Mining https://breckhistory.org/tag/mining/ Sun, 18 Jun 2023 16:39:00 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=7.0 https://breckhistory.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/cropped-BreckHistoryLogo-1-jpg-32x32.webp Mining https://breckhistory.org/tag/mining/ 32 32 Making History Happen: A new exhibit at Lomax https://breckhistory.org/making-history-happen-a-new-exhibit-at-lomax/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=making-history-happen-a-new-exhibit-at-lomax Sun, 18 Jun 2023 16:39:00 +0000 https://breckhistory.org/?p=3222 During the month of May we were all about making history happen with a new exhibit at Lomax and other adventures.

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]]> Our Collective History: Confronting difficult histories https://breckhistory.org/our-collective-history-confronting-difficult-histories/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=our-collective-history-confronting-difficult-histories Thu, 27 Apr 2023 16:57:50 +0000 https://breckhistory.org/?p=3074 One of our new blog post categories is Our Collective History, but what does that really mean? When we think about history, there are specific events, ideas, and people who have helped to shape eras and places in...

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]]> Why We Collect: Nature and our mining history https://breckhistory.org/why-we-collect-nature-and-our-mining-history/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=why-we-collect-nature-and-our-mining-history Wed, 19 Apr 2023 15:33:04 +0000 https://breckhistory.org/?p=3025 A look at the new blog post category, Why We Collect, with a focus on nature and how our mining history is still on display.

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]]> An Overview History of Breckenridge https://breckhistory.org/the-history-of-breckenridge-co/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-history-of-breckenridge-co Fri, 08 Apr 2022 17:09:30 +0000 https://breckhistory.org/?p=428 Breckenridge History is the leading authority on the rich and colorful history of our town. We are a small non-profit with a dedicated and passionate team of staff, volunteers, and historians. Part of our mission is to share our town's heritage with the public and we offer museums, tours, hikes, and gold panning here in charming Breckenridge. For those who prefer a good read or can't make it to Breckenridge to visit us, we've written essays on various topics.

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]]> The Assay Process https://breckhistory.org/the-history-of-breckenridge-co-the-assay-process/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-history-of-breckenridge-co-the-assay-process Fri, 08 Apr 2022 17:05:33 +0000 https://breckhistory.org/?p=419 How did the individual prospector roaming the hillsides with his burro, pan, and pick know if he had found economically valuable ore?  How did a mining company know if the ore produced could earn a profit for the company? They both depended on chemical assays. Every prospector knew how to do a “field assay” to determine the worth of his ore.  Mining companies employed an assayer working in a well-equipped assay office to complete the task.

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]]> Saloons in Breckenridge https://breckhistory.org/the-history-of-breckenridge-co-saloons-in-breckenridge/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-history-of-breckenridge-co-saloons-in-breckenridge Fri, 08 Apr 2022 17:03:21 +0000 https://breckhistory.org/?p=413 Probably no business establishment on the mining frontier played a more important role than the saloon.  Whiskey, the primary refreshment sold in the saloons, arrived in what became Summit County during the reign of the mountain men (1820-1850). ...

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]]> Placer Mining https://breckhistory.org/the-history-of-breckenridge-co-placer-mining/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-history-of-breckenridge-co-placer-mining Fri, 08 Apr 2022 17:00:53 +0000 https://breckhistory.org/?p=407 If it weren’t for the glaciers that filled the alpine valleys as recently as 10,000 years ago, the history of Summit County would have been quite different.  Glaciers and running water (rain and snowmelt) eroded gold-bearing rocks in the mountains and carried the flakes of gold into the county’s streams and rivers.  There they settled to the bottom of the deep glacial gravels that filled these valleys to depths as much as 90 feet.

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]]> Governance in Early Breckenridge https://breckhistory.org/the-history-of-breckenridge-co-governance-in-early-breckenridge/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-history-of-breckenridge-co-governance-in-early-breckenridge Fri, 08 Apr 2022 16:58:59 +0000 https://breckhistory.org/?p=405 When the first prospectors and miners arrived in what would become Summit County, no legal or governmental structure existed--no federal, state, county or town governments, no sets of laws--to guide their interactions.  This lack of a structure presented problems.  How did one file a claim?  How did one keep others from stealing that claim?  How could disagreements be settled?  To alleviate the problem, miners and prospectors adopted an idea used in California--the mining district.

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]]> Gold Milling and Concentration https://breckhistory.org/the-history-of-breckenridge-co-gold-milling-and-concentration/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-history-of-breckenridge-co-gold-milling-and-concentration Fri, 08 Apr 2022 16:58:24 +0000 https://breckhistory.org/?p=403 Nuggets taken from streams and free gold retrieved by panning, sluicing and dredging could go directly to the smelter.  Before the gold found in the ore taken from hard rock mines became gold ingots or gold coins, it went several complicated rounds of chemical and mechanical processing.  Men and machines at mills worked together to pulverize and break down the ore, discard the waste rock and prepare the concentrated ore for further processing.

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]]> Dredge Boat Mining in Breckenridge https://breckhistory.org/the-history-of-breckenridge-co-dredge-boat-mining-in-breckenridge/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-history-of-breckenridge-co-dredge-boat-mining-in-breckenridge Fri, 08 Apr 2022 16:49:03 +0000 https://breckhistory.org/?p=397 Breckenridge and southern Summit County experienced three mining booms.  The first, lasting from 1859 until the mid-1860s, brought prospectors who looked for the “easy” gold--the nuggets in streams, the pieces laying on the ground and buried in shallow soils on the hillsides.  They used pans, rocker boxes, long toms, and later high pressure hoses called “giants” to wash the gold-filled soil into sluice boxes.  The second boom, the hard rock mining boom, began in the 1870s.  Rather than the individual prospector chasing his dream, companies hired miners and others to work the mines.

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