%1 http://coloradoencyclopedia.org/ en The Civil War in Colorado http://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/civil-war-colorado <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--title--encyclopedia-article.html.twig x field--node--title.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--title.html.twig * field--string.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">The Civil War in Colorado</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: x field--node--field-article-image--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-article-image.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-article-image.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--field-article-image--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div id="carouselEncyclopediaArticle" class="carousel slide" data-bs-ride="true"> <div class="carousel-inner"> <div class="carousel-item active"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'node' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * node--3825--article-detail-image.html.twig * node--3825.html.twig x node--image--article-detail-image.html.twig * node--image.html.twig * node--article-detail-image.html.twig * node.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/content/node--image--article-detail-image.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-encyclopedia-image--image.html.twig * field--node--field-encyclopedia-image.html.twig * field--node--image.html.twig * field--field-encyclopedia-image.html.twig * field--image.html.twig x field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-encyclopedia-image field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'image_formatter' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-formatter.html.twig' --> <a href="/image/battle-glorieta-pass"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'image_style' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-style.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'image' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image.html.twig' --> <img loading="lazy" src="/sites/default/files/styles/wide/public/Battle_of_Glorieta_Pass_Action_at_Apache_Canyon_0.jpg?itok=6GBX4Ujn" width="1090" height="728" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" class="image-style-wide" /> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-style.html.twig' --> </a> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-formatter.html.twig' --> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="carousel-caption d-none d-md-block"> <h5><a href="/image/battle-glorieta-pass" rel="bookmark"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--title--image.html.twig x field--node--title.html.twig * field--node--image.html.twig * field--title.html.twig * field--string.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Battle of Glorieta Pass</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> </a></h5> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--body--image.html.twig * field--node--body.html.twig * field--node--image.html.twig * field--body.html.twig x field--text-with-summary.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--text-with-summary.html.twig' --> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>Referred to as the "Gettysburg of the West," the Battle of Glorieta Pass pitted Union troops from Colorado against Confederates from Texas. The battle took place south of Santa Fe, New Mexico, in the spring of 1862. Although it was a stalemate on the field, the Colorado troops destroyed the Confederate supplies, ending the Confederacy's ambition to take the western territories.</p> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--text-with-summary.html.twig' --> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/content/node--image--article-detail-image.html.twig' --> </div> <div class="carousel-item"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'node' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * node--3826--article-detail-image.html.twig * node--3826.html.twig x node--image--article-detail-image.html.twig * node--image.html.twig * node--article-detail-image.html.twig * node.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/content/node--image--article-detail-image.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-encyclopedia-image--image.html.twig * field--node--field-encyclopedia-image.html.twig * field--node--image.html.twig * field--field-encyclopedia-image.html.twig * field--image.html.twig x field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-encyclopedia-image field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'image_formatter' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-formatter.html.twig' --> <a href="/image/civil-war-soldier-statue-denver"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'image_style' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-style.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'image' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image.html.twig' --> <img loading="lazy" src="/sites/default/files/styles/wide/public/Denver_Civil_War_Monument_by_Jakob_Otto_Schweizer_%28cropped%29_0.jpg?itok=yO_VvKJz" width="1090" height="2080" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" class="image-style-wide" /> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-style.html.twig' --> </a> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-formatter.html.twig' --> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="carousel-caption d-none d-md-block"> <h5><a href="/image/civil-war-soldier-statue-denver" rel="bookmark"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--title--image.html.twig x field--node--title.html.twig * field--node--image.html.twig * field--title.html.twig * field--string.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Civil War Soldier Statue, Denver</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> </a></h5> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--body--image.html.twig * field--node--body.html.twig * field--node--image.html.twig * field--body.html.twig x field--text-with-summary.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--text-with-summary.html.twig' --> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>From 1909 to 2020, a statue honoring the Coloradans who fought in the American Civil War stood outside the State Capitol building in Denver. It incorrectly listed the Sand Creek Massacre, in which Colorado troops slaughtered more than 200 women, children, and elderly Indigenous people, as a "battle" in the war. Civil Rights protesters took down the statue during demonstrations against police abuses and institutional racism in 2020.</p> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--text-with-summary.html.twig' --> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/content/node--image--article-detail-image.html.twig' --> </div> </div> <button class="carousel-control-prev" type="button" data-bs-target="#carouselEncyclopediaArticle" data-bs-slide="prev"> <span class="carousel-control-prev-icon" aria-hidden="true"></span> <span class="visually-hidden">Previous</span> </button> <button class="carousel-control-next" type="button" data-bs-target="#carouselEncyclopediaArticle" data-bs-slide="next"> <span class="carousel-control-next-icon" aria-hidden="true"></span> <span class="visually-hidden">Next</span> </button> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--field-article-image--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--uid--encyclopedia-article.html.twig x field--node--uid.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--uid.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'username' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/user/username.html.twig' --> <span lang="" about="/users/yongli" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">yongli</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/user/username.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--created--encyclopedia-article.html.twig x field--node--created.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--created.html.twig * field--created.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'time' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/time.html.twig' --> <time datetime="2022-09-13T14:14:34-06:00" title="Tuesday, September 13, 2022 - 14:14" class="datetime">Tue, 09/13/2022 - 14:14</time> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/time.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'addtoany_standard' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * addtoany-standard--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * addtoany-standard--node.html.twig x addtoany-standard.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/addtoany/templates/addtoany-standard.html.twig' --> <span class="a2a_kit a2a_kit_size_32 addtoany_list" data-a2a-url="http://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/civil-war-colorado" data-a2a-title="The Civil War in Colorado"><a class="a2a_dd addtoany_share" href="https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Fcoloradoencyclopedia.org%2Farticle%2Fcivil-war-colorado&amp;title=The%20Civil%20War%20in%20Colorado"></a><a class="a2a_button_facebook"></a><a class="a2a_button_twitter"></a><a class="a2a_button_email"></a></span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/addtoany/templates/addtoany-standard.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--body--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--body.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--body.html.twig * field--text-with-summary.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item" id="id-body"><p>Colorado’s role in the American Civil War (1861–65) was part of a broader geopolitical contest: control of the American Southwest. The war began in 1861, just two years after the <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/colorado-gold-rush"><strong>Colorado Gold Rush</strong></a> and mere months after Congress established the <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/colorado-territory"><strong>Colorado Territory</strong></a>. Although the territory was largely pro-Union, the Confederacy and its <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/reynolds-gang"><strong>local sympathizers</strong></a> immediately realized Colorado's strategic and monetary value and wanted to take advantage of it.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Federal troops from Colorado turned back the Confederate invasion in New Mexico, ensuring that the Rocky Mountain <a href="http://www.coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/precious-metal-mining-colorado"><strong>gold mines</strong></a> remained under US control. This paved the way for further conquest and development in Colorado and the rest of the West. The Civil War had wide-reaching effects, especially on Indigenous people. The <a href="http://www.coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/homestead"><strong>Homestead Act</strong></a>, passed during the war in part to promote free labor over slave labor in western territories, was a direct assault on Indigenous people’s sovereignty that increased tensions between whites and Native nations. Before the war was even over, Union troops committed the <a href="http://www.coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/sand-creek-massacre"><strong>Sand Creek Massacre</strong></a>, one of the worst atrocities on US soil and an event that would influence future conflicts between Americans and Indigenous people.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>As it has elsewhere, the Civil War left a complicated legacy in Colorado, one that laid the foundation for the successes and struggles of the state to the present day. </p>&#13; &#13; <h2>Origins</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>The tensions that eventually placed Colorado in the western theatre of the Civil War were tied to the same issue that caused the war: the expansion of slavery. In 1848 the <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/treaty-guadalupe-hidalgo"><strong>Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo</strong></a> ended the Mexican-American War and added almost one million square miles to the United States. Southern politicians and elites wanted to expand slavery into this newly acquired land. The California Gold Rush followed in 1849, leading to the Compromise of 1850: Congress admitted California into the Union as a free state but reinforced the Fugitive Slave Act to satisfy southern complaints. In 1853 President Franklin Pierce appointed Jefferson Davis as Secretary of War. In that role, Davis, who would later become president of the Confederacy, wanted to create a southern transcontinental railroad that would cross New Mexico on its way to California.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Meanwhile, the Colorado Gold Rush of 1858–59 had put the <a href="http://www.coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/rocky-mountains"><strong>Rocky Mountains</strong></a> on the map for many Americans. The resulting influx of white gold seekers and the myriad enterprises accompanying them created a need for law and order. After establishing a <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/treaty-fort-wise"><strong>treaty with the Cheyenne and Arapaho</strong></a>, the federal government organized Colorado Territory in February 1861, about a month and a half before the Confederates fired on Fort Sumter and ignited the Civil War in the east.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>With the outbreak of war, gold in Colorado and California and the latter’s Pacific ports represented valuable prizes for the new Confederacy. To win those prizes, the Confederates would need control of the <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/santa-f%C3%A9-trail-0"><strong>Santa Fé Trail</strong></a>, whose Mountain Branch followed the <a href="http://www.coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/arkansas-river"><strong>Arkansas River</strong></a> through Colorado before turning south over <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/raton-pass-0"><strong>Raton Pass</strong></a> and into New Mexico<strong>. </strong>The trail was one of the major commercial routes in the West, and it was protected by Fort Union, the Army’s major supply depot north of Santa Fe. In addition, the scattered villages and towns of New Mexico territory were protected in the south by Fort Bliss near present-day El Paso, Texas, Fort Craig south of Albuquerque, and Fort Marcy at Santa Fe. The Confederate strategy was to invade north from Texas, take New Mexico and Colorado, and then turn west toward California.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>Choosing Sides</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>The outbreak of war east of the Mississippi River led the US government to relocate federal troops from the West for service in the East. Some officers resigned from the US Army to fight for the Confederacy. One was Major <strong>Henry Hopkins Sibley</strong>, who resigned on May 13, 1861. Colonel William Loring, Commander of the Military Department of New Mexico, quit on the same day, leaving Lt. Colonel <strong>Edward R. S. Canby</strong> of the Tenth Infantry to command federal troops in New Mexico.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>In 1860 Colorado had 30,000 non-Indigenous residents, 70 percent of whom were from northern states and territories. The territory was largely pro-Union. But as Colonel Canby begged for reinforcements, Territorial Governor <a href="http://www.coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/william-gilpin"><strong>William Gilpin</strong></a> explained that a “malignant secession element” of 7,500 Confederate sympathizers had to be controlled. In <a href="http://www.coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/denver"><strong>Denver City</strong></a>, Charley Harrison’s Criterion Bar was the pro-Confederacy headquarters, while other sympathizers from across the territory secretly gathered at Mace’s Hole north of <a href="http://www.coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/pueblo"><strong>Pueblo</strong></a>.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Harrison was eventually arrested, fined, and exiled from the territory. Scattered skirmishes and other clashes between Union- and Confederate-aligned Coloradans continued throughout the war, although no major battles were fought in the territory.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>Battle Lines</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>In May 1861, Canby received orders to send four infantry companies from Colorado and New Mexico to Fort Leavenworth in eastern Kansas. He kept troops to garrison Albuquerque and Forts Craig, Marcy, Union, and <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/fort-garland-0"><strong>Fort Garland</strong></a> in southern Colorado. In September, he appointed <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/kit-carson"><strong>Kit Carson</strong></a> as Colonel of the First Regiment of New Mexico volunteers, newly recruited from the territory’s <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/terminology-latino-experience-colorado"><strong>Hispano</strong></a> population. Canby left some troops at Fort Union to build an earthwork; the rest he sent to Albuquerque. But Sibley, now a Confederate Brigadier General, led an army out of Texas and up the Rio Grande, intending to take Colorado. Canby needed more troops.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>He appealed to Gilpin for volunteer troops to replace and support his garrisons. Gilpin was newly appointed by President Abraham Lincoln. Before he left Washington for Colorado, Secretary of War Simon Cameron assured Gilpin that the federal government would cover the costs of raising troops to defend the territory. Upon arriving in Denver City in May 1861, Gilpin raised two companies of volunteers, which grew by August to become the First Regiment of <strong>Colorado Volunteers</strong>. He appointed Denver lawyer John Slough as Colonel.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>With their own weapons and civilian clothes, the recruits assembled at Camp Weld along the <a href="http://www.coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/south-platte-river"><strong>South Platte River</strong></a> upstream from Denver City. Gilpin covered their expenses by issuing $375,000 in promissory notes, payable by the federal government, earning First Colorado the nickname “Gilpin’s Pet Lambs.” Treasury Secretary Salmon Chase refused to honor Gilpin’s promissory notes, and Denver merchants went to Washington to demand payment. Gilpin followed to explain his actions. The Treasury Department honored the notes, but President Lincoln fired Gilpin on March 18, 1862, and replaced him with <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/john-evans"><strong>John Evans</strong></a>.     </p>&#13; &#13; <p>Fortunately for Canby, Gilpin had other troops to send. Independent of the First Colorado, two companies of volunteers assembled in August at <strong>Cañon City</strong>, led by Captains Theodore Dodd and James Ford. In September, Gilpin ordered them to Fort Garland in the <a href="http://www.coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/san-luis-valley"><strong>San Luis Valley</strong></a>. They arrived in December 1861 and mustered into federal service, rounding out Colorado’s federal forces.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>Battle of Valverde    </h2>&#13; &#13; <p>Sibley’s Confederate force entered New Mexico on February 7, 1862, with 2,515 men, most of them Texans, and fifteen artillery pieces. While in overall command, Sibley was derided by his soldiers as “a walking whiskey keg” who somehow managed to be sick in a wagon during every battle in New Mexico.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>The wagon road from Fort Bliss to Santa Fe ran along the east side of the <strong>Rio Grande River</strong>. Fort Craig lay on the west side of the river. Canby had a garrison of 3,810 soldiers, a mix of regular US army troops, New Mexico militia volunteers, and Dodd’s company of Colorado troops. On February 21, 1862, Canby tried to block Sibley’s advance near the abandoned village of Valverde, resulting in a day-long battle that claimed more than 100 casualties on both sides.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Sibley’s men won the battle of Valverde, but Canby still had 3,000 men in a strong position, and the Confederates had to give up on the food and fodder in Fort Craig, provisions they had counted on for their advance.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Meanwhile, federal forces abandoned Albuquerque and Santa Fe, falling back up the Santa Fé Trail to Fort Union. The Texans occupied Santa Fe on March 10, 1862, and turned their sights on Fort Union. Acting Governor <strong>Lewis Weld</strong> of Colorado sent the First Colorado Volunteers to reinforce Fort Union’s garrison of 800 men. On March 11, the Volunteers arrived at Fort Union, which they found in a dangerous position. The fort was tilted toward the hills to the west, where Confederate artillery could shoot exploding shells straight into the star-shaped earthwork. Believing the only possible defense was offense, Colonel Slough outfitted and resupplied his men, marching them down toward Santa Fe on March 22, 1862.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>Battle of Glorieta Pass         </h2>&#13; &#13; <p>Slough led a combined force of 1,342 men, including assorted regulars and volunteers from Colorado and New Mexico. Unaware of the Union reinforcements, Confederate Major Charles Pyron probed forward from Santa Fe with a smaller battalion of 400 men and two six-pounder cannons. Slough sent an advance force of 418 infantry and cavalry, led by Major <strong>John Chivington</strong>, to try to find the Texans. On the night of March 25, the federals captured four Texans at Kozlowski’s Ranch, east of Glorieta Pass. Advancing west the next morning into Apache Canyon, Chivington captured thirty-two more Texans, opening the Battle of Glorieta Pass.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Pyron set up his cannons on the road in Apache Canyon but soon had to pull back as the Union forces threatened to surround his position. Pyron’s new position was behind an arroyo, spanned by a bridge that the Confederates burned. In front of his guns, with the arroyo at their front, Pyron’s cavalry formed a defense.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>In the most dramatic moment in Colorado’s Civil War, Company F of the First Colorado mounted a cavalry charge, leaping its horses over the arroyo and rolling over the Confederate line. In hand-to-hand fighting, Pyron got his cannons away to the rear. Night fell, ending the fighting in Apache Canyon and the first day of the Battle of Glorieta Pass. The federals lost five killed and fourteen wounded. Of Pyron’s 420 men, four were killed, twenty wounded, and seventy-one taken prisoner, the costliest single day of battle in the New Mexico campaign.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>The Texans withdrew to Johnson’s Ranch at the west end of Apache Canyon, and Chivington’s command pulled back for water to Pigeon’s Ranch at the east end. Both sides agreed to a truce for the night and prepared to repel an assault by the enemy the next day. Neither side attacked.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Chivington did move farther east, to Kozlowski’s Ranch, for more water.  Slough arrived there at 11:00 pm with the rest of the regiment. Then, at 3:00 am on the 27<sup>th</sup>, Confederate Colonel Scurry reinforced Pyron, taking command of the now 1,000 men at Johnson’s Ranch. Unaware of Scurry’s arrival, Slough planned a two-pronged attack for the 28<sup>th</sup>. Chivington was to lead 490 men on a sixteen-mile march over the mesa that formed the southern flank of Apache Canyon. His guide would be New Mexican volunteers led by Lt. Colonel Manuel Chaves. As Slough fought the Confederates on the Santa Fé Trail, Chivington’s command would fall upon the Texans’ rear.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>On the early morning of the 28<sup>th</sup>, the Colorado troops advanced, with Chivington’s command splitting off to the south just before Pigeon’s Ranch. At the same time, the Texans left their supplies behind at Johnson’s Ranch as they struck at the federals. At 11:00 am, the two forces met west of Pigeon’s Ranch and began a six-hour artillery duel, with infantry pushing against each other’s lines. Without Chivington, Slough had 850 men to Scurry’s 1,000. Outnumbered, the federal forces had to fall back to avoid encirclement by the Texan infantry slowly. The Union position was eventually forced back five miles to Kozlowski’s Ranch. By about 5 pm, the Texans held the field at Pigeon’s Ranch, and the day was a tactical victory for the Confederates.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>However, in the meantime, Chivington’s command had arrived on the bluff above Johnson’s Ranch and found that the Texans had left the entire Confederate supply train undefended below them. At 4 pm, they swept down into the canyon, captured the guards, and destroyed eighty wagons, a cannon, all the Texans’ food and supplies, and 500 mules and horses. Freeing federal prisoners, the Colorado troops retraced their steps, arriving at Kozlowski’s Ranch at 10 pm on the 28th.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Slough was ordered to return to Fort Union, where he resigned, and Chivington took command. Casualty counts vary, but contemporary sources estimate that the federal troops lost forty-nine killed, sixty-four wounded, and twenty-one taken prisoner. On the Confederate side, Scurry reported thirty-six Texans killed, sixty wounded, and twenty-five captured.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Without food and ammunition, the Texans could go no farther. They retreated to Santa Fe, and then south to Albuquerque. They headed back to Texas, loosely pursued by federal forces. An afternoon sandstorm ended an inconclusive artillery duel at the village of Peralta on April 16. Canby saw no reason to engage the retreating Confederates, and the last defeated Confederates straggled into Texas on July 8.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>Later Engagements</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>Meanwhile, now-Colonel Chivington was put in charge of the Military District of Colorado. The Colorado Volunteers shifted from patrolling for Confederates to patrolling for Indigenous parties who sought to repel the invaders from their homelands. In November 1862, the First Colorado was converted into cavalry. Chivington kept them in Colorado, centered on <strong>Fort Lyon</strong> (formerly Fort Wise), but that post’s commander sent some of the garrison east to Kansas. The First spent the rest of the war guarding wagon trails in Colorado and Kansas; in July of 1863, Major <strong>Ned Wynkoop</strong> led four companies to patrol the Oregon Trail all the way to Fort Bridger in southeastern Wyoming.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Dodd’s and Ford’s Companies of the Second Colorado arrived at Fort Lyon from New Mexico in April 1863, joining six companies recruited by Colonel Jesse Leavenworth; Theodore Dodd became second in command. On April 11, 1863, Lt. George Shoup and a recruiting party of eleven men encountered a camp of three Confederate “guerrillas” near present-day <a href="http://www.coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/colorado-springs"><strong>Colorado Springs</strong></a>, killing one, wounding one, and capturing the last. The War Department soon authorized a Third Colorado Infantry regiment. The Third Infantry later merged with the Second Infantry and was sent to Missouri to fight irregular enemy forces there. After outfitting as cavalry near St. Louis in December of 1863, Second Colorado deployed across Missouri, combatting Confederate guerrillas known as “bushwhackers.” Over the next year, the volunteers fought in several pitched battles as they defended St. Louis and Kansas City from advancing Confederates.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>In Colorado, assorted pro-Confederate guerrillas tried to operate, but territorial troops and vigilantes hunted them down as outlaws.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>From Saving the Union to Massacring the Innocent        </h2>&#13; &#13; <div>&#13; <p>In 1864 Governor Evans and Chivington wanted to remove the Cheyenne and Arapaho people from Colorado’s eastern plains. This objective arose from increased tensions after the 1851 <a href="http://www.coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/treaty-fort-laramie"><strong>Treaty of Fort Laramie</strong></a> was revised in 1861. The Homestead Act of 1862 gave white immigrants “free” land that many Cheyenne and Arapaho still considered theirs. Following the directives of the 1861 treaty, <strong>Moketaveto</strong>’s Cheyenne and <strong>Hossa</strong>’s Arapaho camped near Fort Lyon in November 1864. They had an American flag raised over the camp, indicating their allegiance to the treaty and distinguishing their camp from other warrior groups who resisted the new treaty.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>In early June 1864, a party of Indigenous warriors—possibly Arapaho—<strong>killed a young family</strong> who worked for a homesteader on the plains outside of Denver. The murders were most likely reprisals from the earlier killing of an Indigenous man that day, but Denver residents blamed the Cheyenne and Arapaho. With a family killed and scattered attacks on wagons and homesteads occurring throughout the summer, Evans saw in the fears of the trespassing white population an opportunity to rid the territory of both the Cheyenne and Arapaho. He authorized Chivington to enlist a new Third Colorado Cavalry for 100 days, and Chivington, who hated Indigenous people as much as he hated Confederates, went on the warpath. On November 29, 1864, he found and attacked the peaceful Cheyenne and Arapaho camp at Fort Lyon, killing more than 200 women, children, and elders in what became known as the Sand Creek Massacre.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Praised as heroes in Denver, Chivington and the Third were seen as bloodthirsty murderers in the eastern United States. Chivington resigned to avoid a military court martial while war exploded across the plains. On January 7, 1865, 1,000 Cheyenne and Lakota fell on <strong>Julesburg</strong>, and on February 2, they burned the town before moving north out of Colorado. The so-called “<strong>Colorado War</strong>” resumed in March through July. President Andrew Johnson fired Evans over his role in precipitating Sand Creek.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>Legacy</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>Colorado’s experience in the Civil War can best be described as a successful defense of empire. When the war started, the territory was essentially defenseless and held a vast amount of vulnerable wealth; as the war came to its doorstep, Coloradans mounted a furious and successful defense of that wealth, even as Confederate sympathizers sought to sabotage it from the inside.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>With the successful defense of the gold fields came federal military activity on a scale never before seen in the territory. With Indigenous people already facing <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/impact-disease-native-americans"><strong>disease</strong></a> and starvation due to poorly understood and enforced <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/indigenous-treaties-colorado"><strong>treaties</strong></a> and the contempt of white settlers and politicians, the militarization of Colorado after the Civil War led to destruction and disaster for the Cheyenne, Arapaho, and eventually the Nuche (<a href="http://www.coloradoencyclopedia.org/search/google/ute"><strong>Ute</strong></a> people) who lived in the Rocky Mountains. Eventually, the <a href="http://www.coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/medicine-lodge-treaties"><strong>Treaty of Medicine Lodg</strong>e</a> in 1867 forced Colorado’s Cheyenne and Arapaho to cede their remaining land in the territory and assigned them to reservations in Oklahoma.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Meanwhile, for Colorado’s invading American population, the Civil War had dried up eastern sources of capital needed to fund mining, even as it helped them feel more secure in what was still a fledgling territory. Foreign technology arrived with <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/nathaniel-p-hill"><strong>Nathaniel Hill</strong></a>’s <strong>smelter </strong>in 1867, reviving the mining industry. With North and South at peace, the transcontinental<strong> railroad</strong> was finished and linked to Denver in 1870. Emancipation and a growing mining economy caused Colorado’s Black population to increase substantially from 1870 to 1900.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Colorado achieved statehood in 1876. In 1898, as troops boarded trains in Denver to fight in the Spanish-American War, Union veterans lined one side of Seventeenth Street and Confederate veterans assembled on the other side. As a show of unity, they boarded the train together, seemingly burying the hatchet.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>The past is still with us, of course. Despite the train station moment and other reconciliation between whites, the racism that brought the Civil War to Colorado has lingered in the state to the present. <strong>Redlining</strong>, or excluding Black residents from buying homes in certain neighborhoods, persisted throughout Denver and other cities, as did institutional discrimination in housing, education, and employment. Several Colorado towns, including <strong>Golden</strong>, <strong>Louisville</strong>, <strong>Loveland</strong>, and parts of Colorado Springs, were known at various times as “Sundown” towns—places where Black people were not welcome and would be run out of town at sundown. Police violence is still disproportionately aimed at Colorado’s Black residents and people of color.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>The Sand Creek Massacre was later erroneously listed as a “battle” on the plaque of a statue commemorating Colorado’s Civil War veterans. Chivington’s actions were considered horrific even during his time, but the plaque remained, igniting controversy until activists removed the statue during the 2020 <strong>Civil Rights</strong> demonstrations in Denver. As of this writing, streets, university buildings, and even mountains once named for those associated with the Sand Creek Massacre have either been renamed or are being evaluated for renaming in an ongoing reconciliation process.</p>&#13; </div>&#13; </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-author--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-author.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-author.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-author field--type-entity-reference field--label-above" id="id-field-author"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-author">Author</div> <div class='field__items'> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-author"><a href="/author/geoffrey-hunt" hreflang="und">Geoffrey Hunt</a></div> </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-keyword--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-keyword.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-keyword.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-keyword field--type-entity-reference field--label-above" id="id-field-keyword"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-keyword">Keywords</div> <div class='field__items'> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/civil-war-colorado-0" hreflang="en">civil war in colorado</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/colorado-civil-war-history" hreflang="en">colorado civil war history</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/confederates-colorado" hreflang="en">confederates in colorado</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/confederate-history-colorado" hreflang="en">confederate history colorado</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/colorado-gold-rush" hreflang="en">Colorado Gold Rush</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/colorado-territory" hreflang="en">Colorado Territory</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/maces-hole" hreflang="en">maces hole</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/julesburg" hreflang="en">julesburg</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/sand-creek-massacre" hreflang="en">Sand Creek Massacre</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/cheyenne" hreflang="en">cheyenne</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/arapaho" hreflang="en">arapaho</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/nuche" hreflang="en">nuche</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/ute" hreflang="en">ute</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/treaty-fort-wise" hreflang="en">Treaty of Fort Wise</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/treaty-fort-laramie" hreflang="en">Treaty of Fort Laramie</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/santa-fe-trail" hreflang="en">Santa Fe Trail</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/moketaveto" hreflang="en">moketaveto</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/hossa" hreflang="en">hossa</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/black-kettle" hreflang="en">black kettle</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/hungate-murders" hreflang="en">hungate murders</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/redlining" hreflang="en">redlining</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/george-floyd-protests" hreflang="en">george floyd protests</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/sundown-towns" hreflang="en">sundown towns</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/golden" hreflang="en">golden</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/louisville" hreflang="en">louisville</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/loveland" hreflang="en">loveland</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/colorado-springs" hreflang="en">colorado springs</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/battle-glorieta-pass" hreflang="en">battle of glorieta pass</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/john-chivington" hreflang="en">John Chivington</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/john-evans" hreflang="en">John Evans</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/william-gilpin" hreflang="en">William Gilpin</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/colorado-volunteers" hreflang="en">colorado volunteers</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/us-army-colorado" hreflang="en">us army colorado</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/indigenous-history" hreflang="en">indigenous history</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/indigenous-removal" hreflang="en">indigenous removal</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/treaties" hreflang="en">treaties</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/fort-lyon" hreflang="en">Fort Lyon</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/ned-wynkoop" hreflang="en">ned wynkoop</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/rio-grande-river" hreflang="en">rio grande river</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/lewis-weld" hreflang="en">lewis weld</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/apache-canyon" hreflang="en">apache canyon</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/henry-hopkins-sibley" hreflang="en">henry hopkins sibley</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/edward-canby" hreflang="en">edward canby</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/ers-canby" hreflang="en">ers canby</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/hh-sibley" hreflang="en">hh sibley</a></div> </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'links__node' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * links--node.html.twig x links--inline.html.twig * links--node.html.twig * links.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/navigation/links--inline.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/navigation/links--inline.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-references-html--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-references-html.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-references-html.html.twig * field--text-long.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-references-html field--type-text-long field--label-above" id="id-field-references-html"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-references-html">References</div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-references-html"><p>Don E. Alberts, <em>The Battle of Glorieta: Union Victory in the West</em> (College Station, Texas: Texas A&amp;M University Press, 1998).</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Don E. Alberts, <em>Rebels on the Rio Grande: the Civil War Journal of A. B. Peticolas </em>(Albuquerque: Merit Press, 1993).</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Ovando Hollister, ed. Richard Harwell, <em>Colorado Volunteers in New Mexico, 1862 </em>(Chicago: R.R. Donnelly and Sons Co., reprinted 1962).</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Nolie Mumey, <em>Bloody Trails Along the Rio Grande: the Diary of Alonzo Ferdinand Ickis </em>(Denver: Old West Publishing Co., 1958).</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Christopher M. Rein, <em>The Second Colorado Cavalry: A Civil War Regiment on the Great Plains</em> (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2020).</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Micah Smith, “<a href="https://www.denver7.com/news/local-news/sundown-towns-uncovering-colorados-dark-past-dangers-for-black-people-staying-out-after-sunset">Sundown towns: Uncovering Colorado’s dark past, dangers for Black people staying out after sunset</a>,” <em>Denver 7</em>, February 26, 2021.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>William Clarke Whitford, <em>Colorado Volunteers in the Civil War: the New Mexico Campaign in 1862 </em>(Denver: State Historical and Natural History Society, 1906).</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Flint Whitlock, <em>Distant Bugles, Distant Drums: The Union Response to the Confederate Invasion of New Mexico </em>(Boulder: University Press of Colorado, 2006).</p>&#13; &#13; <p><em>War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series I, 9 </em>(Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1880; reprinted 1985 by Historical Times, Inc.).</p>&#13; </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-additional-information-htm--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-additional-information-htm.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-additional-information-htm.html.twig * field--text-long.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-additional-information-htm field--type-text-long field--label-above" id="id-field-additional-information-htm"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-additional-information-htm">Additional Information</div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-additional-information-htm"><p>Eugene H. Berwanger, <a href="https://www.worldcat.org/search?q=ti%3A%22The%20Rise%20of%20the%20Centennial%20State:%20Colorado%20Territory,%201861-76%20%22" title="Find in a library with WorldCat"><em>The Rise of the Centennial State: Colorado Territory, 1861–76 </em></a>(Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2007).</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Ray C. Colton, <em>The Civil War in the Western Territories: Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah </em>(Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1959).</p>&#13; </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> Tue, 13 Sep 2022 20:14:34 +0000 yongli 3823 at http://coloradoencyclopedia.org Panic of 1893 http://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/panic-1893 <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--title--encyclopedia-article.html.twig x field--node--title.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--title.html.twig * field--string.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Panic of 1893</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--uid--encyclopedia-article.html.twig x field--node--uid.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--uid.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'username' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/user/username.html.twig' --> <span lang="" about="/users/yongli" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">yongli</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/user/username.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--created--encyclopedia-article.html.twig x field--node--created.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--created.html.twig * field--created.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'time' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/time.html.twig' --> <time datetime="2021-02-16T14:16:07-07:00" title="Tuesday, February 16, 2021 - 14:16" class="datetime">Tue, 02/16/2021 - 14:16</time> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/time.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'addtoany_standard' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * addtoany-standard--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * addtoany-standard--node.html.twig x addtoany-standard.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/addtoany/templates/addtoany-standard.html.twig' --> <span class="a2a_kit a2a_kit_size_32 addtoany_list" data-a2a-url="http://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/panic-1893" data-a2a-title="Panic of 1893"><a class="a2a_dd addtoany_share" href="https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Fcoloradoencyclopedia.org%2Farticle%2Fpanic-1893&amp;title=Panic%20of%201893"></a><a class="a2a_button_facebook"></a><a class="a2a_button_twitter"></a><a class="a2a_button_email"></a></span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/addtoany/templates/addtoany-standard.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--body--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--body.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--body.html.twig * field--text-with-summary.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item" id="id-body"><p>The Panic of 1893 touched off a nationwide economic depression that lasted for at least three years, threw millions out of work, and caused banks and businesses to fail across the country. In Colorado and other <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/precious-metal-mining-colorado"><strong>silver-mining</strong></a> states, the panic was tied to the abrupt collapse of the silver industry after two decades of explosive growth. When silver prices dropped, not only did mines close, so did the businesses that supplied them. The farmers who grew food for mining towns also suffered.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>The Panic of 1893 hit Colorado’s mining industry hard, throwing many miners out of work in places such as <a href="http://www.coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/leadville"><strong>Leadville</strong></a> and <a href="http://www.coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/aspen"><strong>Aspen</strong></a>. The nationwide depression of agricultural prices also hurt Colorado’s farmers. Overall, the Panic of 1893 was a major inflection point in Colorado’s long history of boom-and-bust economic cycles, which began with the <a href="http://www.coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/fur-trade-colorado"><strong>fur trade</strong></a> in the early 1800s and continued through the <a href="/article/colorado-gold-rush"><strong>Colorado Gold Rush</strong></a>, the Panic of 1893, and sporadic <strong>oil </strong>and <strong>real estate</strong> booms in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>Background</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>Throughout the late nineteenth century, Americans engaged in a national debate over which metal—gold, silver, or both—should back US currency. Support was largely sectional: northerners for gold, southerners and westerners for silver. Most Coloradans, awash in silver booms from Leadville to Aspen and the <a href="http://www.coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/san-juan-mountains"><strong>San Juans</strong></a>, wanted silver coinage. After the Bland-Allison Act of 1878 required the federal government to buy a certain amount of silver each month, Colorado’s annual production of the metal remained steadily above 10 million ounces. By contrast, the state’s gold production was only one-third as valuable (or less) throughout the 1880s.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>But the West’s silver boom undermined itself. A glut in the silver market sent prices crashing—down 25 percent at the end of the 1880s—and worried mine owners appealed to Congress for help. The result was the Sherman Silver Purchase Act of 1890, which required the government to buy 4.5 million ounces of silver each month. This increased the government’s silver purchase by 50 percent and was a boon to Colorado and other silver-mining states.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Silver also had the strong backing of the People’s Party of the USA, commonly known as the <a href="http://www.coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/populism-colorado"><strong>Populist</strong></a> Party, which emerged during an agricultural depression in the late 1880s. Populists sought to put farmers and working-class people on a more equal political footing with banks and other large businesses. They supported backing the US dollar with silver because it would expand the money supply and result in inflation, yielding farmers higher prices for their crops while reducing the value of debts owed to banks and other creditors. This made the party popular not only in the South and Midwest but also in silver states like Colorado; in 1892 Coloradans elected a Populist governor, <strong>Davis Waite</strong>, the biggest political victory for the new party anywhere in the nation.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Despite the support of Colorado and several other silver-mining states, third-party Populists lost the presidential election of 1892. After a four-year absence, Democrat Grover Cleveland returned to office for a second term, and he took over a nation on the brink of economic collapse. Years of agricultural depression, the draining of gold in the US treasury (due in part to increased mandatory silver purchases since 1890), and reduced international trade due to the McKinley Tariff of 1890 all contributed to the Panic of 1893.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>Economic Devastation</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>Along with most other states, Colorado’s depression began in earnest that spring. By July 1893, some 45,000 Coloradans were out of work, as banks closed and railroad companies teetered on the edge of bankruptcy.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>While there were multiple causes of the Panic, the reduction of gold reserves in the US treasury got the most attention from lawmakers and the Cleveland Administration. Unlike many in his party, the president was no fan of silver and believed that mandatory silver buying hurt the US economy. Cleveland eventually overcame his own party’s objections, and the Sherman Silver Purchase Act was repealed in October 1893, adding to the economic panic in Colorado and across the silver-mining West.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>After the repeal of the Sherman Act, the price of silver dropped by about one-third. Although the repeal was intended to stimulate the national economy, it devastated Colorado’s. Of the silver mining towns, Leadville suffered the most, with ninety mines closed and 2,500 unemployed. Altogether, more than 9,500 jobs dried up in mining towns across the state.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>The free-falling economy affected rich and poor alike. Mining millionaires such as <a href="http://www.coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/horace-tabor"><strong>Horace Tabor</strong></a> lost their fortunes, while real estate tycoon <strong>Henry Brown</strong>, could not pay his debts on the new <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/brown-palace-hotel"><strong>Brown Palace Hotel</strong></a> and was eventually forced to sell the building. Twelve banks failed in <a href="/article/denver"><strong>Denver</strong></a> alone. Real estate prices plummeted and the population grew restless, traveling around the state looking for any kind of work. Colorado’s suffering was not unique; by December 1893, some 3 million people had lost jobs nationwide, with some trades losing up to 80 percent of their workforces. National unemployment stood at 12.3 percent by 1894 and did not drop below 10 percent until 1899.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Governor Waite could do little to provide relief, as his policies drew substantial opposition from the main parties and Populists held minorities in both chambers of the state legislature. Local communities did what they could. The <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/state-soldiers%E2%80%99-and-sailors%E2%80%99-home"><strong>State Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Home</strong></a>, built in the <a href="http://www.coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/san-luis-valley"><strong>San Luis Valley</strong></a> in 1889 to house aging Civil War veterans, took in more veterans who were now unemployed. Out-of-work silver miners flocked to the booming <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/cripple-creek"><strong>Cripple Creek</strong></a> gold district, where mine owners took advantage of the labor shortage; tensions with workers eventually reached a fever pitch during a <strong>strike in 1894</strong>. Leadville built a large and elaborate <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/leadville-ice-palace"><strong>Ice Palace</strong></a> in the winter of 1895–96 to attract tourists, even as the local mining industry was beginning to pick back up.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>Legacy</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>The effects of the economic depression caused by the Panic of 1893 did not fade until 1897, even though mining had somewhat recovered in Leadville and other places. Consolidation helped revive the silver-mining industry. In Colorado, for example, only the largest mining companies were able to make the capital investments necessary to survive the depression, while most smaller outfits went out of business. The large companies then bought up their failing competitors, further solidifying control over the industry. This trend increased corporate power nationwide and eventually led to the famous antimonopoly campaigns of President Theodore Roosevelt in the early 1900s.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>The Panic of 1893 produced the worst economic depression in US history to that point. It was known as the Great Depression until that moniker was earned by the economic rupture of the 1930s. Colorado’s mining industry recovered, but the state became less dependent on it than before, as manufacturing and agriculture emerged as important economic pillars. On the plains, agriculture underwent shifts, as the depression forced more farmers to raise cattle and pushed others off their land entirely and into Denver and other cities (the new <a href="http://www.coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/sugar-beet-industry"><strong>sugar beet industry</strong></a> eventually revived Colorado agriculture after 1900). The panic even had an effect on Colorado architecture; buildings built after the crash tended to be simpler than the ornate edifices built during the silver boom, perhaps reflecting a newfound humility among the state population.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>The memory of the Panic of 1893 eventually faded, as the early 1900s brought the booming sugar beet and manufacturing industries, <a href="http://www.coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/colorado-fuel-iron"><strong>Colorado Fuel &amp; Iron</strong></a>’s statewide coal empire, and a surge in agricultural demand during <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/colorado-world-war-i"><strong>World War I</strong></a>. Still, the Panic of 1893 holds lessons for the state that are not always heeded. For instance, by the early 1980s, Colorado’s economy was nearly as dependent on oil shale as it was on silver during the 1890s. When ExxonMobil and other oil companies abruptly abandoned shale production in 1982, Colorado’s economy went into a free fall, suggesting that the state had learned little from past boom-and-bust cycles. Colorado’s economy has since diversified, but the Panic of 1893 still reminds Coloradans that they cannot afford to take any booming industry for granted—whether it is silver in the 1890s, oil in the 1980s, or the current real estate boom along the <a href="http://www.coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/front-range"><strong>Front Range</strong></a>.</p>&#13; </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-author--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-author.