Poverty Gulch — R. William Rogers

The Cripple Creek Mining District Series is a fact-based accounting of the discovery and early development of the gold fields in and around Cripple Creek, Colorado. Poverty Gulch tells the true story of how that gold was first discovered.
History tells us that the town started out as nothing more than a small scattering of false-fronted structures that was initially known as Fremont. During its heyday, at the turn of the century, some folks say it had grown to right around fifty-thousand hardy souls. It lies nestled in a picturesque little valley that is located in the central Colorado Rocky Mountains. In actuality, the valley is the interior of an extinct volcano, and hence the reason behind all the gold.
The ensuing adventure follows young Pastor Chad Blackman as he accompanies the whiskey-soaked discoverer of the whole shebang, Bob Womack, in his attempts to convince investors of the validity of his strike. The quest proves to be difficult at best as along the way they are faced with surviving the ever-present threat of the thousand pound marauding grizzly, Old Mose, unruly Utes, unscrupulous white slave traders, a close encounter with a forest fire, and Womack's general love of hitting the sauce on a regular basis.
Chad's greatest difficulty, however, is surviving the complications of the heart as he pursues the affections of the beautiful and lovely Miss Jennifer Marie Lively.