Shows and Attractions Found on Our Tours

Near the end of the 1800's, Mary (Mollie) Catherine Gortner moved to Colorado Springs with her husband, son, and daughter from Iowa. Of course, Cripple Creek gold was the news of the day, so when Mollie's son Perry went to work in Cripple Creek as a surveyor mapping mine claims in the spring of 1891, Mollie loaded up the family wagon and joined the next train heading up Ute Pass to visit her son. She essentially set up housekeeping in Perry's half-log half-tent home. In September of that same year, Perry told his mother about a large herd of Elk he had seen while surveying in Poverty Gulch, and Mollie decided to go see it for herself. Hiking up Poverty Gulch, about 300 yards away from the first Cripple Creek Mine (Bob Womack's Gold King Mine), Mollie got winded and decided to rest. When she looked down, a strange rock formation winked at her. Since there were prospectors around, Mollie had the good sense to quietly gather several samples of pure gold laced in quartz, hiding them in her clothing. Mollie's good sense paid off because she was the first woman in the Cripple Creek Gold Camp to discover gold and strike a claim in her own name, clearly defying the conventions of that time. It was so odd that the National Geological Survey reported that the gold was discovered by "Mr. M. C. Gortner" (Mollie's husband's name was Henry and her only son was Perry). After Mollie's death in 1917, Perry continued as one third owner and Managing Operator of the Mollie Kathleen Mine until his death in 1949. The Mollie Kathleen Mine has been conducting mine tours for over 70 years. At present, the Mollie Kathleen has the only vertical shaft gold mine tour available in the United States. The tour will take you down 100 stories and transport you on an air-powered man trip train. In other words, this is a tour you can really get into (i.e. 1.000 feet into the earth). You'll get to learn about Colorado gold mines history and evolution, and receive a sample of your very own Colorado gold ore to take home.