoming: Addendum Report. Prepared by SWCA, Inc. for
McMurry Oil and Alberta Energy Company.
Martin, William, Bruce R. McClelland, James A. Lowe, Nathan F. Fleming, Michael
Mirro, and Russell Richards
2000 Inventory and Evaluation Report, Pioneer Pipe Line Expansion Project, Rock Springs Field
Office, Szueetzuater County, Wyoming. Prepared for Pioneer Pipe Line Company by
TRC Mariah Associates, Inc.
2000 Inventory and Evaluation Report, Pioneer Pipe Line Expansion Project, Razolins Field
Office, Carbon and Szueehuater Counties, Wyoming. Prepared for Pioneer Pipe Line
Company by TRC Mariah Associates, Inc.
Martin, William, Bruce R. McClelland, Lance M. McNees, James A. Lowe, Nathan F.
Fleming, and Russell Richards
2000 Inventory and Evaluation Report and Historic Properties Treatment Plan, Pioneer Pipe
Line Expansion Project, Kemmerer Field Office, Szveefzoater and Uinta Counties,
Wyoming. Prepared for Pioneer Pipe Line Company by TRC Mariah Associates,
Inc.
Martin, William, and Lance McNees
1995 Test Excavations and Data Recovery Plan for Site 5GA869, Grand County, Colorado.
Prepared by TRC Mariah Associates Inc. for US West.
Martin, W., Page 12
(r hivm
Martin, William, and Theresa J. Piazza
1992 Phase I Cultural Resources Survey,
Testing of Site 23CL89. Prepared
Department, Jefferson City.
Route 91, Clay County and Phase II Archaeological
for the Missouri Highway and Transportation
Martin, William, and Chris Woods
1993 Phase II Archaeological Testing and Evaluation of Site 23MG156, MHTD Job
No. J5P0470, Route 5, Morgan County, Missouri. Prepared for the Missouri Highway
and Transportation Department, Jefferson City.
Martin, William, and Craig S. Smith (editors)
1999 Archaeology Along the Wyoming Segment of the Express Pipeline, Volumes 1-6.
Prepared by TRC Mariah Associates for Express Pipeline.
Mabry, John, Colleen Shaffrey, Susan Perlman, Laura Paskus, Andrew Sawyer, and
William Martin
2001 Cultural Resource Investigations for the Animas -La Plata Project, Southzvest Colorado and
Nortlnoest Nezv Mexico. Prepared by SWCA, Inc. for Navigant Consulting, Inc. and
the Bureau of Reclamation.
Schneider, Edward, Bruce R. McClelland, William Batterman, William Harding, William
Martin, Darryl Newton, Thomas Reust, and Craig Smith
1996 Data Recovery Investigations Along State Highway 24: The Red Canyon Rockshelter and
Other Sites in the Bear Lodge Mountains of Wyoming. Prepared for the Wyoming
Department of Transportation.
Schneider, Edward, William Martin, and Jason Marmor
1994 A Class III Cultural Resource Inventory far the Pacific Pozver and Light Company 230-kV
Miner's to Foote Creek Rim Transmission Line, Carbon County, Wyoming. Prepared by
Mariah Associates, Inc. for Pacific Power and Light Company.
Schneider, Edward, William Martin, William Harding, Jason Marmor, Richard
Weathermon, and Bruce R. McClelland
1995 Blowing in the Wind: A Class III Cultural Resource Inventory of Foote Creek Rim, Carbon
County, Wyoming. Prepared by TRC Mariah Associates Inc. for KENETECH
Windpower, Inc.
PRESENTATIONS AND OTHER PROFESSIONAL ACCOMPLISHMENTS
Martin, William
1993 Recent MHTD Investigations at Tzvo Emergent Mississippian Sites in the Missouri
Bootheel. Presented at the annual meeting of the Missouri Archaeological Society
and the Missouri Association of Professional Archaeologists, Columbia, Missouri;
and the annual meeting of the Association of Transportation Archaeologists, held
in conjunction with the annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology,
St. Louis, Missouri.
1992 Archaeology and the Missouri Highway and Transportation Department: Lazes,
Regulations and Public Participation. Presented at the annual meeting of the
Missouri Archaeological Society and the Missouri Association of Professional
Martin, W., Page 13
(R- 1198)
Proposal Number P-814, Historical Contest and Inventory, City of Fort Collins, Colorado
PROJECT PERSONNEL
Kevin W. Thompson, SWCA Colorado Cultural Resource Division Director, will serve
as the principal investigator for the project. William Martin will serve as project manager. Eric
Twitty and Adam Thomas will be the historians responsible for the completion of the inventory,
context and report preparation, and nominations. Emily Salazar, assistant project historian, will
assist the two project historians in various aspects of the project, including assisting in the
preparation of site forms and background research for the three contexts. Jennifer Chester, GIS
specialist, will prepare the project maps.
Kevin Thompson has more than 20 years of experience as a professional archaeologist
across the Western United States and the Pacific. Project scopes include above -ground mines,
energy development and transportation infrastructure, resorts, housing developments,
communication systems, seismic prospects, and road systems. He has been employed by
different portions of the public and private sectors in Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, California,
Nevada, Hawaii, Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Nebraska. His work with the
Bureau of Land Management, Forest Service, Bureau of Reclamation, Soil Conservation Service,
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services, and numerous state and local agencies have provided a detailed
knowledge of the intricacies of each regulatory environment. He is familiar with the policies and
procedures pertinent to cultural resources, especially NEPA, NHPA Sections 106 and 110, and
NAGPRA. Over the course of his career, Mr. Thompson has been involved in numerous
archaeological projects, focusing on complex and demanding circumstances. His expertise
extends to all phases of complex, large-scale, multi -state projects. His responsibilities have
included all aspects of inventory, site evaluation, excavation, mapping, laboratory analysis, with
incorporation of results from interdisciplinary specialists. Mr. Thompson has authored numerous
articles, documents and professional papers concerning the archaeology of the Wyoming Basin
and the Intermountain West. He co-authored a chapter in an edited volume from University of
South Dakota and several articles in peer -reviewed journals. He was responsible for cultural
resource sections for inclusion in numerous environmental planning documents (EA, EIS, RAP)
within Wyoming, Colorado, and Utah. Mr. Thompson has been an instructor for numerous
classes in Anthropology and Archaeology in both field and lab settings for Colorado State
University and Western Wyoming College. As Director of Archaeological Services of Western
Wyoming College, he also directed the operation of the Natural History Museum, the WWC
Archaeological Repository, and the WWC Herbarium.
Eric Twitty has been conducting cultural resource investigations for over 10 years, and has
been a historian with SWCA's Colorado Cultural Resource Division for approximately one year.
He is currently working as a project supervisor/historian in SWCA's Colorado Cultural
Resources Division. His responsibilities include site surveys, excavation, mapping, artifact
analysis, and report preparation of historic resources. Other experiences include cultural
resources inventory, testing, HABS/HAER documentation, data recovery excavations, mitigative
measures, and context preparation. Mr. Twitty has been involved in numerous cultural resource
projects throughout the Southwest, Plains, and Rocky Mountain regions. He has recently
completed a number of projects for BLM mining -related properties across Colorado. He has also
worked in Nevada on several cultural resource compliance projects. Mr. Twitty has been
employed previously by Paragon Archaeological Consultants, Mountain States Historical, and
SWCA Inc. - 3 -
Archaeologists, St. Joseph, Missouri.
1990 Recent Archaeological Investigations in the Meramac Spring Area of Phelps and Crazoford
Counties. Presented at the annual meeting of the Missouri Archaeological Society
and the Missouri Association of Professional Archaeologists, Sedilia, Missouri.
1989 23GR684, A Late Archaic Site in Greene County. Presented at the annual meeting of
the Missouri Archaeological Society and the Missouri Association of Professional
Archaeologists, Columbia, Missouri.
Martin, William, William M. Harding, and Bruce R. McClelland
1997 Recent Investigation at Four Middle Plains Archaic Housepit Sites in North-Central and
Central Wyoming. Poster presentation at the 55th Annual Plains Anthropological
Conference, Boulder, Colorado.
Martin, William, and Craig S. Smith
1998 Roots and Cylindrical Pits: Hunter -Gatherer Intensification and Landscape Use. Paper
presented at the 63rd Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeologists,
Seattle, Washington.
1996 Archaeological Investigations along the Express Pipeline in Wyoming. Paper presented
at the Plains Anthropological Conference, Iowa City, Iowa.
WORK HISTORY
SWCA Inc., Environmental Consultants
Senior Archaeologist/Project Manager
2000 - 2001
TRC Mariah Associates Inc.
Project Manager/Project Archaeologist
1994 - 2000
Missouri Highway and Transportation Department
1988 -1994
Archaeologist
1992 -1994
Assistant Archaeologist
1988 -1992
University of Arkansas
Researcher
1988
Southern Illinois University
Center for Archaeological Investigations
Technician/Staff Research Assistant
1986 -1988
Martin, W., Page 14
(R"- / )
U.S. Forest Service
Forest Worker
1978,1979
PROFESSIONAL REFERENCES
David Herrington, Program Manager
SWCA, Inc., Environmental Consultants
8461 Turnpike Drive. Suite 100
Westminster, CO 80031
303.748.1703
Mr. Mike Bies, Archaeologist
Bureau of Land Management
Worland District
101 South 23rd
Worland, WY 82401
307.347.5144
LuElla Parks, Director
Archaeological Survey of Missouri
University of Missouri -Columbia
Curation Facility at Rock Quarry Road
Columbia, MO 65211
573.882.8264
Martin, W., Page 15
KEVIN W. THOMPSON
Office Address
8461 Turnpike Drive, Suite 100
Westminster, CO 80031
(303)487-1183
e-mail: kthompson@swca.com
Education
1986 M.A. Anthropology. Thesis Title: Phoebe Rockshelter. A Multi -Component Site in North-Central
Colorado. Colorado State University, Fort Collins
1979 B.A. Anthropology. Colorado State University, Fort Collins
Areas of Expertise
Mr. Thompson has more than 20 years of experience as a professional archaeologist across the
Western United States and the Pacific. Project scopes include above -ground mines, energy
development and transport infrastructure, resorts, housing developments, communication systems,
and road systems. He has been employed by different portions of the public and private sectors in
Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, California, Nevada, Hawaii, Arkansas, Texas, Oklahoma, and Nebraska.
His work with the Bureau of Land Management, Forest Service, Bureau of Reclamation, Soil
Conservation Service, US Fish and Wildlife Services, and various state and local agencies have
provided a detailed knowledge of the intricacies of each regulatory environment. He is familiar with
the policies and procedures pertinent to cultural resources, especially NEPA, NHPA Sections 106
and 110, and NAGPRA.
Over the course of his career, Mr. Thompson has been involved in numerous archaeological projects,
focusing on complex and demanding circumstances. His expertise extends to all phases of complex,
large-scale, multi -state projects. His responsibilities have included all aspects of inventory, site
evaluation, excavation, mapping, laboratory analysis, with incorporation of results from
interdisciplinary specialists.
Mr. Thompson has authored numerous articles, documents and professional papers concerning the
archaeology of the Wyoming Basin and the Intermountain West. He co-authored a chapter in an
edited volume from University of South Dakota and several articles in peer -reviewed journals. He
was responsible for cultural resource sections for inclusion in numerous environmental planning
documents (EA, EIS, RMP) within Wyoming, Colorado, and Utah.
Mr. Thompson has been an instructor for numerous classes in Anthropology and Archaeology in
both field and lab settings for Colorado State University and Western Wyoming College. As
Director of Archaeological Services of Western Wyoming College, he also directed the operation
of the Natural History Museum, the W WC Archaeological Repository, and the W WC Herbarium.
Professional Experience
1999-present Division Director, SWCA, Inc., Environmental Consultants, Denver, Colorado. Principal
Investigator with overall responsibility for all aspects of a cultural resource program within
the Intermountain West focusing on Colorado and Wyoming. Responsibilities include
budgeting, personnel, strategic planning, marketing and business development, research
design, project implementation, laboratory analyses, report preparation and production.
1992-99 Director, Archaeological Services -Western Wyoming College, Rock Springs ,Wyoming.
Responsibilities include overall cultural resource management concerning budgeting,
planning, supervision, and execution of all research and contract projects in Wyoming,
Colorado, and Utah.
1991-92 Supervisory Archaeologist. Paul H. Rosendahl, Ph.D., Inc., Hilo, Hawaii. Responsible for
budget preparation, logistics, supervision of fieldwork and report preparation for inventory
and data recovery projects on the Hawaiian islands.
1988-91 Project Manager, AS-W WC. Primary duties included inventory, site evaluation, testing, and
data recovery along with proposal writing, scheduling, budgeting, fieldwork, analysis, and
final report production for projects in Wyoming, Colorado, and Utah. Administrative
responsibilities included supervision, billing, editing, and communication with clients.
1983-88 Staff Archaeologist, AS-WWC. Supervision of fieldwork and final report production.
1983 Crew Member, URS-Berger. Peacekeeper (MX) Missile Deployment Project. Class III
inventory and testing in northeast Colorado, southeast Wyoming and southwest Nebraska.
Crew Chief. Colorado State University, Archaeology Field School (High Plains Section).
Supervise excavation and lab work on the Kinney Spring site, northeast Colorado.
1982 Crew Member. Goodson and Associates. Class III inventory for high elevation timer sales
in Gunnison and Uncompaghre National Forests, west -central Colorado.
Crew Chief. Colorado State University, Field School (High Plains Section). Supervise
large scale excavation and lab work on Killdeer Canyon Tipi Ring site, northeast Colorado.
1981 Crew Chief. United States Forest Service, Hat Creek Ranger District, Lassen National
Forest. Beaver Creek Class III inventory, northeast California.
Crew Chief. Colorado State University, Field School (High Plains Section). Supervise
large scale excavation and lab work on the Phoebe Rock Shelter, northeast Colorado.
1980 Crew Member. United States Forest Service, Hat Creek Ranger District, Shasta and Lassen
National Forests. Pit River and Pine Creek Class III inventory projects.
1980 Crew Chief/Lab Supervisor. Colorado State University, Department of Anthropology.
Trailblazer Pipeline Project, Class III inventory, northeast Colorado.
Kevin W. Thompson Page 3
Professional Experience continued
1979 Assistant Crew Chief. University of Tulsa. Gilford and Waterfall Creeks Water Storage
Project, data recovery at two Caddoan sites in southeast Oklahoma.
1979 Crew Member. University of Tulsa. Skiatook Reservoir Project, survey, site testing, and
mitigation of Plains Woodland and Plains Village sites in north -central Oklahoma.
Crew Chief. Colorado State University, Field School (High Plains Section). Supervise
large scale excavation and lab work on the Phoebe Rock Shelter, Latimer County, northeast
Colorado.
1978 Crew Member. Colorado State University, Field School (High Plains Section). Excavation
and lab work on the Lightning Hill Site, Latimer County, north -central Colorado.
Project History
2001 Contributor, Cultural Resource section of the Navajo Dam Reoperation Environmental
Impact Statement. Proponent: Bureau of Reclamation
2000-01 Principal Investigator, Navajo Nation Municipal Pipeline, northwest New Mexico and
southwest Colorado. Animas-LaPlata project. Proponent: Bureau of Reclamation
Principal Investigator, Cultural Resource technical document supporting the Final
Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement for the Animas-LaPlata project.
2000 Principal Investigator, Bighorn 2000 2D Prospect, north -central Wyoming. Project
proponent: Schlumberger.
2000-01 Principal Investigator, Fiber Optic project, Colorado, production of an Environmental
Assessment, inventory, Native American consultation, historic overviews, and public
involvement. Proponent: Adesta. Communications.
2000-01 Principal Investigator, Rockies Displacement Pipeline, inventory, testing and site treatment
southwest Wyoming and southeast Idaho. Proponent: Williams.
2001 Principal Investigator, On -Call contract for Bureau of Reclamation, Lower Colorado
Division, durango, Colorado. Completion of fieldwork and analysis, production of final
reports for inventory, testing salvage, and data recovery programs within southwest
Colorado and northwest New Mexico. Proponent: Bureau of Reclamation
1999 Principal Investigator, Pinedale Anticline Pipeline project, inventory, testing and site
treatment in southwest Wyoming. Proponent: Questar Pipeline.
Principal Investigator, Tailings Pond Expansion project, inventory and data recovery
project, southwest Wyoming. Proponent: TexasGulf.
Kevin W. Thompson Page 4
1998-99 Principal Investigator, Mine Expansion project, inventory, testing and site treatment in
southwest Wyoming. Project proponent: Bridger Coal Company.
Principal Investigator, Echo Springs data recovery project, south-central Wyoming. Project
proponent: Williams Field Services.
1997 Principal Investigator, Bird Canyon data recovery project, southwest Wyoming. Project
proponent: Williams Field Services.
1996 Principal Investigator, Seedskadee Land Exchange project involving testing at 23 sites and
data recovery at 6 sites in southwest Wyoming. Project proponents: Brigham Young
University and Bureau of Reclamation.
1995 Coordinator, Moxa Arch Research Design Team. Preparation of EIS technical document
for southwest Wyoming. Project proponents: Amoco and Bureau of Land Management.
1993 Principal Investigator, Deer Hills Project, Programmatic Agreement, inventory, and testing
in southwest Wyoming. Proponent: Enron Oil and Gas.
Kevin W. Thompson Page 5
Project History continued
1992 Project Manager, Kaahumanu Parking Structure Redevelopment - Data Recovery Program
(50-Oa-45-19), Honolulu, Island of Oahu; Project proponent: MacCormack/Caldwell
Banker Property Development.
1991 Project Manager, Kahua Ranch/Kahua Shores Inventory, Island of Hawaii. Project
proponent: Gentry Hawaii, Ltd..
