Colorado Gold Rush

Overview

The Colorado Gold Rush followed the discovery of small deposits of gold at various locations in the Rocky Mountains in 1858. These discoveries confirmed longstanding rumors of gold in the area. Experienced prospectors were the first to enter what became known as the Pike’s Peak Gold Region, and thousands of people soon followed them. Many of them were in search of adventure and fortune, but some had also lost everything in the economic depression that followed the Panic of 1857. Soon after the Gold Rush started, settlements were built that became the city of Denver. The settlers organized the region into the Territory of Jefferson in 1859, but it never received official recognition from the Federal Government. The debate over the extension of slavery into U.S. territories delayed Congressional action, but the Colorado Territory was finally organized on February 21, 1861. Colorado remained a territory until August 1, 1876, when it joined the Union as the 38th State.

Essential Facts

• The Colorado Gold Rush is also known as the Pike’s Peak Gold Rush.
• The Gold Rush started in 1858 after rumors of gold strikes in the Rocky Mountains spread through the surrounding regions.
• Rumors of there being gold in the Rockies had been around since the early 1800s.
• William “Green” Russell, George A. Jackson, and John H. Gregory struck gold in different locations in 1858 and 1859.
• After the 1858 strikes, several settlements were founded, including Montana City, St. Charles, and Auraria, that became present-day Denver, Colorado.
• Gregory’s gold strike was the “Mother Lode,” sparking a frenzy of migration into what became known as the “Pike’s Peak Gold Region.”
• The settlers formed the Territory of Jefferson in October 1859.
• Settlers were known as “Fifty-Eighters” and “Fifty-Niners.”
• Failed prospectors who left and returned to their homes were called “Go-Backers.”

Key Events

• 1803 — Portions of Colorado were acquired by the United States from France in the Louisiana Purchase, including a large portion of the Rocky Mountains north of the Arkansas River.
• 1803–1805 — The Lewis and Clark Expedition passed through the Rocky Mountains on its trip to the West Coast.
• 1806 — Zebulon Pike led an expedition into the region and explored a mountain that became known as “Pike’s Peak.”
• 1819 — The Adams-Onis Treaty set the boundary between the United States and New Spain as the Arkansas River. Where the river ended, the boundary line extended westward along the 42nd Parallel North.
• 1820 — Stephen H. Long led an expedition into the region. Afterward, Long filed a report on his expedition and referred to the Great Plains as the “Great American Desert.” This discouraged settlement in the area north of the 42nd Parallel for nearly 40 years.
• 1821 — Mexico gained independence from Spain.
• 1825 — Fur trappers and traders gathered near present-day McKinnon, Wyoming, for the first “Rocky Mountain Rendezvous.” 
• 1828 — The U.S. and Mexico agreed to the Treaty of Limits, confirming the borders between the two nations.
• 1843 — Rufus Sage published Scenes in the Rocky Mountains.
• 1845 — The U.S. annexed Texas, which included portions of the Rocky Mountains south of the Arkansas River.
• 1848 — Mexico ceded roughly 55% of its territory to the U.S. in the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hildalgo. 
• 1850 — The Utah Territory and New Mexico Territory were organized.
• 1851 — The Treaty of Fort Laramie established Cheyenne and Arapaho control of Eastern Colorado.
• 1854 — The Kansas-Nebraska Act established the Kansas Territory and the Nebraska Territory. The Pike’s Peak Gold Region was part of the Kansas Territory.
• 1858, July — William Greeneberry “Green” Russell discovered gold near the South Platte River and Cherry Creek.
• 1858, September–November — The first settlements were established that became the city of Denver, Colorado.
• 1859, January 7 — George A. Jackson found gold along Cedar Creek.
• 1859, March 9 — The first stagecoach carrying mail for the Denver settlements left Leavenworth, Kansas.
• 1859, May 6 — John H. Gregory discovered the “Mother Lode” near present-day Black Hawk, Colorado.
• 1859, June 1 — Green Russell struck gold in present-day Gilpin County, Colorado.
• 1859, June — Horace Greeley visited the Denver settlements with two other newspaper editors. The three wrote a report that discouraged people from traveling to the Pike’s Peak Gold Region.
• 1859, October 24 — The settlers elected government officials for the Territory of Jefferson. Robert W. Steele was elected Governor.
• 1860, November — Abraham Lincoln was elected President of the United States, and the Secession Crisis started.
• 1861, February 28 — Congress established the Colorado Territory.
• 1876, August 1 — Colorado joined the Union as the 38th State.

