Colorado Gold: From the Pike's Peak Rush to the Present

The early miners who panned for gold in 1858 on the banks of Cherry Creek, where Denver now stands, could not have known how profoundly that precious metal would soon affect the emerging state of Colorado. Their boom soon turned to bust. But subsequent discoveries at Cripple Creek and other places yielded more than enough "color" to coat the dome on Colorado's capitol. Colorado Gold is the story of gold--concealed within the Rockies for ages, affecting the destinies of people and landscapes today. It is a historical account that assesses our enduring, romantic drive to extract this unusually malleable and heavy metal from the earth. Topics include both historic and modern booms and busts, gold's intrinsic value, mining technologies past and present, legends and lore, and a look at tomorrow's gold.