Project Manager, Mauna Kea Bluffs Data Recovery Program, Island of Hawaii. Project
proponent: Mauna Kea Properties.
1991 Project Manager, Skull Creek pipeline, inventory and testing in southwest Wyoming. Project
proponent: Questar.
1989 Project Manager, Outlaw Cave investigations, central Wyoming. Project proponent: Bureau
of Land Management, Casper District.
1991 Project Manager, Opal Lateral Pipeline, data recovery program, southwest Wyoming.
Project proponent: Colorado Interstate Gas.
1990 Project Manager, Cedar Canyon data recovery project, southwest Wyoming. Project
proponent: Luff Petroleum
1990 Project Manager, CO2 pipeline Phase 2 inventory, southwest Wyoming. Project proponent:
Exxon.
1984-5 Project Manager, LaBarge Natural Gas project: Inventory, site evaluation, and data recovery
at Sites 48SW1242, 48LN1468, 48LN1469, and 48SU867, southwest Wyoming. Project
proponent: Exxon.
1987 Project Manager, Investigations at the Nova and E-K Creek sites in south-central Wyoming.
Project proponent: Bureau of Land Management, Rawlins District.
1989 Project Manager, Table Rock Seismic Prospect, southwest Wyoming. Project proponent:
Western Geophysical.
1983 Crew Member, Peacekeeper Project, Class III inventory and testing in northeast
Colorado,southeast Wyoming and southwest Nebraska. Project proponent: Department of
Defense.
Crew Chief, Supervise excavation and lab work on the Kinney Spring site, northeast
Colorado. Project proponent: Colorado State University.
1982 Crew Member, Class III inventory for high elevation timer sales in west -central Colorado.
Project proponent: Gunnison and Uncompaghre National Forests.
Kevin W. Thompson Page 6
Recent Projects continued
1982 Crew Chief, large scale excavation and lab work on Killdeer Canyon Tipi Ring site,
northeast Colorado. Project proponent: Colorado State University.
1981 Crew Chief, Beaver Creek Class III inventory, northeast California. Project proponent: Hat
Creek Ranger District, Lassen National Forest.
Crew Chief, large scale excavation and lab work on the Phoebe Rock Shelter, Larimer
County, northeast Colorado. Project proponent: Colorado State University.
1980 Crew Member, Pit River and Pine Creek Class III inventory projects. Project proponent:
Hat Creek Ranger District, Shasta and Lassen National Forests.
1980 Crew Chief/Lab Supervisor, Trailblazer Pipeline Class III inventory, northeast Colorado.
Project proponent: Colorado Interstate Gas.
1979 Assistant Crew Chief/Crew Member, Gilford and Waterfall Creeks Water Storage Project,
data recovery at two Caddoan sites in southeast Oklahoma. Project proponent: Soil
Conservation Services.
Crew Member, Skiatook Reservoir Project, survey, site testing, and mitigation of Plains
Woodland and Plains Village sites in north -central Oklahoma. Project proponent: Bureau
of Reclamation.
Crew Chief, large scale excavation and lab work on the Phoebe Rock Shelter, Latimer
County, northeast Colorado. Project proponent: Colorado State University.
1978 Crew Member, excavation and lab work on the Lightning Hill Site, Larimer County, north -
central Colorado. Project proponent: Colorado State University.
Additional Experience
1987-99 Assistant Professor. Western Wyoming College, Rock Springs. Archaeological Field
Methods, Introduction to Archaeology, North American Indians, Archaeological Lab
Methods, and Introduction to Cultural Anthropology.
1979-82 Co -Instructor. Colorado State University, Fort Collins. High Plains Archaeology Field
School.
Kevin W. Thompson Page 7
Publications
1998 (with J.V. Pastor S.D. Creasman) Wyoming Basin - Yellowstone Plateau Interaction: A Study of
Obsidian Artifacts from Southwest Wyoming. Tebiwa 25:241-254. Journal of the Idaho Museum
of Natural History, Pocatello.
1997 (with S.D. Creasman) Archaic Settlement and Subsistence in the Green River Basin of Wyoming.
In Changing Perspectives on the Archaic of the Northwest Plains. Edited by M.L. Larson and J.E.
Francis, pp.242-304. University of South Dakota Press, Vermillion.
1985 (with E.A. Morris, and R.C. Blakeslee) Preliminary Description of McKean Sites in Northeastern
Colorado. In McKean/Middle Plains Archaic. Current Research. M. Kornfeld and L.C. Todd,
editors, pp. 11-20. Occasional Papers on Wyoming Archaeology, No. 4, Laramie.
Technical Papers
1995 (with J.V. Pastor) People ofthe Sage: 10, 000 Years of Occupation in Southwest Wyoming. Cultural
Resource Management Report No. 67. Archaeological Services of Western Wyoming College, Rock
Springs.
1992 Archaeological Inventory Survey Kahua MakailKahua Shores Coastal Parcels, Lands of Kahua 1-2
and Waika, North Kohala District, Island of Hawaii (TMK:3-5-9-01:7,8) Prepared for Gentry
Hawaii, Ltd., Honolulu, Hawaii. Paul H. Rosendahl, Ph.D., Inc., Hilo, Hawaii.
1991 (with J.V. Pastor, L.W. Thompson, and W. Current) The Birch Creek Site: Fifth Millennium
Habitation in Southwest Wyoming. Cultural Resource Management Report No. 62. Archaeological
Services of Western Wyoming College, Rock Springs.
(with J.V. Pastor) Archaeological Data Recovery at the Arthur (48SWI023 and MAK (48SW1612)
Sites, Sweetwater County, Wyoming. Cultural Resource Management Report No. 57.
Archaeological Services of Western Wyoming College, Rock Springs.
Archaeological Data Recovery at the Harrower Site (48SU867): LaBarge Natural Gas Project.
Volume II Prehistoric Investigations. Cultural Resource Management Report No. 28.
Archaeological Services of Western Wyoming College, Rock Springs.
1989 Archaeological Excavations at the Nova Site, A Late Prehistoric Housepit in South-central Wyoming.
Cultural Resource Management Report No. 49. Archaeological Services of Western Wyoming
College, Rock Springs.
Kevin W. Thompson Page 8
Papers Presented
David E. Johnson, Kevin W. Thompson, Jana V. Pastor, and William P. Eckerle
1999 The Blue Point Site (48SW5734): Preliminary Results of Investigations into the Paleoindian-Archaic
Transition in Southwest Wyoming. Paper presented at the Fourth Biennial Rocky Mountain
Anthropological Conference, Glenwood Springs, Colorado.
A. Dudley Gardner and Kevin W. Thompson
1999 Chinese Households in the Northern Rockies. Paper presented at the Fourth Biennial Rocky
Mountain Anthropological Conference, Glenwood Springs, Colorado.
William Eckerle, Marissa Taddie, Eric Ingbar, Kevin W. Thompson, and Jana V. Pastor
1999 Geographic Information System (GIS) Tools for Addressing Research Questions in the Proposed
Rocky Mountain Cultural Area: A Wyoming Example. Paper presented at the Fourth Biennial
Rocky Mountain Anthropological Conference, Glenwood Springs, Colorado.
Jana V. Pastor, Kevin W. Thompson, and Russel L. Tanner
1999 Symposium organizers for the Pronghorn Perspectives Symposium. Fourth Biennial Rocky
Mountain Anthropological Conference, Glenwood Springs, Colorado.
Kevin W. Thompson, Jana V. Pastor, and Russel L. Tanner
1999 Symposium organizers for the Pronghorn Past and Present Symposium. Sponsored by Bureau of
Land Management, Western Wyoming College, and North American Pronghorn Foundation. Rock
Springs, Wyoming.
1997 (with J. V. Pastor, W. Eckerle, and E.E. Ingbar) Riverine Adaptation in Southwest Wyoming.
Presented at the Wyoming Basin Symposium, Third Biennial Rocky Mountain Anthropological
Conference, Bozeman, Montana. Symposium organizer.
1997 (with J.V. Pastor and R.L. Tanner) Lay of the Land: Ethnohistoric Accounts and Archaeology.
Presented at the 55th Annual Plains Anthropological Conference, Boulder, Colorado.
1997 (with B.A. Buenger and J.V. Pastor) The Bird Canyon Site: Implications for Late Prehistoric
Utilization of Riverine Resources in the Green River Basin. Presented at the 55th Annual Plains
Anthropological Conference, Boulder, Colorado.
1996 (with M.D. Kautzman) Subsistence Adaptation during the Late Prehistoric Period in the Wyoming
Basin. Presented at the Twenty -Fifth Great Basin Anthropological Conference, Kings Beach,
California.
(with J.V. Pastor) Riverine Resource Use in the Green River Basin of Wyoming. Presented at the
Twenty -Fifth Great Basin Anthropological Conference, Kings Beach, California.
1995 (with M.D. Kautzman and L.W. Thompson) The Late Prehistoric-Protohistoric Transition in the
Wyoming Basin. Presented at the Green River Basin Symposium, Second Biennial Rocky Mountain
Anthropological Conference, Steamboat Springs, Colorado. Symposium organizer with L.L.
Harrell.
Proposal Number P-814, Historical Context and Inventory, City of Fort Collins, Colorado
Western Cultural Resource Management. He is permitted to conduct cultural resource
investigations with the State of Colorado and the Colorado BLM. He has authored or co-
authored over 75 technical reports, HABS/HAER documents, conference presentations, cultural
resource contexts, journal articles, and books, and has also served on the editorial board for the
Colorado Historian. Mr. Twitty received his B.S. in Environmental Sciences from San Jose
State University in San Jose, California, and his M.A. in American History from the University
of Colorado -Denver.
Adams Thomas, the second project historian, has been conducting cultural resource
investigations for several years as a private consulting historian. He worked on the inventory
and recording of 45 properties in the East Side neighborhood of Longmont, Colorado. Other
experiences include museum exhibit preparation, public outreach, and project management. Mr.
Thomas received his B.S. in Journalism from Northwestern University, and he will be
completing his M.A. in Public History from Colorado State University in December 2001.
Emily Salazar will be the assistant project historian. She has over two years experience
conducting cultural resource management projects in the Colorado Front Range and the
Wyoming Basin of southwestern Wyoming. She received her B.A. in Anthropology and History
from Metropolitan State University in Denver.
William Martin, senior archaeologist with SWCA, has more than 18 years of experience as a
professional archaeologist across the Western, Midwestern, and Southeastern United States.
Project scopes include above -ground mines, energy development and transport infrastructure,
seismic projects, communication systems, and road and transportation systems. He has been
employed by different portions of the public and private sectors in Colorado, Wyoming, Utah,
Nevada, Idaho, Missouri, Illinois, Georgia, Arkansas, Iowa, Kentucky, Indiana, South Dakota,
and Nebraska. His work with the Bureau of Land Management, Forest Service, Bureau of
Reclamation, Federal Highway Administration, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission,
National Park Service, Department of Defense, Federal Aviation Administration, and various
state and local agencies has provided a detailed knowledge of the intricacies of each regulatory
environment. He is familiar with the policies and procedures pertinent to cultural resources,
especially NEPA, NHPA Section 106 and 110, and NAGPRA. Over the course of his career,
Mr. Martin has been involved in hundreds of archaeological projects, focusing on complex and
demanding circumstances. His expertise extends to all phases of complex, large-scale, multi-
state projects. His responsibilities have included all aspects of inventory, site evaluation,
excavation, mapping, laboratory analysis, and reporting, with incorporation of results from
interdisciplinary specialists. In addition to inventory and evaluation aspects of cultural resource
management projects, he has developed Historic Property Treatment Plans for such diverse
resources as historic bridges, historic trails, and prehistoric archaeological sites, written and
implemented work and safety plans, and co -wrote a popular overview for the Express pipeline
project. He has authored or co-authored over 400 articles, technical reports, documents and
professional papers concerning the archaeology of the Wyoming Basin, the Intermountain West,
Midwest, and Southeast, including peer -reviewed articles in the Missouri Archaeologist, Journal
of Archaeological Science, and Plains Anthropologist.
Resumes and vitas of key project personnel are appended in the back of this document for
review.
SWCA Inc. - 4 -
Kevin W. Thompson Page 9
Papers Presented continued
(with J. Schoen and J.V. Pastor) Obsidian Studies in the Green River Basin: The Exotics Versus the
Locals. Presented at the Green River Basin Symposium, Second Biennial Rocky Mountain
Anthropological Conference, Steamboat Springs, Colorado.
(with A.D. Gardner and D.E. Johnson) European and Native American Women Interaction in the
Intermountain West, and the Potential for Elevated Economic Status. Presented at the 28th Annual
Society for Historical Archaeology Meetings, Washington, D.C.
1994 (with D.T. Vlcek and D. Murcray) Non -Residential Prehistoric Architecture in the Wyoming Basin.
Presented at the 52nd Annual Plains Anthropological Conference, Lubbock, Texas.
1993 (with J.V. Pastor and S.D. Creasman) Green River Basin -Yellowstone Interaction: A Study of
Obsidian Artifacts from Southwest Wyoming. Presented at the 1st Biennial Rocky Mountain
Anthropological Conference, Jackson, Wyoming.
1992 (with A.D. Gardner and R.L. Tanner) Rock Springs Chinatown. Presented at the 50th Annual Plains
Anthropological Conference, Lincoln, Nebraska.
Fear and Loathing in Oahu: Excavations in Downtown Honolulu. Presented at the 5th Annual
Society for Hawaiian Archaeology Conference, Kauai Community College, Kauai, Hawaii.
1990 (with S.D. Creasman and B. Sennett) Prehistoric Pottery of Southwest Wyoming: A Preliminary
Assessment. Presented at the 48th Annual Plains Anthropological Conference, Oklahoma City,
Oklahoma.
1988 (with S.D. Creasman) Settlement and Subsistence of the Late Prehistoric Uinta Phase in the Green
River Basin, Wyoming. Presented at the 46th Annual Plains Anthropological Conference, Wichita,
Kansas.
1986 (with M.W. Bergstrom) Resource Extraction in a Diverse Ecological Setting. Presented at the 44th
Annual Plains Conference, Denver, Colorado.
1984 (with E.A. Morris and R.C. Blakeslee) Excavations at the Kinney Spring Site: Reflections on the
McKean Complex in Northeastern Colorado. Presented at the 49th Annual Society of American
Archaeology Meetings, Portland, Oregon.
1983 (with R.C. Blakeslee and E.A. Morris) Summary Description of McKean Sites in Northeastern
Colorado. Presented at the 40t11 Annual Plains Conference, Rapid City, South Dakota.
1982 Analysis and Implications from an Archaic Rockshelter in North -central Colorado. Presented at the
47th Annual Society of American Archaeology Meetings, Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Seasonal Camp Use and Resource Exploitation. Presented at the 53rd Annual Colorado -Wyoming
Academy of Science Meetings, Fort Collins, Colorado.
Kevin W. Thompson Page 10
Papers Presented continued
(with R.C. Blakeslee, H.R. Davidson, and E.A. Morris) Killdeer Canyon (5LR289), A Stone Ring
Site Near Livermore, Colorado. Presented at the 40th Annual Plains Anthropology Conference,
Calgary, Canada.
1981 A Preliminary Report on Excavations in Phoebe Rockshelter (5LR161) in North -central Colorado.
Presented at the 46th Annual Society of American Archaeology Meetings, San Diego, California.
Professional Associations
Society for American Archaeology
Wyoming Association of Professional Archaeologists
Plains Anthropological Society
Wyoming Archaeological Society
Colorado Council of Professional Archaeologists
Society of Hawaiian Archaeology
37'50
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HISTORICAL CONTEXT
FOR THE
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by
Eric Roy Twitty
Mountain States Historical
1999
CONTENTS
CHAPTER
1. Introduction 1
2. Physical Setting ............................................................ .. -
3. Economic Geology ........................................... ... ..... ..... 4
4. Mining Technology During the Gilded Age and Great Depression .... 8
Prospecting: The Search for Ore .......................................8
Deep Exploration and the Development of Ore Bodies, ............ 10
The Mine Surface Plant ..................................................14
Surface Plants for Adits ..................................................16
The Adit Portal ... .............................................. 17
Mine Transportation ............................................18
The Mine Shop ................................. ................. 22
Mine Ventilation ................................................34
Surface Plants for Shafts ........ ....................................... 38
Shaft Form and Hoisting Vehicles ............................38
Hoists............................................... ...... ...... 42
SteamBoilers ....................................................57
Headframes...................................................... 66
Additional Surface Plant Components .................................75
Air Compressors .... ... ................................... —.75
Electricity................... I ..................................... 87
Architecture ...................................................... 91
Aerial Tramways ............. I .... ............................. 97
OreStorage .....................................................103
Magazines and Change Houses ..............................107
OreMilling ............................................................... log
5. The History of the Creede Mining Distirct...............................1
17
Silver is Discovered....................................................117
TheMines................................................................124
Mining at Creede Collapses...........................................130
Engineers Come to the Rescue........................................134
Decline........................... .......................... ..............
143
Paradox: Boom During the Great Depression .....................144
The Last Boom -Bust at Creede.......................................149
6. Conclusion....................................................................155
Bibliography...............................................................................15 8
LIST OF TABLES
Table
4.1:
Dimensions & Duty of Mine Rail.................................18
Table
4.2:
General Hoist Specifications: Type, Dirty, Foundation ............
48
Table
4.3:
Boiler Specifications: Type, Duty, Age Range........................60
Table
4.4:
Specifications of Headframes: Type, Material, Class ............
72
Table
4.5:
Air Compressor Specifications: Type, Duty, Foundation .........
81
Table
4.6:
Air Compressor Specifications:
Type, Popularity Timeframe, and Capital Investment...................82
Table 5.1:
Summary of Mining on the Amethyst Vein ...........................145
Table 5.2:
Summary of Mining on the Holy Moses Vein........................147
Table 5.3:
Summary of Mining on Upper West Willow Creek ..................
