Vintage Colorado Poetry Poem of the Week September 26, 2005

Leadville Mining District, City of Leadville, Mount Massive (1918).  Credit Line: Western History/Genealogy Department, Denver Public Library.

Margaret Clyde Robertson, Colorado Poet Laureate, 1952-54, moved to Colorado in 1909. She wrote under the name Clyde Robertson, and her forte was the story-poem.  Married to a mining engineer, Mrs. Robertson lived in Leadville for some years. In "Gold Rush" she imagines the excitement of Leadville's first days, the late-1870s.

Gold Rush Leadville was mad as Babylon. There's gold in the hills! On an on, The tale ran swift as a forest fire. Wenches for sale! Wantons for hire! Gold in the hills! A pick or pan And luck in the lap of every man. On to Leadville! Over the Pass Where the glaring snow is hard as glass. Swear and sweat and cheat and hate, Gamble and guzzle, lust and mate. On to Leadville! Bunk in a shack On a pile of rags and a gunny sack Two miles high in freezing air. Grab a claim or grubstake where Men at dawn are muck at night, Blown to hell by dynamite.               --Clyde Robertson Reprinted from: Fool's Gold by Clyde Robertson. Illustrated by Sheila Burlingame. Banner Press, Station E, Atlanta. Copyright 1934. Fair use. Vintage Colorado Poetry would welcome hearing from the poet's relatives.

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