Gold

Gold. . In the mid-19th Century, prospectors coming into the Clear Creek valley discovered placer gold that had been carried downstream from mountain deposits. As the sandbars containing the placer gold were mined out, prospectors traced the fold upstream with their pans and rocker cradles, seeking the mother lode from which the deposits came., George A. Jackson discovered gold near Idaho Springs on January 4, 1859. These were named the Jackson diggings. On May 6, 1859 the Gregory diggings were reported by John H. Gregory near today’s Central City and Black Hawk. That area was later to be known as the “Richest Square Mile on Earth.” For months Jackson trusted his secret to only one man, partner Thomas L. Golden, whose mouth was “as tight was a number 4 beaver trap.” In June 1859, a flash flood at the canyon entrance swept Jackson away as the partners returned to their base camp. Golden stayed with and helped his friend, even though he swore that any minute Jackson would “pass in his cheeks and quit the game for good.” Jackson recovered and the men discovered a new town being laid out on their former campsite. Jackson requested it be named after his friend, Golden; his wish was granted. By the 1880s there were five smelters in Golden processing the ore coming out of the mining regions Jackson and Gregory had discovered in the mountains., Caption: Nathanial Hall and group with gold bricks mined in the area. Courtesy Golden Pioneer Museum.