Where the Colorado Gold Rush Began – Idaho Springs

Just west of Denver sits the small city of Idaho Springs, Colorado, which for local ski bums and mountain adventurers is a hot spot to stop off for some much needed sustenance and a hot soak before making their way out of the Rocky Mountains along I-70.  As you drive along Clear Creek and detour through the main strip of downtown, you can’t help but to get a glimpse of what this quiet place once was like during its heyday at the peak of the Colorado Gold Rush.  

The Colorado Gold Rush (aka Pike’s Peak Gold Rush), which followed the California rush, roughly began in 1859 and brought with it huge influxes of miners, immigrants and a variety of wealth seekers into the Colorado area known then as the Kansas Territory. The first small placer deposit of gold was found in the area of present day Englewood near Denver, but the initial boom largely concentrated in the areas at the base of the Rocky Mountains in the valley along Clear Creek, west of Golden in the Idaho Springs area.  During the peak of the rush, Idaho Springs was the center of the region’s mining district which continued throughout the late nineteenth century, especially as hard rock mining evolved at the famous Argo Gold Mine.  

The story of how this remote and enchanted area became one of the most productive mining veins is one of curiosity and perseverance.  It all began on a very cold day in January 1859 when George Andrew Jackson decided to explore the area along Clear Creek west of Golden, known then as Vasquez Creek, while on a hunting trip.  While venturing through the valley along the water bed, Jackson sees what is described as a “bluish mist or cloud” rising from a nearby canyon.  Thinking he wandered upon a Native American camp, Jackson trudges through several feet of snow and finds instead, a herd of mountain sheep grazing in the majestic green grasses, which were the result of vapors from the hot springs in the area. Setting up camp along the sand bar at the mouth of Chicago Creek and Clear Creek, Jackson panned the first gold to be discovered in the area using only his hunting knife and drinking cup finding $9 worth.  Marking his spot so that he could return with supplies later that year in April to further explore the gold opportunities, Jackson and his team of 22 men cut their way through the rugged mountains and set up camp.  They recovered an astounding $1,900 worth of gold in the first week marking the first significant find of gold in the Rockies.  Later that year in June, the first formally organized mining district to be established in Colorado was built in Idaho Springs.

The geyser from the hot springs that initially drew Jackson to the area eventually dried up, which is thought to have occurred because of the mining activity. However the business enterprise that would be generated from it and the significant growth of this new city would prove to be more long lasting than the gold. As many other mining towns popped up, flourished and then fell during this monumental period in American history, only a few including that of Idaho Springs remain today. Present day Idaho Springs is not quite the upper echelon it used to be, but its unique history, still flowing hot springs, opportunities of outdoor adventure and prime location along one of the region’s major interstates, continues to attract tourists and homebuyers to this day. Offering a truly authentic Colorado Rocky Mountain lifestyle, it is easy to see why so many visitors and residents of Idaho Springs hold fast to where it all began!