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GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES, 



Leadville, like most other mining camps, was built around mills 

 and mine dumps, and much of it is therefore not beautiful. 



Any description of mining operations in a mountainous region 

 like that surrounding Leadville, particularly of those of the early 



of the finding of gold in tliis gulcti 

 spread with wonderful rapidity, and 

 eager miners flocked in rapidly. 



Large quantities of the precious 

 metal were obtained from the gulch, 

 and within a year the town that was 

 built along its banks, known as Oro 

 City, is said to have had 10,000 in- 

 habitants. Estimates of the gold pro- 

 duced that year differ widely, some 

 being as high as $10,000,000 and others 

 as low as $3,000,000, but the rich 

 placers were soon exhausted, and the 

 population dwindled in three or four 

 years to a few hundred. Some prospect- 

 ing was done for the veins which sup- 

 plied the gold of the placers, and sev- 

 eral mines that gave a fitful gleam of 

 prosperity to the camp were located, 

 but the general feeling was one of 

 pessimism and the settlement was prac- 

 tically deserted. The rich silver-lead 

 ores, which later were to give this 

 region a world-wide reputation, were 

 undiscovered, or rather unrecognized. 

 The miners had gained most of their 

 experience in the gold fields of Cali- 

 fornia, and to these men silver ore was 

 comparatively unknown and worthless. 

 Few suspected the value of the so- 

 called " heavy rock " — fragments of 

 iron-stained carbonate of lead which 

 obstructed their sluices and had to be 

 thrown out by hand. Although later 

 many claimed to have known of the 

 rich silver-lead ores, their practical 

 discovery was due to A. B. ^Yood, an 

 experienced miner and metallurgist 

 who came to the region in 1874. 



Active prospecting over the entire 

 region may be said to have commenced 

 in the spring of 1877, and the develop- 

 ment of rich and productive mines 

 from that time on advanced with a 

 rapidity that was truly marvelous. At 

 the beginning of this era of prosperity 

 the settlement consisted of a few log 

 cabins on the edge of California Gulch, 



with an estimated population of 200 ; 

 its business houses consisted of a " ten 

 by twelve " grocery and two small 

 saloons. The three mines were 

 scarcely more than surface scx*atch- 

 ings, and a lead furnace was planned 

 but not erected. Communication was 

 had with the outside world by stage 

 or wagon, either across the crests of 

 two high ranges to Denver or by an 

 almost equally diflScult road to Colo- 

 rado Springs. In petitioning for a 

 post office the names Cerusite (the 

 mineralogical name for lead carbo- 

 nate) and Agassiz were proposed but 

 rejected as being too scientific. Lead 

 City was suggested, but finally a com- 

 promise was reached on Leadville. 



In 1880, three years later, the city 

 of Leadville had 15,000 inhabitants, 

 28 miles of streets, and more than 5 

 miles of water mains and was in part 

 lighted by gas. It had 1,100 pupils 

 in daily attendance at its schools, five 

 churches, three public hospitals, an 

 opera house, six banks, and many 

 business houses, constructed of brick 

 and stone. Its assessable property is * 

 estimated to have been $30,000,000, 

 and $1,400,000 was expended in 1880 

 in new buildings and improvements. 

 To support this population there were 

 over thirty producing mines and ten 

 large smelting works, and the annual 

 production of gold, silver, and lead 

 amounted to $15,000,000. 



This burst of development was con- 

 tinued until 1884, but since that year 

 the district has maintained a fair de- 

 gree of regularity, its average being 

 a little more than $9,000,000 a year. 



The value of the total yearly metal- 

 lic output of the district from 1877 

 to and including 1917 is shown in 

 figure 26. This diagram shows also 

 the values of the different metals that 

 make up the output. The total pro- 

 duction, as shown by the diagram, is 



