Ep 11 ⛏Colorado Gold, 👩‍🍼Tragedy, & Gus🚂

Life in the late 1800’s was frequently just inexplicably tragic, as Edward Augustus Boardman and Catherine Fitzsimmons discovered in their lives together. Though they had financial success, attempting to raise children was nearly the end of them emotionally. The plans we have aren’t always what God has in mind for us. As hard as we try, sometimes we are just called to go through things. Such was the life of the Boardman family from Golden, Colorado. (💍Est. 1881❤️)

CHARACTERS: (in order of mention)
Edward Augustus “Gus” Boardman
Lewis Boardman
Mary Frances Riffier
Catherine Fitzsimmons
Jacob Blickensderfer
Frances Agnes Boardman
Catherine Isabella Boardman
Edward “Eddie” Augustus Boardman
William Greeneberry Russell
Susan “Sukie” Jane Willis
Cherokee
James W. Denver
Jefferson Territorial Legislature
President James Buchanan
Robert Miller Womack (Crazy Bob)
Winfield Scott Stratton
WIlliam Henry Channing
Victor Adams
Harry Woods
Frank Woods
Warren Woods
Jack Dempsey
Nellie Marguerite Boardman
George S. Sheffield
Dr. Carlin
Dr. Delaney
Billy Sullivan
Sisters of Loretto
Kahlil Gibran

LOCATIONS: (in order of mention)
Buffalo, New York
France
Wales
New York State
Colorado
Union Pacific Railroad
Denver, Colorado
Kanturk, Ireland
Golden, Colorado
Georgetown Loop
Devil’s Gate High Bridge
Silver Plume, Colorado
Clear Creek
Rocky Mountains
Boston
Salt Lake City
Las Vegas
California
Territory of Jefferson
Cripple Creek
Kansas
Territory of Kansas
South Platte River Valley
Cherry Creek
South Platte River
Little Dry Creek
Pikes Peak Gold Rush
Arapahoe County
Nebraska Territory
New Mexico Territory
Utah Territory
South Platte River Basin
El Paso County
Territory of Colorado
Teller County
Victor, Colorado
Cripple Creek District
Colorado Volcanic Field
Mount Pisgah
Independence Lode
Colorado Springs, Colorado’
Mt. Rosa Mining, Milling & Land Company
Battle Mountain
City of Mines
Gold Coin Mine
Stratton’s Independence Mine and Mill
Portland Mine (Queen of the District)
Boardman Block General Store
Michigan
Loretta Heights Acadamy
Downing Street, Denver, Colorado
Chama Street

LINKS:
Family Vacation footage of Georgetown loop
https://youtu.be/oyvCYnnc8xI

Spending a day in Georgetown Colorado
https://youtu.be/qpKn9SBsr5Q

1903 silent footage of the Georgetown loop
https://youtu.be/ZRzfxP4gWB4 

CREDITS:
Kahlil Gibran, On Death
Kahlil Gibran, On Children

Transcript

Hello there, my name is Edward Augustus Boardman, most people just call me Gus. I was born on the 20th of June, 1859 in Buffalo, New York. My father, Lewis Boardman, was born in France, and my Mother Mary Frances Riffier, well she was born in Wales. 

I moved from New York State to Colorado in the latter part of the 1870’s, and found work with the Union Pacific Railroad. A short while after arriving in Colorado I met in Denver a beautiful young Irish woman by the name of Catherine Fitzsimmons. She had arrived in the United States from Kanturk, Ireland when she was just 17, and was working at the time for a wealthy family in Denver. We were married on the 23 of November 1881 and took up residence in Golden, Colorado, just a few miles west of Denver (5279 elevation). 

