Six months passed, and Signore Difranco returned to Denver from Leadville a wealthy man. He didn't make his money prospecting. Instead, he created an investment combine with three other local businessmen. They bought and sold several mines—the last one with a rich vein of silver that the combine sold for $150,000 to a French consortium. As chief negotiator for the sale, Signore Difranco left Leadville with a $40,000 commission—a princely sum for 1880. [About $880,000 in 2015 dollars.]
"What a wonderful country this is," he said one evening over dinner at Charpiot's Delmonico of the west, one of Denver's finest restaurants. "Just six months after leaving Dodge City and I have made a fortune, and I never even got my hands dirty. I could never do this in France or Italy."
Signore Difranco h
