Cripple Creek was the last of the open gold camps before mining fell to giant corporations. Its life was short and violent, but towns, cities, schools, railroads, institutions and financial dynasties grew upon its yield. Today a million tourists each year pour through the region, enjoying what Teddy Roosevelt called "the ride that bankrupts the English language" through Cripple's upper reaches, and imagining the gaudy, brawling days when the quiet, patched and peeling facades of the town were new.
Those are the days that Marshall Sprague, New York Times correspondent, calls back to life in this fascinating book.
He says of his book: "When I moved to Colorado Springs, and began hearing about Cripple, I wanted some information. None existed in one place, so I dug up the story. I spent a year at it. I combed the libraries, news files, directories, court records and cemeteries. Most important, I interviewed dozens of Cripple Creek pioneers. I hope this adds freshness to a story which should have been written a long time ago."