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Anaconda dies a fiery death
Mel McFarland
On the south side of the Cripple Creek Mining District, between Cripple Creek and Victor sat one of the area’s largest small communities at one time.
Anaconda had over a thousand residents in 1900. This is really amazing considering the tight valley where it sat.
The area is located today at the end of the line for the narrow gauge train, along with the mine dump and cribbing from the Mary McKinney mine. Early pictures show a jumble of little buildings but a main street running through the valley, Squaw Gulch, can still be seen. In 1900, there were many stores and even a few saloons on it.
The town started soon after the Gold Rush, and when the railroads were built, it grew. The Florence and Cripple Creek was the first through town, and made the news when near Anaconda their first train from Cripple Creek fell off the track near the village. The Midland Terminal arrived a few months later, boasting better track! Not so, a short time later one of their engines took a sharp turn off the tracks near the Mary McKinney, but it did not make as much news.
Today the Midland Terminal roadbed is used by the Cripple Creek & Victor Narrow Gauge Railway, almost as far as where the station sat, and the road is on the line of the old F & CC.
I am told there is a big open stope under where the MT line runs and they have been afraid to let the narrow gauge line go over it for fear it would collapse, like the one over by Elkton did. Anyway the Midland Terminal station here is quite interesting. It was built about 1896, but in 1911 the building was moved to Bull Hill station, above Goldfield, and now is used at Cripple Creek by the narrow gauge line.
Anaconda, like the other big district towns had fires, too — the first big one in 1904. It started in one of the grocery stores on November night. The fire spread quickly in the frame buildings, pushed by winds made worse by the natural drafting in the canyon. The fire, which started late at night, lit up the area and could be seen in Cripple Creek and Victor. Firemen from both communities responded to the disaster.
It was the railroad which accidentally saved the day. The tracks of the F & CC provided a fire break and kept the flames from reaching the Mary McKinney. The fire crews, arriving well into the fire, rather than try to save the town, made sure that the mines higher up in the valley were not lost.
The town tried to recover, a few property owners rebuilt, but in the end they decided to disband the town. Some moved to Elkton but most moved to Cripple Creek or Victor. The railroads had been lucky in that they did not loose their stations in the fire, but once the town disbanded the stations were closed. The Mary McKinney continued to be a major producer and employer up into the 1930s. Today their cribbing wall bothers some as they drive by, but it is only a small portion of what had been there!
On the south side of the Cripple Creek Mining District, between Cripple Creek and Victor sat one of the area’s largest small communities at one time.
Anaconda had over a thousand residents in 1900. This is really amazing considering the tight valley where it sat.
The area is located today at the end of the line for the narrow gauge train, along with the mine dump and cribbing from the Mary McKinney mine. Early pictures show a jumble of little buildings but a main street running through the valley, Squaw Gulch, can still be seen. In 1900, there were many stores and even a few saloons on it.
The town started soon after the Gold Rush, and when the railroads were built, it grew. The Florence and Cripple Creek was the first through town, and made the news when near Anaconda their first train from Cripple Creek fell off the track near the village. The Midland Terminal arrived a few months later, boasting better track! Not so, a short time later one of their engines took a sharp turn off the tracks near the Mary McKinney, but it did not make as much news.
Today the Midland Terminal roadbed is used by the Cripple Creek & Victor Narrow Gauge Railway, almost as far as where the station sat, and the road is on the line of the old F & CC.
I am told there is a big open stope under where the MT line runs and they have been afraid to let the narrow gauge line go over it for fear it would collapse, like the one over by Elkton did. Anyway the Midland Terminal station here is quite interesting. It was built about 1896, but in 1911 the building was moved to Bull Hill station, above Goldfield, and now is used at Cripple Creek by the narrow gauge line.
Anaconda, like the other big district towns had fires, too — the first big one in 1904. It started in one of the grocery stores on November night. The fire spread quickly in the frame buildings, pushed by winds made worse by the natural drafting in the canyon. The fire, which started late at night, lit up the area and could be seen in Cripple Creek and Victor. Firemen from both communities responded to the disaster.
It was the railroad which accidentally saved the day. The tracks of the F & CC provided a fire break and kept the flames from reaching the Mary McKinney. The fire crews, arriving well into the fire, rather than try to save the town, made sure that the mines higher up in the valley were not lost.
The town tried to recover, a few property owners rebuilt, but in the end they decided to disband the town. Some moved to Elkton but most moved to Cripple Creek or Victor. The railroads had been lucky in that they did not loose their stations in the fire, but once the town disbanded the stations were closed. The Mary McKinney continued to be a major producer and employer up into the 1930s. Today their cribbing wall bothers some as they drive by, but it is only a small portion of what had been there!
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