At an elevation of 9,494 feet and just below timberline, for many years Cripple Creek's high valley was considered no more important than a cattle pasture. Many prospectors avoided the area after the misnamed Mount Pisgah hoax, a mini gold rush caused by salting (adding gold to worthless rock).

On October 20, 1890, however, Robert Miller "Bob" Womack discovered a rich ore and the last great Colorado gold rush was on. Thousands of prospectors flocked to the region, and before long W. S. Stratton located the famous Independence lode, one of the largest gold strikes in history. In three years, the population increased from 500 to 10,000 by 1893. Though $500,000,000 worth of gold ore was dug from Cripple Creek, Womack himself would die, penniless, on August 10, 1909.

By 1900 Cripple Creek and its sister city, Victor, were substantial communities.

A significant strike took place in 1894, marking one of the few times in history that a sitting governor called out the national guard to protect miners from forces under the control of the mine owners. By 1903 the allegiance of the state government had shifted, however, and Governor James Peabody sent the Colorado National Guard into Cripple Creek with the goal of destroying union power in the gold camps. The WFM strike of 1903 and the governor's response precipitated the Colorado Labor Wars, a struggle that took many lives. This six {6} Volume set features hundreds of early photos, offering a rich pictorial insight into the Cripple Creek Gold rush, We have republished these historical works on a Gift Quality CD.

:: Cripple Creek - 56 pages. (1896)

:: The Cripple Creek district gold fields - 48 pages. (1903)

:: The Cripple Creek gold fields, placers, lodes - 32 pages. (1892)

:: The Cripple Creek times - 62 pages. (1903)

:: The Official Manual of Cripple Creek District - 502 pages. (1900)

:: Yellow Gold Of Cripple Creek - 132 pages. (1928)