Cripple Creek

Cripple Creek was the site of the last and greatest mining boom in Colorado, attracting tens of thousands of people to the western flank of Pikes Peak in the 1890s. After it was destroyed by fire in 1896, the town and surrounding mining district reached peak production and population in the early twentieth century before experiencing a long decline. After World War II, the town turned to tourism as its primary economic engine, but since the 1970s the giant Cripple Creek & Victor Gold Mine has also provided steady production and employment. In 1990 Colorado voters approved an amendment that allowed Cripple Creek to build casinos, which have generated millions of dollars for the local economy and historic preservation. They have also transformed the town they helped preserve.

Before the Boom

The Colorado Gold Rush of 1858–59 was often called the “Pikes Peak Gold Rush.” However, all the major mining activity at that time was many miles away from the peak. Ironically, it was not until the last gold rush in Colorado, in the early 1890s, that prospectors flocked to the Pikes Peak region.

The Tabeguache Utes long used the region’s rolling hills and mountains as a summer hunting ground. The first sign that there might be rich mineral deposits there came in 1873, when Frederick Hayden’s survey passed through the area. One of Hayden’s geologists, H. T. Wood, returned the next year to investigate his hunch that the region was a promising gold district. He worked with a team to open a tunnel into Lone Tree Hill (now Raven Hill). The tunnel yielded good samples, and the Mount Pisgah Gold Mining District was organized in September 1874. But the timing was not right for a gold rush. No one wanted to invest in an unproven area when mines around Central City and Georgetown were booming.

Around the time of Wood’s discovery, white settlers started homesteading and ranching the area that is now Cripple Creek. In 1885 Horace Bennett, Julius Myers, and Alexander Houseman started the Houseman Cattle and Land Company and acquired hundreds of acres of land in the area for their Broken Box Ranch.

In 1886 Robert Womack filed a gold claim in the area, but Colorado was in the middle of a long silver boom and Womack could find no investors. In October 1890, he took some of his ore samples to Colorado College to be assayed, then left them in Colorado Springs. People began to take notice of Womack’s samples, and prospectors were heading up to Broken Box Ranch by early 1891. Eighteen claims were filed between February and May. The Cripple Creek Mining District was organized in April. Winfield Scott Stratton became the district’s first millionaire when he staked the Independence Mine on July 4. That fall the owner of the Broadmoor area, Count James Pourtales, invested in Cripple Creek mines.

Gold Rush

It did not take long for Houseman and his partners to notice that about 100 prospectors were camping on Broken Box Ranch. They doubted whether anything would come of the gold claims but figured they might as well plat a town site and start selling lots. Their town, named Fremont after the nineteenth-century explorer John C. Frémont, started in November 1891. Soon it was successful enough to inspire an imitator. A group of Colorado Springs investors platted 140 acres just northeast of Fremont. In February 1892, they started the rival town of Hayden Placer.

Throughout 1892 the towns of Fremont and Hayden Placer—soon renamed Cripple Creek—developed and grew. In March 1892, the Florence & Cripple Creek Free Road opened for stage traffic. It made it easier to ship out ores out of the area and bring in construction materials and mining supplies. Electricity arrived that spring, as did the first telephone and telegraph. Soon the district claimed a population of 1,500, which quickly grew to 3,500. Fremont and Cripple Creek merged to form a single town called Cripple Creek. The town had several hotels and banks, a log schoolhouse, and a Congregational Church.

Cripple Creek’s growth took off in 1893. When Colorado’s silver mines declined sharply after the repeal of the Sherman Silver Purchase Act, miners and investors saw the importance of Cripple Creek gold. New towns and camps sprouted up throughout the mining district. The most important of these towns was Victor, a working-class town that took shape near the district’s largest mines. By 1894 the town of Cripple Creek was the social and economic capital of a large mining district that had 150 active mines and produced more than $3 million that year. The town’s 6,000 residents were served by four newspapers and five churches.

The arrival of the Florence & Cripple Creek Railroad in 1894 and the Midland Terminal Railroad in 1895 spurred the district’s already rapid growth by making it much easier and cheaper to ship ore. The Portland Mine developed into the largest mine in the district. Cripple Creek’s population reached 8,000 in 1895 and 10,000 in 1896. Two fires in April 1896 reduced much of the town to a smoldering ruin, but residents quickly rebuilt. The town council outlawed wood construction, and soon there were 170 new businesses under construction.

