Tri-Lakes Chamber of Commerce - Event Information

Event Name:

WMMI Speakers' Bureau Lecture: Cripple Creek's Cresson Mine: The Untold Stories

Description:

WMMI Speakers’ Bureau Lecture

Presented by Ben Elick

Cripple Creek’s Cresson Mine: The Untold Stories

About:

Come celebrate the world premiere of this fabulous story as Ben Elick and Steven Veatch reveal the secrets of this famous mine through old letters, newspaper clippings, crumbling documents, and rare photos. Learn about the mine’s storied underground cavern of gold. It was so rich that the miners shoveled gold crystals into bags for weeks. This is a story so big, so bold, that you will never forget it!

ABOUT BEN ELICK

Ben Elick is an active volunteer with the Western Museum of Mining and Industry. Ben is an Earth Science Scholar with the Colorado Springs Mineralogical Society. Ben has been published in the Ute County News, as well as in Deposits Magazine. Ben recently coauthored a paper on Cripple Creek High-Grading and was a co-presenter at the New Mexico Mineral Symposium at the New Mexico Institute of Mining & Technology, Socorro, New Mexico. Ben was a guest speaker at the Denver Gem and Mineral show in 2017 and 2018. Ben presented his work on repeat photography at the North-Central Section Meeting of the Geological Society of America at Iowa State University in April. He served as an intern at the Cripple Creek District Museum.

ABOUT STEVEN W. VEATCH

Steven Veatch is known to Colorado geologists and nature enthusiasts for his articles, papers, workshops, and classes on Earth science. Veatch, an award-winning writer on geoscience, nature, and regional history, is the author of over 100 articles and essays. He has contributed chapters to 3 books: Field Trips in the Southern Rocky Mountains, USA, Field Guide 5; The Paleontology of the Upper Eocene Florissant Formation, Colorado; and The World’s Greatest Gold Camp: An Introduction to the History of the Cripple Creek & Victor Mining District.

Veatch teaches community classes on Earth science, history, nature, and writing based in the Pikes Peak region and teaches geoscience courses for the Colorado School of Mines in the Special Programs and Continuing Education (SPACE) department. Veatch is a former adjunct professor of Earth science at Emporia State University. A passionate speaker backed by a depth of expertise, Veatch is a frequent presenter and field trip leader for local, regional, and national organizations.

Veatch holds an MA in Management from Webster University and an MS in Earth science from Emporia State University.

Veatch retried from El Paso County government. He served in the Navy Reserves for 16 years. He is a volunteer interpretive ranger at the Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument. Veatch currently directs the Pikes Peak Pebble Pups, a youth group that studies the geosciences. Veatch, appointed by the Cripple Creek City Council, is a member of its Historic Preservation Commission. He is also a member of the Board of Trustees for the Western Museum of Mining and Industry in Colorado Springs.

His family came to Cripple Creek, Colorado in the 1890s from England and worked in the district’s mines for over 30 years. Another branch of the family built a ranch in the wilderness near Boulder, Colorado in 1865 and, later, moved to the Caribou mining camp where Veatch’s great-grandfather attended Caribou’s first school session in 1872. Today Veatch lives with his wife on a meadow between Cripple Creek and Florissant, Colorado.

Tuesday, October 8th, 2019

7:00pm (Doors open at 6:30pm)

225 North Gate Blvd. C/S, CO 80921

In WMMI Museum Library

Only $5 per person, free to museum members.

RSVP to 718.488.0880 or rsvp@wmmi.org

Click here to book your spot online:

https://fareharbor.com/embeds/book/wmmi/items/108438/calendar/?flow=41147

Event Date:

10/8/2019

Event Time:

7:00 PM - 9:00 PM Mountain