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The· city' of Leadville is one of the' nlarvels' ofthe present age. :T\vo years ago it had no' e.x'istence,while to-day' 'it has its long streets:and broad' avenu~s·many miles in extent, \vith l~rge and handsome build­iin"gs on every side. Recently as 'August;-.;,I877;· 9nlysix 'rude log cabins \v:ere to be' found; .w.here to-day

I .well designed edifices -can. be counted by the' thousand.I· The' numerous and :\vell'stocked" busines's)'houses', the! :many' elegant· and \vell f~rnisheqf private i reside~ces,! • the: cOlnmodipus hotels, theaters, churches' and',s<;hools,

together with41\ the broad a~d well {graded stre~ts;' give.the ci~y a decidedly'metropolitan' air. j -Hundreds -and ­. thousands of citizens and stratigers 'are constantlypass=ing and repassing through its- crowded streets, afact famitiar to all residen~s, but. a: 'surprise to' the 'ne\vcomer, who, ~ upon his. ~ ~rtival here; finds t himselfreminded of Broadway: or ~anal, street.: The city0\\Zes its existence, as "well as its prosperity, to the

. numerous and rich discoveries of carbonate 'veins'; inthe valley of the Upper Arkans·as. ~ro the residentsof Leadville, who are familiar \vith~he facts \vhich weset forth in this chapter, ulJon their young, handsomeand progressive city, the observations Inay seem some­what digressive, but it nlust be borne in Illind that ourextensive circulation abroad; where all are desirous ofobtaining accurate information of this prolific section,.is our excuse for giving data \vhich must not only

;I 6· . . LEADVJLL~. . .. I. -------------------j.- --; .1 - i~terestb~t ~d~~~ ;dditi~n~l ~apital-;~d imn~ig;.atiol~- --. ;! into our midst. . . ,

: II Lea~ville is situated in the valley of the Upper IArkan~as, i.n ~ natura~. ~.~rk or ba~_in ,near the 1110uth I

I of CalIfornIa GUlch, '1n Lake (;ounty, Colorado. Itpresents O"ne of the'most 'picturesque sites which canbe viewed anywhere in our youthful and prosperousState. The grand old mountains surround' it on everyside, whose n.lJrnerous snow clad peaks tower n1ajes­tically.. up in. the farjJoff distance,.. lending:; beauty and

-, .enchantment to th~ s~ene. . 1"'he early history of ~h·is.

section is not ·devoid...6f, interest.. . FoUo\ving the Pike~s

reak excitem~nt of· 185.9 in ,the,subsequent year,. rich.placer ··diggings.. \vere discovered in .California (Gulchwhich'. brougl)t' .to )this' lqcality thousa.nds, of a9~en­

t~fOUSt,~'lJin'ers. .For.a few years .this. w.as,.one of .themost. prQsp~ro_us mjn,ing camps. jn ; the,. )Vest, ~ .y~elding

. millions :of. tr,easure.. ',As, ·soon as th~se; placers hadbee~·:)Vo~kedout .th~ ,.gulch· J~eca~ ,·<thnost qeserted,remaining sO,.until I ~74, wheI1 ~arQon.at~ores \V'el~e 9is-

, covered. a.nd. thei,r true quality d,etermined. It was 'not,.ho\vever,.. ul)til abo,ut two years ~go that ~he' furorebroke o~t . regarcUng, tl:le;; camp, ~,which. gives strongpromise of being the ri(:p.~~t silver: pro,dueing :sec,tion

. in the worl~. t' Already millions have. been extractedfrom the n~,ines, and·, the yield of the. ·present year isestima~~d at twelve million dollars. '. Ample smelting

, and sampling. \vorks are dott~d around on every side,rtunning c!~y. and night,; transformi~g the ore into

.)~ullion.. , Fully a Qozen of these establishments are in

./operation, and oth~rsl,are .fast. being completed to meetthe rapid· increase in tlie.. prod.llction of ore.. . There are, at ,least ,a ,hundr~d paying mines con­

;,tributingtq t~e wea~th,of the country, while·'.the richprospects are almost; i,nnunlerable. The camp hasbeen frequently the "p09X n1an's camp" on account of

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1 I I: I LEADVILLE. 7 I

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the nu-me-rous rich strikes- \vniEh lrave· bee-n ,made-with -1-<;:bn1paratively little ex~rti6n'and. expense; "and '\vhich .have 'speedily enriched their' owners, ~ \vhose :only 'out-lay, in many, cases,' has been a brief'period. of \v~ll I,·c;l~rec~ed. la~or... - Prospectors ~ ~ntinue· t,o delve on. every Ihtll::,sIde' wIth success, and, for many: ·years'tol·coyne\extensive'rewards relnain in, store for those' \vho :have ,.\villing hands and strong, ar~s to' a.id 'in the deve'lop- iment 'of the countl1'. ' To :glve an Idea of the·" extent \