147
Table 5.4:
Summary of Mining on the Alpha -Corsair Ore System..............147
Table 5.5:
Population of the Creede Mining District, 1890-1960...............
149
LIST OF FIGURES
Fronticepiece: Map of the Creede Mining District
Figure 1. 1:
Geographic Location of the Creede Mining District ..................2
Figure 4. 1:
Mine Workings Associated with Shafts .................................12
Figure 4.2:
Mine Workings Associated with Tunnels ................................13
Figure 4.3:
Typical Blacksmith Forges .................................................30
Figure 4.4:
Gravel -Filled Wood Box Forge ......... ...................................
3) 1
Figure 4.5:
Common Shop Appliances ..................................................31
Figure 4.6:
Drill -Steels for Hand Drilling and for Rockdrills ....... ................
32
Figure 4.7:
Interior of a Small Blacksmith Shop .......................................32
Figure 4.8:
Drill -Steel Sharpening Tools ...............................................33
Figure 4.9:
Backing Block ............................. .................................
33
Figure 4. 10:
Ventilation Blower .........................................................
36
Figure 4.11:
Hoisting Vehicles .................................. ........................
42
Figure 4.12:
Windlass and Crab Winch .................................................
44
Figure 4.13:
Horse Whim .................................................................
44
Figure 4.14:
Sinking -Class Single Drum Steam Hoist ................................47
Figure 4.15:
Donkey Hoist ...............................................................
47
Figure 4.16:
Production -Class Single Drum Steam Hoist ............................52
Figure 4.17:
Direct Drive Single Drum Steam Hoist .................................
53
Figure 4.18:
Direct Drive Double Drum Steam Hoist ................................53
Figure 4.19:
Locomotive Boiler ........................ ................................
60
Figure 4.20:
Upright Boiler. ..............................................................
61
Figure 4.2 1:
Pennsylvania Boiler .................................................
...... 61
Figure 4.22:
Return Tube Boiler .........................................................65
Figure 4.23:
Water Tube Boiler .........................................................65
Figure 4.24:
Two -Post Gallows Headframe ...........................................69
Figure 4.25:
Two -Post Gallows Headframe for Deep Prospecting .................69
Figure 4.26:
Montana Type Headframe ................................................70
141
Figure 4.27:
Four -Post Derrick Headframe...........................................71
Figure 4.28:
A -Frame for Inclined Shafts..............................................72
Figure 4.29:
Duplex Air Compressor...................................................79
Figure 4.30:
Duplex Multi -Stage Air Compressor....................................79
Figure 4.31:
Straight -Line Steam -Driven Air Compressor ...........................80
Figure 4.32:
Straight -Line Belt -Driven Air Compressor .............................80
Figure 4.33:
Bleichert Aerial Tramway Terminal Plan View.......................102
Figure 5.1:
Creede/Jimtown, 1891.....................................................123
Figure 5.2:
Creede, 1892................................................................123
Figure 5.3:
Amethyst Mine Under Construction, 1892..........................
_..125
Figure 5.4:
Last Chance Mine, 1893...................................................126
Figure 5.5:
Amethyst Mine, 1895......................................................132
Figure 5.6:
Park Regent Mine, 1895...................................................133
Figure 5.7:
Overview of the Bachelor Mine, Late 1890s ...........................135
Figure 5.8:
Humphreys Mill, North Creede, 1902...................................138
Figure 5.9:
Nelson Tunnel Portal, Late 1890s.......................................139
Figure 5.10:
Overview of the Commodor Tunnel No.S's Surface Plant ..........
146
Figure 5.11:
The Remains of the Amethyst Tunnel Surface Plant.................146
37
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Map of the principal ore veins, mines, and prospects in the Creede Mining District, Mineral County,
Colorado. Steven & Ratte, 1965.
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CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
In the early 1890s the American
mining frontier began to exhibit signs of
closure. The ever -hoped -for mining
bonanzas and associated rushes were
becoming increasingly rare, and the extant
mining districts were either exhausted, or
settled and industrialized. Yet two
mineral strikes made during this time
ignited an excitement which captured the
attention of many miners, industrialists,
and investors across the nation. Bob
Womack made one of the strikes at what
became Cripple Creek, Colorado. Parties
of prospectors including Nicholas C.
Creede and John C. McKenzie made the
other strike at what became Creede,
Colorado. For several years the two
districts vied for prominence, and when
legends of Creede's incredible silver
wealth seemed to be eclipsing those of
Cripple Creek's gold, the Silver Crash of
1893 dramatically reversed the situation.
The devaluation of silver struck a
significant blow to Creede, as well as
silver districts throughout the West.
However, Creede's ore bodies proved to
be so rich that mining continued unabated
for almost a century.
Geologists have deemed the
Creede Mining District to be one of
America's most significant producers of
silver. In accordance, mining at Creede
was serious business, requiring capital, a
highly skilled workforce, an efficient
infrastructure, advanced technology and
engineering, and a vibrant population.
While the sun has set on Creede's mining
industry today, the district retains many
vestiges of this fascinating chapter of
Western history. Currently, the town of
Creede, the district's historic commercial
and social hub, thrives as a center for
ranching, tourism, and recreation in the
region. Dozens of historic sites lie above
the town. The sites include
predominantly abandoned mines, in
addition to settlements, transportation
systems, and mill remnants. These sites
retain importance as cultural resources
and as beacons that draw thousands of
tourists to Creede. The mine sites,
however, face threats in the form of
environmental cleanup projects and mine
closure activities. Studies, recordation,
and evaluations of the sites are inevitable,
and for that reason this historical context,
which discusses the factors important to
mining in Creede, can serve as an
important frame for interpreting future
cultural resource work.
Specifically, this context discusses
four fundamental topics useful in
identifying, recording, interpreting, and
evaluating Creede's historic mine and mill
sites. The physical setting constitutes the
first factor, and it is important because it
served as the environment that Creede's
residents inhabited, it presented mining
operations with physical challenges that
drew certain responses, and it included
natural resources. The second factor
consists of Creede's geology, and it is
important because it governed how
Creede's mining companies equipped and
developed their claims, and which
companies prospered. TMining technology
is the third and one of the most important
factors included in this historical context.
Proposal Number P-814, Historical Context and Inventory, City of Fort Collins, Colorado
MAJOR TASKS AND PROJECT SCHEDULE
Associated major tasks will involve five components: Inventory and Reporting, Context
Development, Nomination, Public Meetings, and Project Management.
INVENTORY AND REPORTING
Mr. Adam Thomas will conduct the inventory; record all properties; prepare all site
forms; and complete the inventory report. Ms. Salazar will assist with the completion of the site
forms and format and production of the report and site forms. Mr. Martin will edit the reports
and perform overall QA/QC of the material.
Mr. Thomas
300 hours
Ms. Salazar
90 hours
Mr. Martin
5 hours
Ms. Chester
10 hours
Subtotal
$17,000.00
This component will commence at the beginning of January 2002 and will continue for
roughly four weeks. Mr. Thomas will be staying in Fort Collins and will work on a 4-day (10
hours per day) schedule for a four -week period. The fieldwork phase of the project would be
completed in late January or early February, depending upon when the contract is signed and
SWCA receives a Notice to Proceed from the City of Fort Collins. He will return to the office to
complete the site forms and inventory report, completing with this task in mid -April 2002.
CONTEXT DEVELOPMENT
Mr. Eric Twitty will research and prepare the contexts for the sugar beet industry and the
two ethnic groups. Ms. Salazar will assist with the research. Mr. Martin will edit the reports and
perform overall QA/QC of the material.
Mr. Twitty
300 hours
Ms. Salazar
80 hours
Mr. Martin
10 hours
Subtotal
$16,820.00
This component will start at the beginning of January 2002 and will be completed in late
March 2002, depending upon other project commitments. Ms. Salazar will assist Mr. Twitty by
performing much of preliminary research and by collecting information for Mr. Twitty to use in
the context preparation.
SWCA Inc. - 5 -
The information included in the chapter
on technology can aid in the
interpretation, recordation, and evaluation
of Creede's historic mine and mill sites.
The last factor important to Creede's
M 0 N T R 0 S E
l
OURAY
j45 4a\ tv:(
mining is the district's history. These four
factors need to be considered when
historic mine sites in Creede are
identified, recorded, interpreted, and
evaluated.
G U N K I S O N
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Figure 1.1 The geographic location of the Creede Mining District.
0
2
CHAPTER 2
THE PHYSICAL SETTING
The Creede Mining District covers
an area of approximately 47 square miles
in Mineral County near the upper Rio
Grande River in the east San Juan
Mountains. The district encompasses
much of the Willow Creek drainage
system, Miners Creek, and land along the
Rio Grande River's north side. The
region's topography is predominantly
mountainous. Extremely rugged terrain
rises along the north side of the Rio
Grande River Valley and culminates in a
series of 12,000-13,000 foot high peaks,
which form the Continental Divide. Both
the Divide and the Rio Grande valley
extend east -west in the vicinity of the
mining district. East and West Willow
creeks, their tributaries, and Rat and
Miners creeks dissect the mountainous
area within the district. East and West
Willow creeks join to form Willow Creek,
Rat Creek drains into Miners Creek, and
they flow south into the Rio Grande.
Most of the activity in the Creede Mining
District occurred in the lower portions of
the Willow Creek drainage, while some
prospecting and limited mining occurred
near Rat and Miners creeks.
The terrain within the district is
typical of that resultant from volcanic
activity. Gently sloped terraces and the
summits of table top mountains lie
between approximately 10,000 and
11,000 feet, and the topography below is
steep and rocky. Further, volcanic rock
formations manifest as cliffs and pinnacles
in the lower, eroded portions of the East
and West Willow creek valleys.
Because the Creede Mining
District is located in the eastern San Juan
Mountains, it lies within rain shadow, and
as a result, the ecological communities
adapted to dry conditions. The Rio
Grande River Valley features stands of
juniper -pinion trees and areas of
grassland, while the mountain slopes
bounding the valley support subalpine fir
and spruce forests. Lodgepole pines and
fir trees predominate the dry lower slopes,
and spruce trees replace the pines with
increase in elevation. In addition, stands
of aspen trees thrive on flat areas above
8,500 feet. Some of the groves are
natural, while many others grew in logged
clear -cuts. Because the soil within the
district is well -drained, ground cover in
the forests is limited to woody, drought -
tolerant species such as mountain juniper,
holly, and kinnikinnick. Subalpine
meadows thrive in open areas between
forests, and arctic willows line most of the
area's stream channels.
The climate in the district is
typical of that in the drier, deep Rocky
Mountains. The summers tend to be
warm, however the temperatures during
the day rarely exceed 85 degrees
Fahrenheit, and the nights cool down to
the 40s and 50s. The months of June and
September are often dry, while
thunderstorms punctuate the afternoons
July through August. The Fall also tends
to be dry, yet the weather has an element
of unpredictability. At the least, the
temperatures during both day and night
are cooler than during the summer. Cold
snaps, snow, and prolonged warm
3
weather are possible during September
through November. Winter usually
commences during November and lasts
until late April. During wet years,
periodic storms can deposit up to several
feet of snow at a time and send
temperatures plummeting below zero
degrees. The San Juans occasionally
experience dry years in which little snow
accumulates and temperatures rise into
the 30s and 40s. Because the air is very
dry, cold temperatures are often tolerable
with proper clothing. Because cold air
tends to sink, during the winter the
mountain canyons channel streams of
frigid air, while the areas on the slopes
above tend to be much warmer. The
prevailing winds in the area blow from the
west, and they may carry in storm
systems. Occasionally, summer storms
creep up from the south, and winter
storms may descend from the north. In
all, the climate in the Creede Mining
District is hospitable for much of the year,
however winter storms and wet summers
presented the early settlers with a
formidable challenge.
N
4
CHAPTER 3
ECONOMIC GEOLOGY
To gain a full comprehension and
appreciation of mining in Creede, a brief
account of the district's geological history
and fabulous ore bodies is important. The
San Juan Mountains began to rise
approximately 100 million years ago,
during the Cretaceous Period, when
powerful forces in the earth's mantle
forced the region up out of an ancient sea
floor. A dome of magma intruded the
Earth's crust and the heat and pressure
caused the overlying sedimentary rocks to
metamorphose, fracture, and dome
upward. This intense activity abated and
the Ancestral San Juan Mountains were
eroded almost totally flat, resorting back
to a sea floor. The importance of these
geological events lay not in the creation of
lasting topography, but in the deposition
of the minerals sought by miners during
the nineteenth century. As the magma
body intruded into the overlying
sedimentary formations when the
Ancestral San Juans formed, the rock
strata became fractured and superheated
fluids, mostly water, deposited metal ores
in the form of veins and chimneys in the
cracks and areas of weakness. These ores
were not the bodies worked by Creede's
miners, but their impact on Creede was
crucial, because they initially drew the
prospectors who eventually located
Creede's rich deposits. Several million
years would pass before the ore systems
at Creede formed.'
After the Ancestral San Juans had
been uplifted and eroded to their base, the
area became the focus of intense volcanic
activity which created the mountains that
exist today. The first eruptive period
deposited thousands of feet of andesitic
and conglomerate rock strata that
geologists have termed the San Juan
Formation. When the volcanic activity
abated, natural forces make significant
headway eroding the strata. Two more
violent eruptive periods subsequently
occurred, in which the Silverton Volcanic
Group formed, followed by the Potosi
Volcanic Group. Andesite tuff comprised
the Silverton Group and rhyolite
comprised the Potosi Group. The portion
of the Potosi Series in our area of study is
known as the Creede Formation. After
the explosive volcanic activity, the San
Juan region subsided, creating expansive
fault systems. Further, subsidence of the
many caulderas associated with the
volcanic activity resulted in localized
radial faulting. The Creede area was
subjected to both types of faulting, laying
the groundwork for the formation of the
fabulous ore bodies mined during the
nineteenth century.Z
Even though the volcanic activity
largely ceased, the San Juan region was
by no means geologically quiet. The area
experienced periodic upheavals followed
by settling, and superheated fluids began
infiltrating the fault systems. In many
areas the fluids deposited veins of silicic
rocks such as gabbro, diorite, quartz,
monzonite, and pegmatite in the fractures.
In the Creede area, the fluids deposited
silver, lead, zinc, and minor amounts of
other metals in some of the fractures.
Over thousands of years, great
fluctuations in the region's groundwater
redeposited the metalliferous materials,
enriching the zones near the water table.
5
This factor was the primary reason that
Creede's ores were located relatively
close to ground surface.'
The Creede district became host
to four principal vein systems resulting
from the millions of years of geological
processes. The veins were oriented
primarily north -south, and they dipped
steeply eastward. The eastern -most vein
system, termed the Mammoth Vein, lay
under Mammoth Mountain on the east
side of East Willow Creek. Unfortunately
for some of Creede's prospectors and
mining companies, the Mammoth Vein
proved to contain only limited quantities
of economic ore. The Soloman -Holy
Moses Vein, the second principal system,
lay underneath Campbell Mountain on the
west side of East Willow Creek. The
Soloman -Holy Moses proved to one of
the district's richest ore bodies, and its
discovery by Nicholas Creede and
associates in 1889 stimulated greater
exploration for Creede's mineral wealth.
The Last Chance -Amethyst Vein, the
district's third important vein system,
proved to be an unequaled bonanza for
mining companies. The system consisted
of one main vein flanked by minor
stringers, and it extended uninterrupted
for over two miles along the west side of
West Willow Creek. The Amethyst Vein
proved to be the district's richest ore
system, and it experienced activity for
almost 100 years. The district's last
significant ore system, the Alpha -Corsair
Vein, lay along the east side of Miners
Creek. The Alpha -Corsair Vein was the
first to be discovered in the district and it
ranked third in importance.'
Miners found the ores in these
veins to be quite favorable for extraction
and milling. Most of the ores consisted of
zinc compounds, galena, pyrites,
argentite, native silver, and gold in a
matrix of plain and amethyst quartz,
chlorite, barite, fluorite, and additional
sulphates. This mineral blend filled the
voids created by faulting in the hard
volcanic country rock. Alteration to the
country rock abutting the veins was
minimal, and as a result the ore broke
away easily and cleanly. In addition, the
ores tended to be soft, making drilling and
blasting easy, and in some places it was so
soft that miners extracted it with pick and
shovel. In many places the country rock
maintained integrity, resulting in sound
hanging and footwalls. Several mines on
the Amethyst Vein experienced
catastrophic cave-ins, which were
probably a result of poor engineering and
oversight, rather than inherently unstable
geology.5
The shallow natures of Creede's
vein systems lent themselves well to initial
exploration through adits. However, as
mining companies developed the ore at
depth, they realized that shafts were
necessary to profitably extract the
payrock. Hence the mine workings in the
district tend to include both adits and
shafts, and most of the workings on each
vein system tend to be interconnected.
Engineers joined mine workings for three
main reasons. First, it allowed for
thorough exploration of consolidated
mineral claims. Second, interconnected
workings provided access and escape
routes in the event of danger. However,
the most important factor proved to be
ventilation. Like other mining districts in
volcanic geology, Creede's miners
encountered gases such as nitrous
compounds at depth. The gases displaced
breathable air, which impeded the
extraction of ore. As a result, mining
companies were forced to link workings
to stimulate the movement of natural air
0
currents where possible, and to employ
ventilation fans where necessary.6
The ore systems at Creede
presented a curious variety of
opportunities and obstacles for mining
companies. The Soloman -Holy Moses
and the Amethyst veins contained huge
quantities of silver -rich compounds which
produced up to $80 to $100 per ton.
