A Rare Colorado Mining Map and Pamphlet

Rare Colorado mining pamphet, with a map showing the Pine Creek District in Gilpin County.

The map was prepared by Chase & Rank M.E. (Mining Engineers?), in September of 1896. This example is an 1897 re-issue.

The map is centered around Apex, Colorado, now a ghost town, and has rich detail of mine names, mills, trails, hill and gulch names, etc.

Apex, Colorado sprung up after Richard Mackey found gold, reaching its apex in the late 1890s; at its height, the city had around 1,000 residents and one hundred businesses on Main Street (which is indicated by little blocks of buildings on this map).

This promotional brochure was published by the passenger department of the Union Pacific, Denver and Gulf Railway Company. It was issued to attract investors and prospectors to the Pine Creek Gold Mining District, which the text describes as "the most attractive and promising of the recent mining regions opened up in Colorado." Like many other counties in the state, Gilpin County experienced an economic boom when gold was first discovered there in 1859, and the region enjoyed several decades of sustained mining wealth.

The accompanying folding map at the front of the brochure is centered on the town of Apex (now a ghost town) and shows numerous mining claims in the vicinity including Gold Standard, Train Despatcher, Redemption, Cowboy, and Ben Hur to name a few. Within the 16 pages of text by W.S. Ward is an additional full page "

Rarity

Issued in 1896 and 1897, the map and pamphlet are very rare.

OCLC locates the following examples:

• 1896 edition: Colorado School of Mines, Autry Museum, History Colorado, SMU DeGolyer Library
• 1897 edition: Autry Museum, Denver Public Library, Yale.