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-author.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-author field--type-entity-reference field--label-above" id="id-field-author"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-author">Author</div> <div class='field__items'> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-author"><a href="/author/encyclopedia-staff" hreflang="und">Encyclopedia Staff</a></div> </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-keyword--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-keyword.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-keyword.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-keyword field--type-entity-reference field--label-above" id="id-field-keyword"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-keyword">Keywords</div> <div class='field__items'> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/panic-1893" hreflang="en">panic of 1893</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/depression" hreflang="en">depression</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/boom-and-bust" hreflang="en">boom and bust</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/colorado-history" hreflang="en">colorado history</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/colorado-economy" hreflang="en">colorado economy</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/oil-and-gas" hreflang="en">oil and gas</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/real-estate" hreflang="en">real estate</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/gold-rush" hreflang="en">gold rush</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/colorado-gold-rush" hreflang="en">Colorado Gold Rush</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/silver" hreflang="en">silver</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/silver-mining" hreflang="en">silver mining</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/aspen" hreflang="en">Aspen</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/leadville" hreflang="en">Leadville</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/cripple-creek" hreflang="en">Cripple Creek</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/san-juan-mountains" hreflang="en">San Juan Mountains</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/silverton" hreflang="en">Silverton</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/denver" hreflang="en">Denver</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/smelter" hreflang="en">smelter</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/mining-history" hreflang="en">mining history</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/soldiers-and-sailors-home" hreflang="en">soldiers and sailors home</a></div> </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'links__node' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * links--node.html.twig x links--inline.html.twig * links--node.html.twig * links.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/navigation/links--inline.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/navigation/links--inline.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-references-html--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-references-html.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-references-html.html.twig * field--text-long.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-references-html field--type-text-long field--label-above" id="id-field-references-html"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-references-html">References</div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-references-html"><p>Carl Abbott, Stephen J. Leonard, and David McComb, <em>Colorado: A History of the Centennial State </em>3rd ed. (Boulder: University Press of Colorado, 1994).</p>&#13; &#13; <p>John M. Cunningham, “<a href="https://www.britannica.com/event/United-States-presidential-election-of-1892/additional-info#history">United States Presidential Election of 1892</a>,” <em>Encyclopedia Britannica</em>, updated November 1, 2019.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Brandon R. DuPont, “Panic in the Plains: Agricultural Markets and the Panic of 1893,” <em>Cliometrica</em> 3, no. 1 (2007).</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Oscar Handlin, “<a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/United-States">United States</a>,” <em>Encyclopedia Britannica</em>, updated December 8, 2020.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Charles W. Henderson, <a href="https://pubs.usgs.gov/pp/0138/report.pdf"><em>Mining in Colorado: A History of Discovery, Development, and Production</em></a> (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1926).</p>&#13; &#13; <p>“<a href="https://www.coloradohistoricnewspapers.org/?a=d&amp;d=TAV18931230-01.2.5&amp;srpos=3&amp;e=--1893---1895--en-20--1--img-txIN%7ctxCO%7ctxTA-%22out+of+work%22-------0-----">Millions out of Work</a>,” <em>The Avalanche </em>(Glenwood Springs, CO), December 30, 1893.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Tom Noel and Duane Smith, <em>Colorado: The Highest State </em>(Boulder: University Press of Colorado, 2011).</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Duane Smith, <em>The Trail of Gold and Silver: Mining in Colorado, 1859–2009 </em>(Boulder: University Press of Colorado, 2009).</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Richard White, <em>The Republic for Which It Stands: The United States During Reconstruction and the Gilded Age, 1865–1896</em> (New York: Oxford University Press, 2017).</p>&#13; &#13; <p>David O. Whitten, “<a href="https://eh.net/encyclopedia/the-depression-of-1893/">The Depression of 1893</a>,” Economic History Association, n.d.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Amy Zimmer, “<a href="https://www.coloradovirtuallibrary.org/resource-sharing/state-pubs-blog/the-crash-of-1893/">The Crash of 1893</a>,” Colorado State Publications Blog, Colorado Virtual Library, </p>&#13; </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-additional-information-htm--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-additional-information-htm.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-additional-information-htm.html.twig * field--text-long.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-additional-information-htm field--type-text-long field--label-above" id="id-field-additional-information-htm"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-additional-information-htm">Additional Information</div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-additional-information-htm"><p>Stephen J. Leonard and Tom Noel, <em>Denver: Mining Camp to Metropolis </em>(Boulder: University Press of Colorado, 1990).</p>&#13; </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> Tue, 16 Feb 2021 21:16:07 +0000 yongli 3549 at http://coloradoencyclopedia.org Treaty of Fort Laramie http://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/treaty-fort-laramie <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--title--encyclopedia-article.html.twig x field--node--title.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--title.html.twig * field--string.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Treaty of Fort Laramie</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: x field--node--field-article-image--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-article-image.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-article-image.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--field-article-image--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div id="carouselEncyclopediaArticle" class="carousel slide" data-bs-ride="true"> <div class="carousel-inner"> <div class="carousel-item active"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'node' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * node--3288--article-detail-image.html.twig * node--3288.html.twig x node--image--article-detail-image.html.twig * node--image.html.twig * node--article-detail-image.html.twig * node.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/content/node--image--article-detail-image.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-encyclopedia-image--image.html.twig * field--node--field-encyclopedia-image.html.twig * field--node--image.html.twig * field--field-encyclopedia-image.html.twig * field--image.html.twig x field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-encyclopedia-image field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'image_formatter' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-formatter.html.twig' --> <a href="/image/fort-laramie-wyoming"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'image_style' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-style.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'image' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image.html.twig' --> <img loading="lazy" src="/sites/default/files/styles/wide/public/Treaty-of-Fort-Laramie-Media-1_0.jpg?itok=Ab8PwQd-" width="1000" height="671" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" class="image-style-wide" /> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-style.html.twig' --> </a> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-formatter.html.twig' --> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="carousel-caption d-none d-md-block"> <h5><a href="/image/fort-laramie-wyoming" rel="bookmark"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--title--image.html.twig x field--node--title.html.twig * field--node--image.html.twig * field--title.html.twig * field--string.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Fort Laramie, Wyoming</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> </a></h5> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--body--image.html.twig * field--node--body.html.twig * field--node--image.html.twig * field--body.html.twig x field--text-with-summary.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--text-with-summary.html.twig' --> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>A fur trade post-turned military fort, Fort Laramie in southern Wyoming was the site of two major treaties with Native Americans, one in 1851 (Arapaho, Cheyenne, Sioux) and another in 1868 (Sioux and Arapaho).</p> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--text-with-summary.html.twig' --> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/content/node--image--article-detail-image.html.twig' --> </div> </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--field-article-image--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--uid--encyclopedia-article.html.twig x field--node--uid.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--uid.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'username' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/user/username.html.twig' --> <span lang="" about="/users/yongli" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">yongli</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/user/username.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--created--encyclopedia-article.html.twig x field--node--created.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--created.html.twig * field--created.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'time' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/time.html.twig' --> <time datetime="2020-06-09T11:50:09-06:00" title="Tuesday, June 9, 2020 - 11:50" class="datetime">Tue, 06/09/2020 - 11:50</time> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/time.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'addtoany_standard' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * addtoany-standard--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * addtoany-standard--node.html.twig x addtoany-standard.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/addtoany/templates/addtoany-standard.html.twig' --> <span class="a2a_kit a2a_kit_size_32 addtoany_list" data-a2a-url="http://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/treaty-fort-laramie" data-a2a-title="Treaty of Fort Laramie"><a class="a2a_dd addtoany_share" href="https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Fcoloradoencyclopedia.org%2Farticle%2Ftreaty-fort-laramie&amp;title=Treaty%20of%20Fort%20Laramie"></a><a class="a2a_button_facebook"></a><a class="a2a_button_twitter"></a><a class="a2a_button_email"></a></span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/addtoany/templates/addtoany-standard.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--body--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--body.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--body.html.twig * field--text-with-summary.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item" id="id-body"><p>Signed in 1851, the Treaty of Fort Laramie was made between the US government and several Indigenous nations of the <a href="/article/colorado%E2%80%99s-great-plains"><strong>Great Plains</strong></a>—including the <strong>Cheyenne</strong>, <strong>Arapaho</strong>, and <strong>Lakota</strong>—who occupied parts of present southern Wyoming and northern Colorado. The treaty was part of the government’s efforts to protect a growing stream of whites heading west and to establish a military presence in the region. The treaty gave the Cheyenne and Arapaho sovereignty over the <a href="http://www.coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/south-platte-river"><strong>Platte River</strong></a> basin as long as the Indians allowed free passage of white migrants and allowed the government to build roads and forts on their land. However, the <a href="/article/colorado-gold-rush"><strong>Colorado Gold Rush</strong></a> of 1858–59 made the treaty obsolete, as whites moved onto Cheyenne and Arapaho land that was supposedly protected.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>Origins</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>During the eighteenth century, <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/impact-disease-native-americans"><strong>disease outbreaks</strong></a> and conflicts over the fur trade disrupted the Indian nations of the upper Midwest, prompting some to abandon the region in search of a better life. The Arapaho and Cheyenne people moved from a relatively settled life in western Minnesota to a more nomadic life in pursuit of <a href="/article/bison"><strong>bison</strong></a> on the Great Plains. They reached present-day Colorado by the early nineteenth century, after being pushed westward by the Sioux, who also came to occupy the plains of Wyoming and Colorado around the same time.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>In 1834, during the height of the <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/fur-trade-colorado"><strong>fur trade</strong></a> in the American West, American traders William Sublette and Robert Campbell established what became Fort Laramie in present-day Wyoming, at the confluence of the Laramie and <strong>North Platte</strong> Rivers. The Cheyenne, Arapaho, and Sioux often gathered there to trade bison robes for weapons, iron cookware, coffee, and other American goods.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>In the 1840s, increasing numbers of white migrants began traveling west to settle in the newly acquired territories of Oregon and California. Fort Laramie, then known as Fort John, became a popular waystation for migrants traveling the <strong>Great Platte River Road</strong>. Their wagon trains drove away game, trampled grazing grasses for bison, and consumed timber and other important resources on the Great Plains. This put the migrants in competition with the Cheyenne, Arapaho, and other local Indians.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Initially, Plains Indians attacked the wagon trains, but after intentional shows of force by the US military, Indian leaders took a more diplomatic stance, allowing white travelers passage in exchange for food and gifts. Firearms, for instance, were a valuable gift because they allowed the Indians to more effectively battle their rivals and more efficiently hunt smaller game, as the bison herds were rapidly diminishing.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>By 1849, with white migration ramping up during the California Gold Rush, the US government saw the need to establish treaties with Indian Nations across the Plains in order to secure peaceful passage for its citizens and set the stage for the American colonization of the interior West. That year, anticipating the need for a more robust military presence in the region, the government bought Fort John from the American Fur Company and renamed it Fort Laramie; it also pursued <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/treaty-abiqui%C3%BA"><strong>negotiations with the Utes</strong></a>, another Indian nation in what became Colorado.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>Negotiations at Horse Creek</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>At the direction of superintendent of Indian Affairs D. D. Mitchell, <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/indian-agencies-and-agents"><strong>Indian Agent</strong></a> Thomas Fitzpatrick spent most of 1850 traveling among the various Indian Nations along the Platte Rivers, delivering gifts and inviting leaders to a peace treaty council. The next year, on August 31, more than 9,000 Plains Indians representing nine nations came to the designated treaty campground on Horse Creek, about thirty-five miles east of Fort Laramie.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Negotiations began once Mitchell and Fitzpatrick arrived. Each Indian nation was asked to designate a federally recognized “chief” who would negotiate and sign treaties on behalf of his people. On September 17, the final Treaty of Fort Laramie was signed by leaders of the Arapaho, Arikara, Assiniboine, Cheyenne, Crow, Gros Ventre, Mandan, Shoshone, and Lakota nations. Each nation was assigned a territory that generally overlapped with where its people already lived and hunted, though all nations were permitted to hunt on each other’s land. In exchange for their continued sovereignty over their own affairs, Indian nations agreed to keep the peace between themselves and with Americans, and to allow the government to build forts and roads in their territories. As compensation for previous intrusions on Indian land, the government promised to distribute $50,000 in <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/indian-annuities"><strong>annuities</strong></a> among all nine nations for ten years, provided they adhere to the terms of the treaty. Each nation then selected delegates to tour the eastern United States; these trips were designed to showcase the wealth and power of the United States so that Indian nations would abide by the treaty.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>Aftermath</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>After issuing a hefty parting gift of food and supplies to each Indian nation in attendance, Fitzpatrick and Mitchell must have thought that the Treaty of Fort Laramie would indeed bring, as the treaty promised, “effective and lasting peace” to the Great Plains. But whatever peace it did bring quickly unraveled over the ensuing decade. As more whites joined the westward migrations during the 1850s, bison and other Plains resources became even scarcer. The Plains Indians grew increasingly dependent upon annuity payments that often failed to materialize or were unevenly distributed among the nations, resulting in starvation and hostility.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>The government’s failure to deliver the promised annuities undercut the treaty’s two fundamental goals: to preserve peace between Indian nations and between Indians and whites. As their food sources diminished and government annuities failed to supplement the loss, the Indian nations began to fight each other for the best hunting grounds and raid more wagon trains for supplies.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>Colorado Gold Rush and Treaty of Fort Wise</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>Finally, the discovery of gold near present-day <a href="/article/denver"><strong>Denver</strong></a> in 1858 set off a new stream of white migrants to Cheyenne and Arapaho land at the feet of the Rockies. The Colorado Gold Rush brought fresh outbreaks of disease to both Indian nations and increased the stress on local resources. It also made the Treaty of Fort Laramie obsolete, as Americans now coveted territory that was supposedly protected under its terms.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>To secure the gold fields and the routes leading to and between them, the US government renegotiated with the Cheyenne and Arapaho, who signed the <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/treaty-fort-wise"><strong>Treaty of Fort Wise</strong></a> in 1861. Unlike the Treaty of Fort Laramie, which allowed Indian nations to retain some measure of sovereignty over extensive territory, the Treaty of Fort Wise relegated the Cheyenne and Arapaho to a much smaller tract in eastern Colorado, where they lived under government supervision.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>The new arrangements caused a division within both tribes between those who wanted to fight for control of their land and those who preferred peace through negotiations, however unfair. This split contributed to the increase in hostilities between both tribes and the US military during the 1860s and to atrocities such as the <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/sand-creek-massacre"><strong>Sand Creek Massacre</strong></a> in 1864.</p>&#13; </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-author--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-author.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-author.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-author field--type-entity-reference field--label-above" id="id-field-author"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-author">Author</div> <div class='field__items'> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-author"><a href="/author/encyclopedia-staff" hreflang="und">Encyclopedia Staff</a></div> </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-keyword--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-keyword.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-keyword.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-keyword field--type-entity-reference field--label-above" id="id-field-keyword"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-keyword">Keywords</div> <div class='field__items'> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/cheyenne" hreflang="en">cheyenne</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/arapaho" hreflang="en">arapaho</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/treaty-fort-laramie" hreflang="en">Treaty of Fort Laramie</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/american-indian" hreflang="en">american indian</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/native-american" hreflang="en">native american</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/south-platte-river" hreflang="en">south platte river</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/north-platte-river" hreflang="en">north platte river</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/treaties" hreflang="en">treaties</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/colorado-gold-rush" hreflang="en">Colorado Gold Rush</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/fort-wise-treaty" hreflang="en">fort wise treaty</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/medicine-lodge-treaty" hreflang="en">medicine lodge treaty</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/great-plains" hreflang="en">Great Plains</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/plains-indians" hreflang="en">Plains Indians</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/fur-trade" hreflang="en">fur trade</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/great-platte-river-road" hreflang="en">great platte river road</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/indian-agents" hreflang="en">indian agents</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/wyoming" hreflang="en">Wyoming</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/sand-creek-massacre" hreflang="en">Sand Creek Massacre</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/lakota" hreflang="en">lakota</a></div> </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'links__node' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * links--node.html.twig x links--inline.html.twig * links--node.html.twig * links.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/navigation/links--inline.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/navigation/links--inline.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-references-html--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-references-html.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-references-html.html.twig * field--text-long.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-references-html field--type-text-long field--label-above" id="id-field-references-html"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-references-html">References</div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-references-html"><p>Loretta Fowler, <em>Arapahoe Politics, 1851–1978: Symbols in Crises of Authority </em>(Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1982).</p>&#13; &#13; <p>National Park Service, “<a href="https://www.nps.gov/fola/learn/historyculture/index.htm">Fort Laramie: Crossroads of a Nation Moving West</a>,” updated March 31, 2015.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>State Historical Society of North Dakota, “<a href="https://www.ndstudies.gov/gr8/content/unit-iii-waves-development-1861-1920/lesson-1-changing-landscapes/topic-4-reservation-boundaries/section-2-treaty-fort-laramie-1851">Treaty of Fort Laramie 1851</a>,” n.d.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Elliott West, <em>The Contested Plains: Indians, Goldseekers, and the Rush to Colorado </em>(Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 1998).</p>&#13; </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-additional-information-htm--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-additional-information-htm.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-additional-information-htm.html.twig * field--text-long.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-additional-information-htm field--type-text-long field--label-above" id="id-field-additional-information-htm"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-additional-information-htm">Additional Information</div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-additional-information-htm"><p>Loretta Fowler, “<a href="https://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry.php?entry=AR002">Arapaho, Southern</a>,” <em>The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture</em>, Oklahoma Historical Society.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>John H. Moore, “<a href="https://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry.php?entry=CH030">Cheyenne, Southern</a>,” <em>The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture</em>, Oklahoma Historical Society.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>“<a href="http://indians.org/articles/plains-indians.html">Plains Indians</a>,” Indians.org, American Indian Heritage Foundation.</p>&#13; </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> Tue, 09 Jun 2020 17:50:09 +0000 yongli 3269 at http://coloradoencyclopedia.org Clara Brown http://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/clara-brown <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--title--encyclopedia-article.html.twig x field--node--title.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--title.html.twig * field--string.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Clara Brown</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: x field--node--field-article-image--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-article-image.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-article-image.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--field-article-image--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div id="carouselEncyclopediaArticle" class="carousel slide" data-bs-ride="true"> <div class="carousel-inner"> <div class="carousel-item active"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'node' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * node--3226--article-detail-image.html.twig * node--3226.html.twig x node--image--article-detail-image.html.twig * node--image.html.twig * node--article-detail-image.html.twig * node.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/content/node--image--article-detail-image.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-encyclopedia-image--image.html.twig * field--node--field-encyclopedia-image.html.twig * field--node--image.html.twig * field--field-encyclopedia-image.html.twig * field--image.html.twig x field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-encyclopedia-image field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'image_formatter' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-formatter.html.twig' --> <a href="/image/clara-brown"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'image_style' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-style.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'image' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image.html.twig' --> <img loading="lazy" src="/sites/default/files/styles/wide/public/Clara-Brown-Media-1_0.jpg?itok=Vx0komlt" width="600" height="867" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" class="image-style-wide" /> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-style.html.twig' --> </a> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-formatter.html.twig' --> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="carousel-caption d-none d-md-block"> <h5><a href="/image/clara-brown" rel="bookmark"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--title--image.html.twig x field--node--title.html.twig * field--node--image.html.twig * field--title.html.twig * field--string.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Clara Brown</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> </a></h5> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--body--image.html.twig * field--node--body.html.twig * field--node--image.html.twig * field--body.html.twig x field--text-with-summary.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--text-with-summary.html.twig' --> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item">Clara Brown was likely the first African American woman to come to Colorado. Born a slave in Virginia, Brown was freed in Kentucky and headed west during the Colorado Gold Rush of 1859. She acquired mining properties in Gilpin County and used her wealth to become a philanthropist who helped former slaves rebuild their lives in Colorado.</div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--text-with-summary.html.twig' --> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/content/node--image--article-detail-image.html.twig' --> </div> </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--field-article-image--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--uid--encyclopedia-article.html.twig x field--node--uid.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--uid.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'username' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/user/username.html.twig' --> <span lang="" about="/users/yongli" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">yongli</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/user/username.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--created--encyclopedia-article.html.twig x field--node--created.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--created.html.twig * field--created.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'time' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/time.html.twig' --> <time datetime="2019-08-20T14:48:48-06:00" title="Tuesday, August 20, 2019 - 14:48" class="datetime">Tue, 08/20/2019 - 14:48</time> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/time.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'addtoany_standard' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * addtoany-standard--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * addtoany-standard--node.html.twig x addtoany-standard.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/addtoany/templates/addtoany-standard.html.twig' --> <span class="a2a_kit a2a_kit_size_32 addtoany_list" data-a2a-url="http://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/clara-brown" data-a2a-title="Clara Brown"><a class="a2a_dd addtoany_share" href="https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Fcoloradoencyclopedia.org%2Farticle%2Fclara-brown&amp;title=Clara%20Brown"></a><a class="a2a_button_facebook"></a><a class="a2a_button_twitter"></a><a class="a2a_button_email"></a></span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/addtoany/templates/addtoany-standard.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--body--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--body.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--body.html.twig * field--text-with-summary.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item" id="id-body"><p>Clara Brown (c. 1803–85) was an ex-slave who became a philanthropist, entrepreneur, and humanitarian in <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/denver"><strong>Denver</strong></a> and <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/central-city%E2%80%93black-hawk-historic-district"><strong>Central City</strong></a>. She is said to be the first African American woman to have traveled West during the <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/colorado-gold-rush"><strong>Colorado Gold Rush</strong></a>. While in Central City, she established <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/gilpin-county"><strong>Gilpin County</strong></a>’s first laundry as well as <strong>Colorado’s first Protestant church</strong>. She opened her home to freed slaves and hosted church services, which earned her the nickname “Aunt” Clara. Brown was inducted into the <strong>Colorado Women’s Hall of Fame</strong> in 1989. In 2012 a hill in Gilpin County formerly named “Negro Hill” was renamed “Clara Brown Hill” in honor of Brown’s contributions to the county’s history.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>Early Life</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>Clara Brown was born into slavery in Fredericksburg, Virginia, around 1803. She is presumed to have been separated from her father but remained with her mother for her entire childhood. Clara and her mother were later moved to Kentucky to work on a tobacco farm with their Virginian owners. By the age of eighteen, Clara was married to a fellow slave named Richard, and they had four children—Richard Jr., Margaret, and twins Paulina Ann and Eliza Jane. However, Brown was soon separated from her family; Paulina Ann drowned at a young age, and her husband and the rest of her children were sold after their owner passed.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>New Beginnings</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>In 1859, at fifty-six years of age, Clara was freed by her owner, George Brown, according to Kentucky state law. Clara’s first and foremost objective was to be reunited with her family, but she eventually found out about their tragic fates. Her husband, Richard, and daughter Margaret had died in slavery, and her son, Richard Jr., had been sold so many times that he was no longer traceable. This left Brown to search for her youngest daughter, Eliza Jane.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>In 1859 Clara served as a midwife and cook for a wagon train headed West, eventually bringing her to Denver. She soon relocated herself to Central City, where she established the first laundry in Gilpin County. During her stay, Clara accumulated a large sum of savings and eventually acquired housing and mining properties worth around $10,000 (roughly $1,000,000 today) in both Denver and <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/boulder"><strong>Boulder</strong></a>. From then on, Clara earned herself the nickname “Aunt” Clara for providing shelter and food for the local townspeople as well as help establish Colorado’s first Protestant church.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>The Long Journey’s End</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>Clara eventually earned enough money to finally start searching for her family. Clara began her search as an official representative for <strong>Frederick Pitkin</strong>, a Republican governor of Colorado, helping former slaves establish themselves as freedmen and women. Her search first began in Kentucky, and she soon learned of her family’s mostly unfortunate fate. However, she was successful in helping freed slaves reestablish themselves in Colorado. Then, in 1882 Clara located her daughter Eliza Jane in Council Bluffs, Iowa. That same year, Clara returned to Denver with her granddaughter. She was voted into the <strong>Society of Colorado Pioneers</strong> in 1884. Clara Brown died on October 23, 1885. Her legacy lives on in the <strong>City Opera House</strong>, the state<strong> <a href="/article/colorado-state-capitol">capitol building</a></strong>, and in Central City, where she has a hill named in honor of her and the rest of Colorado’s black pioneers.</p>&#13; &#13; <p><strong>Adapted from “</strong><a href="https://www.cogreatwomen.org/project/clara-brown/"><strong>Clara Brown</strong></a><strong>,” Colorado Women’s Hall of Fame, n.d.</strong></p>&#13; </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-keyword--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-keyword.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-keyword.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-keyword field--type-entity-reference field--label-above" id="id-field-keyword"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-keyword">Keywords</div> <div class='field__items'> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/clara-brown" hreflang="en">Clara Brown</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/gilpin-county" hreflang="en">Gilpin County</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/colorado-gold-rush" hreflang="en">Colorado Gold Rush</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/african-americans" hreflang="en">African Americans</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/black-history" hreflang="en">black history</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/aunt-clara" hreflang="en">aunt clara</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/philanthropy" hreflang="en">philanthropy</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/central-city" hreflang="en">Central City</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/boulder" hreflang="en">boulder</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/denver" hreflang="en">Denver</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/frederick-pitkin" hreflang="en">frederick pitkin</a></div> </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'links__node' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * links--node.html.twig x links--inline.html.twig * links--node.html.twig * links.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/navigation/links--inline.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/navigation/links--inline.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-references-html--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-references-html.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-references-html.html.twig * field--text-long.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-references-html field--type-text-long field--label-above" id="id-field-references-html"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-references-html">References</div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-references-html"><p>Patricia Calhoun, “<a href="https://www.westword.com/news/gilpin-countys-negro-hill-is-renamed-aunt-clara-brown-hill-finally-5116639">Gilpin County’s Negro Hill Is Renamed Aunt Clara Brown Hill. Finally</a>,” <em>Westword</em>, May 16, 2012.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Tricia Martineau Wagner, “<a href="https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/brown-clara-1803-1885/">Clara Brown (1803–1885)</a>,” The Black Past: Remembered and Reclaimed, n.d.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Shanti Zaid, “<a href="https://www.historycolorado.org/sites/default/files/files/Kids_Students/Bios/Aunt_Clara_Brown.pdf">Aunt Clara Brown</a>,” History Colorado, n.d.</p>&#13; </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-additional-information-htm--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-additional-information-htm.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-additional-information-htm.html.twig * field--text-long.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-additional-information-htm field--type-text-long field--label-above" id="id-field-additional-information-htm"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-additional-information-htm">Additional Information</div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-additional-information-htm"><p>Roger Baker, <em>Clara: An Ex-Slave in Gold Rush Colorado </em>(Black Hawk, CO: Black Hawk Publishing, 2003).</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Patricia Calhoun, “<a href="https://www.westword.com/news/gilpin-county-manager-roger-baker-on-why-colorado-remembers-clara-brown-8655786">Gilpin County Manager Roger Baker on Why Colorado Remembers Clara Brown</a>,” <em>Westword</em>, January 4, 2017.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Cathy Luchetti, <em>Women of the West</em> (New York: W.W. Norton, 2001).</p>&#13; </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-teacher-resources--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-teacher-resources.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-teacher-resources.html.twig * field--text-with-summary.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-teacher-resources field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item" id="id-field-teacher-resources"><p><a href="/sites/default/files/TRS6%20Clara%20Brown.docx">Clara Brown Teacher Resource Set (Word)</a></p>&#13; &#13; <p><a href="/sites/default/files/TRS6%20Clara%20Brown.pdf">Clara Brown Teacher Resource Set (PDF)</a></p>&#13; </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-4th-grade--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-4th-grade.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-4th-grade.html.twig * field--text-with-summary.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-4th-grade field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item" id="id-field-4th-grade"><p>Clara Brown (c. 1803–85) was an ex-slave. She became a business owner in <strong>Denver </strong>and <strong>Central City</strong>. She is said to be the first African American woman to travel West during the <strong>Colorado Gold Rush</strong>. Brown established <strong>Gilpin County</strong>’s first laundry as well as <strong>Colorado’s first Protestant church</strong>. She opened her home to freed slaves and hosted church services. This earned her the nickname “Aunt” Clara. Brown was inducted into the Colorado Women’s Hall of Fame in 1989.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>Early Life</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>Clara Brown was born into slavery in Fredericksburg, Virginia, around 1803. She is thought to have been separated from her father. Brown remained with her mother for her entire childhood. Clara and her mother were later moved to Kentucky to work on a tobacco farm. By the age of eighteen, Clara was married to a fellow slave named Richard. They had four children—Richard Jr., Margaret, and twins Paulina Ann and Eliza Jane. Clara was separated from her family. Paulina Ann drowned at a young age. Her husband and the rest of her children were sold after their owner passed.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>New Beginnings</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>In 1859, at age fifty-six, Clara was freed. She served as a midwife and cook for a wagon train headed West. The job brought her to Denver. She moved to Central City and established the first laundry in Gilpin County. Clara saved money. She used it to buy housing and mining properties worth around $10,000 (roughly $1,000,000 today) in Denver and <strong>Boulder</strong>. She earned the nickname “Aunt” Clara after providing shelter and food for the local townspeople. Clara also helped establish Colorado’s first Protestant church.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>The Long Journey’s End</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>Clara finally earned enough money to start looking for her family. Her search began in Kentucky. However, her husband, Richard, and daughter Margaret had died in slavery. Her son, Richard Jr., had been sold so many times that he was no longer traceable. This left Brown to search for her youngest daughter, Eliza Jane.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>As Clara looked, she helped freed slaves reestablish themselves in Colorado. In 1882 Clara found her daughter Eliza Jane in Council Bluffs, Iowa. Clara came back to Denver with her granddaughter.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Clara Brown was voted into the <strong>Society of Colorado Pioneers</strong> in 1884. She died on October 23, 1885. A hill in Central City is named in honor of her.</p>&#13; </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-8th-grade--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-8th-grade.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-8th-grade.html.twig * field--text-with-summary.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-8th-grade field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item" id="id-field-8th-grade"><p>Clara Brown (c. 1803–85) was an ex-slave who became a philanthropist, entrepreneur, and humanitarian in <strong>Denver</strong> and <strong>Central City</strong>. She is said to be the first African American woman to have traveled West during the <strong>Colorado Gold Rush</strong>. While in Central City, she established <strong>Gilpin County</strong>’s first laundry as well as <strong>Colorado’s first Protestant church</strong>. She opened her home to freed slaves and hosted church services, which earned her the nickname “Aunt” Clara. Brown was inducted into the <strong>Colorado Women’s Hall of Fame</strong> in 1989. In 2012 a hill in Gilpin County was renamed “Clara Brown Hill” in honor of Brown.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>Early Life</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>Clara Brown was born into slavery in Fredericksburg, Virginia, around 1803. She is presumed to have been separated from her father. Clara remained with her mother for her entire childhood. Clara and her mother were later moved to Kentucky to work on a tobacco farm with their Virginian owners. By the age of eighteen, Clara was married to a fellow slave named Richard. They had four children—Richard Jr., Margaret, and twins Paulina Ann and Eliza Jane. However, Brown was soon separated from her family. Paulina Ann drowned at a young age. Her husband and the rest of her children were sold after their owner passed.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>New Beginnings</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>In 1859, at fifty-six years of age, Clara was freed by her owner, George Brown. Clara’s first objective was to be reunited with her family. She eventually found out about their tragic fates. Her husband, Richard, and daughter Margaret had died in slavery. Clara's son, Richard Jr., had been sold so many times that he was no longer traceable. This left Brown to search for her youngest daughter, Eliza Jane.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>In 1859 Clara served as a midwife and cook for a wagon train headed West. The job eventually brought her to Denver. She soon relocated to Central City. She established the first laundry in Gilpin County. During her stay, Clara accumulated a large savings. She acquired housing and mining properties worth around $10,000 (roughly $1,000,000 today) in both Denver and <strong>Boulder</strong>. From then on, Clara earned herself the nickname “Aunt” Clara for providing shelter and food for the local townspeople as well as help establish Colorado’s first Protestant church.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>The Long Journey’s End</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>Clara eventually earned enough money to finally start searching for her family. Clara began her search as an official representative for <strong>Frederick Pitkin</strong>, a Republican governor of Colorado, helping former slaves establish themselves as freedmen and women. Her search first began in Kentucky, and she soon learned of her family’s mostly unfortunate fate. However, she was successful in helping freed slaves reestablish themselves in Colorado. Then, in 1882 Clara located her daughter Eliza Jane in Council Bluffs, Iowa. That same year, Clara returned to Denver with her granddaughter. She was voted into the <strong>Society of Colorado Pioneers</strong> in 1884. Clara Brown died on October 23, 1885. Her legacy lives on in the <strong>City Opera House</strong>, <strong>Denver’s capitol</strong> <strong>building</strong>, and in Central City, where she has a hill named in honor of her and the rest of Colorado’s black pioneers.</p>&#13; </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-10th-grade--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-10th-grade.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-10th-grade.html.twig * field--text-with-summary.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-10th-grade field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item" id="id-field-10th-grade"><p>Clara Brown (c. 1803–85) was an ex-slave who became a philanthropist, entrepreneur, and humanitarian in <strong>Denver</strong> and <strong>Central City</strong>. She is said to be the first African American woman to have traveled West during the <strong>Colorado Gold Rush</strong>. While in Central City, she established <strong>Gilpin County</strong>’s first laundry as well as <strong>Colorado’s first Protestant church</strong>. She opened her home to freed slaves and hosted church services, which earned her the nickname “Aunt” Clara. Brown was inducted into the <strong>Colorado Women’s Hall of Fame</strong> in 1989. In 2012 a hill in Gilpin County formerly named “Negro Hill” was renamed “Clara Brown Hill” in honor of Brown’s contributions to the county’s history.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>Early Life</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>Clara Brown was born into slavery in Fredericksburg, Virginia, around 1803. She is presumed to have been separated from her father but remained with her mother for her entire childhood. Clara and her mother were later moved to Kentucky to work on a tobacco farm with their Virginian owners. By the age of eighteen, Clara was married to a fellow slave named Richard, and they had four children—Richard Jr., Margaret, and twins Paulina Ann and Eliza Jane. However, Brown was soon separated from her family; Paulina Ann drowned at a young age, and her husband and the rest of her children were sold after their owner passed.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>New Beginnings</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>In 1859, at fifty-six years of age, Clara was freed by her owner, George Brown, according to Kentucky state law. Clara’s first and foremost objective was to be reunited with her family, but she eventually found out about their tragic fates. Her husband, Richard, and daughter Margaret had died in slavery, and her son, Richard Jr., had been sold so many times that he was no longer traceable. This left Brown to search for her youngest daughter, Eliza Jane.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>In 1859 Clara served as a midwife and cook for a wagon train headed West, eventually bringing her to Denver. She soon relocated herself to Central City, where she established the first laundry in Gilpin County. During her stay, Clara accumulated a large sum of savings and eventually acquired housing and mining properties worth around $10,000 (roughly $1,000,000 today) in both Denver and <strong>Boulder</strong>. From then on, Clara earned herself the nickname “Aunt” Clara for providing shelter and food for the local townspeople as well as help establish Colorado’s first Protestant church.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>The Long Journey’s End</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>Clara eventually earned enough money to finally start searching for her family. Clara began her search as an official representative for <strong>Frederick Pitkin</strong>, a Republican governor of Colorado, helping former slaves establish themselves as freedmen and women. Her search first began in Kentucky, and she soon learned of her family’s mostly unfortunate fate. However, she was successful in helping freed slaves reestablish themselves in Colorado. Then, in 1882 Clara located her daughter Eliza Jane in Council Bluffs, Iowa. That same year, Clara returned to Denver with her granddaughter. She was voted into the <strong>Society of Colorado Pioneers</strong> in 1884. Clara Brown died on October 23, 1885. Her legacy lives on in the <strong>City Opera House</strong>, <strong>Denver’s capitol building</strong>, and in Central City, where she has a hill named in honor of her and the rest of Colorado’s black pioneers.</p>&#13; </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> Tue, 20 Aug 2019 20:48:48 +0000 yongli 3069 at http://coloradoencyclopedia.org Teller House http://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/teller-house <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--title--encyclopedia-article.html.twig x field--node--title.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--title.html.twig * field--string.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Teller House</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--uid--encyclopedia-article.html.twig x field--node--uid.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--uid.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'username' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/user/username.html.twig' --> <span lang="" about="/users/yongli" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">yongli</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/user/username.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--created--encyclopedia-article.html.twig x field--node--created.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--created.html.twig * field--created.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'time' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/time.html.twig' --> <time datetime="2018-05-21T13:54:38-06:00" title="Monday, May 21, 2018 - 13:54" class="datetime">Mon, 05/21/2018 - 13:54</time> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/time.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'addtoany_standard' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * addtoany-standard--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * addtoany-standard--node.html.twig x addtoany-standard.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/addtoany/templates/addtoany-standard.html.twig' --> <span class="a2a_kit a2a_kit_size_32 addtoany_list" data-a2a-url="http://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/teller-house" data-a2a-title="Teller House"><a class="a2a_dd addtoany_share" href="https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Fcoloradoencyclopedia.org%2Farticle%2Fteller-house&amp;title=Teller%20House"></a><a class="a2a_button_facebook"></a><a class="a2a_button_twitter"></a><a class="a2a_button_email"></a></span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/addtoany/templates/addtoany-standard.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--body--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--body.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--body.html.twig * field--text-with-summary.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item" id="id-body"><p>Built in 1871–72 by brothers <a href="/article/henry-teller"><strong>Henry M. Teller</strong></a> and Willard&nbsp;Teller, the Teller House is one of the oldest and most important buildings in <a href="/article/central-city%E2%80%93black-hawk-historic-district"><strong>Central City</strong></a>. It has served as the town’s main hotel for more than sixty years. The four-story brick hotel played host to Central City’s most important visitors, including President Ulysses S. Grant during his tour of Colorado in 1873. Today the Teller House is home to several businesses and serves the community as a museum showcasing Central City’s history as one of the most profitable mining towns in the Centennial State.</p> <h2>Staying in Splendor</h2> <p>Henry M. Teller was one of Central City’s most prominent early residents. A lawyer by trade, Teller came to Colorado to take part in the <a href="/article/colorado-gold-rush"><strong>Colorado Gold Rush</strong></a>, arriving in 1861. Teller was not a miner, but rather used his knowledge of the law and his innate business acumen to accumulate wealth and make connections. Teller’s investments ranged from telegraph companies to fruit farms, but his most notable business accomplishment was to help organize the <strong>Colorado Central Railroad</strong>, bringing Central City its first rail connection. Teller would go on to become Colorado’s senior US senator from 1876 to 1909 and serve as secretary of the interior under Presidents James A. Garfield and Chester A. Arthur between 1881 and 1885.