Today's S&T is a personal favorite of mine. I have referenced in previous postings that my Hub and I are Colorado Milk Dairy Collectors. We have enough stuff to keep me in S&T Fridays until the sun explodes into some kind of Supernova! We have been collecting from Colorado for about 16-17 years now and have a pretty extensive collection. One of our dearest friends is THE premiere Colorado Dairy collector and he has been able to fill in the historical gaps regarding the different dairies. He and Dave have been working together and hope to eventually come out with a book complete with photos and such. Today I am sharing my favorite Colorado Dairy!
It all began with this cream can from the Stratton Home. We were scrounging in an antique store in Canon City on one of our return vacations to Colorado. (We had moved to Texas in 1993 from Southern Colorado because of Dave's promotion with the then, Burlington Northern RR, before it's merger with the Santa Fe RR). The lady told us that the cream can was from Colorado Springs. By now you now that I love history and so a new interest was born. "What is the Stratton home?" I asked, however she was clueless. (click on pics to enlarge)
I found this book in a bookstore in Leadville Colorado and read about Winfield Scott Stratton who founded the Stratton Home in memory of his father, Myron Stratton.
Wikipedia condenses this much better than I ever could:
Winfield Scott Stratton (July 22, 1848- September 14, 1902) American prospector, capitalist, and philanthropist. He discovered the Independence Lode near Victor, Colorado on July 4, 1891, one of the richest gold mines ever located on earth, and became the Cripple Creek district's first millionaire in 1894.
Born in Jeffersonville, Indiana, Stratton arrived in the Colorado Springs, Colorado area in 1868 and worked as a carpenter. His marriage ended shortly after the wedding when Stratton said that he was not responsible for his wife's pregnency, and sent her back to her parents. He set out following the gold and silver rushes in Colorado, but had never been successful. On hearing word of gold on the south slope of Pike's Peak he made his big strike on July 4, 1891, near the present town of Victor, Colorado, in the Cripple Creek mining district.
He had a hard time getting started developing his Independence mine, but once going it was like an underground bank. Not only was Stratton rich, he was generous. After the Cripple Creek fire of 1896, Stratton paid for food and shelter for the thousands left homeless by the fire. He wrote a check for $5,000 to “Crazy Bob” Womack, the prospector who first discovered gold at Cripple, but was down on his luck. He gave $15,000 to Horace A. W. Tabor when Tabor was busted. Soon, however, folks began hitting on him and he became reclusive and eccentric. He drank and read a great deal, but almost never had guests or went out socially.
In 1900 Stratton sold the Independence mine to the Venture Corporation of London for $10 million. The Venture Corporation incorporated the property as Stratton's Independence Ltd. and sold shares on the London stock exchange. The ore reserves were discovered to be less than previously thought in late 1900, and the share price crashed. Venture Corporation later sued the Stratton estate, claiming that the mine had been salted, but lost in the US courts.
When he died he left the bulk of his estate for the establishment of the Myron Stratton Home, for "the aged poor and dependent children." Myron Stratton was his father. This bequest was not popular in the reactionary climate of the times. After extended litigation from many adverse claimants (his son, the Venture Corporation, and thirteen women who claimed to have been secretly married to Stratton) only 6 million was finally available; but the home was established successfully in 1913.
Stratton's other legacies include the Colorado Springs & Interurban Railway, a trolley system connecting Colorado Springs and Manitou Springs; the ground on which the current Colorado Springs City Hall stands on; and money to complete the Short Line railroad.
A bronze statue of Stratton by Nellie Walker was placed on the grounds of his estate in 1909. The sculptor of the work ended up living at the Myron Stratton Home for the last years of her life. Another casting of Walker's statue of Stratton stands in downtown Colorado Springs.
Stratton was inducted into the National Mining Hall of Fame.
Places named after Stratton include:
Stratton Park in Colorado Springs;
Stratton Hall at Colorado School of Mines, completed in 1904, was named after Stratton, who gave the school its first philanthropic gift of $25,000. He had been appointed as a CSM trustee in 1899 and was elected president of the board in 1901.[1]
Stratton Spring, a mineral spring drilled in 1920 at the loop where the trolleys turned around in Manitou Springs;
Winfield Scott Stratton Post Office in Colorado Springs, named by an act of Congress in 1995; Stratton had sold the land the post office was built on to the federal government at a fraction of its value with the understanding that it would be used for the post office.
The Stratton Home had its own dairy in order to better provide for its residents. This is one of 3 Tall, Round, Embossed Quart bottles we have from the home. Dave always does a rubbing of all of our bottles for his own personal files.
In 1996, Dave and I celebrated our 10th Anniversary with a week's trip back to Colorado. We found his grave in Evergreen Cemetery,
the Stratton Home
as well as some of the other landmarks, mentioned previously.
The icing on the cake was finding this china at an antique store in Colorado Springs. We bought every piece they had and shared it with our Premiere Collector friend.
The MSH monogram is beautifully scripted.
The saying is true that you can't take it with you. However, Mr Stratton's legacy lives on over 100 years later and I think that that is PRETTY DARN NEAT!!!
Here's a good way to start your weekend: a double dose of cuteness! Our 2 oldest grand-daughters Gumdrop (age 8) and Jelly Bean (almost 6!) at a recent Texas Rangers Baseball Game!
