COLORADO: Darling of the Gods

By 1909, when he was 40, Henry M. Blackmer had developed the habit of getting richer every year. He parted his hair in the middle, wore pince-nez, had a dignified squint in his right eye and cheerfully endured high starched collars which would have turned the blow of a Malay's kris. And he enjoyed spending money almost as much as stuffing it away in bank vaults.

As a young New England lawyer, he had gone to Colorado when gold was pouring out of the fabulous Cripple Creek district. He got his share of...