Review by Ed Quillen
Local History – August 1997 – Colorado Central Magazine
History of Leadville and Lake County, Colorado – From Mountain Solitude to Metropolis
by Don L. Griswold and Jean Harvey Griswold
Two Volumes
Published in 1996 by the Colorado Historical Society in cooperation with the University Press of Colorado
ISBN 0942576039
Glance through the index of a standard reference like A Colorado History, and Salida, Gunnison, and Fairplay are each mentioned but once. Saguache, Buena Vista, and Westcliffe are not mentioned at all. But Leadville boasts more than a dozen entries.
A trip to any regional bookstore reveals a similar pattern, and to continue the trend, here we have the History of Leadville and Lake County, Colorado, which might also be called “the Leadville Encyclopædia” — two stout and handsome volumes comprising 2,374 pages.
Why does Leadville get all this attention from historians?
Basically, because so much around here, as well as in the rest of Colorado and even nationally, is a result of the Leadville boom of 187779, when vast and rich deposits of silver were found just east of town.
The mining camps around Gunnison, as well as Aspen, resulted from prospectors looking for “the next Leadville.” Salida was built to service the trains that served Leadville, which consumed coal from Cañon City, hay from South Park, and wheat from Saguache. Leadville riches, invested in everything from railroads to commercial blocks, built Denver into the hub of the Rocky Mountain Empire, and the effects extend to the fortunes of Marshall Field in Chicago and the Guggenheims of Philadelphia.
In other words, if there had never been an Aspen or Salida or Gunnison, Colorado’s 19th-century history would read pretty much the same; one middling mining or ranching or railroad town more or less didn’t make all that much difference in the general scheme of things.
But if there had never been a Leadville, with its immense production of silver, gold, zinc, and molybdenum, we’d be living in a much different state.
That said, it’s time to look at the two volumes. They were compiled by Don and Jean Griswold, both now deceased, who spent better than 40 years culling old newspapers, poring through public records, finding diaries and letters, and interviewing old-timers. Their first book was The Carbonate Camp Called Leadville, published in 1951, and they stayed at it until death (Jean in 1991, Don in 1995), accumulating ever more lore.
The resulting History of Leadville is a collection of the primary sources they found — generally old newspaper accounts — stitched together with such narrative as necessary.
So this isn’t a flowing epic of one of the great mining areas of the West. It’s more like a well-organized collection of original documents, easy to search and read on account of a good index and agreeable typography.
The book is organized chronologically, starting with geology, Utes, explorations, and the 1859 placer camp of Oro City. The era from the boom of 1878 to the silver crash of 1893 gets the most attention, and the 20th century receives a mere 54 pages.
Here’s a sample from 1886, with the Griswolds’ short narrative followed by the original material, a pattern that extends throughout the book:
Wrongdoing appears to have been minimal during January of 1886, but by the end of the month according to newsmen, it was back in full swing as shown in the example given below:
Mining men and managers are again complaining of the visits about their properties of the petty thief, and declare it almost impossible to leave an article out of reach. They say that these predatory incursions are encouraged to a great extent by the easy manner in which the thieves are enabled to dispose of their plunder to certain second-hand dealers. This has certainly been a source of great annoyance and commends itself to the attention of the law. There is scarcely a day that some pilferer who has filched a mining implement, such as a pick, shovel, or wheelbarrow, does not try to dispose of it to the second-hand man for a mere fraction of its worth, and that, too, for the purpose of procuring a stake with which to play faro bank or keno.
In reasonable doses, History of Leadville is fairly easy reading — the Griswolds handle their words competently, and the newspapers, their main sources, were designed for public consumption. So it’s possible to imagine someone picking up this book just to read it — interesting writing about an interesting place.
But this book’s main use, I suspect, will be by historians and other researchers who need a wealth of primary source material assembled in one handy package. Since Leadville’s influence extended far beyond its city limits, so also will the need for this book.
It’s a good one to have at hand when you need to know something about 19th-century Colorado. It’s also rather pricey — $150 for the pair — although there may be a way to reduce that if you’ve got a computer. University Press has announced, but not yet issued, a CD-ROM edition that will sell for about $75.
Truth in Packaging Notice: Normally, I read every book I review. But we’ve had this set at hand for six months, and if the review had to wait until I’d finished them, you’d be reading this in about 2007. So, be advised that this is based on a generous sampling, rather than a detailed perusal.
— Ed Quillen