Once mining companies exhausted the
shallow ores in the principal veins by the
end of the Gilded Age, mining engineers
and geologists pooled their knowledge
and searched for additional veins, which
they periodically encountered from the
1920s to the 1960s during underground
exploration. In addition to new
discoveries, mining companies found that
Creede's seemingly exhausted principle
veins offered low-grade ores left by early
operations as unprofitable. By working
new and old veins, mining companies in
Creede and their workers profited from
1891 until the early 1980s.
End Notes
1 Burbank WS; Eckel, EB; and Vanes, DJ'The San Juan Region" Mineral Resources of Colorado State of Colorado Mineral
Resources Board, Denver, CO 1947, p399.
Cross, Whimum; Howe, Earnest; and Rename, F.L. Geologic Atlas of the United States: Silverton Folio, Colorado U.S. Geological
Survey, Government Priming Office, Washington, DC 1905, p2.
2 Burbank, Wilbur S. and Luedke, Robert G. USGSProfasional Paper 535: Geology and Ore Deposits of the Eureka and Adjoining
Districts, San Juan Mountains, Colorado U.S. Geological Survey, U.S. Government Priming Office, Washington, DC 1969, p7.
Cross, Whitman; Howe, Eamesm; and Ramome, F.L Geologic Arias of the United States: Silverton Folio, Colorado U.S. Geological
Survey, Government Pruning Office, Washington. DC 1905, p2.
Emmons, William H and Esper, Larsen S. bSGSBulletin 718: Geology and Ore Deposits of the Creeds District Colorado U.S.
Geological Survey, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 1923, p 12.
Rate. James C. and Steven, Thomas A. "Ash Flows and Related volcanic Rocks Associated with the Creeds Caldera, San Juan
Mountains, Colorado" USGSPmfessiona7Paper 524: Shorter Contributions to General Geology U.S. Geological Survey, Government
Printing office; Washington. DC 1965, p32.
Ransoms, Frederick Leslie USGSBullenn No. 182: AReport on the Economic Geology of the Silverton Quadrangle, Colorado U.S.
Geological Survey, Goverment Priming Office, Washington, DC 1901, pl3.
3 Burbank, W S; Eckel, EB; and Vanes, DJ ' Ilia San Juan Region" Mineral Resources of Colorado State of Colorado Mineral
Resources Board, Dmver, cO 1947, p402.
Cross, Whiman; How4 Earnest; and Rarisome, F.L GeofogicAtbs ojthe United Scores: Silverton Folio, Colorado U.S. Geological
Survey. Govmman Priming Office, Washington, DC I905, p2.
Emmore, William H and Esper, Larsen S. USGSBulfetin 718: Geo7agy and Ore Deposits of the Creeds District, Colorado U.S.
Geological Survey, U.S. Governmem Priming Office, Washbnglon, DC 1923, p126.
4 Emmons, William H and Esper, Larsen S. USGSBullenn 718: Geology and Ore Deposits of the Creeds District, Colorado U.S.
Geological Survey, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 1923, p98.
5 Emmons, William H and Esper, Larsen S. USGSBulletin 718: Geology and Ore Deposits of the Creede District Colorado U.S.
Geological Survey, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 1923, p98.
Kemp, James F. The Ore Deposits of the United States The Scientific Publishing Co., New Yak NY 1896, p243.
6 Emmons, William H and Esper, Larsen S. USGS Bulletin 718: Geology and Ore Deposits of the Creede District. Colorado U.S.
Geological Survey. U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 1923, p134,
N
CHAPTER a
MINING TECHNOLOGY DURING THE GILDED AGE AND GREAT
DEPRESSION
When the miners of Creede began
to pursue silver underground in the early
1390s, the American hardrock mining
industry had attained a high state of
development. Capital, a willing
workforce, transportation systems,
technology, and engineering shared the
symbiotic relationship necessary to win
mineral wealth from a rugged wilderness.
The topics of technology and engineering
are of considerable importance to the
history of Creede in two ways. First,
without advanced technology and
engineering, mining there would have
failed. Second, most of Creede's historic
mine and mill sites feature archaeological
remains and standing structures
representative of mining during the Gilded
Age and the Great Depression. A
discussion of conventional mining
methods employed during those eras lends
important context for the examination and
interpretation of Creede's historic mine
sites.
Prospecting: The Search for Ore
Mining in the West has been
popularized in the form of vignettes in
which individual or pairs of prospectors
arbitrary hacked holes into the earth with
pick and shovel in hopes of "striking it
rich". Few things were farther from
reality. During mineral rushes
prospectors rarely worked alone for the
sake of survival, economy, efficiency, and
the likelihood of finding ore. They also
practiced planned, systematic approaches
for finding ore bodies in a group effort.
Over several decades of mining in the
West prospectors learned to identify
geological and topographical features
suggestive of ore bodies. They often
examined visible portions of bedrock for
seams and joints, for outcrops of quartz
veins and dykes, unusual mineral
formations, and minerals heavy in iron. In
many regions where vegetation, sod, and
soil obscured visibility of bedrock,
prospectors also scanned the landscape
for anomalous features. Water seeps,
abrupt changes in vegetation and
topography, and changes in soil character
also hinted at the underlying geology.'
Seasoned prospectors understood
that the lands of the West were vast and a
person could have spent a lifetime
examining bedrock outcrops and puzzling
over landscape form. Instead, they
employed sampling strategies as a primary
means of exploration in areas they felt
held promise. One of oldest and simplest
sampling strategies, popularized during
the California Gold Rush, consisted of
testing steam gravels for gold. The
premise was that the natural process of
erosion freed gold from bedrock sources
and deposited it in a stream. Water action
moved the gravel and the heavy gold
8
11
slowly sifted to the bottom of the stream
channel, where it awaited the prospector's
shovel and pan. By periodically panning
samples of stream gravel, a prospector
could track the gold upstream, and when
he encountered the precious metal no
more, he knew he was near the point of
entry.
Gold veins usually cropped out at
some distance from watercourses,
necessitating that prospectors extend their
sampling system. After following traces
of gold up a stream channel, they turned
toward one of the stream banks and began
excavating test pits and panning the soil
immediately overlying bedrock. They
tested soil samples horizontally back and
forth across the billslope in attempts to
define the lateral boundaries of the gold
flecks. Afterward, the party of
prospectors employed a similar sampling
strategy to find the upslope deposit
boundary, under which should have
hypothetically been the hardrock gold
source. Employing such a sampling
strategy occasionally paid off, but the
party of prospectors had to undertake
considerable work in the form of digging
prospect pits with pick and shovel,
hauling soil samples to a body of water
over rough terrain, and panning in cold
streams.2
One of the greatest drawbacks to
systematic panning was that it only
detected gold, while areas such as Creede
abounded with other precious and
semiprecious metals. In addition to
searching stream gravels, prospectors
scanned the ground surface for what they
termed float, which consisted of isolated
fragments of ore -bearing rock. As with
free -gold, over centuries natural
weathering processes fractured ore bodies
and erosion transported the pieces
downslope. Metalliferous ore was heavy
and it sank below the soil in rainy regions,
complicating the search. Greenhorn
prospectors may have shambled around
an area in disorder searching for float,
while experienced prospectors targeted
drainage floors where heavy material was
likely to accumulate. If the prospectors
encountered ore specimens, they then
walked transects back and forth across a
hillslope, narrowing the boundaries of the
float scatter until they reached the apex.
With high hopes they sank several
prospect pits down to bedrock and
chipped away at the material to expose
fresh minerals. Locating a source of float
was an unsure undertaking at best, and in
the process of narrowing the search area,
parties of prospectors excavated many
worthless pits and trenches. Yet, this
method had proven itself successful many
time over, as it did at Creede.'
Modem legends highlight the few
examples of prospectors who traced
scatters of float directly to glorious ore
veins in bedrock outcrops, and those
individuals who literally stumbled across
gold or silver -bearing rocks in search of
lost burros and the like. In reality
prospecting was hard, laborious, dirty
work requiring excavation of numerous
pits two to fifteen feet deep over the span
of many days. Digging pit after pit in
pursuit of subtle hints of ore only to find
the promising lead vanished soured
greenhorns with get -rich -quick
expectations, and the reality of repeated
failures at striking ore proved enough to
completely discourage even experienced
prospectors. The landscapes of many
Western mining districts, including that
around Creede, are dotted with hundreds
to thousands of prospect pits for every
successful mine.
On rare occasion parties of
prospectors dug pits and struck mineral
9
deposits worthy of further investigation.
The next step in subsurface exploration
involved driving either a small shaft or
adit with the intent of sampling the
mineral deposit at depth in hopes of
confirming its continuation. After
clearing away as much fractured, loose
bedrock as possible with pick and shovel,
a pair of prospectors began boring blast -
holes with a hammer and drill -steels. The
drilling team made between 12 and IS
holes, IS to 24 inches deep, in a special
pattern designed to maximize the force of
the explosive charges they loaded. Prior
to the 1880s prospecting parties often
used blasting powder, and most had
converted to stronger but more expensive
dynamite by the 1890s.
Within approximately 30 days the
party of prospectors had driven their
tunnel or shaft deep enough to confirm
the presence or absence of ore at depth.
Yet, in many cases shallow adits or shafts
failed to prove or disprove economic
quantities of ore, in which cases parties of
prospectors often elected to drive drifts,
horizontal internal tunnels, along the
suspected mineral body. In most cases
such exhausting efforts proved, in fact,
that the mineral claim was worthless, but
in a few exceptions the party of
prospectors uncovered enough ore to
warrant the development of a proper
mine. Until economic ore had been
proven, the operation could have been
classified as merely a glorified prospect
edit or prospect slu:.t. At this point the
need for capital, equipment, organization,
and a labor force became apparent, and
the party of prospectors either sold their
holdings to a capitalist, or formed their
own company.
Deep Exploration and the Development of Ore Bodie:,
The methods by which engineers
and miners searched for and extracted ore
and equipped their mines to do so were
universal throughout the West. The
mines and prospects in Creede were no
exception, and they fell into several
common patterns. A prospect differed
greatly from a mine. A prospect was an
operation in which prospectors sought
ore. The associated workings ranged
from shallow pits to adits or shafts with
hundreds of feet of horizontal and vertical
workings. A mine, on the other hand,
consisted of at least hundreds of feet of
workings and a proven ore body. All
mines began as prospect operations.
Most prospect operations, on the other
hand, failed to prove the presence of ore
and died early deaths. Once prospectors
determined the existence of ore, the
activity at the mineral claim shifted at first
to quantifying how much ore existed, then
to profitable extraction.
In efforts to address the above
two ore production issues, mining
companies hired crews of miners who
proceeded to enlarge the small adit or
shaft and systematically block out the
mineral body. Generally ore bodies
tended to take one of two forms; miners
and engineers recognized the first form as
a vein, and they defined the other as being
massive and globular. Typically, free
gold, telluride gold, and tungsten tended
to be deposited in veins while industrial
metals such as copper and iron were
deposited in massive form. The silver and
industrial metals in Creede formed as a
vein. At the point where a tunnel or shaft
penetrated the mineral body, miners
developed the body with internal
workings consisting of drifts, crosscuts
extending off the drifts, internal shafts
known as wines which dropped down
from the tunnel floor, and internal shafts
known as raises which drove up. Drifts
and crosscuts explored the length and
width of the ore, and raises and winzes
explored its height and depth.
Miners and prospectors
consciously sank a shaft or drove an adit
in response to fundamental criteria. First,
a shaft was easiest and less costly to keep
open against fractured and weak ground.
Second, a shaft permitted miners to stay
in close contact with an ore body as they
pursued it to depth, and they were able to
sample the ore periodically. Third, in
cases where miners sank a shaft on
profitable ore, the payrock they extracted
provided the company with almost instant
income, which pleased stockholders and
greased the skids of mine promotion.
Last, a shaft lent itself well to driving a
latticework of drifts, crosscuts, raises, and
wines to explore and block out an ore
body.
Mining engineers discerned
between the purposes of sinking vertical
versus inclined shafts. One contingent of
engineers preferred inclined shafts
because, as they correctly pointed out,
mineral bodies, especially veins, were
rarely vertical, and instead descended at
an angle. As a result vertical shafts were
ineffectual for intimate tracking and
immediate extraction of ore. In addition,
inclined shafts needed smaller, less
expensive hoists than those used for
vertical shafts. The other camp of
engineers, however, claimed that vertical
shafts were in fact best because
maintenance and upkeep on them cost
less. Vertical shafts had to be timbered
merely to resist swelling of the walls,
while timbering in inclines had to also
support the ceiling, which was more
expensive, especially when the passage
penetrated weak ground. Inclined shafts
also required a weight -bearing track for
the hoist vehicle, which, including
maintenance such as replacing rotten
timbers and corroded rails, consumed
money.
In light of the collective
experience gained during five decades of
mining in the West, by the 1900s most
mining engineers recommended that
vertical shafts be sunk in the footwalls of
ore veins. Experience had taught the
mining industry, often through expensive
and dangerous lessons, that the hanging
wall overlying the vein was likely to settle
and shift after ore was extracted,
throwing the shaft out of plumb.'
Despite the hypothetical
advantages of sinking a shaft over an
incline or adit, several factors beyond
miners' or engineers' control governed
the actual choice of shaft versus adit. In
many cases geology proved to be a
deciding criterion; steep hillsides, deep
canyons, and gently pitching ore bodies
lent themselves well to exploration and
extraction through adits. In many cases
prospectors who had located an outcrop
of ore high on a hillside elected to drive
an adit from a point considerably
downslope to intersect the formation at
depth. If the ore body proved
economical, then the mining company
carried out extraction through the adit.
One of the most problematic aspects of
driving an adit was that miners had to
labor at considerable dead work, drilling
and blasting through barren ground, with
t
Proposal Number P-814, Historical Context and Inventory, City of Fort Collins, Colorado
NOMINATION
After consulting with City of Fort Collins officials, Mr. Thomas will prepare City of Fort
Collins Landmark Nomination forms for all of the neighborhoods that meet the minimum criteria
for listing. This component will be completed within two weeks of the last public meeting.
Mr. Thomas 40 hours
Subtotal $1,680.00
PUBLIC MEETINGS
Mr. Thomas will attend all public meetings associated with this project.
Mr. Thomas 25 hours
Subtotal $1,200.00
To be determined.
PROJECT MANAGEMENT
Mr. William Martin will serve as project manager for this project. In this position, he is
the main contact with City of Fort Collins officials; establishes and maintains project timelines;
performs QA/QC for all aspects of the project; reviews and submit invoices for the project;
reviews project expenses; helps with logistical arrangements; and prepares monthly progress
reports. Mr. Kevin Thompson, who will serve as principal investigator, will participate in the
kickoff meeting; perform a peer review of all project documents; and assist in any conflicts
should they arise during the course of the project. Ann Smith, Office Manager for SWCA's
Colorado office, will help with logistical arrangements, project billings and expenses, and other
management -related matters.
Mr. Martin
10 hours
Mr. Thompson
5 hours
Ms. Smith
5 hours
Subtotal
$1,300.00
This component will continue through the duration of the project.
OVERALL SCHEDULE AND PROJECT BUDGET
The project will be completed by August 31, 2002. This is contingent on the scheduling
of the public meetings and other factors that may arise.
Total Costs
$38,000.00
SWCA Inc. - 6 -
no guarantee that they would locate the
ore body where they had anticipated
striking it. In many cases veins cropping
out high on mountainsides disappeared at
depth, or natural faulting broke them up
and shifted the pieces around. In
addition, adits were not as well suited as
Figure 4.1 The cut-awav view illustrates the typical mine workings associated with a shaft operation.
Miners sank the shaft in the footwall underlying the vein, and drove drifts at regular intervals to intersect
the ore body. They may have also driven raises through the ore to link the drifts. After miners had
completed this development work, they began stoping out the ore upward.
12
Figure 4.2 The cut -away view illustrates the typical rune workings associated with a tunnel operation.
Miners drove tunnels to intersect the ore body, they conducted the necessary development work, and
began removing ore. If the company was well capitalized, it may have driven two tunnels, the bottom
serving as a haulageway.
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13
shafts for developing deep ore bodies,
because interior hoisting and ore transfer
stations had to be blasted out, which
oroved costly and created traffic
congestion. One other problem,
significant in districts where the rock was
weak, lay in the enormous cost of
timbering adits and tunnels against cave-
in. However, much to relief of Creede's
mining companies, the district featured
sound rock requiring little support.5 But
the most fundamental consideration in
deciding whether to drive an adit or sink a
shaft lay with economics. Driving an adit
was easier, faster, and required
significantly less capital than sinking a
shaft. Some mining engineers had
determined that the cost of drilling and
blasting a shaft was as much as three
times more than excavating an adit.
Prospectors and mining engineers alike
understood that adits were self -draining,
they required no hoisting equipment, and
transporting rock out and materials into
the mine was easier than it was in shafts.
Regardless, in many cases prospectors,
those with the least access to capital, sank
small shafts to explore ore bodies for the
reasons cited above, and for one
additional significant factor.
Historians of the West have aptly
characterized mineral rushes to heavily
promoted mining districts as a frenzy of
prospectors who blanketed the
surrounding territory with claims. In
most districts the recognized hardrock
claim was restricted to being 1,500 feet
long and 600 feet wide, which left limited
work space, both above and below
,ground. In Colorado prospectors were
legally obligated to drive an adit or shaft,
or sink a pit to a minimum depth of 10
feet to hold title to a hardrock claim.
They had to conduct Sloo worth of labor
in other states. A small adit or pit was
not adequate to fully explore the depths
bounded by a 1,500 by 600 foot plot of
ground, let alone extract ore, forcing
prospectors and mining companies to sink
shafts
The Creede Mining District serves
as an excellent example of how crowded
conditions forced mining companies to
sink shafts to work at depth within their
claim boundaries. The Amethyst and
Soloman -Holy Moses veins were
blanketed with claims during the district's
heyday, few of which training companies
consolidated in the early years.
