Rufus L. Porter

Rufus L. Porter (February 20, 1897 – February 1979) was a well-regarded poet living in the Pikes Peak region near Cascade, Colorado, USA, during the 1950s until his death in 1979. Porter was called the "hard rock poet" and wrote three books:

• Gold Fever: The World's Greatest Gold Camp in Picture, Song and Story; 48 pages, 1954.
• The Fiddler from Wilson Creek and Other Western Ballads, about 50 pages, 1954.
• Pay Dirt: More Tales and Ballads about The World's Greatest Gold Camp; 60 pages, 1961.

All three books were about Victor, the "World's Greatest Gold Camp". Porter came to Victor in 1917 to work in the mines. Porter also wrote numerous short poems about the human condition that ordinary people could enjoy. These poems were published in newspapers during the 1950s. One of these poems ends with the following advice:

Time is the essence of each mortal's heart

And those who squander it in foolish ways

Will seldom lead in industry or art

Or dying be remembered many days.

Then let us do our damnedest while we may

For time is like the snow that melts away.

In his later years, Porter wrote a column in the editorial section of the Colorado Springs Gazette Telegraph in which he expressed his conservative views.