I currently work as a road master for several railways under the Union Pacific Railroad. Mostly supervisor jobs recently, like the Georgetown Loop, that was one of my projects. If you havent been on that locomotive ride you should…still running today actually. Believe it or not they found motion picture footage of that adventurous loop from 1903, when I was still working there. I will include links in the show notes to that film and some more recent footage along that spectacular ride. I am proud to say that the Georgetown Loop was considered an engineering wonder of the world, and the infamous Devil’s Gate High Bridge section which stands 95 feet from the creek bottom, well…. that loop is still functioning and serves as a tourist attraction in Georgetown, Colorado. Adding to its appeal is the fact that it's a narrow gauge route - a favorite subspecies to railroad enthusiasts.

The goal with the Georgetown Loop was to connect the thriving mining towns of Georgetown (8540 elevation) and Silver Plume (9101 ft elevation), Colorado. You know as the crow flies those towns are only 2 miles apart. But in order to get a train to travel that steep narrow canyon of Clear Creek, Union Pacific chief engineer, Jacob Blickensderfer, devised a system of curves and bridges, reducing the average grade to 3 percent. His plan included three hairpin turns, four bridges and a 30-degree horseshoe curve from Georgetown to Silver Plume. With that corkscrew route it took nearly double the linear distance and gained more than 600 feet in elevation to connect them. 

By 1884 the first trains were arriving in Silver Plume. This line remains today as a tourist draw for those who venture West to encounter the wild ruggedness and romance of Colorado, mountain streams, high elevation air, the Rocky Mountains, and steam locomotives. 

(Engineer) Help, help, HELP…somebody get Gus

(Bystander) hello, hey are you ok?

(Engineer) Gus, GET GUS, “I know he can get me out in no time at all.”

(Bystander) Ok, I will find this Gus man you want

The railroad keeps referring to me as……versatile. Hmmm. I wonder if “versatile” is a Greek word meaning “gone a lot”. I spend a lot of time away from home on these jobs. My daughter Frances knows that all to well. Its the nature of the beast. I’ve spent time in Boston, Salt Lake City, Las Vegas, California, and through every town along the tracks to get to such locations. I swear the kids grow another inch taller every time that Iron horse brings me home again. 

It seems like just when I get settled in with home life I am always being summoned by these callers from the railroad…especially when things go wrong…really wrong. I remember this one time….(Knock Knock Knock)…hold that thought.

(Railroad Caller) Ed you need to report to the station immediately. There’s been a terrible train wreck, and well, you are as versatile as they come….he is caught under the engine and is asking specifically for YOU. 

(EABoardman) He?

(Railroad caller) yes, he, I’ll explain on the way. 

(Narrator) Well finish this story an a bit, duty calls….

(Boardman) Catherine dear, I’ll be back as soon as I can

(Boardman) Isabella, Eddie help your mother keep an eye on Frances, she likes to wander. I love you children.

(Engineer) moaning, sizzle sounds, metal creaking, steam

(EA Boardman) I’m here

(Engineer) Gus, oh thank you Gus, I know you can get me outta here in no time at all. 

(EA Boardman) Absolutely, 

(yelling in another direction to the crews) lets get this engine off of him, roll that wrecking derrick as close to this spot as you can…NOW!

We certainly got him outta that mess, but as was sadly common with those wrecks, if the engineers weren’t thrown free of the crash they were usually inundated with hot steam that burned their bodies from the outside and scalded their lungs internally with each breath. This poor gentleman had been so scalded from the heat of the steam pipes that he didn’t live very long after that. 

Now where was I in my storytelling? Oh yes I was about to ask you a trivia question…Have you ever heard of the Territory of Jefferson? I bet not. If you blinked, you mighta missed it. What if I told you that there is a place on this earth where you could’ve lived your life in 2 counties, 3 territories, and one state…in the same house, on the same piece of property. Can you imagine the mailing address nightmares you’d of gone through. Trying to explain to relatives that you hadn’t moved, but your address had. Well believe it or not it happened. 

