Carrie Everson Story, Part 1
A pdf of the entire story is available below or click: CARRIE EVERSON©JAEGER:LAURITZEN.PDF
PART I
Fortunes to be gained!
Investors Take Notice!
Incredible new vein of rich ore discovered in Rocky Mountains!
First ten serious investors apply:
“Brick” Pomeroy, Golden Age Mining Company, Denver, Colo.
In 1878 Chicago newspapers tantalized their readers with stories of gold—strikes in Montana, in Nevada, in Oregon, in Colorado. All a person needed to do to get rich was invest in a mining company and there were plenty of new companies to choose from. “Brick” Pomeroy was the leader of a company that promised “two ounces per ton”!
When gold was first discovered in the west, ores and placer deposits were relatively easy to find. Ores that contained at least 1/2 ounce of gold per ton were considered worth the effort, making Pomeroy’s claim of two ounces from a ton of rock seem especially attractive. It seemed like such a good deal to William Everson, a prominent Chicago doctor, that he bought into the Golden Age Mining Company with his entire life savings of $40,000.
Miners sluicing gold. Photo at: http://www.history.co.uk/shows/bamazon/articles/an-introduction-to-gold-mining
Mining and extracting gold from the ore were labor intensive activities. First, the ore rocks were mined from the earth. In early times, men dug it out with picks and shovels. Wagons carried the rocks to crushing machine called a stamp mill. From there the crushed rocks were sluiced (washed and separated) and panned with water.
The investors in the Golden Age Mining Company quickly found out that the company was spending more money than the gold they found was worth. The mine was closed and investors lost everything. Dr. Everson was devastated and ill. He left his family and moved to Mexico. His life dreaming of riches from gold was over. The story for Carrie Everson, however, was just beginning.
End of Part 1