Prospectors and mining companies were
forced to sink shafts because they lacked
the surface space necessary to explore and
develop ore bodies at depth through
tunnels. In districts where competition
for space was not as severe, reining
companies had greater latitude to drive
tunnels.
The Mine Surface Plant
The driving of underground
workings associated with both mines and
deep prospect operations required
support from on -site facilities. Known
among miners and engineers of -the -day as
the surface plant, these facilities were
equipped to meet the needs of the work
underground. Large, productive mines
14
boasted sizable surface plants while small
prospect operations tended to have simple
facilities. Regardless of whether the
operation was small or large, the surface
plant had to meet five fundamental needs.
First, the plant had to provide a stable and
unobstructed entry into the underground
workings. Second, it had to include a
facility for tool and equipment
maintenance and fabrication. Third, the
plant had to allow for the transportation
of materials and waste rock out of the
underground workings and supplies in.
Fourth, the workings had to be ventilated,
and fifth, the plant had to facilitate the
storage of up to tens of thousands of tons
of waste rock generated during
underground development, often within
the boundaries of the mineral claim.
Generally, productive mines, as well as
complex and deep prospects, had needs in
addition to the above basic five
requirements, and their surface plants
included the necessary associated
components.e
The basic form of a surface plant,
whether haphazardly constructed by a
party of inexperienced prospectors or
designed by experienced mining
engineers, consisted of a set of
components. The entry underground
usually consisted of either a stabilized
shaft collar or an adit portal. While the
exact differentiation between a tunnel and
an adit is somewhat nebulous, mining
engineers and self-made mining men have
referred to narrow and low tunnels with
limited space and length as adits.
Passages wide enough to permit incoming
miners to pass outgoing ore cars, high
enough to accommodate air and water
plumbing suspended from the ceiling, and
extending into substantial workings have
been loosely referred to as tunnels. Most
surface plants featured transportation
arteries permitting the free movement of
men and materials into and out of the
underground entry. Miners moved
materials at adit operations in ore cars on
baby -gauge mine rail lines, while shafts
required an additional hoisting system to
lift vehicles out of the workings.
Materials and rock at shaft mines were
usually transferred into an ore car for
transportation on the surface. The
surface plants for both adits and shafts
included a blacksmith shop where tools
and equipment were maintained and
fabricated, and large mines often had
additional machining and carpentry
facilities. Most of these plant components
were clustered around the adit or shaft
and built on cut -and -fill earthen platforms
made when mine workers excavated
material from the hillslope and used the
fill to extend the level surface. Once
enough waste rock had been extracted
from the underground workings and
dumped around the mouth of the trine,
the facilities may have been moved onto
the resultant level area. The physical size,
degree of mechanization, and capital
expenditure of a surface plant was relative
to the constitution of the workings below
ground.
In addition to differentiating
between surface plants that served tunnels
from those associated with shafts, mining
engineers further subdivided mine
facilities into two more classes. Engineers
considered surface plants geared for shaft
sinking, driving adits, and underground
exploration to be different from those
designed to facilitate ore production.
Engineers referred to exploration facilities
as temporary plants, and as sinking plants
when associated with shafts. Such
facilities were by nature small, labor-
intensive, energy inefficient, and most
important, they required little capital.
15
Production plants on the other hand
usually represented long-term investment,
and they were intended to maximize
production while minimizing operating
costs such as labor, maintenance, and
energy consumption. Such facilities
emphasized capital -intensive
mechanization, engineering, planning, and
scientific calculation.
Mines underwent an evolutionary
process in which discovery of ore, the
driving of a prospect shaft or adit,
installation of a temporary plant, upgrade
to a production plant, and eventual
abandonment of the property all were
points along a spectrum. Depending on
whether prospectors or a mining company
found ore and how much, a mine could
have been abandoned in any stage of
evolution, as many in Creede had been.
Of course, the ultimate goal of most
mining companies, capitalists, and
engineers was to locate, prove, and
develop fabulous ore reserves, and to
install a surface plant large and efficient
enough to arouse accolades from the
Western mining industry. \dining
engineers and mining companies usually
took a cautionary, pragmatic approach
when upgrading a sinking plant to a
production plant. Until significant ore
reserves had been proven, most mining
companies minimized their outlay of
capital by installing inexpensive machines
adequate only for meeting immediate
needs.
Mining engineers and self-made
mining men understood that temporary
plants consisted of light -duty,
inexpensive, and impermanent
components. Many engineers classified
the duty of these components, especially
machines such as hoists, boilers, blowers,
and air compressors by their size, energy
efficiency, performance, and purchase
price. Machine foundations, necessary to
anchor and stabilize what were critical
plant components, also fell under this
scope of classification. Because of a low
cost, ease of erection, and brief
serviceable life, mining engineers
considered timber and hewn log machine
foundations to be strictly temporary,
while production -class foundations
consisted of concrete or masonry. The
structure of wooden foundations usually
consisted of cribbing, a framed cube, or a
frame fastened to a pallet, all of which
were assembled with bolts and iron pins,
and buried in waste rock for stability and
immobility. The construction and
classification of machine foundations is of
particular importance, because they often
constitute principal evidence at Creede's
mine sites capable of conveying the
composition of the surface plant in terms
of structures and machinery.'
Surface Plants for Adits
The surface plants for adits and
shafts shared many of the same
components. Yet, because of the
fundamental differences between the
nature of the two mines, the layout
patterns and characteristic for each were
different. The typical surface plant
layouts for Creede's adit-based operations
mirrored those erected throuehout the
16
West, and here we will examine their
common components.
The Adit Portal
The adit portal was a primary
component of both simple prospects as
well as complex, profitable mines.
Professionally trained mining engineers
recognized a difference between prospect
adits and production -class tunnels.
Height and width were the primary
defining criteria. A production -class
tunnel was wide enough to permit an
outgoing ore car to pass an in -going
miner, and headroom had to be ample
enough to house compressed air lines and
ventilation tubing. During the latter
portion of the Gilded Age, some mining
engineers defined production -class tunnels
as being at least 3'/z to 4 feet wide and 6
to 6'/z fe_et high._Anything smaller, they
claimed, was merely a prospect adit.
Many of these engineers reflected an
attitude post-dating the adoption of
compressed air powered rockdrills which
had reduced the costs of drilling and
blasting.10
Mining engineers in Creede, like
those at other districts in the West, paid
due attention to the adit portal, because it
guarded against cave-ins of loose rock
and soil. Engineers recognized cap -and -
post timber sets to be best suited for
supporting both the portal and areas of
fractured rock further in the adit. This
ubiquitous means of support consisted of
two upright posts and a cross -member,
which mine workers fitted together with
precision using measuring rules and
carpentry tools. They cut square notches
into the cap member, nailed it onto the
tops of the posts, and raised the set into
place. Afterward, the miners hammered
wooden wedges between the cap and the
adit ceiling, and between the posts and
adit walls to make the set weight -bearing.
Because the adit usually penetrated tons
of loose soil and fractured rock, a series
of cap -and -post sets were required to
resist the heavy forces, and they had to be
lined with lagging to fend off loose rock
and earth. In areas penetrating swelling
ground, the bottoms of the posts had to
be secured to a floor -level cross -timber or
log footer to prevent them from being
pushed inward.
Wood used for the purposes of
supporting wet ground decayed quickly
and had to be replaced as often as several
times a year, and as infrequently as every
few decades in dry mines. Professionally
trained mining engineers claimed that
dimension lumber was best for timber sets
because it decayed slowly and was easy to
frame, but a relatively high purchase price
and the cost of transportation discouraged
its use where cheaper alternatives were
available. Most down-to-earth miners
and engineers favored using hewn logs for
their timber sets and lagging because they
cost less than milled lumber, and they
could be harvested from nearby forests,
which abounded in Creede."
17
Mine Transportation
Miners working underground at
Creede generated tons of waste rock that
had to be hauled out, while tools, timbers,
and explosives had to be brought in. As a
result, both prospect operations and large,
paying mines had to rely on some form of
a transportation system. The conveyances
used by prospectors had to be
inexpensive, adaptable to tight workings,
and capable of being carried into the
backcountry. To meet these needs
prospect outfits often used the old-
fashioned wheelbarrow on a plank
runway. A wheelbarrow cost as little as
$12, it was easy to pack on a mule, and it
fit into tight workings. Mining engineers
recognized the functionality of
wheelbarrows, but classified them as
strictly serving the needs of subsurface
prospecting because of their limited load
capacity, awkwardness of handling, and
propensity for being crushed.12
Table 4.1: Dimensions & Duty of Mine Rail
Outfits driving substantial
underground workings required a vehicle
with a capacity greater than the few
hundred pounds that a prospector could
have trundled in a wheelbarrow. The
vehicle most mining outfits chose was the
ore car - today the immortalized symbol
of hardrock mining. The ore car
commonly associated with metal mining
consisted of a plate iron body mounted on
a turntable that was riveted to a rail truck.
Cars were approximately 2 feet high, 4
feet long, and 21 � feet wide, they held at
least a ton of rock, and they had a swing
gate at the front to facilitate dumping.
Further, the body pivoted on the turntable
to permit the operator to deposit a load of
rock on either side of or at the end of the
rail line. While iron ore cars were
extremely durable, often outlasting the
mitring companies that purchased them,
the iron components were heavy.
Rail Type
Rag
Width of
Width of
(potmds per
Height
Base
Head
Duty of Rag
yard
Strap Rail
4 in.
t 'h w
1 Y2 in.
Rail consists of iron strap nailed to the top of 2x4 boards. Such
tail is tmpmarv.
8 ib
1 'h in.
1 !4 in.
1.4 in.
Temporary: for use with hand -pushed ore cars.
10 lb
I '/. in.
I '/. in.
'/. in
Li d : for use with hand - pushed ore cars.
12 lb
2 in.
2 in.
I in.
Light duty: for use with hand -pushed ore cars.
16 lb
2 3/8 in
2 3/8 in.
1 3/16 in
Light duty: for use with hand -pushed ore cars and short ore car
trains drawn by draft animals.
20 lb
2 5/8 in.
2 3/8 in.
1 3/8 in.
Moderate duty: for use with short ore car trains drawn by draft
animals or locomotives weighing 8 tour or less.
25 lb
2'/. in.
2'/. in.
1 '/2 in.
Moderate dray: for use with ore car trains drawn by draft
animals or locomotives weighing at most 10 tons.
30 lb
3 1/8 in.
3 1/8 in.
I in.
Moderate to heavy duty: for use with ore car trains drawn by
draft animalsco or locomotives weighing at most 13 tons.
35 lb
3 I/4 in.
3 1/4 in
1 ': in.
Moderate to heavy duty: for use with ore car trains drawn by
locomotives weighing at most 16 tons.
40 lb
3 4i in.
3 'A in
1 7/8 in.
Heavy duty: for use with ore car trains drawn by locomotives 15
tons or less, and for narrow- au a railroad spun.
45 lb
3 3/4 M.
3 3/4 in.
2 in.
Heavy duty: for use with ore car trains drawn by locomot Ives,
and for narrow- au a railroad E2urs.
50 lb
3 7/8 in.
3 7/8 w
^< 1 /8 in.
Heavy duty: for use with ore car trains drawn by locomotives,
and For narrow- au a railroad s cars.
(t_optea rrom iwafy, iyvv, pi4u).
13
J
Ore cars ran on rails sold in a
variety of standard sizes by mine supply
houses. The units of measure were based
on the rail's weight -per -yard. Light -duty
rail ranged from 6 to 12 pounds -per -yard,
medium -duty weight rails included 12,16,
18, and 20 pounds -per -yard, heavy mine
rail weighed from 24 to 50 pounds -per -
yard, and anything heavier was used for
railroad lines. Prospecting outfits
installing temporary plants usually
purchased light -duty rail because of its
transportability and low cost.`' Mining
engineers erecting production -class
transportation systems had miners lay
track using at least medium -duty rail,
because it lasted longer.
The specific type of rail system
installed by a mining operation reflected
the experience and judgement of the
engineer, or superintendent acting as
such, as well as the financial status of the
company, the extent of the underground
workings, and whether the mine produced
much if any ore. The basic rail system
used in nearly all Western mines was fairly
simple and straightforward. The track
consisted of a main rail line that extended
from the areas of work underground,
though the surface plants, and out to the
waste rock dump. Miners in the
underground drilled and blasted, and
shoveled the resultant shot rock into an
ore car, and a miner then pushed the
loaded car out of the adit and onto the
edge of the waste rock dump where he
discharged the car's contents. As the
drilling and blasting crew advanced the
adit, they laid rails in the new space to
facilitate bringing the car close for
loading. Large mining companies, such as
the Amethyst, Bachelor, and Holy Moses
operations at Creede, generated enough
rock and ore car traffic underground to
warrant hiring mine laborers known as
mockers to load empty ore cars, and
trammers to push the cars about the mine.
Productive mines and deep prospect
operations usually had rail spurs
extending off the main line underground
to other headings in feeder drifts and
crosscuts where drilling and blasting
teams were at work. Spurs also branched
off into stopes and ore bin stations.
Substantial mines with extensive surface
plants also featured spurs off the main line
on ground -surface that extended to
different parts of the waste rock dump, to
a storage area, and to the mine shop.
Many large mines built special stake -side,
flatbed, and latrine cars for the
coordinated movement of specific
materials and wastes.
The general rule of thumb
followed by both self-made and
professionally educated engineers
working at small operations was to spend
little capital improving the rail system,
provided it already consisted of steel
components. Typically, at small and
medium-sized operations miners installed
lines consisting of rail no heavier than 16
pounds per yard spiked at 18 inch gauge
to ties spaced every three feet. Further,
the ties usually consisted of hewn logs or
salvaged lumber ranging from 2x4 to 6x6
inch stock. In efforts to save money,
miners often reused the ties several times
over. This type of line was ubiquitous
throughout the West because it
accommodated hand -pushed ore cars, and
it was relatively inexpensive to build.
Many self-made engineers saw no reason
for subjecting the company to the
considerable expense of installing heavier
rails and possibly a broader gauge as the
mine underwent significant expansion.
Instead, they merely extended the line
19
with the same weight of rail already in
use. Academically trained engineers
working at large mines, however, had
miners replace light -duty rails with
heavier, lasting rails as the iron
succumbed to corrosion, or they had
miners replace only the trunk portions of
the main rail line with heavv rails, leaving
alone the lighter ends and spurs."
Many professionally educated
mining engineers understood that hiring
miners to hand -tram sinele ore cars was
the most cost-effective means of
transportation at small and medium-sized
operations. But at large mines, where
high volumes of materials had to be
handled efficiently over great distances,
they strongly recommended the use of ore
trains pulled by a motive source greater
than one or two struggling miners.
Mining companies at Creede, like others
throughout the West, turned to the use of
draft animals. As hardrock mining
matured through the nineteenth century
miners learned that mules were the best
animals suited for work underground
because they were reliable, strong, of
even temperament, and intelligent.
Mining engineers, seeking to put science
and calculation behind the use of mules to
improve efficiency, defined 16 pound rail
as being best weight in conjunction with
small ore trains because it resisted wear.
The electric locomotive, termed
an electric mule by some miners, arrived
in the West during the 1890s. Mining
engineers working for coal mines in the
East and in the Appalachians introduced
the first electric locomotives in 1887 or
1888 to move the immense volumes of
the fossil fuel produced by coal
companies. The early machines consisted
of a trolley car motor custom mounted
onto a steel chassis, and they took their
power from overhead trolley litres strunal
along the mine's ceiling.
The spread of the electric mules to
hardrock mining in the West proved slow.
Locomotives required special mechanical
and electrical engineering, which was in a
nascent state during the 1890s and 1900s.
In addition, electric mules were too big
for the tortuous drifts typical of most
metal mines, and they required
considerable capital to purchase, install,
and operate. During the first decade of
the twentieth century the electrical system
necessary to power a locomotive included
a steam engine, a generator, electrical
circuitry, plumbing for the engine,
installation, and an enclosing building.
The system alone cost around $3,100, and
a small locomotive cost an additional
$1,500. Further, an electric locomotive
cost approximately $7.50 per day to
operate. A mule, on the other hand, cost
only $150 to $300 to purchase and house,
and between 60� and $1.25 to feed and
care for per day."
Upgrades to the rail line necessary
to accommodate a heavy locomotive
presented the engineer with additional
costs. Mules were able to draw between
three and five ore cars that weighed
approximately 2,500 pounds each, and for
this 16 pound rails spiked at an 18 inch
gauge proved adequate. But electric
locomotives and their associated ore
trains usually weighed dozens of tons, and
as a result they required broad tracks
consisting of heavier rail. Mining
engineers recommended that at least 20
pound rail spiked 24 inches apart on ties
spaced every two feet be laid for small to
medium-sized locomotives. Heavv
locomotives required rail up to 40 pounds
per yard spiked at 36 inch gauge. The
reason for the heavy rails and closely
spaced ties was that the heavy machines
20
t
pressed down on the rail line and
perpetually worked uphill against the
downward -flexed rails. This wasted much
of the locomotive's power and energy,
and engineers sought to minimize the sag
with stiff rails on a sound foundation of
closely spaced ties. In addition, light rails
presented a greater chance of derailment,
which proved to be a logistical and
economic disaster in the confines of a
haulage tunnel.16
Some academic mining engineers
criticized the fact that electric
locomotives were tied to the fixed route
defined by the trolley wires. To remedy
this problem, electric machinery makers
introduced the storage battery locomotive
around 1900, which had free reign of the
mine's rail lines. Despite its
independence, very few Western hardrock
mining companies employed battery -
powered locomotives because they were
costly, they required a recharging facility,
and they too were physically inhibited by
the mine's tight passageways. In general,
electric locomotives required wide
tunnels, and because they had long wheel -
bases and ran on broad -gauge track, they
were unable to negotiate the tight corners
typical of Western hardrock mines. While
the mighty machines were able to pull
significant numbers of loaded cars and
increase a mining company's economy of
scale, the physical limitations presented by
locomotives required engineers to
virtually preplan expansive underground
workings with broad curves, side tracks,
and areas to turn the locomotive around.