</p> <p>As a resident of Central City during its peak boom years, Teller recognized that the mining town desperately needed a hotel. In 1871 Henry Teller and his brother Willard&nbsp;offered $60,000 of their own money for the hotel if Central City residents would buy $25,000 worth of stock. A deal was struck, with construction beginning in the summer of 1871.</p> <p>The hotel was completed in just one year, opening its 150 rooms to guests in July 1872. At the time, the Teller House was one of the most opulent buildings in <a href="/article/colorado-territory"><strong>Colorado Territory</strong></a> and ranked as the territory’s largest hotel outside of <a href="/article/denver"><strong>Denver</strong></a>. The four-story brick building featured a flat, concrete-covered roof, a beautiful flagstone terrace, and a wooden balcony overlooking the street on the hotel’s west side, while the historic Romanesque construction and arched windows on the first floor showed off the grandeur and wealth of Colorado’s mining frontier.</p> <p>The Teller House served Central City when the town was at the height of its fame and wealth between 1870 and 1890, and its finely furnished sitting rooms served as gathering places for Colorado’s high society and visiting elite. When Ulysses S. Grant visited Central City in April 1873, the president was invited to walk into the hotel along a sidewalk covered in silver ingots, and he was served a luxurious eight-course meal in the hotel dining room.</p> <p>The Teller House nearly burned to the ground in 1874, just two years after its completion. Fortunately, the hotel’s brick construction helped spare it from the destruction that claimed most of Central City’s business district, and may have even helped stop the fire from spreading through a town built mostly from wood. Central City was wealthy enough to rebuild almost immediately, and a new town made from brick and stone sprang up from the fire’s ashes. The Teller House and the Tellers themselves helped facilitate this rejuvenation, and many of the buildings still standing near the hotel were constructed during the postfire building boom.</p> <p>In addition to the hotel, the Teller House was home to several other businesses, including a jewelry store, an eyeglass emporium, a barbershop, and the Rocky Mountain Bank. After the 1874 fire, the bank moved around the corner to a new building, but other businesses continued operating from the Teller House throughout the twentieth century.</p> <h2>The Face on the Barroom Floor</h2> <p>Though the Teller House was famous for its opulence, the hotel entered a period of decline along with the rest of Central City in the early twentieth century. While Colorado’s admission to the union in 1876 initially spurred investment in Central City’s mining operations, many of the town’s wealthy and influential residents moved to Denver after it was selected as the state capital. As Central City lost its elite residents, more lucrative and productive mineral lodes in <a href="/article/aspen"><strong>Aspen</strong></a>, <strong>Leadville</strong>, and the <a href="/article/cripple-creek"><strong>Cripple Creek</strong></a> District outshined the former Front Range boomtown. By the turn of the century, Central City had been almost totally eclipsed by these other towns in terms of its cultural and economic relevance.</p> <p>But Central City’s cultural and historic roots ran deeper than the veins of ore that had propelled its rise to prominence in the 1860s. The revival of the <a href="/article/central-city-opera-house"><strong>Central City Opera</strong></a>’s summer opera festival during the 1930s brought new hopes of economic prosperity to the former mining town, spurring a period of citywide restoration during which much of the Teller House was renovated. Restoration crews even uncovered original frescoes painted by English illustrator Charles St. George Stanley in the hotel’s bar, the Elevator. The frescoes were restored to their original glory by artist Paschal Quackenbush in 1932.</p> <p>As stunning as the frescoes were, the hotel bar’s main attraction is the face painted on the barroom floor. In 1936, after one too many drinks, <strong><em>Denver Post </em>s</strong>taff artist Herndon Davis painted a woman’s face on the floor as an homage to French poet Hugh d’Arcy’s poem “The Face in the Barroom Floor.” What began as a joke has become one of Central City’s biggest tourist attractions, and visitors to the bar must now peer through a protective enclosure to see Davis’s work.</p> <h2>Today</h2> <p>Since its restoration in the 1930s, the Teller House has continued to serve Central City as a cultural hub. The old building still benefits from its proximity to the Central City Opera House, which has maintained offices in the Teller House since the 1990s. While Central City and nearby Black Hawk are both National <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/central-city–black-hawk-historic-district"><strong>Historic Landmarks</strong></a>, the towns’ main attractions today are their many casinos. Indeed, gambling is <a href="/article/gilpin-county"><strong>Gilpin County</strong></a>’s major economic engine. Taxes on gambling revenues help support the historic preservation of Central City, and the hotel’s $10 million renovation in the early 1990s was funded by a private casino operator who installed twenty slot machines in the old hotel (the machines were removed in the early 2000s due to declining revenue). While no gambling takes place in the Teller House today, games of chance would have been familiar to hotel guests during its heyday in the nineteenth century.</p> <p>The Teller House building was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1973. It is now maintained as a museum, where visitors can learn what life was like when Central City was a rough-and-tumble frontier mining town. The Teller House is dwarfed today by the shiny new hotels and casinos that dominate Central City’s skyline. But the grand old hotel stands as an ancestor of those modern casinos, a reminder of Gilpin County’s living heritage.</p> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-author--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-author.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-author.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-author field--type-entity-reference field--label-above" id="id-field-author"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-author">Author</div> <div class='field__items'> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-author"><a href="/author/bock-samuel" hreflang="und">Bock, Samuel</a></div> </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-keyword--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-keyword.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-keyword.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-keyword field--type-entity-reference field--label-above" id="id-field-keyword"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-keyword">Keywords</div> <div class='field__items'> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/teller-house" hreflang="en">teller house</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/central-city" hreflang="en">Central City</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/henry-teller" hreflang="en">Henry Teller</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/colorado-gold-rush" hreflang="en">Colorado Gold Rush</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/gilpin-county" hreflang="en">Gilpin County</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/colorado-central-railroad" hreflang="en">Colorado Central Railroad</a></div> </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'links__node' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * links--node.html.twig x links--inline.html.twig * links--node.html.twig * links.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/navigation/links--inline.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/navigation/links--inline.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-references-html--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-references-html.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-references-html.html.twig * field--text-long.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-references-html field--type-text-long field--label-above" id="id-field-references-html"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-references-html">References</div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-references-html"><p>Alan Granruth, ed.,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.worldcat.org/search?q=ti%3A%22The%20Little%20Kingdom%20of%20Gilpin:%20Gilpin%20County,%20Colorado%22" title="Find in a library with WorldCat"><em>The Little Kingdom of Gilpin: Gilpin County, Colorado</em></a>&nbsp;(Central City, CO: Gilpin Historical Society, 2000).</p> <p>Liston E. Leyendecker and Perry Eberhart, “Teller House,” National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form (1971).</p> </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-additional-information-htm--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-additional-information-htm.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-additional-information-htm.html.twig * field--text-long.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-additional-information-htm field--type-text-long field--label-above" id="id-field-additional-information-htm"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-additional-information-htm">Additional Information</div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-additional-information-htm"><p>Carl Abbott, Stephen J. Leonard, and Thomas J. Noel,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.worldcat.org/search?q=ti%3A%22Colorado:%20A%20History%20of%20the%20Centennial%20State%22" title="Find in a library with WorldCat"><em>Colorado: A History of the Centennial State</em></a>, 5th ed. (Boulder: University Press of Colorado, 2013).</p> <p>Patricia A. Stokowski,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.worldcat.org/search?q=ti%3A%22Riches%20and%20Regrets:%20Betting%20on%20Gambling%20in%20Two%20Colorado%20Mountain%20Towns%22" title="Find in a library with WorldCat"><em>Riches and Regrets: Betting on Gambling in Two Colorado Mountain Towns</em></a>&nbsp;(Niwot: University Press of Colorado, 1996).</p> <p>William Wyckoff,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.worldcat.org/search?q=ti%3A%22Creating%20Colorado:%20The%20Making%20of%20a%20Western%20American%20Landscape,%201860-1940%22" title="Find in a library with WorldCat"><em>Creating Colorado: The Making of a Western American Landscape, 1860–1940</em></a><a><em>{}</em></a><a href="file://acnsfile.acns.colostate.edu/libraryusers/yongli/Desktop/Bock_TellerHouse_WW_NJ_UPC_3-2-18.docx#_msocom_1" id="_anchor_1" name="_msoanchor_1" uage="JavaScript">[S1]</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;(New Haven: Yale University Press, 1999).</p> <div> <hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" /> <div> <div id="_com_1" uage="JavaScript"><a id="_msocom_1" name="_msocom_1"></a> <p>&nbsp;<a href="file://acnsfile.acns.colostate.edu/libraryusers/yongli/Desktop/Bock_TellerHouse_WW_NJ_UPC_3-2-18.docx#_msoanchor_1">[S1]</a>PM: Link returned search item not found error.</p> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> Mon, 21 May 2018 19:54:38 +0000 yongli 2883 at http://coloradoencyclopedia.org Gold Hill http://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/gold-hill <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--title--encyclopedia-article.html.twig x field--node--title.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--title.html.twig * field--string.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Gold Hill</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: x field--node--field-article-image--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-article-image.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-article-image.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--field-article-image--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div id="carouselEncyclopediaArticle" class="carousel slide" data-bs-ride="true"> <div class="carousel-inner"> <div class="carousel-item active"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'node' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * node--2531--article-detail-image.html.twig * node--2531.html.twig x node--image--article-detail-image.html.twig * node--image.html.twig * node--article-detail-image.html.twig * node.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/content/node--image--article-detail-image.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-encyclopedia-image--image.html.twig * field--node--field-encyclopedia-image.html.twig * field--node--image.html.twig * field--field-encyclopedia-image.html.twig * field--image.html.twig x field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-encyclopedia-image field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'image_formatter' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-formatter.html.twig' --> <a href="/image/early-gold-hill"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'image_style' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-style.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'image' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image.html.twig' --> <img loading="lazy" src="/sites/default/files/styles/wide/public/Gold-Hill-Media-1_0.jpg?itok=1H4WZK12" width="1000" height="576" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" class="image-style-wide" /> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-style.html.twig' --> </a> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-formatter.html.twig' --> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="carousel-caption d-none d-md-block"> <h5><a href="/image/early-gold-hill" rel="bookmark"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--title--image.html.twig x field--node--title.html.twig * field--node--image.html.twig * field--title.html.twig * field--string.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Early Gold Hill</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> </a></h5> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--body--image.html.twig * field--node--body.html.twig * field--node--image.html.twig * field--body.html.twig x field--text-with-summary.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--text-with-summary.html.twig' --> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>After members of the Aikins party discovered gold in January 1859, prospectors rushed to Gold Hill, which became the first permanent mining camp in the Colorado mountains.</p> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--text-with-summary.html.twig' --> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/content/node--image--article-detail-image.html.twig' --> </div> <div class="carousel-item"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'node' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * node--2532--article-detail-image.html.twig * node--2532.html.twig x node--image--article-detail-image.html.twig * node--image.html.twig * node--article-detail-image.html.twig * node.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/content/node--image--article-detail-image.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-encyclopedia-image--image.html.twig * field--node--field-encyclopedia-image.html.twig * field--node--image.html.twig * field--field-encyclopedia-image.html.twig * field--image.html.twig x field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-encyclopedia-image field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'image_formatter' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-formatter.html.twig' --> <a href="/image/revived-gold-hill"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'image_style' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-style.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'image' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image.html.twig' --> <img loading="lazy" src="/sites/default/files/styles/wide/public/Gold-Hill-Media-2_0.jpg?itok=NXF6xtct" width="1000" height="581" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" class="image-style-wide" /> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-style.html.twig' --> </a> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-formatter.html.twig' --> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="carousel-caption d-none d-md-block"> <h5><a href="/image/revived-gold-hill" rel="bookmark"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--title--image.html.twig x field--node--title.html.twig * field--node--image.html.twig * field--title.html.twig * field--string.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Revived Gold Hill</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> </a></h5> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--body--image.html.twig * field--node--body.html.twig * field--node--image.html.twig * field--body.html.twig x field--text-with-summary.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--text-with-summary.html.twig' --> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>Gold Hill declined in the late 1860s but experienced a new boom after 1872, when miners discovered gold and silver tellurides in the area.</p> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--text-with-summary.html.twig' --> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/content/node--image--article-detail-image.html.twig' --> </div> <div class="carousel-item"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'node' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * node--2534--article-detail-image.html.twig * node--2534.html.twig x node--image--article-detail-image.html.twig * node--image.html.twig * node--article-detail-image.html.twig * node.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/content/node--image--article-detail-image.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-encyclopedia-image--image.html.twig * field--node--field-encyclopedia-image.html.twig * field--node--image.html.twig * field--field-encyclopedia-image.html.twig * field--image.html.twig x field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-encyclopedia-image field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'image_formatter' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-formatter.html.twig' --> <a href="/image/tourism-takes-hold"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'image_style' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-style.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'image' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image.html.twig' --> <img loading="lazy" src="/sites/default/files/styles/wide/public/Gold-Hill-Media-5_1.jpg?itok=95CoNwxR" width="1000" height="750" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" class="image-style-wide" /> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-style.html.twig' --> </a> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-formatter.html.twig' --> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="carousel-caption d-none d-md-block"> <h5><a href="/image/tourism-takes-hold" rel="bookmark"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--title--image.html.twig x field--node--title.html.twig * field--node--image.html.twig * field--title.html.twig * field--string.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Tourism Takes Hold</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> </a></h5> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--body--image.html.twig * field--node--body.html.twig * field--node--image.html.twig * field--body.html.twig x field--text-with-summary.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--text-with-summary.html.twig' --> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>In the early twentieth century, mining declined and Gold Hill shrank. It turned into a small residential community and summer resort. The Blue Bird Lodge (bottom left) was owned by a Chicago women's group as a private retreat.</p> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--text-with-summary.html.twig' --> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/content/node--image--article-detail-image.html.twig' --> </div> </div> <button class="carousel-control-prev" type="button" data-bs-target="#carouselEncyclopediaArticle" data-bs-slide="prev"> <span class="carousel-control-prev-icon" aria-hidden="true"></span> <span class="visually-hidden">Previous</span> </button> <button class="carousel-control-next" type="button" data-bs-target="#carouselEncyclopediaArticle" data-bs-slide="next"> <span class="carousel-control-next-icon" aria-hidden="true"></span> <span class="visually-hidden">Next</span> </button> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--field-article-image--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--uid--encyclopedia-article.html.twig x field--node--uid.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--uid.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'username' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/user/username.html.twig' --> <span lang="" about="/users/yongli" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">yongli</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/user/username.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--created--encyclopedia-article.html.twig x field--node--created.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--created.html.twig * field--created.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'time' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/time.html.twig' --> <time datetime="2017-05-03T16:54:46-06:00" title="Wednesday, May 3, 2017 - 16:54" class="datetime">Wed, 05/03/2017 - 16:54</time> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/time.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'addtoany_standard' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * addtoany-standard--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * addtoany-standard--node.html.twig x addtoany-standard.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/addtoany/templates/addtoany-standard.html.twig' --> <span class="a2a_kit a2a_kit_size_32 addtoany_list" data-a2a-url="http://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/gold-hill" data-a2a-title="Gold Hill"><a class="a2a_dd addtoany_share" href="https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Fcoloradoencyclopedia.org%2Farticle%2Fgold-hill&amp;title=Gold%20Hill"></a><a class="a2a_button_facebook"></a><a class="a2a_button_twitter"></a><a class="a2a_button_email"></a></span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/addtoany/templates/addtoany-standard.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--body--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--body.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--body.html.twig * field--text-with-summary.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item" id="id-body"><p>Gold Hill was established in 1859 as the first permanent <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/precious-metal-mining-colorado"><strong>mining</strong></a> camp in the Colorado mountains. Located at an elevation of about 8,300 feet in <strong><a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/boulder-county">Boulder County</a></strong>, the town experienced several booms and busts before settling into a small-scale tourist economy in the twentieth century. Today Gold Hill—which was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989—has about 200 residents and continues to represent perhaps the best intact example in the state of an early mining community.</p> <h2>Mountain District No. 1</h2> <p>In the fall of 1858, the <a href="/article/colorado-gold-rush">Colorado Gold Rush</a> spurred Capt. <strong>Thomas Aikins</strong> to lead a party of about fifteen up the <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/south-platte-river">South Platte River</a> toward Cherry Creek. On the way, they stopped at the ruins of <strong>Fort St. Vrain</strong>, an old fur <a href="/article/nineteenth-century-trading-posts">trading post</a> along the river. Aikins supposedly climbed the fort’s crumbling walls and looked west, where he saw an inviting valley at the base of the foothills. He led his party to what is now Settler’s Park in <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/boulder">Boulder</a>, where the Southern <strong>Arapaho</strong> leader <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/niwot-left-hand">Niwot</a> (or Left Hand) allowed them to camp through the winter.</p> <p>During the winter, Aikins’s son, James, and other members of the party started to explore the creeks above their camp. On January 16, 1859, they found gold in a tributary of Fourmile Creek. They called the stream Gold Run, and the mining camp that took shape on a nearby ridge became Gold Hill. After news of the find reached <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/denver">Denver</a>, hundreds of prospectors rushed to Gold Hill, which became the first permanent mining town in the Colorado mountains. In February the Aikins party established Boulder City as a supply town, and on March 7, 1859, miners in Gold Hill organized Mountain District No. 1, the first mining district in what would become Colorado.</p> <p>Gold Hill soon swelled to 1,500 residents, who mined roughly $100,000 of gold in their first year. The most famous and productive early find in Gold Hill was the Horsfall Lode, discovered in June 1859 by <strong>David Horsfall</strong>, William Blore, and Matthew McCaslin. That fall, Thomas J. Graham built the area’s first stamp mill. In May 1860, a fire destroyed the camp, but it was soon rebuilt at a new, better-sheltered site on the saddle between Gold Run and Lick Skillet Gulch.</p> <p>As with many of Colorado’s earliest mining towns, Gold Hill declined quickly after its initial boom. The exhaustion of placer gold—easily accessible gold in streambeds—made mining more difficult and expensive, and the <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/civil-war-colorado"><strong>Civil War</strong></a> drained the town of prospectors and capital. Over the next five years, the Horsfall Lode almost single-handedly kept Gold Hill alive. By 1870 the town had only a handful of residents left.</p> <h2>Tellurium Boom</h2> <p>Gold Hill experienced a second and more sustained boom starting in 1872, when miners discovered gold and silver tellurides in the area. Tellurides contain tellurium, an element used in alloys. Prospectors again flocked to the foothills above Boulder, founding new towns such as Sunshine and Salina. Gold Hill revived and grew to more than 1,000 residents who quickly put up dozens of log and frame buildings. The earliest surviving buildings in Gold Hill date to this period, including the log cabins at 210 and 240 Horsfall Street. By 1873, the newly bustling town had a store, a post office, a school, and several boardinghouses. Charles Wentworth built a three-story log hotel, sometimes called the Miners Hotel or Grand Mountain Hotel.</p> <p>Over the next decade, Gold Hill grew to include three general stores, a drugstore, a barbershop, a meat market, a pool hall, a livery stable, and seven saloons. The largest and most productive mine in Gold Hill during this era was the Slide Mine. Discovered by W. B. Pell in July 1875, it produced ores worth more than $2 million by 1910. Even during these years, however, Gold Hill’s growth was hampered by its remote location. All the approaches into town were too steep for a railroad, so the nearest station was two miles away. Without a railroad to haul ores and bring materials, the town’s development never took off.</p> <p>After 1900 the quantity and quality of the ores around Gold Hill declined. Mining activity slowed, and the population dropped to about 200 by 1910. By that time, the mines around Gold Hill had produced ores worth a total of about $13 million. Over the next decade, mining in Gold Hill essentially stopped, and the town shrank to only fifty people. Many houses and businesses were abandoned. Mining experienced a brief revival during the Great Depression, when gold prices were high and labor was cheap. That minor boom ended when the government shut down gold mines during World War II, and most mines never reopened.</p> <h2>Preservation</h2> <p>With the rise of automobiles in the 1910s and 1920s, Gold Hill started to attract tourists who drove up the steep canyon roads from Boulder. In 1921, for example, a Chicago women’s group called the Blue Birds bought the Wentworth Hotel and turned it into a private summer retreat called the Blue Bird Lodge. Five years later, they built a log dining hall next to the lodge. Some mining cabins started to be converted into summer homes, but the tourist economy sprouting in Gold Hill was soon squashed by the <strong>Great Depression</strong>. For the next generation, the town survived as a small residential community. In 1962 Barbara and Frank Finn bought the Blue Bird Lodge and dining hall, which they renamed the Gold Hill Inn.</p> <p>Gold Hill never died out. It also never experienced enough development to destroy the town’s early log buildings or change its mining-camp feel. In the 1960s, the growth of Boulder sparked concerns in Gold Hill about the effects of new development on the historic town. In 1968 residents banded together as the Gold Hill Organization to Safeguard the Town (GHOST), and in 1972 they won historic preservation zoning that allowed them to review and approve all permits for new construction in town. Gold Hill residents also have hindered development by resisting efforts to pave any of the approaches into town.</p> <p>Historic preservation in Gold Hill remains an active concern. In the late 1990s, Historic Gold Hill opened a local history museum and archive with the help of a <strong>State Historical Fund </strong>grant. In 2000 land containing the ruins of the original townsite and the Horsfall Mine were listed for sale and threatened with development. The nonprofit <strong>Colorado Preservation Inc.</strong> named the site one of the state’s most endangered places to draw attention to it, and Boulder County soon bought the land to preserve it as open space.</p> <p>The town faces threats from natural disasters as well as economic development. In September 2010, the massive <strong>Fourmile Canyon Fire</strong> broke out near Gold Hill. The fire burned a total of 168 houses and caused more than $200 million in damages across nearly 6,200 acres, making it one of the most destructive <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/wildfire-colorado#page-title"><strong>wildfires</strong></a> in Colorado history. The historic Gold Hill townsite was on the edge of the fire but survived without losing any houses.</p> <p><a class="colorbox colorbox-insert-image" href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/image/gold-hill-today"><img alt="Gold Hill Today" class="image-large" src="/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/Gold-Hill-Media-6_0.jpg?itok=TjDyFLCl" style="float:right; height:319px; margin:15px; width:480px"></a> Today Gold Hill has about 200 residents and more than 30 historic buildings, many of which are made of logs and date back to the town’s late nineteenth-century mining boom. The town’s two main businesses are the Blue Bird Lodge and Gold Hill Inn—still run by the Finn family—and the Gold Hill General Store, which serves meals, sells a wide variety of items, and houses the town library. The town’s 1874 schoolhouse is still in use.</p> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-author--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-author.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-author.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-author field--type-entity-reference field--label-above" id="id-field-author"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-author">Author</div> <div class='field__items'> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-author"><a href="/author/encyclopedia-staff" hreflang="und">Encyclopedia Staff</a></div> </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-keyword--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-keyword.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-keyword.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-keyword field--type-entity-reference field--label-above" id="id-field-keyword"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-keyword">Keywords</div> <div class='field__items'> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/colorado-gold-rush" hreflang="en">Colorado Gold Rush</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/boulder" hreflang="en">boulder</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/boulder-county" hreflang="en">boulder county</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/gold-run" hreflang="en">Gold Run</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/horsfal-lode" hreflang="en">Horsfal Lode</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/slide-mine" hreflang="en">Slide Mine</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/cash-mine" hreflang="en">Cash Mine</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/tellurium" hreflang="en">tellurium</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/thomas-aikins" hreflang="en">thomas aikins</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/fourmile-canyon-fire" hreflang="en">Fourmile Canyon Fire</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/endangered-places" hreflang="en">Endangered Places</a></div> </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'links__node' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * links--node.html.twig x links--inline.html.twig * links--node.html.twig * links.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/navigation/links--inline.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/navigation/links--inline.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-references-html--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-references-html.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-references-html.html.twig * field--text-long.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-references-html field--type-text-long field--label-above" id="id-field-references-html"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-references-html">References</div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-references-html"><p>Deborah Edge Abele, “Gold Hill,” National Register of Historic Places Registration Form (October 1987; rev. November 1988).</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Robert Balsley, <em>Early Gold Hill</em> (n.p.: Storyteller Images, 1992).</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Charlie Brennan, <a href="https://www.dailycamera.com/2015/09/04/fourmile-fire-five-years-of-progress-but-dangers-linger/">“Fourmile Fire: Five years of progress, but danger lingers,”</a> <em>Boulder Daily Camera</em>, September 6, 2015.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Thomas J. Noel and Dan W. Corson, <em>Boulder County: An Illustrated History</em></p>&#13; &#13; <p>(Carlsbad, CA: Heritage Media, 1999).</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Silvia Pettem, <em>Red Rocks to Riches: Gold Mining in Boulder County, Then and Now</em> (Boulder: Stonehenge, 1980).</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Laura Snider, <a href="https://www.dailycamera.com/2009/08/12/gold-hill-celebrates-150th-birthday/">“Gold Hill celebrates 150th birthday,”</a> <em>Boulder Daily Camera</em>, August 12, 2009.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Laura Snider, <a href="https://www.dailycamera.com/2009/08/14/theres-still-gold-in-them-hills/">“There’s (still) gold in them hills,”</a> <em>Boulder Daily Camera</em>, May 11, 2008.</p>&#13; </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-additional-information-htm--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-additional-information-htm.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-additional-information-htm.html.twig * field--text-long.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-additional-information-htm field--type-text-long field--label-above" id="id-field-additional-information-htm"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-additional-information-htm">Additional Information</div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-additional-information-htm"><p>John K. Aldrich, <em>Ghosts of Boulder County: A Guide to the Ghost Towns and Mining Camps of Boulder County, Colorado</em> (Lakewood, CO: Centennial Graphics, 1986).</p> <p><a href="https://coloradopreservation.org/programs/endangered-places/endangered-places-archives/original-gold-hill-townsite/">“Original Gold Hill Townsite,”</a> Colorado Preservation Inc., Endangered Places Archives.</p> <p>Silvia Pettem, <em>Guide to Historic Western Boulder County</em> (Evergreen, CO: Cordillera, 1989).</p> </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> Wed, 03 May 2017 22:54:46 +0000 yongli 2530 at http://coloradoencyclopedia.org Jefferson County http://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/jefferson-county <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--title--encyclopedia-article.html.twig x field--node--title.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--title.html.twig * field--string.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Jefferson County</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: x field--node--field-article-image--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-article-image.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-article-image.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--field-article-image--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div id="carouselEncyclopediaArticle" class="carousel slide" data-bs-ride="true"> <div class="carousel-inner"> <div class="carousel-item active"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'node' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * node--2448--article-detail-image.html.twig * node--2448.html.twig x node--image--article-detail-image.html.twig * node--image.html.twig * node--article-detail-image.html.twig * node.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/content/node--image--article-detail-image.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-encyclopedia-image--image.html.twig * field--node--field-encyclopedia-image.html.twig * field--node--image.html.twig * field--field-encyclopedia-image.html.twig * field--image.html.twig x field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-encyclopedia-image field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'image_formatter' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-formatter.html.twig' --> <a href="/image/jefferson-county"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'image_style' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-style.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'image' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image.html.twig' --> <img loading="lazy" src="/sites/default/files/styles/wide/public/Jefferson_County_0.png?itok=loSAsSjJ" width="1024" height="741" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" class="image-style-wide" /> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-style.html.twig' --> </a> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-formatter.html.twig' --> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="carousel-caption d-none d-md-block"> <h5><a href="/image/jefferson-county" rel="bookmark"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--title--image.html.twig x field--node--title.html.twig * field--node--image.html.twig * field--title.html.twig * field--string.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Jefferson County</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> </a></h5> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--body--image.html.twig * field--node--body.html.twig * field--node--image.html.twig * field--body.html.twig x field--text-with-summary.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--text-with-summary.html.twig' --> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>Jefferson County, popularly known as "Jeffco," lies west of Denver. It was established in 1861 as one of the original seventeen counties of the Colorado Territory.</p> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--text-with-summary.html.twig' --> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/content/node--image--article-detail-image.html.twig' --> </div> </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--field-article-image--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--uid--encyclopedia-article.html.twig x field--node--uid.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--uid.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'username' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/user/username.html.twig' --> <span lang="" about="/users/yongli" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">yongli</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/user/username.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--created--encyclopedia-article.html.twig x field--node--created.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--created.html.twig * field--created.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'time' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/time.html.twig' --> <time datetime="2017-03-31T16:35:04-06:00" title="Friday, March 31, 2017 - 16:35" class="datetime">Fri, 03/31/2017 - 16:35</time> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/time.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'addtoany_standard' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * addtoany-standard--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * addtoany-standard--node.html.twig x addtoany-standard.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/addtoany/templates/addtoany-standard.html.twig' --> <span class="a2a_kit a2a_kit_size_32 addtoany_list" data-a2a-url="http://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/jefferson-county" data-a2a-title="Jefferson County"><a class="a2a_dd addtoany_share" href="https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Fcoloradoencyclopedia.org%2Farticle%2Fjefferson-county&amp;title=Jefferson%20County"></a><a class="a2a_button_facebook"></a><a class="a2a_button_twitter"></a><a class="a2a_button_email"></a></span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/addtoany/templates/addtoany-standard.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--body--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--body.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--body.html.twig * field--text-with-summary.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item" id="id-body"><p>Jefferson County, commonly referred to as “Jeffco,” is named after former president Thomas Jefferson and covers 774 square miles in central Colorado west of Denver. Jeffco is bordered to the north by <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/boulder-county"><strong>Boulder</strong></a> and <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/city-and-county-broomfield"><strong>Broomfield</strong></a> Counties, to the east by <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/adams-county"><strong>Adams</strong></a>, <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/denver"><strong>Denver</strong></a>, <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/arapahoe-county"><strong>Arapahoe</strong></a>, and <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/douglas-county"><strong>Douglas</strong></a> Counties, to the south and west by <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/park-county"><strong>Park County</strong></a>, and to the west by <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/gilpin-county"><strong>Gilpin</strong></a> and <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/clear-creek-county"><strong>Clear Creek</strong></a> Counties. Jeffco’s southeastern border follows the <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/south-platte-river"><strong>South Platte River</strong></a> out of Waterton Canyon.</p> <p>With a population of 534,543 as of 2010, Jefferson County is the fourth populous county in Colorado. <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/golden-0"><strong>Golden</strong></a>, the county seat, sits at the mouth of <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/clear-creek-canyon-0"><strong>Clear Creek Canyon</strong></a> and has a population of 18,867. Most Jeffco residents—some 280,000—live in the Denver suburbs of <strong>Arvada</strong>, <strong>Wheat Ridge</strong>, and <strong>Lakewood</strong>, which are separated by the county’s major highways. In northern Jefferson County, <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/interstate-70"><strong>Interstate 70</strong></a> divides Arvada to the north and Wheat Ridge to the south. Farther south, US Highway 6 divides Wheat Ridge and Lakewood. A conglomeration of suburban communities, including Columbine and Ken Caryl, lies across US Highway 285 south of Lakewood. The small community of <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/morrison"><strong>Morrison</strong></a> (population 430) is nestled against the foothills just south of I-70 and the mountain suburb of <strong>Evergreen </strong>(population 9,038) is located off State Highway 74 west of Morrison.</p> <p>Straddling mountains, cities, and plains, the county has a long and storied history that dates back to the Ute, Arapaho, and Cheyenne people, and white prospectors of the Colorado Gold Rush. Jeffco is also home to several popular areas within the <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/denver-mountain-parks"><strong>Denver Mountain Parks</strong></a> system, including <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/red-rocks-park-and-amphitheatre"><strong>Red Rocks Park and Amphitheatre</strong></a>, <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/genesee-park"><strong>Genesee Park</strong></a>, and <strong>Lookout Mountain</strong>.</p> <h2>Native Americans</h2> <p>The Jefferson County area has a long history of human habitation, attracting groups of hunter-gatherers since prehistoric times. An archaeological site on <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/magic-mountain-archaeological-site"><strong>Magic Mountain</strong></a> south of Golden reveals that <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/paleo-indian-period"><strong>Paleo-Indian</strong></a> people hunted and gathered in the area as early as 4,000 BC.</p> <p>By the mid-sixteenth century, <a href="/article/northern-ute-people-uintah-and-ouray-reservation"><strong>Ute Indians</strong></a> occupied the <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/front-range"><strong>Front Range</strong></a>, hunting <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/rocky-mountain-elk"><strong>elk</strong></a>, <a href="/article/mule-deer"><strong>mule deer</strong></a>, <strong>bison</strong>, and other game and gathering a wide assortment of berries and roots. In the summer they followed game into mountain parks, such as Jeffco’s Elk Meadow Park, while the present site of Golden was a favored winter camp. Utes lived in temporary dwellings such as <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/tipi-0"><strong>tepees</strong></a> or <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/wickiups-and-other-wooden-features"><strong>wickiups</strong></a>. By the 1640s, the Utes had obtained horses from the Spanish, and some groups began venturing onto the plains to hunt buffalo.</p> <p>By the early nineteenth century, <strong>Arapaho </strong>and <strong>Cheyenne </strong>peoples arrived in the Jeffco area. Unlike the Utes, who primarily lived in the mountains, and the Cheyenne, who mostly kept to the plains, the Arapaho ranged across both landscapes, following buffalo across the plains and warring with Utes for hunting ground in the high country. Like the Utes, the Arapaho and Cheyenne lived in wickiups or tepees and wintered in the area of present-day Denver and Golden.</p> <h2>Early American Era</h2> <p>The United States acquired present-day Jefferson County as part of the <strong>Louisiana Purchase</strong> in 1803. Official American exploration began with the arrival of Maj. <strong>Stephen H. Long</strong>’s expedition in 1820. Thereafter, white trappers and traders began filtering into the area, hunting <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/beaver"><strong>beaver</strong></a> and other fur-bearing animals.</p> <p>The late 1850s brought hundreds of <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/precious-metal-mining-colorado"><strong>gold seekers</strong></a> to Colorado’s Front Range. A significant discovery along Cherry Creek in 1858 by <strong>William Green Russell</strong>’s party is credited with setting off the <a href="/article/colorado-gold-rush"><strong>Colorado Gold Rush</strong></a> of 1858–59. In spring 1859, Russell again found pay dirt along Clear Creek. On November 29, 1858, Arapahoe City was established as the first white settlement in Jefferson County. <strong>John H. Gregory</strong>, a miner from Arapahoe City, kept Colorado’s gold fever running high when he made a discovery near present-day <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/central-city%E2%80%93black-hawk-historic-district"><strong>Black Hawk</strong></a> in May 1859.</p> <p>In June 1859, Golden City was established at the entrance of Clear Creek Canyon as a supply center for miners. In 1860 the surveyor <strong>Edward L. Berthoud</strong> arrived, and the next year he located <strong>Berthoud Pass</strong> and surveyed a wagon route from Golden City to Utah. Berthoud would become one of Golden’s most famous citizens, serving as speaker of the territorial legislature in 1866 and lending his name to the town of <strong>Berthoud</strong> in <a href="/article/weld-county"><strong>Weld County</strong></a>.</p> <p>With the establishment of mining camps and Golden City, the area’s indigenous people now had to contend with more than just each other for resources. Miners killed game and cut timber to build homes and mining structures and Golden City and Denver now lay atop the Indians’ prime wintering grounds.</p> <p>Seeing the Native Americans as a hindrance to white settlement and economic development, the US government sought to remove them. Some Arapaho and Cheyenne relocated to eastern Colorado after the <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/treaty-fort-wise"><strong>Treaty of Fort Wise</strong></a> in 1861. In 1864 the <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/sand-creek-massacre"><strong>Sand Creek Massacre</strong></a> in present-day <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/kiowa-county"><strong>Kiowa County</strong></a> provoked an all-out war between the United States and several Indian nations on the Colorado plains. In 1867 the <strong>Medicine Lodge Treaty</strong> created the Cheyenne-Arapaho Indian Reservation in present-day Oklahoma, and by 1869, most of Colorado’s Cheyenne and Arapaho had moved there. The <a href="/article/ute-treaty-1868"><strong>Treaty of 1868</strong></a>, meanwhile, created the Consolidated Ute Indian Reservation on Colorado’s Western Slope.</p> <p>By the fall of 1870, Golden and Denver were linked to the rest of the country by three separate rail lines, and the train whistles in Jefferson County signaled the end of one way of life and the beginning of another. The last documented Ute encampment, led by <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/colorow"><strong>Colorow</strong></a>, was recorded in 1876.</p> <h2>County Development</h2> <p>Jefferson County was created with the establishment of the <a href="/article/colorado-territory"><strong>Colorado Territory</strong></a> in 1861, with Golden City as county seat. Although the economy was initially dependent on mining, farming and ranching also provided reliable income for the county’s first residents. Beginning in the late nineteenth century, Jefferson County developed first as a supplier of food and mountain resources to the larger metropolis of Denver and later as a resource-consuming metropolis itself.</p> <p>As one of Colorado’s two largest cities at the time, Golden City sparred with Denver to become the capital of the new territory. Golden City claimed greater importance because it represented the interest of the territory’s mining communities while Denver saw itself as a broker and political headquarters for the whole territory. After serving as territorial capital from 1862–67, Golden City ceded the title to its rival on the plains.</p> <p>The late nineteenth century was a period of rapid growth for Jefferson County. The county population grew from 2,390 in 1870 to 6,804 in 1880 and increased to 9,306 by the end of the century. By 1879, Golden, which had dropped the word <em>City</em> from its name in 1872, had grown into a prosperous city, albeit not without pitting itself against its rival, Denver. In the fight for the <strong>Colorado School of Mines</strong> during the late 1860s, Denver’s status as the state capital actually helped Golden’s case for hosting the college; the school was founded in Golden in 1874 to help train engineers and geologists for the mining industry. In 1873 German immigrant <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/adolph-coors"><strong>Adolph Coors</strong></a> and his partner Jacob Scheuler brought another major industry to Golden when they founded the Coors Brewery. Coors attained sole ownership in 1880. Today, the brewery remains one of the city’s major employers and tourist attractions.</p> <p>In 1869 <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/arthur-lakes"><strong>Arthur Lakes</strong></a>, a deacon of the Episcopal Church, came to Golden to preach in mining camps and teach drawing and geology at Jarvis Hall Collegiate School (later Colorado School of Mines). In 1877 Reverend Lakes was searching for plant fossils on the hogback formation above the town of Morrison (established in 1872) when he discovered a set of fossilized dinosaur bones. Lakes eventually sent samples of the fossils to the Peabody Museum of Natural History at Yale University, setting off a rush of paleontologists to Jefferson County. The hogback yielded so many bones it eventually became known as <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/dinosaur-ridge"><strong>Dinosaur Ridge</strong></a>. Among the species discovered at Dinosaur Ridge were <em>Apatosaurus </em>and Colorado’s state fossil, <em>Stegosaurus.</em></p> <p>Jeffco’s rocks held more than gold and fossils. Coal mining began as early as 1859, and by 1880, there were ten coal mines in the county producing 45,000 tons per year. Though coal mining was essential to the state’s economic development, it proved to be extremely dangerous. In 1870, for example, a methane gas leak killed one of the owners of the Leyden Mine and in 1889 a flood at the White Ash Mine—on what is now the campus of Colorado School of Mines—killed ten workers.</p> <p>Miners of gold and coal had to be fed, and ranchers around Evergreen, Coal Creek Canyon, Conifer, and Pleasant Park raised cattle and chickens to sell in Golden, Denver, and Central City. Farmer David Wall dug the county’s first irrigation ditch off Clear Creek in 1859, and by the end of the year, the county had two more ditches. The farms that became the basis for the town of Wheat Ridge were also established in 1859.</p> <p>Arvada became one of the principal farming communities in early Jeffco. The town was founded in 1859 as Ralston Creek. It was originally named for Lewis Ralston, a member of the Cherokee party who made one of the first gold finds along the Front Range in 1850. In 1858 Ralston led a group of gold seekers back to the area, and when the surface gold was panned out, a number of miners took to farming. The fertile land between the creeks coming out of the mountains proved indispensable to feeding the mining communities.</p> <p>Arvada’s farmers supplied Denver with wheat, corn, oats, plums, melons, cherries, and strawberries, as well as celery and other vegetables. <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/william-ah-loveland"><strong>W.A.H. Loveland</strong></a>’s <strong>Colorado Central Railroad</strong> arrived in 1870, allowing farmers to more easily export their crops. By the time of its incorporation in 1904, Arvada declared itself “Celery Capital of the World.” As a suburb of Denver, the city grew rapidly throughout the twentieth century.</p> <p>Lakewood, another Denver suburb in Jeffco, was platted in the summer of 1889 by W.A.H. Loveland and Charles Wech. By 1891, electric trolleys connected Golden, Arvada, and Lakewood.</p> <h2>Twentieth Century</h2> <p>While its suburban population increased during the twentieth century, Jeffco increasingly sought to balance that development with the preservation of its many scenic natural areas. Genesee Park, for example, was established as Denver’s first mountain park in 1912 and, at 2,413 acres, is the largest in the system. In 1914 the park was the site of the reintroduction of buffalo and elk, two species that were hunted nearly to extinction in Colorado during the late nineteenth century.