12.09.2005 While going
through my copy of the 1906 Geology book about the Cripple
Creek District(5),
I suddenly found a tiny little reference to this
mine! It said that by October 1892 the Anaconda, Arequa,
Blue Bell, Buena Vista, Deerhorn, Eclipse, Gold King, Matoe, Mountain
Boy, Ophir, Pharmacist, Plymouth, Strong, Summit,
Sweet, Victor and Works mines where shipping ore. How cool is that?
:-) It means that this mine actually was quite old in 1904 when
the article that first caught my interest was
published. Must have been dormant long I guess - and never been a
great producer as by 1906 it is not even mention in the chapters
dealing with several mines in the area around this mine's location.
Good thing I never invested my money into it... :-)
Of other news... My model is now to be found on the DLS
belonging to Auran, for all owners of TRS2004 & TRS2006.
29.08.2005
While
I was doing a scan of the pictures included in an old book I
have called "Official Manual of Cripple Creek
1900"(4),
did I happen to at least find some sort of indication of a
map showing the location of this mine!
Yeah! :-)
I knew it
was said to be near this in the texts below, but as I
never found any indication on my 1902 map, or in anything
else, I
wasn't 100% sure. Now at least I can better locate it, as
"Bogart", which is mention a little to the right
on the claim map, is both featured in my 1902 map
(#88) and also
mention in the text at bottom of this page from that article
in that mining journal.
28.08.2005
Not
much work has been done, but at least I'm getting
close to where I want this to be. Due to this taking a
little longer then I had in mind I've got a little
tired of this structure, so while I can clearly see it
don't match the picture of the real Mountain Boy 100%,
or even 90% I've agreed with my self that this is good
enough for now. The
headframe is to thick, I've used lumber 12" in
size, guess it was more like 8" or 10" based
on the picture I have, and the cover on some of the
shaft looks to big too.
As it looks in Trainz, and as the exact real
location is unknown, I just located a nice look-
ing spot on Raven Hill.
But,
aside from that I think it is pretty good, and it is one
nice looking mine I have so I am happy with it!
Thanks
to a book I have called "Riches to Rust"(3),
I also think I have discovered what that boxlike
structure on the left of the shaft is. According
to that book, it was common for moderate deep
prospecting shafts to use both a trap door over the
hoisting compartment to deflect rock from going down the
hole while the bucket is emptied, and to build a ventilation
stack (that box like structure) over the utility
compartment. This
consisted of a plank lined booth, with a door and a port
for ventilation tubing, further the hoisting and utility
compartments where divided by a solid wood bulkhead and
they lined the shaft with well-fitted lagging.
Then
they arranged for a mechanical blower to force air into
the stack, which created a down going current in the
utility compartment, which again forcing foul gases to
rise out of the hoisting part of the shaft - coming up
as an up-cast current.(3)
It
all sort of made sense when I read that part, and while
it makes the headframe look kinda strange it really
helps make it a special one and worthy of me spending a
lot of time on it... :-)
25.08.2005 Yes, I've started on a model of this mine, and I've even
dug up some more info on it, at least a slight part of
info... :-)
Thanks to
a website called Colorado's Historic Newspaper Collection
there are now access to at least some old newspapers that
can be used to dig up tidbits of information's. I love that
page, and if I could have afford it, I would have given them
all the needed resources to have all the Cripple Creek
newspapers digitalized! :-) But, alas,
for now I must be happy with what I have, and beside the
information below from that Mining Journal, this is what I
found:
Aspen Weekly Times (Aspen, Pitkin
County)
1895 Dec 07
Aspen Men Are Interested Have a
Three-foot Vein in the Mountain Boy at Cripple. Manford
Smith left last night for Cripple Creek to investigate
a strike of rich ore reported to have been made in the
Mountain Boy claim, a property in which he and W.E.
Turley, of this city, are interested largely. Mr.
Smith was all smiles yesterday afternoon over the
receipt of the welcome information. Concerning the
matter. The Cripple Creek Times of Saturday has the
following:
"A
good strike was made in the Mountain Boy yesterday and
the indications are that in it another mine will be
added to the already large list of such properties. The
claim joins the Dolly Varden on the north slope of
Raven hill, and the discovery was made by Messrs.
Kelly, Walker and Bob, the lessees. A
shaft was sunk thirty feet before the vein was found
in place, and at this point it is fully three feet
wide and half of it is pay ore. And
assay taken from this width showed a value of $71.60
per ton. The ore is sylvanite and the vein from which
it was taken is a new one. It's extension is pretty
certain to be opened upon adjoining properties."
Morning Times (Cripple Creek, El
Paso County)
1895 Dec 10
A.U.
Magnan, of this city, who has considerable interest in
the Mountain Boy, at Cripple Creek, several days ago
received a sample of the ore encountered in that property
recently. He had the stuff assayed by Elmendorf, with
the following result: Gold, 10.4 ounces, Total value
per ton, $201. Mr.
Magnan is more than satisfied with his Cripple Creek
experience, so far, because the Mountain Boy is
promising --- Aspen Times.
Svensk Amerikanska Western
(Denver, Denver County)
1899 Jan 12
A
short article in Swedish mention the fact that it
don't seems like miners ever will learn that drilling
out after a so called "missed shot" is never
a good idea.
