Letter from George W. Lane to Salmon P. Chase, February 19, 1864
This document is one of many letters between the Superintendent of the Denver Mint and the Secretary of the Treasury detailing the robbery committed on the night of February 13, 1864, by James D. Clark. Clark was a pay clerk at the Denver Branch of the U.S. Mint. He absconded in the night on horseback, taking with him about $3,700 of government funds, greenbacks, and gold. After the robbery was discovered, Superintendent of the Denver Mint George W. Lane wrote this letter to Secretary of the Treasury Salmon P. Chase, throwing himself on the Secretary’s mercy for having laid his trust in Clark. Another letter was sent on March 12, 1864, confirming the arrest and jailing of Clark by Amos Lane, son of the Superintendent, and the El Paso County Sheriff. Clark had made it as far south as the Arkansas River.
Opened in 1862 as an assay office, the Denver Branch of the Mint was present for the busts and booms of mining in Colorado. In 1906, it was converted into a Mint and began producing its first gold and silver coins. Our office holds a number of records documenting the history of the Denver Mint.
Letter from George W. Lane to Salmon P. Chase, February 19, 1864. National Archives Identifier 360020385.
View and download the Letter from George W. Lane to Secretary of the Treasury Salmon P. Chase in the National Archives Catalog. This document is one example of the many records held at the National Archives at Denver. You can explore more of our holdings through the National Archives Catalog or by visiting the National Archives at Denver in person. This record is located within Record Group 104: Records of the U.S. Mint, Series: Letters Sent, 1862–1874. Many of the records in this collection have yet to be digitized.