Peak of Prosperity

The Cripple Creek area had been part of El Paso County since the first Colorado county lines were drawn in 1861. But in the 1890s, miners west of Pikes Peak had grown tired of being governed by wealthy mine owners and businessmen in Colorado Springs. In March 1899, the west side of Pikes Peak successfully broke away from El Paso County to form Teller County, with Cripple Creek becoming the county seat.

The opening of the Teller County Courthouse in 1901 was perhaps the high-water mark in the history of the Cripple Creek District. At the time, the district had at least 30,000 people (perhaps closer to 50,000) and roughly 500 active mines. It had already produced more than $77 million in gold. The Golden Circle Electric Railway operated two trolley lines, the High Line and the Low Line, to connect the district’s towns and mines. The High Line reached an elevation of 10,487 feet, making it the highest interurban system in the United States. Cripple Creek itself was one of the five most populous cities in Colorado. A new railroad, the Colorado Springs & Cripple Creek District Railroad, opened that year to provide cheaper rates and a more direct connection than the Midland Terminal.

Strike of 1903–4

In the early years of the twentieth century, Cripple Creek’s prosperity gave rise to arguments about how that prosperity should be shared. Mine owners tried to consolidate their power by taking control of local smelters and mills, while the Western Federation of Miners (WFM) worked to unionize smelter and mill workers near Colorado Springs.

Tensions came to a head in 1903 over the issue of working hours. In August, the WFM went on strike in Cripple Creek. A bitter fifteen-month struggle with mine owners followed. Across the state, other workers also went on strike to try to get shorter hours and better conditions. Governor James Peabody called out the Colorado National Guard on behalf of the owners. Martial law was declared and many people were killed. More than 200 union members were deported from Teller County. It became one of the bloodiest and most violent strikes in state history. The ultimate result was a ban on organized labor in the area.

The strike marked an important turning point in the history of the Cripple Creek District. It slashed gold production in half and scared off investors. Mining continued to produce strong returns after the strike ended, but the district no longer had the same optimism. Mines were getting deep and filling with water, making production increasingly expensive. Miners and investors started to eye new opportunities such as gold strikes in Nevada and oil fields in California and Wyoming. The effects of these changes could be felt across the district. Post offices at smaller towns such as Anaconda, Cameron, and Clyde closed by 1909.

From Mining Gold to Mining History

By 1920, when the Colorado Springs & Cripple Creek District Railroad stopped running, more than half of the district’s mines had closed. Mining experienced a brief revival in the mid-1930s, when lower labor costs and higher gold prices made it profitable again. In 1935 production hit $3.5 million. But the federal government suspended all gold mining during World War II, and many Cripple Creek mines never reopened. After the war, many houses were abandoned or turned into summer homes as people moved away. The Midland Terminal Railroad stopped running in 1949, and by 1950 the Cripple Creek District’s population dropped below 2,000. Nearly all the district’s towns and camps were abandoned, leaving only Cripple Creek, Victor, and Goldfield remaining.

Like other declining mining towns across Colorado, Cripple Creek turned to tourism to stay afloat. In 1946 Colorado Springs residents Wayne and Dorothy Mackin acquired the empty Imperial Hotel and made it into a destination for good food and well-appointed rooms. In 1947 they hired an Idaho Springs melodrama troupe called the Piper Players to provide entertainment when the Colorado Springs Chamber of Commerce held a convention at the hotel. The melodrama was so successful that the Mackins decided to start a Victorian melodrama theater in the hotel basement. The Gold Bar Room Theater opened in July 1948 and soon became an iconic Cripple Creek experience.

The Cripple Creek economy was shifting from mining gold to mining history. This happened most clearly at the Mollie Kathleen Mine, which stopped its mining operations in 1949 and started offering underground mine tours. In 1953 the Cripple Creek District Museum opened in the former Midland Terminal Depot. Perhaps the most unique historical project was the Old Homestead Parlor House Museum, which opened in 1958 as one of the only brothel museums in the country. In 1961 Cripple Creek was named a National Historic Landmark.

But large-scale gold mining was not completely dead in Cripple Creek. The district experienced a short-lived revival in the 1950s, after the Carlton Mill opened near Victor. More substantial production returned to the area in the mid-1970s, when the US government allowed the price of gold to go above $35 per ounce. The Cripple Creek & Victor Gold Mining Company started working the old Cresson Mine. By 1990 the Cripple Creek District had yielded a total of more than 23 million ounces of gold.

