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Winfield Scott Stratton

Carpenter turned Cripple Creek millionaire, Winfield Scott Stratton never forgot his roots. When he struck it rich with three million dollars worth of gold at his Independence Mine, Stratton focused his philanthropic giving on ordinary people. Upon his death in 1902, he left the majority of his fortune to build his father’s namesake: the Myron Stratton home for needy children and senior citizens.

At the time of Stratton’s death, Beaux Arts style sculptor Nellie Verne Walker happened to be visiting from Chicago and was asked to create Stratton’s death mask. She was also commissioned to carve a grave marker (Weeping Angels, located at Evergreen Cemetery) and a statue of Stratton to stand at the Myron Stratton Home. Interestingly, although Walker went back to Chicago after her visit to Colorado Springs, she later returned and lived her final years as a resident of the Myron Stratton home.

Today, the bronze likeness of Stratton, a replica of the original statue [which remains on the Myron Stratton Home grounds], stands downtown at the heart of the city he helped to build. The piece is located next to the original Mining Exchange Building (now a Wyndham Grand hotel), built by Stratton in 1902 to promote local mining companies.

Date created: 1907

Location

Colorado Springs, 80903

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