Pikes Peak

History

The first European to climb the peak came 14 years after Pike in the summer of 1820. Edwin James, a young student who had just graduated from Middlebury College in Vermont signed on as the relief botanist for the Long Expedition after the first botanist had died. The expedition explored the South Platte River up as far as present-day Denver, then turned south and passed close to what James called "Pike's highest peak." James and two other men left the expedition camped on the plains and climbed the peak in two days, encountering little difficulty. Along the way, he was the first to describe the blue columbine, Colorado's state flower.

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Gold was discovered in the area in 1858. Pike's Peak or Bust became the slogan of the Colorado Gold Rush; see also Fifty-Niner. This was more due to Pikes Peak's notoriety than any actual significant gold find anywhere near Pikes Peak. It was not until 1893, when an ancient volcanic caldera on the west slope, five miles wide, was found to have rich gold deposits. This became the Cripple Creek Mining District, and led in 1893 to the last major gold rush in the lower forty-eight states.

Related Topics:
Colorado Gold Rush - Fifty-Niner

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In July 1860, Clark, Gruber & Co. began minting gold coins in Denver bearing the phrase "Pikes Peak Gold" and an artist's rendering of the peak on the obverse. As the artist had never actually seen the peak, it looks nothing like it. In 1864 the US Government purchased the minting equipment to open their own mint.

Related Topics:
July - 1860 - Clark, Gruber & Co. - Denver - Obverse - 1864 - US Government - Mint

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Katharine Lee Bates was moved to write the words to the song "America the Beautiful" in 1893, after having travelled to the top of Pikes Peak in a carriage ride.

Related Topics:
Katharine Lee Bates - America the Beautiful

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