Rocky Road to Riches

Colorado is a land of fascinating towns and mountainous regions. Its history reflects the audacity of its early settlers and the Indians' stubborn resistance to them after living there for centuries. 

The1859 Pike's Peak Gold Rush, along with rich gold and silver strikes over the coming decades, transformed Colorado and anchored the region's prosperity and growth. Yet nature will not give up its bounty without setbacks and defeats. Woven throughout this nonfiction history are accounts of eight notable men and women who influence events or exemplify the struggle to establish frontier enterprises and settlements, as well as Ute Chief Ouray, who tries to spare his people from unwinnable wars.

The chronicle begins in 1858, when the first verified gold discoveries were made. The year 1900 marks the conclusion of this saga, except for the final accounts of the men and women noted throughout the narrative.

Many come to exploit the land at a time when wilderness and resources seem endless. Most view wilderness as waiting to be tamed-put to its highest and best use. The land, though, is not wilderness to the Native Americans who know it as their home and their ancestors' land.

Almost everything the Pike's Peakers encounter differs from life back in the States. Colorado's mining camps are isolated islands of settlement. Initially, 600 miles separate the gold diggings from civilization. Even in later years, discoveries often occur in remote mountainous locations. 

The Pike's Peakers arrive before organized government reaches the area. They create mining districts and put the essence of democracy to work by establishing legal systems that govern claims and specify punishments for serious crimes. Almost everything else is tolerated. Boomtowns are seldom dull, and vices flourish. Yet people of high morals and civic pride arrive alongside the footloose and rowdy.

The prospectors, miners, and townspeople populating gold-rush boomtowns develop a remarkable frontier culture. Many are making a wager with Lady Luck as they seek to recast their lives. Through them, the ethos of the nineteenth-century American pioneer emerges. Even today, our country's legacy of the settlement of the West continues to influence American culture.