</p> <p>Towering above the town of Morrison is a cluster of large red sandstone outcrops. The natural setting of the rocks, which are over 250 million years old, offers near-perfect acoustics. This drew the attention of entrepreneur John Brisben Walker in the early 1900s. Walker was the first to use the Red Rocks area as a music venue, putting on several concerts between 1906 and 1910. In 1927 the city of Denver bought the site from Walker, and with the help of the <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/civilian-conservation-corps-colorado"><strong>Civilian Conservation Corps</strong></a> and the Works Projects Administration, completed construction of the modern amphitheater by 1941. The venue has since hosted many famous musicians, from the Beatles to opera singers and reggae groups. It also hosts the Easter Sunrise Service, an annual nonsectarian outdoor service that began in 1947. Red Rocks Park was designated a National Historic Landmark on August 3, 2015.</p> <p>In 1951 the US government set up a nuclear weapons facility on a floodplain between Boulder and Golden called <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/rocky-flats-nuclear-facility"><strong>Rocky Flats</strong></a>. The facility brought some 5,000 jobs to the Arvada community, but the large amount of radioactive waste it created posed a threat to workers and the environment. The top-secret facility often buried nuclear waste in the surrounding landscape and was prone to fires, the largest of which nearly ignited a regional catastrophe in 1969. From the time it opened until after a joint raid by the FBI and the US Environmental Protection Agency shuttered it in 1989, the Rocky Flats facility produced some 70,000 nuclear bomb cores. In 1991 the plant was decommissioned, and the government began cleaning up the surrounding area. Today, the Rocky Flats area is a wildlife refuge.</p> <p>In 1955 the aerospace manufacturing company Glenn L. Martin established a complex in southern Jefferson County. The company was renamed Martin Marietta Corporation in 1961 after merging with American Marietta Corporation, a sand and gravel supplier. In 1995 it merged with the aerospace company Lockheed, forming <strong>Lockheed-Martin</strong>. Today, the Lockheed-Martin facility is the largest employer in Jefferson County with 4,875 employees.</p> <p>As commercial and residential development expanded after World War II, Jeffco residents sought to put some of the county’s natural areas beyond the reach of bulldozers. In 1972 PLAN Jeffco and the League of Women Voters of Jefferson County proposed to the county commissioners a one-half of 1 percent sales tax increase that would support the preservation of natural areas within the county. Voters approved the tax, and <strong>Jeffco Open Space</strong> became the nation’s first county-level preservation program funded by a local sales tax.</p> <p>Important as they were to making Jefferson County a decent, peaceful place to live, robust economic development and a commitment to natural places did not prevent a national tragedy from occurring there. On April 20, 1999, two students went on a <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/columbine-massacre"><strong>grisly shooting</strong></a> spree at Columbine High School, killing twelve students, one teacher, and themselves. The shooting was a catalyst for increased security in public schools across the country, as well as national debates on gun control and investigations into bullying.</p> <h2>Today</h2> <p>Today, Lockheed-Martin remains a major employer in Jeffco, along with the Coors Brewery in Golden, two medical centers, and Terumo BCT, a medical technology company. Each provides more than 2,000 jobs. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden adds another 1,720. Suburban development in Jefferson County has expanded in surrounding communities such as Evergreen, Indian Hills, and Conifer.</p> <p>Although commercial businesses expand the county’s tax base and give residents the opportunity to live amid the scenic foothills, suburban development presents unique challenges, including management of natural areas and dealing with the threat of <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/wildfire-colorado#page-title"><strong>wildfire</strong></a>. In July 2015, for instance, the North Hogback Fire prompted the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office to issue pre-evacuation orders for the suburban communities of Ken Caryl and North Ranch.</p> <p>Since its foundation in 1972, Jeffco Open Space has acquired 53,000 acres of land for preservation and helped create more than 3,100 acres of conservation easements on private land. To maintain the integrity of its natural spaces amid a growing population, the organization continues to enforce a lengthy list of rules for fishing, wildlife interaction, fires, and other activities.</p> <p>While most of Jefferson County today can be described as either suburban or urban, there are still more than 500 farms in the county producing melons, potatoes, and vegetable crops. The county’s cattle herd numbers about 2,000 and ranchers also raise about 2,800 horses and ponies.</p> <p>Jeffco has also endeavored to honor its Native American past, particularly the life of the Ute leader <strong><a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/colorow">Colorow</a></strong>. In 2013 the Jefferson County Historical Commission’s Landmark Designation Committee approved the Colorow Council Tree near Dinosaur Ridge as a county landmark. The tree, located on the historic <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/rooney-ranch"><strong>Rooney Ranch</strong></a>, indicates where Colorow met with white settlers to broker peace. The landmark designation protects the tree and the area around it from removal or development. Additionally, in October 2015, the Jefferson County Historical Commission inducted Colorow into the Jefferson County Hall of Fame, and an exhibit about the Ute leader opened in Evergreen’s Hiwan Homestead Museum in 2016.</p> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-author--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-author.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-author.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-author field--type-entity-reference field--label-above" id="id-field-author"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-author">Author</div> <div class='field__items'> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-author"><a href="/author/encyclopedia-staff" hreflang="und">Encyclopedia Staff</a></div> </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-keyword--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-keyword.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-keyword.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-keyword field--type-entity-reference field--label-above" id="id-field-keyword"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-keyword">Keywords</div> <div class='field__items'> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/jefferson-county" hreflang="en">jefferson county</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/jeffco" hreflang="en">jeffco</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/jefferson-county-history" hreflang="en">jefferson county history</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/jefferson-county-historical-society" hreflang="en">jefferson county historical society</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/golden" hreflang="en">golden</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/adolph-coors" hreflang="en">adolph coors</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/lakewood" hreflang="en">lakewood</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/wheat-ridge" hreflang="en">wheat ridge</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/arvada" hreflang="en">arvada</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/colorado-gold-rush" hreflang="en">Colorado Gold Rush</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/evergreen" hreflang="en">evergreen</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/dinosaur-ridge" hreflang="en">Dinosaur Ridge</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/morrison" hreflang="en">Morrison</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/red-rocks-amphitheatre" hreflang="en">red rocks amphitheatre</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/colorow" hreflang="en">colorow</a></div> </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'links__node' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * links--node.html.twig x links--inline.html.twig * links--node.html.twig * links.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/navigation/links--inline.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/navigation/links--inline.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-references-html--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-references-html.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-references-html.html.twig * field--text-long.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-references-html field--type-text-long field--label-above" id="id-field-references-html"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-references-html">References</div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-references-html"><p>Carl Abbot, Stephen Leonard, and David McComb, <em>Colorado: A History of the Centennial State</em> 3rd ed. (Boulder: University Press of Colorado, 1994).</p> <p>City and Community of Arvada, “<a href="https://www.arvadaco.gov/about-arvada/arvada-history/">Arvada History</a>.”</p> <p>City of Golden, “<a href="https://golden.com/history.htm">Golden History</a>.”</p> <p>Oscar Contreras, “<a href="https://www.denver7.com/traffic/traffic-news/brush-fire-in-jefferson-county-closes-lanes-causes-traffic-delays-on-c-470">Pre-evacuation notices lifted for North Ranch area following North Hogback Fire near C-470</a>,” 7NEWS Denver, October 14, 2015.</p> <p>Denver Mountain Parks, “<a href="https://www.mountainparkshistory.org/">Genesee Park</a>,” n.d.</p> <p>Jack Healy, “<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/04/us/after-uproar-colorado-school-board-retreats-on-curriculum-review-plan.html">After uproar, school board in Colorado scraps anti-protest curriculum</a>,” <em>The New York Times</em>, October 3, 2014.</p> <p>Historic Jeffco, “<a href="https://www.jeffco.us/county-archives">Chronological History of Jeffco—the 1850s</a>,” n.d.</p> <p>Historic Jeffco, “<a href="https://www.jeffco.us/county-archives">Chronological History of Jeffco—the 1870s</a>,” n.d.</p> <p>Historic Jeffco, “<a href="https://www.jeffco.us/county-archives">Chronological History of Jeffco—the 1880s</a>,” n.d.</p> <p>Historic Jeffco, “<a href="https://historicjeffco.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/hj2011timeline.pdf">Jefferson County: A Chronology of Events</a>,” 2011.</p> <p>Historic Jeffco, “Hall of Fame: Chief Colorow,”</p> <p>Jefferson County, “<a href="https://www.jeffco.us/county-archives">Berthoud, Edward L.</a>,” updated April 22, 2013.</p> <p>“Jefferson County,” <em>Colorado County Histories Notebook </em>(Denver: History Colorado, 1989–2000).</p> <p>Jefferson County, “<a href="https://www.jeffco.us/open-space">History of Jefferson County Open Space</a>,” n.d.</p> <p>Jefferson County, “<a href="https://www.jeffco.us/open-space">Jeffco Open Space Parks and Trails</a>,” n.d.</p> <p>Jefferson County Economic Development Corporation, “<a href="https://www.jeffco.org/pdfs/2015Profile.pdf">Jefferson County, Colorado Economic Profile 2015</a>.”Jack Linshi, “<a href="https://time.com/3984936/red-rocks-park-named-national-historic-landmark/">Red Rocks Park named national historic landmark</a>,” <em>Time</em>, August 4, 2015.</p> <p>Carole Lomond, ed., <em>Jefferson County, Colorado: A Unique &amp; Eventful History!</em> (Golden, CO: Views Publishing, 2009).</p> <p>Jesse Paul, “<a href="https://www.denverpost.com/2014/09/24/hundreds-of-jeffco-students-walk-out-in-largest-school-board-protest/">Hundreds of Jeffco students walk out in largest school board protest</a>,” <em>The Denver Post</em>, September 24, 2014.</p> <p>Red Rocks Park and Amphitheatre, “<a href="https://www.redrocksonline.com/about/history-geology">History and Geology</a>,” n.d.US Department of Agriculture, “<a href="https://www.nass.usda.gov/Publications/AgCensus/2012/Online_Resources/County_Profiles/">2012 Census of Agriculture County Profile: Jefferson County Colorado</a>,” National Agricultural Statistics Service.</p> <p>Virginia McConnell Simmons, <em>The Ute Indians of Utah, Colorado, and New Mexico</em> (Boulder: University Press of Colorado, 2000).</p> <p>Elliott West, <em>Contested Plains: Indians, Goldseekers, and the Rush to Colorado </em>(Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 1998).</p> </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-additional-information-htm--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-additional-information-htm.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-additional-information-htm.html.twig * field--text-long.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-additional-information-htm field--type-text-long field--label-above" id="id-field-additional-information-htm"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-additional-information-htm">Additional Information</div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-additional-information-htm"><p>Eugene H. Berwanger,<em> The Rise of the Centennial State: Colorado Territory, 1861–76 </em>(Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2007).</p>&#13; &#13; <p><a href="https://www.cityofgolden.net/">Golden</a></p>&#13; &#13; <p><a href="https://historicjeffco.wordpress.com/">Historic Jeffco</a></p>&#13; &#13; <p><a href="https://emahs.org/">Jefferson County Historical Society</a></p>&#13; &#13; <p>Jefferson County, “<a href="https://www.jeffco.us/county-archives">Reference Books—Jefferson County</a>,” updated 2015.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Charles and Mary Ramstetter, eds., <em>John Gregory Country: Place Names and History of Ralston Buttes Quadrangle, Jefferson County, Colorado </em>(Golden, CO: C Lazy Three Press, 1999).</p>&#13; &#13; <p><a href="https://www.redrocksonline.com/about/history-geology">Red Rocks Park and Amphitheatre</a></p>&#13; &#13; <p><a href="http://www.fws.gov/refuge/rocky_flats/">Rocky Flats National Wildlife Refuge</a></p>&#13; &#13; <p>Beth Simmons, <em>Colorow! A Colorado Photographic Chronicle </em>(N.p., 2015).</p>&#13; </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> Fri, 31 Mar 2017 22:35:04 +0000 yongli 2449 at http://coloradoencyclopedia.org Boulder http://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/boulder <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--title--encyclopedia-article.html.twig x field--node--title.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--title.html.twig * field--string.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Boulder</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--uid--encyclopedia-article.html.twig x field--node--uid.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--uid.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'username' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/user/username.html.twig' --> <span lang="" about="/users/yongli" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">yongli</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/user/username.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--created--encyclopedia-article.html.twig x field--node--created.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--created.html.twig * field--created.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'time' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/time.html.twig' --> <time datetime="2017-02-22T12:34:17-07:00" title="Wednesday, February 22, 2017 - 12:34" class="datetime">Wed, 02/22/2017 - 12:34</time> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/time.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'addtoany_standard' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * addtoany-standard--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * addtoany-standard--node.html.twig x addtoany-standard.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/addtoany/templates/addtoany-standard.html.twig' --> <span class="a2a_kit a2a_kit_size_32 addtoany_list" data-a2a-url="http://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/boulder" data-a2a-title="Boulder"><a class="a2a_dd addtoany_share" href="https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Fcoloradoencyclopedia.org%2Farticle%2Fboulder&amp;title=Boulder"></a><a class="a2a_button_facebook"></a><a class="a2a_button_twitter"></a><a class="a2a_button_email"></a></span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/addtoany/templates/addtoany-standard.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--body--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--body.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--body.html.twig * field--text-with-summary.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item" id="id-body"><p>Boulder is Colorado’s eleventh-most populous city, twenty-five miles northwest of <a href="/article/denver"><strong>Denver</strong></a><strong>, </strong>nestled against the foothills of the <a href="/article/front-range"><strong>Front Range</strong></a>. Home of the <strong>University of Colorado</strong> (CU), the city has a population of 97,385 and is the seat of <a href="/article/boulder-county"><strong>Boulder County</strong></a>. Boulder was founded during the <a href="/article/colorado-territory"><strong>Colorado Gold Rush</strong></a> of 1858–59, and the university was established in 1861.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>As the educational capital of Colorado for more than 150 years, Boulder has fostered a unique cultural amalgam of middle- and upper-class intellectuals, enthusiasts of the arts and outdoors, entrepreneurs, and college students. The counterculture of the 1960s found a comfortable niche in Boulder, and the area became a haven for hippies and socially liberal politics. Of course, Boulderites may fit all, some, or none of those categories, but the city’s culture is nonetheless distinct from the rest of the state and has earned it the nickname, “the People’s Republic of Boulder.”</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>Ancient and Indigenous Boulder</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>Boulder’s unique landscape is the result of tens of millions of years of mountain-building and thousands of years of human habitation. The <strong>Flatirons</strong>, Boulder’s iconic triangular mountains, are remnants of a prehistoric seafloor pushed up by the same geologic forces that built the Rocky Mountains between 60 and 70 million years ago. With the uplift of the mountains came streams such as Boulder Creek, which carried snowmelt down from the <strong>Indian Peaks </strong>and carved today’s Boulder Canyon.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>In 2009 workers at a west Boulder residence found primitive tools that date aboriginal occupation of the Boulder valley to the late Pleistocene, or at least 13,000 years ago. Native American occupation continued uninterrupted from the late Pleistocene to the present. During the <a href="/article/paleo-indian-period"><strong>Paleo-Indian</strong></a> (9500 BC–5500 BC), <a href="/article/archaic-period-colorado"><strong>Archaic</strong></a> (5500 BC–AD 1), and Late Prehistoric Period (AD 1–1550), hunters and gatherers moved seasonally between the mountains and plains. Many of these groups spent the harsh Colorado winters in the shelter of the natural trough along the Front Range, where Boulder now sits. By the sixteenth century, <a href="/search/google/ute"><strong>Ute</strong></a> people occupied what is today western Boulder County, and by the early nineteenth century they were joined by the <strong>Arapaho</strong>.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>Early Boulder</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>Modern Boulder got its start in late fall of 1858, when <strong>Thomas Aikins </strong>and his group of Anglo-American prospectors arrived at <strong>Boulder Canyon</strong> during the Colorado Gold Rush. Aikins’s group built log cabins for shelter just below the mouth of the canyon. <a href="/article/niwot-left-hand"><strong>Niwot</strong></a> (“Left Hand”), a local Arapaho leader, allowed the prospectors to stay for the winter as long as they promised to leave in the spring. The decision would eventually cost his people their land and many of their lives.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>On January 16, 1859, Aikins’s son James and several others found placer (surface) gold along a fork of Boulder Creek. The group set up a mining camp called <a href="/article/gold-hill"><strong>Gold Hill</strong></a>. In June, drawn by news of Aikins’s discovery, prospector David Horsfal arrived and found an even larger deposit: a massive, gold-bearing quartz seam that he named the Horsfal Lode. These discoveries not only brought more miners to the area but also merchants, farmers, and others looking to cash in on the newest pin on the gold-rush map.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>On February 10, 1859, Tom Aikins, A. A. Brookfield, and fifty-three other men formed the Boulder City Town Company, platting a small settlement at the mouth of the canyon to serve the mining camps. The town had its first irrigation ditch later that year, and by 1860 it boasted some seventy cabins, mostly occupied by Anglo-American families of miners and merchants. Non-whites were part of Boulder’s early history, but they are rarely pictured. Chinese miners kept to themselves in mountain communities. Few blacks or Asians hired photographers to have their portraits taken, and photos of Boulder prostitutes were even rarer.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>In 1861 Boulder County was formed as one of the original seventeen counties of the <a href="/article/colorado-territory"><strong>Colorado Territory</strong></a>, and the <a href="/article/treaty-fort-wise"><strong>Treaty of Fort Wise</strong></a> led to the removal of the Arapaho people from the Front Range. With their numbers thinned by disease and their resource base dwindling on account of mining and other white activities, Niwot’s band held out as long as they could but soon moved to the new Cheyenne-Arapaho Reservation in southeastern Colorado. By 1862 the Boulder Creek deposits had already yielded $100,000 in gold, and more than 300 people lived in the modest community at the canyon’s mouth.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>The town, consisting of a few log cabins, was centered around Twelfth (Broadway) and Pearl Streets. Except for a few cottonwoods, willows, and box elders along Boulder Creek, there were no trees. <strong>Isabella Bird</strong>, an adventurous Englishwoman who traveled through Boulder on horseback a few years later, called Boulder “a hideous collection of frame houses on the burning plain.” By contrast, the City of Boulder’s Forestry Division estimates that there are about 650,000 trees in the city today, supported by more than a century’s worth of <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/water-colorado"><strong>water</strong></a> delivery projects.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>The Horsfal mine supported both Gold Hill and Boulder for several years. Then came what is known as “the slump of 1863.” Gold ore farther from the surface required more sophisticated milling, and gold was lost in the processing. Meanwhile, American Indian uprisings on the plains, spurred by the <a href="/article/sand-creek-massacre"><strong>Sand Creek Massacre</strong></a> in 1864, interrupted shipments of supplies.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Many of the miners left to prospect elsewhere or fought in the <a href="/article/civil-war-colorado"><strong>Civil War</strong></a>.  Others saw their future in agriculture and <a href="/article/homestead"><strong>homesteaded</strong></a> farms around Boulder.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>After the Civil War ended in 1865, many former slaves and their children moved west, and some settled in Boulder. The 1880 census listed blacks as approximately 1 percent of Boulder County’s 3,069 residents, but they nonetheless had formed their own thriving community in the city. Many of Boulder’s early black residents lived on the city’s west side, in a section of the Goss-Grave neighborhood known as the “Little Rectangle.” There, several houses originally built by former slaves still stand, including the home of Ruth Cave Flowers, one of the first black graduates of CU, as well as the home of musician John Wesley McVey.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Among the most prominent black Boulderites was <a href="/article/oliver-toussaint-jackson"><strong>Oliver Toussaint Jackson</strong></a>, the son of former slaves from Ohio who bought a farm outside the city in 1894. Jackson built a home at 2228 Pine Street, and he also opened a restaurant on Thirteenth Street, the Stillman Café and Ice Cream Parlor. Later, he opened a restaurant at Fifty-fifth and Arapahoe Streets that was famous for its seafood. Jackson went on to found the all-black agricultural settlement of <a href="/article/dearfield"><strong>Dearfield</strong></a>.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>As African Americans built a community in Boulder, prospectors continued to search for gold in the mountains. In 1869 they found silver near present-day <strong>Nederland</strong>, setting up a small town called <strong>Caribou</strong>. A road up Boulder Canyon was completed to get supplies to Caribou, and revenues from the new mines began pouring into the city. By November 1871 Boulder’s economy was much improved, and the city was incorporated. In 1872 gold-bearing telluride ore was discovered near Gold Hill, and prospectors again rushed to the mountains west of Boulder to stake their claims. Mines cropped up all over the area, from Jamestown to Sunshine to <strong>Ward</strong>.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Miners west of Boulder depended on the city for supplies, and it grew steadily. Brick and stone commercial buildings began to replace the frame businesses on Pearl Street. Street merchants delighted Pearl Street crowds with flaring gaslights and displays of ventriloquism in order to sell hair restoratives, electric belts for rheumatism, and other cure-alls. The <strong>Colorado Central </strong>and Denver &amp; Boulder Valley Railroads arrived in 1873, and in 1878 another line connected the city to the coalfields several miles to the south. As its commerce and culture coalesced in the 1870s, Boulder continued its push to build Colorado’s first university.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>University of Colorado</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>As early as 1861, when the University of Colorado was officially founded, Boulderites took steps to ensure that their community would house the first university in the fledgling Colorado Territory. It took more than a decade to build the campus, however, as Boulder struggled to stay afloat after the first mining boom subsided. The town survived by catering to the needs of neighboring farmers and coal miners. To build the initial campus, the Territorial Legislature gave the city $15,000 on the condition that residents match that amount. Boulderites raised the money, and by the time Colorado became a state in 1876, the city finished Old Main, CU’s first building. Dr. <strong>Joseph Sewall</strong>, the university’s first president, and his family lived in the building, which also hosted the first classes. In the spring of 1882, CU graduated its first class, an all-male group of six. The university augmented Boulder’s industry-related growth, attracting people from elsewhere in the state. By 1890, Boulder had a population of 3,330.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>The 100-Year Flood</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>Boulder’s late-nineteenth century growth was interrupted by a so-called 100-year <a href="/article/boulder-flood-1894"><strong>flood in 1894</strong></a>. The deluge completely severed Boulder from the rest of Colorado, wiping out all road and rail bridges and telegraph lines. It also destroyed farms and irrigation infrastructure. Most of the city’s red light district, which covered the area along Water (Canyon) Street between the current Municipal Building and the Boulder Public Library, was destroyed. Madams promptly moved their girls to upstairs rooms in the downtown business district.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>The Goss and Grove Street neighborhood, home to most of the city’s minorities and immigrants, fared little better. Although the neighborhood was rebuilt, the majority of large homes, churches, and public buildings built after the flood were located north of downtown or on higher ground. It took the city several years to fully recover from the flood.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>“Athens of the West”</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>After recovering from the catastrophic flood, Boulder became a sophisticated city in the early 1900s, calling itself “the Athens of the West” and “the Place to Be.” The business district, comprising late nineteenth and early twentieth century buildings, was located between the new residential areas on Mapleton Hill and University Hill. Hardwoods and fruit trees were imported from the East.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>CU was also growing. By 1902 the university had many more buildings, including dormitories, a president’s house, and a library. Its student body had grown to 550, taught by 105 faculty members. At the outbreak of <a href="/article/colorado-world-war-i"><strong>World War I</strong></a> in 1914, barracks were established at CU, and the university became one of the first college campuses to have a Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC). It was also during this period that CU buildings began taking on their signature look: flagstone walls covered by red-tile roofs, a style referred to as Tuscan Vernacular and chosen by Day and Klauder, the architectural firm hired to homogenize the campus buildings.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Along with the university, temperance was a key part of Boulder’s identity as a sophisticated city. Although the city featured nineteen saloons by 1883 and was not known as a particularly drunken city, a significant segment of the citizenry opposed drinking establishments. Organizations such as the Golden Sheaf Lodge (1869), the local chapter of the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union (1881), and the Better Boulder Party (1900) vigorously opposed saloons and drinking by working to raise liquor license fees.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>In 1907 the Better Boulder Party and nativists played on the moralist fears of many Boulder County citizens when they argued that going dry would curtail the licentious activities of prostitutes and alcohol-drinking immigrant groups such as the Germans, Irish, and Italians. That year, Boulder County approved a ban on alcohol that lasted until the repeal of federal prohibition in 1933. Boulder itself was a dry city until 1967.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>As temperance advocates won prohibition, Boulder set its sights on obtaining the best drinking water for its growing population. The city purchased the watershed of the <strong>Arapaho Glacier</strong>, and later the <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/glaciers"><strong>glacier</strong></a> itself. A $200,000 steel pipeline brought the nearly flawless water from an intake pipe on Boulder County Ranch (now <strong>Caribou Ranch</strong>), to the Chautauqua and Sunshine Reservoirs in Boulder. All over Boulder, drinking fountains were installed that read “Pure Cold Water from the Boulder-Owned Arapahoe [sic] Glacier.” The only drinking fountain still marked today is in the<a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/hotel-boulderado"> <strong>Hotel Boulderado</strong></a>.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Between Boulder’s drinking fountains lay stores that held just about anything a shopper wanted. Dress goods for both sexes and ready-to-wear clothing were available, and women could buy imported perfumes, diamond lockets, plumed hats, button shoes, and even rust-proof corsets. Stores stocked gourmet foods such as oysters and a wide selection of coffees, as well as choice and smoked meats. In the 1930s, nineteenth and early twentieth century storefronts were lowered and modernized.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Shoppers in early twentieth-century Boulder often rode streetcars, while boys on bicycles darted around early automobiles. In 1909 the automobile was still a novelty, but people were taking notice. Meanwhile, the Denver &amp; Interurban’s electrically powered trains made sixteen round-trips per day between Boulder and Denver. From 1908 to 1917, this cheap, clean, and efficient means of public transportation ran down Pearl Street on its way to <strong>Louisville</strong>, <a href="/article/city-and-county-broomfield"><strong>Broomfield</strong></a>, and Denver. Between 1917 and 1926 the Interurban trains stopped at the Union Pacific depot and alternated their routes with runs through the university and Marshall. Narrow-gauge railroads, meanwhile, provided access to Nederland and other mountain towns to the west. Soon, automobiles began to replace stagecoaches, and trucks instead of wagons carried freight.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>Postwar Growth</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>By the end of World War II, its chief support lay with the university. Enrollment at CU doubled over the course of a single year after World War II, going from 5,483 in 1946 to 10,421 in 1947. Over the next several decades, the university added new facilities to keep pace with increasingly higher enrollment, and the school was admitted to the American Association of Universities in 1967. The university had an enrollment of 20,000 by 1980.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>In the broader cityscape, postwar growth and the increasing popularity of the automobile took businesses away from downtown. The North Broadway, Arapahoe Village, and Basemar Shopping Centers were built in the 1950s. By 1955 Boulder was a city of nearly 30,000 people.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>In the 1960s Boulderites talked about revitalizing downtown, buying open space, and limiting growth. In 1963, when the first segment of Crossroads Shopping Center was built, Boulder merchants and property owners organized “Boulder Tomorrow, Inc.” to help plan the redevelopment of the downtown area. Construction of a downtown pedestrian mall began in 1976 and was completed in 1977. The mall eliminated traffic on <strong>Pearl Street</strong> between Eleventh and Fifteenth Streets.</p>&#13; &#13; <p><strong>Historic preservation</strong> also came into style. Businesses and street merchants returned downtown. Many of Boulder’s original buildings were restored. In the early 1970s Historic Boulder, Inc. was formed to recognize and preserve Boulder’s historic buildings.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>Today</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>Since then, Boulder has become an indisputable high-tech mecca, with entrepreneurs drawn to the town for its combination of a skilled workforce, ambitious entrepreneurs, available venture capital—and healthy mountain living. <em>Inc.</em> magazine recently reported that Boulder has more startups per capita than any city in the United States—six times more startups than the national average. Companies like the tea maker <strong>Celestial Seasonings</strong> and the biotech firm Amgen have led the way.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Boulder’s reputation as a citadel of freethinking has also continued to grow apace. With the pedestrian mall of Pearl Street as the physical focal point and the university as the draw, the city continues to evolve as a petri dish for new ideas. But Boulder has expanded carefully, keeping nearly 100,000 acres of open space under city management.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Boulder remains so attractive that real estate prices can be 1.5 times more expensive than nearby Denver. Commuters between the two cities are often frustrated by high congestion rates on US Highway 36, which was expanded in 2016 to include HOV and bus lanes. As of 2016 Denver’s <a href="https://www.rtd-denver.com"><strong>Regional Transportation District</strong></a> (RTD) is extending the B Line of its light rail system to Boulder, with an eye toward relieving some commuters.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Parts of this essay adapted from Carl Abbott, Stephen J. Leonard, and Thomas J. Noel, eds., <em>Colorado: A History of the Centennial State</em>, 5th Ed. (Boulder: University Press of Colorado, 2013) and Robert R. Crifasi, <em>A Land Made from Water</em> (Boulder: University Press of Colorado, 2015).</p>&#13; </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-keyword--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-keyword.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-keyword.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-keyword field--type-entity-reference field--label-above" id="id-field-keyword"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-keyword">Keywords</div> <div class='field__items'> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/boulder" hreflang="en">boulder</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/history-boulder" hreflang="en">history of boulder</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/colorado-gold-rush" hreflang="en">Colorado Gold Rush</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/flatirons" hreflang="en">flatirons</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/boulder-creek" hreflang="en">boulder creek</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/thomas-aikins" hreflang="en">thomas aikins</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/niwot" hreflang="en">Niwot</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/arapaho" hreflang="en">arapaho</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/david-horsfal" hreflang="en">david horsfal</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/isabella-bird" hreflang="en">isabella bird</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/oliver-toussaint-jackson" hreflang="en">Oliver Toussaint Jackson</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/university-colorado" hreflang="en">university of colorado</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/cu" hreflang="en">cu</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/1894-boulder-flood" hreflang="en">1894 boulder flood</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/better-boulder-party" hreflang="en">better boulder party</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/arapaho-glacier" hreflang="en">arapaho glacier</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/pearl-street-mall" hreflang="en">pearl street mall</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/celestial-seasonings" hreflang="en">celestial seasonings</a></div> </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'links__node' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * links--node.html.twig x links--inline.html.twig * links--node.html.twig * links.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/navigation/links--inline.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/navigation/links--inline.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-references-html--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-references-html.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-references-html.html.twig * field--text-long.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-references-html field--type-text-long field--label-above" id="id-field-references-html"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-references-html">References</div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-references-html"><p>David Baron, <em>The Beast in the Garden: A Modern Parable of Man and Nature (New York: W.W. Norton &amp; Company</em>, 2010).</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Burt Helm, “<a href="https://www.inc.com/magazine/201312/boulder-colorado-fast-growing-business.html">How Boulder Became America’s Startup Capital</a>,” <em>Inc.</em>, December 2013-January 2014.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>John Kieffer, <em>Boulder, Colorado</em><em>:</em> <em>A Photographic Portrait</em> (Rockport: Twin Lights Publishing, 2006).</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Erica Meltzer, “<a href="https://www.dailycamera.com/2013/04/24/boulder-weighs-fate-of-historic-house-in-little-rectangle-neighborhood/">Boulder Weighs Fate of Historic House in ‘Little Rectangle’ Neighborhood</a>,” <em>Boulder Daily Camera</em>, April 24, 2013.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Thomas J. Noel and Dan Corson, <em>Boulder County: An Illustrated History </em>(Carlsbad, CA: Heritage Media, 1999).</p>&#13; &#13; <p><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Silvia-Pettem/e/B001JSA6II/ref=dp_byline_cont_book_1">Silvia Pettem</a>, <em>Boulder: Evolution of a City</em> (Boulder: University Press of Colorado, 1999).</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Silvia Pettem, “<a href="https://www-static.bouldercolorado.gov/docs/J_Tracking_Down_Boulder,_Colorado%E2%80%99s_Railroads-1-201509031602.pdf">Tracking Down Boulder, Colorado’s Railroads” and “Roads of the Mountains and Plains</a>,” Boulder Historic Context Project (Boulder, CO: Silvia Pettem, 1996).</p>&#13; </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-additional-information-htm--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-additional-information-htm.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-additional-information-htm.html.twig * field--text-long.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-additional-information-htm field--type-text-long field--label-above" id="id-field-additional-information-htm"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-additional-information-htm">Additional Information</div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-additional-information-htm"><p>Colorado.com Staff, "<a href="https://www.colorado.com/articles/pearl-street-mall-beloved-boulder-attraction">Pearl Street Mall: Beloved Boulder Attraction</a>," Colorado Tourism, 2017.</p>&#13; &#13; <p><a href="https://boulderdowntown.com/visit">Explore Downtown Boulder</a></p>&#13; &#13; <p>Silvia Pettem, <em>Boulder: Evolution of a City </em>(Boulder: University Press of Colorado, 2006).</p>&#13; &#13; <p><a href="https://www.cu.edu/cu-careers/cu-boulder">University of Colorado</a></p>&#13; </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> Wed, 22 Feb 2017 19:34:17 +0000 yongli 2378 at http://coloradoencyclopedia.org Douglas County http://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/douglas-county <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--title--encyclopedia-article.html.twig x field--node--title.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--title.html.twig * field--string.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Douglas County</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: x field--node--field-article-image--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-article-image.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-article-image.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--field-article-image--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div id="carouselEncyclopediaArticle" class="carousel slide" data-bs-ride="true"> <div class="carousel-inner"> <div class="carousel-item active"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'node' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * node--2369--article-detail-image.html.twig * node--2369.html.twig x node--image--article-detail-image.html.twig * node--image.html.twig * node--article-detail-image.html.twig * node.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/content/node--image--article-detail-image.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-encyclopedia-image--image.html.twig * field--node--field-encyclopedia-image.html.twig * field--node--image.html.twig * field--field-encyclopedia-image.html.twig * field--image.html.twig x field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-encyclopedia-image field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'image_formatter' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-formatter.html.twig' --> <a href="/image/douglas-county-courthouse-1880"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'image_style' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-style.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'image' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image.html.twig' --> <img loading="lazy" src="/sites/default/files/styles/wide/public/Douglas-County-Media-2_0_0.jpg?itok=OZwVA01T" width="1000" height="770" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" class="image-style-wide" /> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-style.html.twig' --> </a> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-formatter.html.twig' --> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="carousel-caption d-none d-md-block"> <h5><a href="/image/douglas-county-courthouse-1880" rel="bookmark"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--title--image.html.twig x field--node--title.html.twig * field--node--image.html.twig * field--title.html.twig * field--string.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Douglas County Courthouse, 1880</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> </a></h5> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--body--image.html.twig * field--node--body.html.twig * field--node--image.html.twig * field--body.html.twig x field--text-with-summary.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--text-with-summary.html.twig' --> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>The Douglas County Courthouse was completed in 1890. It burned in 1978 as a result of arson.</p> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--text-with-summary.html.twig' --> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/content/node--image--article-detail-image.html.twig' --> </div> <div class="carousel-item"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'node' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * node--2368--article-detail-image.html.twig * node--2368.html.twig x node--image--article-detail-image.html.twig * node--image.html.twig * node--article-detail-image.html.twig * node.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/content/node--image--article-detail-image.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-encyclopedia-image--image.html.twig * field--node--field-encyclopedia-image.html.twig * field--node--image.html.twig * field--field-encyclopedia-image.html.twig * field--image.html.twig x field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-encyclopedia-image field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'image_formatter' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-formatter.html.twig' --> <a href="/image/douglas-county"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'image_style' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-style.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'image' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image.html.twig' --> <img loading="lazy" src="/sites/default/files/styles/wide/public/Douglas-County-Media-1_0.jpg?itok=hxEUXP5a" width="1000" height="724" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" class="image-style-wide" /> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-style.html.twig' --> </a> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-formatter.html.twig' --> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="carousel-caption d-none d-md-block"> <h5><a href="/image/douglas-county" rel="bookmark"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--title--image.html.twig x field--node--title.html.twig * field--node--image.html.twig * field--title.html.twig * field--string.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Douglas County</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> </a></h5> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--body--image.html.twig * field--node--body.html.twig * field--node--image.html.twig * field--body.html.twig x field--text-with-summary.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--text-with-summary.html.twig' --> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>Douglas County, one of the original seventeen counties of Colorado, is located on the Palmer Divide, a ridge that separates tributaries to the South Platte and the Arkansas Rivers.</p> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--text-with-summary.html.twig' --> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/content/node--image--article-detail-image.html.twig' --> </div> </div> <button class="carousel-control-prev" type="button" data-bs-target="#carouselEncyclopediaArticle" data-bs-slide="prev"> <span class="carousel-control-prev-icon" aria-hidden="true"></span> <span class="visually-hidden">Previous</span> </button> <button class="carousel-control-next" type="button" data-bs-target="#carouselEncyclopediaArticle" data-bs-slide="next"> <span class="carousel-control-next-icon" aria-hidden="true"></span> <span class="visually-hidden">Next</span> </button> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--field-article-image--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--uid--encyclopedia-article.html.twig x field--node--uid.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--uid.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'username' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/user/username.html.twig' --> <span lang="" about="/users/yongli" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">yongli</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/user/username.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--created--encyclopedia-article.html.twig x field--node--created.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--created.html.twig * field--created.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'time' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/time.html.twig' --> <time datetime="2017-02-21T16:36:30-07:00" title="Tuesday, February 21, 2017 - 16:36" class="datetime">Tue, 02/21/2017 - 16:36</time> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/time.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'addtoany_standard' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * addtoany-standard--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * addtoany-standard--node.html.twig x addtoany-standard.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/addtoany/templates/addtoany-standard.html.twig' --> <span class="a2a_kit a2a_kit_size_32 addtoany_list" data-a2a-url="http://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/douglas-county" data-a2a-title="Douglas County"><a class="a2a_dd addtoany_share" href="https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Fcoloradoencyclopedia.org%2Farticle%2Fdouglas-county&amp;title=Douglas%20County"></a><a class="a2a_button_facebook"></a><a class="a2a_button_twitter"></a><a class="a2a_button_email"></a></span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/addtoany/templates/addtoany-standard.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--body--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--body.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--body.html.twig * field--text-with-summary.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item" id="id-body"><p>Douglas County covers 843 square miles between <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/denver"><strong>Denver</strong></a> and <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/colorado-springs"><strong>Colorado Springs</strong></a> on the western <a href="/article/colorado%E2%80%99s-great-plains"><strong>Great Plains</strong></a> along the <a href="/article/front-range"><strong>Front Range</strong></a>. The county was established in 1861 as one of the original seventeen counties of the <a href="/article/colorado-territory"><strong>Colorado Territory</strong></a>. It is bordered to the north by <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/arapahoe-county"><strong>Arapahoe County</strong></a>, to the east by <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/elbert-county"><strong>Elbert County</strong></a>, to the south by <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/el-paso-county"><strong>El Paso</strong></a> and <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/teller-county"><strong>Teller</strong></a> Counties, and to the west by <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/jefferson-county"><strong>Jefferson County</strong></a>. The county took its name from Stephen A. Douglas, a popular politician in the 1850s who argued for popular sovereignty and who ran against Abraham Lincoln in the 1858 senate race and in the 1860 presidential race.</p><p>With a population of 322,387, Douglas County is the seventh-most populous county in the state. The county seat is <strong>Castle Rock</strong>, a burgeoning <a href="https://medium.com/@solar-power-systems/solar-companies-in-california-fd66358a8661">community</a> just south of the Denver Metro area linked to the capital by <strong>Interstate 25</strong>. Other towns include the Denver suburbs of <strong>Highlands Ranch</strong>, <strong>Lone Tree</strong>, and <strong>Parker</strong>, and <strong>Larkspur</strong>, located south of Castle Rock on I-25.</p><p>Douglas County sits atop the western edge of the <strong>Palmer Divide</strong>. The broad ridge, which runs from the Rocky Mountains in the west to the town of Limon in the east, divides tributaries of the <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/south-platte-river"><strong>South Platte</strong></a><strong> </strong>and <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/arkansas-river"><strong>Arkansas Rivers</strong></a> and ranges between 6,000 and 7,500 feet in elevation. Because of this, the county’s climate is generally wetter than those to the north and south. The county also includes part of the <strong>Pike National Forest</strong>, Roxborough State Park, <strong>Castlewood Canyon State Park</strong>, and the Chatfield State Recreation Area. The South Platte River forms the county’s northwestern border with Jefferson County, flowing out of the foothills into <strong>Chatfield Lake</strong>. Plum Creek, a tributary of the Platte, begins in the foothills southwest of Larkspur and runs through Castle Rock and the small community of <strong>Sedalia</strong> before it also empties into Chatfield Lake.</p><h2>Native Americans</h2><p>Douglas County’s archaeological record holds evidence of human occupation from about 13,000 years ago. Projectile points, millstones, and other early tools found at the <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/lamb-spring-archaeological-site"><strong>Lamb Spring</strong></a> site and others indicate the presence of people from the <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/clovis"><strong>Clovis</strong></a>, <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/folsom-people"><strong>Folsom</strong></a>, and Plano periods. These early people were hunter-gatherers, following the seasonal migrations of large game, collecting dietary plants, and camping near the foothills along waterways during the winter. The earliest <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/paleo-indian-period"><strong>Paleo-Indians</strong></a> hunted large game, including mammoth and camels. Later groups hunted more familiar large game such as <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/rocky-mountain-elk"><strong>elk</strong></a>, <strong>bison</strong>, and <a href="/article/mule-deer"><strong>deer</strong></a>.</p><p>Modern Native American groups were also hunter-gatherers. <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/search/google/ute"><strong>Ute</strong></a> people occupied the mountains of western Douglas County by the sixteenth century, following the same seasonal migration routes as earlier indigenous groups. After tracking game into the high country during the summer and fall, Utes moved to the base of the mountains and set up winter camps in the areas of present-day Denver and Castle Rock. Utes lived in temporary or mobile dwellings such as <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/wickiups-and-other-wooden-features"><strong>wickiups</strong></a> and <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/tipi-0"><strong>tipis</strong></a>.</p><p>By the early nineteenth century, the <strong>Cheyenne</strong> and <strong>Arapaho</strong> had migrated to the Douglas County area. These two groups moved southwest from the upper Midwest, where they had historically lived in more sedentary farming communities. During their westward migration the Cheyenne and Arapaho adopted a nomadic way of life centered around the horse, which they used to follow the great buffalo herds across the plains. While both groups primarily lived on the plains, their pursuit of buffalo and other game often led them into the mountains, where they fought with the Ute for access to hunting grounds. Like the Ute, the Cheyenne and Arapaho often wintered along water sources such as Plum Creek and the South Platte, using trees and plants in the area for shelter and fuel.