Founder's Clock

Founder's Clock. . , Standing the Test of Time , Founder’s Clock , Black Hawk History Gold Mining Co. , Mylo Lee, Dr. Frederick H. Judd, and William L. Lee , Principals of the Black Hawk Gold Mining Company and Founders of the City of Black Hawk, Although many pioneering men and women warrant credit for fostering the development and ensuring the success of the City of Black Hawk, three gentleman from Rock Island, Illinois, deserve an abundance of recognition for founding and incorporating the City of Black Hawk: William L. Lee, Dr. Frederick H. Judd, and Mylo Lee, principals of the Black Hawk Gold Mining Company. Although Lee and Lee carry the same surname, they were not related. , First Mortgage Bond – 1866 , 1866 First Mortgage Bond, signed by F.H. Judd as president, authorizing the Company to sell $250,000 in bonds, each bond being issued for $1,000, at an interest rate of twelve percent annum. The collateral backing the bonds was all lands, mines, mineral rights, property, mills, and improvements owned by the Company. , Stock Certificate – 1872 , 1872 Black Hawk Gold Mining Company stock certificate denoting the price-per-share of $50. This was half of the original 1864 price-per-share of $100. By 1868, Lee, Judd, and Lee had sold all interest in the Black Hawk Gold Mining Company, each becoming quite wealthy from their Colorado gold mining and milling venture. , What’s in a Name? , Lee, Judd, and Lee named their Company after a promontory in the Rock River at Rock Island, Illinois, dubbed “Black Hawk’s Watch Tower,” which was named to lionize the revered Sauk Indian Chief, Black Hawk. This promontory was not far from Chief Black Hawk’s village on the Rock River, and he would go there often to look out over the river, smoke his pipe, pray, and meditate. The corporate seal on both the bond and stock certificate above depicts an American Indian. , In the Spring of 1860, William L. Lee, Dr. Frederick H. Judd, and Mylo Lee, along with 17 other men, arrived in the burgeoning gold mining region. On the over eight 800-mile journey westward from Rock Island, Illinois, across the plains by oxen, they hauled 15 tons of equipment, including an ore processing mill. , Referred to as a quartz stamp mill, it pulverized gold-bearing quartz rock, known as ore, preparing it for the next process to extract the gold. A Rock Island firm, C.C. Weber and Co., manufactured the mill, engine, and boilers required for the milling operation. , On June 30, 1860, Lee, Judd, and Lee started up their mill and christened it the Black Hawk Mill. Although this was not the first quartz stamp mill in the new gold mining region, it surpassed any previous milling operation. The superior design, efficiency, and ore crushing capacity of the Black Hawk Mill generated considerable excitement. , The Black Hawk Mill pulverized up to 30 tons of ore per day with its 25-horsepower engine and 15 stamps weighing 500-pounds each. So encouraging was the mill’s production, and so highly respected were the owners that by early August of 1860, the surrounding mining camp became known as Black Hawk Point. , In addition to the Black Hawk Mill, Lee, Judd, and Lee owned the Eagle and Tiger Mills and mining claims on the celebrated Bobtail, Gergory, and Gregory Extension Lodes. , One only needs to look at the tax rolls for Gilpin County to underscore the magnitude of the Black Hawk Gold Mining Company’s importance on advancing the City of Black Hawk, Gilpin County, and the Colorado Territory. From 1861 through 1867, the Black Hawk Gold Mining Company’s valuation was more than double the valuation of Gilpin County’s next largest gold mining companies, and at least triple the vast majority of them. , John H. Gregory Discovered The Gregory Lodes in 1859 , The last mining property John H. Gregory sold before leaving the Colorado Territory was his half interest in a claim on the Gregory Extension. Recorded in the records of Gilpin County, Lee, Judd, and Lee purchased the mining claim for $50 on July 24, 1862. , In 1864, William L. Lee, Dr. Frederick H. Judd, and Mylo Lee incorporated the Black Hawk Gold Mining Company in New York and the Colorado Territory. As pictured above, this rare 1864 fifteen-page prospectus described the value of the assets owned by the Company and was used as a marketing tool to raise working capital. , The prospectus gave would-be investors the ability to evaluate the Company based on statements contained within. Such as, “It requires no labored mathematical calculation to demonstrate the immense product in gold which can be obtained from the extensive mines belonging to this company, by liberal expenditure of capital, and the use of more powerful and more economical labor-saving machinery.” , The Company’s capital stock amounted to $5,000,000, divided into 50,000 shares, each share selling for $100. , As Colorado did not become a state until 1876, incorporating and locating offices in New York or “in the states” gave credibility and more assess to investors for early mining and milling companies with operations in the Colorado Territory. , History of the City Seal , In the spring of 1864, William L. Lee, Dr. Frederick H. Judd, and Mylo Lee were instrumental in securing incorporation of the mining town of Black Hawk Point. With their influence, on March 11, 1864, Black Hawk became the second City in the Colorado Territory to be incorporated by the Colorado Territorial Legislature, Denver being the first. Dr Judd’s son, Leon D. Judd, had been elected to the Colorado Territorial Legislature in 1863 and carried the legislation to incorporate the City. , Dr. Judd’s son-in-law, John H. Kinney, was elected the first mayor of the City of Black Hawk. The second ordinance adopted by the new City Council was to establish a city seal. As a demonstration of gratitude for their accomplishments of founding and incorporating the City of Black Hawk, the seal depicted an American Indian, an eagle, and a tiger representative of the three mills owned by Lee, Judd, and Lee, and their Black Hawk Gold Mining Company. , An Ordinance – April 19, 1865 , That a seal of the following description be provided and is hereby declared to be the corporate seal of the City of Black Hawk: , On the right, an Indian with a spear, war shield and club, with a tiger crouched behind; on the left, an eagle grasping the American shield and a sprig of laurel; in the center, a stream of water with a quartz mill on the left bank and the mountains in the background; the whole surmounted by the inscription “City of Black Hawk, Colorado.”