Vice President Theodore Roosevelt visited Victor Aug. 9, 1901 to speak at the historic Gold Coin Club and tour the Portland and Gold Coin Mines. Roosevelt, portrayed by Don Moon of Colorado Springs, will portray Roosevelt at the Gold Coin Club Saturday, Aug. 7, almost 120 years after Roosevelt’s appearance. The event is a fundraiser for the Victor Lowell Thomas Museum. This will be one of Moon’s final appearances as he plans to retired at the end of 2021.

The event includes a “bully” reception at 2 p.m. with the Roosevelt presentation at 3 p.m.

Roosevelt visited Victor twice; the first in September of 1900.  The Rough Rider was run out of town by an angry mob but returned later in August of 1901 to accept apologies and to speak at Victor’s Gold Coin Club.

In August of 1901, Roosevelt who was then U.S. vice president, rode the Short Line Railroad over the scenic route to Colorado Springs which is now known as Gold Camp Road. At one point near Rosemont, where travelers could see all the way to Kansas, he exclaimed: “This is the ride that bankrupts the English language.”

Roosevelt came back Aug. 9, 1901. He became the 26th president 35 days after he spoke in Victor in 1901 after William McKinley was assassinated. During his August visit the town threw a grand welcome for the vice president and he toured the underground workings of the Portland Mine. Roosevelt shook hand with nearly 3,000 people and was paraded through the streets. About 800 people crowded into the Gold Coin Club rooms to honor the vice president. Later that day Roosevelt was treated to an underground tour of the Gold Coin Mine and a train ride underneath the mountain to the Economic Mill southwest of Victor, followed by a train ride to Cripple Creek for a reception there.

The event is being sponsored by the Victor Lowell Thomas Museum. Advance reservations are highly recommended as seating is limited. Tickets are $20 each and include the reception and presentation. The event starts at 2 p.m. at the Gold Coin Club on Diamond Avenue west of North 4th Street. For more information and to make reservations visit VictorMuseum.com or call 719-689-5509.