</p><h2>Early American Era</h2><p>The United States acquired the area of Douglas County as part of the <strong>Louisiana Purchase</strong> in 1803, but the area was nonetheless controlled by Ute, Cheyenne, and Arapaho for the next several decades. <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/fur-trade-colorado"><strong>Fur</strong></a> trappers arrived during the 1820s to trap <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/beaver"><strong>beaver</strong></a>, and during the 1830s the area’s native groups harvested buffalo hides to trade at <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/bents-forts"><strong>Bent’s Fort</strong></a> farther south. In the <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/treaty-fort-laramie"><strong>Treaty of Fort Laramie</strong></a> (1851), the Cheyenne and Arapaho agreed to allow safe westward passage of white travelers as long as they retained sovereignty over their land in Colorado.</p><p>However, events later in the decade refocused the US government’s attention on Colorado. In 1858 the <strong>William Green Russell Party</strong>, a group of prospectors from Georgia, followed the <strong>Cherokee Trail</strong>, a popular route west that ran through Douglas County, to prospect for gold in the Rockies. They reportedly found some flakes of gold in Russellville Gulch, east of modern Castle Rock, but the party soon moved on toward present-day Denver, where they found an even larger deposit. News of their findings in present Douglas County and Denver set off the <a href="/article/colorado-gold-rush"><strong>Colorado Gold Rush</strong></a> (1858–59)<strong>.</strong></p><p>The Cherokee Trail—also called the Trapper’s Trail—and the <strong>Smoky Hill Trail</strong> had been used by Cherokees and prospectors to participate in both the California and Colorado gold rushes in the mid-nineteenth century. As part of this trail, two stage stops in present Douglas County, <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/seventeen-mile-house"><strong>Seventeen Mile House</strong></a> and <strong>Twenty Mile House</strong>, functioned as rest stops for travelers. Their names reflected the distance from Denver.</p><h2>County Development</h2><p>The <a href="/article/colorado-territory"><strong>Colorado Territory</strong></a> was established in 1861, and Douglas County became one of the original seventeen counties. It was named for Stephen A. Douglas, a popular politician who debated Abraham Lincoln before the Civil War. The county originally stretched from the Rocky Mountains to the Kansas border. The first county seat was Franktown, a ranching and farming community along the Jimmy Camp Trail, another popular route for early miners and travelers. After Colorado became a state in 1876, the county shrunk to its current size following the creation of Elbert, <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/lincoln-county"><strong>Lincoln</strong></a>, and <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/kit-carson-county"><strong>Kit Carson</strong></a> Counties.</p><p>The <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/treaty-fort-wise"><strong>Treaty of Fort Wise</strong></a> in 1861 led to the removal of the Cheyenne and Arapaho to a reservation in eastern Colorado, and in 1864 the US government approved a treaty with the Ute Indians that granted the United States the entire Front Range. However, all three groups continued to visit Douglas County to hunt and trade with white immigrants, who arrived to take advantage of the <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/homestead"><strong>Homestead Act</strong></a> of 1862.</p><p>The relatively high rainfall of the Palmer Divide supports more trees and vegetation than surrounding areas, making the land around Plum Creek, the South Platte, and Cherry Creek ideal for the development of farming and cattle ranching. Sawmills converted felled trees into lumber for local ranches and farmhouses, as well as for buildings in developing Denver. Additionally, <strong>rhyolite</strong> quarries near present Castle Rock provided stone for buildings in Douglas County, <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/auraria-west-denver"><strong>Auraria</strong></a>, and Denver.</p><p>Quarry workers and ranchers in the Plum Creek valley established the town of Castle Rock in the 1870s. <a href="/article/william-jackson-palmer"><strong>William Jackson Palmer</strong></a>’s <strong>Denver &amp; Rio Grande Railroad</strong> (D&amp;RG) reached Castle Rock in the early 1870s and built a train depot in the town, which then became the county seat in 1874. The railroad lowered the costs of shipping local timber, rhyolite, and cheese, and Castle Rock became an important stop along a Front Range rail corridor that eventually extended south to Colorado Springs and <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/pueblo"><strong>Pueblo</strong></a>.</p><p>One of the earliest farmers in the area was Dad Rufus Clark, who set up a successful potato farm near present-day Highlands Ranch. Dairies, creameries, and cheese factories also developed in the county, including the Big Dry Creek Cheese Ranch, which was set up in the 1870s.</p><p>Drawn by financial interests in timber, mining, ranching, farming, and real estate, the eastern industrialist Samuel A. Long filed for a <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/homestead"><strong>homestead</strong></a> in Douglas County in 1884. Four years later he had acquired 2,000 additional acres, and in 1891 Long built a modest farmhouse on the property. In 1891 Long sold the house to rancher John Springer, who expanded it into the <strong>Highlands Ranch Mansion.</strong> Long went on to become one of Douglas County’s pioneers of dryland farming—farming with low-water crops such as winter wheat—in the late 1890s. Springer, meanwhile, kept buying ranch land in the surrounding area, eventually owning 12,000 acres on which he raised horses and cattle.</p><p>The Englishman Charles Allis also arrived during the 1880s and set up a ranch near Castle Rock. The Allis ranch eventually became known as Greenland and raised cattle, pigs, milk cows, and sheep on more than 1,700 acres. The ranch stayed in the family for generations, and its proprietors became leading citizens in Douglas County; Charles’s son Alfred not only helped usher the ranch through the Great Depression but also served on the Greenland School Board and as a firefighter with the Larkspur Fire Department. He also served as postmaster of Larkspur in the 1970s.</p><p>The Douglas County courthouse was completed in 1890 with stone from local rhyolite quarries. That same year, Denver officials commissioned the building of Castlewood Dam to ensure proper irrigation for local farms and ranches.</p><p>In the early 1880s a second rail line was completed through the county. The Denver &amp; New Orleans (D&amp;NO) connected Denver and Pueblo, with a stop in the area of present-day Parker. Parker began as a collection of homesteads around Twenty Mile House, and the railroad allowed the town to expand. By the turn of the century it included a saloon, mercantile, dry goods store, water tower and pump house, creamery, and school.</p><h2>Twentieth Century</h2><p>In 1906 a new industry came to Douglas County—DuPont’s dynamite factory. DuPont bought the site of present-day&nbsp;<a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/louviers"><span style="display:none;"><strong> </strong></span><strong>Louviers</strong></a> in 1906, where it built the town and the factory. Initially, workers lived in tents, but the company soon built homes for the workers, the first of which were completed in 1908. By 1917 the company had built a clubhouse as a community center for workers in the town. The company town flourished until the factory closed in the 1970s.</p><p>Pike National Forest, covering the western part of Douglas County, was also established in 1906. In 1912 the <a href="/article/us-forest-service-colorado"><strong>Forest Service</strong></a> built a fire lookout in the foothills called the<a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/devils-head-lookout"><strong> Devil’s Head Lookout</strong></a>, which is still used today.</p><p>Disaster hit the county in 1933 when <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/castlewood-dam"><strong>Castlewood Dam</strong></a> broke following several days of heavy rain. A torrent of water gushed down Cherry Creek toward Parker and Denver, killing two people and causing extensive property damage.</p><p>During the first half of the twentieth century, ranches and creameries continued operation, and Douglas County towns remained relatively small and rural. In 1940 about 67 percent of the land in Douglas County was covered by farms.</p><h2>From Ranches to Subdivisions</h2><p>The 1960s brought the first urban sprawl from the Denver area. The population of Colorado grew substantially after World War II. As Denver and its suburbs grew, so did the need for housing and transportation. Construction of Interstate 25 between Castle Rock and Denver was completed in 1963, giving Douglas County a connection to both Denver and Colorado Springs along the state’s newest and longest north-south highway.</p><p>Motorists had only been using the new highway for two years when the largest <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/south-platte-flood-1965"><strong>flood</strong></a> in Douglas County history occurred in June 1965. Following several days of rain, a tornado hit Palmer Lake. With the ground saturated, a flood began and surged along East Plum Creek into Castle Rock. In addition to inundating the city, the floodwaters washed out I-25 and all the bridges between Castle Rock and Denver. The torrent destroyed buildings in Louviers, and as the floodwaters reached Denver, the city closed roads and evacuated buildings.</p><p>Despite the setback from the flood, development continued in Douglas County over the next several decades. New neighborhoods were built in the Parker area in the 1960s, and in 1979 Mission Viejo bought the Highlands Ranch area. The developer finished building the modern residential community of Highlands Ranch in 1981. The city of Lone Tree was incorporated in 1996, with a population of around 3,000. Since then the city has quadrupled in size, going from a small bedroom community of Denver to a thriving suburb. In 1997 farms occupied just 38 percent of Douglas County land.</p><p>As new towns and developments increased the county’s population, residents needed more local shopping options. In 1992 the Factory Shops, a sprawling outlet mall complex, opened in Castle Rock, and 1996 brought the opening of Park Meadows Shopping Mall in Lone Tree. The small bedroom community incorporated the same year. These developments encouraged residents to shop locally instead of traveling outside the county for purchases. It also brought needed tax revenue to the county.</p><h2>Today</h2><p>Currently, the largest employer in Douglas County is the retail industry, followed by government jobs. The population continues to rise, from about 175,000 in 2000 to about 319,000 in 2015. As new developments change the face of the county, residents work to balance urban and suburban growth while preserving the area’s cultural and natural heritage.</p><p>Organizations such as Historic Douglas County, Douglas County History Research Center, the Castle Rock Historical Society, the Parker Area Historical Society, and the Highlands Ranch Historical Society work to preserve significant historic buildings. In 1996, for instance, the Castle Rock Historical Society refurbished the town’s train depot and converted it into the <strong>Castle Rock Museum</strong>. Additionally, the town’s Historic Preservation Board circulates walking tour guides that take visitors past twenty-one historic sites and buildings. Douglas County also helped secure funds to restore Seventeen Mile House in 2001, and the Parker Historical Society lists an additional twenty-seven historic properties that it has helped preserve.</p><p>Douglas County also works to preserve its environment through the Pike National Forest and several state recreation sites. These sites ensure that its natural resources, such as timber and water sources—which allowed the county to be settled in the nineteenth century—can be enjoyed by generations to come.</p></div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-author--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-author.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-author.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-author field--type-entity-reference field--label-above" id="id-field-author"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-author">Author</div> <div class='field__items'> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-author"><a href="/author/encyclopedia-staff" hreflang="und">Encyclopedia Staff</a></div> </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-keyword--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-keyword.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-keyword.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-keyword field--type-entity-reference field--label-above" id="id-field-keyword"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-keyword">Keywords</div> <div class='field__items'> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/douglas-county" hreflang="en">Douglas County</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/colorado-gold-rush" hreflang="en">Colorado Gold Rush</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/ranching" hreflang="en">ranching</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/castle-rock" hreflang="en">Castle Rock</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/highlands-ranch" hreflang="en">Highlands Ranch</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/parker" hreflang="en">Parker</a></div> </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'links__node' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * links--node.html.twig x links--inline.html.twig * links--node.html.twig * links.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/navigation/links--inline.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/navigation/links--inline.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-references-html--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-references-html.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-references-html.html.twig * field--text-long.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-references-html field--type-text-long field--label-above" id="id-field-references-html"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-references-html">References</div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-references-html"><p>Castle Rock Chamber of Commerce, “<a href="https://visitcastlerock.org/about-castle-rock/history/">About Castle Rock</a>,” 2016.</p><p>City of Lone Tree, “<a href="https://cityoflonetree.com/">About Lone Tree</a>,” n.d.</p><p>Colorado Department of Transportation, “<a href="https://www.codot.gov/about/CDOTHistory/50th-anniversary/interstate-25">Interstate 25 History</a>,” n.d.</p><p>Douglas County, “<a href="https://www.douglas.co.us/museum/vex16/index.htm">Douglas County, Colorado Historic Preservation,”</a> 2014.</p><p>Douglas County Museum, “<a href="https://www.douglas.co.us/museum/vex13/index.htm">Allis Ranch: Greenland, Colorado: A Pioneer Ranch on the Palmer Divide</a>,” n.d.</p><p>Douglas County Planning Commission, “<a href="https://www.douglas.co.us/documents/full-cmp.pdf/">Douglas County 2035 Comprehensive Master Plan</a>,” Douglas County, 2014.</p><p>Douglas County Community Planning and Sustainable Development Department, “<a href="https://www.douglas.co.us/documents/douglas-county-profile-for-the-at-risk-population.pdf/">Douglas County Profile</a>,” Douglas County, 2011.</p><p>Douglas County History Research Center, “<a href="https://douglascountyhistory.org/digital/collection/documents/id/0">Douglas County History Research Center</a>,” Douglas County Libraries, 2015.</p><p>Fleta Nockels, “<a href="https://douglascounty-co.aauw.net/about/history/">Douglas County Branch History</a>,” AAUW Douglas County Branch, n.d.</p><p>Highlands Ranch Metro District, “<a href="http://highlandsranch.org/community/history/">Highlands Ranch History</a>,” n.d.</p><p>Highlands Ranch Mansion, “<a href="http://highlandsranchmansion.com/history-2/mansion-families/john-springer/">John Springer</a>,” 2016.</p><p>Highlands Ranch Mansion, “<a href="http://highlandsranchmansion.com/history-2/mansion-families/samuel-allen-long/">Samuel Allen Long</a>,” 2016.</p><p>Historic Douglas County, “<a href="https://historicdouglascounty.org/about">About Douglas County</a>,” n.d.</p><p>Colleen O’Connor, “<a href="https://www.denverpost.com/2014/08/16/after-20-years-lone-tree-is-setting-the-bar-with-incredible-potential/">After 20 years, Lone Tree is setting the bar with incredible potential</a>,” <em>The Denver Post</em>, August 16, 2014.</p><p>Office of Archaeology and Historic Preservation, “<a href="https://www.historycolorado.org/oahp/douglas-county">Douglas County</a>,” History Colorado, n.d.</p><p>Parker Area Historical Society, “<a href="https://www.parkerhistory.org/">A Brief History of Parker, Colorado</a>,” Parker Area Historical Society, 2016.</p><p>Parker Area Historical Society, “<a href="https://www.parkerhistory.org/local-sites">Local Parker Historical Sites</a>,” 2016.</p><p>Larry T. Smith, “<a href="https://www.parkerhistory.org/17-mile-house">17 Mile House and Barn</a>,” Parker Area Historical Society, 2009.</p><p>The Weather and Climate Impact Assessment Science Program, “<a href="http://www.assessment.ucar.edu/flood/flood_summaries/06_14_1965.html">South Platte &amp; Arkansas Basins: June 14-20, 1965</a>,” University Corporation for Atmospheric Research, 2007.</p><p>Town of Castle Rock Historic Preservation Board, “<a href="https://www.crgov.com/DocumentCenter/View/337">Walking Tour of Historic Downtown Castle Rock, Colorado</a>,” 2015.</p><p>US Department of Agriculture, “<a href="https://usda.library.cornell.edu/">Colorado</a>,” US Census of Agriculture, Vol. 1, Part 41 (1940).</p><p>US Department of Agriculture, “<a href="https://usda.library.cornell.edu/">Colorado</a>,” US Census of Agriculture, Vol. 1, Part 6 (1997).</p><p>US Forest Service, “<a href="https://www.fs.usda.gov/main/psicc/about-forest/about-area">Pike National Forest</a>,” United States Forest Service, 2016.</p></div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-additional-information-htm--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-additional-information-htm.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-additional-information-htm.html.twig * field--text-long.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-additional-information-htm field--type-text-long field--label-above" id="id-field-additional-information-htm"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-additional-information-htm">Additional Information</div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-additional-information-htm"><p><a href="https://visitcastlerock.org/">Castle Rock (official website)</a></p><p><a href="https://visitcastlerock.org/">Castle Rock (tourism website)</a></p><p><a href="https://www.castlerockmuseum.org/">Castle Rock Museum</a></p><p><a href="https://www.douglas.co.us/">Douglas County</a></p><p><a href="https://douglascountyhistory.org/digital/collection/documents/id/0">Douglas County History Research Center</a></p></div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> Tue, 21 Feb 2017 23:36:30 +0000 yongli 2370 at http://coloradoencyclopedia.org Clear Creek County http://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/clear-creek-county <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--title--encyclopedia-article.html.twig x field--node--title.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--title.html.twig * field--string.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Clear Creek County</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: x field--node--field-article-image--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-article-image.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-article-image.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--field-article-image--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div id="carouselEncyclopediaArticle" class="carousel slide" data-bs-ride="true"> <div class="carousel-inner"> <div class="carousel-item active"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'node' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * node--2227--article-detail-image.html.twig * node--2227.html.twig x node--image--article-detail-image.html.twig * node--image.html.twig * node--article-detail-image.html.twig * node.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/content/node--image--article-detail-image.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-encyclopedia-image--image.html.twig * field--node--field-encyclopedia-image.html.twig * field--node--image.html.twig * field--field-encyclopedia-image.html.twig * field--image.html.twig x field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-encyclopedia-image field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'image_formatter' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-formatter.html.twig' --> <a href="/image/idaho-springs"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'image_style' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-style.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'image' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image.html.twig' --> <img loading="lazy" src="/sites/default/files/styles/wide/public/Clear-Creek-Media-3_0.jpg?itok=z3GLGR-N" width="1000" height="801" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" class="image-style-wide" /> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-style.html.twig' --> </a> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-formatter.html.twig' --> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="carousel-caption d-none d-md-block"> <h5><a href="/image/idaho-springs" rel="bookmark"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--title--image.html.twig x field--node--title.html.twig * field--node--image.html.twig * field--title.html.twig * field--string.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Idaho Springs</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> </a></h5> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--body--image.html.twig * field--node--body.html.twig * field--node--image.html.twig * field--body.html.twig x field--text-with-summary.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--text-with-summary.html.twig' --> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>View of downtown Idaho Springs, seat of Clear Creek County, c. 1900-10. The town was formed in 1859, at the height of the Colorado Gold Rush.</p> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--text-with-summary.html.twig' --> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/content/node--image--article-detail-image.html.twig' --> </div> <div class="carousel-item"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'node' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * node--2225--article-detail-image.html.twig * node--2225.html.twig x node--image--article-detail-image.html.twig * node--image.html.twig * node--article-detail-image.html.twig * node.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/content/node--image--article-detail-image.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-encyclopedia-image--image.html.twig * field--node--field-encyclopedia-image.html.twig * field--node--image.html.twig * field--field-encyclopedia-image.html.twig * field--image.html.twig x field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-encyclopedia-image field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'image_formatter' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-formatter.html.twig' --> <a href="/image/clear-creek-county"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'image_style' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-style.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'image' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image.html.twig' --> <img loading="lazy" src="/sites/default/files/styles/wide/public/Clear-Creek-Media-1_0.jpg?itok=Bd2qESNQ" width="1000" height="724" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" class="image-style-wide" /> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-style.html.twig' --> </a> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-formatter.html.twig' --> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="carousel-caption d-none d-md-block"> <h5><a href="/image/clear-creek-county" rel="bookmark"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--title--image.html.twig x field--node--title.html.twig * field--node--image.html.twig * field--title.html.twig * field--string.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Clear Creek County</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> </a></h5> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--body--image.html.twig * field--node--body.html.twig * field--node--image.html.twig * field--body.html.twig x field--text-with-summary.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--text-with-summary.html.twig' --> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>Clear Creek County, one of the original seventeen counties of the Colorado Territory, hosted major gold and silver booms from 1859-93.</p> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--text-with-summary.html.twig' --> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/content/node--image--article-detail-image.html.twig' --> </div> </div> <button class="carousel-control-prev" type="button" data-bs-target="#carouselEncyclopediaArticle" data-bs-slide="prev"> <span class="carousel-control-prev-icon" aria-hidden="true"></span> <span class="visually-hidden">Previous</span> </button> <button class="carousel-control-next" type="button" data-bs-target="#carouselEncyclopediaArticle" data-bs-slide="next"> <span class="carousel-control-next-icon" aria-hidden="true"></span> <span class="visually-hidden">Next</span> </button> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--field-article-image--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--uid--encyclopedia-article.html.twig x field--node--uid.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--uid.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'username' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/user/username.html.twig' --> <span lang="" about="/users/yongli" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">yongli</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/user/username.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--created--encyclopedia-article.html.twig x field--node--created.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--created.html.twig * field--created.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'time' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/time.html.twig' --> <time datetime="2017-01-30T11:05:17-07:00" title="Monday, January 30, 2017 - 11:05" class="datetime">Mon, 01/30/2017 - 11:05</time> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/time.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'addtoany_standard' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * addtoany-standard--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * addtoany-standard--node.html.twig x addtoany-standard.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/addtoany/templates/addtoany-standard.html.twig' --> <span class="a2a_kit a2a_kit_size_32 addtoany_list" data-a2a-url="http://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/clear-creek-county" data-a2a-title="Clear Creek County"><a class="a2a_dd addtoany_share" href="https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Fcoloradoencyclopedia.org%2Farticle%2Fclear-creek-county&amp;title=Clear%20Creek%20County"></a><a class="a2a_button_facebook"></a><a class="a2a_button_twitter"></a><a class="a2a_button_email"></a></span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/addtoany/templates/addtoany-standard.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--body--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--body.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--body.html.twig * field--text-with-summary.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item" id="id-body"><p>Clear Creek County lies thirty miles west of <a href="/article/denver"><strong>Denver</strong></a> on the eastern slope of the <a href="/article/rocky-mountains"><strong>Rocky Mountains</strong></a>. One of Colorado’s seventeen original counties, it covers 396 square miles and spans <a href="/article/clear-creek-canyon-0"><strong>Clear Creek Canyon</strong></a>, from which it takes its name. Clear Creek County has a population of 9,303 and is bordered by <a href="/article/gilpin-county"><strong>Gilpin County</strong></a> to the northeast, <a href="/article/jefferson-county"><strong>Jefferson County</strong></a> to the east, <a href="/article/park-county"><strong>Park County</strong></a> to the south, <a href="/article/summit-county"><strong>Summit County</strong></a> to the southwest, and <a href="/article/grand-county"><strong>Grand County</strong></a> to the northwest.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>The county lies along the <a href="/article/interstate-70"><strong>Interstate 70</strong></a> corridor<strong>,</strong> which runs west from Denver through <strong>Idaho Springs</strong>, the largest city; <a href="/article/georgetown%E2%80%93silver-plume-historic-district"><strong>Georgetown</strong></a>, the county seat; and <a href="/article/georgetown%E2%80%93silver-plume-historic-district"><strong>Silver Plume</strong></a>, another historic mining town. One of the first major strikes of the <a href="/article/colorado-gold-rush"><strong>Colorado Gold Rush</strong></a> occurred in the mountains near Idaho Springs. Today, the county is home to the scenic <a href="/article/georgetown-loop"><strong>Georgetown Loop</strong></a> Railroad and the popular <strong>Loveland Ski Area</strong>, drawing tourists for a variety of outdoor activities.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>Indigenous People</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>The Nuche, or <a href="/search/google/ute"><strong>Ute</strong></a> people, occupied the Colorado Rocky Mountains as early as the fifteenth century, reaching the Central Rockies by about the seventeenth century. The Utes lived as hunter-gatherers, following game such as <a href="/article/mule-deer"><strong>deer</strong></a>, <a href="/article/rocky-mountain-elk"><strong>elk</strong>,</a> and <strong>buffalo</strong> into the high country during the summer and camping at the base of the foothills or other low points during the winter. They gathered berries, nuts, and various mountain roots, and built temporary or mobile dwellings such as <a href="/article/wickiups-and-other-wooden-features"><strong>wickiups</strong></a> and <a href="/article/tipi-0"><strong>tipis</strong></a>.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>During the late eighteenth century and early nineteenth, <strong>Arapaho</strong> and <strong>Cheyenne</strong> people migrated from the upper Midwest to Colorado’s <a href="/article/front-range"><strong>Front Range</strong></a>. They were also a mobile culture, living chiefly off the great buffalo herds on the plains but also ranging into the mountains to hunt and forage. This resulted in conflicts with the Ute, who resisted any encroachment on their hunting grounds.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>Mining</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>Both Spain and France claimed the Clear Creek County area before the United States acquired it as part of the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. The area remained under the dominion of the Ute and Arapaho until it attracted the federal government’s attention during the Colorado Gold Rush of 1858–59. In 1857 an economic depression in the east and Colonel Edwin V. Sumner’s victory over a group of Cheyenne in present-day Kansas motivated gold seekers to go to the Rocky Mountains. A bona fide rush began after <strong>William Green Russell</strong> found gold near present-day Denver in 1858.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>In January 1859, <strong>George Jackson</strong> discovered <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/precious-metal-mining-colorado"><strong>placer gold</strong></a> in the gravel along the north fork of Clear Creek, south of modern Idaho Springs. Jackson chose not to publicize his find until he could return with help. In April he brought twenty-two men from the Chicago Mining Company to the area, and they quickly found a fortune in gold. In June of 1859, with miners flooding the area, a town was established. It was first called Jackson’s Diggings, then Sacramento City, then Idahoe, and finally Idaho Springs. The remainder of 1859 saw the arrival of many others looking for gold.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Miners and entrepreneurs moved west along Clear Creek, creating mining districts in areas that would become the cities of Dumont, <strong>Empire</strong>, and Georgetown. Colonel John Dumont founded Mill City, later named Dumont, and ran three prominent mills in that area. Mill City also functioned as an important stage coach stop before the arrival of the railroad, offering travelers a hotel and the first saloon in Colorado west of Denver. Empire sprang up after Henry DeWitt Clinton Cowles and Edgar F. Freeman found gold in the area in 1860. Georgetown began when the Griffith brothers discovered gold at the base of a nearby mountain, creating the Griffith Mining District.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>In 1861 Congress created the <a href="/article/colorado-territory"><strong>Colorado Territory</strong></a>. Later that year, the territorial legislature created Clear Creek County, one of its original seventeen counties. Idaho Springs was named the first county seat. That year the US government brokered the <a href="/article/treaty-fort-wise"><strong>Treaty of Fort Wise</strong></a>, which set up a reservation for the Cheyenne and Arapaho in southeastern Colorado in exchange for <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/indian-annuities"><strong>annuities</strong></a>. In 1864 Congress approved the Conejos Treaty with the Utes, which gave the United States title to all Ute land east of the <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/great-divide"><strong>Continental Divide</strong></a>.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Miners in Clear Creek County extracted some $2 million worth of gold between 1859 and 1865. In 1867 the Colorado legislature moved the county seat to Georgetown, as it quickly grew larger than Idaho Springs. By 1866 gold deposits began to decline, but the Clear Creek area continued growing because of increased silver mining. A rich silver ore deposit was discovered near Georgetown, and a smelter was built in the town to economically extract the silver from the ore. Other silver strikes in the early 1870s led to the creation of the Burleigh, Marshall and Lebanon mines, as well as the town of Silver Plume. Between 1866 and 1875, the county’s silver mines yielded more than $8 million worth of ore, and by the 1880s the county population peaked at 7,800.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Prosperity brought by silver mining only lasted until the <a href="/article/panic-1893"><strong>Panic of 1893</strong></a>. Although Clear Creek County mines continued to produce silver, the steady drop in the metal’s value from nearly $1 per ounce in 1891 to about $0.58 by 1898 caused a major economic decline in Colorado’s mining communities. The decreased demand for silver created a resurgence in gold mining, which expanded production from the mid-1890s until the early twentieth century. The county averaged about $600,000 in gold production each year between 1895 and 1901, and in 1902 it had one of its richest gold-mining years ever, extracting a total of $930,000.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>With the creation and expansion of mining districts came the development of two satellite industries: logging and ranching. Logging provided timber for mine shafts and early buildings, while ranchers profited by raising stock to feed hungry miners.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>Rails and Roads</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>From its founding, Clear Creek County depended on roads and railroads to get ore to market and bring supplies to the mining towns through Clear Creek Canyon. In the 1860s, miners used dirt roads to cart their supplies and products to and from town, but these quickly proved insufficient. Some companies built toll roads to the mining districts, which eased the transportation of supplies and ore.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>The arrival of the railroad greatly reduced the cost of transportation and made it easier for Clear Creek County residents to get the supplies they needed. In 1877 the <strong>Colorado Central Railroad</strong> built a line from <a href="/article/golden-0"><strong>Golden</strong></a> into Clear Creek, through Idaho Springs, and on to Georgetown. In 1879 financial problems caused the Colorado Central Railroad to be leased to the Union Pacific.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>The Union Pacific built a new line through Clear Creek Canyon in 1884 called the Georgetown, Breckenridge &amp; Leadville. <strong>Jay Gould</strong>, head of the Union Pacific, wanted to build the first tracks into Leadville through Clear Creek Canyon, but the <strong>Denver &amp; Rio Grande</strong> completed its line to Leadville first. Having lost the race to Leadville and faced with the difficult and expensive task of building tracks into the central Rocky Mountains, the Union Pacific chose to end its line just past Silver Plume. There, the line was in an excellent position to take advantage of the growing market for railroad tourism. It became the famous Georgetown Loop, a popular tourist line that allowed visitors in Denver to experience the Rocky Mountains on a convenient day trip.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>Twentieth Century</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>Gold and silver mining in Clear Creek County began to decline at the turn of the century. Following the drop in silver prices during the <a href="/article/panic-1893"><strong>Panic of 1893</strong></a>, gold mining had a small boom, but it dwindled by the early 1920s. Zinc mining became important in the Georgetown–Silver Plume area during both world wars, and in 1976 the <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/henderson-molybdenum-mine"><strong>Henderson Mine</strong></a> began extracting molybdenum, a steel hardener. Although some other mines remain, most are currently inactive.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>The increase in automobile use during the twentieth century and the decrease in freight led to a decline in rail service across Colorado. The last passenger train to Clear Creek ran in 1938, and even the once-popular Georgetown Loop was abandoned in 1939. Most tracks were dismantled after the end of service, and many individuals and families left during the difficult years of the Great Depression. The population hit a low during the depression, with only 2,100 people left in the county.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>Tourism and Recreation</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>Although <strong>tourism</strong> had been a draw since the creation of Clear Creek County, it became more important to its communities with the decline of mining in the twentieth century. In the late 1930s, both Loveland Ski Area and Berthoud Pass Ski Area opened lifts. Berthoud Pass closed in the late 1980s due to lack of funding. Loveland Ski Area continues to be a favorite of Denver residents and visitors because it is fewer than forty miles from the city and offers ski slopes for all skill levels.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>The 1956 Interstate Act authorized the western extension of Interstate 70 from Denver to eastern Utah. This route ran through Clear Creek County, again providing convenient access to these mountain communities from Denver. The extension was built in the late 1950s and brought tourists as well as residents to the area. People could now commute to Denver for work.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>In 1959, as the centennial of Jackson’s first gold strike approached, many Clear Creek communities began looking to the past to boost the county into the future. With the help of the Colorado Historical Society (now <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/history-colorado-colorado-historical-society"><strong>History Colorado</strong></a>), plans to rebuild the Georgetown Loop emerged. A ten-year process of land acquisition began, with the society buying, leasing, and receiving donated land to rebuild the line. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, the Historical Society continued work with communities, historians, and archaeologists to develop the line for visitors. The first train on the rebuilt line ran in 1975. The loop grew to include a reconstructed Lebanon Mine, the Silver Plume Depot, and the Devil’s Gate High Bridge, among other structures. The project continues to grow, adding more visitor amenities such as meal service for passengers and interpretative signage.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Several historical societies formed in the later twentieth century with the common goal of preserving the history of Clear Creek County for residents and visitors. The Historical Society of Idaho Springs formed in 1964 and has worked to preserve buildings in the city’s historic downtown district. The Mill Creek Historical Society formed in 1981 with the goal of saving the 1909 schoolhouse, which the society succeeded in refurbishing. It then went on to preserve the Mill Creek House and continues preservation work in Dumont. Historic Georgetown and several other local history societies also work to preserve the county’s history.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>Today</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>Today, the Clear Creek County economy is heavily reliant on tourism, but officials aim to develop several other industries to promote population and economic growth. The largest employer in the county is the retail sector, followed by government and mining. Henderson Mine is the county’s largest single employer, though its impending closure poses a major threat to the county economy. The county is currently working on long-term plans to deal with the projected job loss when the mine close.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>While mining brought the county to prominence, the environmental effects are still being addressed today. In 1983 the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) placed the Central City and Clear Creek area on its Superfund list for environmental cleanup. Since the they were opened in the nineteenth century, the county’s mines have caused heavy metal pollution, requiring cleanup to the present.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>As the EPA cleans up the county’s mines, local residents work to preserve some of its most important natural areas. The Clear Creek Land Conservancy began in 1994 as a community-based plan to conserve the environment of Clear Creek Canyon. Both the Superfund site and land conservancy work to protect the environment of the county for the enjoyment of future generations.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Tourists come to Clear Creek County to view historic towns, take mine tours, ride the Georgetown Loop, and enjoy a range of outdoor activities. In winter visitors come primarily for skiing and snowboarding at the county’s ski areas. Summer brings hikers, mountain bikers, anglers, rafters, and other outdoor enthusiasts to the area. The county is also home to <strong>Mt. Evans</strong>, a <a href="/article/fourteeners"><strong>Fourteener</strong></a> that has a paved highway to its summit. Due to its proximity to Denver and its scenic mountain setting, Clear Creek County remains a popular draw for Front Range residents and visitors.</p>&#13; </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-author--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-author.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-author.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-author field--type-entity-reference field--label-above" id="id-field-author"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-author">Author</div> <div class='field__items'> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-author"><a href="/author/encyclopedia-staff" hreflang="und">Encyclopedia Staff</a></div> </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-keyword--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-keyword.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-keyword.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-keyword field--type-entity-reference field--label-above" id="id-field-keyword"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-keyword">Keywords</div> <div class='field__items'> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/clear-creek" hreflang="en">Clear Creek</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/clear-creek-canyon" hreflang="en">clear creek canyon</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/idaho-springs" hreflang="en">Idaho Springs</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/georgetown" hreflang="en">georgetown</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/colorado-gold-rush" hreflang="en">Colorado Gold Rush</a></div> </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'links__node' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * links--node.html.twig x links--inline.html.twig * links--node.html.twig * links.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/navigation/links--inline.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/navigation/links--inline.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-references-html--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-references-html.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-references-html.html.twig * field--text-long.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-references-html field--type-text-long field--label-above" id="id-field-references-html"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-references-html">References</div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-references-html"><p>Mark Baldwin, “<a href="http://gilpintram.com/cchistory.html">Colorado Central and Colorado Southern: Clear Creek Division</a>,” <em>The Gilpin Tramway and the Mines, Mills and Railroads of Gilpin County Colorado</em>, January 27, 2007.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Central City / Clear Creek Superfund Site, “<a href="https://www.colorado.gov/pacific/sites/default/files/HM_sf-cccc-2015-factsheet.pdf">Updated Fact Sheet</a>,” Central City / Clear Creek Superfund Site, 2015.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Clear Creek County, “<a href="https://www.clearcreekcounty.us/">Clear Creek County</a>,” 2016.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Clear Creek County Government, “<a href="http://www.co.clear-creek.co.us/DocumentCenter/View/6508">Annual Report, Clear Creek County, Colorado, 2015,</a>” Clear Creek County Government, 2015.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Clear Creek County Government, “<a href="http://www.co.clear-creek.co.us/DocumentCenter/Home/View/929">Clear Creek County Master Plan, 2030</a>,” Colorado Department of Local Affairs, January 15, 2004.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Clear Creek Tourism Bureau, “<a href="https://visitclearcreek.com/">Clear Creek County 365</a>,” Clear Creek County, 2016.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Climax Molybdenum, “<a href="https://www.climaxmolybdenum.com/operations/henderson.htm">Empire Colorado–Henderson Operations</a>,” Climax Molybdenum, A Freeport-McMoRan Company, n.d.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Colorado Department of Transportation, “<a href="https://www.codot.gov/about/CDOTHistory/50th-anniversary/interstate-70">The History of I-70 in Colorado</a>,” Colorado Department of Transportation, n.d.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Colorado Geological Survey, “<a href="https://coloradogeologicalsurvey.org/mineral-resources/historic-mining-districts/clear-creek-county/georgetown-silver-plume/">Clear Creek County: Georgetown-Silver Plume</a>,” Colorado Geologic Survey, Colorado School of Mines, 2015.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Colorado Ski History, “<a href="http://www.coloradoskihistory.com/areahistory/loveland.html">Loveland Ski Area</a>,” Colorado Ski History, 2010.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>David Cushman, “<a href="https://www.co.clear-creek.co.us/DocumentCenter/Home/View/992">Clear Creek County, Colorado Cultural Resources Management Plan</a>,” SRI Foundation for Board of County Commissioners, Clear Creek County Colorado, 2010.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Doug Freed, “<a href="https://cyberwest.com/">Berthoud Pass: Colorado’s First Ski Area</a>,” <em>CyberWest</em>, January 10, 1996.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Georgetown Loop Railroad, Colorado, “<a href="https://www.georgetownlooprr.com/our-history/">Our History</a>,” Historic Rail Adventures, LLC, n.d.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Mill Creek Valley Historical Society, “<a href="https://mcvhs.org/">About MCVHS</a>,” MCVHS, n.d.</p>&#13; </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-additional-information-htm--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-additional-information-htm.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-additional-information-htm.html.twig * field--text-long.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-additional-information-htm field--type-text-long field--label-above" id="id-field-additional-information-htm"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-additional-information-htm">Additional Information</div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-additional-information-htm"><p>Historical Society of Idaho Springs, <em>History of Clear Creek County: Tailings, Tacks, and Tommyknockers</em> (Forest Lake, MN: Specialty Press, 1986).</p>&#13; </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> Mon, 30 Jan 2017 18:05:17 +0000 yongli 2226 at http://coloradoencyclopedia.org Central City–Black Hawk Historic District http://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/central-city-black-hawk-historic-district <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--title--encyclopedia-article.html.twig x field--node--title.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--title.html.twig * field--string.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Central City–Black Hawk Historic District</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: x field--node--field-article-image--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-article-image.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-article-image.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--field-article-image--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div id="carouselEncyclopediaArticle" class="carousel slide" data-bs-ride="true"> <div class="carousel-inner"> <div class="carousel-item active"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'node' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * node--2334--article-detail-image.html.twig * node--2334.html.twig x node--image--article-detail-image.html.twig * node--image.html.twig * node--article-detail-image.html.twig * node.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/content/node--image--article-detail-image.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-encyclopedia-image--image.html.twig * field--node--field-encyclopedia-image.html.twig * field--node--image.html.twig * field--field-encyclopedia-image.html.twig * field--image.html.twig x field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-encyclopedia-image field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'image_formatter' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-formatter.html.twig' --> <a href="/image/black-hawk-today"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'image_style' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-style.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'image' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image.html.twig' --> <img loading="lazy" src="/sites/default/files/styles/wide/public/Central%20City%20Media%207.jpg?itok=bklvXQ-4" width="850" height="768" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" class="image-style-wide" /> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-style.html.twig' --> </a> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-formatter.html.twig' --> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="carousel-caption d-none d-md-block"> <h5><a href="/image/black-hawk-today" rel="bookmark"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--title--image.html.twig x field--node--title.html.twig * field--node--image.html.twig * field--title.html.twig * field--string.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Black Hawk Today</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> </a></h5> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--body--image.html.twig * field--node--body.html.twig * field--node--image.html.twig * field--body.html.twig x field--text-with-summary.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--text-with-summary.html.twig' --> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>After a 1990 state constitutional amendment allowed Central City and Black Hawk to have casino gambling in the name of historic preservation, Black Hawk let large modern casinos overtake its historic core.</p> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--text-with-summary.html.twig' --> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/content/node--image--article-detail-image.html.twig' --> </div> </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--field-article-image--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--uid--encyclopedia-article.html.twig x field--node--uid.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--uid.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'username' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/user/username.html.twig' --> <span lang="" about="/users/yongli" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">yongli</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/user/username.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--created--encyclopedia-article.html.twig x field--node--created.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--created.html.twig * field--created.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'time' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/time.html.twig' --> <time datetime="2016-12-19T14:19:17-07:00" title="Monday, December 19, 2016 - 14:19" class="datetime">Mon, 12/19/2016 - 14:19</time> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/time.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'addtoany_standard' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * addtoany-standard--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * addtoany-standard--node.html.twig x addtoany-standard.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/addtoany/templates/addtoany-standard.html.twig' --> <span class="a2a_kit a2a_kit_size_32 addtoany_list" data-a2a-url="http://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/central-city-black-hawk-historic-district" data-a2a-title="Central City–Black Hawk Historic District"><a class="a2a_dd addtoany_share" href="https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Fcoloradoencyclopedia.org%2Farticle%2Fcentral-city-black-hawk-historic-district&amp;title=Central%20City%E2%80%93Black%20Hawk%20Historic%20District"></a><a class="a2a_button_facebook"></a><a class="a2a_button_twitter"></a><a class="a2a_button_email"></a></span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/addtoany/templates/addtoany-standard.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--body--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--body.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--body.html.twig * field--text-with-summary.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item" id="id-body"><p>Central City and Black Hawk took shape during the boom years after <strong>John Gregory</strong> discovered gold on May 6, 1859, near the North Fork of <a href="/article/clear-creek-canyon-0"><strong>Clear Creek</strong></a> in what is now <a href="/article/gilpin-county"><strong>Gilpin County</strong></a>. For much of the 1860s and 1870s, the area was the richest <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/precious-metal-mining-colorado"><strong>mining</strong></a> region in Colorado, and Central City rivaled <a href="/article/denver"><strong>Denver</strong></a> as the territory’s cultural capital. The towns lost prominence and population as the area’s mining stagnated and then declined over the next fifty years, but the revival of the <a href="/article/central-city-opera"><strong>Central City Opera House</strong></a> in 1932 helped attract tourists and spur <strong>historic preservation</strong>. In 1990 Colorado voters approved an amendment allowing the towns to have casinos, which generated millions of dollars for the local economy and historic preservation but also transformed the towns they were supposed to help preserve.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>Gregory’s Diggings</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>Central City, Black Hawk, and the nearby town of Nevadaville formed around one of the earliest major gold discoveries in the Rocky Mountains. Prospectors had first rushed to Colorado in the fall of 1858 and spring of 1859, after reports of gold finds near what is now Denver. By late spring 1859, however, much of the early optimism had faded and many “go-backers” were returning east with disappointment and empty pockets.