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<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />1 <br />1 <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />1 <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />came with the government explorers and mountain men, who discovered <br />and mapped travel routes, including the South Platte Trail and <br />routes into the mountains, so that when gold was discovered in 1858 <br />Americans already knew how to get to the Cherry Creek gold fields <br />(Meier 1987b). <br />3.2.2 The Gold Rush and Early Settlement, 1858-1870 <br />In 1857-1858 residents of the American Middle-west found <br />themselves caught in the midst of an economic depression, with <br />hundreds of young men eager for the chance at a new start. <br />Coinciding with that, William Green Russell and a small party of <br />prospectors announced that they had discovered gold in the area <br />that became modern Denver. News of the finds spread, conjuring up <br />pictures of a new California Gold Rush. The discoveries in <br />Colorado led to the Rush of 1859 and the resultant beginnings of <br />permanent settlement along the Front Range from Colorado City <br />(Colorado Springs) north to Ft. Collins. Many prospectors found <br />they arrived too late and discouraged, they returned to the <br />Mississippi Valley. Others, who could not or did not go back, <br />turned their attentions to matters besides mining--providing food, <br />lodging, or other goods and services to those more fortunate <br />prospectors who actually found paying claims (Athearn 1976:7-31). <br />By 1860 the roots of permanent settlement north and east of the <br />fledgling town of Boulder began to appear as farmers and stock <br />raisers turned prospectors returned to farming, establishing farms <br />and running cattle herds along the South Platte and St. Vrain. <br />From these early roots the area of modern northern Boulder County, <br />Colorado, began to evolve into one of Denver's agricultural <br />hinterlands, supplying the town and its merchants with food. Soon <br />some of the farmers found that Long's description of the area as a <br />desert to be at least partially accurate. By the end of 1860 <br />33 <br />lJ <br />