Colorado Fuel and Iron: Company Mines

Crested Butte Coal Mine

Location: Gunnison County, Colorado
 
Years of Operation: 1881-1952
 
Total Production (tons): 10,248,600
 
"Joker" or "Big Mine"
 
The town of Crested Butte was incorporated in 1880. The Crested Butte mine was established by the Colorado Coal and Iron Company in September of 1881. The elevation of the mine was nine thousand and eight hundred feet  and twenty seven and a half miles north of Gunnison.  The first mine established by the CC&I company was named Joker or Jokerville. In 1884 a mine explosion that killed sixty employees caused the abandonment of the mine. Another access point to the same coal seam was established in 1885, half a mile west of the original access point. The second access point was operational for ten years before it too was abandoned. By 1902 Crested Butte became the commercial center of what was called the great Elk Mountain coal and metal mining district. Now a popular ski and tourist destination, Crested Butte began as a CF&I company coal town.










As with any mining the work was often dangerous and accidents and disasters often occurred. CF&I kept records of all accidents and employed artists to render sketches of accidents to help complete their records. Below is one such sketch and explanation of an accident.











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