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>On May 6, just as the <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/colorado-gold-rush"><strong>Colorado Gold Rush</strong></a> was being declared dead, Gregory, a Georgian, struck gold near the North Fork of Clear Creek between what is now Black Hawk and Central City; a historic marker now stands at this spot. The news reached Denver a week later, and by early June Gregory Gulch was teeming with more than 4,000 prospectors living in tents and crude lean-tos. The population briefly ballooned to more than 20,000 later that summer, but shrank again when it was discovered that the area’s gold was bound up with quartz, making it difficult to extract and refine. Despite that, in 1859 prospectors in Gregory Gulch mined more than $1.5 million in gold.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>As people streamed into Gregory Gulch, small mining camps sprouted up and down the valley. The town closest to Gregory’s find was originally called Gregory’s Diggings but soon became known as Mountain City. At the upper end of the valley about two miles to the west, discoveries on Quartz Hill led to the start of nearby Nevada City (Nevadaville). By the fall of 1859, a new town, Central City, was established between Mountain City and Nevada City. Soon it developed into the social and economic center of the region and became the county seat when Gilpin County was formed in 1861.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Meanwhile, in the spring of 1860 migrants from Illinois established a stamp mill—a facility that pulverizes ore to extract metals—where Gregory Gulch met the North Fork of Clear Creek. The mill was made by the Black Hawk Quartz Mill Company, and the area was soon called Black Hawk Point, then simply Black Hawk. With its relatively flat land and downstream location, Black Hawk developed into the hub for processing and transporting ores from the area’s mines.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Central City and Black Hawk boomed for about five years after 1859. Known as the “richest square mile on earth,” Central City was arguably the most important town in <a href="/article/colorado-territory"><strong>Colorado Territory</strong></a>. Buildings progressed from tents to log cabins to wood frames as the area moved from crude mining camps to established towns. Social and cultural development accompanied physical growth. In July 1859, local Methodists held their first service, and the next year the congregation’s log cabin was the first church building in the Colorado mountains. In November 1860, <strong>Bishop Joseph Machebeuf</strong> held the first Catholic mass in Mountain City. The most important early structure in Central City was Washington Hall (1861), which was the city’s main public building in the 1860s and later served as City Hall. Former slave <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/clara-brown"><strong>Clara Brown</strong></a> opened a laundry in Central City, and future senator <a href="/article/henry-teller"><strong>Henry Teller</strong></a> started a law office. In 1862 the Central City <em>Tri-Weekly Miner’s Register</em> started publication and the city’s first public school opened.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>The Smelter</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>By the middle of the 1860s, the initial boom in Central City and Black Hawk had slowed down. The ongoing Civil War stifled migration and investment, and by about 1864 most of the area’s easy gold had been mined. Plenty of gold remained, but the ores were much harder to process because they contained gold in combination with sulfides. The Gilpin County economy stagnated while waiting for new infusions of capital and technology to make mining profitable again.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>The turnaround came in 1868, when chemistry professor <a href="/article/nathaniel-p-hill"><strong>Nathaniel P. Hill</strong></a> of Brown University introduced a new smelting—or metal extraction—process that he discovered in Wales. Hill and a group of Boston investors started the Boston and Colorado Smelting Company in Black Hawk, and by 1870 Hill’s smelter was processing $500,000 of ores per year.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Thanks to Hill’s smelting process as well as the arrival of the <strong>Colorado Central Railroad</strong> in Black Hawk in 1872, the 1870s was the most prosperous period in Gilpin County history. In 1871 the county’s gold production peaked at $3.2 million, and Central City rivaled Denver in cultural and political influence. Construction boomed. Local lawyer and businessman Henry Teller, who helped bring the Colorado Central to the area, invested in a grand four-story brick hotel called the <a href="/article/teller-house"><strong>Teller House</strong></a>, which opened in June 1872 with 150 rooms.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>Fire of 1874</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>Black Hawk never suffered any major fires, but Central City survived two devastating fires in the 1870s. The first, in January 1873, burned sixteen buildings. It proved to be merely a warm-up for the catastrophic fire of May 21, 1874, which destroyed about 150 of the town’s buildings. The Teller House and Washington Hall survived, but many of the town’s early structures were lost. Some people left town instead of rebuilding, but in general Central City was prosperous enough to immediately invest in improvements and new buildings. The town’s streets were widened and graded in the wake of the fire, and in 1875 eighty new buildings went up. To prevent future fires, new building codes prohibited wood construction in the business district.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Mining and construction continued to boom in the late 1870s. Colorado’s admission to <strong>statehood</strong> in 1876 helped spur investment in the new state’s mines, and in 1877 Teller became one of the state’s first US senators. The most significant symbol of Central City’s ambitions in these years was the Central City Opera House. Central City’s longstanding love of theater stretched back to the opening of Hadley Hall in 1859 in Mountain City; the new opera house was an impressive stone structure completed in 1878 from a design by <a href="/article/robert-s-roeschlaub"><strong>Robert Roeschlaub</strong></a>. The opera house had a two-day opening ceremony, with vocal and instrumental performances on March 4 and a theatrical performance on March 5. With a capacity of 750 people, the Central City Opera House was regarded as the top theater in Colorado.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>Slow Decline</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>In the 1880s, the Central City­–Black Hawk area lost some of its luster, for several reasons. First, statehood increased Denver’s importance, and the capital began to exert a strong gravitational pull on Central City’s wealthiest residents. Without its elites, Central City no longer mattered as much in state politics and culture. Second, new silver booms in places like <strong>Leadville</strong> and <a href="/article/aspen"><strong>Aspen</strong></a> stole attention away from Gilpin County. In 1876 the county had produced about half of the state’s mineral wealth, but in the 1880s that figure dropped to roughly 10 percent. Gilpin County continued to lead the state in gold production, but the big bonanzas lay elsewhere.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>The Central City Opera House turned out to be one of the last major buildings constructed in the area. It suffered a quick decline after the <a href="/article/tabor-grand-opera-house"><strong>Tabor Grand Opera House</strong></a> in Denver displaced it as the state’s finest theater in 1881. That year, the three-year-old opera house was sold to Gilpin County for use as a courthouse. Outraged citizens bought the building back, but over the next few decades it hosted more political rallies and wrestling matches than top-flight theatrical performances.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>The presence of gold in Central City and Black Hawk saved the area from the collapse that many Colorado mining towns suffered after the <strong>repeal of the Sherman Silver Purchase Act </strong>in 1893. The area even experienced a brief resurgence in the 1890s as gold mining revived and new technologies made production cheaper. The Gilpin County Courthouse, built in 1900, was a product of this period of renewed optimism. Yet even then, Central City and Black Hawk were overshadowed by the gold-mining boom at <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/cripple-creek"><strong>Cripple Creek</strong></a>. By the early twentieth century, only a handful of mining operations remained.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>With commodity prices rising faster than the price of gold, it was only a matter of time before gold mining no longer paid. The moment of reckoning finally came during the inflation that accompanied <a href="/article/colorado-world-war-i"><strong>World War I</strong></a>. In 1917 the Gilpin Tramway was abandoned after providing thirty years of local transportation throughout the mining district, and by 1918 nearly all mining operations were suspended. Some residents moved their houses elsewhere, and abandoned buildings were used for firewood. The Central City Opera House closed on January 1, 1927. Central City had about 500 people left, and Black Hawk had roughly 200.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>Opera House Revival</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>Mining experienced a minor revival during the <strong>Great Depression</strong>, when cheaper labor and higher gold prices made it profitable again. After the commercial mining of gold was prohibited during World War II, however, mining never fully recovered in Gilpin County. Nevadaville became a ghost town.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Central City began to rely on its rich history to generate tourism. In the early 1930s the Central City Opera House Association restored the shuttered opera house and reopened it in July 1932 with a production of <em>Camille</em>. The association’s summer opera festivals, held almost every year except during World War II, helped bring new visitors and summer residents to the area. By 1940 the festival had grown to twenty-four performances that drew a combined audience of more than 20,000. Summer tourism surged in the decade after World War II, growing to 300,000 visitors in 1949 and more than half a million in 1955. Central City Opera became involved in historic preservation by acquiring the Teller House and several old residences in town to house festival staff and artists. In 1959 the Gilpin County Historical Society was founded, and in 1961 Central City became a National Historic Landmark; the district boundary was later expanded to include Black Hawk and Nevadaville.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>As the ski industry transformed Colorado tourism in the 1960s and 1970s, however, visitation to Central City and Black Hawk declined. Central City Opera lost audiences to modern venues such as the Santa Fe Opera and the <strong>Denver Performing Arts Complex</strong>. In 1982 Central City Opera’s rising debts forced it to cancel its fiftieth anniversary season. The festival returned in 1983 and soon rebuilt its audience, but Central City and Black Hawk continued to face a financial crisis caused by mounting infrastructure costs and declining tax dollars. Buildings were in disrepair and in danger of collapsing, and Central City had no money to fix a water supply that had been condemned by the state health department. After about 130 years in existence, Central City and Black Hawk had only a few hundred residents and faced the distinct possibility that they might soon join Nevadaville as ghost towns.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>Gambling Era</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>Inspired by the example of the famous Old West town of Deadwood, South Dakota, where gambling was legalized in 1989 to generate revenue for preservation, residents in Central City and Black Hawk joined with Cripple Creek to push for an amendment to the state constitution that would allow limited-stakes gaming. The original idea was that existing businesses might add a few slot machines and a card table, with half of the revenue going to the state, 28 percent to the State Historical Fund, 12 percent to Gilpin and <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/teller-county"><strong>Teller</strong></a> Counties, and 10 percent to the three towns. In November 1990, 57 percent of the state’s voters approved <strong>Amendment 4</strong>, which was billed as a preservation measure, and the first casinos opened on October 1, 1991.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>One result of the gambling amendment was to flip the historical relationship between Central City and Black Hawk. Central City had always been the wealthier and more prominent of the two, but the same things that made Black Hawk a good mill town—flat land and easier access to Denver—also made it a good casino town. Starting in 1993, casinos in Black Hawk accounted for a majority of gambling in Gilpin County, and within a few years they generated two-thirds of the non-tribal gambling revenue in the state. In an attempt to short-circuit Black Hawk’s advantage, in 2004 Central City acquired a 150-foot-wide strip of land leading from the town to <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/interstate-70"><strong>Interstate 70</strong></a> and constructed a $38.3 million highway. When it opened, the Central City Parkway promised to increase the town’s gambling revenue by giving people a direct route to Central City that did not involve passing through Black Hawk. But the new parkway did little to affect Black Hawk’s dominance. In recent years, Black Hawk’s roughly seventeen casinos have generated more than $90 million in taxes—about 85 percent of the statewide total—while Central City’s six casinos have generated more than $6 million, or almost 6 percent of the statewide total.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Twenty-five years later, gambling proved to be a mixed blessing. Advocates pointed out that casinos had saved Central City and Black Hawk by attracting visitors and generating money for local improvements and statewide historic preservation. By the early 2000s the towns had made more money from gambling than they ever did from mining. But opponents noted that gambling, like mining before it, had crowded out other businesses and fundamentally changed the towns it was meant to preserve. In 1998 development threats led the National Trust for Historic Preservation to name Central City and Black Hawk among the most endangered historic places in the country.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Today Central City, Black Hawk, and Nevadaville represent three possible fates for a Colorado mining town in the twenty-first century. Nevadaville is now a ghost town with only a few buildings left standing. Black Hawk has displayed an unrestrained pursuit of profit at the expense of preservation and is dominated by huge new casinos and a thirty-three-story hotel that towers over the landscape. Central City has not been immune to new gambling-oriented development, but it has managed to preserve much of its historic core, and Central City Opera continues to attract some visitors interested in the town’s history and culture rather than its casinos.</p>&#13; </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-author--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-author.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-author.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-author field--type-entity-reference field--label-above" id="id-field-author"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-author">Author</div> <div class='field__items'> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-author"><a href="/author/encyclopedia-staff" hreflang="und">Encyclopedia Staff</a></div> </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-keyword--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-keyword.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-keyword.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-keyword field--type-entity-reference field--label-above" id="id-field-keyword"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-keyword">Keywords</div> <div class='field__items'> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/central-city" hreflang="en">Central City</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/central-city-opera" hreflang="en">central city opera</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/central-city-opera-house-association" hreflang="en">Central City Opera House Association</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/black-hawk" hreflang="en">Black Hawk</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/nevadaville" hreflang="en">Nevadaville</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/john-gregory" hreflang="en">John Gregory</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/colorado-gold-rush" hreflang="en">Colorado Gold Rush</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/gilpin-county" hreflang="en">Gilpin County</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/nathaniel-hill" hreflang="en">Nathaniel Hill</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/henry-teller" hreflang="en">Henry Teller</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/central-city-fire-1874" hreflang="en">Central City Fire of 1874</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/tourism" hreflang="en">tourism</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/amendment-4" hreflang="en">Amendment 4</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/gambling" hreflang="en">gambling</a></div> </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'links__node' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * links--node.html.twig x links--inline.html.twig * links--node.html.twig * links.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/navigation/links--inline.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/navigation/links--inline.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-references-html--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-references-html.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-references-html.html.twig * field--text-long.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-references-html field--type-text-long field--label-above" id="id-field-references-html"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-references-html">References</div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-references-html"><p><a href="https://www.colorado.gov/pacific/sites/default/files/Fact%20Abstract%202015%20DRAFTv6-FINAL.pdf">“2015 Fact Book &amp; Abstract,”</a> Colorado Division of Gaming.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Alan Granruth, <em>Mining Gold to Mining Wallets: Central City, Colorado, 1859–1999</em> (1999).</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Alan Granruth, ed., <em>The Little Kingdom of Gilpin: Gilpin County, Colorado</em> (Central City, CO: Gilpin Historical Society, 2000).</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Rickey L. Hendricks and Julie A. Corona, “Central City–Black Hawk Historic District,” National Register of Historic Places Registration Form (April 1990).</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Sarah J. Pearce and Christine Pfaff, <em>Guide to Historic Central City and Black Hawk</em> (Evergreen, CO: Cordillera Press, 1987).</p>&#13; </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-additional-information-htm--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-additional-information-htm.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-additional-information-htm.html.twig * field--text-long.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-additional-information-htm field--type-text-long field--label-above" id="id-field-additional-information-htm"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-additional-information-htm">Additional Information</div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-additional-information-htm"><p>Carl Abbott, Stephen J. Leonard, and Thomas J. Noel, <em>Colorado: A History of the Centennial State</em>, 5th ed. (Boulder: University Press of Colorado, 2013).</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Roger Baker, <em>Black Hawk: The Rise and Fall of a Colorado Mill Town</em> (Central City, CO: Black Hawk Publishing, 2004).</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Patricia A. Stokowski, <em>Riches and Regrets: Betting on Gambling in Two Colorado Mountain Towns</em> (Niwot: University Press of Colorado, 1996).</p>&#13; &#13; <p>William Wyckoff, <em>Creating Colorado: The Making of a Western American Landscape, 1860–1940</em> (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1999).</p>&#13; </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-4th-grade--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-4th-grade.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-4th-grade.html.twig * field--text-with-summary.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-4th-grade field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item" id="id-field-4th-grade"><p>Central City and Black Hawk began after <strong>John Gregory</strong> discovered gold on May 6, 1859.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>Gregory’s Diggings</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>The Colorado Gold Rush began in 1858-1859. Prospectors heard reports of gold strikes near what is now <strong>Denver</strong>. By late spring 1859, many “go-backers” were returning east with empty pockets and disappointment. Just as the Colorado Gold Rush was being declared over, John Gregory struck gold on May 6, 1859. He was near the North Fork of <strong>Clear Creek</strong>. A historic marker now stands at this spot. More than 4,000 prospectors rushed to this area when they heard the news. They lived in tents and simple lean-tos. The little town was named Gregory’s Diggings. Its population grew to 20,000 later in the summer. It shrank again when the news came that the gold in this area was bound up with quartz. This made it hard to separate the gold and quartz.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>The total value of gold that prospectors mined in Gregory Gulch was more than $1.5 million. The town of Gregory’s Diggings became known as Mountain City. Another town, Nevada City, was started about two miles to the west. It became known as Nevadaville. A new town, between Mountain City and Nevada City, was started in the fall of 1859. Central City was its name. In 1860 a stamp mill was built near the spot where Gregory first struck gold. A stamp mill is a large machine that crushes rocks containing gold so the gold can be taken out. The mill was built by the Black Hawk Quartz Mill Company. This area soon became known as Black Hawk Point, and then just Black Hawk. Black Hawk was the hub where ore was processed and transported from the area’s mines.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>After 1859, Black Hawk and Central City boomed for about five years. They were known as “the richest square mile on earth.” Central City became the most important town in the <strong>Colorado Territory</strong>. Over the next five years, the tents were replaced with log cabins. Log cabins became wood frame buildings. Mining camps turned into actual towns. Central City now had two churches, a laundry, a city hall, a law office, a public school, and a town newspaper.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>The Smelter</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>By the middle of the 1860s, Central City and Black Hawk were no longer booming. One reason was that most of the “easy” gold had been mined, even though plenty of gold remained deep in the mountains. In 1868 a chemistry professor from the east, Nathaniel P. Hill, introduced a new process called “smelting” to separate the metals from the ore. By 1870 Hill’s smelter was processing $500,000 of ore per year. The very next year Gilpin County’s gold production peaked at $3.2 million. Construction boomed. <strong>Henry Teller</strong>, a lawyer and businessman in Central City, invested in a grand four-story brick hotel called the <strong>Teller House</strong>. The Teller House opened in June 1872 with 150 rooms. It helped bring the <strong>Colorado Central Railroad</strong> to the area.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>In the 1870s, Central City survived two major fires. Mining and construction kept booming. Colorado became a state in 1876. More people invested their money in the mines. The Central City Opera House was built in 1878. It could seat 750 people and was thought to be the top theater in the state.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>Slow Decline</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>In the 1880s, the Central City-Black Hawk area lost some of its luster. First, Denver was now the capital city of Colorado. Some of Central City’s richest residents moved to Denver. Second, new silver booms in places like <strong>Leadville</strong> and <strong>Aspen</strong> drew people away from the area. Gilpin County still led the state in gold production, but the big bonanzas were happening in other parts of the state. The <strong>Tabor Grand Opera House</strong> was built in Denver in 1881. The Central City Opera House was no longer the top theater of the state. The Central City Opera House was sold to <strong>Gilpin County</strong> to be used as a courthouse. Angry citizens bought the building back to preserve it.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>There were a few years in the 1890s when gold was mined again. By the early 1900s, only a handful of mining operations remained. By the end of World War I, most mining was suspended. Some residents moved their homes to other places. The Central City Opera House closed on January 1, 1927. Central City had about 500 people left. Black Hawk had about 200 people left.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>Opera House Revival</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>During the <strong>Great Depression</strong> (1929-1939), mining had a brief comeback. It never fully recovered in Gilpin County after World War II. Central City used its rich history to save it from becoming a ghost town. In the early 1930s, the Central City Opera House Association restored the opera house. It reopened in July 1932. Summer opera festivals were held almost every year except during World War II. The number of tourists grew by leaps and bounds. The Gilpin County Historical Society was started in 1959. More old homes and buildings were restored. During the 1960s and 1970s, the ski industry changed Colorado tourism. Central City and Black Hawk weren’t as popular as before. Tourists visited other opera houses in Denver and Santa Fe, New Mexico. Just like fifty years before, the two towns looked for a way to keep from becoming ghost towns.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>Gambling Era</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>Central City and Black Hawk needed to find a way to attract tourists. The two towns had heard about what the famous Old West town of Deadwood, South Dakota, had done in 1989. Deadwood’s solution was to legalize limited-stakes gambling. Tourists started going to Deadwood to gamble. Black Hawk and Central City decided to imitate this plan. Before 1990 it was illegal to gamble in the state of Colorado. Black Hawk and Central City joined with the town of Cripple Creek to support an amendment to the Colorado constitution. Amendment 4 allowed limited-stakes gambling in these three towns. Money from gambling would be used to save historic buildings. A majority of the state’s voters approved Amendment 4 in 1990. The first casinos opened in 1991.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Gambling has had positive and negative effects in Central City and Black Hawk. Money has been available to restore historical buildings. Central City was wealthier than Black Hawk in the gold mining days, but now gambling has made Black Hawk wealthier. By the early 2000s, the towns had made more money from gambling than they ever did from mining. In each town, gambling has crowded out other businesses and changed the towns in different ways. But it has helped preserve some of the most important historic structures from the days of the Colorado Gold Rush.</p>&#13; </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-8th-grade--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-8th-grade.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-8th-grade.html.twig * field--text-with-summary.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-8th-grade field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item" id="id-field-8th-grade"><p>Central City and Black Hawk began after <strong>John Gregory</strong> discovered gold in the area on May 6, 1859. For much of the 1860s and 1870s, the area was the richest mining region in Colorado. The towns lost importance and population as the area’s mining declined over the next fifty years. The revival of the <strong>Central City Opera House </strong>in 1932 helped attract tourists and spur <strong>historic preservation</strong>. Today both towns are home to a thriving casino industry, with part of the profits going toward preservation of old mining-era buildings.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>Gregory’s Diggings</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>Central City, Black Hawk, and the nearby town of Nevadaville formed around one of the earliest major gold discoveries in the Rocky Mountains. On May 6, 1859, prospector John Gregory struck gold near what is now Black Hawk and Central City. A historic marker now stands at this spot. By early June the area, known as “Gregory Gulch,” had more than 4,000 prospectors. They lived in tents and lean-tos. In 1859 prospectors mined more than $1.5 million in gold from Gregory Gulch.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>As people streamed into Gregory Gulch, small mining camps formed up and down the valley. Discoveries on Quartz Hill led to the start of nearby Nevada City (Nevadaville). By the fall of 1859, a new town, Central City, was established. When Gilpin County was formed in 1861, it became the county seat.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Central City was known as the “richest square mile on earth.” It was possibly the most important town in the newly created <strong>Colorado Territory</strong>. Buildings went from tents to log cabins to wood frames as the area transitioned from mining camps to towns. The most important early structure in Central City was Washington Hall (1861). It was the city’s main public building in the 1860s and later served as City Hall.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>The Smelter</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>By the middle of the 1860s, the initial boom in Central City and Black Hawk had slowed down. By about 1864 most of the area’s easy gold had been mined. Plenty of gold remained, but the ores were much harder to process.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>That changed in 1868, when chemistry professor <strong>Nathaniel P. Hill</strong> of Brown University introduced a new smelting—or metal extraction—process. Hill and others started the Boston and Colorado Smelting Company in Black Hawk. By 1870 Hill’s smelter was processing $500,000 of ore per year.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>The 1870s were the most prosperous period in Gilpin County history, thanks to Hill’s smelting process and the arrival of the <strong>Colorado Central Railroad</strong> in Black Hawk in 1872. Construction boomed. Local lawyer and businessman Henry Teller built a grand four-story brick hotel called the <strong>Teller House</strong>. It opened in June 1872.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Central City survived two serious fires in the 1870s, and in 1875 new building codes outlawed wood construction in the business district. Mining and construction continued to boom in the late 1870s. Colorado’s admission to <strong>statehood</strong> in 1876 helped spur investment in the new state’s mines. The most notable symbol of Central City’s ambitions in these years was the Central City Opera House, completed in 1878.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>Slow Decline</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>In the 1880s, the Central City­–Black Hawk area lost some of its luster. Statehood increased Denver’s importance. Many of Central City’s wealthiest residents moved to Denver. New silver booms in <strong>Leadville</strong> and <strong>Aspen </strong>drew people away from Gilpin County. Gilpin County continued to lead the state in gold production, but big bonanzas lay elsewhere.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>By 1918 nearly all mining operations were suspended. Some residents moved their homes elsewhere. Abandoned buildings were used for firewood. The Central City Opera House closed on January 1, 1927. Central City had about 500 people left, and Black Hawk had roughly 200.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>Opera House Revival</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>Central City began to rely on its rich history to attract tourists. In the early 1930s, the Central City Opera House Association restored the opera house and reopened it in July 1932. The Central City Opera became involved in historic preservation, buying the Teller House and several old residences in town. In 1959 the Gilpin County Historical Society was founded, and in 1961 Central City became a National Historic Landmark. The district boundary was later expanded to include Black Hawk and Nevadaville.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>The ski industry transformed Colorado tourism in the 1960s and 1970s, drawing tourists to new resorts instead of historic places like Central City and Black Hawk. After about 130 years in existence, Central City and Black Hawk had only a few hundred residents. They faced the gloomy prospect of joining Nevadaville as ghost towns.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>Gambling Era</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>To avoid that fate, Central City and Black Hawk would have to attract more tourists. Before 1990 it was illegal to gamble in Colorado, but that year Black Hawk and Central City joined with Cripple Creek to support an amendment to the Colorado constitution that allowed gambling. <strong>Amendment 4</strong> was approved by a majority of the state’s voters and allowed limited-stakes gambling in the three towns. Money from gambling was to be used for historic preservation. The first casinos opened in 1991.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Gambling has had positive and negative effects in Central City and Black Hawk. The towns have money to restore historical buildings, but traffic and modern development in the narrow gulch have also marred their beloved scenery. Casinos have also pushed out other businesses. By the early 2000s, the towns had made more money from gambling than they ever did from mining.</p>&#13; </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-10th-grade--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-10th-grade.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-10th-grade.html.twig * field--text-with-summary.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-10th-grade field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item" id="id-field-10th-grade"><p>Central City and Black Hawk took shape after <strong>John Gregory</strong> discovered gold on May 6, 1859. For much of the 1860s and 1870s, the area was the richest mining region in Colorado. Central City rivaled <strong>Denver</strong> as the territory’s cultural capital. The towns lost importance and population as local mining stagnated and then declined over the next fifty years. The revival of the <strong>Central City Opera House</strong> in 1932 helped attract tourists and spur <strong>historic preservation</strong>. In 1990 Colorado voters approved an amendment allowing the towns to have casinos. This amendment generated millions of dollars for the local economy and historic preservation, but also transformed the towns they sought to preserve.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>Gregory’s Diggings</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>Central City, Black Hawk, and the nearby town of Nevadaville formed around one of the earliest major gold discoveries in the Rocky Mountains. Prospectors had first rushed to Colorado in the fall of 1858 and spring of 1859, after reports of gold finds near what is now Denver. By late spring 1859, much of the early enthusiasm had faded. Many “go-backers” were returning east with disappointment and empty pockets.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>On May 6, just as the Colorado gold rush was being declared dead, Gregory struck gold near the North Fork of Clear Creek between what is now Black Hawk and Central City. A historic marker now stands at this spot. The news reached Denver a week later. By early June, Gregory Gulch was crowded with more than 4,000 prospectors. The population briefly ballooned to more than 20,000 later that summer. It shrank again when it was discovered that the area’s gold was bound up with quartz. That made it difficult to extract and refine. Despite that, in 1859 prospectors in Gregory Gulch mined more than $1.5 million in gold.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>As people streamed into Gregory Gulch, small mining camps sprouted up and down the valley. The town closest to Gregory’s find was originally called Gregory’s Diggings, and soon became known as Mountain City. Discoveries on Quartz Hill led to the start of nearby Nevada City (Nevadaville). By the fall of 1859, a new town, Central City, was established between Mountain City and Nevada City. Soon it became the social and economic center of the region. When Gilpin County was formed in 1861, Central City became the county seat.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>In the spring of 1860, migrants from Illinois established a stamp mill—machinery used to smash gold-bearing rocks so the metal can be extracted—where Gregory Gulch met the North Fork of Clear Creek. The mill was made by the Black Hawk Quartz Mill Company. The area was called Black Hawk Point, then simply Black Hawk. It developed into a hub for processing and transporting ores from the area’s mines.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Central City and Black Hawk boomed for about five years after 1859. Known as the “richest square mile on earth,” Central City was maybe the most important town in <strong>Colorado Territory</strong>. Buildings grew from tents to log cabins to wood frames as the area moved from crude mining camps to established towns. Social and cultural development came with physical growth. In July 1859 local Methodists held their first service. The next year the congregation’s log cabin was the first church building in the Colorado mountains. In November 1860 <strong>Bishop Joseph Machebeuf</strong> held the first Catholic mass in Mountain City. The most important early structure in Central City was Washington Hall (1861). It was the city’s main public building in the 1860s. Later it served as City Hall. Former slave <strong>Clara Brown</strong> opened a laundry in Central City, and future senator <strong>Henry Teller</strong> started a law office. In 1862 the Central City <em>Tri-Weekly Miner’s Register</em> started publication and the city’s first public school opened.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>Boomtowns</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>By the middle of the 1860s, the initial boom in Central City and Black Hawk had slowed down. The ongoing Civil War curbed migration and investment. By the mid-1860s, most of the area’s easy gold had been mined. Plenty of gold remained, but the ores were much harder to process because they contained gold in combination with sulfides. The Gilpin County economy declined while waiting for new infusions of capital and technology to make mining profitable again.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>The turnaround came in 1868, when chemistry professor <strong>Nathaniel P. Hill</strong> of Brown University introduced a new smelting—or metal extraction—process that he discovered in Wales. Hill and a group of Boston investors started the Boston and Colorado Smelting Company in Black Hawk. By 1870 Hill’s smelter was processing $500,000 in ore per year.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Thanks to Hill’s smelting process as well as the arrival of the <strong>Colorado Central Railroad</strong> in Black Hawk in 1872, the 1870s was the most prosperous period in Gilpin County history. In 1871 the county’s gold production peaked at $3.2 million. Central City rivaled Denver in cultural and political influence. Construction boomed. Local lawyer and businessman Henry Teller, who helped bring the Colorado Central to the area, invested in a grand, four-story brick hotel called the <strong>Teller House</strong>. It opened in June 1872 with 150 rooms.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Disaster struck along with prosperity in the 1870s, as Central City suffered two devastating fires during its boom period. The first, in January 1873, burned sixteen buildings, but the next, on May 21, 1874, destroyed about 150 buildings. In 1875 eighty new buildings went up, and new building codes prohibited wood construction in the business district to prevent future fires.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Mining and construction continued to boom in the late 1870s. Colorado’s admission to <strong>statehood</strong> in 1876 helped spur investment in the new state’s mines. In 1877 Teller became one of the state’s first US senators. The most significant symbol of Central City’s ambitions in these years was the Central City Opera House. The new opera house was an impressive stone structure completed in 1878 from a design by <strong>Robert Roeschlaub</strong>. The opera house had a two-day opening ceremony. With a capacity of 750 people, the Central City Opera House was regarded as the top theater in Colorado.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>Slow Decline</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>In the 1880s, the Central City–Black Hawk area lost some of its luster. First, statehood increased Denver’s importance. The capital began to attract Central City’s wealthiest residents. Without its elites, Central City no longer mattered as much in state politics and culture. Second, new silver booms in places like <strong>Leadville</strong> and <strong>Aspen</strong> stole attention away from Gilpin County. By 1876 the county had produced about half of the state’s mineral wealth. In the 1880s, that figure dropped to roughly 10 percent. Gilpin County continued to lead the state in gold production, but the big bonanzas lay elsewhere.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>The Central City Opera House turned out to be one of the last major buildings constructed in the area. It suffered a quick decline after the <strong>Tabor Grand Opera House</strong> in Denver displaced it as the state’s finest theater in 1881. That year, the three-year-old opera house was sold to Gilpin County for use as a courthouse. Outraged citizens bought the building back. Over the next few decades it hosted more political rallies and wrestling matches than top-flight theatrical performances.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>The presence of gold in Central City and Black Hawk saved the area from the collapse that many Colorado mining towns suffered after the <strong>repeal of the Sherman Silver Purchase Act </strong>in 1893. The area even experienced a brief resurgence in the 1890s. Gold mining revived and new technologies made production cheaper. The Gilpin County Courthouse, built in 1900, was a product of this period of renewed optimism. Yet even then, Central City and Black Hawk were overshadowed by the gold-mining boom at <strong>Cripple Creek</strong>. By the early twentieth century, only a handful of mining operations remained.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>With commodity prices rising faster than the price of gold, it was only a matter of time before gold mining no longer paid. The moment of reckoning finally came during the inflation that accompanied World War I. In 1917 the Gilpin Tramway was abandoned after providing thirty years of local transportation throughout the mining district. By 1918 nearly all mining operations were suspended. Some residents moved their houses elsewhere. Abandoned buildings were used for firewood. The Central City Opera House closed on January 1, 1927. Central City had about 500 people left. Black Hawk had roughly 200.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>Opera House Revival</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>Mining experienced a minor revival during the <strong>Great Depression</strong>, but commercial gold mining in Gilpin County never recovered after the US government banned gold mining during World War II. Nevadaville became a ghost town.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Central City began to rely on its rich history to promote tourism. In the early 1930s, the Central City Opera House Association restored the shuttered opera house and reopened it in July 1932. The association’s summer opera festivals were held almost every year except during World War II. By 1940 the festival drew a combined audience of more than 20,000. Summer tourism surged in the decade after World War II, growing to 300,000 visitors in 1949 and more than half a million in 1955. Central City Opera became involved in historic preservation by acquiring the Teller House and several old residences in town to house festival staff and artists. In 1959 the Gilpin County Historical Society was founded. In 1961 Central City became a National Historic Landmark. The district boundary was later expanded to include Black Hawk and Nevadaville.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Visitation to Central City and Black Hawk declined as the ski industry transformed Colorado tourism in the 1960s and 1970s. Central City Opera lost audiences to modern venues such as the Santa Fe Opera and the <strong>Denver Performing Arts Complex</strong>. In 1982 Central City Opera’s rising debts forced it to cancel its fiftieth anniversary season. The festival returned in 1983 and soon rebuilt its audience. Central City and Black Hawk continued to face a financial crisis caused by mounting infrastructure costs and declining tax dollars. Buildings were in disrepair and in danger of collapsing. Central City had no money to fix a water supply that had been condemned by the state health department. After about 130 years in existence, Central City and Black Hawk had only a few hundred residents and faced the possibility of joining Nevadaville as ghost towns.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>Gambling Era</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>Gambling, which was not legal in Colorado before 1990, saved the sagging economies of not only Central City and Black Hawk but also Cripple Creek, which had been struggling since the end of its own gold rush. The three towns pushed for an amendment to the state constitution that would allow limited-stakes gaming to generate revenue for historic preservation. The original idea was that existing businesses might add a few slot machines and a card table, with half of the revenue going to the state, 28 percent to a newly created State Historical Fund, 12 percent to Gilpin and Teller Counties, and 10 percent to the three towns. In November 1990, 57 percent of the state’s voters approved <strong>Amendment 4</strong>, which was billed as a preservation measure. The first casinos opened on October 1, 1991.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>One result of the gambling amendment was to flip the historical relationship between Central City and Black Hawk. Central City had always been the wealthier and more prominent of the two. The same things that made Black Hawk a good mill town—flat land and easier access to Denver—also made it a good casino town. Starting in 1993, casinos in Black Hawk accounted for a majority of gambling in Gilpin County. Within a few years they generated two-thirds of the non-tribal gambling revenue in the state. In an attempt to short-circuit Black Hawk’s advantage, in 2004 Central City acquired a 150-foot-wide strip of land leading from the town to Interstate 70 and constructed a $38.3 million highway. When it opened, the Central City Parkway promised to increase the town’s gambling revenue by giving people a direct route to Central City that did not involve passing through Black Hawk. But the new parkway did little to affect Black Hawk’s dominance. In recent years, Black Hawk’s roughly seventeen casinos have generated more than $90 million in taxes—about 85 percent of the statewide total. Central City’s six casinos have generated more than $6 million, or almost 6 percent of the statewide total.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Twenty-five years later, gambling proved to be a mixed blessing. Advocates pointed out that casinos had saved Central City and Black Hawk by attracting visitors and generating money for local improvements and statewide historic preservation. By the early 2000s, the towns had made more money from gambling than they ever did from mining. But opponents noted that gambling, like mining before it, had crowded out other businesses and fundamentally changed the towns it was meant to preserve. In 1998 development threats led the National Trust for Historic Preservation to name Central City and Black Hawk among the most endangered historic places in the country.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Today Central City, Black Hawk, and Nevadaville represent three possible fates for a Colorado mining town in the twenty-first century. Nevadaville is now a ghost town with only a few buildings left standing. Black Hawk has displayed an unrestrained pursuit of profit at the expense of preservation. Central City has not been immune to new gambling-oriented development, but it has managed to preserve much of its historic core. The Central City Opera continues to attract some visitors interested in the town’s history and culture rather than its casinos.</p>&#13; </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> Mon, 19 Dec 2016 21:19:17 +0000 yongli 2120 at http://coloradoencyclopedia.org Gilpin County http://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/gilpin-county <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--title--encyclopedia-article.html.twig x field--node--title.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--title.html.twig * field--string.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Gilpin County</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: x field--node--field-article-image--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-article-image.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-article-image.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--field-article-image--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div id="carouselEncyclopediaArticle" class="carousel slide" data-bs-ride="true"> <div class="carousel-inner"> <div class="carousel-item active"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'node' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * node--2033--article-detail-image.html.twig * node--2033.html.twig x node--image--article-detail-image.html.twig * node--image.html.twig * node--article-detail-image.html.twig * node.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/content/node--image--article-detail-image.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-encyclopedia-image--image.html.twig * field--node--field-encyclopedia-image.html.twig * field--node--image.html.twig * field--field-encyclopedia-image.html.twig * field--image.html.twig x field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-encyclopedia-image field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'image_formatter' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-formatter.html.twig' --> <a href="/image/central-city-c-1880"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'image_style' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-style.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'image' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image.html.twig' --> <img loading="lazy" src="/sites/default/files/styles/wide/public/Gilpin-County-Media-2_0.jpg?itok=slRbGTdY" width="1000" height="757" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" class="image-style-wide" /> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-style.html.twig' --> </a> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-formatter.html.twig' --> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="carousel-caption d-none d-md-block"> <h5><a href="/image/central-city-c-1880" rel="bookmark"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--title--image.html.twig x field--node--title.html.twig * field--node--image.html.twig * field--title.html.twig * field--string.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Central City, c. 1880</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> </a></h5> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--body--image.html.twig * field--node--body.html.twig * field--node--image.html.twig * field--body.html.twig x field--text-with-summary.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--text-with-summary.html.twig' --> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>John H. Gregory's gold discovery in 1858 led to the establishment of Central City. By the time of this photo, the city had emerged as one of the cultural hubs of Colorado's mining country.</p> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--text-with-summary.html.twig' --> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/content/node--image--article-detail-image.html.twig' --> </div> <div class="carousel-item"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'node' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * node--2031--article-detail-image.html.twig * node--2031.html.twig x node--image--article-detail-image.html.twig * node--image.html.twig * node--article-detail-image.html.twig * node.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/content/node--image--article-detail-image.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-encyclopedia-image--image.html.twig * field--node--field-encyclopedia-image.html.twig * field--node--image.html.twig * field--field-encyclopedia-image.html.twig * field--image.html.twig x field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-encyclopedia-image field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'image_formatter' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-formatter.html.twig' --> <a href="/image/gilpin-county"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'image_style' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-style.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'image' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image.html.twig' --> <img loading="lazy" src="/sites/default/files/styles/wide/public/Gilpin_County%20%281%29.png?itok=jcfBio1U" width="1090" height="789" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" class="image-style-wide" /> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-style.html.twig' --> </a> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-formatter.html.twig' --> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="carousel-caption d-none d-md-block"> <h5><a href="/image/gilpin-county" rel="bookmark"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--title--image.html.twig x field--node--title.html.twig * field--node--image.html.twig * field--title.html.twig * field--string.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Gilpin County</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> </a></h5> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--body--image.html.twig * field--node--body.html.twig * field--node--image.html.twig * field--body.html.twig x field--text-with-summary.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--text-with-summary.html.twig' --> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>Gilpin County, named for William Gilpin, Colorado’s first territorial governor, was established in 1861 as one of the original seventeen counties of the Colorado Territory.</p> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--text-with-summary.html.twig' --> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/content/node--image--article-detail-image.html.twig' --> </div> <div class="carousel-item"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'node' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * node--2034--article-detail-image.html.twig * node--2034.html.twig x node--image--article-detail-image.html.twig * node--image.html.twig * node--article-detail-image.html.twig * node.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/content/node--image--article-detail-image.