452 GEOLOGY AND GOLD DEPOSITS OF THE CRIPPLE CREEK DISTRICT. 
UNDERGROUND DEVELOPMENT. 
The principal shaft is the Independence, situated about 500 feet north of the 
south end of the Independence claim. This is a vertical shaft about 1,430 feet in 
depth. The Xo. 2 shaft, near the north end of the property, 600 feet in depth and 
extending only to level 5, is now in disuse. The levels above 9 are 100 feet apart. 
Between level 9 and the 1,400-foot level is an intermediate level at 1,150 feet, and 
short sublevels, not directly connecting with the main shaft, at 960 and 1,150 feet 
below the collar of the shaft. 
All of the ore, with the exception of a little above level 2 and the ore bodies of the 
old Washington mine, lies north of the shaft, the productive workings thus being 
between the shaft and the Portland property. South of the shaft are a few long 
exploratory drifts and crosscuts, which on level 7 extend southward for 1,200 feet. 
The workings north of the shaft are exceedingly intricate. The drifts follow a num¬ 
ber of intersecting lodes ranging in strike from north to northwest and of various 
dips from 20° to vertical. The plans of the different levels when assembled on a sin¬ 
gle sheet form a maze of almost hopeless complexity, in which all but the drifts on 
a few of the most important and persistent lodes are obscured by the tangle of cross¬ 
ing lines. The levels above the sixth are generally more complicated in plan than 
the lower levels. 
LODE SYSTEMS. 
The most prominent lodes of the Independence mine are the Independence, 
Emerson, Bobtail, Grant, Xo. 6, and Flat veins. Their general relation to the lodes 
of the Portland mine is partly shown in PI. A' (p. 26). The Bobtail, Diamond, and 
Xo. 2 veins of the Portland, converging from the north, and the Emerson, Bobtail, 
West Bobtail, Independence, West Independence, and other veins of Stratton’s 
Independence, converging from the south, come together in a plexus of fissures near 
the boundary between the two mines. It is thus impossible to correlate with cer¬ 
tainty the veins of one mine with those of the other. On some levels the stopes on 
the Independence vein are continuous with those on the Xo. 2 vein in the Portland. 
On level 3, however, the Independence veins (PI. V) are apparently continued by 
the Diamond vein. The Grant and East veins of the Independence undoubtedly 
coalesce with the Xo. 2 zone of sheeting in the Portland. The Emerson and Bob- 
tail veins of the Independence come together near the Portland line, and it is an 
open question which should be regarded as the continuation of the Portland Bob- 
tail. All of the veins are connected by branching fissures near the line between the 
two mines, and any of these fissures may carry ore. Consequently, stopes begun on 
one vein sometimes come up on what had been regarded as an entirely distinct vein 
on the level above. The truth of the matter probably is that none of the veins 
preserve distinct individuality across the region of complex Assuring in which they 
come together. 
The rocks of the Independence mine, particularly above level 5, are cut by a 
complex network of fissures, few of which possess any features sufficiently charac¬ 
teristic to serve for their identification from level to level. This has led to some 
