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Americus L. Pogue letters
mssPogue
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Title: Americus L. Pogue letters
Inclusive Dates: 1901-1907
Collection Number: mssPogue
Collector:
Pogue, Americus L.
Extent:
219 letters in 3 boxes (1.3 linear feet)
Repository:
The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, California 91108
Phone: (626) 405-2191
Fax: (626) 449-5720
Email: reference@huntington.org
URL: http://www.huntington.org
Abstract: The collection consists of 219 letters, nearly all of them by Americus L. Pogue to George W. Brunk in the vicinity of Alma,
Colorado from 1901 through 1907.
Language of Material: The material is in English.
The collection is open to qualified researchers by prior application through the Reader Services Department. For more information,
please go to following
web site .
The Huntington Library does not require that researchers request permission to quote from or publish images of this material,
nor does it charge fees for such activities. The responsibility for identifying the copyright holder, if there is one, and
obtaining necessary permissions rests with the researcher.
[Identification of item] Americus L. Pogue letters. The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.
Purchased from Primary Sources, Uncharted Americana, November 2018.
George W. Brunk was born in New York and moved to Colorado in 1860 at the age of 21. Brunk was working as a miner and teamster
in the Central City area when he learned of the Moose strike on Mount Bross. He immediately moved to Park County, Colorado,
where partnered with Assyria Hall, who had been living and prospecting in the Buckskin area since 1860. Brunk and Hall began
prospecting Mount Bross in July 1871. In the fall of following year, they made their big find, discovering a massive strike
near the Moose lode that they named Dolly Varden, after a popular character in Charles Dicken's novel
Barnaby Rudge. Dolly Varden was central to the success of Hall and Brunk Silver Mining Company.
Americus L. Pogue (1831-1906) was an American businessman with extensive mining interests. Pogue made a fortune in Illinois
and Indiana through retail merchandising, groceries, and hardware. By the late 1870s, he owned stakes in four mines near Alma,
Colorado, including the Russia Mine. He established The Russia Silver Mining Company in December 1876 with offices in Alma
and Chicago, Illinois; Pogue was president of the corporation. Throughout the 1870s and 1880s, the output of the Russia Mine
made it the third most productive district, just behind the Moose and Dolly Varden mines. By 1898, according to that year's
issue of the
Colorado State Mining Directory, Pogue and Brunk together launch a new work at the Russia Mine, with Pogue listed as owner and Brunk as manager. Pogue was
married to France L. Thomas Pogue and the couple had four children. Source: "Primary Sources, Uncharted Americana, Catalogue
1 Fall 2018." Primary Sources, Uncharted Americana. Accessed 6 June 2019.
https://psamericana.files.wordpress.com/2017/11/2018-primary-sources-catalogue-2-rev.pdf
The Americus L. Pogue archive consists of 219 letters written between 1901 and 1907. All of the letters, except one, are addressed
to George W. Brunk in Alma, Colorado. The bulk of the letters are written by Pogue, except 1 letter from Kelly Pogue, 6 letters
from A.F. Rattray Greig, 3 letters from Charles H. Pogue, and 1 letter from W.P. Stanley. Pogue writes from several different
places, including Richmond, Indiana, Chicago, Illinois, and Denver, Colorado. Most of the letters concern business and operations
at the Russia Mine, but many also report activities at Dolly Varden and the Jay Gould group, located on the other side of
the Mosquito Range near Leadville, Colorado. His letters discuss the difficulties generated by weather conditions and the
mountainous terrain in which these properties were located, as well as the challenges imposed by the recalcitrant partners,
skittish investors, and the steady drain of capital imposed by unceasing requirements to supply men and materials. The letters
also provide insight into the other side of the correspondence because Pogue repeats many of Brunk's points.
Arrangement
Arranged chronologically.
Brunk, George W. -- addressee
Pogue, Americus L.
Businessmen
Mines and mineral resources -- Colorado
Mining corporations -- Colorado
Silver mines and mining -- Colorado
Alma (Colo.)
Park County (Colo.)
Letters (correspondence)
Greig, A.F. Rattray
Pogue, Charles H.