Significance

The Colorado Gold Rush is an important event in American History because it led to the rapid settlement and development of the area around Pike’s Peak in present-day Colorado. It established the city of Denver, which became an important center for trade, agriculture, and industry in the territory north of the Arkansas River and west of the Mississippi River. The Gold Rush also accelerated the push for Colorado statehood and helped fulfill America’s Manifest Destiny.

History

The Colorado Gold Rush of 1859 started after rumors spread that explorers and prospectors had found gold nuggets and gold-bearing quartz in the Rocky Mountains. Although the region had been acquired by the United States in 1803 as part of the Louisiana Purchase, settlement was slow to develop. Early explorations reported that the Great Plains and the Rocky Mountains were challenging to travel through and were filled with soil unsuitable for agriculture.

• The Lewis and Clark Expedition crossed the Rocky Mountains in Northern Idaho in 1805.
• Zebulon Pike first explored the Pike’s Peak Region. On November 15, 1806, the expedition was moving along the Arkansas River when Pike first saw the “principal peak” of the mountain known today as Pike’s Peak.
• In 1820, Stephen H. Long led a second expedition into the region. One of the men with Long, Dr. E. James, was the first to climb to the summit of Pike’s Peak. Long famously referred to the Great Plains as the “Great American Desert.”
• In 1843, John C. Fremont led an expedition to California but stopped to explore the base of Pike’s Peak. The following year, 1844, Fremont passed through the Pike’s Peak Region again and measured the mountain’s height.

Outside of the government-financed explorations, most of the Americans who ventured into the Rocky Mountains and beyond were Mountain Men like John Colter, Jedediah Smith, and Jim Bridger. The region’s abundance of fur-bearing animals, including beavers, made it vital to them and companies like the Rocky Mountain Fur Company and the American Fur Company. Because of this, people working in the Rockies were focused on furs, not gold. However, there were instances where gold was alleged to have been found.

• James Purcell, an early Mountain Man who is believed to have been the first American to explore Colorado, reported finding placer gold in mountain streams in 1806.
• A French trapper, Eustace Carriere, found gold after wandering in the Rocky Mountains in 1835.
• In 1846, John C. Fremont led a U.S. military expedition into the area. One of the men in his company, William Gilpin, found some in creeks as the expedition passed through northeast Colorado.
• In 1848, William Bent was traveling from Fort Bridger to Bent’s Fort and found small gold nuggets in the waters of Cherry Creek.

During the California Gold Rush (1849), a group of Cherokees led by John Beck were making their way to California and passed through Colorado in 1850. Lewis Ralston, a prospector, joined them during the journey. They camped near present-day Arvada, Colorado, where Ralson found a small piece of gold in a stream. However, the expedition continued to California, and the “Ralston Strike” was left behind.

• The famous Mountain Man, Thomas Fitzpatrick said he found gold in Colorado in 1853.
• A group of Spanish prospectors from Taos found placer gold at two locations in 1857.
• During the Utah War (1857–1858), U.S. troops led by Captain Randolph B. Marcy found gold in Cherry Creek while marching through Colorado in early 1858.

AHC Notes

• Placer Gold — small pieces of gold that have broken away from the larger lode and are typically found mixed in with sand or gravel.
• Zebulon Pike and James Purcell — During his 1806 expedition, Zebulon Pike was taken prisoner by Mexican troops near Sante Fe. While he was being held, he met “James Pursley,” who was from Kentucky. This is believed to be James Purcell. Pike refers to him as “the first American who ever penetrated the immense wilds of western Louisiana.” According to Pike, Purcell “found gold on the head of La Platte, and had carried some of the virgin mineral in his shot-pouch for months, and that the Spaniards had frequently solicited him to go and show a detachment of cavalry the place, but that, conceiving it to be our territory, he had refused.”

