Lewis Ralston was an American placer gold prospector from

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

who made the first recorded discovery of

gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

in the

Rocky Mountain region The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in straight-line distance from the northernmost part of Western Canada, to New Mexico in ...

Life

Lewis Ralston was born in 1804 on a farm in what is now

Anderson County, South Carolina Anderson County is a county located in the U.S. state of South Carolina. As of the 2020 census, its population was 203,718. Its county seat is Anderson. Named for Revolutionary War leader Robert Anderson, the county is located in northwest ...

. At age 21, he moved to the

Cherokee The Cherokee (; , or ) people are one of the Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, they were concentrated in their homelands, in towns along river valleys of what is now southwestern ...

district in the northern part of

, in what is now

Lumpkin County Lumpkin County is a county in the Northeast region of the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 33,488. Its county seat is Dahlonega. Lumpkin County is included in the Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, Georgia metropo ...

. Ralston soon met and went into business with Benjamin Parks, Jr., selling horses and cattle. In 1826, Ralson married Elizabeth Kell, a woman of Cherokee descent, and they moved onto Cherokee land. In 1828, Parks found flakes of gold along a deer path nearby, and the

Georgia Gold Rush The Georgia Gold Rush was the second significant gold rush in the United States and the first in Georgia, and overshadowed the previous rush in North Carolina. It started in 1829 in present-day Lumpkin County near the county seat, Dahlonega, ...

soon ensued. Ralston panned for gold on his own property with meager results. On May 28, 1830,

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Andrew Jackson Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before Presidency of Andrew Jackson, his presidency, he rose to fame as a general in the U.S. Army and served in both houses ...

signed the

Indian Removal Act The Indian Removal Act of 1830 was signed into law on May 28, 1830, by United States president Andrew Jackson. The law, as described by Congress, provided "for an exchange of lands with the Indians residing in any of the states or territories, ...

. Since Ralson was married to a Cherokee woman and lived on Cherokee land, the Act threatened his property. Ralston signed an Oath of Allegiance to the United States, but his property was awarded to Henry Slaughter in a lottery. Ralston purchased a home near the new town

Auraria, Georgia Auraria is a ghost town in Lumpkin County, Georgia, United States, southwest of Dahlonega. Its name derives from ''aurum'', the Latin word for ''gold''. In its early days, it was also known variously as Dean, Deans, Nuckollsville, and Scuffle ...

. On January 24, 1848, James W. Marshall found

placer gold Placer mining () is the mining of stream bed deposits for minerals. This may be done by open-pit mining or by various surface excavating equipment or tunneling equipment. Placer mining is frequently used for precious metal deposits (particularly ...

near

Coloma, California Coloma (Nisenan language, Nisenan: ''Cullumah'', meaning "beautiful") is a census-designated place in El Dorado County, California, United States. It is approximately northeast of Sacramento, California. Coloma is most noted for being the site ...

, and unbeknownst nine days later,

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

ceded

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

and the rest of northern Mexico to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

with the

Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo officially ended the Mexican–American War (1846–1848). It was signed on 2 February 1848 in the town of Villa de Guadalupe, Mexico City, Guadalupe Hidalgo. After the defeat of its army and the fall of the cap ...

. The

California Gold Rush The California gold rush (1848–1855) began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The news of gold brought approximately 300,000 people to California from the rest of the U ...

ensued. In the spring of 1850, Ralston joined a

wagon train ''Wagon Train'' is an American Western television series that aired for eight seasons, first on the NBC television network (1957–1962) and then on ABC (1962–1965). ''Wagon Train'' debuted on September 18, 1957, and reached the top of the ...

of predominately Cherokee gold prospectors led by John Beck headed to the California gold fields. The party followed the

Trail of Tears The Trail of Tears was the forced displacement of about 60,000 people of the " Five Civilized Tribes" between 1830 and 1850, and the additional thousands of Native Americans and their black slaves within that were ethnically cleansed by the U ...

west, and on June 22, 1850, they crossed the

South Platte River The South Platte River is one of the two principal tributaries of the Platte River. Flowing through the U.S. states of Colorado and Nebraska, it is itself a major river of the American Midwestern United States, Midwest and the American Sou ...

