27.12.2023 (19:58:37)
Mary McKinney Mine, Anaconda & Gold Hill as Seen From North Slope Guyot Hill
Unknown
To me this view is informative and nice, even if it sadly is quite faded as bought photograph. Thankfully, I been able to work around most of that and got some details better visible. Dating this image is helped by not only the showing of the Low Line grade running alongside Gold Hill, but also with the mainline Short Line higher up on same hill. The Short Line grade date this photographed to be after March 23, 1901, as that is the date of the last spike ceremony in the Cripple Creek yard. Also, the showing of the town of Anaconda says this is before the 1904 fire that wiped out most of town. But, using the high-resolution scan at 2400dpi, I also see trolly poles along the old tight balloon loop below the Anchoria-Leland shafthouse, and with the lack of poles along the Short Line mainline, dating this to be before September 1903; as by middle of that month, the original High Line was closed and trolley cars ran over the Short Line mainline partly seen in this view. All this gives a max of 2.5-year span for when someone unknown photographed this image.
The photographer stood on the northern slope of Guyot Hill, looking towards the Anchoria-Leland mine on western slope of Gold Hill, that mine is seen against the sky about 1/3 in from right-hand side. Just to the right of the large shafthouse of the Anchoria-Leland, the Lexington Orehouse and trestle connecting it to the mine surface building are seen. Slightly lower on what is southern slope of Gold Hill, another long shafthouse are seen, with a high smokestack, sadly for me, I have not been able to pinpoint if this is yet another shaft on the Gold King lode claim, or part of the Tom Gough lode claim, as the maps I have access to at the time of this writing (Dec. 27, 2023) gives me no definite answer to share here.
In fact, this photo has many smaller workings on this side of Gold Hill shown, many small dumps, smaller structures, and a nightmare to ID all of them at this time, but interesting for me to have, as this photo comes close to what the old 1903ish topomap from USGS shows.
Further to the right and lower on the hill is seen most of, but where another slope is hiding lower parts of the structures, we see the surface structures belonging to the E. Porter Gold King operations on the east end of the Gold King lode, that is seen about 1/5 in from right-hand side and about 1/5 down from top side.
Going down the hill about 1/5 in from right-hand side, about 2/6 from top, there is a small structure showing on what I think of as the east end of the Superior lode claim, but again, there are so many claims and holes in the ground that it is hard to track it all.
About 1/3 down from top alongside the right-hand side, there are more mine operations seen just below the Low Line grade, which seems to be various lessees on Mary McKinney ground. One is known as Howard shaft, both on the 1903ish topomap and the 1906 USGS Principal Underground Workings map.
Further left, about 1/3 in from right-hand side and about 3/7 down from top are the Virginia M. mine structures; a hoisthouse and a head/gallows-frame, where one of the posts is perfectly extended up from the pole on top of the Mary McKinney shafthouse. Further to the right again seems to be the location of an open cut in the ground that has appeared on some images about the Anaconda Mine/Tunnel operations, there are two dark spots on top of each other with a small dump in front of the lower hole, just above the Midland Terminal cut into the hillside.
The M.T. depot structure is shown just to the left of the prominent fir tree at almost edge right-hand side, and the town of Anaconda is stretching down Squaw Gulch at left.
About dead center of the image is the Florence & Cripple Creek Station structure, with a large orebin across the track tucked in between various cribbed walls, and the larger and still standing in the 1950's – but alas gone by time I visited area in 1998 – orehouse of the Anaconda Mine. The old Blacksmith shop structure of the Anaconda, which survived at that location till the Open Pit Mining Company of modern times could destroy this area as well, in the hunt for gold and other minerals to earn money.
The Mary McKinney large shafthouse and orehouse in combination are seen in foreground right, with the town of Anaconda spreading out in the gulch below it at left and right. A 3-passenger car F. & C. C. train is coming into Anaconda station, enroute to Florence. The hillside below and above that train has adit mines seen spotted here and there.
In the gulch about center right-left in the upper half of the image, there is a head/gallows-frame and a small hoisthouse seen just to the left of the road about 2/5 down from top, that is the marked Superior Shaft on the 1903ish topomap, while only the dump area is seen of the marked Fauntleroy shaft of same topomap is seen behind a tree in the gulch and another shaft on the Little Fauntleroy lode claim is seen with its large smokestack, hoist-and work house connected to a head/gallows-frame closer to the M.T. mainline, these surface structures are clearly seen in the photo, encircled by a road and with a dump area towards the M.T. low trestle.
Further up the before mention gulch, just below the Low Line, about 1/3 down from top and almost at center sideways is the shafthouse of the Alamo mine, also marked on the 1903ish topomap. Further to the left, across the gulch from that mine, is a large tent town I have no idea what was there for, I count 5 large house formed tents in a row, then a large in form of long row butted together end to end, before a single tent ends/closing the 'town' at the lower butt-end of this flatter ground. Lots of smaller dumps say there have been lot of exploring here but lack of structures tells the story of not striking rich.
Up on Gold Hill again, above the Low Line roadbed, there is seen a structure at the Hillside mine, has the looks of a hoisthouse, but I fail to see a visible headframe, so it is most likely a shafthouse covering an incline shaft as per 1906 USGS Principal Underground Workings map. This claim, the Hill Side lode, had a whopping 11-Shafts and 2-Cuts marked out on its 2.41 Acres large Plat Map dated February 15, 1899! That map also had an Engine House structure showing just to the left of where the working shaft of 1906 is and that is also near/at the location of a marking on the 1903ish topomap of a mine here.
Moving up on Gold Hill against the sky and a bit more to the right, another narrow but high shafthouse is poking into the sky, this is the shafthouse of the Lillian Leland lode claim, hard to tell if it is the one on the Discovery Shaft or to the east of that, as while the Plat Map of that lode has only the Discovery Shaft marked, the 1903ish topomap has two more shaft markings on it, so which of those three the shafthouse is on, I do not know.
Moving back down the southwest slope of Gold Hill to below the Short Line mainline again, there is visible a smaller structure among the dumps, but at this time I struggle too much figuring out which lode claim this is at, I think it is on the Moonlight lode, but it could also be on the Robert E. Lee lode, so, I leave this for later.
I started my text description with the location of the photographer, and I think he, most likely a he, was at the ore case/bin of the Ross lease on the Republic lode of the Mary McKinney company, as the 1906 USGS Principal Underground Workings map has a shaft marked named Ross, and it falls on the named lode claim, and the 1903ish topomap has some mine markings and a road there, which also the foreground of the photo shows in lower left.

I did procure the colored version of this image, if that is what you see, as I think it is nicer. Source is gray-toned, or in common speech black & white. Used an online service and tweaked and worked with image to get what looks best to my eyes for the moment.
My Collection; Photographs.

• My Website: ⊞ Mary McKinney Mine, Anaconda & Gold Hill as Seen From North Slope Guyot Hill
• My Website; Cropped Photolink: ⊞ Mary McKinney Mine, Anaconda & Gold Hill as Seen From North Slope Guyot Hill [Enhanced; Colored]

P-04751
Photograph/Image [#545]
www.cripplecreekrailroads.com/01main/all_known_entities/pics_list-evry1_sort-newtop.php#545

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