CRIPPLE CREEK

city, seat (1899) of Teller county, central Colorado, U.S., overlooked by Mt. Pisgah (10,400 ft ). It lies west of Colorado Springs in a granite pocket 9,600 ft above sea level, at the edge of the Pike National Forest. In 1891 gold was discovered in nearby Poverty Gulch by Robert Womack, a cowboy (who died poor), and in nearby Victor, by Winfield Scott Stratton, a carpenter (who left a fortune of $20,000,000). Three railways reached Cripple Creek between 1893 and 1901. Disasters that early plagued the city included a devastating fire (1894) and labour disputes (190304) resulting in violence and loss of life. After 1920 gold production declined and Cripple Creek became almost a ghost town. By 1960 the population (which rose to 50,000 in 1901) had declined to fewer than 1,000. Tourism is now the economic mainstay, supplemented by a small amount of gold production; in the late 1970s, however, rehabilitation of mine properties was under way, financed by the rise in world gold prices. Relics of Cripple Creek's heyday are on display at the district museum. The Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument is immediately northwest. Inc. 1892. Pop. (1990) 584.