In 1858, a small group of prospectors discovered placer gold in what would later become Denver. Shortly after, tens of thousands arrived seeking mineral resources in the mountains to the West. With mixed success, some abandoned their efforts while those who persisted made gold discoveries in present day Central City, Idaho Springs and Gold Hill and went on to found the state of Colorado in 1876 and the Colorado Mining Association, the first mining association in the United States, that same year.
In the decades to follow, commodity cycles would give rise to new Colorado communities as mining built roads, schools, hospitals, railways and governments — even serving as the basis for the system of Western water law still practiced today. Many of Colorado’s cities and towns were established by mining — Denver as the staging point for mining expeditions, as well as Telluride, Silverton, Aspen, Cripple Creek, Victor, Leadville and others. Landmarks, too, like The Broadmoor and institutions including the El Pomar Foundation, Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, the Denver Museum of Nature and Science and arts centers throughout the state. The contributions of mining are indelible in Colorado’s communities and its culture.
As time went on, early mining methods that employed dangerous working conditions and limited environmental protections were replaced by dramatically stronger mine safety, environmental and sustainability standards, with modern reclamation practices restoring — and in certain cases enhancing — natural areas and wildlife habitat…