|
|
Article: Leadville Mining District
- Article from:
- Dictionary of American History
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2003 The Gale Group Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
|
LEADVILLE MINING DISTRICT
LEADVILLE MINING DISTRICT,
Colorado's longest lived, is located at the headwaters of the Arkansas River. In 1860, gold placers discovered in California Gulch spurred the first rush, but the gold was exhausted by 1865. A much bigger boom followed in the 1870s with the discovery that the local lead carbonate ore was rich in silver. Leadville, incorporated in 1878, became a celebrated silver and smelter city. In 1893, however, the silver crash and subsequent labor troubles ended Leadville's heyday. Molybdenum was the main product in the twentieth century; ...