MONOGRAPHS Embellished with Topographical and Sectional Maps of the GOLD BELT, Condensed from Contributions to the Herald Democrat by Mining Engineers of National Repute, Compiled by C. H. Morse for The Leadville Chamber of Commerce, 1894

Original brown printed brown wrappers; 24 pages.  Compiled by C. H. Morse, Hotel Vendome, Leadville, Colorado, 1894.  Two fold-out maps: Map of the Mining Claims of Leadville, 1894, C. H. Morse, 14 inches by 11 inches; Mining Claims of Leadville, Colorado and the Gold Belt, C. A. Bohn, M. E., 24-1/2 inches by 14 inches.  “The Ophir of Colorado,” Beginning of the Third or Golden Era of Leadville’s Wonderful Mining History, by A. A. Blow, M.E.  “Exploitation of a Theory, Practical Demonstration of the Views of Mining Men of National Renown,” by John F. Campion, Manager of the Ibex, Stag, Wapiti, Yak, and others mines.  “Its History and Geology, Not a New Discovery but a Part and Parcel of the Famous Silver Area,” by Max Boehmer, M.E.  “How It All Came About: Gold in the Mountain-Tops, to the East of Us and to the West of Us,” by Tingley S. Wood.  “Where the Gold Is Found: How the Auriferous Ore Zone Has Been Widened by Intelligent Propsecting,” by Louis S. Noble, M.E.  “An Immense Mother Vein: New and Valuable Suggestions regarding the Geology and Mineralogy of the Belt,” by A. V. Bohn, M.E.  “Trends to the North: Views of a Practical Mining Man Regarding the Extent and Characteristics of the Belt,” by R. E. Taft, M.E.  “The First Gold Era: Existence of the Precious Metal in the Leadville District known for Forty Years.”  Condition: good to good plus: chipped wrappers; interior pages lightly toned and several lightly soiled.

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Map, dated 1883, Leadville, Colorado

LEADVILLE, COLORADO

Paper mounted on linen (1883).  Dimensions: 34-1/2 inches in width by 46 inches in height.  Condition: very good; original pen-drafted map with some light fraying and water damage to map edges; minimum amount of fading; bright colors along lines of mining claims as well as those composing topographical features.

THE SILVER CORD COMBINATION MINING COMPANY, 1883.  J. B. Grant was president of the Company; Tingley S. Wood, general manager.  The Company owned the Silver Wave and seven other locations, besides 60 acres of additional surface ground, situated on Iron Hill and adjoining the Iron Silver Mining Company's property, about 1 mile from Leadville, Lake County, Colorado (reference: COLORADO MINING DIRECTORY, 1883, compiled by Corregan and Lingane).  

The vein was that of a contact, varying in width from 2 to 50 feet.  A business compromise with the Iron Silver Company, along with the purchase of the Silver Wave, gave the Silver Cord 900 feet along the apex of the vein.  The pay-streak contained lead and iron carbonates, as well as oxides, in a decomposed porphyry gangue.  After milling and sorting, production was 20 - 25% lead and 20 - 25 ounces of silver per ton.  Development work: inclines, shafts, levels and winzes, amounting to thousands of feet, showing large ore-reserves and extending into the underlying lime.

James Benton Grant, who was one of the principal owners of the Silver Cord Combination Company, was the third governor of Colorado.  In 1878, Grant conceived and developed the Grant Smelter, located just west of the Harrison mill.  Shortly after the Grant mill opened another opened for business: the Omaha Smelting and Refining Company.  Soon, other smelter and reduction operations went into business.  By 1880, and in order to remain profitable, the Grant and Omaha mills combined assets.

In 1883, the Silver Cord - Silver Wave Combination property produced approximately 150 tons of silver ore daily, surpassed only by the Iron Silver Mine, which produced approximately 280 tons of silver ore daily.  In this same year, the Silver Cord Combination was one of the first mining companies to introduce electricity early in its operations.

TOPOGRAPHICAL MAP OF IRON HILL, LEADVILLE, COLORADO, 1883

Map, dated 1883, Leadville, Colorado

Hand-drafted on original paper contemporaneously mounted on linen, 1883.  Dimensions: 82 inches in width by 31 inches in height.  Condition: very good plus to near fine.  Possibly by the same draftsman as the one who penned the Map of the Property of the Silver Cord Combination Mining Company, as neither map is signed, however, both concern the Silver Cord Combination Mining Company.

Detail images of Topographical Map of Iron Hill, Leadville, Colorado, 1883

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