COLORADO. 



135 



COLORADO, a Western State, admitted to the 

 Union Aug. 1, 1876; area, 103,925 square miles. 

 The population in 1880 was 194,327; in 1890 it was 

 412,198. Capital, Denver. 



Government. The following were the State 

 officers during the year: Governor, Alva Adams, 

 Democrat ; Lieutenant Governor, Jared L. Brush, 

 Republican; Secretary of State, Charles H. S. 

 Whipple, Democrat ; Treasurer, George W. Kep- 

 liart, Republican; Auditor, John W. Lovell, Re- 

 publican; Attorney-General, Bvron L. Carr, Re- 

 publican; Superintendent of Public Instruction, 

 Grace E. Patton, Democrat; Adjutant General, 

 Gen. Barnum ; Regents of the University, David M. 

 Richards, W. E. Anderson, Charles R. Dudley, 

 Edwin J. Temple, Oscar J. Pfeiffer, and William J. 

 Orange; State Engineer, John E. Field; Commis- 

 sioner of Mines, Harry A. Lee ; Register of Land 

 Board, L. C. Paddock ; Dairy Commissioner, H. B. 

 Canon ; Fish Commissioner, Joseph S. Swan ; Coal- 

 Mine Inspector, David Griffiths; Geologist, Thomas 

 A. Rickard ; Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, 

 John Campbell, Republican ; Associate Justices, 

 Luther M. Goddard and William H. Gabbert, 

 Democrats ; President Judge of the Court of Ap- 



Seals, Charles I. Thompson ; Associate Justices, 

 ulius B. Bissell and Adair Wilson. 

 Finances. The estimated expenditures for the 

 biennial period 1897-'98 amounted to $1,260,872.70, 

 and the estimated general revenue fund income to 

 $1,092,950. The total valuations of the counties, 

 including railroad property, were $206,598,561 in 



1896. The bonded debt was $770,500, and the float- 

 ing indebtedness $2,387,009. 



Education. The report of the Superintendent 

 of Public Instruction, published in January, shows 

 that the State has a school population of 130,362, 

 of whom 100,882 are enrolled in the public schools. 

 There are 3,120 teachers, 500 school districts, and 

 1,690 school buildings, of which 338 are of sod, 

 adobe, or log, 1,006 of frame, and 346 of brick or 

 stone. The State funds apportioned to the schools 

 in 1897 amounted to $89,664.67. 



The State Normal School has 367 pupils. 



A new building for young women was dedicated, 

 Jan. 11, at the Colorado College, Colorado Springs. 



An unusually large class was graduated in May 

 at the State Agricultural College. 



A " Texas-Colorado Chautauqua " was opened at 

 Boulder, July 4. The grounds are 6,000 feet above 

 sea level and just above the campus of the State 

 University. An auditorium, with seats for 6,000 

 persons, has been built, and a large dining hall. 

 Tents are provided for lodgings. 



Charities and Corrections. The average of 

 prisoners in the Penitentiary is about 600, while 

 about 100 are confined at the State Reformatory. 

 The Industrial School for Girls has more than 50 

 inmates, and cost, for the year ending Nov. 30, 



1897, $7,483.75. A riot took place in this institu- 

 tion in March, on the occasion of the installation of 

 a new superintendent. Doors and windows were 

 smashed, stair rails thrown down, and general 

 havoc made of the fixtures and furniture. Ten of 

 the girls were lodged in the city jail. 



The Soldiers' Home has about 100 inmates, and 

 the cost of the maintenance is about $30,000 an- 

 nually. 



Railroads. It is an evidence of prosperous con- 

 ditions in the State that the earnings of the Rio 

 Grande for the first six months of the year showed 



Ian increase of 15.87 per cent, over those of the 

 corresponding part of 1897, while these were about 

 as much in advance of those of 1896. 

 A traffic arrangement was made in January be- 

 tween the Denver and Rio Grande, the Rio Grande 

 Western, the Oregon Short Line, the Oregon Rail- 



road and Navigation Company, and the Great 

 Northern, designed to open up a channel heretofore 

 closed between this part of the country and that 

 touched by the Great Northern, and tending to bring 

 a large share of through traffic over Colorado roads. 

 Mining. Colorado took the lead among the 

 States in the gold production in 1897, the output 

 amounting, according to the report of the Director 

 of the Mint, to $19,104,200; the report of the State 

 Bureau of Mines makes it $19,579,636.83; but 

 figures made up from smelter and mint statements 

 raised the total to about $23,000.000. More than 

 half of the output is from the Cripple Creek dis- 

 trict, which produces more than $1,000,000 a 

 month. Figures so far given for 1898 indicate a 

 larger State output, estimated at $24,000,000. The 



CHARLES S. THOMAS, GOVERNOR OF COLORADO. 



product of Cripple Creek runs from $1,134,800 in 

 January to $1,302,047 in July. New mining camps 

 are springing up in many parts of the State. That 

 at Eldora, in Boulder County, is the opening up, 

 practically, of the sulphide belt from Gilpin County. 

 The town is only a few months old, but its popula- 

 tion is 5,000, and it has several fine producing 

 mines. In Clear Creek County many tunnels are 

 being driven, which promise to increase production 

 and lower cost. The Leadville district produces 

 now almost as much gold as silver. Other promis- 

 ing localities are Hahn's Peak, Whisky Park, La 

 Plata, and Unaweep. It was announced in Decem- 

 ber that a new town had sprung up five miles 

 southwest of Canon City, in consequence of the 

 recent discovery of gold there. The new camp is 

 named Dawson City, and more than 1,000 claims 

 have been staked. 



A cause of great increase in gold production in 

 Colorado is the advance made in the treatment of 

 low-grade ores, which formerly could not be treated 

 because of a smelting charge of $12 to $14 a ton. 

 By the improved methods of cyanide and chlorina- 

 tion these ores have been brought into successful 

 and profitable treatment. 



In silver, the amount in 1897 was $12,692.448; 

 the estimate for 1898 is $14.250,000. The copper 

 produced in 1897 was valued at $960,917.13, and 

 the lead at $2,731,032.49. The estimates based on 

 returns to December, 1898, show $1,200,000 as the 

 probable production of copper in that year, and 

 $3,000,000 as that of lead. The coal output in 1897 

 was valued at $6,000.000, the iron at $4,000,000, and 

 petroleum $1,500,000. 



Extensive veins of anthracite coal have been dis- 

 covered about 90 miles from Denver, on the pro- 

 posed extension of the Colorado and Northwestern 

 Railroad. 