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-encyclopedia-image--image.html.twig * field--node--field-encyclopedia-image.html.twig * field--node--image.html.twig * field--field-encyclopedia-image.html.twig * field--image.html.twig x field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-encyclopedia-image field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'image_formatter' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-formatter.html.twig' --> <a href="/image/central-city-opera-house-c-1935"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'image_style' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-style.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'image' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image.html.twig' --> <img loading="lazy" src="/sites/default/files/styles/wide/public/Gilpin-County-Media-3_0.jpg?itok=fw1b3Unu" width="1000" height="1255" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" class="image-style-wide" /> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-style.html.twig' --> </a> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-formatter.html.twig' --> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="carousel-caption d-none d-md-block"> <h5><a href="/image/central-city-opera-house-c-1935" rel="bookmark"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--title--image.html.twig x field--node--title.html.twig * field--node--image.html.twig * field--title.html.twig * field--string.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Central City Opera House, c. 1935.</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> </a></h5> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--body--image.html.twig * field--node--body.html.twig * field--node--image.html.twig * field--body.html.twig x field--text-with-summary.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--text-with-summary.html.twig' --> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>The Central City Opera House was built by mine workers to provide entertainment for the city’s residents in the late nineteenth century.</p> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--text-with-summary.html.twig' --> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/content/node--image--article-detail-image.html.twig' --> </div> <div class="carousel-item"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'node' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * node--2035--article-detail-image.html.twig * node--2035.html.twig x node--image--article-detail-image.html.twig * node--image.html.twig * node--article-detail-image.html.twig * node.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/content/node--image--article-detail-image.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-encyclopedia-image--image.html.twig * field--node--field-encyclopedia-image.html.twig * field--node--image.html.twig * field--field-encyclopedia-image.html.twig * field--image.html.twig x field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-encyclopedia-image field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'image_formatter' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-formatter.html.twig' --> <a href="/image/gold-mining-gilpin-county-c-1860-69"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'image_style' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-style.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'image' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image.html.twig' --> <img loading="lazy" src="/sites/default/files/styles/wide/public/Gilpin-County-Media-4_0.jpg?itok=strzVZ4I" width="1000" height="768" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" class="image-style-wide" /> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-style.html.twig' --> </a> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-formatter.html.twig' --> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="carousel-caption d-none d-md-block"> <h5><a href="/image/gold-mining-gilpin-county-c-1860-69" rel="bookmark"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--title--image.html.twig x field--node--title.html.twig * field--node--image.html.twig * field--title.html.twig * field--string.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Gold Mining in Gilpin County, c. 1860-69</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> </a></h5> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--body--image.html.twig * field--node--body.html.twig * field--node--image.html.twig * field--body.html.twig x field--text-with-summary.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--text-with-summary.html.twig' --> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>Placer mining operations like the one shown here produced more than $240,000 in gold in Gilpin County during the 1860s, but came at a heavy environmental cost. This photo shows a stream bed that has been rearranged, and the hillside in the background was cleared of trees to build the houses and wooden sluices in the foreground.</p> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--text-with-summary.html.twig' --> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/content/node--image--article-detail-image.html.twig' --> </div> </div> <button class="carousel-control-prev" type="button" data-bs-target="#carouselEncyclopediaArticle" data-bs-slide="prev"> <span class="carousel-control-prev-icon" aria-hidden="true"></span> <span class="visually-hidden">Previous</span> </button> <button class="carousel-control-next" type="button" data-bs-target="#carouselEncyclopediaArticle" data-bs-slide="next"> <span class="carousel-control-next-icon" aria-hidden="true"></span> <span class="visually-hidden">Next</span> </button> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--field-article-image--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--uid--encyclopedia-article.html.twig x field--node--uid.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--uid.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'username' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/user/username.html.twig' --> <span lang="" about="/users/yongli" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">yongli</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/user/username.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--created--encyclopedia-article.html.twig x field--node--created.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--created.html.twig * field--created.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'time' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/time.html.twig' --> <time datetime="2016-11-14T10:51:54-07:00" title="Monday, November 14, 2016 - 10:51" class="datetime">Mon, 11/14/2016 - 10:51</time> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/time.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'addtoany_standard' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * addtoany-standard--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * addtoany-standard--node.html.twig x addtoany-standard.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/addtoany/templates/addtoany-standard.html.twig' --> <span class="a2a_kit a2a_kit_size_32 addtoany_list" data-a2a-url="http://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/gilpin-county" data-a2a-title="Gilpin County"><a class="a2a_dd addtoany_share" href="https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Fcoloradoencyclopedia.org%2Farticle%2Fgilpin-county&amp;title=Gilpin%20County"></a><a class="a2a_button_facebook"></a><a class="a2a_button_twitter"></a><a class="a2a_button_email"></a></span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/addtoany/templates/addtoany-standard.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--body--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--body.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--body.html.twig * field--text-with-summary.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item" id="id-body"><p>Gilpin County, located in the high country east of the <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/great-divide"><strong>Continental Divide</strong></a> some thirty-seven miles west of <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/denver"><strong>Denver</strong></a>, was established in 1861 as one of the original seventeen counties of the <a href="/article/colorado-territory"><strong>Colorado Territory</strong></a>. The county encompasses about 150 square miles of mountainous terrain that ranges in elevation from 6,960 feet to 13,294 feet. It is bordered to the north by <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/boulder-county"><strong>Boulder County</strong></a>, to the east and south by <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/jefferson-county"><strong>Jefferson County</strong></a>, to the south by <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/clear-creek-county"><strong>Clear Creek County</strong></a>, and to the west by <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/grand-county"><strong>Grand County</strong></a>. The county was named for the first territorial governor, <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/william-gilpin"><strong>William Gilpin</strong></a>.</p> <p>Gilpin County has a population of 5,828. Its two main cities are <a href="/article/central-city–black-hawk-historic-district"><strong>Central City</strong></a> (population 663), the county seat, and <a href="/article/central-city–black-hawk-historic-district"><strong>Black Hawk</strong></a> (population 118). Together, these cities form the Central City and Black Hawk National <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/central-city–black-hawk-historic-district"><strong>Historic District</strong></a>, renowned for its <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/precious-metal-mining-colorado"><strong>mining</strong></a> history. The county also includes the small community of Rollinsville, as well as the <strong>ghost towns</strong> of Nevadaville and Russell Gulch. State Highway 119 is the major north-south thoroughfare, winding through the mountains from Rollinsville to Black Hawk and continuing south to its junction with US Highway 6 in <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/clear-creek-canyon-0"><strong>Clear Creek Canyon</strong></a>. State Highway 46, also known as Golden Gate Canyon Road, proceeds east from Highway 119 just north of Black Hawk and runs west from the Jefferson County border.</p> <h2>Native Americans</h2> <p><a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/search/google/ute"><strong>Ute</strong></a> people occupied the Colorado Rocky Mountains as early as the fifteenth century, reaching the central Rockies by about the seventeenth century. The Utes lived a nomadic hunter-gatherer life, following game such as <a href="/article/mule-deer"><strong>deer</strong></a>, <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/rocky-mountain-elk"><strong>elk</strong></a>, and <strong>bison</strong> into the high country during the summer and camping at the base of the foothills during the winter. They gathered berries, nuts, roots, and other dietary plants. After contact with early Spanish explorers to the south, the Utes incorporated horses into their culture, which made hunting and traveling easier. Utes lived in temporary or mobile dwellings such as <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/wickiups-and-other-wooden-features"><strong>wickiups</strong></a> and <a href="/article/tipi-0"><strong>tipis</strong></a>.</p> <p>During the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, <strong>Arapaho</strong> and <strong>Cheyenne</strong> people migrated from the upper Midwest onto Colorado’s <a href="/article/colorado%E2%80%99s-great-plains"><strong>Great Plains</strong></a> and <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/front-range"><strong>Front Range</strong></a>. The Arapaho and Cheyenne were also nomads, following buffalo herds on the plains but also ranging into the mountains to hunt and forage. This drew them into conflict with the Ute, who resisted any encroachment on their traditional hunting grounds.</p> <h2>Mining</h2> <p>The United States acquired the Gilpin County area as part of the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, and by the 1820s fur trappers were plying the headwaters and streams of the high country for <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/beaver"><strong>beaver</strong></a> and other pelts.</p> <p>Permanent white settlement of the Gilpin County area began during the <a href="/article/colorado-gold-rush"><strong>Colorado Gold Rush</strong></a> of 1859. <strong>John H. Gregory</strong>, a miner travelling from Georgia to California, stopped in Colorado in the fall of 1858 and made the first gold discovery in Gilpin County west of present-day Central City. Gregory waited until the following spring to stake his claim in what became known as Gregory Gulch. By the summer of 1859, the area became known as Gregory’s Diggings, and thousands of miners traveled there in an attempt to make their fortunes. The mining settlement near the diggings became known as Mountain City. Early miners practiced placer mining—panning for loose gold—in streams and creeks, pulling out $241,918 worth of gold by 1867. They also engaged in hydraulic mining, which uses high-pressure water hoses to blast away hillsides of gold-containing gravel and wash it down into a sluice. However, the real money lay not in surface gold but in deep, gold-bearing quartz veins, many of which were also discovered in the spring of 1859. These included the Bates Lode, the Gunnell, Kansas and Burroughs, the Bobtail Lode, and Russell Gulch. Using dynamite and coal-powered drilling engines to reach these deeper deposits, Gilpin County miners extracted more than $9 million worth of lode gold by 1867.</p> <p>While it paved the way for Colorado’s development, mining took a major toll on the surrounding landscape. Miners cut down trees to build mines and associated structures, and to cook and keep warm; they soon began importing lumber because there were not enough trees left to build houses. Mining also changed the stream system, as placer miners dug out stream beds to allow increased access to gold, and hydraulic mining washed away hillsides and clogged streams with gravel and dirt. Miners also used hazardous substances such as mercury and cyanide to help extract gold. Mercury attracted gold in placer mining, while cyanide helped break the chemical bonds that fixed gold to quartz and other rocks. These toxic substances often leeched into the surrounding environment, killing wildlife and sickening miners.</p> <p>Miners’ use of the area’s natural resources also had terrible effects on the local populations of Ute and Arapaho, who often found themselves starving for lack of game and suffered from outbreaks of <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/impact-disease-native-americans"><strong>diseases</strong></a> brought by Europeans. Nevertheless, Native Americans continued to oppose the development of mines and towns on their land. With the creation of the Colorado Territory in 1861, territorial officials could now lobby for and enforce their removal.</p> <p>In 1861 the <a href="/article/treaty-fort-wise"><strong>Treaty of Fort Wise</strong></a> led to the removal of the Arapaho and Cheyenne to a reservation in eastern Colorado. In 1864 the US government approved a treaty with several bands of Utes that granted the United States rights to the entire Front Range, thus securing the right to many mining districts that had developed during the gold rush. Utes, however, would continue to range into the Gilpin County area until the early 1880s, when Colorado’s <a href="/article/northern-ute-people-uintah-and-ouray-reservation"><strong>Northern Ute</strong></a> bands were moved to a reservation in Utah.</p> <h2>County Development</h2> <p>The towns of Central City, which formed below the Gregory District, and Black Hawk, located less than a mile farther down the gulch, supplied miners with equipment, food, and entertainment. Reflecting the enormous scale of the gold rush, Central City had 10,000 residents within two months of its founding in 1859. Black Hawk, with more flat land and an ample water supply to power ore-crushing stamp mills, became an early hub for Gilpin County gold shipments. The town is said to have gotten its name from an early stamp mill that was imported from Rock Island, Illinois, and named after the famous Sauk leader.</p> <p>Several miles north of Black Hawk, <strong>John Rollins</strong> established the town of Rollinsville along a road he was building that would cross the Continental Divide and connect Denver with the new resort town of <strong>Hot Sulphur Springs</strong> in Middle Park. Rollins also helped maintain early toll roads that linked Golden with Central City and Black Hawk. Rollinsville was originally formed as a mining town, but after the deposits ran out, Rollins built the Rollins House Hotel in 1865 as a stopping place for travelers along the road.</p> <p>By the end of 1861, Gilpin County was one of the last productive gold-mining areas remaining in Colorado, accounting for around 40 percent of the territory’s total production. During the next decade, the shift from placer mining to lode mining and the arrival of railroads signaled the full industrialization of Gilpin County’s mining.</p> <p>For a time, stamp mills proved effective in using a series of hammers and mercury to separate the gold from surrounding ores. But as miners delved deeper into deposits, the composition of the gold-bearing rock changed to include sulfides, which needed to be burned off. This required smelters, facilities that received crushed ore from stamp mills and used intense heat and a chemical agent to extract the precious metals. Black Hawk’s first smelter, built in 1865 by <strong>James E. Lyon</strong> and George Pullman, proved unsuccessful, but former Brown University chemistry professor <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/nathaniel-peter-hill"><strong>Nathaniel P. Hill</strong></a> built the town’s first functional smelter in 1868. Industrialized mining put an end to the era of the individual prospector and put the future of mining in the hands of large mining and ore-processing companies. These companies provided steady, if low-wage jobs that attracted people from many different backgrounds. Many miners and mill workers, for instance, were immigrants of Irish, English, German, and Chinese origin.</p> <p>Rollins’s road and the rest of Gilpin County’s earliest wagon roads often proved difficult to travel, especially in the notoriously unpredictable weather of the Rockies. In addition to making travel easier, the railroads that arrived in the 1870s helped further industrialize mining by reducing the cost of shipping metals to market and bringing coal freight that ensured the efficient operation of mills and smelters. In 1872 <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/william-ah-loveland"><strong>W.A.H. Loveland</strong></a> built his Colorado Central Railroad from <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/golden-0"><strong>Golden</strong></a> to Black Hawk. This was a narrow gauge line better suited to the steep grades and sharp turns of the mountainous terrain. The line later extended to Central City.</p> <p>Central City and Black Hawk prospered in the 1860s and 1870s and became known as the “richest square mile on earth.” Around 1877, for instance, a rich silver vein was found north of Black Hawk at Silver Hill. As in Denver, wealth from mining led to cultural developments. Residents raised funds to build the <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/central-city-opera"><strong>Central City Opera House</strong></a>, which opened in 1878, and four other theaters.</p> <p>The railroads brought an influx of newcomers and visitors to Gilpin County, leading to the construction of hotels and other amenities. One early hotel was the <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/teller-house"><strong>Teller House</strong> </a>in Central City, built in 1872. It was a popular stopping place for many travelers, and its history included a visit from President Ulysses S. Grant in 1873.</p> <p>Industrialized mining allowed both of these cities to prosper, but it also added to the severe environmental effects already apparent from placer mining. The mills, for instance, produced great noise pollution with the echo of stamp mills along canyon walls. The smelters produced coal dust, which covered the town and polluted the air. They also produced piles of toxic slag, waste from the smelting process. Like earlier mining processes, both mills and smelters discharged harmful chemicals such as mercury and arsenic.</p> <p>In 1886 the Gilpin Tramway was built on a narrow gauge line only two feet wide. The tramway made it cheaper and easier for mines to transport their ore to the mills along Clear Creek. For several decades, this tramway brought ore to Black Hawk for processing. By World War I, mining had severely declined and the tramway ceased service.</p> <h2>Twentieth Century</h2> <p>In 1903 <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/david-h-moffat"><strong>David Moffat</strong></a> organized the <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/denver-northwestern-pacific-railway-hill-route-moffat-road"><strong>Denver, Northwestern &amp; Pacific Railway (DN&amp;P</strong>)</a>, also known as the Moffat Road. He planned to create a direct route from Denver to Salt Lake City over the Colorado Rockies, beginning with a standard gauge line over Rollins Pass. This first phase of the line stretched through Gilpin County, running north of Black Hawk and Central City to the Continental Divide at the county’s western edge. Though Moffat did not finish the line before his death, his partners continued the line to <strong>Craig</strong> and eventually reached Utah in the 1930s through a series of constructions and mergers.</p> <p>The Moffat Road not only opened Denver to train travel directly to the west but also led to the development of communities along the line and drew many tourists from Denver and other places east. The settlement of Tolland, west of Rollinsville, was begun by Katherine Wolcott Toll after her <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/roger-wolcott-toll"><strong>husband</strong></a>’s death and the arrival of the railroad. She sold plots for mountain cabins, and the area became a popular summer resort for Denver families.</p> <p>The most prominent settlement along the Moffat Road, however, was <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/lincoln-hills"><strong>Lincoln Hills</strong></a>, an all-black resort community built in 1922 by two African American brothers from Denver: Regneir and Roger Ewalt. While some residents drove to Lincoln Hills, the Moffat Road allowed easy access via a convenient train ride from Denver. One of the most prominent lots in the town was the <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/winks-lodge"><strong>Winks Lodge</strong></a>, owned by O. Wendell “Winks” and his wife Naomi Hamlet. The lodge rented cabins and operated from 1925 to 1965. The lodge and the area attracted visitors from all over the country, including Duke Ellington, Langston Hughes, and Zora Neal Hurston, among others. Another major site in Lincoln Hills was Camp Nizhoni, a YWCA girls’ camp established in 1927 for African American girls who were barred from attending other camps.</p> <p>During the early twentieth century, mining declined in Gilpin County. In 1920 Black Hawk’s population hit a low of 250 residents, and only one mill remained in operation. A spike in the price of gold during the 1930s brought a brief resurgence in placer mining, but overall the area languished during the Great Depression. The Central City Opera House was restored in 1932, providing a much-needed tourism boost during lean times. In 1966 the Central City–Black Hawk National Historic District was established in an attempt to preserve the cities’ crumbling nineteenth-century buildings.</p> <p>After the 1950s mining mostly ended, leading to a population decline. While mining brought the county to prominence, the environmental effects are still being felt today. In 1983 the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) placed the Central City and Clear Creek area on its list of Superfund sites, high-priority areas for environmental cleanup. Open mine shafts exposed metal-containing rock to oxygen, which breaks down sulfides in the rock into sulfuric acid. The acid dissolves the metals, which then leak out into local waterways. Cleanup of these sites involves removing waste rock, sealing mine openings, and controlling drainage by regrading slopes, planting vegetation, and building retaining walls. These efforts are ongoing.</p> <p>As the EPA works to help the Gilpin County environment recover from the mining era, local officials have set their sights on reviving the county economy. With lobbying from Gilpin County officials, a statewide ballot initiative passed in 1990 that legalized limited-stakes gambling in Black Hawk, Central City, and <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/cripple-creek"><strong>Cripple Creek</strong></a>. The initiative required that much of the proceeds from gambling would be provided to the Colorado State Historical Fund for <strong>Historic Preservation</strong>. The three towns hoped that this would restart their crumbling economies and towns. Both Black Hawk and Central City saw a major resurgence in their economies.</p> <h2>Today</h2> <p>Over the years, Gilpin County has proved to be nothing if not resilient, surviving mining booms and busts and crumbling infrastructure, dealing with an EPA cleanup site, and finding a means of resurgence through legalized gambling. Today, many of Gilpin County’s 5,000 or so residents commute out of the county for work, and many others commute into the county to work at the casinos. The largest employment sector in Gilpin County is arts, entertainment, and recreation, followed by food and accommodations. Legal gambling at some twenty-six casinos (eight in Central City, eighteen in Black Hawk) has helped both the population and economy of Gilpin County, and the growth of the Denver Metro area is expected to extend into the area.</p> <p>The county also attracts visitors to public lands, including <strong>Golden Gate State Park</strong> and the Roosevelt and Arapaho <strong>National Forests</strong>. While gambling is an important part of the economy, the county government states that its goal is to maintain a rural and natural setting and to minimize any environmental impact associated with gambling and new developments.</p> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-author--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-author.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-author.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-author field--type-entity-reference field--label-above" id="id-field-author"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-author">Author</div> <div class='field__items'> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-author"><a href="/author/encyclopedia-staff" hreflang="und">Encyclopedia Staff</a></div> </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-keyword--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-keyword.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-keyword.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-keyword field--type-entity-reference field--label-above" id="id-field-keyword"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-keyword">Keywords</div> <div class='field__items'> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/gilpin-county" hreflang="en">Gilpin County</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/central-city" hreflang="en">Central City</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/blackhawk" hreflang="en">Blackhawk</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/mill-city" hreflang="en">mill city</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/colorado-gold-rush" hreflang="en">Colorado Gold Rush</a></div> </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'links__node' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * links--node.html.twig x links--inline.html.twig * links--node.html.twig * links.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/navigation/links--inline.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/navigation/links--inline.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-references-html--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-references-html.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-references-html.html.twig * field--text-long.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-references-html field--type-text-long field--label-above" id="id-field-references-html"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-references-html">References</div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-references-html"><p>Black Hawk, Colorado, “<a href="https://blackhawkcolorado.com/">Black Hawk, Colorado – Complete Casino List</a>,” 2016.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Board of County Commissioners, “<a href="http://www.coyotecabin.com/GCPMLB.pdf">A Gilpin County Primer for Living in the High Country, Gilpin County, Colorado</a>,” Gilpin County, 2005.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Central City/Clear Creek Superfund Site, “<a href="https://www.colorado.gov/pacific/sites/default/files/HM_sf-cccc-2015-factsheet.pdf">Updated Fact Sheet</a>,” Central City/Clear Creek Superfund Site, 2015.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Colorado Geological Survey, “<a href="https://coloradogeologicalsurvey.org/mineral-resources/historic-mining-districts/gilpin-county/central-city-district/">Gilpin County: Central City &amp; Idaho Springs District</a>,” Colorado Geologic Survey, Colorado School of Mines, 2015.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Genealogical Trails History Group, “<a href="http://genealogytrails.com/colo/gilpin/bios_01.htm">Gilpin County, Colorado Genealogy and History</a>,” 2016.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Gilpin County Planning Commission, “Gilpin County Master Plan,” 2008.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Gilpin Historical Society, “<a href="https://www.gilpinhistory.org/">Gilpin County History</a>,” n.d.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Gilpin Historical Society, “<a href="https://www.gilpinhistory.org/">History of Black Hawk</a>,” n.d.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Gilpin Historical Society, “<a href="https://www.gilpinhistory.org/">History of Central City</a>,” n.d.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Charles W. Henderson, <em>Mining in Colorado: A History of Discovery, Development, and Production</em>, US Geological Survey (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1926).</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Lincoln Hills Cares, “<a href="https://lincolnhillscares.org/history/">A Proud Heritage</a>,” Lincoln Hills Cares, n.d.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Office of Archaeology and Historic Preservation, “<a href="https://www.historycolorado.org/oahp/gilpin-county">Gilpin County</a>,” History Colorado, n.d.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Paul K. Sims, A. A. Drake, Jr. &amp; E. W. Tooker, “<a href="https://pubs.usgs.gov/pp/0359/report.pdf">Economic Geology of the Central City District Gilpin County, Colorado</a>,” Geological Survey Professional Paper 359, US Department of the Interior, Atomic Energy Commission, United States Government Printing Office, Washington DC, 1963.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Virginia McConnell Simmons, <em>The Ute Indians of Utah, Colorado, and New Mexico</em> (Boulder: University Press of Colorado, 2000).</p>&#13; &#13; <p>SWCA Environmental Consultants, “Documentation of Historic Properties along the Gilpin Tunnel Rail Corridor, Gilpin County, Colorado,” Prepared for Gilpin County, August 31, 2009.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>US Environmental Protection Agency, “Site Information for Central City, Clear Creek,” updated August 9, 2016.</p>&#13; </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-additional-information-htm--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-additional-information-htm.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-additional-information-htm.html.twig * field--text-long.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-additional-information-htm field--type-text-long field--label-above" id="id-field-additional-information-htm"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-additional-information-htm">Additional Information</div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-additional-information-htm"><p>Caroline Bancroft, <em>Gulch of Gold: A History of Central City, Colorado</em>, Rev. Ed. (Boulder, CO: Johnson Books, 2003).</p> <p><a href="https://www.cityofblackhawk.org/">Black Hawk</a></p> <p><a href="http://www.centralcitycolorado.com/">Central City</a></p> <p>Terry Cox, <em>Inside the Mountains: A History of Mining Around Central City, Colorado </em>(Boulder, CO: Pruett Publishing, 1989).</p> <p>Samuel Cushman, <em>Central City, Black Hawk and Nederland: From The Earliest Settlement Until Statehood, 1859–1876: With a Description of The Gold Mines Of Gilpin County, Colo. </em>(Aurora, CO: John Osterberg, 1991).</p> <p>Samuel Cushman and J. P. Waterman, <a href="https://catalog.denverlibrary.org/search/title.aspx?ctx=1.1033.0.0.6&amp;pos=1"><em>The Gold Mines of Gilpin County, Colorado: Historical, Descriptive and Statistical</em></a> (Central City, CO: Register Steam Printing House, 1876).</p> <p><a href="http://www.co.gilpin.co.us/">Gilpin County</a></p> <p>Thomas Maitland Marshall, ed., <a href="https://ia801300.us.archive.org/1/items/earlyrecordsofgi00mars/earlyrecordsofgi00mars_bw.pdf"><em>Early Records of Gilpin County, Colorado, 1859–1861</em></a>, University of Colorado Historical Collections, Vol. II, Mining Series, Vol. I, ed. James F. Willard (Boulder: University of Colorado, 1920).</p> </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> Mon, 14 Nov 2016 17:51:54 +0000 yongli 2032 at http://coloradoencyclopedia.org Denver http://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/denver <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--title--encyclopedia-article.html.twig x field--node--title.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--title.html.twig * field--string.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Denver</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: x field--node--field-article-image--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-article-image.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-article-image.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--field-article-image--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div id="carouselEncyclopediaArticle" class="carousel slide" data-bs-ride="true"> <div class="carousel-inner"> <div class="carousel-item active"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'node' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * node--1610--article-detail-image.html.twig * node--1610.html.twig x node--image--article-detail-image.html.twig * node--image.html.twig * node--article-detail-image.html.twig * node.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/content/node--image--article-detail-image.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-encyclopedia-image--image.html.twig * field--node--field-encyclopedia-image.html.twig * field--node--image.html.twig * field--field-encyclopedia-image.html.twig * field--image.html.twig x field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-encyclopedia-image field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'image_formatter' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-formatter.html.twig' --> <a href="/image/denver-dmns"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'image_style' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-style.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'image' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image.html.twig' --> <img loading="lazy" src="/sites/default/files/styles/wide/public/Santomarco_Denver_DMNS_0.jpg?itok=ohZid4mJ" width="815" height="427" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" class="image-style-wide" /> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-style.html.twig' --> </a> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-formatter.html.twig' --> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="carousel-caption d-none d-md-block"> <h5><a href="/image/denver-dmns" rel="bookmark"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--title--image.html.twig x field--node--title.html.twig * field--node--image.html.twig * field--title.html.twig * field--string.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Denver from DMNS</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> </a></h5> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--body--image.html.twig * field--node--body.html.twig * field--node--image.html.twig * field--body.html.twig x field--text-with-summary.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--text-with-summary.html.twig' --> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>View of the Denver skyline looking west from the Denver Museum of Nature and Science.</p> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--text-with-summary.html.twig' --> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/content/node--image--article-detail-image.html.twig' --> </div> </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--field-article-image--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--uid--encyclopedia-article.html.twig x field--node--uid.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--uid.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'username' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/user/username.html.twig' --> <span lang="" about="/users/yongli" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">yongli</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/user/username.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--created--encyclopedia-article.html.twig x field--node--created.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--created.html.twig * field--created.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'time' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/time.html.twig' --> <time datetime="2016-08-03T15:33:26-06:00" title="Wednesday, August 3, 2016 - 15:33" class="datetime">Wed, 08/03/2016 - 15:33</time> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/time.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'addtoany_standard' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * addtoany-standard--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * addtoany-standard--node.html.twig x addtoany-standard.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/addtoany/templates/addtoany-standard.html.twig' --> <span class="a2a_kit a2a_kit_size_32 addtoany_list" data-a2a-url="http://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/denver" data-a2a-title="Denver"><a class="a2a_dd addtoany_share" href="https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Fcoloradoencyclopedia.org%2Farticle%2Fdenver&amp;title=Denver"></a><a class="a2a_button_facebook"></a><a class="a2a_button_twitter"></a><a class="a2a_button_email"></a></span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/addtoany/templates/addtoany-standard.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--body--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--body.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--body.html.twig * field--text-with-summary.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item" id="id-body"><p>Denver is the capital of Colorado and the twenty-first largest city in the United States, sprawling over six counties and 3,497 square miles of the High Plains and the<strong> <a href="/article/rocky-mountains">Rocky Mountain</a></strong> foothills. Centered at the confluence of the <a href="/article/south-platte-river"><strong>South Platte River</strong></a> and <strong>Cherry Creek</strong>, the city and county of Denver together have a population of about 600,000. At an elevation of 5,280 feet, Denver has been nicknamed “The Mile High City.” <a href="/article/michael-hancock"><strong>Michael Hancock</strong></a> has served as mayor since 2011. More a conglomeration of suburbs than a single city, the Denver metropolitan area consists of Denver, <a href="/article/arapahoe-county"><strong>Arapahoe</strong></a>, <a href="/article/jefferson-county"><strong>Jefferson</strong></a>, <a href="/article/boulder-county"><strong>Boulder</strong></a> and <a href="/article/adams-county"><strong>Adams</strong></a> Counties and has a population of about 3.4 million. This area forms the cultural, economic, political, and social center of Colorado.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>Indigenous Inhabitants</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>Historically, Denver’s location at the intersection of the <a href="/article/colorado%E2%80%99s-great-plains"><strong>Great Plains</strong></a> and the <a href="/article/rocky-mountains"><strong>Rocky Mountains</strong></a> made it a place where people in the American West came together. Local prehistoric indigenous sites provide a record of cultural contact and mixing, featuring stone tool styles from sometimes hundreds or thousands of miles away. These early groups did not mark their boundaries on maps. Their territories were irregular and widespread, fluctuating with the ebb and flow of resources and political alliances. Nuche (<a href="/search/google/ute"><strong>Ute</strong></a>) and <strong>Apache</strong> peoples frequented the area of present-day Denver by the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, and by the nineteenth century, the site became a favorite winter campsite of the <strong>Cheyenne</strong> and <strong>Arapaho</strong>.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>Golden Gamble</h2>&#13; &#13; <p><strong>William Green Russell</strong>, a veteran of both the Georgia and the California Gold Rushes, was one of many nineteenth-century Americans who surmised that the massive granite cordillera of the Rockies held mineral treasure. In July 1858, about eight miles above the confluence of Cherry Creek and the South Platte, Russell’s prospecting party found a few ounces of gold. His find initiated the <a href="/article/colorado-gold-rush"><strong>Colorado Gold Rush</strong></a> (1858–59), which gave birth to Denver.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>On the west side of Cherry Creek, Russell and his party founded the first permanent settlement in what is now Metro Denver—<a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/auraria-west-denver"><strong>Auraria</strong></a>, from the Latin word for gold. On November 22, 1858, General <a href="/article/william-larimer-jr"><strong>William H. Larimer, Jr.</strong></a><strong>,</strong> jumped a claim across Cherry Creek from Auraria. He named his town Denver City, after Kansas Territorial Governor James Denver. Denver City became the seat of what was then <a href="/article/arapahoe-county"><strong>Arapahoe County</strong></a>, a huge swath of land stretching from the current Kansas border to the <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/great-divide"><strong>Continental Divide</strong></a>. The <a href="/article/civil-war-colorado"><strong>Civil War</strong></a> soon swept Auraria’s Georgians away, and Yankee town builders took command, reorganizing the city as West Denver.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>The gold rush prompted Congress to establish the <a href="/article/colorado-territory"><strong>Colorado Territory</strong></a> in 1861. That year the federal government also brokered the <a href="/article/treaty-fort-wise"><strong>Treaty of Fort Wise</strong></a>, reducing the territory of the Cheyenne and Arapaho people to a small reservation in eastern Colorado. Amidst rising tensions between whites and Native Americans, US troops under Col. <strong>John Chivington</strong> slaughtered more than 150 peaceful Cheyenne and Arapaho women, children, and elderly men at a camp on <strong><a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/sand-creek-massacre">Sand Creek</a> </strong>in November 1864. Enraged by the massacre, the Cheyenne and Arapaho, along with other Plains Indians, fought a protracted war against the US Army in Colorado until 1869, when the Cheyenne leader <strong>Tall Bull</strong> was defeated at <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/battle-summit-springs-0"><strong>Summit Springs</strong></a>. By that time, much of the remaining Cheyenne and Arapaho populations had been forced onto reservations in Wyoming and Oklahoma via the <a href="/article/medicine-lodge-treaties"><strong>Medicine Lodge Treaty</strong></a> of 1867. The next year the government brokered a <a href="/article/ute-treaty-1868"><strong>treaty</strong></a> with the Ute people that relocated most of them to a large reservation on the <a href="/article/western-slope"><strong>Western Slope</strong></a>.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>“The Great Braggart City”</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>Denver City was a long shot, since most gold rush “cities” became ghost towns. But while other Coloradans <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/precious-metal-mining-colorado"><strong>mined gold</strong></a>, Denverites mined the miners, providing them with food, liquor, and entertainment in exchange for the wealth they found up in the hills. Denverites also bet on everything from dogfights to <a href="/article/snow"><strong>snowfall</strong></a>, gambling with mining stock, real estate, railroads, and bank notes. During the slow winter months, city fathers amused themselves with card games. Using town lots as poker chips, they won and lost whole blocks of downtown Denver in an evening.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Denver’s persistence puzzled visitors. The city had few visible means of support. It lacked the navigable waterways which usually helped cities thrive. Other towns, notably <a href="/article/golden"><strong>Golden</strong></a> and <a href="/article/boulder"><strong>Boulder</strong></a>, were closer to mines. <strong>Littleton</strong>, with its Rough and Ready Mill, had a solid agricultural base. Meanwhile, Denver faced the same problems—aridity and isolation—that left the prairies and mountains littered with ghost towns. It seemed that Denverites lived solely on excitement and speculation.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Beset by isolation and Indian conflicts, by drought and grasshoppers, the city owed its early survival to capable town builders and determined boosters. Chief among them were William Larimer and <a href="/article/william-n-byers"><strong>William N. Byers</strong></a>, founder and longtime editor and publisher of the <strong><em>Rocky Mountain News</em></strong>. Although stigmatized by some as the “Rocky Mountain Liar,” Byers and the <em>News</em> persisted in promoting Denver as the capital of Colorado. In early issues, Byers even puffed Denver as the steamboat hub of the rockies. It is not difficult to see why English traveler Isabella Bird called Denver “the Great Braggart City” when she visited in 1873.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>While steamboats never negotiated the South Platte River, railroads did arrive in 1870. This spiderweb of steel first enabled Denver to establish its metropolitan sway over Coloradans. Gold and silver ores mined in the mountains rode the rails into Denver’s smelters. The giant <strong>Argo</strong>, Globe, and Grant <strong>smelters</strong> became Denver’s biggest employers by the 1890s. Acrid, black smelter smoke hung over the city, signaling its emergence as an industrial center.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>The city drew not only Colorado’s gold and silver, but also attracted the state’s mining magnates. Wealth and the wealthy from <a href="/article/central-city%E2%80%93black-hawk-historic-district"><strong>Central City</strong></a>, <a href="/article/leadville"><strong>Leadville</strong></a>, <a href="/article/aspen"><strong>Aspen</strong></a>, the <a href="/article/san-juan-mountains"><strong>San Juans</strong></a>, and <a href="/article/cripple-creek"><strong>Cripple Creek</strong></a> flowed into Denver.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>The Rush to Culture</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>Colorado’s gold and silver rushes led to a culture rush, as Denver’s overnight millionaires hoped to impress the rest of the world—or at least other Coloradans—with their artistic and humanistic pursuits. Denver’s nouveaux riches found cultural trappings a way to separate themselves from less successful gold-grubbers. Peacocks in the front yard of mansions in <a href="/article/denver%E2%80%99s-capitol-hill"><strong>Capitol Hill</strong></a>, servants in the kitchen, and children off to Vassar and Yale helped the successful flaunt their new status. Inspired by both a sincere interest in culture as well as a means to defining an aristocracy, Denverites rushed to respectability. <a href="/article/horace-tabor"><strong>Horace Tabor</strong></a>, the “Silver King,” epitomized this trend, going from nouveau riche to a patron of the cultural arts.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Colorado did not produce any literary giants to immortalize the frontier era, no Willa Cather or <a href="/article/mari-sandoz"><strong>Mari Sandoz</strong></a>. Travelers such as Isabella Bird, Richard Townsend and Louis Simonin left lively, literary accounts, but not until the twentieth century would Coloradans such as <strong>Hal Borland</strong>, <strong>Marshall Sprague,</strong> and <strong>Frank Waters </strong>do literary justice to the white settlement of mountain and plain.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Historians have been luckier. <strong>Robert Athearn</strong>, Leroy Hafen, Frank Hall, Jerome C. Smiley, and Wilbur Fisk Stone all published state histories. Nearly every town and county compiled at least a booster booklet. The first generation of Coloradans were conscious of both history and culture. They prided themselves on being the first white Americans to see, to name, to settle, and to build.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>As early as 1872, Denver and other towns held pioneer picnics for their founding mothers and fathers. In 1879 the State Historical and Natural History Society (now <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/history-colorado-colorado-historical-society"><strong>History Colorado</strong></a>) was created. The state legislature gave the society $500 to collect, preserve, and exhibit Colorado’s heritage.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Denverites emphasized the edifying, ignoring the fact that their city and territorial governments had been conceived in saloon halls. Saloons also housed the first theaters, art exhibits, dance music, theater, and even libraries. By 1910 Denver had 410 saloons, offering a side variety of goods, services, arts, and amusements, as well as nickel beers and free lunches.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Bar art attested to early cultural aspirations. Today, original art is often confined to museums, corporate board rooms, and the homes of the wealthy, but in nineteenth-century Denver, much original saloon art was public art. Charles Stobie, a now celebrated western artist, lived above the Gallup &amp; Stanbury Saloon (which still stands at 1445 <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/larimer-square"><strong>Larimer Street</strong></a>) and exhibited his work downstairs in the bar. Byers of the <em>Rocky Mountain News</em> appraised Stobie’s work as “the most excellent and beautiful work in oil painting we have seen executed in this country.” Stobie’s works, like the paintings Charles Russell once swapped for drinks in the Mint Saloon, now command five- and six-digit prices. Most of Denver’s bar art perished under the reckless demolition of nineteenth-century buildings. Two exceptions are the landscapes on the old high-back booths at the <strong>Punch Bowl Tavern</strong> (2052 Stout Street) and the Windsor Hotel bar mural in the <strong>Oxford Hotel</strong> dining room.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Colorado artists and art lovers organized the Artists Club in 1893 to promote the visual arts. During the 1920s, this club was reorganized as the <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/denver-art-museum"><strong>Denver Art Museum</strong></a>. Anne Evans, a leading benefactor and an artist herself, helped to establish what is still the Denver Art Museum’s strongest collection: its American Indian materials. In their rush to culture, many in the pioneer generation overlooked the treasures of earlier Indian cultures that are now showcased in public and private collections. Ironically, Anne was the daughter of territorial governor <a href="/article/john-evans"><strong>John Evans</strong></a>, who was removed from office for his role in the <u><a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/sand-creek-massacre">Sand Creek Massacre</a></u>.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Colorado’s performing arts were also born in barrooms. Apollo Hall on Denver’s Larimer Street staged Colorado’s first theatrical performances in 1859, and the Occidental Hall on Blake Street featured Colorado’s “favorite balladist” to “delight all with operatic and sentimental, as well as comic songs.” At other times, this Blake Street bar advertised a reading room with the latest newspapers and free stationery, offering readers a haven two decades before the <a href="/article/denver-public-library"><strong>Denver Public Library</strong></a> was founded in 1886.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Such astonishing artistic efforts helped make Denver a cultural as well as a commercial capital for Colorado. Farmers from the <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/colorado’s-great-plains"><strong>eastern plains</strong></a>, ranchers from the <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/san-luis-valley"><strong>San Luis Valley</strong></a> and the Western Slope, and mountain miners have long relied on Denver as an entertainment center.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>Economic Diversity</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>Flush times ended abruptly for Coloradans with the <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/panic-1893"><strong>Panic of 1893</strong></a>. The price of silver—then the state’s chief product—tumbled from over one dollar an ounce to under sixty cents. In response, Denver diversified its economy. The city had previously relied on supplying and smelting for the mining industry, but now it shifted to other endeavors, including tourism and agricultural processing.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>In 1894 Denverites launched the Festival of Mountain and Plain to promote tourism, boost local spirits, and advertise the region’s industrial diversity. A prominient example of the latter was <strong>Charles Gates</strong>, an out-of-work mining engineer, and his brother John. They invented the world’s first rubber v-belt, which, unlike earlier flat belts, did not slip off machinery wheels and helped improve machinery performance. The Gates hired Buffalo Bill to promote their belts, tires, and hoses. Gates rode his rubber accessories for horseless carriages into prominence and wealth with the auto age. As they built factories, sugar mills, barley elevators, train depots, and gas stations, Gates and other enterprising Denverites transformed not only the city but also the rest of the state.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Many of these entrepreneurs were immigrants. <a href="/article/adolph-coors"><strong>Adolph Coors</strong></a>, a teenage orphan from Germany, transformed long-stagnant Golden into a thriving brewery town. <strong>John Kernan Mullen</strong>, a young Irish immigrant, skipped school to work in a flour mill and wound up with a multi-million-dollar milling empire. Mullen’s <strong>Colorado Grain Elevator</strong> and Hungarian Flour empires owned wheat fields, grain elevators, and flour mills throughout the state. Rather than sink his money into mining, <strong>Charles Boettcher</strong>, a German immigrant, concentrated on hardware and mining supplies, then fathered the Great Western Sugar Company, the Ideal Cement Company, Capitol Life Insurance, the National Fuse and Powder Company, and the Bighorn Rand in North Park.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>Racial and Ethnic Diversity</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>Following the area’s long history as a gathering place, Denver has drawn people of many different races and ethnicities. Yet, as in other American cities, those who were considered white—a definition that has changed over time—had held most of the economic and political power since the mid-nineteenth century. Beginning then, relations between the various groups that have called Denver home were often fraught with tension.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Many of the city’s first white residents held ambivalent views toward Native Americans. Some even argued for their extermination through violence or other means. In 1866 the <em>Rocky Mountain News</em> declared that “savage tribes must give way to the western advance of empire,” suggesting that in lieu of extermination “by the sword … the remedy then consists in feeding them, and they will gorge themselves to death.”</p>&#13; &#13; <p>White Denverites also looked upon their Chinese neighbors with disdain, even though Chinese residents helped build the nation’s railroads and operated nearly all of the city’s laundering businesses, a critical part of the local service industry. By the late nineteenth century, Chinese residents in Denver had built a thriving community along present-day Wazee Street. Anti-Chinese sentiment came to head in the <strong>Anti-Chinese Riot of 1880</strong>. A white mob descended upon <a href="/article/denver%E2%80%99s-chinatown"><strong>Denver’s Chinatown</strong></a>, destroying property and beating dozens of Chinese residents, killing one. Denver’s Chinatown endured the assault and remained an integral part of the city until the 1940s.