Editing Creede, Colorado (section)

==History==
[[File:Creede, Bachelor Loop mine.jpg|thumb|upright|left|Old mine on the Bachelor Loop historic driving tour<ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20101121092528/http://creede.com/bachelor_loop.htm {{Bare URL inline|date=August 2024}}</ref>]]
[[File:Creede, 1942.jpg|thumb|left|Creede in 1942, photo by [[Andreas Feininger]]]]
Travelers to this area appeared in the early 19th century. Tom Boggs, a brother-in-law of [[Kit Carson]], farmed at Wagon Wheel Gap in the summer of 1840. In 1869, the first silver discovery was made at the Alpha mine, but the silver could not be extracted at a profit from the complex ores. Ranchers and homesteaders moved in when stagecoach stations (linking the mining operations over the Divide with the east) were built in the 1870s. However, the great "Boom Days" started with the discovery of rich minerals in Willow Creek Canyon in 1889.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Williams Jr. |first=Albert |title=Creede, A New Mining Camp |journal=The Engineering Magazine |volume=III |issue=3 |pages=324–339 |publisher=McGraw Hill Publishing Co. |location=New York, NY |date=June 1892 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DkQAAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA325 |access-date=May 16, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |title=Congress and Silver |journal=[[The Illustrated American]] |volume=X |issue=108 |pages=158 |date=March 12, 1893 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JwvnAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA158 |access-date=May 16, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |title=Creede, the New Mining Town of Colorado |journal=Scientific American |volume=LXVI |issue=13 |pages=196–197 |publisher=Munn & Co. |location=New York, NY |date=March 26, 1892 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FdIxAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA196 |access-date=May 16, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Hall |first=Frank |title=History of the State of Colorado |publisher=The Blakely Printing Company |volume=IV |year=1895 |location=Chicago, IL |pages=223–225 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xZlQAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA223 |access-date=May 16, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{Citation |title=Creede Is A Lively Town: Thousands Rush In For Sale Of Lands |newspaper=New York Times |date=February 27, 1892 |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1892/02/27/106806911.pdf |access-date=May 16, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |title=Creede, the New Mining Town of Colorado |journal=Scientific American |volume=LXVI |issue=13 |pages=196–197 |publisher=Munn & Company |location=New York, NY |date=March 26, 1892 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JoU9AQAAIAAJ&pg=PA196 |access-date=May 17, 2012}}</ref>

Creede was originally located on East Willow Creek just above its junction with West Willow Creek, however, it was originally named Willow. The post office opened on May 12, 1891, and it was renamed Creede on July 1, 1891,<ref name=CPO>{{cite book|title=Colorado Post Offices 1859–1989|first1=William H.|last1=Bauer|first2=James L.|last2=Ozment|first3=John H.|last3=Willard|date=1990|publisher=[[Colorado Railroad Museum|Colorado Railroad Historical Foundation]]|location=[[Golden, Colorado]]|isbn=0-918654-42-4}}</ref> after [[Nicholas C. Creede]] who discovered the Holy Moses Mine.<ref>{{Cite book |editor-last=Hall |editor-first=Henry |title=America's Successful Men of Affairs (entry for Nicholas C. Creede) |publisher=The New York Tribune |volume=II |year=1896 |location=New York, NY |pages=212 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Hp0MAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA212 |access-date=May 16, 2012}}</ref> Below Creede were Stringtown, Jimtown, and Amethyst. The Amethyst, Colorado, post office opened on January 25, 1892.<ref name=CPO/> The Town of Creede was incorporated on May 19, 1892.<ref name=MuniIncCO/> Soon the entire area from East Willow to Amethyst was called Creede.<ref>{{Cite journal |title=Creede |journal=The Colorado Magazine |volume=1 |issue=2 |pages=163–172 |publisher=The Colorado Publishing Co. |location=Denver, CO |date=May 1893 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=00NOAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA163 |access-date=May 16, 2012}}</ref> The Creede, Colorado, post office moved to North Creede on November 28, 1908, where it remained open until April 15, 1919.<ref name=CPO/> The Amethyst, Colorado, post office closed on February 2, 1909, but reopened as the new Creede, Colorado, post office on February 9, 1909.<ref name=CPO/>

In the 19th century, Creede was the last silver boom town in Colorado. It leapt from a population of 600 in 1889 to more than 10,000 in December 1891. The Creede mines operated continuously from 1890 until 1985, and were served by the [[Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad|Denver & Rio Grande Railroad]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=History |url=http://www.creede.com/discover-creede/history.html |website=www.creede.com |access-date=January 19, 2016}}</ref>

