200 ECONOMIC GEOLOGY OF SILVERTON QUADRANGLE, [bull. 183. 
LODES OF CANYON CREEK. 
General. — Under the above head it is proposed to describe the lodes 
of Imogene, Richmond, and Silver basins, Potosi Peak, and other 
portions of the Canyon Creek drainage included within the bounds of 
the Silverton quadrangle. The only really important mine at present 
being worked in this area is the Camp Bird. The Revenue tunnel, 
it is true, has its entrance at Porter, in the Silverton quadrangle, 
but the lodes worked through it are within the Telluride quadrangle, 
and have been described by Purington. 1 
Canyon Creek, from near Ouray to the mouth of Richmond Gulch, 
is crossed by a system of fractures conspicuously visible in the lofty 
cliffs of the San Juan breccia, and resembling those already noted on 
the Uncompahgre River. These fractures appear to have an average 
strike of about N. 35° W., and dip steeply northeastward. They 
divide the San Juan formation and the underlying sediments into 
huge, nearly vertical slabs. As far as observed there is no visible 
vertical displacement along these fissures. The} 7 sometimes carry 
quartz veins, which have been prospected in a small way. 
Camp Bird mine. — The Camp Bird lode crosses the head of Imo- 
gene Basin, with a strike of N. 80° W. and a dip of 65° to 85° to 
the south; the average is probably about 70°. Toward the west the 
lode has been traced on the surface into Marshall Basin, and identi- 
fied with great probability with the Pandora lode, in the Telluride 
quadrangle. Toward the east the lode is less easily followed on the 
surface. 
Considerable work had already been done in Imogene Basin prior 
to 1880. But no high-grade ore had been found, and the locality had 
fallen into disrepute. The Una and Gertrude claims, on the Camp 
Bird lode, had been worked for silver-lead ore, but in 1896 had been 
abandoned, like the other mines in the basin. The presence of high- 
grade gold ore was first discovered by Thomas F. Walsh, who for 
many years had industriously leased and prospected a great number 
of claims scattered over the entire quadrangle. The rich ore was 
first struck in the Camp Bird, then an undeveloped claim. It was 
found by Walsh on the dump of the Una and Gertrude claims, which 
were purchased by him in 1896 for $10,000. At the same time he 
secured control of practically all the lodes in the basin, much of the 
necessary surveying being accomplished in the deep snow of winter. 
The following year development was actively pushed. The substan- 
tial tramway connecting the mine with the mill at the mouth of the 
gulch, 2 miles in length, was completed in forty-nine days. In 1899 
the vein had been opened by a crosscut tunnel and about 1,000 feet 
of drifting, with stopes extending up to the old workings. 
In 1900 this tunnel had already been superseded as the main adit 
1 Preliminary report <>n the mining industries of the Telluride quadrangle. Colorado: Eight- 
eenth Ann. Rept. U. S. Geol. Survey, Pt. Ill, 1898, pp. S3G-838. 
