DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE. 



17 



which to make further explorations for new ore bodies. Few veins 

 are rich through their entire extent, and one company may ex- 

 haust its resources in exploring lean parts and its successor may 

 continue the exploration for only a short distance and strike rich ore. 



A number of the mines that are now idle, especially those near 

 Lawson, Empire Station, Georgetown, and Silver Plume, were 

 worked mainly for silver and have produced fabulously rich ore. 

 Its unusual richness was caused by a process termed " downward 

 enrichment," by which the silver in the upper parts of the veins was 

 dissolved by surface waters and redeposited farther down in the 

 earth. The ores so enriched do not persist to great depths, and on 

 their exhaustion the mines working them are forced to shut down, 

 for the unenriched ore below is too lean to be mined at a profit. 



At Georgetown the train begins to climb the well-known " Loop " 

 by which the railroad loops back over itself in ascending the steep 

 mountain side. Above the Loop lies Silver Plume, shown in Plate 

 VIII, which has been one of the most active mining camps in the 

 State. It is reported that more than $29,000,000 in silver has been 

 taken from the mountain north of the town.^ 



The traveler's interest in the things he sees above Silver Plume '^"■ 

 centers mainly in the engineering feat of scaling the steep piountain 

 side and in the fine views he obtains during the ascent. After 



'According to Bastin, the discovery 

 of a gold-bearing vein near the present 

 site of Central City by J. H. Gregory in 

 1S59 stimulated prospecting through- 

 out the drainage basin of Clear 

 Creek, and many such veins were dis- 

 covered. One of the most productive 

 of these veins was discovered by 

 George Griffith in the vicinity of Eliz- 

 abethtown (now Georgetown) on 

 August 1. 1859. In 1860 there was 

 considei'able excitement around Em- 

 pire, but most of it was due to the dis- 

 covery of rich placer gravel. The first 

 valuable deposit of silver ore discov- 

 ered (iu September, 1864) was the 

 Belmont lode, in Momit McCIellan. 

 Thus, as early as 1864 all the terri- 

 tory that the traveler will see on his 

 trip to Mount McCIellan was pros- 

 pected in a crude way and to a certain 

 extent developed. The development of 

 mines, however, was greatly handi- 

 capped by the lack of means of trans- 

 portation, both for bringing in sup- 

 plies and for sending out the products 

 of the mines. This lack was supplied 



to a great extent in 1870 by the build- 

 ing of what is known as the George- 

 town branch of the Colorado & South- 

 em Railway from Denver to Golden, 

 but it was not until 1877 that this line 

 reached Georgetown, and it was sev- 

 eral years later before it reached Sil- 

 ver Plume. 



Clear Creek County, of which George- 

 town is the county seat, reached the 

 peak of its metal production in 1894, 

 since which time its output has been 

 steadily declining until in 1914 it was 

 worth only $884,615. In the next year 

 the district began to feel the effect of 

 the European war, and the value of its 

 output of metals jumped to $1,124,225. 

 In 1917 its metal output was valued 

 at $1,631,219, in 1918 at $1,126,440, in 

 1919 at $644,332, and in 1920 at 

 $526,369. 



'» Since the description of the trip to 

 Mount McCIellan was written the line 

 has been abandonefl, and the traveler 

 will have no opportunity to reach the 

 summit of the mountain except by pri- 

 vate conveyance. 



