John F. Campion

Who was John F. Campion?

John Francis Campion was the wealthy owner of several hard rock mines in the Leadville, Colorado area. After 1900, he made a second fortune growing sugar beets. The community of Campion, Colorado is named after him. Campion is a somewhat obscure figure today, but was well known in his day. His big gold strike at the Little Jonny Mine in Leadville made him and his partners rich. He had help engineering the dig from James J. Brown, whose wife Margaret "Molly" Brown won fame in the sinking of the great liner Titanic. Campion was partnered with industrialist Charles Boettcher in ventures including mining in Leadville, the formation of the Great Western Sugar Company and the co-founding of the Ideal Cement Company. Campion was also an owner of the Leadville Light and Power Company and the Western Meat Packing Company, and once owned the Herald-Democrat newspaper.

After moving his family to Denver, he was named president of the Denver Chamber of Commerce, and was influential in helping to build the Denver Municipal Auditorium in time for the 1908 Democratic Convention. He was a founder and president of the Denver Art League - a precursor to the Denver Art Museum.