Gambling Era

A century after prospectors flocked to Cripple Creek, a new gold rush was about to begin. In 1989 repairs to a tunnel on the main route into Cripple Creek caused a huge drop in tourism. Locals began to consider new ways to develop the area’s economy. Inspired by the example of the infamous Old West town of Deadwood, South Dakota, where gambling was legalized in 1989 to generate revenue for preservation, Cripple Creek joined Central City and Black Hawk to push for an amendment to the state constitution that would allow limited-stakes gaming. The original idea was that existing businesses might add a few slot machines and a card table, with half of the revenue going to the state, 28 percent to the State Historical Fund, 12 percent to Gilpin and Teller Counties, and 10 percent to the three towns. In November 1990, 57 percent of the state’s voters approved Amendment 4, which was billed as a preservation measure, and the first casinos opened on October 1, 1991.

Twenty-five years later, gambling proved to be a mixed blessing. Advocates pointed out that casinos had saved Cripple Creek by attracting visitors and generating money for local improvements and statewide historic preservation. But opponents noted that gambling, like mining before it, had crowded out other businesses and fundamentally changed the towns it was meant to preserve. In 1998 development threats led the nonprofit Colorado Preservation, Inc. to name Cripple Creek among the most endangered historic places in the state. Since then, strong preservation and design guidelines have helped maintain much of the town’s historic look and feel. In 2008 a large modern casino opened on the edge of town.

In recent years Cripple Creek’s twelve casinos have generated about 9 percent of the statewide total in taxes. Gambling money has allowed for the restoration or renovation of many important historic buildings in town, including the Bell Brothers Building, which now houses the police department; the Colorado Trading and Transfer Building, which is the only remaining wooden commercial structure in town; and the Butte Opera House, whose Thin Air Theater Company continues the town’s Victorian melodrama tradition.

Meanwhile, Cripple Creek remains one of the few boomtowns in Colorado where mining still occurs. In 1994 the Cripple Creek & Victor Gold Mine started large-scale pit operations, and by the 2000s it was producing hundreds of thousands of ounces of gold and silver per year. The massive mine, which employs more than 500 workers, was expanded in the mid-2010s and acquired by mining giant Newmont. In 2014 it produced roughly 211,000 ounces of gold and 110,000 ounces of silver. Gold from the mine was used to re-gild the State Capitol dome when it was restored in the early 2010s.

Cripple Creek, on the west side of Pikes Peak in Teller County, was the site of the last and greatest mining boom in Colorado. Tens of thousands of prospectors came to the Pikes Peak area looking for gold in the early 1890s. The town remained a mining hub until after World War II. Today Cripple Creek is home to the only remaining active gold mine in the state, but its economy hinges on gambling and tourism. Money from gambling helps preserve and maintain Cripple Creek’s many historic buildings that date to its heyday in the late nineteenth century.

 Before the Boom

Long before Cripple Creek became a town, large amounts of minerals were heaved from volcanic eruptions that showered minerals on the earth’s surface. By the mid-1800s, topsoil had covered the minerals. The minerals were still hidden when the Ute people hunted on hills and mountains around Pikes Peak each summer. As early as 1873, geologists and prospectors explored the area for mineral deposits. They opened tunnels and found good samples of gold. A mining district was organized in the Cripple Creek area in September 1874, but the timing was not right for a gold rush in that part of Colorado. The mines around Central City and Georgetown were still booming, and the country had just been through the Panic of 1873. No one wanted to invest in an unknown area. The group had to put their plans on hold.

The Cripple Creek area was cattle and ranching land for several years. In 1885 Horace Bennett, Julius Myers, and Alexander Houseman started the Houseman Cattle and Land Company and set up Broken Box Ranch. It included hundreds of acres of land. In 1886 Robert Womack, son of an earlier homesteader, filed a gold claim in the area. But investors weren’t interested because Colorado was in the middle of a long silver boom. Womack did not give up. In 1890 he took some of his ore samples to Colorado Springs. He had his samples assayed, and then left them so interested prospectors could see them. By early 1891, prospectors were heading up to Broken Box Ranch to file their own gold claims. In April, the Cripple Creek Mining District was organized. The district’s first millionaire, W. S. Stratton, staked the Independence Mine on July 4, 1891. Later in 1891, the wealthy owner of the Broadmoor area, Count James Pourtales, invested in Cripple Creek mines.

