|
|
Mr.
Stratton's Business: His Life &
Mines
|
W.S.
Stratton
|
Tour
this online exhibit excerpt and take a glimpse into
the life of W.S. Stratton and the variety of
information in the W.S.
Stratton Mining Papers
Collection!
This collection was generously donated to the
museum by the Myron Stratton Home and consists of
over 1500 maps, blueprints, and drawings, nearly
300 ledgers, and over 96 cubic feet of papers. This
temporary exhibit begins with a look at Mr.
Stratton's life from his 1848 birth and early life
in Jeffersonville, Indiana to his death in Colorado
Springs in 1902. Along the way the three phases of
his life are examined. Mr. Stratton's
Business - His Life and
Mines
will
remain available for the public until mid-June,
2003.
|
The
Collections and Education departments
at WMMI are pleased to present this
online excerpt of Mr.
Stratton's Business - His Life and
Mines for the virtual
visitor unable to travel to WMMI. Take
a few moments to
learn about this
important figure in Western mining,
view some of the
artifacts in the
exhibit and read some of the
papers in this
significant collection.
Terry
Girouard, Previous Curator of
Collections
|
|
The
Early Years
|
In
1848, Stratton was born in Jeffersonville, Indiana,
and was trained as a carpenter and draftsman before
moving to Colorado Springs in 1872.
During
his first two years in Colorado Springs, Stratton
established himself as a very successful house
builder. He also became very successful at buying
and selling lots.
|
Carpenter/Prospector
Years
1874 - 1891
|
A
carpenter by trade, Mr. Stratton worked in the
Colorado Springs area saving enough money for
prospecting trips into the Colorado mountains
during the summers. Prospecting throughout
Colorado, Mr. Stratton's tenacity eventually paid
off in Victor, Colorado.
|
Mr.
Stratton was a carpenter by trade.
|
|
In
May 1874, Mr. Stratton bought his first interest in
a mine, the Yretaba Silver Lode, in Cunningham
Gulch, near Silverton. This was the beginning of a
pattern that lasted until his discovery in Cripple
Creek Mining District.
|
|
"Stratton's
life through these seventeen years of manhood
could be most simply told by two pictures: The
first to show him in winter, astraddle the roof
beam of a new building, pounding away as an
unnoticed carpenter … The second to show
him in summer - the barest glimpse of a strange,
gaunt man passing into the shadow of a dark
mountain canon, with a burro patient, plodding,
and silent as he."
-Midas
of the Rockies, Marshall Sprague, page
105
|
Burro
Pack Saddle: A Tool of the Prospecting
Trade
|
Mine
Owner
1891-1900
|
W.S.
Stratton sold his interest in the Independence
on April 27th, 1899 to the Venture Corporation,
receiving 10 million for the mine. The sales
contract can be seen on display at WMMI.
|
On
July 4, 1891, Stratton entered a new phase in
his life turning from his carpenter-prospector role
to a one of mine owner.
The
Independence was Stratton's dream mine. Not
only did its location come to him in a dream
according to legend, but it's riches made him the
first millionaire to come out of the Cripple Creek
Mining District.
From
this time until his death over a century ago, on
September 14, 1902, he devoted himself to his
mining interests in the Cripple Creek
District.
|
Types
of Documents in the Collection
|
Mr.
Stratton's vast mine holdings generated an enormous
amount of paperwork. His mining papers consist of
96 boxes of papers, 351 ledgers, and over 1500
maps, blueprints, plats, and drawings.
Among
the documents can be found correspondence such as
these letters:
Mr.
Stratton
My
Dear Sir:
I
should like to lease the dumps of your Geneva
Mine. I can make a good living out of them. If
you think favorably please send me lease to
sign.
Yours
truly,
Mrs.
H.A.W. Tabor
Wednesday
Denver
Altman
Colo
June
- 2 - 1895
C.H.
Morse, Secy Union Gold M. & M.
Co.
Colo
Springs, Colo.
Dear
Sir
At
the noon hour, just as the men were coming out
of the shaft, when as accident caused by timbers
not properly placed and wedged by lessees gave
way and an accident that might have ended more
serious had we worked in any other than the way
we have.
M.
B. H. was the one injured and he can give more
details when he calls on you. I called in
immediately Dr. Leavenworth and had the wound
dressed and as he desired we put him in our
buggy and sent him to the train.
In
regard to the engine we have the agent of the
Fairbanks Morse & Co called his attention to
the main shaft being sprung and thereby throwing
both disk wheels out of their regular course at
least 1/8 of an inch…
Think
that we ought to have an indicator as the marks
on cable do not last long and are more or less
confusing by being erased from running over
rollers and also the number of them on the
cable. It will not be very expensive and will
more than repay its cost in convenience and
safety. The melting snows and rains are already
beginning to bother our work, loosening up
ground and falling.
Yours
Very Respectfully,
L.
E. R.
|
|
W.S.
Stratton
|
|
By
1900, Stratton had:
- sold
the Independence Mine for $10
million
- formed
the Stratton Cripple Creek Mining and
Development Company
- purchased
roughly 1/5 of mining properties in the
District
Until
his death, Stratton focused his time, money, and
energy in finding the original source of the
Cripple Creek gold.
|
Mr.
Stratton's Echo
Work
was suspended from the time of Mr. Stratton's
death until after the funeral, but it has
resumed and the properties are working as
usual. The SCCM&D Company owns all the
Stratton properties in the district,
including a large amount of ground on Globe
and Bull hills.
-EMJ
September 27, 1902, page 423
|
|
|