While Creede was booming, the capital city of [[Denver, Colorado]] was experiencing a reform movement against gambling clubs and saloons. Numerous owners of gambling houses in Denver relocated to Creede's business district. One of these was confidence man [[Soapy Smith|Jefferson Randolph "Soapy" Smith]]. Soapy became the uncrowned king of Creede's criminal underworld, and opened the Orleans Club. Other famous people in Creede were [[Robert Ford (outlaw)|Robert Ford]] (the man who killed outlaw [[Jesse James]]), [[Bat Masterson]], and [[William Sidney "Cap" Light]] (the first deputy sheriff in Creede, and brother-in-law of Soapy Smith). On June 5, 1892, a fire destroyed most of the business district. Three days later, on June 8, [[Edward Capehart O'Kelley|Ed O'Kelley]] walked into Robert Ford's makeshift tent-saloon and shot him dead.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Warman |first=Cy |author-link=Cy Warman |title=Frontier Stories, "A Quiet Day In Creed" |publisher=Charles Scribner's Sons |year=1898 |location=New York, NY |pages=93–101 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XwYeAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA93 |access-date=May 16, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |title=The Wild Bandits of the Border |publisher=[[Laird & Lee]] |year=1893 |location=Chicago, IL |pages=[https://archive.org/details/wildbanditsbord00unkngoog/page/n385 355]–363 |url=https://archive.org/details/wildbanditsbord00unkngoog |access-date=May 16, 2012}}</ref> The town of Creede was incorporated on June 13, 1892. The anti-gambling movement in Denver had ceased, and the Denver businessmen moved back to their former areas of operation.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Davis |first=Richard Harding |author-link=Richard Harding Davis |title=The West From A Car-Window (Chapter III, At A New Mining Camp) |publisher=Harper & Brothers |edition=1 |year=1892 |location=New York, NY |pages=59–90 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YewMAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA59 |access-date=May 16, 2012}}</ref>

Creede's boom lasted until 1893, when the [[Panic of 1893#Silver|Silver Panic]] hit the silver mining towns in Colorado. The price of silver plummeted, and most of the silver mines were closed.<ref>{{Cite journal |title=The Silver Situation in Colorado |journal=The Review of Reviews |volume=VIII |issue=3 |pages=277–280 |location=New York, NY |date=September 1893 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mbsrAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA277 |access-date=May 16, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{Citation |title=There May Be Trouble At Creede: Land Seized on the Old Site of Jimtown |newspaper=New York Times |date=May 26, 1895 |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1895/05/26/102458319.pdf |access-date=May 16, 2012}}</ref> Creede never became a ghost town, although the boom was over and its population declined. After 1900, Creede stayed alive by relying increasingly on lead and zinc in the ores.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Lakes |first=Arthur |title=Creede Mining Camp: Valuable Mines Operated Through the Nelson and Humphreys Tunnels |journal=Mines and Minerals |volume=XXIII |issue=10 |pages=433–435 |publisher=International Textbook Co. |location=Scranton, PA |date=May 1903 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=E5Q5AQAAIAAJ&pg=PA433 |access-date=May 16, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Parmelee |first=H.C. |title=Zinc Ore Dressing in Colorado - III |journal=Metallurgical and Chemical Engineering |volume=VIII |issue=12 |pages=677–680 |publisher=Electrochemical Publishing Co. |location=New York, NY |date=December 1910 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VWRNAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA677 |access-date=May 16, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |title=The Western Metallurgical Field: New Source of Sulphur in Colorado |journal=Metallurgical and Chemical Engineering |volume=XVII |issue=9 |pages=523 |publisher=McGraw-Hill |location=New York, NY |date=November 1, 1917 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7FrmAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA523 |access-date=May 16, 2012}}</ref> Total production through 1966 was {{convert|58|e6ozt|MT|abbr=unit}} of [[silver]], {{convert|150|e3ozt|MT|abbr=unit}} of [[gold]], 112 thousand [[metric ton]]s of [[lead (metal)|lead]], 34 thousand metric tons of zinc, and 2 million metric tons of copper.<ref>Henry C. Meeves and Richard P. Darnell (1968) ''Study of the Silver Potential, Creede District, Mineral County, Colorado'', US Bureau of Mines, Information Circular 8370.</ref>