PIKES PEAK OR BUST

PIKES PEAK OR BUST

GOLD

Why Gold is Valuable

RareIndestructible-Does not tarnishMedium of exchange (most societies accept this as money)Can’t reproduce itMalleable-Can be broken

to any sizeGold is gold-Pure in form unlike diamonds (A karat is 1/24 part of pure gold-24K=Pure gold)

Major Gold Finds

1828-Georgia-Led to Indian dispersal (Trail of Tears)1848 Sutter’s Mill near Sacramento Ca.1859-Pike’s Peak area1859-Va. City Nevada-Gold and silver found1863-Montana1876-Black Hills of S.D.1890’s-Klondike of Alaska;Canada in Yukon areaConclusion?

Placer Mining

Surface mining

Panning

Needs water

Sluice Box

Long Tom

Sluice box

                

                                                      

HARD ROCK MINING Underground -- load mining

Veins were undergroundRequired expensive equipment (brought from east)Shafts, tunnelsQuartz had to be crushed to get gold ore

MINING TOWNS

Sprung up overnightColorful names-Whiskey Creek, Poker FlatTailings left as a monument to ambition and greedCrammed into small narrow valleysTowns were made of wood and tents; few of brick

MINING TOWNS

Needed volunteer fire dept

Most burned at least once

Many types of business

Predominance of saloons-Leadville had 82 at one time

Gambling was the vice

What Kinds of people were needed to support miners?Blacksmiths

Bakers

Saloon keepers

Butchers

Bankers

Retailers

Barbers

Gunsmiths

Liverers

Assayers

Lawyers

Hotel owners

Leadville

MINERS

Dreamers

Risk takers

Lived in hope

Most knew nothing about mining

Most were not rich (long hours for $1.85/day)

All types of people (lawyers, priests)

Hopeless situations left many despondent

Not glamorous

Few independent miners

Suicide epidemic in Denver

Former 49ers

SPRING OF 1859

100,000 59ers rushed west; 25,000 stayed

No time to organize governments-miners formed their own mining districts, laws and courts

Mining camps led to many other businesses (storekeepers, Blacksmiths, saloonkeepers, bootmakers, carpenters, lawyers, doctors, teachers and ministers)

59ers

Fall Leaf, who was an army scout, returned to Kansas with goldThis led to the Lawrence group coming to ColoradoA group from Oklahoma (Wm. Green Russell) found several hundred dollars in gold and brought others out hereLed to the cry “Pike’s Peak or Bust”

FIRST GOLD STRIKES

Idaho Springs

Gold Hill (above Boulder)

Central City (Black Hawk)

GOVERNMENTPioneers had created their own mining districts.Now decided to create own territory instead of belonging to Kansas and Nebraska.Congress refused to accept this territory called the Jefferson TerritorySlavery kept from becoming a territory because South did not want Colorado to become a free state.When the South seceded Colorado was made a territory on February 28,1861. President Lincoln selected William Gilpin as the first governor

REASONS FOR GROWTH OF DENVER

Location was the keyLast outpost before the RockiesSupply and service trade center for the

gold rushJunction of Cherry Creek and the Platte

River as well as being close to Clear Creek County

EARLY SETTLEMENTS

Russell-Englewood

Montana City-5 miles south of the capital

St Charles-Cherry Creek and Platte

Denver-Jumped St Charles claim

Auraria-South side of Cherry Creek

St Charles

Denver (Larimer)

Auraria

OTHER FACTORS

Transcontinental railroad to go through Wyoming; Denver leaders, led by John Evans, built the Denver Pacific Railroad to connect Denver with Cheyenne

Silver Boom (1864-1894) brought silver kings to Denver and brought Denver a new social class-Molly Brown, Baby Doe Tabor

OTHER FACTORS CONT.

