Cripple Creek Ajax Mine Bowie & Display

Description

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You are bidding on a very old 16" long Bowie Knife from the Ajax Mine located in the Cripple Creek Mining District near Victor, Colorado. It is mounted in a very nice glass display case along with a very rare specimen of Calverite in Quartz from that mine. The blade is edges reading "Colorado Gold" on one side and "Victor- Cripple Creek Toothpick" on the other. The leather sheath is marked "Ajax Mine Harness Co" on one side in the leather and "Ajax" stamped in the brass sheath cap. This is a rare piece of old Colorado Gold Mining History and one of a kind.
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uarantee that this item is as described and as shown in the photos.
Victor History
Behind the city of
Cripple Creek
, Victor was the second most important city in the
Cripple Creek
gold mining district. The
Cripple Creek
district was fabulously rich, and would ultimately be the second largest producer of gold in the country.
Victor was established in 1891 after gold was discovered in the area. The town was founded by Frank and Harry Woods, and took its name from Victor Adams, one of the early pioneers in the area. Initially a settlement of tents and miners' shacks located on the slopes of
Battle
Mountain
, by 1894 Victor was incorporated and quickly became one of
Colorado
's most important cities.
Although
Cripple Creek
was larger, Victor was known as the "City of
Mines
" - a name earned from the fact that the districts four richest mines were located near the city. The
Portland
, Cresson,
Ajax
, and
Independence
mines together produced more than one-third of the district's gold. The total gold production for the victor area was over 12.5 million ounces.
In 1895 the Town of Victor was Wiped Out by Fire.
Victor was quickly rebuilt with larger and more substantial buildings of brick and stone. Today many of the city's historic structures date back to 1899, the date they were rebuilt after the devastating fire.
While
Cripple Creek
was the financial and commercial center of the district - and the city that mine owners and investors chose to live - Victor was the working class city and the place where most of the district's miners lived. Two major strikes - first in 1894, then in 1903, brought great upheaval to the mines of the district, and Victor was the center of the strikers activity.
The mines at Victor continued to produce into the 1900s but declined steadily as the mines were worked out. All the mines were shut down by government order during World War II, but mining resumed after the war. The last mines in the district closed in 1962.
Victor still contains dozens of historic buildings from the town's boom years. Many substantial brick buildings built in 1899, after the big fire, still stand today.
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Import duties, taxes, and charges are
not included
in the item price or shipping cost. These charges are the buyer's responsibility.
Please check with your country's customs office to determine what these additional costs will be prior to bidding or buying.