Prospectus The Big 20 Consolidated Gold Mining Company [Colorado]

Soliciting investment for gold mining near Cripple Creek, Colorado.

“America this year leads the continents of the world in gold production. South Africa is out of the race owing to the Boer War. The enviable standing of the world is largely due to the wonderful record of the Cripple Creek district, America’s greatest gold camp, and Colorado, the banner gold producing state of the union.” – pg. 2

This rare prospectus was circulated in early 1902, shortly after the height of Cripple Creek’s gold-producing frenzy. It was issued by the Big 20 Consolidated Gold Mining Company, owner of about 200 acres near Grouse Mountain, to encourage the purchase of company stock. The brochure is filled with promising language that basically guarantees large returns. “We believe each dollar spent will add ten times its value to the Company’s interest.”

A description of local enterprises, regional geography, and the history of the Cripple Creek mining district (and its riches) is accompanied by a fold-out map that highlights the company property and its twenty claims.

The brochure was created by the Illinois Engraving Company and printed in Chicago by George F. McKiernan & Co. in 1902. Scarce and not listed in OCLC, though an alternate example, published in Boston by Frank Cox, can be found at Yale University Library.

Sources: OCLC #830053995; Colorado Encyclopedia;