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Stratton Hall 1005 14th Street |
Overlooking Kafadar
Commons |
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| Winfield S. Stratton came to
Colorado in 1868 as an itinerant carpenter and unsuccessful prospector. His blind
luck had proven slim, and more would be needed. From Professor Lamb at Colorado
College, Stratton took his first course in mineralogy. Armed with his new blowpipe to test ore values, he rushed to Mt. Pisgah, where salted mines inspired a hoax that foreshadowed the Cripple Creek boom six years later. He traveled to Ouray, but refused the siren song to Creede. It was the first Colorado mineral boom in seventeen years that Stratton had not followed, proving over and over his knack for finding nothing where others stumbled over treasure chests. On July 4, 1891 he staked what became the Independence Mine and started the great Cripple Creek gold rush. Stratton was the most puzzling individual, and therefore the most fascinating of the millionaires created by Colorado gold. The dualities of his personality reflected the two phases of his life. For nineteen years, he was an itinerant carpenter and failed prospector.  His luck had finally turned. Selling his last real
estate holdings, Stratton bought out the interest of Alexander Popejoy, who had grubstaked
his wayward cryolite hunt. The first ore samples were sent to his old teacher, Professor
Lamb, now at the State School of Mines. First results from the Independence showed great profit, $380 to the ton, but subsequent investigation of his other claims was discouraging, for the moment. He sold the Washington claim twice, gaining $25,000, and maintained ownership when the buyers’ resolve failed. He turned to the Independence, his "dream mine." After gaining $60,000 from crushed boulders lying about on the surface, he dug directly into a main vein which never ran out. After his big strike in 1891, he was "Midas of the Rockies," owner of the Independence and Portland mines, the greatest producers of Cripple Creek. After eleven years of wealth and legend, Stratton passed on, leaving his contemporaries to puzzle over his eccentric behavior, his mysterious history, and his egalitarian visions. Stratton was appointed as a CSM trustee in 1899 and was elected president of the board in 1901. He began a legacy of giving to the School by providing its first philanthropic gift of $25, 000. From Dr. Chauvenet's notes: The gift had not been made definite when Mr. Bulkey of the Board of Trustees and President Chauvenet went to Colorado Springs to explain the situation to Mr. Stratton. After a brief discussion of the needs of the school, Mr. Stratton wrote a check for $25,000, and handed it to President Chauvenet with the simple remark that he was at liberty to expend it according to whatever seemed the more pressing need of the institution. The gift to CSM was designated to build a "Hall of Metallurgy" that would bear his name. In the words of the state legislature, Stratton was " the first of Colorado's wealthy mining men to recognize the importance of the School to the chief industry of Colorado." Construction on Stratton Hall began in 1900, the cornerstone was laid in 1902--the year Stratton died, and the building was finished in 1904. Much of the information provided herein was extracted from http://www.mines.edu/academic/lais/faq/stratton.html. Please visit this link for a more detailed account of Winfred Stratton’s life. Links to offices located in Stratton Hall: Mathematical and Computer Sciences Department Head  Graeme FairweatherProfessors |
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