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>During the late nineteenth century, black railroad workers began moving their families to the<a href="/article/five-points"> <strong>Five Points</strong></a> neighborhood north of downtown, as it was closer to the tracks along the South Platte. By the 1920s Five Points had become majority black and was known as the “Harlem of the West,” attracting Louis Armstrong, Billie Holiday, and other great musicians of the day. White Denverites enacted discriminatory housing practices, including racially restrictive covenants, to keep blacks in Five Points. Such agreements effectively barred black Denverites from new housing developments until the state supreme court outlawed racially restrictive covenants in 1957.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>While black businesses and culture were thriving in north Denver during the 1920s, the city’s Latino population grew in the Auraria neighborhood on the west side of Cherry Creek. By 1940 the city’s Spanish-speaking population had expanded to other neighborhoods northeast and southwest of downtown. Like blacks, Latinos faced discrimination in housing, education, law enforcement, and employment, but because they were relative newcomers, their plight was often worse. A survey conducted by the Denver Area Welfare Council in 1950, for instance, found that Spanish-speaking residents were twice as likely to live in substandard housing as black residents, and blacks’ per capita income was double that of Latinos.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>With the resurgence of the <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/ku-klux-klan-colorado"><strong>Ku Klux Klan</strong></a> in the early 1920s, race relations had reached a nadir. The KKK numbered in the hundreds of thousands and eventually achieved de facto political control over the entire state. Members included Denver mayor <strong>Benjamin F. Stapleton</strong>, Denver police chief William J. Candlish, at least twenty Denver police officers, a state supreme court justice, and even the governor, <strong>Clarence J. Morley</strong>. Klan members threatened the local chapter of the NAACP, held well-attended cross-burnings, boycotted Catholic businesses, hurled insults while driving through Jewish neighborhoods, and chased blacks out of new white neighborhoods. By 1925, corruption and political ineptitude doomed the Klan in Colorado, as Klan policemen’s ties to vice trades were exposed and the Colorado Grand Dragon was investigated for tax evasion. Stapleton, however, remained Denver’s ineffective yet immovable mayor until 1947.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>Social Struggles and Civil Rights Campaigns</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, as they did in other American cities, black and Latino Denverites took part in social movements that sought to change long-entrenched patterns of discrimination. De facto <strong>segregation</strong> and discrimination continued in Denver, despite the state supreme court’s 1957 ban on restrictive housing covenants and the election of Denver’s first black city council member, <a href="/article/elvin-r-caldwell"><strong>Elvin Caldwell</strong></a>, in 1955. In the 1960s black Denverites organized boycotts of discriminatory businesses such as Denver Dry Goods and staged sympathy sit-ins to demonstrate their solidarity with other black sit-ins across the country. In the late 1960s the local chapter of the Black Panther Party found traction, sponsoring free breakfasts for black school children while loudly criticizing racist policies and actions by Denver officials and police.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>In 1965 <a href="/article/rodolfo-%E2%80%9Ccorky%E2%80%9D-gonzales"><strong>Rodolfo “Corky” Gonzales</strong></a> organized "La Crusada para La Justicia," the Crusade for Justice, which became part of the broader Chicano Movement that gained traction in Denver and across the country in the 1960s. Gonzales’s crusade advocated for Latino self-determination through control of local schools and ethnic solidarity, while also calling for an end to employment and police discrimination against Denver’s Latino population. While the candidate for his Chicano political party,  La Raza Unida, garnered just 2 percent of the vote in the gubernatorial election of 1970, Gonzales’s campaign nonetheless demonstrated the political power of Latinos in the Mile High City.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>As Gonzales was unifying Denver’s Latinos, the city’s Native American population was growing. It began to increase in the 1950s, when the federal government encouraged members of western tribes to move to western cities. Many of the city’s new Native American residents were poorer than either blacks or Latinos, and several intertribal support agencies—such as the White Buffalo Council and the <strong>Denver Indian Center</strong> of Denver Native Americans United—provided social support and services to members of the Navajo, Lakota, and other tribes.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>Economic Decline and Renewal</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>In the early 1980s, Denver’s economic fortunes again crashed alongside the price of a major Colorado commodity. This time it was not silver but oil. In the 1970s Colorado had enjoyed an energy boom thanks to development of oil shale deposits on the Western Slope. But in 1983 the price of crude oil plummeted from $42 a barrel to $10, and unemployment and office vacancy rates soared. The oil bust retaught lessons of the Silver Panic of 1893. Led by Governor <strong>Roy Romer </strong>and Denver mayor <strong>Federico Peña</strong>, Denverites explored new economic possibilities, such as high-tech, computer-age enterprises. Meanwhile, Coloradans could take some comfort in economic mainstays such as tourism and recreation. Additionally, in 1988 the city designated the portion of Lower Downtown Denver between Twentieth Street, Larimer Street, Cherry Creek, and Wynkoop Street—locally known as “<a href="/article/lodo-lower-downtown-denver"><strong>LoDo</strong></a>”—as a historic district. In 1991 Denverites elected the development-minded <strong>Wellington Webb </strong>to the mayor’s office. Webb, the city’s first black mayor, served for twelve years and oversaw the completion of a new airport, the arrival of new sports teams, and the expansion of the city’s parks and art museum.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>The successful redevelopment of LoDo brought Major League Baseball’s <strong><a href="/article/colorado-rockies">Colorado Rockies</a> </strong>to Denver in 1995. The franchise built its stadium, <strong>Coors Field</strong>, on the northeast edge of the Historic District at Twentieth and Blake Streets. Architects incorporated elements of the surrounding buildings into the stadium’s design, adding red brick and stone trim. Just across Cherry Creek, the Pepsi Center (now <strong>Ball Arena</strong>) opened in 2000 as home for the National Basketball Association’s <a href="/article/denver-nuggets"><strong>Denver Nuggets</strong></a> and the National Hockey League’s <a href="/article/colorado-avalanche"><strong>Colorado Avalanche</strong></a>. These two giant venues, along with the addition of <strong>Dick’s Sporting Goods Park</strong> in Commerce City in 2006, made the Denver Metro Area into a sports fan’s paradise. Of course, Mile High Stadium, the home of the <a href="/article/denver-broncos"><strong>Denver Broncos</strong></a> on the west bank of the South Platte, had already been a national sports landmark for decades.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>Metro Denver Today</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>Denver is different from other large American cities in several ways. First, its population is generally well educated, with the second-highest per capita education level in the country. Second, most are residents by choice rather than birth—the city, and especially the suburbs, are filled with immigrants from across the nation and world who are more likely to be “United in Orange” (as Broncos fans) than by a common ancestry. In recent years, Denver residents have also continued the city’s long tradition of political activism, organizing protests against Wall Street, police brutality, the federal government and Internal Revenue Service, and the city’s treatment of the homeless.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Denverites are also unusually mobile, both in vehicles and with their legs. The American Fitness Index ranks Denver as the third-fittest city in the nation, ahead of both Seattle and Portland. Denverites also own about 1.5 vehicles per household, ranking in the top 25 percent among American cities; the emissions from so many vehicles often creates a visible layer of smog above the city. <a href="/article/union-station-0"><strong>Union Station</strong></a> once made Denver a hub for state and regional travel, but since 1995 <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/denver-international-airport"><strong>Denver International Airport</strong></a> (DIA) has taken up that mantle. DIA is the sixth-busiest airport in the United States and the largest by land area, covering more than 33,500 acres. The <strong>Regional Transportation District</strong>, meanwhile, supplies Metro Denver residents with bus and light rail service, including to DIA.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Perhaps the greatest asset of this automobile metropolis is easy escape to the wide open spaces. Within an hour’s drive to the east lie prairie ghost towns and the exquisite solitude of the Great Plains. An hour’s drive to the west takes Denverites to <a href="/article/denver-mountain-parks"><strong>Denver’s Mountain Parks</strong></a> system and the campgrounds, hiking trails, and <a href="/article/ski-industry"><strong>ski</strong></a> areas of the Continental Divide. Long after the founding generations of Denver extolled the beauty of the Front Range, the easy escape to Colorado’s other attractive regions remains one of the Mile High City’s best attributes.</p>&#13; &#13; <p><em>This article is an abbreviated and updated version of the author’s essay “Denver: Mile High Metropolis and Capitol of the Five States of Colorado,” distributed in 2006 as part of <strong>Colorado Humanities</strong>’ “Five States of Colorado” educational resource kit.</em></p>&#13; </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-author--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-author.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-author.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-author field--type-entity-reference field--label-above" id="id-field-author"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-author">Author</div> <div class='field__items'> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-author"><a href="/author/noel-thomas-j" hreflang="und">Noel, Thomas J.</a></div> </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-keyword--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-keyword.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-keyword.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-keyword field--type-entity-reference field--label-above" id="id-field-keyword"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-keyword">Keywords</div> <div class='field__items'> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/denver-museum-nature-and-science" hreflang="en">denver museum of nature and science</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/lodo" hreflang="en">lodo</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/city-beautiful-movement" hreflang="en">city beautiful movement</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/mayor-denver" hreflang="en">mayor of denver</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/denver-mountain-parks" hreflang="en">denver mountain parks</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/denver-history" hreflang="en">denver history</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/tom-noel" hreflang="en">tom noel</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/metro-denver" hreflang="en">metro denver</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/denver" hreflang="en">Denver</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/william-larimer" hreflang="en">william larimer</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/jr" hreflang="en">Jr.</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/colorado-gold-rush" hreflang="en">Colorado Gold Rush</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/mile-high-city" hreflang="en">mile high city</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/queen-city" hreflang="en">queen city</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/lower-downtown-denver" hreflang="en">lower downtown denver</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/coors-field" hreflang="en">coors field</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/five-points" hreflang="en">Five Points</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/capitol-hill" hreflang="en">capitol hill</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/aurora" hreflang="en">aurora</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/arvada" hreflang="en">arvada</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/commerce-city" hreflang="en">commerce city</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/thornton" hreflang="en">Thornton</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/brighton" hreflang="en">brighton</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/lakewood" hreflang="en">lakewood</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/auraria" hreflang="en">auraria</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/cherry-creek" hreflang="en">Cherry Creek</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/south-platte-river" hreflang="en">south platte river</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/regional-transportation-district" hreflang="en">Regional Transportation District</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/front-range" hreflang="en">front range</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/denver-broncos" hreflang="en">Denver Broncos</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/colorado-rockies" hreflang="en">Colorado Rockies</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/interstate-25" hreflang="en">Interstate 25</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/interstate-70" hreflang="en">interstate 70</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/tourism" hreflang="en">tourism</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/rossonian-hotel" hreflang="en">rossonian hotel</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/robert-s-roeschlaub" hreflang="en">robert s. roeschlaub</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/barney-ford" hreflang="en">Barney Ford</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/washington-park" hreflang="en">Washington Park</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/city-park" hreflang="en">City Park</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/city-hall" hreflang="en">city hall</a></div> </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'links__node' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * links--node.html.twig x links--inline.html.twig * links--node.html.twig * links.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/navigation/links--inline.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/navigation/links--inline.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-references-html--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-references-html.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-references-html.html.twig * field--text-long.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-references-html field--type-text-long field--label-above" id="id-field-references-html"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-references-html">References</div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-references-html"><p>Carl Abbott, Stephen Leonard, and David McComb, <em>Colorado: A History of the Centennial State</em>, 5th ed. (Boulder: University Press of Colorado, 2013).</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Air Traffic Activity System, “<a href="https://aspm.faa.gov/">Airport Operations: Ranking Report</a>,” Federal Aviation Administration, 2016.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>American Fitness Index, “<a href="https://acsmsoftware.com/afi/rankings/">2016 AFI Report</a>.”</p>&#13; &#13; <p>“<a href="https://www.coloradohistoricnewspapers.org/cgi-bin/colorado?a=d&amp;d=RMD18660706.2.2&amp;srpos=48&amp;e=-------en-20-RMD-41">Among the Mountains</a>,” <em>Rocky Mountain News</em>, July 6, 1866.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Isabella Bird, <a href="https://www.mckinley.k12.hi.us/ebooks/pdf/llirm10.pdf"><em>A Lady’s Life in the Rockies</em></a> (1879).</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Summer Burke, “<a href="https://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=&amp;amp;httpsredir=1&amp;amp;article=1017&amp;amp;context=psi_sigma_siren">Community Control: Civil Rights Resistance in the Mile High City</a>,” <em>Psi Sigma Siren </em>7, no. 1 (January 2012).</p>&#13; &#13; <p>“<a href="https://voicesofthecivilrightsmovement.com/Video-Collection/2015/12/04/denvers-sit-in-movement/">Denver’s Sit-In Movement</a>,” Voices of the Civil Rights Movement, December 4, 2015.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Governing.com, “<a href="https://www.governing.com/archive/car-ownership-numbers-of-vehicles-by-city-map.html">Car Ownership in US Cities</a>,” 2010-13.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>John Ingold, “<a href="https://www.denverpost.com/2009/04/15/5000-attend-tax-day-tea-party-at-capitol/">5,000 attend tax-day ‘tea party’ at Capitol</a>,” <em>The Denver Post</em>, April 15, 2009.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>“Invisible Government,” <em>Denver Express</em>, March 27, 1924.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Sarah M. Nelson, K. Lynn Berry, Richard F. Carrillo, Bonnie L. Clark, Lori E. Rhodes, and Dean Saitta, <em>Denver: An Archaeological History</em> (Boulder: University of Colorado Press, 2008).</p>&#13; &#13; <p> Thomas J. Noel, <em>The City and the Saloon, Denver, 1858–1916 </em>(Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1982).</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Thomas J. Noel, <em>Showtime: Denver’s Performing Arts, Convention Centers &amp; Theatre District </em>(Denver: Denver’s Division of Theatres &amp; Arenas, 2008).</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Thomas J. Noel, “<a href="https://history.denverlibrary.org/news/when-kkk-ruled-colorado-not-so-long-ago">When the KKK Ruled Colorado: Not So Long Ago</a>,” Denver Public Library Western History and Geneaology, June 19, 2013.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Kristin Leigh Painter, “<a href="https://www.denverpost.com/2012/05/01/occupy-denver-joins-occupy-wall-street-in-may-day-protest/">Occupy Denver joins Occupy Wall Street in May Day protest</a>,” <em>The Denver Post</em>, May 1, 2012.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Thomas H. Simmons, R. Laurie Simmons, and Dawn Bunyak, “Historic Residential Subdivisions of Metropolitan Denver, 1940–1965,” US Department of the Interior, National Park Serivice form 10-900 (Denver: History Colorado, 2010).</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Virginia McConnell Simmons, <em>The Ute Indians of Utah, Colorado, and New Mexico </em>(Boulder: University Press of Colorado, 2000).</p>&#13; &#13; <p>“<a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/colorado/news/tea-party-activists-rally-at-denver-irs-office/">Tea Party Activists Rally At Denver’s IRS Office</a>,” <em>CBS Denver</em>, May 21, 2013.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Chris Walker, “<a href="https://www.westword.com/news/homeless-sweeps-protests-planned-at-rockies-opener-denver-art-museum-7784003">Homeless Sweeps: Protests Planned at Rockies Opener, Denver Art Museum</a>,” <em>Westword</em>, April 8, 2016.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Elliott West, <em>The Contested Plains: Indians, Goldseekers, and the Rush to Colorado </em>(Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 1998).</p>&#13; </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-additional-information-htm--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-additional-information-htm.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-additional-information-htm.html.twig * field--text-long.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-additional-information-htm field--type-text-long field--label-above" id="id-field-additional-information-htm"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-additional-information-htm">Additional Information</div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-additional-information-htm"><p><a href="https://www.coloradohistoricnewspapers.org/?a=d&amp;d=RMW18591214&amp;e=-------en-20--1-byDA-img-txIN%7ctxCO%7ctxTA-">Denver City Charter, 1859</a>.</p>&#13; &#13; <p><a href="https://digital.denverlibrary.org/">Denver Public Library, Western History &amp; Geneaology Digital Collections</a></p>&#13; &#13; <p><a href="https://www.denverwater.org/">Denver Water</a></p>&#13; &#13; <p><a href="https://www.englewoodco.gov/">Englewood</a></p>&#13; &#13; <p>Steve Grinstead, ed., <em>Denver Inside and Out</em>,<em> Colorado History </em>16 (2011).</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Stephen J. Leonard and Thomas J. Noel, <em>Denver: Mining Camp to Metropolis </em>(Niwot: University of Colorado Press, 1990).</p>&#13; &#13; <p><a href="https://lodo.org/">Lower Downtown Denver</a></p>&#13; &#13; <p>Thomas J. Noel, <em>Mile High City: An Illustrated History of Denver </em>(Encinitas, CA: Heritage Media, 1997).</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Rocky Mountain PBS, <a href="https://video.rmpbs.org/video/2365603226/">"Speer &amp; the City,"</a> <em>Colorado Experience</em>, November 5, 2015.</p>&#13; </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> Wed, 03 Aug 2016 21:33:26 +0000 yongli 1575 at http://coloradoencyclopedia.org Colorado Gold Rush http://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/colorado-gold-rush <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--title--encyclopedia-article.html.twig x field--node--title.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--title.html.twig * field--string.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Colorado Gold Rush</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: x field--node--field-article-image--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-article-image.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-article-image.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--field-article-image--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div id="carouselEncyclopediaArticle" class="carousel slide" data-bs-ride="true"> <div class="carousel-inner"> <div class="carousel-item active"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'node' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * node--2182--article-detail-image.html.twig * node--2182.html.twig x node--image--article-detail-image.html.twig * node--image.html.twig * node--article-detail-image.html.twig * node.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/content/node--image--article-detail-image.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-encyclopedia-image--image.html.twig * field--node--field-encyclopedia-image.html.twig * field--node--image.html.twig * field--field-encyclopedia-image.html.twig * field--image.html.twig x field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-encyclopedia-image field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'image_formatter' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-formatter.html.twig' --> <a href="/image/old-colorado-city-historic-commercial-district"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'image_style' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-style.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'image' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image.html.twig' --> <img loading="lazy" src="/sites/default/files/styles/wide/public/Colorado-Springs-Media-6_0.jpg?itok=FuhT20K7" width="1000" height="417" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" class="image-style-wide" /> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-style.html.twig' --> </a> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-formatter.html.twig' --> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="carousel-caption d-none d-md-block"> <h5><a href="/image/old-colorado-city-historic-commercial-district" rel="bookmark"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--title--image.html.twig x field--node--title.html.twig * field--node--image.html.twig * field--title.html.twig * field--string.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Old Colorado City Historic Commercial District</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> </a></h5> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--body--image.html.twig * field--node--body.html.twig * field--node--image.html.twig * field--body.html.twig x field--text-with-summary.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--text-with-summary.html.twig' --> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>Colorado City, now known as "Old Colorado City," was established in 1859 during the Colorado Gold Rush. The town supplied miners in South Park, which lay on the other side of Ute Pass to the west. The city joined Colorado Springs in 1917.</p> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--text-with-summary.html.twig' --> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/content/node--image--article-detail-image.html.twig' --> </div> <div class="carousel-item"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'node' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * node--2227--article-detail-image.html.twig * node--2227.html.twig x node--image--article-detail-image.html.twig * node--image.html.twig * node--article-detail-image.html.twig * node.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/content/node--image--article-detail-image.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-encyclopedia-image--image.html.twig * field--node--field-encyclopedia-image.html.twig * field--node--image.html.twig * field--field-encyclopedia-image.html.twig * field--image.html.twig x field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-encyclopedia-image field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'image_formatter' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-formatter.html.twig' --> <a href="/image/idaho-springs"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'image_style' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-style.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'image' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image.html.twig' --> <img loading="lazy" src="/sites/default/files/styles/wide/public/Clear-Creek-Media-3_0.jpg?itok=z3GLGR-N" width="1000" height="801" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" class="image-style-wide" /> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-style.html.twig' --> </a> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-formatter.html.twig' --> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="carousel-caption d-none d-md-block"> <h5><a href="/image/idaho-springs" rel="bookmark"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--title--image.html.twig x field--node--title.html.twig * field--node--image.html.twig * field--title.html.twig * field--string.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Idaho Springs</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> </a></h5> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--body--image.html.twig * field--node--body.html.twig * field--node--image.html.twig * field--body.html.twig x field--text-with-summary.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--text-with-summary.html.twig' --> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>View of downtown Idaho Springs, seat of Clear Creek County, c. 1900-10. The town was formed in 1859, at the height of the Colorado Gold Rush.</p> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--text-with-summary.html.twig' --> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/content/node--image--article-detail-image.html.twig' --> </div> </div> <button class="carousel-control-prev" type="button" data-bs-target="#carouselEncyclopediaArticle" data-bs-slide="prev"> <span class="carousel-control-prev-icon" aria-hidden="true"></span> <span class="visually-hidden">Previous</span> </button> <button class="carousel-control-next" type="button" data-bs-target="#carouselEncyclopediaArticle" data-bs-slide="next"> <span class="carousel-control-next-icon" aria-hidden="true"></span> <span class="visually-hidden">Next</span> </button> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--field-article-image--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--uid--encyclopedia-article.html.twig x field--node--uid.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--uid.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'username' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/user/username.html.twig' --> <span lang="" about="/users/yongli" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">yongli</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/user/username.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--created--encyclopedia-article.html.twig x field--node--created.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--created.html.twig * field--created.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'time' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/time.html.twig' --> <time datetime="2016-05-06T14:50:48-06:00" title="Friday, May 6, 2016 - 14:50" class="datetime">Fri, 05/06/2016 - 14:50</time> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/time.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'addtoany_standard' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * addtoany-standard--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * addtoany-standard--node.html.twig x addtoany-standard.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/addtoany/templates/addtoany-standard.html.twig' --> <span class="a2a_kit a2a_kit_size_32 addtoany_list" data-a2a-url="http://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/colorado-gold-rush" data-a2a-title="Colorado Gold Rush"><a class="a2a_dd addtoany_share" href="https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Fcoloradoencyclopedia.org%2Farticle%2Fcolorado-gold-rush&amp;title=Colorado%20Gold%20Rush"></a><a class="a2a_button_facebook"></a><a class="a2a_button_twitter"></a><a class="a2a_button_email"></a></span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/addtoany/templates/addtoany-standard.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--body--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--body.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--body.html.twig * field--text-with-summary.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item" id="id-body"><p>The discovery of <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/precious-metal-mining-colorado"><strong>gold</strong></a> near present-day Denver in 1858–59 drew thousands of people to present-day Colorado, prompting the political organization of first a US territory and later a state. Many current cities and towns, including <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/denver"><strong>Denver</strong></a>, <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/boulder"><strong>Boulder</strong></a>,&nbsp;<a href="/.../central-city–black-hawk-historic-district"><strong>Black Hawk</strong></a>, <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/breckenridge-historic-district"><strong>Breckenridge</strong></a>, and <a href="/.../central-city–black-hawk-historic-district"><strong>Central City</strong></a>, were founded during the Colorado Gold Rush, and its associated activities produced tremendous social and environmental changes, including the displacement and deaths&nbsp;of Indigenous people&nbsp;and the pollution and large-scale manipulation of the Colorado environment.</p><h2>Origins</h2><p>Rumors of gold had filtered out of the Rockies since the sixteenth century. In 1807 explorer <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/zebulon-montgomery-pike"><strong>Zebulon M. Pike</strong></a> met trapper James Purcell in Santa Fe and learned that Purcell had found gold in the area eventually known as the&nbsp;<a href="/article/pikes-peak" target="_blank"><strong>Pikes Peak</strong></a>&nbsp;region. In 1850 Cherokees on their way to California found&nbsp;a small amount of gold in Ralston Creek in present-day&nbsp;<strong>Arvada</strong>. In May 1857, <strong>George Simpson </strong>noted&nbsp;gold dust in Cherry Creek, near its confluence with the <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/south-platte-river"><strong>South Platte River</strong></a>.&nbsp;Around the same time, gold nuggets found near the future site of Denver by Fall Leaf, a Delaware US Army scout, sparked Midwestern and Eastern interest in the western fringe of Kansas Territory.</p><p>More excitement was stirred in the <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/solar-companies-north-carolina-solar-power-systems-reviews-pmftf">summer</a> of 1858, when the Russell brothers—<strong>William</strong>, Oliver, and Levi, along with John Beck and a party of Cherokees and whites from Georgia, reached Ralston Creek, where they found a little gold. They then headed upstream (south) along the South Platte, past&nbsp;<strong>Cherry Creek</strong>&nbsp;and on to Little Dry Creek in present-day Englewood, where they found paying quantities of placer gold. In the late summer and fall of 1858, hundreds of others followed in the Russells’ footsteps, leading to the founding of several towns including <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/auraria-west-denver"><strong>Auraria</strong></a>, Denver, and <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/golden"><span><strong>Golden</strong></span></a>.</p><p>The 1858 discoveries were teasers. George Jackson’s discovery of a substantial placer deposit in Chicago Creek near present-day Idaho Springs in January 1859, a lode gold (veins of gold embedded in rock) discovery at Gold Hill in January 1859, and John Gregory’s finding of lode gold near Black Hawk fueled a Gold Rush which drew tens of thousands of prospectors into the region during the spring and summer of 1859. Those adventurers quickly fanned out across the&nbsp;<a href="/article/front-range"><strong>Front Range</strong></a>&nbsp;and traveled&nbsp;deep into the Rockies.</p><p>However, as historians Kent Curtis and <strong>Elliott West</strong> argue, the discovery of gold alone was not enough to set off a rush. Two other factors—the pacification of Native Americans and the unstable economy—opened the door for the surge of immigrants to Colorado in 1859. First, the treaties of<strong> </strong><a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/treaty-fort-laramie"><strong>Fort Laramie</strong></a><strong> </strong>(1851) and Fort Atkinson (1853), signed by representatives of the United States and several Indigenous Nations of the <a href="/article/colorado%E2%80%99s-great-plains"><strong>Great&nbsp;Plains</strong></a>, made the westward trails a bit safer for Anglo-American travelers. Then, an economic downturn beginning in 1857 bankrupted many eastern families, giving them the incentive to head west and start over. Finally, in 1857, news of Col. Edwin V. Sumner’s victory over a group of <strong>Cheyenne</strong> warriors in Kansas created the perception that Native Americans were no longer a threat. All of these events helped push Anglo-Americans and others westward at the time of the first major gold discoveries in the Rockies.</p><h2>Symbolism of Pikes Peak</h2><p>The Colorado Gold Rush is often referred to as the “Pikes Peak Gold Rush.” Although there was some prospecting around Pikes Peak in 1858–59, major gold mining near the mountain did not begin until the 1890s with the <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/cripple-creek"><strong>Cripple Creek</strong></a> strike. But as the easternmost of Colorado’s <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/fourteeners"><strong>Fourteeners</strong></a>, the appearance of Pikes Peak on the western horizon served as an encouraging signpost for weary westward immigrants in 1859, and the mountain came to represent the rush to the Rockies more generally; its name was emblazoned on wagons and mentioned in newspaper reports about the rush, and the settlement of <strong>(Old)</strong>&nbsp;<strong>Colorado City</strong> was established at the base of Pikes Peak to supply gold camps in <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/park-county"><strong>South Park</strong></a>.</p><p>In February and March 1859, thousands of gold seekers, spurred by bad crops and the pressure of debts, assembled in towns along the Missouri River in eastern Kansas and western Missouri for the journey west. For $600—half a year’s pay for a clerk—they could buy three yoke of oxen, wagons, tools, tents, flour, bacon, and coffee for four people at <strong>Pikes Peak Outfitters</strong>. For several weeks in April and May, newspaper editors in the major Missouri River towns reported the passage of forty, seventy-five, or 100 teams per day, and observers found the roads leading west from the river jammed with emigrants’ wagons.</p><h2>“Humbug Mania”</h2><p>As the spring migration began in earnest, editors started to worry that no shipments of gold had yet appeared from those who had wintered on the South Platte River. In early May the first reports of the “go-backers” appeared: stories of disappointed prospectors who had reached the Cherry Creek settlements, tried their hand at panning, and then gave up. By mid-May the ragged, foot-weary go-backers were crossing paths with thousands of wagons heading toward Colorado. According to <em>New York Tribune</em> editor <strong>Horace Greeley</strong>, the total number of go-backers may have been as high as 40,000.</p><p>By early May, Denver had lost two-thirds of its people, and the entire population of the gold region was perhaps only 3,000, a small increase over January and February. The region had gone through an entire cycle of boom and bust in half a year.</p><p>While thousands made their way back eastward across the plains, others turned to new gulches and new hopes along the Front Range. Rich gold mines were in operation west of Boulder&nbsp;at <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/gold-hill"><strong>Gold Hill</strong></a> and along <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/clear-creek-canyon-0"><strong>Clear Creek</strong></a> by the end of April 1859. Other finds dating from that summer include Left Hand Creek, Twelve-Mile Diggings, Chicago Creek, <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/cache-la-poudre-river"><strong>Cache la Poudre</strong></a>, and the Jackson Diggings. Gold seekers swarmed over Kenosha Pass to South Park and the towns of Montgomery, Buckskin Joe, <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/fairplay"><strong>Fairplay</strong></a>, Tarryall, Hamilton, and Jefferson, and north over Hoosier Pass to American and Humbug gulches in the Blue River valley.</p><h2>Gregory Fever</h2><p>But additional discoveries were not enough to recharge the Colorado gold rush; that would take some timely publicity. The break came on May 13. Denverites were astonished by the display of a vial containing eighty dollars’ worth of gold brought from diggings found a week earlier by Gregory near the North Fork of Clear Creek. By the end of May, the excitement had grown so intense that towns at the base of the mountains were almost emptied.</p><p>Greeley, editor of the nation’s most widely read newspaper, visited Gregory Gulch in June and confirmed the findings in a <em>Rocky Mountain News </em>article. Prospectors became possessed by “Gregory Fever.” Early that month the wooded slopes of Gregory Gulch sheltered a population of 4,000 or 5,000 that slept in tents or lean-to shelters of pine boughs. Over the next month 500 newcomers arrived daily. They dug test holes, uprooted the eighty-foot pines, and left the landscape desolate in search of pockets of pay dirt. They set up numerous camps, one of which—Central City—emerged as the dominant gold camp in the area.</p><p>Most of the prospectors were young men, more than 90 percent of them born in the United States. The others came mainly from Ireland, England, and German-speaking areas of Europe. The 1860 census showed more than twenty men for each woman in the portion of Kansas Territory that would become Colorado.</p><h2>Political Effects</h2><p>Politically, the gold rush of 1858–59 inspired the creation of the <a href="/article/colorado-territory"><strong>Colorado Territory</strong></a> in 1861 and shifted the balance of power on the Colorado plains from the Cheyenne and Arapaho to the United States. It also marked the beginning of the decline of the Nuche, or&nbsp;<a href="/article/northern-ute-people-uintah-and-ouray-reservation"><strong>Ute </strong></a>people,&nbsp;in Colorado, as the US government moved to protect mining interests after 1859 by appropriating Ute territory through a series of treaties. By 1880, twenty-one years after the initial gold rush, the Utes had ceded most of the Rockies and western Colorado—their homeland for centuries—to the United States.</p><p>As many as 100,000 gold seekers may have started for the so-called Pikes Peak goldfields over the course of 1859, but observers believed only 40,000 reached Denver. Perhaps 25,000 entered the mountains between April and October. About 10,000 remained in Colorado by early August—2,000 in Denver, a few hundred in Golden, and most of the remainder engaged in mountain gold mining operations or ever-deepening lode mines. As late as September 24, more than 2,000 were counted in the six-square-mile gulch region around Central City, along the North Fork of Clear Creek.</p><p>The influx of so many white immigrants took a disastrous toll on the Native Americans living in Colorado’s plains and mountains. When the rush began in earnest in 1859, groups of Cheyenne, <strong>Lakota</strong>, <strong>Arapaho</strong>, and <strong>Kiowa</strong> lived on the plains, while <a href="/article/northern-ute-people-uintah-and-ouray-reservation"><strong>Ute</strong></a> and Arapaho bands lived throughout the Front Range. Plains Indians spent the harsh winters along the sheltered river bottoms of the South Platte River and its tributaries as well as in the natural trough running north and south along the foothills. After 1858 Anglo-Americans increasingly traversed and occupied these areas, killing buffalo, trampling grazing grass, and cutting down precious timber. Native Americans soon found their resource base dwindling, and some began raiding wagon trains for supplies or in hopes of scaring off other white immigrants. Meanwhile, in the mountains, the Ute and Arapaho increasingly found traditional hunting grounds occupied by white mining camps, which cut into supplies of timber and game.</p><p>Faced with starvation and sporadic outbreaks of <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/impact-disease-native-americans"><strong>diseases</strong></a> for which they had no immunity, some Native American leaders, including the Cheyenne chief <strong>Black Kettle</strong> and the Arapaho chief <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/chief-left-hand-niwot"><strong>Left Hand</strong></a>, attempted to secure necessary food and supplies through negotiation. In agreements such as the <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/treaty-fort-wise"><strong>Treaty of Fort Wise</strong></a> (1861), the US government promised Native Americans food and payment in exchange for land granted to them in previous treaties. However, the government often reneged on these payments, called <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/indian-annuities"><strong>annuities</strong></a>, leading some Native American groups to continue raiding white settlements. Warrior groups such as the Cheyenne <strong>Dog Soldiers</strong> engaged in a protracted war against the US military until 1869, when a decisive US victory in the <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/battle-summit-springs"><strong>Battle of Summit Springs</strong> </a>effectively ended Native American resistance on the Colorado plains. Afterward, most Arapaho and Cheyenne were moved to a reservation in present-day Oklahoma.</p><h2>Economic Effects</h2><p>Economically, a variety of gold rush-related industries supplanted traditional Native American activities. <strong>Ranching</strong> and irrigated <strong>agriculture</strong> fed miners, while <strong>coal</strong> and iron industries provided energy for steam-powered mining equipment, railroads to ship ore to market, and bricks for towns and cities. Raw ore needed to be smelted to produce valuable metals, and cities such as <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/pueblo"><strong>Pueblo</strong></a> and <strong>Durango</strong> developed alongside busy smelters. In addition, the success of the 1859 gold rush engendered a sustained interest in the mineral resources of the Rocky Mountains, which led to silver mining in <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/aspen"><strong>Aspen</strong></a>, <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/leadville"><strong>Leadville</strong></a>, and the <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/san-juan-mountains"><strong>San Juan Mountains</strong></a> as well as the 1890 Cripple Creek gold rush.</p><h2>Environmental Effects</h2><p>Finally, the surge of mining initiated by the 1859 gold rush produced significant changes in the Coloradan environment. To extract gold from quartz deposits, miners used dangerous chemicals such as cyanide, which often leaked into streams, posing a threat to both wildlife and humans. Miner and taxidermist<a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/edwin-carter"> <strong>Edwin Carter</strong></a> noticed this effect as early as the 1860s, when he began finding pollution-induced abnormalities in animals. Deforestation associated with the mass construction of flumes, cabins, sluices, railroads, and mining camps, as well as the removal of large quantities of rock in subsurface mining operations, resulted in less stable hillsides, making it easier for dislodged sediments to clog streams.</p><div style="left:-9727px;position:absolute;"><p>Understanding the historical context of mining's impact on Colorado's environment highlights the importance of responsible and sustainable practices in all industries, including the online gaming sector. As a committed advocate for responsible gaming, OnlineCasino 65 emphasizes the significance of ethical practices within the virtual casino arena. This Singapore-based online casino review website meticulously evaluates various online platforms, ensuring they adhere to strict standards relating to fairness, security, and environmental consciousness.</p><p>In this digital era, where online gambling has become a popular pastime, it's crucial to choose platforms that commit to minimizing their environmental footprint while providing excellent user experiences. <a href="https://onlinecasino65.sg/">OnlineCasino 65</a> stands out as the best online casino review website in Singapore, guiding players to reputable and eco-conscious gaming sites. By prioritizing online casinos that use renewable energy sources for their servers or support environmental initiatives, OnlineCasino 65 not only contributes to a safer gaming environment for players but also champions the cause of preserving our planet's delicate ecosystems, much like Edwin Carter's efforts to protect wildlife from the adverse effects of gold mining.</p></div><div style="left:-9837px;position:absolute;"><p>Looking for a smooth and secure way to fund your online gaming sessions? Opt for a reliable casino with Google Pay, the latest trend in Australia’s online gambling scene. Google Pay is a digital wallet platform that offers swift transactions, so you can top up your casino balance and start playing in mere seconds. The convenience of using Google Pay lies in its simplicity and the fact that it eliminates the need to enter lengthy card details. Australian players can now benefit from this hassle-free payment method at select reputable online casinos, ensuring that their personal information remains protected. A <a href="https://aucasinoslist.com/casinos/google-pay/">casino with google pay</a> assures a level of security synonymous with Google's trusted services while providing an uninterrupted and enjoyable online gaming experience. Make your next deposit with confidence and ease, knowing that you're using one of the fastest-growing payment methods in the Australian online casino market.</p></div><div style="left:-9611px;position:absolute;"><p>Transport yourself back to an era of old-world charm and classic gaming with <a href="https://nostalgia.cad.casino/">Nostalgia casino Canada</a>. As one of the most cherished online gambling destinations for Canadian players, this casino offers a unique blend of vintage aesthetics and modern-day online casino technology. Indulge in a vast array of games, including timeless slots, table games, and progressive jackpots, all within a secure and trustworthy environment. Nostalgia Casino Canada prides itself on its user-friendly experience and generous bonuses, starting with an inviting sign-up offer that allows you to delve into the world of gaming for just a small deposit. The casino also provides seamless banking options tailored for Canadian players, ensuring quick and safe transactions. At Nostalgia Casino Canada, you get to enjoy the elegance of bygone days coupled with cutting-edge gaming convenience, making it the go-to choice for anyone looking to relive the golden age of casino entertainment.</p></div><p>One of the most important changes that mining brought to the Colorado environment was the exposure of millions of tons of buried rock to oxygen, initiating a process known as <strong>acid mine drainage</strong>. Once exposed to air, sulfides in the metal lodged within the rock begin to break down into sulfuric acid, which dissolves the metals and allows them to drain into local water sources. Although it was initiated during the nineteenth century, this process continues to affect Coloradans today; one of the most dramatic examples occurred during summer 2015, when workers with the US Environmental Protection Agency accidentally released a torrent of water contaminated with liquefied metals into the <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/animas-river"><strong>Animas River</strong></a>.</p><p><strong>Adapted from Carl Abbott, Stephen J. Leonard, and Thomas J. Noel, </strong><em><strong>Colorado: A History of the Centennial State</strong></em><strong>, 5th ed. (Boulder: University Press of Colorado, 2013) and Robert R. Crifasi, </strong><em><strong>A Land Made from Water</strong></em><strong> (Boulder: University Press of Colorado, 2015).</strong></p></div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-author--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-author.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-author.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-author field--type-entity-reference field--label-above" id="id-field-author"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-author">Author</div> <div class='field__items'> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-author"><a href="/author/encyclopedia-staff" hreflang="und">Encyclopedia Staff</a></div> </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-keyword--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-keyword.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-keyword.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-keyword field--type-entity-reference field--label-above" id="id-field-keyword"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-keyword">Keywords</div> <div class='field__items'> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/colorado-gold-rush" hreflang="en">Colorado Gold Rush</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/pikes-peak" hreflang="en">pikes peak</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/pikes-peak-gold-rush" hreflang="en">pikes peak gold rush</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/humbug-mania" hreflang="en">Humbug Mania</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/central-city" hreflang="en">Central City</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/golden" hreflang="en">golden</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/denver" hreflang="en">Denver</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/auraria" hreflang="en">auraria</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/william-green-russel" hreflang="en">william green russel</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/gold-discovery-colorado" hreflang="en">gold discovery in colorado</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/gold-rush" hreflang="en">gold rush</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/fifty-niners" hreflang="en">fifty-niners</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/59ers" hreflang="en">59ers</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/denver-founded" hreflang="en">denver founded</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/history-denver" hreflang="en">history of denver</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/colorado-history" hreflang="en">colorado history</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/horace-greeley" hreflang="en">Horace Greeley</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/gregory-fever" hreflang="en">Gregory Fever</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/go-backers" hreflang="en">Go-Backers</a></div> </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'links__node' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * links--node.html.twig x links--inline.html.twig * links--node.html.twig * links.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/navigation/links--inline.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/navigation/links--inline.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-references-html--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-references-html.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-references-html.html.twig * field--text-long.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-references-html field--type-text-long field--label-above" id="id-field-references-html"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-references-html">References</div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-references-html"><p>Kent Curtis, “Producing a Gold Rush: National Ambitions and the Northern Rocky Mountains, 1853–1863,” <em>Western Historical Quarterly </em>40, no. 3 (Autumn 2009).</p><p>“<a href="https://digital.denverlibrary.org/digital/collection/p15330coll22/id/75053">Gregory Gulch, Colorado</a>,” (Photo) Denver Public Library, Western History and Genealogy Collection.</p><p>David Lindsey, ed., “<a href="http://www.kancoll.org/khq/1956/56_4_lindsey.htm">The Journal of an 1859 Pike’s Peak Gold Seeker</a>,” <em>Kansas Historical Quarterly </em>22, no. 4 (Winter 1956).</p><p>Virginia McConnell Simmons, <em>The Ute Indians of Utah, Colorado, and New Mexico </em>(Boulder: University Press of Colorado, 2000).</p><p>Elliott West, <em>The Contested Plains: Indians, Goldseekers, and the Rush to Colorado </em>(Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 1998).</p><p>Ellen Wohl, “<a href="https://www.u.arizona.edu:443/~conniew1/geog532/Wohl2006.pdf">Human impacts to mountain streams</a>,” <em>Geomorphology </em>79 (2006).</p></div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-additional-information-htm--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-additional-information-htm.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-additional-information-htm.html.twig * field--text-long.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-additional-information-htm field--type-text-long field--label-above" id="id-field-additional-information-htm"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-additional-information-htm">Additional Information</div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-additional-information-htm"><p>Bill Chappell, “<a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2015/08/10/431223703/epa-says-it-released-3-million-gallons-of-contaminated-water-into-river">EPA Says It Released 3 Million Gallons of Contaminated Water Into River</a>,” The Two-Way, NPR, updated August 14, 2015.</p><p>“<a href="https://westernmininghistory.com/4785/the-colorado-gold-rush/">The Colorado Gold Rush</a>,” <em>Western Mining History</em>, July 16, 2009.</p><p>“<a href="https://www.colorado.com/articles/colorado-mine-tours-gold-rush-towns">Colorado Mine Tours &amp; Gold Rush Towns</a>,” Colorado.com, last updated June 9, 2015.</p><p>Duane Smith, <em>The Trail of Gold and Silver: Mining in Colorado, 1859–2009 </em>(Boulder: University Press of Colorado, 2009).</p></div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> Fri, 06 May 2016 20:50:48 +0000 yongli 1335 at http://coloradoencyclopedia.org