The Panic of 1857

The Panic of 1857 was a financial crisis that occurred in the United States after the Ohio Life Insurance and Trust Company went bankrupt. In The Mines of Colorado (1974), Ovando J. Hollister says, “It was the commercial collapse of 1857 that set many adventurous spirits in the then West peering into the obscurity beyond them for a new field of enterprise.”

Fall Leaf and the Lawrence Party

In the summer of 1857, Colonel Edwin V. Sumner led a military expedition in pursuit of a group of Arapahoes and Cheyenne warriors. The guide for Sumner’s expedition was Chief Fall Leaf, a Delaware from Pennsylvania.

• One day, Fall Leaf stopped to drink from a stream and found small gold nuggets in the water. He picked them up and kept them with him.
• In the fall, he visited Lawrence, Kansas, and showed them to John Easter.
• Easter told his friends about the gold, and they organized an expedition for the spring of 1858.
• Fall Leaf initially agreed to guide the expedition but backed out.
• One of the leaders of the Lawrence Party was Josiah Hinman.

The Lawrence Party camped near present-day Pueblo-Colorado on July 3, 1858. They searched for gold in the area for six weeks with no success. Eventually, they went north toward Cherry Creek.

The Russell Expedition

In Georgia, William Greeneberry “Green” Russell heard about the gold from some of the Cherokees. Nine men, including Russell’s brothers, Joseph Russell Dr. and Levi Russell, were on the expedition. James H. Pierce was also a member of this expedition.

• Green Russell was a gold mining veteran who prospected during the Georgia Gold Rush (1828–1840s) and went to California in 1849.
• He was familiar with the region, having passed Colorado on the way to California.
• The expedition left Georgia in February 1858.
• It passed through Indian Territory and was joined by Cherokees and other Native American Indians.
• The expedition traveled west along the Santa Fe Trail and stopped at Bent’s Fort.
• By the time the expedition reached Bent’s Fort, there were more than 100 men.

AHC Notes

• Some accounts of the Colorado Gold Rush refer to these first prospectors as “Fifty-Eighters.”
• Bent’s Fort was the second fort built by the Bent Brothers. The first was abandoned and burned to the ground. The second, built in 1853 at Big Timbers, overlooked the Arkansas River and was more than 200 miles southeast of present-day Denver, Colorado.
• William Bent was a prominent fur trader, merchant, and frontiersman during the Fur Trade Era.
• Charles Bent was a fur trader, merchant, and politician and the first governor of the New Mexico Territory.

The Russell Strike

The Russell Expedition made its way to the Pike’s Peak Region, where the men searched for gold in the streams but found nothing of significant value. 

• On June 24, they made their camp at the confluence of Cherry Creek and the South Platte River.
• The expedition divided into smaller groups and the men prospected for gold for four days, with little success.
• On June 29, most of the prospectors, including the Cherokees, gave up and left to return to their homes.

Only a dozen men remained on June 30. Desperate to keep the rest from deserting, Green Russell called a meeting and said, “If only one man will stay with me, I will remain until I satisfy myself that no gold can be found, if it takes all summer. Will you stay with me?” The men agreed.

• Within a few days, Russell and James H. Pierce found placer gold along the banks of the Platte River. 
• Although this was the first significant gold discovery in the Rocky Mountains, the total amount was disappointing. 
• The expedition moved on to Dry Creek, near present-day Englewood, Colorado, where the men found more placer gold.

Pike’s Peak or Bust

News of the “Russell Strike” quickly spread back through Kansas and Missouri, along with the news that Captain Marcy’s expedition had found gold.

• On August 26, 1858, the headline of the Kansas City Journal of Commerce read, “THE NEW ELDORADO!! GOLD IN KANSAS!!”
• The news led to an influx of prospectors who were inspired by the slogan “Pikes Peak or Bust.”

The Pike’s Peak Gold Region

Over the summer, an estimated 2,000 prospectors moved into what was being called the “Pike’s Peak Gold Region.” Four settlements were quickly established that marked the founding of present-day Denver, Colorado:

1. Montana City
2. St. Charles
3. Auriara
4. Denver City

Founding of Montana City

In September 1858, Josiah Hinman and the prospectors from Lawrence, Kansas, built a camp of log cabins near the Russell Strike along the Platte River. 

