The C.O.D. Mine July 22, 1893. Tutt is at left, Penrose at right.
Tutt & Penrose:
A Golden Partnership
Written and contributed by
Susan Shipman
The mines of the Cripple Creek district created 28 millionaires. Among the richest producers were the Portland, which for a short period of time employed the future heavy-weight boxing champion Jack Dempsey; the Independence, discovered by Winfield S. Stratton July 4, 1891; the Pharmacist Mine, which was found by a druggist; and the Cresson, which had some ore worth $50 a pound.
Then there was the Cash-On-Delivery Mine, also known as the C.O.D. This mine, owned by Charles Tutt and Spencer Penrose, was the catalyst for much of Penrose's later wealth. The mine, for which the two paid $20,000, was later sold for $250,000. These proceeds were invested in other mining and mine-processing procedures.
The C.O.D. Mine July 22, 1893. Tutt is at left, Penrose at
right.
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The two Philadelphians were a strange pair of partners. Charles Tutt was a responsible, serious family man. Tutt was the son of a doctor who died when he was only two. Tutt initially traveled to Colorado for health reasons. The move worked, enabling him to concentrate on raising cattle near Colorado Springs. In addition to the cattle ranch, during the next few years Tutt began the real estate firm of Tutt, McDaniel and Company, married Josephine Thayer, and in 1891 became interested in gold mining claims in Cripple Creek. Tutt had proven many times what a hard worker he was, but he felt he needed a partner to help with the running of his new Cripple Creek office. Fortunately, his old neighbor and friend from Philadelphia, Spencer Penrose, had recently arrived in the area. |
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Tutt came from a small family, having only one sister, but Penrose was the fourth in a family of six sons. Penrose's family included a state senator, a U.S. senator (his older brother Boies), and others influential to the history of Philadelphia. The handsome, black-haired Penrose, a graduate of Harvard, exhibited near-perfect health and boundless energy, yet he lacked the drive and persistence, which had paid off so well for Tutt. In making Penrose a partner, Tutt seemed to have grounded his friend, providing an example of the work ethic which was to work so brilliantly for Penrose in years to come. |
Before his trip to the Cripple Creek area, Penrose had traveled through Texas, Nevada and Utah working at various enterprises such as real estate, mining and ranching. All failed. He had earned the nickname "Spec", short for "Speculation". In 1892, Penrose traveled to Cripple Creek, nearly broke. Having little money of his own for the partnership, Penrose wired his brother Boies for $10,000. All Boies wired back was $150 for a train ticket home. The money was plowed into the C.O.D., and Penrose later gave his brother $10,000 in return for his initial investment.
| In addition to grounding Penrose, the partnership also benefited Tutt in that Penrose had plenty of relatives, friends and neighbors interested in investing plenty of money into the Tutt/Penrose business ventures. The additional capital gave Penrose the means to indulge in some of his favorite interests (and some vices)--good foods, fashionable clothes, liquor and plenty of women (though none he was interested in marrying). Charles Tutt's matrimonial happiness and pride in his growing family did not seem to influence Penrose to the extent that Penrose wished to discover the same sort of bliss. |
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Penrose and Tutt invested some of their money into Cripple Creek properties, such as homes, business buildings, and two brothels, one of which was run by Lola Livingston. Penrose became a common sight going from building to building, sometimes atop his white gelding Rabbit, collecting rent.
As the pair prospered, they ventured from mining itself to the buying and selling of mines, a venture made easier by the use of a secret weapon -- one of the first telephones in the area. Their business opportunities expanded, and in 1895 the pair opened the Cripple Creek Sampling and Ore Company. They bought, sold and profited from other real estate ventures; endorsed the smaller town of Gillett; and Penrose even helped organize the first (and only) bullfight in the United States.
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In 1895 Tutt and Penrose sold the C.O.D., invested the money into a reduction mill, and became partners with Charles MacNeill, a rather ruthless businessman who was also the son of a doctor. Within a few years these three men would handle the Colorado-Philadelphia Reduction Company, an operation which controlled most of the area's ore processing, including most of the mills and smelters. These operations were consolidated in 1901 into the United States Reduction and Refining Company (USR&R), of which Tutt became president. The company was later sold to the Guggenheim family. |
As the three partners controlled much of the ore processing in the district, they soon branched off into its transportation, controlling -- in conjunction with A.E. (Bert) Carlton and Clarence Hamlin -- many of the railroad lines, including the Florence and Cripple Creek line and the Midland Terminal.
