Silver Cliff Mine was established after silver was found on a sheer cliff north of this site in 1878. By 1884, the mine, combined with other local mines, produced nearly $5 million in silver and other metals, but production dropped sharply thereafter. Mining dwindled in 1885, and the mine operated intermittently afterward. The mine became the object of eastern stock manipulators: shares were promoted in 1879 by James R. Keene, and the company went bankrupt within a few years. It was sold to the Julianna Mining Company, run by Dr. Richard C. Flower, and the mine again went bankrupt in 1888. Shareholders rescued the company and renamed it the Geyser Mining Company. At one time, the Geyser mine was the deepest mine in Colorado. The town of Silver Cliff, named for the mine, was founded in 1879 and became the hub for mining business within Custer County. At its 1880 peak, the town had fourteen stamp mills and smelters and a population of 5,000 residents, becoming the third largest city in Colorado. Silver Cliff was also the third contender to become the Colorado State Capital. Silver Cliff is thought to lie on the surface of a large caldera and porphyry system, increasing the prospect’s potential to host a number of deposits ranging from precious metals to base metals, as demonstrated by the mineralogy and grade historically extracted from numerous underground mining operations dating to the late 1800s and early 1900s.