• The prospectors organized the “Montana Town Company” and called their camp “Montana City.”
• A small number of log cabins were built.
• Montana City only lasted about six months.

Founding of St. Charles

Soon after, some members of the group “seceded,” believing an area east of Cherry Creek was a better location for mining and living. On September 24, a meeting was held to form a new town company.

• The organizers took possession of a tract of land that was one square mile.
• They signed an agreement, organizing the “St. Charles Association” and St. Charles Company.
• They adopted the “Constitution of the St. Charles Association,” which is one of the earliest documents related to the settlement of Colorado.
• The company elected officers on September 28.

The St. Charles Company operated out of Montana City while it surveyed the land, marked property lines, and posted claim notices. In October, believing their claims were safe from potential squatters, they decided to return to Lawrence, leaving two men behind.

However, on the road to Lawrence, they encountered several parties of immigrants on their way to the Pike’s Peak Gold Region. This raised concerns, so the St. Charles group sent Charles Nichols back to build a cabin to secure their claim.

• By the time Nichols returned, around 50 settlers were encamped on the St. Charles claim.
• Nichols laid out four logs on the ground, indicating his intention to build a cabin., which was the usual method of protecting a claim.
• Rather than respect his claim, many of the other settlers followed suit and laid their own logs on the ground.
• Nichols proceeded to finish building his cabin.

Founding of Auraria

Meanwhile, the men of the Russell Expedition had returned to the area and decided to stay for the winter. By this time, they had been joined by prospectors from Kansas, Nebraska, and Missouri.

• On October 24, a proposal was made to form a company and establish a city.
• A public notice was issued on October 27, declaring a meeting would be held on October 27.
• The meeting on the 30th formed the Auraria Town Company and a committee to select a site for the new city.
• Another meeting was held on the 31st. The committee identified the site it selected, and then a new committee was established to draft a Constitution and Bylaws.
• The company’s stockholders met again on November 6 and elected officers.
• Auraria was the first permanent town built at the mouth of Cherry Creek.
• The town was named after Auraria, Georgia.

Early Business in the Pike’s Peak Gold Region

On November 1, Charles H. Blake and Andrew J. Williams opened the first mercantile business in Auraria. They operated out of a tent while a double log cabin (two rooms) was built. When it was finished, they started working out of the cabin.

• Around November 8, another business called Kinna & Nye was started.
• J.D. Ramage opened a jewelry store.
• Richens Lacey “Uncle Dick” Wootton arrived on Christmas Day, 1858, with two wagon loads of goods to trade with the settlers. He shared some of the alcohol he had with the settlers to help celebrate Christmas.

Founding of Denver City

Land speculators had also targeted the region. During the summer of 1858, two groups were organized in Kansas: one at Lecompton and one at Leavenworth.

• The Lecompton Party included Hickory Rogers, Edward W. Wynkoop, and H.P.A. Smith.
• The Leavenworth Party included Folsom Dorsett, M.M. Jewett, General William Larimer Jr., his son William H.H. Larimer, Charles A. Lawrence, and Richard E. Whitsitt.

Governor James W. Denver wanted to establish some form of government for the Pike’s Peak Gold Country, so he appointed some of these men to public positions for Arapahoe County:

• H.P.A. Smith was appointed Probate Judge.
• Hickory Rogers was appointed Chairman of the County Board of Commissioners.
• Edward W. Wynkoop was appointed Sheriff.

The Leavenworth Party set out for Cherry Creek on October 3. They rode horses and were accompanied by a prairie wagon and oxen. Five weeks later, they arrived at Pueblo and met with Smith, Rogers, and Wynkoop. From there, the parties merged and continued the journey, arriving at Auraria on November 16. Upon arrival, they set their sights on establishing a settlement on the east side of the river, across from Auraria in the vicinity of the St. Charles settlement. By this time, Auraria had at least a dozen log cabins.

• Representatives of the St. Charles Company met with the Leavenworth-Lecompton group on the night of November 17.
• They formed the Denver City Town Company despite objections from Charles Nichols.
• No written record of this meeting exists. However, according to various accounts, Nichols ended his objection when the others threatened to hang him.
• On November 22, 1858, the Denver Town Company adopted a Constitution and elected board members and officers.
• E.P. Stout was elected President.
• The company hired Colonel Samuel R. Curtis to help them survey the settlement.
• The settlement was called “Denver City” in honor of Governor Denver.
• The first structure in Denver City was the cabin built by Charles Nichols.