It was the summer of 1858, and the region around Cripple Creek was located in Kansas…the territory of Kansas. In May of that same year a fella by the name of William Greeneberry Russell, with his Cherokee bride (Susan Jane Willis) fondly referred to as “Sukie”, well her and 105 other likeminded prospecting friends of theirs arrived in the South Platte River Valley at the confluence of Cherry Creek and the South Platte River. As they worked their way south they turned up “good diggings” at the mouth of Little Dry Creek, just 4 miles away. Word got out quickly and this discovery was the immediate cause of the Pike’s Peak Gold Rush. As their encampment grew it became a permanent settlement and was named after the 5th Territorial Governor of Kansas (James W Denver) and is now known as, you guess it, Denver, Colorado. 

Well thats the bookend version of this geographical confusion, but let me tell you about what happened in the middle of it all.

In that July of 1858, the summer before I was born, the Pike's Peak Gold Rush, as it was known, began with the discovery of gold at those Dry Creek Diggings. This gold rush brought 100,000 gold seekers to this area known then as the Pike's Peak Country, which included Arapahoe County as well as the unorganized southwestern corner of the Nebraska Territory and parts of the New Mexico and Utah territories.[2]

Kansas was having growing pains as the north eastern commercial centers and the central agricultural populations were beginning to be a bit concerned about this population power-shift with the influx of miners to the Rockies in the mountainous regions in the west of the territory. 

Meanwhile, the miners, being 600 miles from the capital of the territory, felt that the legislature was out of touch with their needs. It occurred to them that a new territory or state would have the benefit of being responsive to their economic situation and consolidate the population that was currently spread across four territories. Many residents of the mining region felt disconnected from the remote governments of the Kansas and Nebraska territories, so they voted to form their own Territory of Jefferson on October 24, 1859. And as of that date, the residents up and down the South Platte River basin could finally exclaim, “we’re not in Kansas anymore.” And never again would any part of the Platte River be found in the territory or state of Kansas. 

The following month, the Jefferson Territorial Legislature organized 12 counties for the new territory including El Paso County.

The Jefferson Territory never received federal sanction, but on February 28, 1861, U.S. PresidentJames Buchanan signed an act organizing the Territory of Colorado. El Paso County was one of the original 17 counties created by the Colorado legislature on November 1, 1861. Part of El Paso county’s western territory was eventually broken off to create Teller County in 1899. 

So why am I telling you all of this?…well, if you’d have lived in the small mining town of Victor, Colorado, as we did in the late 1800s, you would have experienced several address changes, without ever leaving your house. When I moved my little family of 5 southwest from Golden Colorado to Victor in the early part of 1894 that area known as Cripple Creek was then located in El Paso County. And within a few years, it became Teller County. 

The gold-bearing area of the Cripple Creek district was the core of an ancient volcano within the central Colorado volcanic field, last active over 30 million years ago.

For many years, Cripple Creek region’s high valley, at an elevation of 9,494 feet (2,894 m), was considered no more important than a cattle pasture. Many prospectors avoided the area after the Mount Pisgah hoax, which in essence was a mini gold rush caused by salting or adding gold to worthless rock.

On 20 October, 1890, Robert Miller Womack (known as Crazy Bob) discovered a rich ore and the last great Colorado gold rush began. Thousands of folks flocked to the region. One of them, Winfield Scott Stratton was an American prospector, capitalist, and philanthropist. At 42, and just a couple weeks before his birthday, Mr Stratton discovered the Independence Lode near Victor, Colorado on July 4, 1891, that Independence claim was one of the largest gold strikes in history, and in 1894 he became the Cripple Creek Mining District's first millionaire. Mr Stratton gave money to prospectors or others in need and he paid for schooling for a teen who was a talented violinist and provided all the laundresses in the town with bicycles. After the Cripple Creek fire of 1896, Stratton paid for food and shelter for many left homeless by the fire. Not to mention the plethora of millions he donated in cash and property to his home town of Colorado Springs. 