While such efforts were conducive for,
even typical of, coal mining, they were
not appropriate for the piecemeal work
endemic to Western hardrock mining.
A few prominent academic mining
engineers espoused the compressed air
locomotive, which saw limited use in
Western hardrock mines beginning in the
18905. This interesting contraption
consisted of a compressed air tank
fastened to a miniature steam locomotive
chassis. The tank forced air under
extremely high pressure into drive
cylinders that powered wheels in a fashion
almost identical to steam railroad engines.
Eastern mining engineers disliked the
locomotives, criticizing their need for an
expensive three to four stage compressor,
valves and fittings for charging the tank
with air, and a limited range of travel.
Western mining engineers rebuffed the
complaints, claiming that the machines
were well -suited for their mines. The
locomotives were able to negotiate tight
passageways, they had plenty of motive
power, they spread fresh air wherever
they went, some of the machines were
able to operate on the ubiquitous 18 inch
rail gauge, and they did not require
complex electrical circuitry. However,
compressed air locomotives were not
inexpensive, costing as much as their
electric cousins. True, the little engines
required a costly compressor capable of
delivering air at pressures of 700 to 1000
pounds per square inch. But most metal
mines large enough to warrant a
locomotive required a high-pressure
compressor to run rockdrills and other
air -driven machinery anyway. Such
arguments were a moot point for most
western trines, which continued to rely
primarily on the efforts of struggling
trammers, and occasionally on mules for
moving the heavy materials of mining.
During the Great Depression,
greater numbers of well -financed mining
companies relied on mechanical
locomotives in hopes of producing ore in
the high volumes necessary to make a
profit at that time, while many outfits
working medium-sized mines continued
21
Proposal Number P-814, Historical Context and Inventory, City of Fort Collins, Colorado
PAST PERFORMANCE
The following is a partial list of projects that SWCA have successfully completed over
the past three years for various local, state, and federal government agencies.
PROJECT: Pueblo Museum
CLIENT: Roybal Corporation, funded by a Colorado State Historical Fund Grant
CONTACT: Rick Kress 303.671.7400
SCOPE OF WORK: In the fall of 2001 SWCA completed Phase I of the archaeological
monitoring associated with the demolition and construction of the El Pueblo Museum. This
involved monitoring during the removal of all foundations and pavement and the excavation of the
foundation for the new facility.
PROJECT: Humphrey Memorial Park and Museum Preservation and Restoration Grant
CLIENT: Humphrey Memorial Park and Museum, funded by a Colorado State Historical Fund
Grant
CONTACT: Tracy Houston 303.674.5429
SCOPE OF WORK: During the fall of 2001, SWCA conducted inventory, testing, and monitoring
at the Humphrey Memorial Park and Museum in Evergreen. The testing was undertaken to
evaluate the potential for adverse effect on historic resources from proposed construction. The
entire property was also inventoried to identify any additional resources associated with the
museum house, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
PROJECT: MacGregor Ranch Agricultural Complex Preservation and Restoration Project
CLIENT: Muriel L. MacGregor Charitable Trust, funded by a Colorado State Historical Fund
Grant
CONTACT: Lori Mitchell 970.586.3749
SCOPE OF WORK: SWCA's involvement included monitoring of construction activities
associated with improvements to the facilities and structures on the ranch, and limited test
excavations. We examined postholes and trenches around outbuildings and monitored blading.
PROJECT: Church of the Transfiguration Monitoring and Testing
CLIENT: St. Marks Church, funded by a Colorado State Historical Fund Grant
CONTACT: Jeanne Maxwell 303.674.3687, 303.674.4904
SCOPE OF WORK: During the spring and summer of 2000, SWCA conducted test excavations at
the Church of the Transfiguration in Evergreen. The testing was undertaken to evaluate the
potential for adverse effect on historic resources from structural rehabilitation.
PROJECT: Cultural Resource Inventory of the North Table Mountain Open Space Property
CLIENT: Jefferson County Open Space
CONTACT: Frank Kunze 303.271.5983
SCOPE OF WORK: Class III cultural resource inventory of 1481 acres on and around North
Table Mountain. This project is currently in progress.
PROJECT: Cultural Resource Inventory of Deer Creek Canyon Open Space Park
CLIENT: Jefferson County Open Space
CONTACT: Frank Kunze 303.271.5983
SCOPE OF WORK: Class III cultural resource inventory of 1562 acres within Deer Creek Canyon
Open Space Park. This project is currently in progress.
PROJECT: Cultural Resource Inventory of Reynolds Open Space Park
CLIENT: Jefferson County Open Space
CONTACT: Frank Kunze 303.271.5983
SCOPE OF WORK: Class III cultural resource inventory of 1260 acres within the Reynolds Open
Space Park. This project is currently in progress.
SWCA Inc. - 7 -
the tradition of employing mules. For
mining companies with capital, electric
trolley locomotives remained popular
while compressed air and battery -
powered locomotives saw increased use.
Echoing the arguments of mining
engineers past, Western mining companies
operating during the Depression felt that
compressed air locomotives had the
advantage of being able to run on track
constructed with heavy rail spiked at 18
inch gauge, while electric trolley
locomotives required an expensive broad
gauge and heavier rail. Mining machinery
makers had reduced the costs and physical
sizes of battery -powered locomotives,
permitting them to also run on 18 inch
gauge track.
The West's small mines did not
have to worry about such issues because
The Mine Shop
During the Gilded Age, every
prospect operation and paying mine
required the services of a blacksmith who
maintained and fabricated equipment,
tools, and hardware. Most small prospect
operations lacked the capital and volume
of work to hire dedicated specialists, and
as a result one of the crewmembers
comprising the outfit served as a miner
when not working in the shop. The
common rate for driving a prospect adit
with hand -drills and dynamite in hard rock
was approximately one to three feet per
10 hour shift. Over the course of such a
day miners drilled numerous blast -holes
and blunted drill -steels in substantial
quantities. For this reason, the
blacksmith's primary duty was to sharpen
the steels."
To permit the blacksmith to work
in foul weather, mining companies erected
locomotives and the necessary
improvements to the rail lines were well
beyond their financial means. These
companies continued the ages -old method
of relying on the power of rrners to move
cars. During the capital -scarce times of
the Depression, these outfits constructed
rail lines out of whatever rails and ties
they were able to salvage. They
straightened bent rails, they used large
nails instead of proper rail spikes, and
they fashioned ties from a variety of
pieces of lumber. To save materials,
impoverished mining outfits spaced the
ties far apart, they spliced rails of varying
lengths and weights into a single line, and
they broke connector plates that usually
featured four bolt holes in two to make
them join twice as many rails.
buildings to shelter the shop. The shop
structure tended to be small, simple, and
rough, and operations lacking capital
often relied on local building materials
such as hewn logs or dry -laid rock
masonry. Prospecting and mining outfits
almost invariably located the blacksmith
shop adjacent to the adit portal to
minimize handling heavy batches of dull
drill -steels.
Sharpening drill -steels was a
delicate and exacting process that
required an experienced mine blacksmith.
Drill -steels, specialized tools that
withstood the brutal work of mining, were
of the utmost importance for driving
underground workings. Miners used
them to bore blast -holes, which was the
primary method of breaking ground in
Western mines. These unique tools were
made of hardened hexagonal or octagonal
I
22
?' to 1'/, inch -diameter bars of high -
quality steel, and miners always used them
in graduated sets. Starter -steels, also
known as bull steels, were often twelve -
inches long, but numerous trips to the
blacksmith's forge reduced them to as
short as eight inches, and the rest of the
steels followed in successive six to ten -
inch increments. With each increase in
length, a steel's blade decreased slightly in
width, ensuring that it did not wedge tight
in the drill -hole. Generally, drill -steels for
single jacking were no longer than three
feet, and the longest steels used for
double jacking were usually four to six
feet long.
Sharpening drill -steels began at
the forge, where the blacksmith carefully
arranged a layer of fuel over the gravel
bed surrounding the tuyere. The choice
of fuel for working iron was limited to a
few sources that were clean -burning,
fairly inexpensive, and easily sacked for
transportation. Prior to the 1870s
blacksmiths heavily used wood charcoal,
but they substituted coke and
metallurgical coal, also known as forge
coal, by the 1880s. Metallurgical coal
included anthracite, semi -anthracite, and
unusually pure bituminous coals, all other
grades of coal having too much sulfur and
other impurities. While metallurgical coal
burned relatively cleanly, over time it left
deposits of ash and clinker in the forge.
Clinker is a residue which appears dark,
vitreous, and glassy. Further, clinker
possesses a scoria -like texture which
formed in nodules up to three-quarters of
an inch in diameter. The soot -smudged
blacksmith had to periodically clean this
nuisance out, and he either dumped it on
the shop floor or threw it out of the
building's doorway.
After the blacksmith received a
load of dull steels, he either pumped a
bellows or slowly turned a hand -blower
connected to the tuyere, which fed
oxygen to the fire. As the fire grew hot
and began consuming fuel, he used a
forge sprinkler to create a perimeter of
wet coal to stop the fire from spreading.
Blacksmiths often made forge sprinklers
from food cans by perforating the bottom
with many small holes. The smith placed
the ends of several drill -steels in the
center of the fire until they grew almost
white-hot. One by one he extracted them,
hammered the blade against the step
between the heel and top face of the anvil
to reform the drift's sharp angle of attack,
placed the steels back in the fire, and
repeated the process using a special
swage fitted into a socket in the anvil.
The swage had a better -defined crevice,
which gave the final steep profile to the
sharpened blade. The steels went back
into the fire yet again, and the denizen of
the shop extracted them one -at -a -time for
quenching in a small tank of cool water.
Quick submersion hardened the steel so it
would remain sharp. A second, slower
immersion tempered the steel, adjusting
the softness of the blade tip after
hardening, which prevented fragments
from spauling off in the drill -hole. In the
event the miners had managed to crack or
damage the drill -steel blade, the
blacksmith heated it white-hot and upset
the steel before sharpening, meaning he
used a cold chisel to cut off the damaged
end. After upsetting the tip, the smith had
to reform a fresh cutting end.
To temper a drill -steel, the
blacksmith extracted it from the fire again
while it was in a white-hot state and
briefly immersed the blade in the
quenching tank, quickly extracted it, and
permitted the steel to cool in the open air.
The incandescent colors of the steel
changed as it cooled, and when it reached
23
the desired temperature, as indicated by
color, the blacksmith plunged it into the
quenching tank to arrest the cooling.
During the time the steel lay in the open,
the skin cooled faster than the core and
turned brown to gray, masking over the
steel's true incandescent colors. To
examine the colors of the inner steel, the
blacksmith rubbed the blade on either a
brick or whetstone, which scratched off
the grayish scale.
Blacksmiths at small operations
required few tools and much skill for their
work. A typical basic field shop
associated with prospect operations
consisted of a forge, bellows or blower,
anvil, anvil block, quenching tank, several
hammers, tongs, a swage, a cutter, a
chisel, a hacksaw, snips, a small drill, a
workbench, iron stock, hardware, and
basic woodworking tools. Prior to the
1910s some mining outfits working deep
in the backcountry far from commercial
centers dispensed with factory -made
forges, both to save money and because
they were cumbersome to pack, and used
local building materials to make a
vernacular forge. The most popular type
of custom-made forge consisted of a
gravel -filled dry -laid rock enclosure
usually 3 by 3 feet in area and 2 feet high.
Miners working in forested regions
substituted small hewn log walls for rock.
A tuyere, often made of a 2 foot length of
pipe with a hole punched through the
side, was carefully embedded in the
gravel, and its function was to direct the
air blast from the blower or bellows
upward into the fire in the forge.13
The shops that served prospect
operations were inadequate to handle the
materials of larger, productive mines.
The size of a shop and its appliances were
functions of capital, levels of ore
production, and the era during which it
was built. The shops at small mines
typically featured a forge and blower in
one comer of the structure, an anvil and
quenching tank next to the forge. a work
bench with a vice located along one of the
walls, and a lathe and drill -press. Rarely
did shops at small mines include power
appliances; instead, most of these shops
were equipped with manually operated
machinery.
A greater availability and
affordability of steam engines, air
compressors, and electricity during the
1890s brought power appliances within
reach of modestly firnded miring
operations. By the time mining
commenced at Creede, typical shops at
medium-sized hardrock mines featured
traditional labor-intensive facilities
occasionally augmented with between one
and several power appliances. Such
shops were equipped with at least one
forge, an accompanying blower, an anvil,
a quenching tank, two stout workbenches,
a lathe, a drill -press, and array of machine
and carpentry tools. Because medium-
sized mines had materials handling needs
exceeding those at small mines, associated
forges were typically either a 4 by 4 foot
free-standing iron pan model, a gravel -
filled iron tank 4 feet in diameter and 2
feet high, or a 3 by 3 foot gravel -filled
wood box. Blacksmiths often lined their
pan forges with firebricks and poured a
thin cap of grout over their tank and box
forges, which provided a sound bed for
the fuel, focused the flow of oxygen
toward the fire, and facilitated removal of
residue and clinker. The lathes and drill -
presses may have been power -driven at
mines in developed mining districts, and
manually powered at remote mines. In
addition to the above appliances, many
shops at large mines were also equipped
with a mechanical saw, a grinder, and a
,4
I
in southern Missouri, telecommunication and residential projects in Colorado, and
pipeline and geophysical prospecting projects in southwestern Wyoming.
Environmental Impact Analysis, U.S. Highway 71, Missouri Highway and
Transportation Department and the Federal Highway Administration,1993, McDonald,
Newton, and Jasper Counties, Missouri. Mr. Martin prepared a section of an EIS for the
four proposed U.S. Highway 71 alternate corridors from the Arkansas -Missouri State line
to Joplin, Missouri. The section of the EIS addressed historic properties and Native
American concerns.
Environmental Impact Analysis, U.S. Highway 60, Missouri Highway and
Transportation Department and the Federal Highway Administration, 1991, Newton
County, Missouri. Mr. Martin prepared portions of an EA for five alternatives of the
Shoal Creek Bridge replacement corridor in eastern Newton County, Missouri. The
section addressed historic properties and Native American concerns. The EA was
accepted by the Federal Highway Administration.
Environmental Impact Analysis, Pioneer Pipe Line Expansion, Bureau of Land
Management, Southwest Wyoming. Mr. Martin prepared portions of an EA for the
Pioneer Pipe Line Expansion project in southwest Wyoming. The sections addressed a
variety of cultural resources, including prehistoric archaeological sites and historic trails,
REGULATORY EXPERIENCE
f Major environmental regulations with which Mr. Martin has experience include the
following:
National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA), as amended (42 USC §4321 et
Seq.)
Antiquities Act of 1906, as amended (16 USC §431 et seq.)
Archaeological Resources Protection Act (ARPA) of 1979, as amended
(16 USC §470aa-47011)
National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) of 1966, as amended (16 USC § 470 et seq.)
➢ Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) of 1990, as
amended (25 USC §3001-3013).
PROFESSIONAL HONORS/AFFILIATIONS
Plains Anthropological Society
Society for American Archaeology
PUBLICATIONS
Martin, William
1991 Test Excavations at Area A of the Steelville Ford Site 23CR241/289, Missouri
Archaeological Society Quarterly, April -June, pp. 8-15,17-19.
Martin, W., Page 5
(r. n/vS)
pipe threader, which may have been
power -driven. 9
The physical composure of a shop
building reflects the financial state of a
mining company. Outfits with limited
financing used local building materials,
while well -capitalized mining companies
with access to commercial centers often
erected dimension lumber frame buildings.
One trait shared by most shops was the
use of windows to afford natural light to
permit the blacksmith to see what he was
doing through the smoke and soot. Due
to the risk of fire started by loose embers,
the floors of most blacksmith shops at adit
mines were earthen. The blacksmith
arranged the shop interior to suit the
cramped space, usually scattering his
tools on the workbench and forge,
arranging iron stock and hardware inside
and outside the shop building, and he kept
his coal either in a sack or wood box near
the forge.
In the tradition of Western mining,
the primary function of shop laborers at
substantial mines continued to be drill -
steel sharpening. But the mechanization
of mining during this time period required
the sooty blacksmiths to change their
sharpening methods, as well as their
materials handling processes. The most
significant changes came about as a result
of the widespread embrace of
compressed -air powered rockdrills to
bore blast -holes underground. While the
machines proved to be a mixed blessing
for their operators, generating silicosis -
causing rockdust and being backbreaking
to handle, they were a boon for shop
workers. The noisy and greasy machines
produced volumes of dulled steels and
broken fittings. Contrary to today's
popular misconceptions, rockdrills
replaced hand -drilling wholesale in
Western mines by the late 1910s, and not
earlier as supposed. The conversion
evolved over the course of 30 years,
progressing more rapidly among well -
financed mining companies than at small
operations. During the conversion period
blacksmiths became proficient in
sharpening both hand -steels and machine
drill -steels, each of which had specific
requirements.20
The large volume of dull rockdrill
steels, machine repair work, and the
manufacture of fittings constituted a
heavy workload for shop workers. In an
effort to facilitate the completion of
projects in a timely manner, miring
companies usually hired a blacksmith and
a helper for metalwork, and a carpenter
and another assistant for woodwork. In
terms of metalworking, the blacksmith's
helper proved to be particularly
important. Blacksmiths had traditionally
sharpened hand -steels alone because the
implements were relatively short, fight,
and easily managed. But this was not the
case with machine drill -steels, which were
made of heavy iron rods up to eight feet
in length, and blacksmiths quickly found
them to be ungainly to handle.21
Before discussing the specific
processes blacksmiths employed for
sharpening machine drill -steels, it is
important to become familiar with the
basic forms commonly used by Western
mines prior to World War II. Simon
Ingersoll and the Rand brothers
introduced the first commercial rock
drilling machines in the early 1870s.
