Mine Owners and Mines of the Colorado Gold Rush

In 1879, just three years after gaining statehood, Colorado experienced its own gold rush. That year, Thomas Corbett published a directory of Colorado’s know gold, silver, coal, and ore mines. Mine Owners and Mines of the Colorado Gold Rush, by Laurel Michele Wickersheim and Rawlene LeBaron, is an enhanced republishing of that directory.

Mine Owners and Mines of the Colorado Gold Rush provides a modern rendition of the original. This edition carefully reworks the list of mines to account for modern day county lines. The book also provides edits, annotation, and, perhaps most importantly, a full name index of mine owners, officers, and key employees. Every known mine from 1879 is listed alphabetically by county, with a separate section for coal and ore mills.

Details for each mine includes a brief description, date discovered, location, nature of the ore, etc. Throughout the book, the authors have included added histories and biographical notes. Also added are reprints of maps, photos, vintage postcards, and mining certificates. Most of the entries average six or seven line, such as this sample entry from Boulder County:

“Belden. Frank C. Garbutt, and Thomas H. Baker, proprietors; office Devener; claim 150 by 1,500 feet; discovered 1874, located on Gold Run, Gold Hill mining district, 10 miles from Boulder; vertical vein running east and west, width 4 feet, pay vein 18 inches; nature of ore, gray copper and tellurium; assay value %400 per tone; main shaft 30 feet, and 1 other shaft 10 feet deep.”

Other entries run on for the better part of the page, but average somewhere around five or six entries per page for 463 pages. In all, there are a couple of thousand individuals listed in this book, all with a specific location at a specific time. This book has proven to be of great interest to both genealogist as well as historians; oh, and for a few geologists as well.

Contents

Dedication

Foreword

Colorado Mines, by County

• Arapahoe County
• Boulder County
• Clear Creek County
• Custer County
• Gilpin County
• Grand County
• Hinsdale County
• Huerfano County
• Jefferson County
• La Plata County
• Lake County
• Ouray County
• Park County
• Pueblo County
• Rio Grande County
• San Juan county
• Summit County
• Weld County

Name Index (mine owners, officers, and key employees)

Mine Owners and Mines of the Colorado Gold Rush is available from Family Roots Publishing; Item #: HBL3135.