The Forest Queen
In 1892 Sam and Lou Blonger found the gold mine they had been looking for in the mountains above Cripple Creek, Colorado, and named it the Forest Queen (38°44′48″N 105°08′27″W / 38.74667°N 105.14083°W / 38.74667; -105.14083). Sam and Lou had several partners in the mine at different stages of its development, some of whom were extraordinarily well-placed. Two of them, Neil Dennison and Robert W. Steele, served as district attorney in Denver during the 1890s. Dennison was the son of a former governor of Ohio and Steele later became chief justice of the Colorado Supreme Court. A third partner of note was J. W. McCulloch, manufacturer of Green River Whiskey, who supposedly traded 20 barrels of his product for a piece of Lou Blonger's stake.
Once developed, the Forest Queen provided its owners with periods of steady income, if not the fortune that came out of the nearby Independence Mine. Lou and Sam Blonger claimed, bought, traded, and sold several mines in their lives, but both held onto the Forest Queen to the end, leaving their interest to their wives.
The Blongers were keen observers in the frequent labor struggles between miners and mine owners. Conditions reached a head in 1894 during the "Battle of Bull Hill", when striking miners took up arms in the hills near the Forest Queen. Lou Blonger and several allies from Denver were frequent visitors to the area during the months-long dispute and its aftermath, calling themselves "detectives".
Read more about this topic: Lou Blonger
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