In 1891, Winfield Scott Stratton discovered the Independence Gold Mine near Victor, Colorado. That fall, surveyors staked out the area, and on July 16, 1894, Victor became an official city. By 1899, the region boasted some of Colorado’s most productive gold mines and had a population of about 18,000 residents.
On August 21, 1899, at 1:15 p.m., a fire devastated Victor’s business district, leaving hundreds of people homeless. The blaze ignited near Jenny Thompson’s dance hall. Strong winds fueled the fire, which lasted for five hours. Fire departments from surrounding communities came to help, but a lack of water in the reservoir hampered their efforts. Dynamite was used to create a fire break.
Approximately 800 buildings, most of them wooden, were destroyed, including the Gold Coin mine shaft house, all the newspaper offices in the city, and two railway depots.
To save property, every available method of transportation, including boxcars on the Florence & Cripple Creek rail line, carriages, and express wagons, were loaded with goods and moved away from the blaze. Fortunately, the local banks stored all their money and valuables safely in vaults. Displaced people were invited to stay in the residential area, which was fairly unscathed. Less than six months later, the city was rebuilt more solidly with brick.
The photographer, Edgar A. Yelton, was born in Indiana on February 25, 1866, the first of six children of Oliver Perry (O. P.) Yelton and Anna Elizabeth Browning Yelton. O. P. was a prominent citizen of Laramie, Wyoming, where he served as a deputy United States marshal. The family moved to Missouri, Greeley, and then to Fort Collins, CO, before settling in Laramie. Edgar married Margaret “Maggie” Jane Bateman in Nebraska on January 1, 1890.
Edgar Yelton began his photographic career in Nebraska. In December 1894 he was operating in Sidney, NE. Yelton and his family moved briefly to Laramie before returning to Sidney. He rode his bicycle the approximately 150 miles between the two towns, while his wife and children took the train. He brought along his new photographic outfit. Opening in May 1895, he offered all kinds of photo work, including enlarging, copying, and transparencies. He copied old tintypes and photos, removing scratches. He also printed photos on handkerchiefs.
By 1896, Yelton was working in Cripple Creek as a photographer. He documented the town’s fire of April 29th of that year and in 1899, the fire in Victor, CO. Using flashlighting, Yelton photographed a cave on Cow Mountain. In 1897, he and Harry Dorr Webster ran a studio together as Webster and Yelton.
In 1900, Yelton opened a real estate and loan office in Cripple Creek. In 1903, he partnered with a photographer named M. A. Wisda, to document the National Guard’s presence in Cripple Creek after a miner’s strike. Yelton remained in the real estate business for the rest of his life, working in Grand Junction, CO; Santa Cruz, CA; Chester, PA; and Gloucester City, NJ. He died on October 6, 1946, in Chester, Pennsylvania, and is buried in the Chester Rural Cemetery.
Thank you to Kellen Cutsforth, Digital Image Collection Administrator for providing the scans. Research help was provided by Alex and Heather, Librarians at the Western History Department, Denver Public Library. Beverly Brannan proofread this post.
This is a great story about Victor. At some point before 1904 and the miners’ war my family moved there. My grandfather was shot in the leg in that altercation. Evidently Yelton was there for that photo opportunity.
I am unable to open the first three photos. I sure love reading your blog!
Thank you for your comments, Kathy. All of the photos should now be visible. If you have a minute to check, let me know if that is not the case and I’ll keep trying.