He is also said to have written a check for $5,000 to "Crazy Bob" Womack, the prospector who first discovered gold at Cripple, but was down on his luck. Although $500 million worth of gold ore was dug from Cripple Creek, Womack died penniless on 10 August 1909.

Mr Stratton himself lived a simple life in a wooden house on Weber Street after he became wealthy. He became reclusive and eccentric. He drank and read a great deal, but rarely had guests or went out socially.

Stratton was fond of a quote by William Henry Channing,

To live content with small means, to seek elegance rather than

luxury, and refinement rather than fashion; to be worthy, not

respectable, to study hard, think quietly, talk gently, act frankly;

to listen to stars and birds, to babes and sages, with open heart;

to bear all cheerfully, do all bravely, await occasions, hurry

never; in a word, to let the spiritual, unbidden and unconscious,

grow up through the common. This is to be my symphony.

Winfield Scott Stratton died in 1902 at 54 years of age.

Victor itself was founded in 1891, shortly after Winfield Scott Stratton discovered gold nearby. The town was named after the Victor Mine, which itself was supposedly named for an early settler of the area by the name of, Victor Adams. 

In 1892, Harry, Frank and Warren Woods founded the Mt. Rosa Mining, Milling and Land Company. Battle Mountain, located just above Victor, had the largest, most prolific mines in the mining district and the town became known as the "City of Mines." Victor officially became a city on July 16, 1894. That same year, the Woods brothers discovered gold when they began digging the foundation for a building, which resulted in the creation of the Gold Coin Mine. At that time, 8,000 people lived in Victor.

In three years, the population of Victor increased from five hundred to ten thousand. The town boomed as the surrounding Cripple Creek mining district quickly became the most productive gold mining district in Colorado. Mines in Victor and Cripple Creek provided 21 million ounces of gold. At current exchange prices the value of that much gold would have been nearly $40 Billion dollars. Thats Billion with a “B”. The mining district, which hit its peak in 1900, became the 2nd largest gold district in the country's history.

Although Victor's fame was overshadowed by that of its neighbor, Cripple Creek, many of the best gold mines of the Cripple Creek district were located at Victor, including Stratton's Independence Mine and Mill and the Portland Mine. Half of Battle Mountain's gold was extracted by the Portland Mine, which was called the "Queen of the District". Did you know that Heavyweight boxing champion "Jack" Dempsey was a mucker in the Portland Mine?

During those beginning boom stages of growth in Victor, my family was still living in Golden and I was working for the Union Pacific Railroad. In 1892 Colorado was suffering from a national financial depression and we lost our special federal status for silver prices, as a result the Denver economy cratered. 

I had been hearing a lot about the goings on in the Cripple Creek area, being involved with the railroad and all. I would hear stories from the locomotive crews and read things in the newspapers. Several of us were bound and determined to strike it rich in Victor. So we all concocted a plan to get to Victor as soon as possible. After our 4th child was born in September of 1893 I finally surrendered to the gold fever along with several of my friends and their families. We discussed plans together to take a leave from the Railroad that winter and then sometime in the early spring of 1894 we moved our families to Victor. 

I was 35
My wife Catherine was 36
Edward had just turned 6 years old
Isabella was 5 years old
Frances was about a year and a half
Nellie was about 7 months old

At the height of the rush there were 500 mines operating in the district. Although a majority of the mine owners and investors lived in Cripple Creek, it just so happened that most of the miners lived in Victor. And thats where I wanted to be. Not that I wanted to drill blasting holes, load dynamite or operate a hoist…rather I wanted to open a Dry Goods Mercantile to serve the masses. So thats just exactly what we did. Boardman Block General Store, as it was called, was built and officially opened that same year and business was great. Mama Catherine loved the store and the socializing. She made friends everywhere she went. 

