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Show FAMOUS MINING STRIKES By THOMAS E. STEWARD "Holy Moses" and "Last Chance" THE rich strikes at Creede, ColoH of ores containing silver, gold, lead and zinc, brought about In 1S91 and 1S92 a repetition of the early-day ' mining rushes that had been so picturesque pic-turesque a phase of early western life, Creede became a roaring mining camp and Its population swelled to 10,000 in a few months. Its newspaper, The Creede Candle, which is still published, pub-lished, then carried at its masthead the slogan, "It's day all day in the daytime, and there is no night In Creede." There wasn't. This outburst of mining enthusiasm started with the discovery of a rich claim by N. C. Creede and his associates. asso-ciates. Shown a piece, of ore from the claim, Creede exclaimed, "Holy Moses 1" That name was given to the mine, which was not the first but was one of the important early discoveries In the district. In June, 1S91, Theodore Rennlger and Julius Haas were grubstaked by two butchers of El Norte, Calif., and 6et out for the Creede district. It is reported by W. H. Emmons, author of the United States geological survey's treatise on the district, that Rennlger allowed their burros to get loose and started to chase them. Picking up a rock to shy at one of the animals, he noticed unusual mineral characteristics characteris-tics In It and examined the immediate territory more closely. In this way was discovered the Last Chance mine. Close beside It the Amethyst was staked out, and by the end of 1892 ore valued at $4,215,000 had been taken from these and adjacent mines, nearly half of It from the Amethyst and more than one-third from the Last Chance. As an example of the way prospectors prospec-tors dealt with their finds It is recorded record-ed that Haas sold his share in the Last Chance for $10,000. Rennlger and one of the two men who grubstaked grub-staked the outfit sold for $65,000 each. The other E Norte butcher, Mr. Granger, Gran-ger, was offered $100,000, but refused and retained possession of his property. prop-erty. A line was rushed Into Creede by the Denver and Rio Grande railway and business was soon thriving in the new community. Mineral production of Mineral county, coun-ty, in which Creede lies, has now already passed the $40,000,000 mark In total. At Sutter's Mill JOHANN SUTTER, a German of Swiss descent and French training, train-ing, decided in 1S39 to become an American, so he settled as a rancher on the banks of the American river in California, which then was under Mexican control. He soon became prosperous enough to employ a superintendent, super-intendent, and it was this man, James W. Marshall, who in 1S48 discovered the celebrated "gold of 1849." It took a little while for the news to spread Rnd '48 had passed into '49 before the famous gold rush that helped to open the American West, had reached its height Marshall was trying to enlarge the tall race of Sutter's mill on the American Amer-ican river when he saw the tiny sparkling particles that proclaimed a new era in the history of gold production. pro-duction. It was soon found that the banks of the Sacramento river and of practically every stream in the entire district were rich deposits of flake gold that could be recovered by the placer method of washing. No sooner had the news reached San Francisco than that infant port was deserted, merchants and clerks, doctors doc-tors and lawyers, even state officials, joined the wild rush to the vicinity of Sutter's ranch. The tidings spread swiftly afield and men began coming from every part of America, and after a time from Europe and even from Asia. There were Mexicans, Kanakas from the South .Sea Islands, Peruvians, Chileans Chil-eans and Chinamen, In the mob. In great part the .Interest In a Panama canal took Its rise from this gold rush. Many, unwilling to waste the long months that were necessary to traverse tra-verse the Overland trail, took ship to Colon and struggled across the isthmus isth-mus to Panama, from which port they caught another vessel and made their way northward. So great were the crowds on ths isthmus that many stayed there for weeks before they could book a passage to San Francisco. Francis-co. Enterprising souls saw '.be chance for huge profit and built the Panama railroad, forerunner of the canal. For years It was the most profitable investment in-vestment ever built and there was talk of building another across the much wide.r Isthmus of Tehuantepec In southern Mexico. The overland migration of '49 was probably without parallel in modern times. Between August and December Decem-ber of that year no fewer than 30.0mi persons accomplished the 2.i:mile journey through a savage and partially partial-ly explored wilderness, crossing two mountain chains as lush as the Alp; and vast tracts of burning desert. In addition to these obstacles came th-opposition th-opposition of two of the lierrest In dian nations, the Pawnees and t h Sioux. I.c".. '.r"7. Western Neifspapr Un'on ) |