By 1880, George Strong had left home to seek his fortune in the mining camps of Utah and Colorado territories. Not long after, brother William developed TB symptoms. Adley Strong then decided to take the family west to a drier climate. In Nebraska he filed a homestead claim, as did his son Charles, Sam’s younger brother.

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Sam Strong decided to push on farther west, to where George worked. Sam found work and a wife. In Colorado Springs, on August 24, 1884, he married Rebecca Jane Baldwin. The newlyweds headed to Loup County, Neb., where Sam filed a homestead claim near the claims of his father and younger brother. At first, the four of them shared a two-room soddie. In April 1885, Rebecca gave birth to a son, Grover.

Eventually, Sam and Rebecca built their own sod house, and a daughter, Mable, was born there. Adley, meanwhile, moved to another claim, near Woodriver, Neb.

Winter struck hard in 1888–the worst in Nebraska’s recorded history. Sam Strong’s family of four huddled together in their soddie, battling the cold, wind and snow. They survived, but Sam must have had his fill of blizzards on the Plains. He headed back to Colorado Springs, where George, who had married Emma Talbert in 1887, still lived. Rebecca and the two children remained in Nebraska for a time, but eventually joined Sam in Colorado.

Sam Strong found work hauling lumber from a mill in Sadelia to Colorado Springs and surrounding towns. He dreamed of riches, though. Bob Womack had reportedly found gold nuggets on his ranch high in the hills west of Colorado Springs; a mercantile store in town displayed them in its window for months.

One day in the spring of 1891, Sam and his friends Jimmie Burns, Jimmy Doyle and Winfield S. Stratton were playing cards in the Colorado Springs volunteer fire station when ‘Crazy Bob’ Womack showed up. He’d been drinking. After a while Womack pulled a rock out of his pocket and set it on the table. Most people doubted there was really any gold on Womack’s ranch. For one thing, the often-drunk Womack was not considered a reliable source. For another, no stream suitable for placer or sluice mining existed up there. The trickle of water dubbed Cripple Creek was dry most of the year. People had also heard about a mine–a useless mine–that had been salted years ago near his place.

When Stratton picked up the rock from the table, though, his eyes lit up. Strong and the others noted his expression. A carpenter by trade, and part-time prospector at heart, Stratton had come to Colorado Springs from Indiana in 1872. He’d taken classes at Colorado College, and he knew the area’s rocks well. While the card players were discussing the nugget, another local man, Leslie Popejay, happened by and took more than a passing interest. He offered Stratton a grubstake, and Stratton took it, heading out for Cripple Creek a few days later. Strong, Burns and Doyle soon followed.

After a couple of months in the hills without finding anything, a discouraged Stratton returned to Colorado Springs. In early July, though, he dreamed about a rock outcrop near his tent on the south slope of Battle Mountain and hurried back to Cripple Creek. His dream was about to come true. On July 4, 1891, Stratton staked out the Independence mine, which would one day be the largest producer in the area.

Sam Strong filed a claim that was adjacent to Stratton’s. Burns and Doyle were nearby. They were all perched on Battle Mountain. When Stratton found his first nuggets, the others dug harder. Bob Womack never filed claims and never benefited directly from his find, but Stratton and other rich mine owners often gave him money, which kept him well supplied with liquor.

About the time Sam Strong filed his claim, Rebecca divorced him. She had grown weary of waiting for riches and for her husband. Her timing was bad. Within months, he hit a rich vein. Strong, who had never had more than a few coins in his pockets before, now had more gold than he’d ever imagined. Within weeks, the syndicate of Edwin W. Giddings, William Lennox and Ernest Colburn offered him a lease for $100,000 on his claim, $10,000 of which was paid immediately, the rest in installments. Strong had struck the mother lode. He quickly signed and received his first payment.

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