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After finishing the test, we hoisted the sails and luckily, caught a good wind. Our next stop - Pike's Peak. Before we get off the ship, Captain Pete takes out a huge chest filled with all kinds of clothes. He says if we want to be real pirates, we have to look like real pirates. Renee goes for the wildest-looking costume so she can frighten people. Ashley chooses a pair of baggy, knee-length pants called breeches, and she puts on a pair of big, black boots with silver buckles. The rest of us find some neat tri-cornered hats. We all get eye patches, courtesy of our next teacher, Pirate Kidd. His job is to teach us all about the Colorado Gold Rush.
The Pike’s Peak Gold Rush began in 1858 and lasted until 1861. Pike’s Peak, a mountain located in Colorado, is part of the Southern Rocky Mountains. Like the 49ers that chased their dreams of riches to California in 1849, the 59ers were prospectors who hoped to find handfuls of nuggets during the 1858 Colorado gold rush, which peaked in 1859. The
59ers had a slogan, ‘Pike’s Peak or Bust’,
which they painted on the sides of
their covered wagons. Although hopeful at first, many were disappointed
to discover that there was no gold within 100 miles of Pike’s
Peak. Many blamed a man named D.C. Oakes, the author of a guidebook
to Pike’s Peak, that told of the gold that was just waiting to
be discovered. In fact, this guidebook and many others like it were
written to get miners to buy supplies from certain towns and merchants. When
they realized they were tricked, they threw their guidebooks onto the
trails as they headed back home. It was reported that one disappointed
miner built a make-believe tombstone that had the following words written
on it: So if there was no gold to be found by Pike’s Peak, where was the Colorado gold? Actually, gold was discovered by a man named William “Green” Russell who had gone to California to seek his fortune. Russell had heard from his wife’s Cherokee tribe that some gold had been discovered in Colorado where the Cherry Creek and South Platte River met. He organized a party to head to the location and later discovered gold at the Little Dry Creek at the foot of the Rocky Mountains. When news of Russell’s discovery spread, gold fever struck and the Colorado Gold Rush began. The population of this area increased so much that the Colorado Territory was created in 1861, which led to the creation of the state of Colorado in 1871. Click here to
play the Pike's Peak game |
