Category Archives: 1859

1859 – The Lynching of Edgar Vanover for a Crime he Threatened to Commit

Posted on April 9, 2018 by JvL Bell

1859 – Edgar Vanover lynched for a crime he threatened to commit. Continue reading →

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1859 – Denver City’s Elephant Corral

Posted on January 28, 2016 by JvL Bell

Gold-seekers flocked to Denver City by the hundreds—hoosiers, suckers, corn crackers, buckeyes, red-horses, Arabs, and Egyptians—most hoping to get rich and get out. Many greenhorns arrived, ready to exchange their team and wagon for the mining supplies they needed. Freighting, commercial hauling of supplies, prospered during this era by providing those supplies. Charles Blake and Andrew Williams built Denver City’s Elephant Corral as a trading post aimed at serving both the teamsters and gold-seekers. Continue reading →

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1859 – Whiskey Hole for Destitute Prospectors

Posted on June 9, 2015 by JvL Bell

IN JULY 1859, WILLIAM HOLMAN, EARL HAMILTON, DANIEL POUND AND A PARTY OF PROSPECTORS CROSSED KENOSHA PASS INTO SOUTH PARK INTENDING TO PUNISH UTE INDIANS FOR KILLING 5 PROSPECTORS FROM GREGORY GULCH. ON THE BANKS OF TARRYALL CREEK IN DEADWOOD GULCH, THE GROUP RAISED COLOR, WITH DANIEL POUND RUMORED TO HAVE FOUND GOLD AS BIG AS WATERMELON SEEDS. THE TARRYALL DIGGINGS WERE FOUND, ALTHOUGH PERHAPS NOT FOR THE FIRST TIME. Continue reading →

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1859 – Big Phil the Cannibal

Posted on April 21, 2015 by JvL Bell

ALTHOUGH ALFERD PACKER IS COLORADO’S MOST NOTORIOUS CANNIBAL, HE IS NOT ITS ONLY HUMAN FLESH-EATER. A MOUNTAIN MAN KNOWN AS BIG PHIL OR CANNIBAL PHIL IS SAID TO HAVE FREQUENTED DENVER CITY’S SALOONS ACCOMPANIED BY HIS HUGE DOG. HE IS DESCRIBED AS “GIGANTIC IN STATURE AND REPULSIVE IN ASPECT”, BUT IT IS SAID FOR A FREE DRINK, HE WOULD TELL STORIES ABOUT DEVOURING HIS TWO INDIAN WIVES, AN INDIAN GUIDE, AND A FRENCHMAN. Continue reading →

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April 29, 1859 – Pikes Peak Gold Fever

Posted on October 8, 2014 by JvL Bell

PIKES PEAK GOLD FEVER, SPARKED BY THE REPORTS OF THE GOLD FOUND BY W.G. AND J.O. RUSSELL NEAR CHERRY CREEK, HAS SWEPT THROUGH THE NATION. FOR ALL WOULD-BE-MINER EMIGRANTS, A HANDBOOK, WRITTEN BY WM. N. BYERS, THE LATE GOVERNMENT SURVEYOR, AND JNO. H. KELLOM, SUP’T OF PUB. INSTRUCTION OF NEBRASKA, HAS BEEN PUBLISHED BY D. B. COOKE & CO. THE HANDBOOK CLAIMS TO BE A RELIABLE RESOURCE, DESCRIBING THE COUNTRY, CLIMATE, STREAMS, SCENERY, ETC. AND PROVIDES MANY USEFUL FACTS ABOUT THE JOURNEY WEST. Continue reading →

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