♦ 
GEOLOGY AND GOLD DEPOSITS OF THE CRIPPLE 
CREEK DISTRICT, COLORADO. 
By Waldemar Lindgren and Frederick Leslie Ransome. 
PART I-GENERAL DESCRIPTIONS, DISCUSSION, AND CONCLUSIONS. 
CHAPTER I—INTRODUCTION. 
FIELD WORK AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. 
The Cripple Creek gold deposits were discovered in 1891. Shortly afterwards, 
in 1894, an examination of the new district was undertaken by the United States 
Geological Survey, Mr. Whitman Cross having charge of geology and petrography 
and Mr. R. A. F. Penrose, jr., undertaking the examination of the mines. Their 
report, accompanied by a geological map, was published in the Sixteenth Annual 
Report of the Geological Survey, part 2, pages 1-207, and has for the last ten years 
served as a useful and accurate geological guide to mining operations. 
With the astonishingly rapid development of the Cripple Creek mines the 
opportunities for geological study multiplied. Great complexity of vein phenomena 
was thereby revealed and a desire arose for further investigation, particularly with 
reference to the question of the persistence of the veins in depth. This desire found 
expression in a request by citizens of Colorado for a reexamination of the district by 
the United States Geological Survey and in an offer of cooperation, whereby the 
cost would be equally divided between the State of Colorado and the national 
Survey. The total cost of the geological work was estimated at $7,000, and one-half 
of this amount, having been subscribed in Cripple Creek, Colorado Springs, and 
Denver, was put in the hands of Mr. John Wellington Finch, State geologist of 
Colorado, and by him disbursed as the State contribution. The cordial thanks of 
the geologists in charge of the work are due to Mr. Finch for his hearty and efficient 
cooperation. Of ,the State money, $780.22 was lost in a bank failure, but of this 
amount $300 was refunded by the Mine Owners’ Association. It proved necessary 
to make an additional allotment of $962.50 from the funds of the Geological Survey, 
so that the total expense for field work from June 20, 1903, to May 1 , 1904, amounted 
to $7,482.28, of which $3,019.78 was contributed by the State and $4,462.50 by the 
Geological Survey. The expenses of final office work, publication, and all topo¬ 
graphic work excepting the level line from Colorado Springs to Cripple Creek have 
been borne by the Geological Survey. 
The reexamination began with a thorough revision of the topographic map of 
Cripple Creek by Mr. R. T. Evans, Mr. E. M. Douglas in charge. This involved a 
great deal of painstaking work, nearly every prospect hole being located, as well as 
all shafts and tunnels. The new map is on the scale of 1:25,000, or about 24 inches 
to the mile, and includes practically the same area as the old map, a small strip only 
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