52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks. Week #3 theme "Out of Place"

When attempting to complete the time lines of each of my direct ancestors, I try to find them in census or other records and add those to my Ancestry "Facts". But I could not find our Grandpa Charley Griffin in the 1900 census. His mother lived in Oklahoma, as did many other cousins, uncles, etc. on land that was claimed in the Land Run of 1889. I knew that Charley Griffin and Hattie McGill were married in Oklahoma in 1906, and my father, Dan Griffin, was born in 1907. I found a plat map where Charley owned property in Oklahoma in 1906. But where was Charley when the 1900 census was taken? My father had said that at one time Charley worked at a livery stable in Colorado. Could that be a clue?

I let it ride for a while and followed some other family members. Colorado? Hmmm. Now I've found that Edgar Griffin, a 1st cousin of Charley went from Kansas to Colorado and married in 1899. In 1900, his family is located in Central City, Colorado, where Andrew is working as a "Hackman" and neighbors work in the gold mines. I believe a hackman drove a wagon. Could that be similar to one who works at a livery stable? I can picture that Charley and his cousin took off for the Colorado gold fields, but ended up with a job at the livery stable. Charley made some money and came back to marry his sweetheart, Hattie, in Oklahoma where he purchased some land, and became a farmer. Somehow the census takers missed my grandpa. I believe he might have been out on his horse or looking for gold that day, not "Out of Place"...HE knew where he was.