The Holden-Marolt Site
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XI THE HISTORY Ot<: THE HOLDEN-MAROLT SITE IN ASPEN, COLORADO: THE H9LDEN LIXIVIATION WORKS, FA}tMING AND RANCHING, AND TdE MAROLT RANCH; By Lysa Wegman-French For the Aspen Historical Society Under the auspices of the Roaring Fork Research Scholarship Sponsored by Ruth Whyte October 1990 Copyright 1990, Lysa Wegman-French TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION .......................................... .. 1 PART ONE: MILLING AND THE HOLDEN LIXIVIATION WORKS 5 WHY HOLDEN? .......................................... .. 5 WHY ASPEN? 8 WHY LIXIVIATION? ....................................... .. 12 WHAT HAPPENED IN THE SAMPLING BUILDING? ............. .. 20 THE PHYSICAL PLANT ................................ .. 30 THE SILVER ECONOMY .................................... .. 40 WAS THE HOLDEN COMPANY SUCCESSFUL? 43 AFTER THE HOLDEN WORKS CLOSED 47 THE MAN 47 THE PLANT ........................................ .. 48 THE CONCENTRATION PERIOD 50 THE THATCHER MILL 51 THE STARK MILL ........................... .. 52 THE NEW HAMPSHIRE YEARS 54 CONCLUSION 55 PART TWO: FARMING AND RANCHING. ........................ .. 57 SETTLEMENT 1879 - 1889 ................................... .. 57 THE UTE RESERVATION AND THE LAND RUSH. ............. .. 58 TRUCK GARDENING .................................. .. 64 CROPS 65 ANIMAL FORAGE - NATIVE 65 ANIMAL FORAGE - CULTIVATED 66 FOOD 68 STOCK 71 CATTLE 71 HORSES 75 IMPLEMENTS AND TECHNIQUES ......................... .. 78 IRRIGATION. ....................................... .. 81 OCCUPATIONS. ..................................... .. 82 AN AVERAGE FARM IN THE ROARING FORK VALLEY 83 COMMERCIALIZATION, ORGANIZATION AND CONFRONTATION, 1890 - 1910'S ................................... .. 87 CATTLE 87 SHEEP. ........................................... .. 89 POTATOES ......................................... .. 91 IRRIGATION. ....................................... .. 95 ASSOCIATIONS ...................................... .. 95 FARMERS' ASSOCIATIONS. ........................ .. 95 STOCKGROWERS ASSOCIATIONS 99 GRAZING ON PUBLIC LANDS 100 THE MAROLT RANCH, 1881 - 1986 107 THE MIDLAND RANCH 107 MAROLT FAMILY HISTORY 110 MIKE AND OPAL MAROLT BUY THE RANCH 114 OPAL PETERSON MAROLT FAMILY HISTORY 114 STRUCTURES ON THE RANCH FROM THE HOLDEN WORKS 115 OFFICE/HOME .................................... 115 SAMPLING WORKS/GRANARY 115 SALT WAREHOUSE/BARN 116 SHEDS 117 REMAINS OF THE MILL 117 STRUCTURES ON RANCH NOT FROM HOLDEN WORKS ........... 118 EARLY OPERATIONS OF THE MIKE MAROLT RANCH 118 ANIMALS 118 CATTLE 118 OTHER ANIMALS ............................. 120 CROPS 120 OTHER ACTIVITIES 121 LATER OPERATION OF MAROLT RANCH 121 SUMMARY 123 APPENDIX A: 125 RUSSELL LIXlVIATION MILLS ............................. 125 APPENDIX B: 126 EMPLOYEES OF THE HOLDEN SMELTING AND MILLING CO 126 APPENDIX C: 128 DITCHES AND CANALS IN WATER DISTRICT 38 128 APPENDIX D: 129 COMPONENTS OF MIDLAND RANCH 129 APPENDIX E: 130 AGRICULTURAL STATISTICS AND GRAPHS 130 BIBLIOGRAPHY ............................................ 136 MILLING 136 FARMING AND RANCHING 149 1 INTRODUCTION There was widespread excitement in Aspen, Colorado in the fall of 1890. "The sweet day dreams of those who have longed to see Aspen a great city are about to be realized," the Aspen Times declared. Edward Royal Holden had announced that his company would build a reduction works and a manufacturing plant on the edge of town. The company also planned to build a town nearby, and an electric street railway, to provide rapid transit between the suburb and the city. The financiers had already signed papers to purchase over 400 acres, and would invest hundreds of thousands of dollars in the projects. The reduction works would use the new Russell process of lixiviation [licks i-vee-A-shun], to treat low grade silver ores,' which would "revolutionize old methods and create a new era in the mining industry." The Times reported that the mill would profitably treat ore as low as 11 ounces of silver to the ton. The newspaper estimated that 35,000 tons of low grade ore would be mined weekly in the district if it could be treated profitably. In addition, there were many mine dumps containing thousands of tons of ore which contained at least 11 ounces of silver per ton. The Holden company said that the mill would start with 40 stamps, with a capacity of 100 tons per day.' However, they planned to install several hundred stamps eventually, and projected they would employ 3,000 men. The newspaper also pointed out that more men would be employed mining low grade ores. It was predicted that Aspen would boom and more than double its population in only a few years. The newspaper crowed that the city would take on "a new era of prosperity.'" Over