Thomas F Walsh
Published on 30. July 2007
Book
Hardback
272 pages
978-0-87081-870-7 (ISBN)
Description
In the first complete biography of Thomas Walsh, John Stewart recounts the tycoon's life from his birth in 1850 and his beginnings as a millwright and carpenter in Ireland to his tenacious, often fruitless mining work in the Black Hills and Colorado, which finally led to his discovery of an extremely rich vein of gold ore in the Imogene Basin. Walsh's Camp Bird Mine yielded more than $20 million worth of gold and other minerals in twenty years, and the mine's 1902 sale to British investors made Walsh very wealthy. Despite his fame and lavish lifestyle, Walsh is remembered as an unassuming and philanthropic man who treated his employees well. In addition to making many anonymous donations, he established the Walsh Library in Ouray and a library near his Irish birthplace, and helped establish a research fund for the study of radium and other rare western minerals at the Colorado School of Mines.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Colorado
United States
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 152 mm
ISBN-13
978-0-87081-870-7 (9780870818707)
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Schweitzer Classification
Content
Contents Foreword by Duane A. Smith Acknowledgments Introduction: In Search of Tom Walsh Chapter 1: Origins in Ireland; A Childhood with Few Advantages; Education and Training; Thoughts of Leaving Chapter 2: To America and the West; A Supportive Family in Worcester; Railroads and Gold in Colorado Territory; Poet, Reporter, Carpenter, and Miner in the Black Hills; A Learning Experience Chapter 3: Life in the Silver Boomtown of Leadville; Proprietor of the Grand Hotel; Marriage Presents a Religious Dilemma; Social Strata of a Frontier Town; Full-Time Mining Chapter 4: Denver, Smelting, and the Silver Crash; Promoter, Investor, and Family Man; Smelting in the Ten Mile District; The Silver Crash Brings Economic Devastation Chapter 5: A Bonanza in the Snowy San Juans; Removing the Ute Indians; The Town of Ouray and the Imogene Basin; A Troubled Start for Walsh in Ouray; Daughter, I've Struck It Rich Chapter 6: The Fabulous Camp Bird Mine; A Mine Named for a Gray Jay; A New Mill and a Long Aerial Tramway; The Greatest Gold Mine in the World; A Rags-to-Riches Myth Chapter 7: Walsh on Labor; Caring for a Diverse Workforce; An Island in a Stormy Sea of Strikes; Ideas Unlike Those of Many of His Peers; Labor on Walsh Chapter 8: What to Do with Millions of Dollars; Mr. and Mrs. Thomas F. Walsh Invite You to Be Their Guest; Move to Washington; Entering the Most Exclusive Ranks of Polite Society; A Candidate for Higher Office Chapter 9: A Prominent Member of National Society; The Greatest American in Paris; Promoter of the West; The President's Mining Adviser; A Spokesman for Progressive Ideas Chapter 10: The Price of Affluence; Keeping Blackmailers at Bay; Betrayal by an Old Friend Chapter 11: The Walsh Palace; Expectation for Conspicuous Consumption; Famous Neighbors; Entertaining the Elite in a Legendary Mansion Chapter 12: A King for a Friend; A Personal Empire in Africa; To Be a King's Partner Chapter 13: Selling the Camp Bird Mine; Advice of a Famous Engineer; Investing a Fortune Chapter 14: Death, and a Return to Colorado; Vinson; Wolhurst Becomes Clonmel; A Senator for the Common Man? Chapter 15: Family and Country; A Honeymoon to Remember; Remembering Family on Both Sides of the Atlantic; A Public-Spirited Citizen and Patron Chapter 16: The Passing of Thomas F. Walsh; The Golden Cradle; Last Illness; He Had Oppressed Not One Single Soul in the Attainment; Would He Remember Colorado? Chapter 17: The Walsh Family and the Walsh Mine; Carrie; Evalyn, Ned, and a Large Blue Diamond; The Camp Bird after Walsh Conclusion: The Legacy of Thomas F. Walsh Appendix A: Glossary of Mining Terms Appendix B: Geology of the Camp Bird Mine Appendix C: Walsh Family Tree Notes Bibliography Index