People/prospector

Robert 'Bob' Womack

Robert 'Bob' Womack, prospector, from United States. Linked to gold.

The lucky break

Filed a gold claim at Cripple Creek in 1886. After he took ore samples to Colorado College for assay in October 1890, prospectors headed to Broken Box Ranch by early 1891.1

The downfall

In 1886 Colorado was in a long silver boom and he could find no investors, though he kept trying.1

Legacy

His persistence led to the Cripple Creek Mining District, organised in April 1891.1

Story cards

Timeline

  1. 1890 to 1891Cripple Creek gold rush2

Where next

People

Partner ofWinfield Scott StrattonWomack's persistence opened Cripple Creek; Stratton became its first millionaire.1

Sources

  1. Cripple Creek Colorado Encyclopedia
  2. Cripple Creek 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.

Keep exploring

Stories with these minerals

The Super Pit gold mine at Kalgoorlie, Western Australia, at sunsetMining historyGold rushes, then and nowGold and lithium · WorldwideAn underground loader carrying a full bucket of rock through a dark mine roomEquipmentUnderground mining equipmentUnderground · FleetHistory of miningGold fever: the rushes that filled continents1848-1900Lessons from historyPrice shocks and the supply response1893-2025

All mining storiesThe world runs on rockAll mineralsMining by country

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).