Gold Rush

By late 1891, the three owners of the Broken Box Ranch noticed that about 100 prospectors were camping on their ranch. They divided up some of their ranch land and sold lots for a new town. They called their town Fremont, after the explorer John C. Frémont. Another group of investors divided 140 acres just northeast of Fremont and called their town Hayden Placer after Ferdinand Hayden, the surveyor who mapped Colorado’s mineral deposits in the 1870s. Throughout 1892 the towns of Hayden Placer and Fremont grew and were renamed Cripple Creek. Victor, a working-class town, was located near the Cripple Creek Mining District’s largest mines, while Cripple Creek developed into the area’s social and commercial hub. Stagecoaches brought more people to town and delivered construction materials and mining supplies. Electricity, telephone, and telegraph eventually became available, and the district’s population grew from 1,500 to 3,500. The new town of Cripple Creek now had several hotels and banks, a log schoolhouse, and a Congregational Church.

In 1893 the Sherman Silver Purchase Act was repealed and silver lost its value. Gold was back in demand, and the Cripple Creek rush intensified. New towns and camps sprouted up around Cripple Creek. By 1894 the Cripple Creek district had 150 active mines and produced more than $3 million in gold. Cripple Creek’s population increased to 6,000 residents. There were now four newspapers and five churches. With the arrival of two railroads in 1894 and 1895, ore was much easier to ship. The largest mine in the district, the Portland Mine, produced $60 million in half a century of operation.  

By 1896 Cripple Creek’s population stood at 10,000. That year the town survived two major fires that destroyed nearly every building, but residents quickly rebuilt using brick and stone instead of wood.

Peak of Prosperity

Cripple Creek had been part of El Paso County since 1861. By the 1890s, miners grew tired of being governed by the wealthy mine owners and businessmen in Colorado Springs, the county seat. In 1894 the miners went on strike. In 1899 they formed a new county, Teller County, on the west side of Pikes Peak. Cripple Creek became the county seat, and the Teller County Courthouse opened in 1901. At that time the Cripple Creek district had at least 30,000 people (perhaps closer to 50,000) and about 500 active mines. The district had already produced more than $77 million in gold. Two trolley lines connected the district’s towns and mines. A new railroad opened in 1901 to provide cheaper rates and a more direct connection. 

Strike of 1903-4

As mining became more profitable, owners and miners didn’t agree on how to share that prosperity. Mine owners tried to concentrate their power by taking control of local smelters and mills. Miners wanted shorter hours, better pay, and better working conditions. In 1903 miners went on one of the bloodiest and most violent strikes in state history. The result was that miners were barred from joining unions. Thereafter, gold production was cut in half, and investors were scared off by the strike. Miners and investors left town and looked for new opportunities at the gold strikes in Nevada and oil fields in California and Wyoming. The Cripple Creek District was deeply affected by these moves. By 1909 the post offices in the district’s smaller towns had closed. 

From Mining Gold to Mining History 

By 1920 the Colorado Springs & Cripple Creek District Railroad stopped running. More than half of the district’s mines had closed. Mining had a brief revival in the mid-1930s, but during World War II the federal government suspended gold mining because it was not essential to the war effort. Many Cripple Creek mines never reopened. As people moved away, many houses were abandoned or turned into summer homes. The population dropped below 2,000 by 1950. In the Cripple Creek District, only the towns of Cripple Creek, Victor, and Goldfield remained.

Officials and residents in Cripple Creek turned to tourism to save their town. They offered underground mine tours at the Mollie Kathleen Mine, remodeled the Imperial Hotel, and converted the old train depot into a museum that showcased the area’s mining history. Cripple Creek was named a National Historic Landmark in 1961. In the mid-1970s, gold mining in the area was revived when the US government allowed the price of gold to go above $35 per ounce. By 1990 the Cripple Creek District had produced a total of more than 23 million ounces of gold, but its economy still lagged because tourists had begun traveling to ski resorts and other attractions in Colorado.

Gambling Era

By 1989 Cripple Creek needed a new way to attract tourists. The town pushed for an amendment to legalize gambling in Colorado. In November 1990, 57 percent of Colorado voters approved Amendment 4, which legalized limited-stakes gambling. Part of the revenue would go toward historic preservation. Cripple Creek, along with the former mining centers of Central City and Black Hawk, wanted to jump-start their economies and preserve their history. The amendment’s passage allowed them to do both. Cripple Creek has since seen both positive and negative effects from gambling. Cripple Creek has been able to restore many of its important historic buildings, but gambling has crowded out other businesses. The town now has twelve casinos. 