. th~t mining has assumed, it 'may be' stated I that one Ilocal company is operating" upon a capital of ·.twenty imillion dollars~ anrl its properties promise to l yield I14rgely' upon: the investment. I Other 'and :·numeroUs Icorporations and private individuals are doing propor~ I:tionately as well with i

, claims: .which: have;;heen· Dutt,a I~

short t,ime under development.,,' / I L,; II The heal,th of a' country frequently':elicits'consid- II:' ,/',

'erable -inquiry. 'In .this :connectiori it-rlcan. be stated ,that the' city 'ha's an altitude <<:if 10;200 "feet abov~ 'sea .1level~ which "-occasions some new comers slight 'diffi'- I

culty'in respiration,' but this is 'soon ,:overcome by 'a 'brief·residence.· No contagious or: infectious diseases ;exist, and the greater number of deaths thus far' hav'e ibeen; fronl pneumonia;, this:, ho\vever," must inot be Iattributed so much to climate and -local: causes las -to I'

'the ;careless manner' in \vhich~many persons hav~ lived.The pioneers had but little shelter other 'than their Iblankets, and many of them not. being used Ito the II

, rigors of' a mining camp, succumbed to the felldestroyer. ,This- has now ,all c~nged. Large and Iwell. furnished hotels, the 'accommodations of which I.

are second to none in the State, are' numer.ous" whilecottages and cabins, contiguous to the business portionof the city,' can readily be ~ 'pl.lrchased 'or rented bythose who lcome i~tod"oui midst.· A

hfull'lsl':Pply 0df '/

pure crysta \vater IS Istributed to t e ~\ve lngs an

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. I_~.. ~_~' _:=~~ILLE.· _.- - - ~ -public p-laees-- thraugh-arr-ext~nsive-~r.stetll- ·of-mains ~ ---­

underlying our streets, while the security of the cityis assured by an efficient fire department. Good sani-tary regulations prevail under: the supervision ot avigilant and well infor'med} police.' A. 'regular citygovernment exists, having a board of. 'Councilmen,. atthe head of which is a Mayor, under whose directionall municipal matters are .controlled. In point of la\\'and order the, city conlpares favorably \vith any ofsimilar size in the Union, despite sonle reports havingbeen circulated abroad to the contrary.. For,bustle, liveliness and rapid progress. Lead-ville',has not her compeer" and, all indications poipt.not ,only to a continuous, but to an, increased. pros­perity.. ':, Building continues with. unabated vigor,banks, hotels, .stores, re,sidences. churches and manu...:facturing establishn1ents are springing up. as thoughe'rected .by ~he' hand of magic. Bus~ne~ses of, alll<inds are increasing daily. Aside from .. the, purelylocal _trade of the place, an extensive ,and lucra-tiv,e. business .is being done :with, the nlany rich andprosperous m'tning camps \vithin. ,a circuit of t\ventymiles. ,

At present the city is reached by one day's. travel,partly' by. rail, and partly by. coach, froln Denver, CanonCity, Colorado Springs, or Georgetown. Three linesof railway are rapidly pushing for this rich goal, andere a few months shall have elap'sed, the shrill, whistle:of loconlqtives will \vake the hitherto .silent echoes ofthe Upper Arkansas. Everything in the way of busi­ness has been established upon a solid, though exten­sive basis. The merchants and the miners alik,e evincea meritorious enterprise, which is fast developing thecountry. and giving it that importance to which it is sojustly entitled. Already a lVlining and Stock Exchangeis in successful operation, while ~hree well conducted

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"-daily newspapers furnish-ment-al-pahulurn--for-e-xteps+ve 1--ci rcles of critical readers. ,. . yvithout proc~eding i~to ~~e._statistical. de.tails of IIndIvIdual enterprIses, \VhlCh IS' hardly \vlthln thescope of such a work' as. this, the reader can form apretty accurate idea of the extent and character of the 1

. busines~_ carried on in Leadville, by scrutinizing thelist of np-lues with their occupations, which at greatlabor, and with much care,_\v~ have prepared and setforth in this work.' .

The field in and around Leadville for judicious·investm'ent is still quite -extensive, and opportunitiesare frequently presenting themselves to be taken advan­tage of by the sagacious and energetic capitalist. Inconclusion we can safely reiterate that Leadville IS

one of the Inarvels of. t1}e--'present age.. . .. /

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