George Jackson Finds Gold

George Andrew Jackson was from Missouri and a veteran of the California Gold Rush. He arrived in the Pike’s Peak Gold Region in 1858 with Tom Golden and James Sanders. They built a log cabin at the site of present-day Golden, Colorado, west of the Denver settlements.

• On December 31, 1858, the three of them set out to prospect for gold.
• The next day, January 1, 1859, they encountered a herd of elk. Golden and Sanders went to hunt the elk while Jackson continued to look for gold.
• Jackson moved up Cedar Creek, accompanied by his two dogs.
• That evening, he arrived at the hot springs near where the Club Hotel is in present-day Idaho Spring, Colorado.

Jackson spent the next five days searching for gold with no success. On January 5, he moved his camp to a promising spot along the river, where there was a significant amount of gravel. On January 7, he found his first gold nugget, which he described in his diary:

“Clear day, removed fire embers and dug into rim on bed-rock, panned out eight treaty cups of dirt and found nothing but fine colors; ninth cup I got one nugget of coarse gold; feel good to-night.”

• Jackson continued to pan for gold the next day, January 8, and found more small gold nuggets.
• He worked until his tools were worn out.
• On January 9, Jackson marked the location of his strike and returned to his camp.

Jackson returned to “Jackson Bar” in April and dug out more gold. This was the first large deposit of gold found in the Rocky Mountains.

• Jackson was accompanied by a group of men from Chicago.
• They named the location Chicago Creek.
• The spot was referred to as the “Jackson Diggings,” and the discovery as the “Jackson Strike.”

An article in the Steamboat Pilot from February 11, 1943, refers to Jackson’s discovery:

“…Jackson kept on looking for signs of the yellow metal. According to his dairy he found colors and one nugget of gold in gravel deposits on the present site of Idaho Springs. A monument marks the spot on the south bank of Clear Creek, at the mouth of Chicago Creek. The discsovery of Jackson Bar on January 7, 1859, was a momentous event in the history of the West.”

John H. Gregory Discovers the Mother Lode

John H. Gregory, another Georgian and an acquaintance of William Green Russell, also arrived in the Rocky Mountains in early 1859. Gregory was about 14 miles north of where Jackson, Golden, and Sanders made their camp, but the two parties were not aware of each other and did not cross paths.

• Gregory followed Clear Creek and searched the gravel for gold, eventually finding two small caches near present-day Black Hawk, Colorado.
• Unlike Jackson, Gregory did not keep a diary, so the date of his discovery is unknown. Most accounts indicate it was in the last week of January 1859.

A snowstorm prevented him from continuing his dig, and he was forced to leave to secure provisions. Discouraged, he made his way to a settlement on Clear Creek called “Arapahoe” and stayed there for a few months. There, he met David J. Wall of Indiana, who offered to “grubstake,” or pay for, a return trip to the mountains. Gregory agreed and convinced Wilkes Defrees to return to the mountains with him, along with a few others. They returned to the site in early May.

• On May 6, 1869, Gregory was panning for gold.
• He scraped some grass and leaves out of the way so he could fill his pan with gravel.
• As he washed the gravel away, he found gold.
• The next day, Gregory and Defrees washed out another 40 pans and found more gold.

The “Gregory Strike” was the “Mother Lode” in the Pike’s Peak Gold Region and sparked a frenzy. Gregory and Defrees staked out their claim and returned to the Clear Creek settlements to report their discovery. Ten days later, Gregory returned to “Gregory’s Diggings” with a group of men.

• Each man staked out a 100-foot claim on the Gregory Strike.
• Gregory himself retained two claims.
• Gregory worked his claims for five days and gathered $972 worth of gold.
• Claim rules documented in “The Laws and Regulations of The Miners of Gregory Diggings District.”
• By the end of May, an estimated 300 men were working in the Gregory District.

The Steamboat Pilot says Gregory’s Strike was “the most important discovery of the season” and “yielded millions of dollars.”

