Different look at news, a century past

Hard type imprints more pressing news

By Rob Carrigan, robcarrigan1@gmail.com

When I think about it, I am amazed at how hardened folks have become on the press and their reportage these days. Modern, "mainstream" media gets blamed for manipulation, being manipulated, sensationalism, reporting nothing but bad news, not minding their own business, and seeing the world with a jaundiced eye.  Jeez! I wonder what they would thought of the news a century ago?

Severe headaches

"Passengers on the Short Line reaching here at 1:20 yesterday afternoon did not know how near they came to being without an engineer during the latter part of the trip, and for a few minutes the engineer was about in the same fix," reported the Cripple Creek Times, Aug. 8, 1907.

"Billy O'Connor, one of the best known engineers on the associated roads, was handing the throttle and while in the vicinity of St. Peter's Dome he was bending far out the cab window while the train was rounding the curve at a fair rate of speed, when his head suddenly came into contact with a protruding rock," according to the Times report.

"The force of the blow was fortunately not sufficient to knock him out the window, but for a few moments, the engineer was badly dazed. He soon recovered himself, however, and after bringing his train into this city, walked to a doctor's office where several stitches were found necesary to repair his scalp which was quite severely lacerated."

Questionable sources

And then with a "Special" dateline from Telluride, in the same paper:

"What is supposed to be the skeleton of W.J. Barney, the timberman on the Smuggler-Union, who disappeared in June of 1901, and has never been seen or heard of since, was exhumed this afternoon near the Alta Mill, 12 miles from this city, by Bulkaley Wells, adjutant general of the National Guard of Colorado and manager of the Smuggler-Union at the time Barney disappeared," reported the paper.

"The body was found in improvised grave and according to reports, the place was located through information given by Steve Adams, now awaiting a second trial in Idaho for the killing of two men in the northern part of the state, in the confession which he made about a year ago, and subsequently repudiated. It is said that an attempt was made to find a body last year but there was snow on the ground at the time, and the place could not be located."

Official reports

Interestingly enough, that was not all the news for Aug. 8, 1907.

"Fire partially destroys Golden Cycle Mill," reads the the top head, above the fold.

"In an official statement made to the Times last night by the management, it was declared that the loss by fire to the Golden Cycle Mill is not more than 40 percent of the total; that work of rebuilding will begin immediately and the mill will be in full operation within six months."

Maybe, folks understood then, that it is difficult to make chicken soup with nothing but a few bouillon cubes.  Or maybe, they were better at reading between the lines.

 

Golden influence remarkable in Pikes Peak region

Few realize how deep, pervasive and intertwined golden vein entangles area influence and origin

By Rob Carrigan, robcarrigan1@gmail.com

Nearly everyone knows of the impact of Cripple Creek gold on the history and construction of the city of Colorado Springs.
Mansions that line “Old North End” streets like Wood, Cascade, and Nevada Avenues owe their existence to the wealth generated in the mines. Public buildings like the Main Post Office, the Mining Exchange, and even the old courthouse that now houses the Pioneer’s Museum were paid for with district dirt. But few realize how deep, pervasive and intertwined that golden vein entangles area influence and origin.
An example resides in the coalmines in the northwestern area of the city.
“The Pikes Peak Fuel Division, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Golden Cycle Corp., produced and sold lignite coal at its Pikeview Mine, located just north of Colorado Springs, for many years,” wrote Max W. Bowen in a profile about the Golden Cycle Corp. in the December, 1960 edition of The Mines Magazine.
“During the World War II period, the power plant Pikeview, having capacity in excess of 8,000 kilowatts, served in a standby capacity to the city of Colorado Springs, thereby insuring the city of sufficient power capacity to serve the numerous armed services establishments in the region.”
“The Fuel Division also operated a sand, crushed rock and gravel business, supplying most of the concrete aggregate used in the region for the past several years. Prior to abandoning the railroad (Midland) in 1949, crushed rock aggregate was produced in the Cripple Creek District and shipped to Colorado Springs by rail,” Bowen wrote in 1960.
The development of the Woodman Valley area is also very much tied to Golden Cycle Corp. presence as well.
The Golden Cycle Corp secured clear title to Monument Park Land Company in 1913.
“From 1913 this corporation, or its subsidiary Pikes Peak Fuel, held most of the land from Pikeview into Woodman Valley. From the shaft at Pikeview, tunnels ran north and west through most of the area south of Woodman Road. Although there was also coal north of Woodman Road, the surface rock made the area generally unsuitable for mining,” according John Kitch, Jr. in his 1970 book Woodman Valley.
By 1959, the two smaller valleys north of where the Modern Woodman of America Sanatorium had been serving tuberculosis patients for years, were being called Hidden Valley and Red Spring Valley.
“Both were slowly being settled by new residents who had purchased homesites from the Golden Cycle Corporation,” wrote Kitch.
The sanatorium closed to patients in 1947 and by 1950, it had been purchased by wealthy financier and philanthropist Blevins Davis. Davis wife was heiress to a fortune originally linked to James Hill railroad money. (Davis at one time was partial owner of The Gold Rush newspaper.)
“He promptly sold off the 180 octagonal Gardiner cottages, many of which can still be seen in the Pikes Peak area. A rumor circulated at this time that the property was to be used for a Summer White House, allowing the entire presidential staff to escape the heat of Washington,” Kitch writes.
The Sisters of Saint Francis Seraph were eventually the benefactors of that land, more than $2.3 million dollars, and a Broadmoor mansion. Renamed St. Joseph’s Convent, Mount St. Francis, the property was dedicated as the order’s Mother House of the Western Province in 1954. It continues to serve in that capacity.

Illustration:
Golden Cycle image.

Photo 1:
Portland Mill and and Victor in the mining district from a USGS photograph.

Photo 2:
Colorado Springs & Interurban car about 1908.
 
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