Pike's Peak Gold Rush
In 1849 and 1850, several parties of gold seekers bound for the California Gold Rush panned small amounts of gold from various streams in the South Platte River Valley at the foot of the Rocky Mountains in then western Kansas Territory, now northeast Colorado. The gold nuggets initially failed to impress the gold seekers, but rumors of gold in the Rocky Mountains persisted, and several small parties explored the region. In the summer of 1857, a party of Spanish-speaking gold seekers from the New Mexico Territory worked a placer deposit along the South Platte River about 5 miles (8 km) above Cherry Creek (in what is today the Overland Park neighborhood of Denver.)
The following year, William Greeneberry "Green" Russell led a party of Cherokee gold seekers from the State of Georgia to search for gold along the South Platte River. In the first week of July 1858, Green Russell and Sam Bates found a small placer deposit near the mouth of Little Dry Creek (in present day Englewood) that yielded about 20 troy ounces (622 grams) of gold, the first significant gold discovery in the Rocky Mountain region.
News of this discovery soon spread and precipitated the Pike's Peak Gold Rush. An estimated 100,000 gold seekers flocked to the region over the next three years. The placer gold deposits along the rivers and streams of the region rapidly played out, but miners soon discovered far more valuable seams of hard rock gold, silver, and other minerals in the nearby mountains. This gold rush helped to attract people to the state and resulted in a population boom.
Read more about this topic: History Of Colorado
Famous quotes containing the words pike, peak, gold and/or rush:
“Did you ever hear tell of Sweet Betsy from Pike.
Who crossed the wide mountains with her lover Ike,”
—Unknown. Sweet Betsey from Pike (l. 1–2)
“I think I’ve been good, but I want to be better. I think women reach their peak in their mid-thirties.”
—Mary Decker Slaney (b. 1958)
“An orchard, good tillage, good grounds, seem a fixture, like a gold mine, or a river, to a citizen; but to a large farmer, not much more fixed than the state of the crop.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“When our kids are young, many of us rush out to buy a cute little baby book to record the meaningful events of our young child’s life...But I’ve often thought there should be a second book, one with room to record the moral milestones of our child’s lives. There might be space to record dates she first shared or showed compassion or befriended a new student or thought of sending Grandma a get-well card or told the truth despite its cost.”
—Fred G. Gosman (20th century)