Termed by mining machinery makers the
piston drill, the early rockdrills consisted
of a compressed air -powered piston in a
tubular body, with a drill -steel chuck cast
as part of the piston. As the piston
chugged back and forth at the rate of
several hundred cycles per second, it
repeatedly rammed a drill -steel against the
25
rock in a manner similar to a high-speed
battering ram. When in operation the
mechanical drill also imparted a spinning
motion to the piston and drill -steel to
keep the hole round and prevent the steel
from wedging tight.
It may be apparent to the reader
that drill -steels used in conjunction with
the heavy machines were specialized
implements that had to withstand
tremendous forces. As early as the 1870s
machine runners, also known as machine
men, found that single -blade cutting bits
like those used for hand -drilling dulled
quickly, impeded progress, and interfered
with the rotation imparted by the
machine. The most effective bit proved to
be a cruciform shape where two chisel
blades crossed in dead center. This star
bit better withstood the punishment of
being rammed against rock, it cut faster,
and was conducive to rotation. The butt
of rockdrill steels was round to fit into the
drill chuck, and the steel was usually
made from 1 to 1'/2 inch hexagonal steel
rod stock.12
Many miners found that piston
drills had severe limitations and
inconveniences. For example, every time
the chuck tender, the machine runner's
assistant, changed a dull steel for a fresh
one, he had to use a heavy wrench to
unbolt the chuck shackle, trade steels, and
refasten the nuts using tremendous
strength. In addition, miners were ready
to admit that the monstrous piston drills
were exceedingly heavy, often weighing
between 200 and 350 pounds without
accessories, and their drilling speeds were
limited. George Leyner, Denver
machinist and former Colorado hardrock
miner, invented a superior rockdrill in
1893 that was based on a mechanical
simulation of double jacking. Instead of
repeatedly ramming the rock as did piston
drills, Leyner's drill employed a loose
piston known as a hammer which cycled
back and forth inside the drill and struck
the butt -end of the drill steel, which rested
loosely in the chuck. Like most rockdrill
makers, Leyner designed his drill for
positive chuck rotation to make round
holes and to keep the drill -steel from
jamming. Leyner patented the first
marketable hammer drill in 1897 and
began producing an improved version in
1899.13
During the 1900s and into the
1910s Leyner's drill began finding great
favor with the hardrock mining industry.
Time and again miners demonstrated that
hammer drills bored holes faster than
piston drills, and miners found them easier
to work with in terms of changing steels.
All the chuck tender had to do was give
the dull drill -steel a twist to unlock it, and
twist in a fresh drill -steel; no longer did
miners have to deal with clumsy shackle
bolts. Leyner's steels were made of 1'/4
inch round bar stock, and they featured
star -shaped cutting bits like piston drill
steels. A crew of two miners was
necessary to handle Leyner's machine,
and it too had the drawback of running
dry like the old piston drills. To this
regard Leyner devised a hollow drill -steel
which jetted water into the drill -hole
while the drill was running, allaying rock
dust. Leyner's technology gradually
caught on throughout the mining industry
until, by the mid-1910s, drill companies
were curtailing the manufacture of piston
drills in favor of the hammer drill.
During the time spanning 1897 to
1912, mechanical engineers introduced a
number of new types of rockdrills utilizing
Leyner's hammer principle. The first new
drill was the stoper, which was a light-
weight machine designed to bore holes
upward. The stoper's main significance
26
lay in that it was the first self-contained
power drill portable and operable by one
man. Early stopers lacked a chuck
rotation mechanism, and as a result the
miners running them had to use a long
handle that extended out of the machine's
body to turn the unit side to side to keep
the drill -hole round. Miners and stoper
manufacturers found that the best type of
drill -steel proved to be cruciform in
shape, which prevented the steel from
twisting and jamming in the machine.
In 1912 Ingersoll-Rand, formed by
the 1906 merger of the Rand and
Ingersoll companies, developed a
revolutionary hammer drill for boring
down -holes. Known among miners
generically as a plugger, shaft sinker, and
as simply a sinker, Ingersoll-Rand named
its model the Jackhammer, which is the
origin of the slang name used today. The
machine consisted of a gracile hammer
drill fitted with handles, and a mechanism
for rotating the chuck. The relatively
small hand-held machine required a drill -
steel lighter than those used with the
larger Leyner hammer drill, and Ingersoll-
Rand and subsequent manufacturers
found that 7/8 inch hexagonal bar steel
proved best. The butt of sinker steels was
hexagonal and featured a collar that fit
into a special hinged clamp. Like all of
the other types of drills, miners used
graduated sets of drill -steels in
conjunction with the sinker machines.
During the 1910s hammer drill technology
had mushroomed, and as a result drill
manufacturers experimented with several
alternative forms of drill -steels.
Manufacturers settled on round,
hexagonal, and square varieties. By
around 1930 they ceased production of
cruciform steel.
Regardless of the specific type of
stock that a drill -steel had been made
from, the blacksmith had to confront the
problem of sharpening the star cutting bit.
As with hand steels, the blacksmith had to
place the machine steels in the forge to
heat them to the proper temperature. He
simply laid short steels on the forge, but
he had to use either a special stand or a
long hook suspended from the building's
roof rafters to support drill -steels in
excess of three feet long. When the
blacksmith extracted a steel from the
forge with the intent of dressing the bit,
he used a tool known as both a swage,
and as a dressing dolly, to resurface the
star's cutting edges. If the drill -steel
arrived in the shop with a chipped or
cracked bit, the blacksmith upset the
damaged portion by using a chisel to cut
it off, and he hammered out a new end
with enough flare to facilitate creation of
a star bit. The blacksmith also ensured
that he had centered the star, that the
blades were uniform in width, and that the
butt of the steel was smooth and
symmetrical. After he had dressed the bit,
the blacksmith filed imperfections out of
the blades, followed by tempering and
hardening. All through this process the
helper assisted the blacksmith when
handling long steels.21
Some companies running medium-
sized mines supplied their blacksmiths
with an appliance known as a backing
block to ease the difficulties of sharpening
unwieldy machine drill -steels. Ordinarily,
the blacksmithing team had to act in close
concert when sharpening machine steels.
The helper leaned the red-hot drill -steel
against the anvil located adjacent to the
forge and braced it with both hands while
the blacksmith dressed the bit with a
dolly. However the propensity of the
steel to slide, sway, and move under the
blacksmith's blows, and the giving nature
of the shop's earthen floor presented
27
problems that often resulted in poor
sharpening. A backing block provided a
sound platform for drill -steels, permitting
blacksmith teams to better dress bits in
less time. Backing blocks consisted of a
Ions rectangular bar of iron, often 4x4
inches in cross-section and up to 8 feet
long, divoted with 1'/ inch diameter holes
spaced every half foot. The iron bar was
firmly anchored in the ground and it
extended outward from the anvil block.
To use it, the blacksmith's helper placed
the butt of a red-hot drill -steel in one of
the block's divots and leaned the steel's
neck against the anvil to permit the
blacksmith to dress the bit. The backing
block provided sound resistance to the
blacksmith's heavy blows while holding
the drill -steel in place. Each divot in the
backing block accommodated a different
length of drill -steel, from two foot starter -
steels to ten -foot finishing steels. These
ingenious appliances began appearing
during the 1890s in the shops of medium-
sized and large mines where rockdrills
were used. Mining companies with
sufficient capital purchased factory -made
cast-iron models, while penny pinching
outfits engaged their shop workers to
forge their own from scrap iron such as
salvaged railroad rail.zs
In the first decade of the twentieth
century the largest of the Western mines,
where up to hundreds of miners dulled
carloads of drill -steels per shift, attempted
to mechanize the sharpening process in
hopes of drastically increasing the
efficiency of the harried shop crew. The
well -financed mining companies
purchased, seemingly on an experimental
basis, compressed air powered drill -steel
sharpening machines, which had just
been released onto the market by
manufacturers such as T.H. Proske in
Denver and the Compressed Air
Machinery Company in San Francisco.
The early drill -steel sharpeners, similar in
appearance to large horizontal lathes,
consisted of a cradle approximately eight
feet long and a tall sharpening mechanism
which stood on several legs bolted to a
substantial foundation. A blacksmith
operated the sharpener by clamping a red-
hot drill -steel into a small sliding carriage
on the cradle, he pushed the steel under
the sharpening mechanism, and locked it
in place. The shop worker threw a lever
that activated a modified piston drill fixed
onto the machine's end, which hammered
the red-hot end of the dulled steel with a
special swage. Most of the early drill -
steel sharpeners also featured a second
piston drill mounted overhead, which
used a special chisel bit to upset the dull
steel, should it have any significant
defects.
Manufacturers advertised their
sharpeners as streamlining the sharpening
process while reducing costs.. Drill -steel
sharpeners were operable by one man,
they had the capacity to replace the
traditional crew of blacksmith and helper,
and with a change of dies they could have
been used to sharpen hand -steels and pick
tines. Even though the drill -steel
sharpeners cost in the hundreds of dollars
at tum-of-the-century prices, they proved
economical and grew in popularity.
Leading rockdrill makers,
including the Sullivan Machinery
Company of New Hampshire, the
Ingersoll-Rand Drill Company, and the
Denver Rock Drill Company introduced
competing units during the early 1910s
that had abandoned the lathe -like sliding
track and large piston drill swages. The
new drill -steel sharpeners instead featured
a heavy compressed air -powered clamp
capable holding drill -steels of any length,
and they had small, light hammer drills to
28
work the swages. In addition,
manufacturers supplied interchangeable
dies that permitted shop workers to
sharpen any of the varieties of drill -steel
types used in the West at that time. The
net result of the changes in the form and
function of drill -steel sharpeners was a
reduction in the amount of floor space
they occupied, from at least 10 by 2 feet
in area to between 5 by 2 feet and 2.5 by
2.5 feet. The labor saving machines
primarily made themselves of value to
mining outfits because they drastically
reduced the time required to sharpen dull
drill -steels. They reduced the process to
less than one minute per steel, with the
potential to retouch up to 1015 dull drill -
steels in a nine hour shift. It stands as a
curious fact that many of these machines
had been designed in Denver; Sullivan
purchased the Imperial sharpener from
T.H. Proske, Ingersoll-Rand used a
design manufactured by George Leyner,
and the Denver Rock Drill Company
produced the third machine.26
The reduction of size and price of
the new drill -steel sharpeners, and their
ease of use made them attractive to a
broad spectrum of medium-sized and
large mines. Both moderate and well -
financed mining companies with an
expectation of longevity installed the
improved drill -steel sharpeners with
increased frequency through the 1910s.
Most small mining companies with limited
funds, on the other hand, did not purchase
drill -steel sharpeners because such outfits
lacked available capital, their miners were
unlikely to generate enough dull steels to
justify the expense, and they did not
possess adequate air compressors.
Instead, they relied on traditional forge
sharpening methods.
Particularly large and highly
profitable mining companies, usually
backed by significant capital, were able to
afford the costs associated with building
highly mechanized and heavily equipped
shops. Progressive mining engineers and
shop superintendents suggested that shop
facilities be arranged according to the
stages drill -steels underwent during
sharpening. The bulk of the appliances,
according to the engineers, should have
been in order of forge, drill -steel
sharpener, another forge for tempering,
quenching tank, grinder, and finally
finished drill -steel rack. Such an
arrangement of shop appliances required a
spacious building, at least 50 by 30 feet in
area, and particularly large shops included
multiple sharpening circuits. These shops
were also equipped for heavy machine
work, and in accordance they featured
power appliances, a mine rail line running
through the interior, and one to several
small boom derricks for moving heavy
items.27
Mining ' engineers and shop
superintendents at large mining operations
also installed power hammers to permit a
single blacksmith to do some types of
fabrication work that usually required a
team of two. Shop superintendents
overseeing the best mines in the West
installed factory -made steam or
compressed air -powered models, which
consisted of a heavy plate iron table fixed
to the top of a cast iron pedestal, and a
piston hammer that pounded items with
tremendous force. These hammers were
expensive to purchase and transport, they
occupied the same area as a drill -steel
sharpener, and they weighed several tons.
Many engineers, especially seasoned self-
made individuals, were unwilling to spend
the considerable quantities of capital
required to install expensive factory -made
hammers, yet they recognized the
usefulness of such a power appliance.
29
The alternative they employed consisted
of affixing a heavily worn but operational
piston drill onto a stout vertical timber.
The old drill stood over a plate iron table
fastened onto the top of a truncated
timber post often 1 to 2 feet high, and
when a shop worker threw the air valve
open, the drill's piston chuck rapidly
Plan View
tapped the iron table. Usually a special
hammerhead fitting had been clamped into
the chuck to facilitate blacksmith work,
and in rare cases the shop superintendent
had the drill suspended from a special
track hanging from the building's rafters
for mobility.23
Figure 4.3 The line drawing depict the types of forges commonly employed at blacksmith shops.
Clockwise: a portable pan forge, a second portable pan forge, a vernacular dry -laid rock forge, a collapsed
rock forge as they often appear today, and a vernacular log cribbing forge. EL1J 1016/17', Author.
,0
Proposal Number P-814, Historical Context and Inventory, City of Fort Collins, Colorado
PROJECT: Cultural Resource Inventory of the Stockwell Open Space Property
CLIENT: Jefferson County Open Space
CONTACT: Frank Kunze 303.271.5983
SCOPE OF WORK: Class III cultural resource inventory of 1450 acres within the Stockwell Open
Space Property. This project is currently in progress.
PROJECT: Cultural Resource Inventory of Roaborough State Park
CLIENT: Colorado State Parks, funded by a Colorado State Historical Fund Grant
CONTACT: Susan Trumble 303.973.3959
SCOPE OF WORK: SWCA completed a Class III cultural resource inventory of 1950 acres
within Roxborough State Park. A total of 24 cultural resources were identified within the project
area including eight prehistoric isolated finds, six prehistoric sites, and ten historic sites. Six
previously recorded sites, four prehistoric and two historic, were also revisited.
PROJECT: Cultural Resource Inventory of East Canyon Preservation Area, Castlewood Canyon
State Park
CLIENT: Douglas County Open Space, Colorado State Parks, funded by a Colorado State
Historical Fund Grant
CONTACT: Toby Sprunk 303.660.7495, Heather Disney 303.688.5242
SCOPE OF WORK: Class III cultural resource inventory of 602 acres within the East Canyon
Preservation Area for Castlewood Canyon State Park. A total of three prehistoric isolated finds,
eight prehistoric sites, one historic site, and two multi -component sites that include both historic
and prehistoric material was evaluated during this project.
PROJECT: Cultural Resource Inventory of Pine Valley Ranch Open Space Park
CLIENT: Jefferson County Open Space
CONTACT: Frank Kunze 303.271.5983
SCOPE OF WORK: Class III cultural resource inventory of 820 acres within Pine Valley Ranch
Open Space Park. A total of 3 historic isolated finds, 3 historic sites, and 1 previously recorded
sites was evaluated during this project.
PROJECT: Cultural Resource Inventory of Coal Creek Canyon Open Space Park
CLIENT: Jefferson County Open Space
CONTACT: Frank Kunze 303.271.5983
SCOPE OF WORK: Class III cultural resource inventory of 2,139 acres within Coal Creek
Canyon Open Space Park. A total of 12 historic isolated finds, 10 historic sites was evaluated
during this project.
PROJECT: Cultural Resource Inventory the Centennial Cone Open Space Property
CLIENT: Jefferson County Open Space
CONTACT: Frank Kunze 303.271.5983
SCOPE OF WORK: Class III cultural resource inventory of 2939 acres within the Centennial
Cone Open Space Property. Two prehistoric isolated finds, 14 historic isolated finds, and 14
historic sites, and 3 stone alignments were evaluated during this project.
PROJECT: Cultural Resource Inventory of Mount Falcon Open Space Park
CLIENT: Jefferson County Open Space
CONTACT: Frank Kunze 303.271.5983
SCOPE OF WORK: Class III cultural resource inventory of 1,505 acres within Mt. Falcon Park.
A total of 16 isolated finds, 11 historic sites, and 1 previously recorded site was evaluated during
this project.
PROJECT: Cultural Resource Inventory of Matthews/Winters Open Space Park
CLIENT: Jefferson County Open Space
CONTACT: Frank Kunze 303.271.5983
SWCA Inc. - 8 -
Profile or Forge
Figure 4.4 At left is a profile of a vernacular gravel -filled wood box forge, and at right is a plan view.
The forge has a grout cap with a hole at center, which permits an air blast to pass up into the coals.
Author.
Prank of Anvil Block
�+— -1ft
Figure 4.5 The line drawings illustrate appliances common to mine shops. Left to right: a hand -powered
blower for a forge, a profile of an anvil block and forge bellows for a forge. Mine & Smeller Supply.
1912 p724; Author.
31
Figure 4.6 At upper left is a set of drill -steels that miners used to bore blast -holes by hand. At right is a
set of drill -steels used in conjunction with mechanical compressed air piston drills.
Figure 4.7 The line drawing depicts the interior of the blacksmith shops typical of medium-sized to small
mines. The consists of basic appliances, including a tank forge. an anvil on an anvil block, and bellows.
