Colorado Gold Rush

Date Range

1858 – 1861

Title

Colorado Gold Rush

What occurred

The Colorado Gold Rush, also known as the “Pikes Peak Gold Rush”, brought thousands of people into Colorado, including present-day Douglas County in 1859. This is what initially led to the decline of Native Americans in the area and the pollution of the natural environment. To extract gold, miners would use dangerous chemicals that would often leak into streams. By the 1860s, animals already started to show abnormalities as a result of these chemicals. Mining also resulted in acid mine drainage, which essentially exposed buried rock to oxygen. This process resulted in metals being dissolved and drained into local water sources, a process that continues to affect Coloradans.

Location

Douglas County

Image Citation

https://westernmininghistory.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/colorado_miner_1109934.jpg

Student name(s)

Fernanda Arevalo