By 1903, the Tutt/Penrose partnership had become shaky. MacNeill had become more and more dominant; Charles Tutt felt his advice was often ignored as Penrose sided more and more often with MacNeill in decisions. Tutt resigned his USR&R presidency, but the partnership endured to invest in other mining enterprises in various states, including Alaska and Nevada. Tutt began spending more time with his family and a new home was purchased on Coronado Island, off the coast of California, though the family spent summers at Colorado Springs.
The partnership pursued not only gold but also copper. In 1903 the Utah Copper Company was incorporated. It centered around the Bingham Canyon Copper Mine, a mine brought to their attention by Daniel Jackling, a USR&R metallurgist. Shares were sold, with MacNeill, Tutt, Penrose, his brother Richard, and USR&R buying the majority. In 1904 Utah Copper was reincorporated, later joining forces with the Guggenheims' American Smelting and Refining Company. In 1906, Tutt sold his 33,243 shares of Utah Copper to Penrose.
Tutt's health had been precarious for many years; the illness which had initially sent him to Colorado never truly subsided. In 1909, at the age of only 45, he died of a heart ailment while at the Waldorf Astoria in New York City. Penrose was named the executor of Tutt's will and guardian of his children, a responsibility he seems to have taken seriously as he worked often with Charles Jr. in the future.
| Penrose became more and more interested in the field of hospitality.
Perhaps due to the influence of his new wife, Julie Villiers Lewis McMillan. Julie, a Detroit native and daughter of a former Detroit mayor, was
a widow of several years when she met Penrose. Her first husband, James McMillan, had died of
tuberculosis in 1902, only a month after the unexpected death of
their only son Jimmie.
After spending some time in Detroit, Julie returned to her Colorado Springs home and noticed Penrose. She must have heard about his reputation as a ladies' man, but for some strange reason she decided he would make an interesting husband. She was right. They were married in London in April, 1906, and while they never had any children of their own, Penrose treated Julie's remaining child, Gladys, as his own daughter. |
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Oddly enough, marriage agreed with Penrose, and he was loving and attentive to his lovely blonde wife. He became interested in traveling and art, returning with Julie to Colorado Springs during the warm months of the year, and then off to Europe, Hawaii or the Orient once the weather turned cold.
The Penroses bought El Pomar in 1916, a residence which was later developed into the famed El Pomar Foundation. As his wealth increased (he lived on $200,000+ per month), Penrose developed further business ventures, many of which benefited the citizens of Colorado Springs:
--Pikes Peak Automobile Company
--a highway to the top of Pikes Peak, which inspired the race up Pikes Peak for the
Penrose Trophy
--the Broadmoor Hotel and the beautiful painting by Maxfield Parrish
--the Broadmoor Ice Palace
--the Broadmoor Golf Course
--various sugar companies
--Cheyenne Mountain Zoo
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Penrose was quite fond of alcohol, staging repeal rallies at the Broadmoor when the 18th Amendment came into existence. During Prohibition, he kept 200 cases of liquor in his Philadelphia home, a rumored 600 cases in the University Club in New York and a locked wine cellar at El Pomar. A cache of vintage alcohol was even discovered in the 1990s while remodeling the outdoor swimming pool at the Broadmoor. |
Always an animal lover, Penrose often visited zoos in Europe while Julie went to art museums. After the Broadmoor was built, Penrose began a small zoo, and in 1926 decided he needed an elephant. The result was Tessie, an Indian elephant Penrose used as a caddie whenever he played golf. Tessie loved to throw old tires, a harmless pastime, which developed into a crisis while Penrose was riding Tessie during a Colorado Springs parade. Tessie began tearing spare tires from the backs of cars and throwing them at people and through glass windows. Tessie's caddie days were over and she soon found herself in her new home at Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, where Penrose often visited her.
Penrose died of throat cancer in December 1939. His ashes were placed in the newly completed Will Rogers Shrine of the Sun on Cheyenne Mountain. For another 16 years, until her own death in 1956, Julie saw to the philanthropy work made possible by the finding of the C.O.D. and the partnership of Charles Tutt so many years before. To this day, the descendents of Charles Tutt take an active role in administering the El Pomar Foundation, a charitable trust established by the Penroses.
Visit an E-museum exhibit on Tutt & Penrose
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