The Pikes Peak Gold Rush took place between July of 1858 and February of 1861. The Pikes Peak Gold Rush was later to be named the Colorado Gold Rush due to its location. It was only the start of the mining industry. Thousands of people took place in mining, those of which were called the “fifty-niners.” William G. Russell was the leader of the expedition to the Rockies. He was married to a Cherokee Indian, which is how he heard of the gold findings in 1849. Based on the rumors of the gold that was being found in Pikes Peak, Russell organized a group including his two brothers and six companions to seek the gold. After doing so, the discovery of gold findings by the prospectors in 1858 sprung up a boom. Once the news of the gold discoveries
News of those gold discoveries attracted thousands of people from all around the world. The gold rush not only attracted miners but people in search of new starts, whether that was from love affairs gone wrong, or debts. Some seen this rush as a way to make an easy profit or fortune and settle down with new everything. Pikes Peak Gold Rush was one of the most known features in the region. It became a stepping stone that drew as many as 100,000 prospectors. With these prospectors, they brought over the slogan, “Pikes Peak or Bust,” in 1859–60. Many used the slogan “Pikes Peak or Bust” to show that it was all or nothing, either they gave it their all to reach the location of Pikes Peak or they would lose everything they had trying. The Pikes Peak Gold Rush had nearly increased Colorado’s population by 50,000 people overnight. Miners had begun their search for gold in the streams and gravel beds when they first came over to Colorado. But as time had progressed and gold was becoming harder to find in those places, miners began to dig deeper into the land, which allowed them to find larger rocks of gold. By the end of September, about 891 men were mining for gold. Towns were already beginning to be built in order to serve the miners and their needs and well
This time it was to explore, map out, and find the main headwaters of Arkansas and Red rivers that ran through the region. But that wasn’t all that Pike had to do. Zebulon also had to complete the journey to establish a friendly and strong relationship with the Native Americans and also to evaluate and report back on natural resources that the expanding colonies could use to their advantage.
After the Civil War, business and corporations have expanded significantly throughout the United States. During this time period, known as the Gilded Age, many aspects of the United States were influenced by these large corporations. The Gilded Age was given that name after Mark Twain referenced it in one of his works. In the post Civil War period, big businesses governed by corrupt acts and held power of both the political system and the economy.
The Oklahoma Land Rush of 1889 is one of the most pivotal points in American History. The massive event entailed: American settlers performing their best bull impression. They made Oklahoma seem as if it were painted in the color red. A jaw-dropping amount of land settled in a day. Finally, to a victimized community that was on the verge of drowning in a sea of unwanted roommates. Oklahoma’s great land rush gave America the space to stretch out their territory, even though it nearly wiped out the Native Americans' land.
There were many key factors that contributed to Colorado’s powerful growth. Various states like Nebraska, Kansas, Wyoming, South Dakota, and Oklahoma, all had many residents that moved to Colorado. A lot of these people were either looking for work or living their life out in retirement. They were settling in towns and cities that were not so large but this was a big contribution to Colorado’s growth in the 1940s (Abbott, Leonard, Noel, pp. 318, 2013). Colorado continued to grow and flourish well into the 1950s.
People now had the chance to look for gold out west and the Gold Rush began. This is when America really had its boom. Lastly, we now have twice as much, if not more, natural resources than we had before.
As most folks do, when I think of the term “Gold Rush”, it conjures up images of the West! Images of cowboys and crusty old miners ruthlessly and savagely staking their claims. Immigrants coming by boat, folks on foot, horseback, and covered wagon form all over the US to rape and pillage the land that was newly acquired from Mexico through the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo… California. But let me tell you about a gold rush of another kind, in another place, even more significant. It was the actual first documented discovery of gold in the United States! Fifty years earlier…in North Carolina!
Following the exploration of the Spanish and French, in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, Oregon was mapped by the Lewis and Clark expedition in their search for the Northwest Passage. Starting in the 1830s, many groups of pioneers travelled in their search to the state on the famous Oregon Trail, and the United States began joint settlement of the area with the United Kingdom. In 1846, the border between the United States and British territory that was formally established at the forty-ninth parallel-the part of the territory that was given to Britain would ultimately become part of Canada. Oregon was officially admitted to the Union as a state on February 14, 1859. The mountain was named in 1792 by British Lieutenant William Broughto after a famous naval officer, Alexander Arthur Hood.
