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Show 206 TALES OF THE COLORADO PIONEERS. d-d fool of a tender-foot would kill that ar pet deer of yourn, if you didn't put a bell on it.' "I was not near so hungry as I had been, and felt greatly relieved when he said, 'much obliged to you, stranger, for bringing it to us.'" CHAPTER XLV LEADVILLE. The Greeks have enumerated seven wonders of the world, and Leadville, the magic city of the Rocky Mountains, deserves a place on the list, as it has grown to harmonious proportions and enduring strength almost literally in a day. The carbonate formation found here is something of a phenomenon in mining, yet experts confidently assert that the deposits in many of the mines are so extensive it will require many years to exhaust their treasures. The older districts, proud of their orthodox fissure veins, derisively called this camp "the district of sand mines." In 1860 the whole region hereabouts was known as California Gulch. Then the placer grounds were very rich in gold, but of too limited an area to warrant permanent settlement on a large scale, so the impatient for-tunerhunters, who had no claims, began to prospect for more tempting fields, and in 1866 it was about depopulated. The carbonate discoveries awoke a new life in 1877-8, which soon made Leadville the liveliest town ip the world for a time. A marvel in fact-of the present generation. It has gas and water works, telegraph and |