You might ask yourself what in the heck could you possibly sell in a dry good mercantile in the 1890’s? Good question, and I think you will be a bit surprised at what there actually was. Along with dolls, we also had electric refrigerators and flatirons, light bulbs, fans, waffle irons, umbrellas, electric tools, other appliances but no groceries, just dry goods of that sort. The kids would demonstrate the tricycles or velocipedes as we called em back in the day. They were a popular item. There was even a velocipede hand car used by the railroads in Colorado. It would set on the right track and a stabilizing wheel would swing over to the left side. Some guy named George S. Sheffield out of Michigan invented it because he got tired of waiting for the train ride to work. 

The mercantile took up most of the main floor. We had rooms upstairs for storage and renting and such, and the family lived in the back of the place. 

(Gus) How long has Isabella been coughing like that Catherine? Sounds like the cool air has been a little rough on her. She does have a slight fever dear. Maybe she just needs warm soup and some rest. 

In the spring of 1895 our 6 year old Isabella came down with a fever, chills and a sore throat. She only got worse until she couldn’t swallow and then struggled to breathe. Then our youngest Nellie started showing symptoms…and then the oldest, Edward. Dr Carlin and Dr. Delaney came up from Denver and told us what it was they had, but they didnt know what to do for it. 

On Sunday the 21st of April 1895 Isabella died at 6 years 18 days old

The following Friday the 26th of April Nellie died at 1 year, 7 months, & 19 days old

Then, 2 days later…again on a Sunday the 28th of April, Edward died at 6 years and 11 months old

Until the late 1800’s there was no diagnosed distinction between diphtheria and scarlet fever. So what the children really had, we may never know. 

Our family had been cut in half. Three of our four children were dead. We were all so heartbroken, but Mother, well mother was emotionally and psychologically crushed. The stress of losing 3 of her 4 children within 8 days started to shut her down physically. Within one week her hair went from charcoal black to white. It took months for her to want to live again. 

On Children
by Kahlil Gibran

And a woman who held a babe against her bosom said, Speak to us of Children.
     And he said:
     Your children are not your children.
     They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself.
     They come through you but not from you,
     And though they are with you yet they belong not to you.

     You may give them your love but not your thoughts,
     For they have their own thoughts.
     You may house their bodies but not their souls,
     For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.
     You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you.
     For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.
     You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth.
     The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite, and He bends you with His might that His arrows may go swift and far.
     Let your bending in the archer’s hand be for gladness;
     For even as He loves the arrow that flies, so He loves also the bow that is stable.

(Gus) Hello dear, how has your day been. You have so many friends here Catherine, they have been coming into the store asking for you almost daily. They are worried about you. Has Frances been into much trouble today? After that last stunt she pulled walking on the tracks over the railroad trestle, I worry about that little girl. If it wasn’t for the fireman Billy Sullivan running onto that trestle in front of the oncoming train, somehow miraculously pulling her under the tracks while the train went across the top of them, and then carrying her off of the bridge after it passed, I am afraid that our devastation would be near complete if she’d of died. Hopefully the spanking Billy gave her will be something she never forgets. 

(Frank Woods) Gus, good morning to you. 

(Gus) Hi Frank, that was some bit of luck you finding a vein of gold while digging out the basement of your hotel. What’s the chances? Well I guess around here its pretty good. How’s the progress coming on that?

(Frank) Things are good Gus, thats why I came by. Dad wanted me to come and let you know we plan on doing a blast this morning at the Gold Coin Mine. Its gonna be near the head frame Gus. Nothing you folks should have to worry about as far as danger i think. We’re all just concerned that with the trauma you’ve been through recently losing your children and all. It should be a decent concussion being just across the tracks from you, might even shake things a bit, we just thought you outta be notified in advance. 

(Gus) You are kind Frank, please give my thanks to Harry and Warren. The Woods family has been some considerate neighbors and some of our most loyal customers. 

Hey dear, Frank Wood just came by to warn us that they are gonna be doing some more blasting near the headframe within the hour. He was mostly just worried about your nerves. You dont need to worry. He says there’s no danger of rocks or anything coming this far. 