Colorado was viewed as a place to visit and live in because of the climate, scenery, and promise of good health to its people (Abbott, Leonard, Noel, 2013, pp. 227). Tourism in Colorado has evolved immensely and has helped form Colorado into what it is today. Before anyone could realize Colorado’s potential as being an iconic tourist place, in the 1860s, journalist began to view Colorado differently. They began to notice Colorado’s scenery and they slowly recognized Colorado’s potential for evolution and development through tourists and travelers (Abbott, Leonard, Noel, 2013, pp. 223). Many people sought good health while they were sick and since the journalists really started to see the value of Colorado, they really made its climate stand out and become more appealing to those who were sick, mentioning the great benefits the climate would have on poor health. One-third of the state’s population consisted of people that were once sick (Abbott, Leonard, Noel, 2013, pp.229).
This mass rush of people all started in the summer of 1897; George Carmack was back from the Klondike with the gold he discovered in the summer of 1896 (SV; SV) (“The Klondike Gold Rush”). There was another ship, named Excelsior, which docked in San Francisco it also brought another miner and their riches from the Klondike (Stefoff). After the ships docked in Seattle and San Francisco, the word was out. “Even in those pre-Twitter days, word spreads fast.” (Martel). Thanks to the telegraph and many newspapers the gold rush drew many people looking for instant wealth (Stefoff). Once the people heard these telegraphs or saw the newspapers the prospectors were off to the Klondike (Glasner). The newspapers wrote an article on the boats coming to town saying “ A Ton of Gold from the Fabulous Klondike” Actually it was closer to two tons (Wharton).
The federal government created Oregon Territory on August 14, 1848. The area of the new jurisdiction included what we know as Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and western Montana today. Finding gold in California in 1848 started a large migration westward of people, and the settlement of Oregon Territory was promoted by the passage of the Donation Land Claims Act of 1850, which gave 160 acres to any U.S. citizen who agreed to stay on his or her land for five years.
He was quite remarkable in the fact that he stood 6’ 2” tall. The Pike family, as a rule, is rather short, so it was shocking when he grew to such heights. March 20, 1920 found him in the mountains of West Virginia saying his marriage vows to a pretty little Helen Virginia Jackson. They had traveled to West Virginia for the wedding because Helen was only 15 and the state of Maryland would not allow her to be married so young, West Virginia would though. My cousin Louise remembers going to the big farmhouse for every holiday. “Every cousin imaginable” would gather together for a day of food, laughter and visiting. Something special grandma Helen would do is, set two extra plates for every meal. She did this because of the many people coming through asking for food during the great depression, and after that there was always some kind of family or neighbor dropping in for a
Smith-Baranzini, Marlene, Richard J. Orsi, and James J. Rawls. A Golden State: Mining And Economic Development In Gold Rush California. Berkeley, California: University of California Press, 1999. eBook (EBSCOhost). Web. 26 Mar. 2014.
One of the first attempts to locate and mine this copper was back in 1771 when the first mining expedition was organized. English miners were sent to the New World to locate and mine the copper heard of in Indian tales that had been passed along by the French. These miners had begun their excavation in a clay bank where they had previously seen trickling green copper-containing water with pieces floating in the water nearby. Unfortunately, the frozen roof of the tunnel had thawed and lead to a cave in resulting in the first failed attempt at mining copper in Michigan.
The Gold Rush was one of the most influential times in California History. During the four years from 1848-1852, 400,000 new people flooded into the state. People from many countries and social classes moved to California, and many of them settled in San Francisco. All this diversity in one place created a very interesting dynamic. California during the Gold Rush, was a place of colliding ideals. The 49ers came from a very structured kind of life to a place where one was free to make up her own rules.
The promise of land was not the only thing that create Oregon fever amongst Americans in the Midwest. Americans started hearing stories about how crops grew way bigger in the west than they do in the Midwest. These stories gave many farmers Oregon fever. They went to Oregon in hopes of finding more fertile land to establish farms on. Now with the decisions to start the travel to Oregon, did Americans really understand what the six month journey entailed?