• Three large lode claims were made in 1859 in what would later be Gilpin, Clear Creek, and Boulder Counties.
• The towns of Central City and Black Hawk quickly developed to support the mining population.
• The strike made Gregory rich, and he collected at least $30,000 worth of gold dust.

Green Russell Strikes Gold Again

Around June 1, William Greeneberry Russell returned to the area, leading a large group of roughly 170 prospectors. Soon after, he struck gold in a gulch in present-day Gilpin County, Colorado. 

• Russell eventually returned to Georgia with $21,000 worth of gold.
• The town of Russell Gulch was named after him.

The Fifty-Niners

By June 1859, approximately 400 prospectors were living in the Clear Creek settlements, and thousands more were on the way. The prospectors making their way to the Pike’s Peak Gold Region in 1859 were known as “Fifty-Niners.”

• Most were young men too young to have fought in the Mexican-American War and were seeking adventure.
• Some had been ruined by the Financial Panic of 1857 and were seeking to reverse their fortunes.
• Others moved west to escape the growing Sectional Divide over slavery.

Several key events took place in the spring and summer of 1859 due to the Colorado Gold Rush:

• On March 9, the first stagecoach carrying mail for the Denver settlements left Leavenworth, Kansas.
• William N. Byers published the first edition of the Rocky Mountain News on April 23. It was the first newspaper in the region.
• In June, a fire broke out in the camp at the Jackson Diggings, and three men were killed.
• On August 1, George Griffith struck gold on the forks of the south branch of South Clear Creek.

Rumors and Stories

While the Fifty-Niners looked for, wild stories spread across the country about what was going on in the Pike’s Peak Gold Region, such as this:

“It is said that a man takes a frame-work of heavy timber, built like a stone-boat, the bottom of which is composed of iron rasps. The frame-work is hoisted to the top of Pike’s Peak, and a man gets on and slides down the mountain. As he goes down swiftly, the rasps on the bottom of the framework scrape off the gold in immense shavings, which curl up on to the machine; and by the time the man gets to the bottom, a ton of gold, more or less, is following him, This is the common manner of gathering it.”

Newspaper Editors Report on the Pike’s Peak Gold Region

William N. Byers, the publisher of the Rocky Mountain News, was well-known for spreading outrageous stories as part of an effort to keep people in the region and to attract more. Newspaper editors in the East were skeptical. In June 1859, three Eastern editors visited the Clear Creek settlements and the Gregory Diggings:

1. Horace Greeley of the New York Tribune
2. Albert D. Richardson of the Boston Journal
3. Henry Villard of the Cincinnati Commercial

The three of them worked together to write a report of what they witnessed during their visit. The purpose of the report was to let people back East know “…the truth with regard to a subject of deep and general interest…” In the report, they discussed:

• Visiting the settlements and mining operations.
• Seeing gold with their own eyes.
• The companies that were mining gold and how much they were making.
• Details on Jackon’s background and his discovery.
• The likelihood that most of the prospectors were going to fail.
• How difficult it was for prospectors to make the trip to the region.

The report closes with a warning for anyone thinking about joining in the Colorado Gold Rush:

“Great disappointment, great suffering, are inevitable; few can escape the latter who arrive at Denver City after September without ample means to support them in a very dear country, at least through a long winter. We charge those who manage the telegraph not to diffuse a part of our statement without giving substantially the whole; and we beg the press generally to unite with us in warning the whole people against another rush to these gold-mines, as ill-advised as that of last spring — a rush sure to be followed, like that, by a stampede, but one far more destructive of property and life.”

The Go-Backer Movement

By the middle of the summer of 1859, disappointed prospectors started to leave the region in what came to be known as the “Go-Backer Movement,” and others turned back during the difficult journey.

Growth of the Clear Creek Mining District and Denver

Despite the warning of the newspapermen, the Clear Creek Mining District became known as the “Richest Square Mile on the Earth” due to its abundance of precious metals.

• Within three years of the Russell and Gregory Strikes, 100,000 people journeyed to Colorado, seeking gold and fortune.
• Many of these people did not reach Pike’s Peak but instead settled in the surrounding area, especially the Clear Creek settlements.
• George Pullman arrived in the District in 1860 and worked as a banker. After earning a significant amount of money, he returned to the East, where he developed the railroad sleeping car, also known as the “palace car.”

