Cripple Creek Turquoise: Field Guide to the Florence Lode and the Burtis Mine (Teller County, Colorado)
Part of the Turquoise Mines field guides and The Southwest Jewelry Guide.
Mike Ryan II and Philip Chambless’s 2020 history records the Florence Lode claim near the town of Cripple Creek, Colorado, the source of the turquoise sold as Cripple Creek. Every statement below is quoted or paraphrased from their book, with page numbers, so you can check each one. Their book was published in 2020; anything described as current describes 2020. Where our other books disagree, the Field Notes say so.
The Florence Lode and the Burtis family
Ryan & Chambless (2020) explain the name:
“Its name comes from the proximity of the claim to the town of Cripple Creek but is properly named the Florence Lode claim.”
— Ryan & Chambless (2020), p. 90 [1]
According to Ryan & Chambless (2020, p. 90), the Florence Lode was first leased and then bought by Wallace C. Burtis in 1935 and later patented; Burtis worked it in summers while employed by CF&I Steel in Pueblo, and the mine stayed in the family, later worked by Wallace Burtis Jr. [1]
According to Ryan & Chambless (2020, p. 90), Kunz's report for 1894 recorded turquoise in limited quantity at the Cripple Creek camp, on the word of Don Maguire of Ogden, Utah, and the authors call Cripple Creek a long-standing turquoise mine where Leadville remained an anomaly. [1]
The stone
According to Ryan & Chambless (2020, p. 90), Cripple Creek turquoise is known for its hardness, which comes from high concentrations of quartz in the stone. [1]
According to Ryan & Chambless (2020, p. 91), Dr. Werner Lieber found up to 4-5% quartz finely dispersed in Cripple Creek turquoise. [1]
According to Ryan & Chambless (2020, p. 91), Burtis senior claimed to have found two hexagonal prismatic turquoise crystals, but with no such specimens known, the only recognized locality for crystalline turquoise remains the Bishop Mine at Lynch Station, Campbell County, Virginia. [1]
Field Notes by Mateo James
Three of our books give three start years for the Burtis family at Cripple Creek. Lowry (2010, p. 243) says the family has mined the area since 1929; Ryan & Chambless’s Part Two (2020, p. 90) has Wallace C. Burtis leasing and then buying the Florence Lode in 1935; and their Part One, Chambless & Ryan (2021, p. 190), has him first mining there in 1939. The same authors’ two books differ with each other, so I have shown all three.
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How this page is sourced. We strive for accuracy: every factual statement above is quoted from or credited to the printed works listed below, with page numbers, and this page is continuously updated with new information as we read more of our library. See something we should correct? Contact us.
Sources
- Ryan, Mike, II, and Philip Chambless. Turquoise in America, Part Two: 1910–1990. Callais Press, 2020. Cited by printed page. Statements describe conditions as of 2020.
- Chambless, Philip, and Mike Ryan II. Turquoise in America, Part One: The Great American Turquoise Rush, 1890–1910. Revised first edition. Callais Press, 2021. Cited by printed page. Statements describe conditions as of 2021.
- Lowry, Joe Dan, and Joe P. Lowry. Turquoise: The World Story of a Fascinating Gemstone. Layton, UT: Gibbs Smith, 2010. Cited by printed page. Statements describe conditions as of 2010.