Catherine later told me that just before the blasting started it seemed like something told her “Catherine go get Frances from her bedroom where she is sleeping.” So she did…immediately. Frances was still a toddler, barely two and a half years old, and was laying on her pillow taking a morning nap. Catherine brought her into the store. 

Well no sooner did she have her in the store then the blasting started.  

(Gus) Good laws, that didnt sound good. My goodness Catherine. That is a big rock…and it just came through the roof and smashed into Frances’s pillow. 

Catherine was in a constant state of mourning after that. She had a complete emotional breakdown. She would walk to the graveyard everyday to visit the children’s graves. She was barely able to travel. The doctors told me to take her away for a rest. So before the year 1895 was out, we sold the business for $9000 and moved back to Golden. 

I took Frances, age 3, to the convent in Denver called Loretto Heights Academy at 3001 SOUTH FEDERAL BOULEVARD. The motto adopted by the Sisters of Loretto was three Latin words “Fides, Mores, Cultura.” It means Faith, Tradition, Culture. It was a tender mercy that Frances enjoyed very much to have those loving sisters teaching her and caring for her while we were gone. 

Gone where you ask? Well as the doctors prescribed, I took my wife away from there to California for a few weeks to see the ocean, to enjoy warmer weather to recover from the trauma. I had to do something to revive her, to save her, to bring her back to us. Shortly after we returned to Colorado, we gathered up Frances from the convent and moved from Golden into Denver. I was devastated when we discovered that my luggage with all of my family history, details, pictures, everything I had to remember them by had been stolen during the move. 

“Death is not the tragedy. The tragedy is that he took his whole life with him and left nothing for me to remember him by.” 

Shortly after our move into Denver we found out that Catherine was pregnant. I was still active with Union Pacific Railroad, but I spent most of my immediate time on leave of absence to help care for Frances and Catherine. We purchased a grocery story on Downing Street with rooms upstairs. I didnt know a hill of beans about running a grocery store. But to my delight and to her benefit Catherine was a natural at it…and even better she loved it. She loved being active and she was a natural with people. She dug right in and bloomed where she was planted.

On the 7th of March 1896 Catherine gave birth to Mary Frances. Sadly again, only a few weeks later on the 15th of May, little Mary died. 

We kept the grocery store for a while and later on we sold that and bought another place on Chama Street and I finally went back on the road.

In 1900 my Irish bride Catherine gave birth to our final child, a son we named James. He lived but 6 short months.  6 children born to Catherine, that can be confirmed, 5 of them dead. My sweet Catherine was beside herself with grief. 

On Death

Kahlil Gibran - 1883-1931

Then Almitra spoke, saying, We would ask now of Death.
    And he said:
    You would know the secret of death.
    But how shall you find it unless you seek it in the heart of life?
    The owl whose night-bound eyes are blind unto the day cannot unveil the mystery of light.
    If you would indeed behold the spirit of death, open your heart wide unto the body of life.
    For life and death are one, even as the river and the sea are one.

    In the depth of your hopes and desires lies your silent knowledge of the beyond;
    And like seeds dreaming beneath the snow your heart dreams of spring.
    Trust the dreams, for in them is hidden the gate to eternity.
    Your fear of death is but the trembling of the shepherd when he stands before the king whose hand is to be laid upon him in honour.
    Is the shepherd not joyful beneath his trembling, that he shall wear the mark of the king?
    Yet is he not more mindful of his trembling?

    For what is it to die but to stand naked in the wind and to melt into the sun?
    And what is it to cease breathing, but to free the breath from its restless tides, that it may rise and expand and seek God unencumbered?

    Only when you drink from the river of silence shall you indeed sing.
    And when you have reached the mountain top, then you shall begin to climb.
    And when the earth shall claim your limbs, then shall you truly dance.

Dance on my Children, Dance on.