German's Mining in Colorado

There were three boom period representing Pikes Peak, gold fever 1859, the silver discoveries in Leadville in the late 70's and in 1890 the gold discoveries in Cripple Creek. In Colorado with the influx of immigrants because of the lore of gold, the German's being a rather thrifty sort would find their gold, make their pile and invest in other enterprises. Of course, not all German's stopped mining but they tended to help settle the area after the gold rushes had run their course.

Some would find nothing and turn to farming. Colorado didn't have much rainfall and the need for irrigation farming took route. Soon irrigation companies started to spring up and this increased production of the farms. Then other businesses of irrigation systems and constructing canals and water supply and storage started to spring up.

Eventually the territory moved forward enough to become a state. Now, Germans were not the only folks who came to Colorado but they were the focus of an article that I read and thought I'd share these tidbits with you.

The First Gold Rush

There's several "First Gold Rushes" in America but I believe this one is the first.

In 1799 a 12 year old boy named Conrad Reed found a 17lb gold nugget on his family farm in North Carolina. This nugget was used as a doorstop for years. In 1802, John Reed took the nugget to a jeweler and discovered that it was gold. He wasn't paid well for this nugget but John quickly learned the true value of the gold and a lot more gold was found on the family farm.

Gold mining quickly became a major industry in North Carolina. during the first half of the 19th century gold mining became the number one occupation in North Carolina, surpassing that of farmers.

Gold mining back then was little more than picking the nuggets off the land, then by the middle of the century shafts were dug when they discovered that gold came in veins.

The Charlotte house a mint. It was the first mint to mint gold from America in the U.S.