Cripple Creek is one of the few historic boomtowns in the American West with an active mine. Large-scale pit operations began in 1994 at the Cripple Creek & Victor Gold Mine. The huge mine employs more than 500 workers and was expanded in the mid-2010s under new ownership. In 2014 it produced about 211,000 ounces of gold and 110,000 ounces of silver. Gold from this mine was used to re-gild the Colorado State Capitol dome in the early 2010s.

Cripple Creek was the site of the last and greatest mining boom in Colorado. Prospectors came to the Pikes Peak area looking for gold in the early 1890s.

Before the Boom

As early as 1873, geologists and prospectors explored the area for rich mineral deposits. They opened tunnels and found good samples of gold. A mining district was organized in this area in September 1874. Due to poor timing, this group of explorers had to put their plans on hold.

This area was cattle and ranching land for several years. In 1885 three settlers started the Houseman Cattle and Land Company. In 1886 Robert Womack filed a gold claim in the area. By early 1891 prospectors were heading up to Broken Box Ranch. They wanted to file their own gold claims. In April, the Cripple Creek Mining District was organized. The district’s first millionaire was W. S. Stratton. He staked his claim to the Independence Mine on July 4, 1891.  

Gold Rush 

By late 1891, the owners of the Broken Box divided up some of their ranch land. They sold lots for a new town. They called their town Fremont. A group of investors divided 140 acres northeast of Fremont. They called their town Hayden Placer. In 1892 the towns of Hayden Placer and Fremont were renamed Cripple Creek. The district’s population grew from 1,500 to 3,500. 

In 1893 silver lost its value. Gold was in demand. Cripple Creek’s growth increased quickly as miners heard of the gold mines in the Pikes Peak area. A new town, Victor, was located near the Cripple Creek Mining District’s largest mines. By 1894 Cripple Creek was the social and business capital of the mining district. Cripple Creek’s population increased to 6,000 residents. By 1896 Cripple Creek’s population was 10,000. That year two major fires destroyed many buildings. Residents quickly re-built the town with buildings made of brick instead of wood. 

Peak of Prosperity 

Cripple Creek had been part of El Paso County since 1861. Wealthy mine owners and businessmen lived in Colorado Springs, the county seat. By the 1890s, miners grew tired of being governed by them. In 1894 they formed a new county named Teller County. Cripple Creek became the county seat of Teller County. The Teller County Courthouse opened in 1901. The Cripple Creek District now had between 30,000 and 50,000 people. There were about 500 active mines.  

Strike of 1903-4

Mining became more prosperous, but mine owners and miners did not agree on how to share that wealth. In 1903 the miners went on strike. The strike was one of the bloodiest and most violent in state history. Gold production was cut in half. Investors were scared off by the strike. Miners and investors left town and looked for new opportunities.  

From Mining Gold to Mining History 

By 1920 the Colorado Springs & Cripple Creek District Railroad stopped running. More than half of the district’s mines had closed. Many people moved away. Their houses were abandoned or turned into summer homes. The population dropped below 2,000 people by 1950. Only Cripple Creek, Victor, and Goldfield remained.  

Cripple Creek turned to tourism as a way to save their town. Underground mine tours were offered to the public at the Mollie Kathleen Mine. The Imperial Hotel was remodeled. It became a popular tourist attraction for many years. The old train depot in town was turned into a museum. It showed mining history in the area. Cripple Creek was named a National Historic Landmark in 1961.

Gambling Era

A century after prospectors flocked to Cripple Creek, a new type of “gold rush” began. By 1989 the local people of Cripple Creek knew they needed a new way to attract tourists. They decided to offer limited-stakes gambling as a way to raise money to preserve the history of the town. Cripple Creek has had both positive and negative outcomes from this decision. Gambling has brought more money to restore historic buildings, but it also has brought more traffic and crime.

In 1998 the group Colorado Preservation, Inc. named Cripple Creek among the most endangered historic places in the state. Cripple Creek has been able to restore many of its important historic buildings. It is one of the few boomtowns where mining still happens. Large-scale pit mining operations were started in 1994 at the Cripple Creek & Victor Gold Mine. The mine was expanded in the mid-2010s under new ownership. Gold from this mine was used to re-make the gold leaf covering on Colorado’s State Capitol dome in the early 2010s.