Victor, Colorado

Victor, Colorado, located about 25 miles west of Colorado Springs, sprang up well after the big Pike's Peak Gold Rush of 1859 was over. At that time, small bodies of gold ore were found all over the place, which led to mine shafts being sunk all over the place. But what really built Victor was the discovery of the Independence Lode in 1891. That lead to a huge influx of miners and their support groups: merchants, freighters, barkeeps, prostitutes," etc. The Independence Lode turned out to be one of the largest gold finds in history and sections of it are still being worked today. There was a large miners strike in 1894 that succeeded in polarizing the miners and the mine owners and operators. Another big strike in 1903 was so violent that it marked the beginning of real hostilities in the Colorado Labor Wars (a domestic war that continued right up to the beginning of World War I). The union hall in Victor still displays bullet holes in the walls from those times. Gov. James Peabody dispatched the Colorado National Guard specifically to support the mine owners in breaking the back of the union. Eventually, though, the public rallied in support of the miners and the governor's office changed hands. Over the years, ore bodies petered out, mining operations wound down, and the population dwindled. The Cripple Creek & Victor Gold Mining Company jump-started mining again in 1976 by working 2 small surface deposits and reworking old tailings. Between 1976 and 1989 that produced some 150,000 troy ounces of gold. The company began a large-scale open pit operation in 1994. Victor hit a historic low in the early 2000's but is now starting to come back.