32
Figure 4.8 The line drawings illustrate a set of tools that blacksmiths used to sharpen machine drill -
steels. Swages a, d, and h fit into a socket in an anvil, and swages b, c, e, f, and g were fixed onto
hammer handles. The blacksmith used swages g and h to dress the drill -steel butt, swages a and f to
sharpen the star bit, and the other swages to manufacture new bits from scratch. International Textbook
Company, 1907 A35 p36.
Figure 4.9 Blacksmiths used backing blocks to brace red-hot machine drill -steels for sharpening. As the
profile illustrates, the blacksmith placed the steel's butt into a receptacle in the backing block and leaned
the steel's neck against the anvil. When his assistant braced the steel, the blacksmith used a swage to
reform the bit. Engineering & MIning Journal, 1916 p14.
33
Mine Ventilation
The use of explosives for blasting,
open flame lights, and the respiration of
laboring miners turned the atmosphere in
underground workings into an intolerably
stifling and even poisonous environment.
Ventilating mine workings was not an
easy proposition, but it was necessary.
Many mining outfits completely ignored
the problem until the workings attained
significant length, and even then efforts
were feeble at best. Mining engineers
approached the ventilation problem by
relying on one or a combination of two
basic systems. The first, passive
ventilation, relied on natural air currents
to remove foul air, but it proved marginal
to ineffective in dead-end workings.
Mechanically assisted systems, the
second, were expensive and intended for
production -class plants. As a result they
were rarely used at prospect adits.
Necessity being the mother of
invention, prospecting outfits employed
several variations of ventilation systems
that cleverly combined passive and
mechanical means. One of the simplest
semi -mechanical ventilation systems
consisted of a canvas windsock fastened
to a wooden pole. The windsock
collected air wafted by breezes and
directed it through either canvas tubing or
stovepipes into the underground
workings. The obvious drawback to the
system was poor performance on calm
days, forcing miners to work in
suffocating gases. Prospecting outfits
employed another semi -mechanical
system in which they linked the air intake
on a stove or furnace to tubing ducted
into the workings. A surface worker
stoked a fire in the stove, which drew foul
air out of the underground through the
ducting. While this system was simple
and ingenious, most prospecting outfits
declined to take the trouble of setting it
`
up.`9
Some Western prospecting
operations were adamant about providing
adequate ventilation, and they used
primitive mechanical systems. These
outfits installed large forge bellows' and
small hand -turned blowers at the mouths
of adits, and used stovepipes or canvas
tubing to duct the air into the workings.
Bellows' effectively ventilated shallow
workings, but they lacked the pressure to
clear gases out of relatively deep adits and
shafts. Hand-tumed blowers cost more
money and took greater effort to pack to
a prospect operation, but they forced foul
air much more surely from workings.
The simple windsocks and hand -
turned mechanical blowers that had
worked for prospect operations were not
effective for the workings comprising
medium-sized and large trines. Mining
engineers applied several better methods
for providing the miners with fresh air.
One of the most popular systems involved
relying on passive ventilation, which
required an incast air current balanced by
an outcast current laden with the bad air.
Multiple mine openings proved to be the
most effective means of achieving a
flushing current, and temperature and
pressure differentials acted as the driving
forces that moved the air.30
In most busy mining districts
where operations were spaced close
together, such as at Creede, mining
companies ordinarily at odds with one
another cooperated in terms of ventilation
and linked their workings together to
attain multiple openings. But at isolated
operations with no neighbors this was not
an option, and instead some mining
34
engineers put drilling and blasting crews
to work driving air shafts upward from
deep within the underground workings.
Such shafts both improved the air flow
through the mine, and they served as
secondary entrances For efficient
movement of miners and materials into
the upper levels. When an adit had been
linked to a shaft, the temperature
differential between the mine's interior
environment and the surface conditions
became the greatest mover of air. During
the warm months of summer the relatively
heavy cool, humid mine air flowed out of
the adit, drawing fresh air down the shaft,
and during the frigid winter geothennally
heated air rose up the shaft and drew
fresh air in through the adit. Many
professionally trained mining engineers
felt that natural ventilation had a limited
effect because the incast and outcast
currents changed direction through the
mine seasonally, they fluctuated with the
weather, and they rarely reached the
dead-end workings where miners spent
most of their time.31
Mechanical ventilation, on the
other hand, was more effective, but also it
was much more expensive. At large
mines where underground work generated
a considerable volume of foul air, using
mechanical ventilation to permanently
direct the outcast current through a
secondary opening was important. The
flow of concentrated gases could have
rendered main haulage ways, such as
Creede's Nelson, Commodor, and
Bachelor tunnels, intolerable for man and
beast.
Many mines featuring three or
more openings to ground surface, be they
shafts or stopes where miners had
followed the ore to daylight, had
inconsistent ventilation. Air currents
short-circuited work areas by following
the shortest path through the mine. To
address this problem, miners installed air -
control doors at strategic intersections
within the mine, and at the adit portal.
Miners customarily made the doors with
boards, they hinged them to vemacular
jambs, and they filled the gaps with
custom -cut lumber, rags, and burlap.
Opening and closing specific doors had
the effect of routing the air current
through the desired portion of the mine,
expelling foul gases. Many large
abandoned mines in the West existing
today still feature air -control doors inside,
as well as fastened to the portals of adits
and the collars of shafts. Generally the
visitor to a mine site can interpret such
evidence to mean the mine possessed
voluminous and complex underground
workings, and probably more than two
openings.
Out of laziness, ignorance, or
economic necessity some mining
engineers claimed that the continuous
flow of air emitted by one or two
rockdrills run by miners provided
sufficient ventilation. While this may have
been true for short tunnels and drifts, this
method proved inadequate in long
tunnels, which filled with unbreathable
and poisonous gases following the end -of -
shift blast. The exhaust from drills was
inadequate in volume, and it was often
tainted with oil vapors.
One of the most popular and
genuinely effective approaches for
ventilating deep tunnels in the West, when
natural ventilation was impractical, lay in
employing power -driven fans and
blowers. Mining machinery
manufacturers offered engineers three
basic varieties of blowers in a multitude of
sizes. Engineers had termed the first
design, which dates back to the Comstock
era, the centrifugal fan, and miners knew
35
it as the squirrel cage fan. This machine
consisted of a ring of vanes fixed to a
central axle, much like a steam boat
paddle wheel. The fan, turning at a high
speed, drew air in through an opening
around the axle and blew it through a port
extending out of the shroud.
Manufacturers produced centrifugal fans
in sizes ranging from one to over ten feet
in diameter. The small units were
employed for both mining and a variety of
other purposes such as ventilating
industrial structures, and the largest units
were rarely used in the Western mines,
being employed principally to force foul
air and explosive gases out of large coal
mines in the East and Midwest. The exact
name engineers gave to a centrifugal fan
was a function of the direction the
outflow port faced, for example a fan with
a port that pointed upward was a top
discharge fan, and a unit with a port
pointing to the tunnel portal was a front
discharge fan. The second type of fan
engineers commonly employed to
ventilate tunnels also acted on centrifugal
principles, but it consisted of a narrow
ring of long vanes encased within a
curvaceous cast iron housing. The
propeller fan, the third type of blower,
was similar to modem household fans,
and they too were enclosed in shrouds.
Mining engineers made use of the
most cost-effective power source
available in the mining district to drive
ventilation fans. Until around 1910, the
most common power source that mining
companies relied on during the Gilded
Age consisted of an upright steam engine.
But as the twentieth century unfolded,
steam saw heavy competition from
electricity in well -developed mining
districts such as Creede, and from gas
engines in remote regions. Each of the
three motive sources mentioned turned
fans via canvas belting.
Miners' need for fresh air
underground was one factor in hardrock
work that remained unchanged when
mining revived in Creede and elsewhere
during the Great Depression. The nature
of the ventilation systems mining
companies erected to supply their miners
with fresh air during the 1930s bore great
resemblance to the systems used by
mining companies in decades past. One
difference between the new and the older
mining operations, however, was that the
use of fans for blowing air into dead-end
workings had greatly increased.
Figure 4.10 The drawing illustrates a centrifugal
blower with a direct -drive electric motor.
International Textbook Company, 1899 Ad 1
p146.
36
A
Regardless, during the 1930s
mining companies and partnerships
attempted to make -do with natural
ventilation when at all possible, because
the cost of inducing natural air currents
cost little. To the relief of mining
companies rehabilitating abandoned mines
in districts with developed mimes, such as
Creede, the nineteenth century operations
had made the necessary underground
connections with neighboring properties,
which had the effect of creating natural air
currents. All the Depression -era
operation need do to maintain the natural
air circulation was ensure that the drifts
and crosscuts interlinking neighboring
mines remained open.
Mining engineers during the
Gilded Age and into the Great Depression
continued the practice of installing the fan
immediately outside of the adit portal or
shaft collar. Many of the fans used in
conjunction with tunnels were belt -driven
by a motor and had been anchored to
portland concrete foundations with four
bolts. During this time mining engineers
found that using portable fans placed
inside of mine workings also afforded
ventilation at little cost.'z
The method of sending the fresh
air into the mine through heavy
galvanized ducting had changed little from
the Gilded Age practices. Depression -era
miners usually hung the tube work with
bailing wires fastened onto wedges driven
into the tunnel ceiling, or lashed it to shaft
timbers. Mining outfits with access to
only modest capital found it economical
to salvage ducting that was even remotely
serviceable from neighboring abandoned
mines. Miners attempted to hammer
dents out of the tubing and seal holes and
joints with metal sleeves, burlap, canvas,
and tar. As a result the mechanized
ventilation systems installed by .
moderately sized Depression -era mining
outfits appeared rough and were not as
efficient as they could have been, but they
performed their necessary duty. The
evidence remaining from a mechanical
ventilation system that today's visitor to a
Depression -era mine site is likely to
encounter consists of an artifact and
foundation assemblage similar to the
materials left by pre-1910s operations.
37
The Surface Plants for Shafts
The surface plants that miners
erected to support work in shafts
incorporated many of the same
components as those associated with adit
mines. Due to the vertical nature of
shafts, the surface plant had to necessarily
included a hoisting system, which
permitted the movement of miners and
materials in and out of the shaft. The type
of system that a mining operation selected
proved to be important because it both
governed the quantity of rock extracted
during a given shift, and depth at which
the company could have worked. Typical
hoisting systems installed by Western
prospect operations consisted of a hoist, a
headframe, a power source, and a hoisting
vehicle. The components of a hoisting
Shaft Form and Hoisting Vehicles
Experienced prospectors and
mining engineers recognized that crude
prospect shafts were inadequate for
anything other than a cursory examination
of the geology underground. In instances
where a prospecting outfit strongly
suspected or had confirmed the existence
of ore, they sank a better, more formal
shaft that was conducive to deep
exploration and even, the outfit hoped,
ore production. Between the 1880s and
1920s mining engineers were critical
toward distinguishing between temporary
shafts and production -class shafts.
The preference among prospectors
and engineers for a rectangular shape to
the shaft remained unchanged throughout
the Gilded Age. The rectangular shape
was standard among mining companies
system shared fundamental relationships
with each other, and they interfaced with
the other facilities comprising the surface
plant. For example, the type of hoist an
engineer selected influenced the type of
headframe, the power source, and the
transportation system he subsequently
installed. Yet, the greatest factors that
overshadowed the types of plant facilities
an engineer installed included the financial
state of the reining company, the
operation's physical accessibility, and the
quantity of proven ore. The following
section discusses the variety of the
hoisting systems available to mining
companies at Creede, as well as
elsewhere, during the Gilded Age and into
the Great Depression.
for several reasons. First, such shafts
were cheaper to sink and easier to timber
than circular ones. Second, Western
miners inherited the rectangular form
through the diffusion of traditional mining
practices from Cornwall."
When Creede experienced its
boom, mining engineers understood that
the size of a shaft directly influenced a
mine's level of production. Small shafts
limited the quantity of ore that could have
been hauled out per vehicle trip, and large
shafts facilitated economies of scale.
Mining in Michigan, California, and on
the Comstock during the 1860s had set a
precedent in which companies working in
vertical shafts aspired to install steam -
powered hoisting systems that utilized a
cage as the hoisting vehicle. The cage
�s
influenced mining engineers' definitions of
production -class and temporary shafts.
A mining industry institution for
over 100 years, the cage consisted of a
steel frame fitted with flooring for crews
of miners coming and going on and off
shift, and rails to accommodate an ore
car. Nearly all cages used in the West
featured a stout cable attachment at top, a
bonnet to fend off falling debris, and steel
guides which ran on special fine-grained
4x4 inch hardwood rails. After a number
of grizzly accidents in which hoist cables
parted, mining machinery makers began
installing special safety -dogs on cages
designed to stop an undesired descent.
Usually the dogs consisted of toothed
cams that were controlled by springs kept
taught by the weight of the suspended
cage. If the cable broke, the springs
retracted, closing the cams onto the wood
rails.
Cages proved to be highly
economical because mining companies did
not have to spend time transferring ore
and waste rock between various vehicles.
A miner or trammer merely had to push
on an ore car filled at some distant point
in the mine, and another worker retrieved
it at the surface. But cages presented
mining companies with several
drawbacks. One of the biggest problems
lay in drilling and blasting a shaft that not
only possessed enough space in -the -clear
to make way for the cage, but one that
was large enough to accommodate the
timbering that anchored the guide rails.
By the time mining companies
began extracting ore at Creede, engineers
established a standard for the composition
of production -class shafts. The
convention followed by mining companies
consisted of dividing production -class
shafts into a combination of hoisting
compartment and mamvay, also known as
a utility compartment. Further, mining
engineers in the West had recognized the
utility of balanced hoisting. The use of
one hoisting vehicle to raise ore had
become known as unbalanced hoisting,
and while this system was very inefficient
in terms of production capacity and
energy consumption, was the least costly
to install. Balm7ced hoisting relied on the
use of two shaft vehicles counterweighing
each other, so that as one vehicle rose the
other descended. The use of two hoisting
vehicles required a shaft featuring two
hoisting compartments, and it necessitated
a double -drum hoist, which constituted a
considerable expense. But the hoist only
had to do the work of lifting the ore, and
as a result this system was energy efficient
and provided long-term savings. Wealthy
mines anticipating production over an
extended period of time spared the
expense to install a balanced system. By
the 1890s mining engineers had spelled
out the classifications of shaft sizes,
configurations, and interior structures.
They insisted that all deep prospecting
and production -class shafts consist of at
least one hoisting compartment and a
utility compartment, and feature timbering
to support the cage guide rails. Further,
mining engineers defined production -class
shafts as needing to have a hoisting
compartment that was at a minimum 4 by
4 feet in -the -clear. By the late nineteenth
century the definition expanded as a result
of the introduction of larger cages.
Mining engineers felt that a 4 by 5 foot
hoisting compartment was better suited
for ore production, and 5 by 7 feet was
best, because it permitted the movement
of larger ore cars and machines.34
Western mines used three other
types of hoisting vehicles during the
Gilded Age, in addition to the cage. The
first was the old-fashioned ore bucket, the
39
second was the ore bucket cnad crosshead,
and the last was the skip. The ore bucket
that had endeared itself to the Western
mining industry became known as a
sinking bucket because its shape and
features were well suited for the primitive
conditions typical of mines under
development. Sinking buckets consisted
of a body with convex sides that
prevented the rim from catching on
obstructions such as timbers, and
permitted the vessel to be able to glance
off the shaft walls while being raised.
Manufacturers forged a loop into the bail
to hold the hoist cable on center, and the
bottom of the bucket featured a ring so
the vessel could have been upended once
it had reached the surface. Most sinking
buckets were far too heavy for use with
hand -windlasses, and prospectors instead
relied on small pail -shaped buckets known
as kibbles. Some mining companies,
engaged in minor production after 1900,
continued the ages -old practice of using
ore buckets instead of cages, and some
employed a straight -sided variant known
as the Joplin Bucket, named for its
prevalence in the lead and zinc mines near
Joplin, Missouri. To expedite the
production of rock while continuing to
use ore buckets as their principal hoist
vehicle, mining companies discovered that
the vessels could have been easily
mobilized underground when unhooked
from the hoist cable and placed on
flatcars. While ore buckets did not have
the same compartment restrictions as
skips and cages, most outfits in the West
followed the conventions of shaft sizes
and configurations recommended by
mining engineers.
Mining companies engaged in
deep shaft sinking took great risks when
they attempted to use free -swinging ore
buckets. To prevent the bucket from
swinging and catching on the shaft walls,
emptying its contents onto the miners
below, some mining companies installed a
hybrid hoist vehicle that consisted of an
ore bucket suspended from a frame that
ran on the same tvpes of guide rails as
cages. The Frame, known as a crosshead,
held the ore bucket steady and provided
miners with a platform to stand on. albeit
dubious, during their ascents and descents
in the shaft. The advantage of using a
crosshead was that miners working
underground were able to switch empty
buckets with full ones, and the system
could have been easily adapted to a cage
or skip at a later point. Many small,
poorly financed, and marginally
productive mining companies in remote
locations favored this type of hoisting
vehicle.
Cornish mining engineers had
developed the skip for haulage in the
inclined shafts of Michigan copper mines
during the 1840s and 1850s. The typical
skip consisted of a large iron box on
wheels that ran on a mine rail line. Skips
had little deadweight, they held much ore
or waste rock, and because they ran on
rails they could have been raised quickly.
They were also easy to fill and empty.
The hoistman on the surface lowered the
skip to a shaft station underground that
featured either an ore bin with a chute or
a loading platform where a miner dumped
rock directly into the vehicle from an ore
car. The hoistman then put on steam and
raised the skip into the headframe where
it was automatically upset, and belched
forth its contents. Skips were similar in
size to cages and they ran in shafts
approximately the same in area.
During the 1890s mining
engineers began to recognize the skip as
being superior to the cage for ore
production in vertical shafts. Skips were
40