(a few miles north of what is today

Denver Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

) and camped near the confluence of two streams. Ralston panned for gold near the mouth of the smaller stream (in what is today Arvada.) He found about ¼

troy ounce Troy weight is a system of units of mass that originated in the Kingdom of England in the 15th century and is primarily used in the precious metals industry. The troy weight units are the grain, the pennyweight (24 grains), the troy ounce (20 p ...

(8 g) of gold, then worth about five dollars (about $550

USD The United States dollar (symbol: $; currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introduced the U.S. dollar at par with the Spanish silver dollar, divided it int ...

today.) While Ralston was elated, the rest of the party was unimpressed and continued on to California the next morning. Ralston continued panning for gold, but gave up after a few days and caught up with his party. Ralston had little success in California, and soon returned to his family in Georgia where he settled near

Dahlonega Dahlonega ( ) is the county seat of Lumpkin County, Georgia, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 5,242, and in 2018 the population was estimated to be 6,884. Dahlonega is located at the north end of Georgia h ...

. In 1858, John Beck and William Greeneberry “Green” Russell persuaded Ralston and some others from the original 1850 Cherokee California party to journey back to the site of Ralston's discovery of placer gold in the Pikes Peak Country. On June 24, the party arrived at the site of Ralston’s 1850 discovery, then a part of the

Kansas Territory The Territory of Kansas was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from May 30, 1854, until January 29, 1861, when the eastern portion of the territory was admitted to the United States, Union as the Slave and ...

. After five days of futile prospecting, Beck, Ralston, and 45 other men returned to Georgia leaving Green Russell and about a dozen men along the South Platte River. The remaining prospectors ventured up the South Platte River to a site they called Mexican Diggings, which had been prospected by a group of

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

prospectors from

Taos, New Mexico Taos () is a town in Taos County, New Mexico, Taos County, in the north-central region of New Mexico in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. Initially founded in 1615, it was intermittently occupied until its formal establishment in 1795 by Santa Fe ...

the previous summer. In July, Green Russel and Sam Bates discovered a small placer deposit of gold at the mouth of Little Dry Creek (in what is today Englewood) that yielded about 20

s (620 g) of gold, then worth about 380 dollars (about $44,000

today.) The party established a camp north of Little Dry Creek that they named Montana City. Some of the party were sent downstream to

Omaha Omaha ( ) is the List of cities in Nebraska, most populous city in the U.S. state of Nebraska. It is located in the Midwestern United States along the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's List of United S ...

to get supplies. Word of the discovery spread quickly and soon precipitated to Pike’s Peak Gold Rush. By the time eager prospectors arrived from Omaha, the diggings at Little Dry Creek had played out and the party had moved downstream to Cherry Creek where they set up a camp named Auraria (named after Auraria, Georgia) to work the Cherry Creek Diggings (at the site of what is today

.) Ralston never returned to the Pikes Peak Country. In 1863, Ralston was inducted into the

Confederate Army The Confederate States Army (CSA), also called the Confederate army or the Southern army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fi ...

at age 57. After the war, the Ralston family moved to

Dalton, Georgia Dalton is a city and the county seat of Whitfield County, Georgia, Whitfield County, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States. It is also the principal city of the Dalton metropolitan area, Dalton Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encomp ...

, where it is believed he died in 1870.

Legacy

The site of Lewis Ralston's 1850 gold discovery now lies along Ralston Creek in the City of Arvada'
Gold Strike Park
Arvada was originally platted in 1870 as the town of Ralston Point, Colorado.
Ralston CreekRalston ButtesRalston ValleyRalston DikeRalston ReservoirRalston RoadRalston FieldsRalston Estates
and several other places in

Jefferson County, Colorado Jefferson County is a county located in the U.S. state of Colorado. As of the 2020 census, the population was 582,910, making it the fourth-most populous county in Colorado. The county seat is Golden, and the most populous city is Lakewood. ...

are named in honor of Lewis Ralston.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ralston, Lewis Arvada, Colorado Jefferson County, Colorado People from South Carolina 1804 births 1870 deaths

Life

Legacy

See also

References

External links