Lamy, John B., Bishop of Santa Fe, St. Louis, Missouri, to Archbishop John Baptist Purcell, of Cincinnati, Ohio, 1861 May 10

He left Santa Fe in the middle of March to come to the provincial council of St. Louis, but when he arrived the Archbishop Peter Richard Kenrick said there would be no council on account of the political troubles. Lamy spent two weeks at Pike's Peak. Father Joseph P. Machebeuf has a nice brick church in Denver. Denver has many fine buildings. They have a few lots, even blocks secured. The most stirring place he saw is Gregory Diggings, 45 miles northwest of Denver, Colorado. It adjoins Central City. Farther up is another place called Nevada. They form one long street of crowded houses, quartz mills, stores. There are at least 200 quartz mills in the neighborhood. Some mills have made as much as $500 a day. If the mines continue to prove valuable, Colorado territory cannot fail becoming important. Along the rivers, land is good for cultivation. Lamy saw a great number of farms already fenced in. The climate is mild and the plains are rich with pasture. Machebeuf has an assistant priest with him. Two or three more churches will probably be built this year. Machebeuf would be thankful if Purcell would publish in the Telegraph this information about Pike's Peak. :: II-5-a A.L.S. 3pp. 8vo.