Illinois Gulch Mines

[John McCutcheon]

Any idea how long the mines in Illinois Gulch lasted or when they played out. The mines there seemed rather small when looking at photos but there were a number of spurs for these small mines. There is no mention of the end of their operations in Poor's DSP&P book or in the Mineral Belt series.

John McCutcheon

[Jeff Young]

While not large, I wouldn’t characterise the mines in the area as small either.

The Willard Tunnel connected several mines in the area, including at least the Puzzle, Ouray and Golddust properties.  The bulk of the production was in the 1890s to about 1900, but several attempts were made to revive them between 1910 and 1928, with some ore shipments starting in 1915.  (Sources differ on when the last ore was shipped; I’ve seen both 1916 and 1925 mentioned.)  Total production was around $900,000.

the Washington mine was older, with most production between 1883 and 1891, and sporadic production to 1897.  A 20-stamp mill was built on the site in 1885.  Total production was around $400,000.

https://books.google.ie/books?id=hUQRAAAAIAAJ

Cheers,

Jeff.

On 10 Sep 2017, at 22:39, John McCutcheon [via C&Sng Discussion Forum] <[hidden email]> wrote:

Any idea how long the mines in Illinois Gulch lasted or when they played out. The mines there seemed rather small when looking at photos but there were a number of spurs for these small mines. There is no mention of the end of their operations in Poor's DSP&P book or in the Mineral Belt series.

John McCutcheon

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NAML

[Chris Walker]

Nice work Jeff,  

http://digital.denverlibrary.org/cdm/fullbrowser/collection/p15330coll21/id/3411/rv/singleitem/rec/1


http://digital.denverlibrary.org/cdm/fullbrowser/collection/p15330coll22/id/15075/rv/singleitem/rec/46



WHJackson Photo

[Chris Walker]

The Washington Mine is heavily discussed in the Summit County Historical Soc. publication Men, Mining & Machines by Sandra F. Pritchard.

http://digital.denverlibrary.org/cdm/fullbrowser/collection/p15330coll22/id/15078/rv/singleitem/rec/18

[John McCutcheon]

Chris & Jeff

Thanks for the additional information, photos and letting me know when mining ceased in this area. For some one wanting to model the latter years this lets them know there was no activity however for some one who model's early 1900's there is a source for traffic.

[Jim Courtney]

Some other photos in the area known as Puzzle, in Illinois Gulch:




A less cropped image of the view Chris posted, showing a DL&G or early C&S freight climbing Barney Floyd Hill. The town of Breckenridge in the valley below.






I've understood this mill to be named the Little Mountain Mill. Am I wrong??



http://digital.denverlibrary.org/cdm/singleitem/collection/p15330coll22/id/15079/rec/145



The Mountain Pride Mill above Illinois Gulch.






Hydraulic Mining on Farncomb Hill, above Illinois Gulch.

[Jeff Young]

Great pictures, Jim.  I hadn’t seen that one of the Mountain Pride mill before.

Cheers,
Jeff.

[Jim Courtney]

The 1918 C&S Valuation Map shows this spur at the downgrade end of the hook-eye curve to be the station of Smith:


http://digital.denverlibrary.org/cdm/fullbrowser/collection/p15330coll21/id/3411/rv/singleitem/rec/1



The map shows platforms and structures on either side of the spur. The photo shows a string of empty flat cars on the spur, with many piles of lumber next to the track. There appears to be a small mill beyond the spur at the tree line. The maps shows these structures to be on the Hannibal & St Joseph mining claim, as of 1918.

[Chris Walker]

An absolute visual feast....

[Jim Courtney]

You are really outdoing yourself, Chris!! Thanks so much . . .

Your second photo contains something that you don't see everyday:




A railroad underpass for a teamster road, with the track above covered by a snow shed . . .


And just to make Chris's tour-de-force complete:




The Germania mine and the Mill at Little Mountain Spur, by Otto Westerman. Jeff's river willows obscure the three DSP&P boxcars waiting to be loaded.

The Germania was located just down grade from Puzzle switch. According to the 1922 Mines Handbook, the Germania was still being worked under lease, with ore being shipped to the Leadville smelter--probably by truck at that date, as the 1918 Valuation map shows that Little Mountain spur had been removed.

[Chris Walker]

Jim, just getting this stuff out there before I lose the power of recall and ability to remember to do it.

Some more,

[Jim Courtney]

That's OK, Chris.

A few years back I thought that I was developing early symptoms of Alzheimer's, but then I forgot what the symptoms were, been happy ever since.