Article Contributed on: 6/10/2009 11:08:27 AM
Although Golden had not yet been thought of by anyone, it is a big anniversary for our town, and in the history of Colorado journalism as well. On June 10, 1859, the Boston Company arrived in Colorado, pulling into the twin cities of Denver and Auraria after the long weary journey from back east. They had started out from Boston back in the early spring, lured by the reports coming in to the
Boston Transcript of gold out here, and on April 1st they crossed the Missouri River at St. Joseph. But before they reached Fort Kearney in today's Nebraska, at the Little Blue River, they encountered the stampede of discouraged gold seekers who had tried their luck here but found the gold at river sandbars was running out. Part of the Boston Company changed the words on their wagon sheet from "Pike's Peak or Bust" to "Busted, by ----!", and headed back. But company leader
George West, business manager
James MacDonald, Walter Pollard, Mark Leonardo Blunt, Joe Bird, James McIntyre and Lawrence Panton persevered, and arrived in this gold mining region on this day.
Meanwhile the valley west of the Table Mountains was becoming dotted with the wagons and tents of gold seekers, many of whom had gone up to the recently discovered Gregory Diggings at today's Black Hawk/Central City area, leaving their wagons in charge of a portion of their party. Among them was 17-year-old
Charles Judkins who had arrived in a party with a number of wagons and cattle on June 3rd.
David Wall was growing vegetables at the southwest foot of North Table Mountain, having arrived April 30th, while
John M. Ferrell, having arrived around the beginning of June, was building a bridge across the river. He had noticed the rapidly rising spring torrent of the river was making it dangerous for people to cross, and building a new toll bridge, today's Washington Avenue crossing, was a good solution.
However, news writer
Horace Greeley, of the
New York Tribune, was too eager to get the scoop on the gold finds to wait for the bridge to be finished. Greeley, his mule and white straw hat fearlessly plunged into the river just east of the bridge, and fought the turbulent waves. They soon emerged, not on the opposite bank and not in that order. The whitewater had prevailed, and the whole population ran or rode to help them. The mule landed first, and Greeley himself emerged too, hanging by the seat of his pants from the end of a boat hook held by a sturdy miner. Greeley found a better way over and made his way back to Denver, with a report so momentous editor
William Byers of the
Rocky Mountain News decided to make it the
Rocky's first ever Extra. However, there was a serious problem: there was nobody at hand to print it.
Here is the rest of the story, as told by West about when he arrived in Colorado today 150 years ago, where today's Market Street crosses Cherry Creek:
On the 10th day of June 1859 the now prosperous state of Colorado was honored by our distinguished arrival upon the sedgy banks of Cherry Creek at the point now known as Holladay street. We was that day acting in the capacity of engineer of one of the bull-teams in the train, it requiring considerable skill to induce the tired oxen to pull the wagon through the foot or more of sand in the bed of the creek. As we pulled out on the western bank and halted a moment to give the oxen a rest the stentorian voice of Uncle Tommy Gibson rang out upon the ambient air from a little foot bridge which then spanned the creek. The words that reached our ears were "Hey, there! Are there any printers in that crowd?"
The answer went back to him "yes sir, there are three of us here!"
A bright smile spread over the honest phiz of the old man as he shouted back "Good enough! I've got an extra to set up, and I wish you would go into camp over here and come in and help us out."
As it was Saturday afternoon and pretty near camping time, we did not object, so Bill Sumner, Mark Blunt now of the Pueblo Land office and the writer proceeded to the old rough-log office of the Rocky Mountain News after investigating the irrigation question at Jack O'Neil's saloon next door, at Gibson's expense. Here we found Horace Greeley, Henry Villard and A.D. Richardson, who had just returned from the "Gregory diggings," preparing their report of what they had seen there.
We three pilgrims rolled up our sleeves and "threw in" our cases, while Villard and Richardson prepared the copy from Greeley's notes and their own. In the course of an hour or two the matter was set up, and the writer worked off the celebrated extra on the hand-press - the only press then in the office, while Mark Blunt rolled the forms.
This duty performed our connection with Mr. Villard and the Extra Rocky Mountain News ceased, if we except the little matter of collecting the pay for the work, which was paid willingly and liberally by Mr. Gibson, with many thanks.
This Extra, with reports written by respected members of the media, helped confirm the faith of the gold seekers and helped set the gold rush into full boom, creating the Colorado we know today.