Who first found gold in Colorado? Spanish explorers first reported finding oro in the place we now call Colorado, and other reports of “the color” drifted out of the region throughout the 1800s. But the strike that triggered the Gold Rush was made in 1858 by a pipe-smoking, experienced prospector named William Green Russell and his party of goldseekers from Georgia. That summer, they found gold in Cherry Creek and along the South Platte River. They called the area around the confluence of the two streams Auraria after their hometown—which just happens to mean gold in Latin.
- Courtesy of “Dr. Colorado” Tom Noel
