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Athearn Western

The Gold Rush of the American Old West quickly changed the face of the nation, and most particularly the face and history of California, beginning with the discovery of gold at Sutter's Mill in 1848.

But the so-called Gold Rush came about in pretty leisurely fashion in Colorado, driven by bands of settlers and stragglers that came to be known as Coloradans. (They "came to be known" by that name because the earliest miners and settlers who populated the region first named it "Jefferson Territory." The name "Colorado" came later, after the initial enthusiasm to name the territory to honor President Thomas Jefferson.)

Early explorers in the region, from the Spanish to Zebulon Pike and a broad range of early fur trappers and Mountain Men, all reported finding traces of gold in Colorado's streams and mountain regions from time to time. The territory was tacked together from land bought by Jefferson in the Louisiana Purchase and land later ceded by Mexico as a result of the Mexican American War in the 1840s. So the whole area of eastern Kansas and Colorado saw a great mix of transient people and cultures -- and that's without considering the Indian tribal groups such as the Utes, Cheyenne, Arapaho, Kiowa, and even some Apaches.

(In an interesting side note, a group of Cherokee Indians who had done mining in Georgia passed through Colorado in 1850 on their way to the California Gold Rush. One of them, John L. Brown, noted in his diary that gold samples had been found in the South Platte River. But the Cherokees moved on to California.)

But until the late 1850s no one really settled down to make any serious search for gold in Colorado. If anything, the territory was considered not worth serious efforts. It was simply one of the many westward staging areas which had usable passes over the Rockies to the known, proven gold fields of California. As the idea of possible truth in those rumors of Colorado gold began to sink in, some of the wayfarers paused in their westward journeys and started looking in the region's streams, notably the South Platte. And sure enough, they found the gold they were craving.

According to a fascinating history of Colorado and its settlement, "The Coloradans," by Robert G. Athearn, the Gold Rush was more of an ambling, scratching and digging around that started in 1858-59 near Cherry Creek with the building of a small settlement which later became Denver. Nothing to look at, the settlement of consisted of a few cabins and a few people who'd been hearing about gold and decided to take a look around. Not so much a "Gold Rush," the Colorado experience started out as a "Gold Trickle."

Athearn's book suggests the "Gold Rush" came about over the winter and spring of 1858-59, mostly when young men and adventurers facing economic hardship in Kansas and points east began coming into the region to try their luck. There was no single big strike that brought Colorado into its Gold Rush, but more of a trickle of gold and rumors of more which launched a slow migration into the region.

I highly recommend Athearn's book. It starts with Colorado's pre-gold days, details the saga of settlement and mining that shaped the state, and does an excellent job of describing all the fun and foibles associated with the Centennial State.

Gary Speer, who spent part of his childhood in Colorado, writes about the Old West prospecting and mining that shaped American history at his website, http://www.lifeintheoldwest.com

Union Pacific Country by Athearn, Robert G. [Paperback] $58.7 No one has done before what Athearn has done in this volume. He has utilized company records and a variety of other sources to write a very attractive and readable, but scholarly account of the impact of the Union Pacific and its branch line son the country it served from the 1860s to the 1890s. . . . Everyone from railroad buffs to Western history scholars will like the book. Choice. This highly readable book is an excellent history of the heartbreaking efforts to build the Union Pacific into a viable enterprise before the end of the nineteenth century. . . . Throughout this attractive reprint edition, Athearn provides insights and fresh perspectives not only on the Union Pacific but on other railroads in the West and their significance in frontier America. David Dary, Overland Journal. A superb contribution by a master historian, Union Pacific Country is a model chapter in the epic story of how the American West was penetrated, settled, and developed with the aid of steam and iron. The research is massive; the writing style is inviting; the photographs, maps, and documents are helpful; and the story is compelling. Journal of the West. The Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad: Rebel of the Rockies by Robert G. Athearn is also available. Author: Athearn, Robert G. Binding Type: Paperback Number of Pages: 480 Publication Date: 1976/09/01 Language: English Dimensions: 9.00 x 5.98 x 1.09 inches

Westward the Briton by Athearn, Robert G. [Paperback] $29.97 This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. Author: Athearn, Robert G. Binding Type: Paperback Number of Pages: 244 Publication Date: 2011/09/06 Language: English Dimensions: 9.69 x 7.44 x 0.51 inches

Risk Management and Insurance By Pritchett, Travis (EDT)/ Schmit, Joan (EDT)/ Doerpinghaus, Helen/ Athearn, James L. $309.84 Author: Pritchett, Travis (EDT)/ Schmit, Joan (EDT)/ Doerpinghaus, Helen/ Athearn, James L. Publication Date: 1996/02/01 Number of Pages: 785 Binding Type: Hardbound Language: English Depth: 1.50 Width: 9.00 Height: 10.50

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The Western $13.99 From the very beginnings of American cinema the Western has been a central genre, as the hazardous lives of the settlers, their conflict with Native Americans, the lawless frontier towns, outlaws, and cattle rustlers all found their way into the new medium of film. This book   provides a basic work of reference for all the major directors and noteworthy films of the genre. It discusses how folk heroes and heroines such as Jesse and Frank James, Wild Bill Hickok, Wyatt Earp, Calamity Jane, and Annie Oakley were all eagerly seized on by filmmakers, and how writers, from the very popular to the very literary—from Zane Grey to Owen Wister and James Fennimore Cooper—were plundered for storylines. The great Hollywood directors are all here, including John Ford, Howard Hawks, Raoul Walsh, Michael Curtiz, Sam Peckinpah, and Henry Hathaway, as well as great stars such as John Wayne, James Stewart, Gary Cooper, Barbara Stanwyck, Jane Russell, and Clint Eastwood. Learn how the Western became popular worldwide by offering escape, adventure, stunning landscapes, and romance, as well universal themes such as survival, law and order, defense of family, and dreams of a new and better world. 

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