Terrible Mine and Works, Brownsville

Abstract

Stereopair showing the Terrible Mine and works in Brownsville, Clear Creek County, Colorado. Brownsville was established in the mid 1860s, when silver was discovered in Brown, Cherokee, and Willehan gulches, tributaries of Clear Creek. At its height, Brownsville had a population of about 600 people. The Terrible Mine was located on Brown Mountain and owned by the Colorado United Mining Company. The Terrible was one of the larger mines in the area and usually employed between 150 and 200 men. The company processed its ores on site at their mill located on South Clear Creek. The mill recovered 100 to 500 ounces of silver per ton of rock processed, and it paid for its building cost in the first year. During the 1870s, the Terrible Mill was one of the two largest and most efficient concentrating mills in Clear Creek County. In 1895, Brownsville was partially buried by a mud and rockslide that came down Brown Gulch from the Seven Thirty and other mines. No one was killed