Origins & Early History
The Denver area was primarily occupied by Cheyenne and Arapaho people before gold seekers and settlers arrived in larger numbers.
Before the Gold Rush
The area that became Denver lies at the meeting point of the plains and the mountains. Before the gold rush brought large numbers of newcomers, it was primarily occupied by Cheyenne and Arapaho people, with only a small number of white settlers in the region.
The future settlement area was then part of the Territory of Kansas. Prospecting parties occasionally searched for gold and moved on. A site near the confluence of the South Platte River and Cherry Creek had also been used for seasonal encampments by the Cheyenne and Arapaho.
Gold Discoveries on the South Platte
In the summer of 1857, Spanish-speaking gold seekers from Taos, New Mexico, worked a placer deposit along the South Platte River above Cherry Creek at a place later known as Mexican Diggings. The following summer, Green Russell and Sam Bates found a small placer deposit near the mouth of Little Dry Creek, in present-day Englewood. The find yielded about 20 troy ounces of gold and was the first significant gold discovery in the Rocky Mountain region.
News of the discovery spread quickly. By spring 1859, thousands of gold seekers had arrived, and the Pike’s Peak Gold Rush was underway. Over the next two years, about 100,000 gold seekers came to the region.
First Settlements
In the summer of 1858, a group from Lawrence, Kansas, founded Montana City on the banks of the South Platte River, in what is now Grant-Frontier Park. It was the first settlement in what became the Denver Metropolitan Area. The site declined quickly after miners found poor results, and many settlers, along with some structures, moved north to the meeting of the South Platte River and Cherry Creek.
There they formed St. Charles, a settlement located near existing trails. In October 1858, five weeks after St. Charles was founded, William Greeneberry Russell and a group of settlers from Georgia founded Auraria on the south side of Cherry Creek. Auraria took its name from the gold mining settlement of Auraria, Georgia. Lots were offered to people willing to build and live there, and a post office opened in January 1859 for the cabins already standing.
Denver City Takes Shape
In November 1858, General William Larimer and Captain Jonathan Cox arrived from eastern Kansas Territory. Larimer rejected the first site he viewed near Auraria and staked a square-mile claim at the St. Charles site, across the creek from Auraria. Most St. Charles settlers had returned to Kansas for the winter, leaving only a small group to guard the claim. Larimer and his followers secured the surrender of the St. Charles claim through whiskey, promises, and threats.
The new town was named Denver City after James W. Denver, the Kansas territorial governor, in an effort to help the settlement become the county seat of Arapahoe County, Kansas. Denver had already resigned as governor before the town was founded. Soon afterward, Highland was founded on the west side of the South Platte River, separated from the other settlements by the river and steep bluffs.
Denver City and Auraria competed for businesses serving new arrivals. Auraria had early institutions such as a saloon, smithery, carpentry shop, and the first issue of the Rocky Mountain News. As supplies arrived on the Denver side of Cherry Creek, businesses began moving there.
Early Government and Territory
Rapid growth brought a need for government. In 1859, residents formed a secret vigilante committee to punish public offenses, while summary courts handled felony cases and the Arapaho County Claims Club heard civil suits. On October 24, 1859, voters approved the formation of the Provisional Government of the Territory of Jefferson.
The Jefferson Territorial Legislature opened its first session in Denver City on November 7, 1859. On December 3, Denver, Auraria, and Highland were combined as the City of Denver, Auraria, and Highland. Later that month, free white men of the new city elected John C. Moore as mayor. Opposition remained because the Territory of Jefferson was not legally recognized by the United States.
In 1860, the Territory of Jefferson lost legitimacy, and the three towns were reconstituted as Denver City with local offices that included judges, a clerk, treasurer, marshal, and legislators. The Colorado Territory was created in 1861. During its territorial years, Denver faced challenges that included the American Civil War, fires, and floods. As mining developed in the mountains west of Denver, the town served as a supply hub for materials that could not be produced locally.