and unconventional. People are so crowded together, live in so primitive a fashion for the most part, and are, perhaps (many of them), so glad to escape from restraint, that they are more natural, and hence more interesting than in the older States.”
Taylor said going on a descent into a mine was one of the necessary things a traveler to the area must endure—and as such agreed to subject himself to the experience.
“It is a moist, unpleasant business,” Taylor recounted of his journey into one of the area’s larger mines. “As we were returning to the lower drift, there was a sudden smothered bellowing under our feet, the granite heart of the mountain trembled, and our candles were extinguished in an instant. It was not an agreeable sensation, especially when … [I was informed] that another blast would follow the first. However, the darkness and uncertainty soon came to an end. We returned to the foot of the ladder, and, after a climb which, in that thin air, was a constant collapse to the lungs, we reached the daylight in a dripping, muddy, and tallow-spotted condition.”
When Taylor’s tour of the area was over, he embraced the opportunity but reflected on Colorado’s gold mining future.
One thing is certain: the mines of Colorado are among the richest in the world. I doubt whether either California or Nevada contains a greater amount of the precious metals than this section of the Rocky Mountains. These peaks, packed as they are with deep, rich veins seamed and striped with the outcropping of their hidden and reluctantly granted wealth are not yet half explored. They are part of a grand deposit of treasure … and if properly worked, will yield a hundred millions a year for a thousand years. Colorado, alone, ought to furnish the amount of the national debt within the next century.
A father-and-son mining team demonstrate double jack drilling. (Photo by L. McLean, courtesy the Historical Society of Idaho Springs)
Tom’s Baby
The Phoenix, the Flag, the Chieftain, the Loch Ness monster. I was surrounded by some of the most famous and unique gold discoveries in Colorado’s history. I was in good company: standing next to me in the gold exhibit at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science was geology curator James Hagadorn. Hagadorn explained to me that many of the gold specimens in front of us received their colorful, if mildly unusual, names because of the way they look.
“For instance, we have a piece of gold in our collection called Goldzilla,” Hagadorn explained. “If you look at it—it looks just like Godzilla. People see things in gold, in their shape, just like people see things in clouds.”
And while all the gold pieces in the museum’s collection are breathtaking, I had eyes for only one: Tom’s Baby. The massive gold nugget weighs an astonishing ten pounds and takes a position of prominence, resting in its own secure display case. “This piece of gold is relevant to Coloradans and people from the Rockies because it has such a cool history to it,” Hagadorn said. “[And] it is the biggest.”
Unlike the other pieces that received their names based on their appearance, Tom’s Baby was so named because of the antics of a gold miner more than 129 years ago. Tom Groves, understandably beside himself with excitement after the discovery, eagerly showed it off along the streets of Breckenridge while cradling it in his arms like an infant.
The Biggest
In 1887 miners Tom Groves and Harry Lytton were contracted to work for a mine owner in an area called Farncomb Hill. The two were surprised when on a hot July day they came across an underground pocket, or vug, of gold. Such discoveries were amazingly rare, and the miners removed some 243 ounces of gold from the spot.
Included in that discovery, and at the bottom of the pocket, was the largest gold nugget discovered in the state, then weighing thirteen and a half pounds. According to historian and mining engineer Rick Hague, the two men were afraid the gold would be stolen on their trip back to town so Tom Groves disguised it by wrapping it in a blanket and keeping it under his jacket. But it didn’t take long for the news to get out.
“Yesterday hundreds of visitors called on … [the assayer] at his office at the concentrator on the west side, to feast their eyes on this find,” reported the Breckenridge Daily Journal.
The reporter stated that Tom Groves was so excited by the discovery of the nugget and handled it with such care that “… the boys declared that it was ‘Tom’s Baby.’ And so it goes.” The article went on to say the nugget would later be sent down to Denver so that “Denverites may learn that there are other inducements in Colorado besides Denver town lots.”
Like lots of gold. Tom Groves and Harry Lytton were paid a percentage of the gold’s worth, and the famous nugget forever left Breckenridge—and for a time disappeared from the pages of history. Hague said the nugget was last seen being handed to the train conductor just before he left the station on his way to Denver.
Lost and Found
At some point, Tom’s Baby was procured by Denver’s newly started museum, which began in 1900 when Denver residents bought several Colorado collections, including an assortment of gold specimens. According to museum records, Tom’s Baby was on display in 1930 before once again disappearing. In 1972 a Breckenridge author began trying to track down the missing gold nugget and was led to vaults in the First Denver National Bank owned by the museum. Tom’s Baby was rediscovered there—albeit three pounds lighter and in a box labeled “dinosaur bones.” It was concluded that the missing piece had likely broken off in the intervening years. Rediscovered, Tom’s Baby was put back on display in the museum in the late ’70s.
“This piece is important for its historical aspects,” Hagadorn told me as we stared through the protective glass at the specimen. “This piece is important because it is the largest gold nugget in Colorado and it is not necessarily like a nugget that you’d find tumbling down a stream in your pan. If you did, it’d be a very lucky day.”
Lucky day indeed. Based on the size and current price of gold at $1,224 per ounce, Tom’s Baby would be worth close to $200,000. But its actual value is priceless. Hagadorn said based on the gold nugget’s history, uniqueness, and because it is part of the museum’s founding collection, narrowing in on a value is almost impossible.
“For us, this collection is closely tied to the museum’s deep history,” Hagadorn said, adding it was a “mind-blowing” specimen. “It has a value that is not economic; it is historical in nature. These specimens are like art; they are worth whatever anyone is willing to pay for it.”
The value and historical significance of Tom’s Baby was also recognized in 1887 by the Breckenridge Daily Journal: “It will probably be a long time before ‘Tom’s Baby’ will be retired as Colorado’s big nugget.”
So far, that day still hasn’t come.
DIVING FOR GOLD
Clear Creek sat silent and ice-packed just south of Interstate 70 on a cold January morning. The popular stream sees thousands of rafters, anglers, and tourists during the summer, but it was now motionless and clogged with a frosty blue and white winter strata. It’s an ice that chokes and strangles the river into stillness at least four months out of the year in the mountains of Colorado.