As Denver emerged, the influx of merchants, prospectors, and promoters rapidly transformed the area into an important economic center and a major destination for immigrants and stagecoach routes.

• The city also emerged as a center for agriculture on the high plains.
• Denver’s industries, including breweries, bakeries, and meatpacking, made it a regional hub for food processing.
• Denver also became a distribution center for farm and ranch equipment, barbed wire, windmills, seed, feed, and harnesses.
• Eventually, railroads were built, connecting Denver to towns throughout the territory, increasing its importance to the development of Colorado and surrounding states.

Western Colorado, which was part of the large Kansas Territory, had long been considered worthless and uninhabitable by Americans. This was due to the difficult journey, the rough terrain of the mountains, the threat of Indians and wildlife, and the fact that Stephen H. Long had called it the “Great American Desert.”

The Colorado Gold Rush, Manifest Destiny, and Trails to the Gold Region

The Colorado Gold Rush was one of the most significant events associated with Manifest Destiny — the westward expansion of the United States. 

Starting in the 1840s, emigrants used the Oregon Trail and several branches to move west to California and the Oregon Territory. After the California Gold Rush, the Oregon Trail became known as the Overland Trail, and prospectors used it and at least three others to reach the Pike’s Peak Gold Region. Regardless of the trail they chose, the journey was difficult, and emigrants faced a lack of water, Indian attacks, and harsh weather.

• The Overland Trail passed through northeast Colorado near Old Julesburg.
• At Old Julesburg, the Overland Trail branched off to the southwest. This trail, the South Platte Trail, followed the route Stephen H. Long had taken.
• The South Platte Trail was the primary route people used to travel to the Pike’s Peak Gold Region.
• This route was used primarily by prospectors traveling from the East.

A second route was developed that ran through southeastern Colorado along the Arkansas River. This was known as the “Montana Branch” of the Santa Fe Trail.

• This route went to Bent’s Fort, where it merged with the Old Cherokee Trail. From there, the trail went north toward the Clear Creek settlements.
• Southerners primarily used this route.

A third trail was the Smoky Hill Road, which started in Leavenworth, Kansas, and ran west along an old road that was used by the U.S. Army.

• The trail followed the Smoky Hill River from present-day Cheyenne Wells, Colorado, northwest to Denver.
• From Limon, Colorado, to Denver, there were three branches of this trail used by prospectors and immigrants.

A lesser-used trail was the Republican River Road in northeastern Colorado.

• This trail followed the Republican River into northeastern Colorado.
• It went westward and joined the South Platte Trail.

Formation of the Territory of Jefferson

On August 25, 1855, the Kansas Legislature established Arapahoe County. After gold was discovered in the summer, the county was divided into six smaller counties:

1. Arapahoe County
2. Broderick County
3. El Paso County
4. Fremont County
5. Montana County
6. Oro County

The purpose of these smaller counties was to facilitate the administration of the new settlements. However, county governments were never established, and the settlers established the Territory of Jefferson. The settlers needed to elect a Governor, a delegate to the U.S. Congress, and other officials. Elections were held on October 24, 1859:

• Robert W. Steele was elected as the first Territorial Governor of Jefferson.
• Lucian W. Bliss was elected Secretary of State.
• Beverly D. Williams was elected as the delegate to Congress.

Just like the elections in the Kansas Territory in the 1850s, the Jefferson Territory elections were filled with illegal activities, including buying votes and stuffing ballot boxes. And, like nearly everywhere else in the United States, voting was restricted to white men. Women, Indians, and other minorities were not allowed to vote.

Bibliography and Suggested Reading

• Hollister Ovando James. The Mines of Colorado. 1974.
• Smiley, Jerome. Semi-Centennial History of the State of Colorado. 1913.
• Steamboat Pilot. “Gregory’s Discovery of Gold Opened New Era in Colorado.” February 11, 1943. Colorado Historic Newspapers Collection.
• Stone, Wilber Fiske. History of Colorado. 1918.
• Wharton, Junius E. History of the City of Denver From Its Earliest Settlement to the Present Time. 1866.