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Events/Rush · 1890

Cripple Creek gold rush

Rush, 1890 to 1891, United States.

What happened

Robert Womack filed a gold claim near Cripple Creek in 1886 but found no investors during the silver boom. In October 1890 he took ore samples for assay in Colorado Springs. The mining district was organized in 1891, and Winfield Scott Stratton became its first millionaire when he staked the Independence Mine on 4 July. By 1990 the district had yielded more than 23 million ounces of gold.1,2

Why it matters

Cripple Creek was the last great Colorado gold camp and its mine is still the state's only large gold mine.1,2

Story cards

Around the same time

  1. George Carmack born

    George Carmack born (date from Wikidata).3

  2. General Mining Law of 1872

    The law remains the basis for claims to locatable minerals on US federal land.4,5

  3. Herbert Hoover born

    Herbert Hoover born (date from Wikidata).6

  4. Barberton gold rush

    Barberton was the first major gold boom of the eastern Transvaal, two years before the Witwatersrand.7,8

  5. Cyanide process for gold developed in Scotland

    USGS says heap leaching with cyanide was proposed in 1969 as a way to treat low-grade ores.9,10,11

  6. Paddy Hannan applies for a reward claim at Kalgoorlie

    Hannan, Flanagan and O'Shea's find led to Australia's biggest gold rush to that date.12

  7. Ashanti Goldfields listed and Obuasi opened

    It marks the start of Ashanti Goldfields' operations at Obuasi.13,14

  8. Second Boer War begins

    Second Boer War begins.15

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Where next

People

Led byWinfield Scott StrattonWinfield Scott Stratton is part of this story: Cripple Creek gold rush.1Worked hereMary Catherine (Mollie) GortnerHer Poverty Gulch quartz became the Mollie Kathleen Mine.16

Mines

Located inCripple CreekSee the mine at the heart of this story: Cripple Creek.1

Events

Came out ofPikes Peak (Colorado) gold rushThirty-two years later Colorado had another gold rush, at Cripple Creek.17

Places

Located inCripple CreekSee the place where this happened: Cripple Creek.1

Sources

  1. Cripple Creek Colorado Encyclopedia
  2. Cripple Creek (item Q117605), coordinate location P625 Wikidata
  3. Wikidata item Q720659 (George Carmack)
  4. Mining Claims and Sites on Federal Lands (PDF) US Bureau of Land Management
  5. Washington, D.C. (item Q61), coordinate location P625 Wikidata
  6. Wikidata item Q35236 (Herbert Hoover)
  7. Barberton, Mpumalanga South African History Online
  8. Barberton (item Q807828), coordinate location P625 Wikidata
  9. Cyanide hazards to plants and animals from gold mining and related water issues (publication page) US Geological Survey
  10. Johannesburg Timeline 1800-1991 South African History Online
  11. Scotland (item Q22), coordinate location P625 Wikidata
  12. Reflections on Kalgoorlie history (media statement, 15 June 1993) Government of Western Australia
  13. Ashanti Goldfields Company Limited Encyclopedia of Company Histories (Reference for Business)
  14. Obuasi (item Q1020901), coordinate location P625 Wikidata
  15. Wikidata item Q215112 (Second Boer War begins)
  16. 2024 Inductees from Mining's Past Mining Foundation of the Southwest
  17. Colorado Gold Rush Colorado Encyclopedia

From the Prospector Trails mining history dataset: each fact links to the source it was checked against. Figures are as the source gives them, in the money of their day. Not investment advice.

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Cover photos from Wikimedia Commons: Super Pit, Kalgoorlie by Kgbo, CC BY-SA 4.0; Underground mining equipment by Kaupo Kikkas, CC BY-SA 4.0. Pictures: Gold prospectors constructing a long box with a filter for panning gold. Process print after H.M. Paget, 1899., Henry Marriott Paget (Public Domain Mark 1.0); Pangkalpinang. Mijn 3b. Een reeks koelies bezig met het transporteeren van grond, Europeana (Public Domain Mark 1.0).