Joe Gavin and Antoine L'Abbe opened the Branch Saloon in Leadville at the peak of Leadville's silver boom, and their success there led to a second Branch Saloon in the silver town of Aspen. After Aspen went bust in the Panic of 1893, Gavin and L'Abbe moved on to Cripple Creek, the rising star of Colorado's gold mining camps. By 1900, Gavin was on the mineral trail again, while L'Abbe turned to clerking. Under new management, the Branch operated in Cripple Creek until 1905.