CHAPTER XVIII.THE HOLY MOSES—ELIJAH WAS AWKWARD AND HARD TO SPELL—WAGON WHEEL GAP.
THE HOLY MOSES—ELIJAH WAS AWKWARD AND HARD TO SPELL—WAGON WHEEL GAP.
SHORTLY after the abandonment of the claim on Spring Creek, and the withdrawal of Senator Abbott from the company, Smith and Creede went over to the head of West Willow. They believed that at that point they could find an extension of the vein they had been working, and Creede believes to this day that they did. Here they located a claim. They were not working together that day and Creede was alone when the location was made. Many are the stories that have been told as to how the first mine in the now famous camp of Creede got its name, none of which are within a mile of the truth.
WAGON WHEEL GAP
Having driven a stake, Creede sat down to think of a name. There was little or nothing in a name, he thought, but he wanted to please his partner. He remembered that Smith had named three claims in Monarch, the “Madonna,” the “Cherubim,” and the “Seraphim,” and he would follow in that line. Creede was not well versed inBiblical history, so knew very little of the saints and angels. He looked above where the eagle flew by the ragged rocks and thought of Elijah; how he hid away in the hills, and how the ravens came down and fed him. He looked at his torn and tattered trousers, and thought of Lazarus. Neither of these names pleased him. Lazarus suggested poverty and Elijah was awkward and hard to spell. He looked away to the stream below, where the willows were, and thought of the babe in the bulrushes. He looked at the thick forest of pine that shaded the gentle slopes, and thought of the man who walked in the wilderness. And he called the mine the Moses; then fearing that his partner might object even to that, rubbed it out, and wrote “Holy Moses.”
The story of the new strike spread like a prairie fire, and soon found itsway to the ears of Mr. D. H. Moffat, then president of the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad Company, who was always on the lookout for a good mine. One day in the early autumn of 1890, Mr. Moffat, with a party of friends, including Mr. Eb Smith, his mining expert, and Capt. L. E. Campbell, then quartermaster at Fort Logan, set out in the president’s private car for Wagon Wheel Gap, which was at that time the terminus of the track. Captain Campbell had turned the traffic of the post to the “Scenic Line” and in a little while a warm friendship sprang up between him and the railway management, the result of which has proved very beneficial to all concerned.
Arriving at Wagon Wheel Gap, the party set out in stages for the Holy Moses, a distance of ten miles. The road lay along the grassy banks of theRio Grande, one of the prettiest streams in the West. A ride through such a beautiful country could not be tiresome, and before they began to feel the fatigue of the journey, they reached the claim.
It took but a short time to convince the speculators that the Moses was good property, and before leaving, a bond was secured at seventy thousand dollars. Returning to Denver, the property was divided. Mr. Moffat took one half, the other half being divided between Captain Campbell, Mr. Eb Smith, Mr. S. T. Smith, who was then general manager of the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad Company, and Mr. Walter S. Cheesman, at that time a director, each paying in proportion to what he got. Most of the men interested in this new venture were very busy, and they were at a loss to know what to do for areliable man to manage the property. About that time Captain Campbell secured a year’s leave of absence from the army and took up his residence at the new camp. A comfortable cottage was built in the beautiful valley, just where the West Willow pours her crystal flood into the Rio Grande, and here the Campbells had their home. Mrs. Campbell, who is a niece of Mrs. General Grant, had lived many years in Washington, but she appeared as much at home in Creede camp as she did in the Capital.