| 1860 - |
Prospectors discovered
gold in a tributary of the Arkansas river that they named California
Gulch. A gold camp, Oro City, grew up around the claims. The
population rose from about 500 to 8,000. |
| 1861 - |
The road over Mosquito
Pass from Fairplay (east of Leadville) to Oro City was constructed.
The Colorado territorial Legislature
established lake County, with Granite as the county seat. |
| 1860s - 1870s - |
The Twin Lakes summer
resort was developed |
| 1870 - |
Supplies of placer gold
near Leadville were exhausted |
| 1876 - |
Lead carbonate in the
soils was found to hold silver. The silver boom began. |
| 1880 - |
The silver boom
peaked. Leadville, with a population of over 20,000 became the
second-largest community in Colorado.
The Denver and Rio Grande (DRG)
Railway Company extended its line from Pueblo to Leadville. Also,
The Denver, South Park, and Pacific (DSPP) railroad arrived in Leadville
using the DRG tracks. |
| 1884 - |
The DSPP began running on
its own track from Breckenridge and Fremont Pass. |
| 1887 - |
The Colorado Midland
railroad, coming from the Arkansas River Valley, continued through
Leadville to Basalt and Aspen via tunnels. |
| 1893 - |
A collapse in silver
prices followed the Sherman Silver Purchase Act. |
| early 1900s
- |
Production of copper,
lead, and zinc supplemented the waning gold and silver operations. |
| after WWI - |
Metals prices fell. |
| 1929 - |
The Climax Molybdenum
Company recorded its first profits from producing molybdenite ore. |
| Korean War
years - |
Mining of gold, silver,
lead, copper, and zinc resumed in the Leadville Mining District but
tapered off again by 1960. |
| 1960 - |
The last smelter closed. |
| early 1960s
- |
The community of Climax,
originally at Fremont Pass, relocated to the Leadville area.
Work began on the Homestake Water
Diversion Project and the Fryingpan-Arkansas Project. |
| 1963 - |
Lake County gained a new
airport south of Leadville. |
| through 1980
- |
Molybdenite production
continued at the Climax site (owned by AMAX) and was joined by ASARCO's
Black Cloud Mine and Day Mine Inc.'s operations on Mt. Sherman. |
| 1980 - |
Molybdenum prices fell
due to world oversupply and new, subsidized foreign sources. |
| 1982 - |
The Climax mine closed
and mining employment dropped from 3,180 to 200 by 1988. |
| 1999 - |
The Black Cloud mine was
closed by ASARCO. |