Sheep and cattle ranching and farming-packing houses and stockyards

Marketing, distribution and coinage center (Denver Mint-1860)

Stages came to Denver and freight trains brought supplies here

SURVIVED DISASTERS

1863-Fire destroyed the center of Denver (70 buildings rebuilt in brick)

1864-Cherry Creek flooded-buildings, including Rocky Mountain News were washed away. 11 killed

LEADVILLE

1860-Gold found in this area

Established as Oro City

10,000 people here by 1861

Horace Tabor and his wife Augusta were some of the first arrivals into this area and Augusta was the first woman in the area and would remain the only one for quite some time

TABOR

Horace Tabor had been to many of the gold camps (Idaho Springs, Central City) with no luck. He finally struck for $7,000He opened a general store, became the postmaster and also the mayor. As mayor he played a role in naming the town “Leadville”Tabor grubstaked many of the miners-Food and supplies for a part of their claimThis area began to fade after the initial gold rush of the 1860’s

LEADVILLE

One major problem was a heavy black sand that kept clogging the sluice boxes. Analyzed in 1876 and it was carbonate of lead-loaded with silverEarlier silver, lead and zinc were looked upon as a nuisance-no marketIncreasing industrial activity and governmental purchases increased the valueThe silver rush was on

LEADVILLE

Population1877-200 People1878-5,000 people1880-30,000 people

Leadville built an Ice Palace in 1896

Ice Palace Cont’d

Built in 36 days with 5,000 ton of ice

Housed: Ball room 180 ft ice rink Curling rink Restaurant Dance floor Gaming room Theatre Toboggan runs

LEADVILLE

Tabor grubstaked two shoe cobblers. Result of this grubstake was “The Little Pittsburgh” which brought Tabor $20,000/wk. Sold his share for $500,000

“Matchless” produced $10,000,000 worth of silver

Bought a mansion in Denver but spent most of his time in Leadville

LEADVILLE

Noticed Elizabeth McCourt-Baby Doe

Secret divorce in Durango and secretly married Elizabeth in St. Louis

Durango priest had refused to sign divorce papers-living in sin led to a scandal and not complete acceptance from Denver’s social elite

TABORS

Spent lavishly until silver crashed in 1893Horace became postmaster in Denver for $3,000/yearHe died 16 months later and 14,000 attended his funeralHe told Baby Doe to hold on to the Matchless.She turned into a reclusive old woman who eventually froze to death in the cabin by the Matchless mine.

LEADVILLE

By the end of the silver rush Leadville had given over $500,000,000 worth of ore

The hills had also been stripped of their trees and tailings were everywhere

GEORGETOWN

1859 Had a minor gold rushBecame Colorado’s first silver queenBelmont-Lode was the first silver mine in the stateThe first power drill was also used hereAugust 1877 the Colorado Central came to Georgetown. The Georgetown Loop was a narrow gauge went from Georgetown to Silver PlumeSilver Plume is 1.5 miles from Georgetown and 1,000ft higher yet it took 3 years and 4.5 miles of track to complete

GEORGETOWN

Georgetown became the shopping center, distribution center and transportation center for the district

Over $100,000,000 worth of ore taken out of Georgetown

At one time the only town in Colorado without a mayor

ASPEN

Only camp to rival LeadvilleSilver gave Aspen it’s startAlmost passed Leadville in the 1890’sHad the richest ore-93%Largest nugget ever found-over 1 ton.1840lbs after it was trimmedPopulation went over 15,0001893 depression and the population dropped to 700

CRIPPLE CREEK

In the shadow of Pike’s Peak

Pike’s Peak had given it’s name to the gold rush yet none had been found there

1890’s Cripple Creek became Colorado’s greatest gold district

Bob Womack discovered gold here in the 1880’s taking the sting out of the silver crash

CRIPPLE CREEK

Winfield Scott Stratton-Most famous millionaireHis independence Mine (July 4,1891) made several million before he sold for $10,000,000 (with no income tax)Last of the great 19th century mining rushesMining was big business and miners began to join labor unions1894 strike over low pay and long hours led to 8 hour days at $3/day

SAND CREEK MASSACRE

1864-Indians had attacked

or at least blamed for an

attack outside of Denver

Gov. Evans wanted war

The Arapaho and Cheyenne

had surrendered all land

except for a triangular

shaped reservation between

the Arkansas River and

Sand Creek

SAND CREEK

Chivington led a surprise attack and lost control of his men

Resulted in a massacre

Investigated by Congress

Led to an attack at Julesburg

Approximately 150-184 killed

Mostly women, children and older men