the next few years, some of these dreams came true, and some went unfulfJ1led, disappearing without a trace. The manufacturing plant and the new town never appeared. However, the mill opened in November 1891; it was one of the largest and 1 Lixiviation wa~ a method of extracting silver by dissolving it in chemical solutions. Ore was the natural aggregate of rock which contained valuable metal. Usually a large portion of tile ore consisted of valueless material (gangue). Low grade ores contained a relatively small amount of silver. This will discnssed more completely later in the report. ,A stanlp wa, a machine used to crush ore. 3 "Auspicious Aspen," Aspen Daily Times, 17 September 1890, 4; "Lixiviation Works," Aspen Daily Times, 19 September 1890, 2; "The Lixiviation Works," Aspen Daily Times, 11 November 1891, 3. Aspen Daily Times hereafter referred to as ADT. 2 most complete Russell lixiviation plant constructed in the U. S.' The five story building covered over 27,200 square feet. It processed low grade ores, and the financiers invested over $300,000 for the land and construction of the mill. However, the plant never expanded its capacity beyond 125 tons per day, and it never employed more than 150 men.' Less than two years after it opened, the dreams were dashed when the mill closed during the "silver panic" of 1893.' Today, the sampling house, the office/assay building, and the salt warehouse are still standing. Remnants of the mill can be seen on the archeological site. The site became part of the Marolt Ranch in later years. This story raises some interesting questions concerning the people, technology, business and politics of the mineral production industry in the West. Part one of this paper will address these questions in the following categories. 1. Why Edward Holden? Was he qualified to operate a reduction works? 2. Why Aspen? What was mined there? Were there competing reduction works?' Was the particular location of the land appropriate? 3. Why lixiviation? How did it compare with other types of ore treatment? Did it really treat low grade ores profitably? What was the track record for the Russell process? Was the process successful at the Holden Works? 4. What happened in the sampling building? 5. What was the layout and procedure in the rest of the mill? 6. Why was the silver panic important? How did it affect the mining industry and Colorado? 4 The Lexington mill at Butte was larger and more complete, and the Bi-Metallic mill at Phillipsburg, Montana was also more complete. Bob Spude, National Park Service, Denver. 5 "Holden Smelting and Milling Company," Engineering and Mining Journal, 51, no. 11 (14 March 1891): 1I. Engineering and Mining Journal hereafter referred to as EMJ. The company employed 150 to construct the plant, 100 men at its opening, and 50 men several months later. "The Lixiviation Plant," Aspen Daily Chronicle, 17 August 1891, 3; and Westeru Historical Studies, "Amendment to the Aspen, Colorado Multiple Property Nomination to the National Register of Historic Places," 27 January I990, Colorado Office of Archaeology and Historic Preservation, Colorado Historical Society, section E, 7-8. , "Holden Smelting and Milling Company," EMJ 51, no. 11 (14 March 1891): 332; "General Mining News," ADT, 06 Nov 1891,4; ADT, 17 Sep 1890,4. , Reduction was the chemical (metallurgical) process, and concentration (ore dressing) was the mechanical operation in which the silver and other valuable metals were separated from the gangue. Lixiviation and smelting were chemical processes. 3 7. Was Holden's company successful, and merely a victim of the panic of '93? Or was it a failing business whose demise coincided with the crash? How did the price of silver and treatment costs relate to profits? Did the company compete successfully in the low grade ore market? Did the lixiviation process cause financial problems? Did Holden's plant managers view the plant as successful? Did the company act like it was successful before the panic? 8. What happened to Edward Holden and to the mill after the Holden company closed? Mining and milling were only one source of excitement in the Roaring Fork valley. Early in the spring of 1882, the mining camp of Aspen was crowded with strangers coming to claim ranches in the valley. New men came through the camp almost daily, bringing seed and fann implements with them for their new enterprises. The land rush had been sparked by the removal of the Indians from the Ute Reservation the previous autumn. Now people saw a good opportunity to acquire cheap land, in a valley that had been promoted as an agricultural paradise. They had heard that the land was rich, arable and easily tilled, and that there was plenty of water. Boosters assured them that crops could be raised "of quality and abundance as will convince the doubting