This article/question they raised seems to relate to
the fact that 8 days before, there where two men
killed in the Mountain Boy Mine in Cripple Creek. The
two men killed where Dick Tomas and C. Woddruff.
Mining
is not a safe thing, especially back then I think.
Morning Times (Cripple Creek, El
Paso County)
1900 Jan 10 / 1900 Jan 20 / 1900 Jan 28
For Sale
- 10 months lease on the Mountain Boy on Raven Hill,
adjoining Morning Stars and close to Doctor and Ida
May.
H.A. Goodridge, La Bella power house, Goldfield.
23.07.2005
I start this new page with a short
story/background on this smaller mine that I very much liked
the picture of! The model info will come later... :-) - The
info is taken from an old journal/magazine called The
Mining Investor:
THE
MOUNTAIN BOY GOLD MINING COMPANY Owns Patented Acreage in
the Heart of the Cripple Creek District. Being Thoroughly
and Systematically Developed. One of the latest companies to
take its place among the producing mines of the Cripple
Creek district is The Mountain Boy Gold Mining company. The location
of its property is ideal, being on Raven Hill and surrounded
by such well known producers as the Elkton, Doctor-Jack Pot,
Joe Dandy, Mary McKinney and many other well known mines.
Not
far away are located such properties as the "War Eagle,
Wild Horse, Central Consolidated and Cripple Creek
Home-stake properties. The company owns a compact body of
ground comprising 14 acres including portions of the
Mountain Boy, Bogart and Fairfax lodes. The acreage
is patented and the company has absolute title to the same,
free and clear of all in-cumbrances. Besides this 14 acres,
the company also owns additional vein rights in three acres
of adjoining ground. Up to the
time the property was acquired the Mountain Boy company most
of the work-was done in shallow cuts and shafts on the
surface. An exceptionally large number of veins were
discovered and proven by these workings from which a great
deal of mineral was shipped and the value of the property
demonstrated. The Bogart
claim alone to date has produced about $125,000.00 worth of
ore from these surface workings.
Since the
Mountain Boy company has taken possession of the claims a
thorough system of development has been inaugurated and
carefully carried out. A new shaft
was started at a point, which would intersect and develop
the largest number of the veins, which is now down a depth
of 400 feet. At the 150-foot level the veins were found to
be in place and to carry good values. It is the
idea of the company, however, to do mining on a large scale
and the shaft was continued downward to the present depth of
400 feet before doing any more crosscutting. Drifting in now
in progress and the veins at depth may be cut at any time.
The 400
feet of depth thus gained will give a large stoping ground
on the ore bodies. The property is crossed by the Ophelia
tunnel, which started operations anew recently and which
will cut the Mountain Boy property at the depth of over
1,000 feet. The tunnel
will pass directly through the property for a distance of
350 feet and will pass very near its side lines for a
further distance of 1,150 feet. Thus the property will be
prospected for a distance of 1,500 feet, locating the ore
bodies throughout the length of the claims. To any one
acquainted with Cripple Creek mining the value of this
prospecting will be appreciated. The face of the Ophelia
tunnel is now only 500 feet distant from the Mountain Boy
property and in a very short time will be penetrating the
same.
This
tunnel adds vastly to the value of the property, as
operations can be conducted through it, thus saving the
expense of drainage and hoisting and giving 1,000 feet of
stoping ground on the veins. The management of the property
is in conservative hands. Mr. J. F. Ensminger is president,
Mr. Wm. M. Broyles, vice president, and Mr. W. F. Littell,
secretary and treasurer of the company. All are
conservative business men of Cripple Creek, and are giving
their united attention and experience as mining men to the
development of the property. The capital
stock of the Mountain Boy company is 1,500,000 shares at
$1.00 par value, and a large portion of this is placed in
the treasury for creating a working fund to develop the
property. The merits of this property are recognized by the
best mining men of Cripple Creek. Its location
is ideal being in the center of the producing area. The
public can expect to hear good tidings shortly from the
property and it will probably soon take its place among the
active producers of the district.
3 - Riches to Rust - A Guide
to Mining in the Old West [ISBN 1-890437-60-3] by Eric
Twitty (page 156)
4 - Official Manual of Cripple Creek
1900 by Fred Hills (page 467)
5 - Geology and Gold Deposits of Cripple
Creek District by Lindgren & Ransome (page 132)
This page, and this site is the work
of me, Linda Irene
Tingvik, and all text & pictures unless otherwise stated, is the
property of me.
All copying, hot linking, Whatever, should be seek permission for, Before doing it!
If you see something that should not be here, is wrongly marked, or have
anything to add, please write
me.
While going
through my copy of the 1906 Geology book about the Cripple
Creek District(5),
I suddenly found a tiny little reference to this
mine! It said that by October 1892 the Anaconda, Arequa,
Blue Bell, Buena Vista, Deerhorn, Eclipse, Gold King, Matoe, Mountain
Boy, Ophir, Pharmacist, Plymouth, Strong, Summit,
Sweet, Victor and Works mines where shipping ore.
1 - The Mining Investor, 11 April
1904 (page 244)