Victor, Colorado - City of Mines

Victor, Colorado - The City of Mines

When word spread of the find, their nearby neighbors immediately began to file claims that the vein found in the Portland Mine actually originated in one of theirs. The three partners quickly began to remove sacks of gold under cover of darkness in order to horde as much as they could if the lawsuits failed to support them. Though they quickly accumulated about $70,000 in the bank, they knew they would need help to save their claim and turned to Winfield Scott Stratton for help.

Stratton, who was already well on his was way to becoming a millionaire, accepted a 1/3 stake in the Portland to help the three partners. The lawsuits continued until some 47 different ones were filed against the Portland.

The Portland Mine in 1900.

This image available for photographic prints and downloads HERE!

With Stratton backing them, the partners soon turned the lawsuits around and began to attack and buy up neighboring claims until the tiny Portland grew from 1/10th of an acre to more than 30 claims on 135 acres. After years of wrangling, the Portland had become the largest and strongest mine in the Cripple Creek Mining District.

In just a few years, Victor had developed into a town that rivaled its sister but larger city, Cripple Creek , and an old saying began, “ Cripple Creek gets the glory, but Victor has the gold.”

But Victor's grand heydays would be dampened on August 21, 1899, when a fire began in a brothel in Victor's notorious Paradise Alley. Before the blazing inferno was under control, fourteen blocks had been destroyed, including some 800 buildings, causing $1.5 million in damages, and leaving 1,500 people homeless.

As the largest property owner, the Woods Investment Company suffered the heaviest losses, including the total destruction of their bank and the original Victor Hotel. However, Victor's citizens immediately began to rebuild and within three days the banks and saloons were back in business.

On December 24, 1899, the Woods family’s "new" First National Bank of Victor was completed which not only held their banking and investment business, but also a number of retail operations.

Though the town soon prospered once again, it would be short lived. In 1900, the main ore vein in the Gold Coin Mine began to play out and the Woods’ profits began to decline. To add to their tremendous debt, heavy financial losses in 1899, and the reduced profits of the mine, the Woods’ Economic Mill burned. For the Woods Investment Company, the future was looking extremely grim.

Though they were said to have been worth some $45 million, the company was heavily leveraged and rumors of their impending collapse caused a run on the First National Bank of Victor . Trying to recoup, the Woods Investment Company consolidated their miscellaneous mining properties into the United Gold Mines Company in 1902.

The Victor fire of 1899 destroyed 800 buildings, photo

courtesy Denver Public Library

Though the family hoped to issue shares in an exciting new company, so they might use them as loan collateral, their efforts would be in vain. Their bank was forced to close its doors on November 4, 1903 when bank examiners declared it insolvent. Over the next several years, the Woods Family Empire collapsed and the Woods Investment Company closed its doors permanently in 1910.

Harry Woods ended up moving to California where he started a new business in oil. Though he did comfortably well, he never lived the lavish life he had during Victor's heydays. He died in moderately comfortable circumstances in 1928.

Frank, on the other hand, didn’t fare as well. A number of personal tragedies effected him when he lost his son in a mining accident, and his daughter and wife both passed away. After remarrying, his second wife also died. Though he tried several new ventures, he was never able to make a financial comeback. When he died in Los Angeles in 1932, his friends had to take up a collection to pay for his burial.

At its peak, over 500 mines dotted the landscape surrounding Victor and some 50,000 people called the area home. But like the Woods’, Victor's days of prosperity ended in the early 1900’s when the vast majority of the gold was panned out or too expensive to get to. In the end, more than 22 million tons of gold had been taken from the area's many mines.

Continued Next Page

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Victor, Colorado in 1890.

This image available for photographic prints and downloads HERE!

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