Growth of the Mining Industry

  • California Gold Rush

    In 1848, the California Gold Rush brought approximately 300,000 people to California from abroad and elsewhere in the country.
  • Pikes Peak Gold Rush

    In 1858, people flocked to Colorado during the Pike’s Peak Gold Rush.
  • Silver in Colorado

    1859 silver was found in veins in Colorado.
  • Copper and Sulfur Mine

    A major copper and sulfur mine opened in the Eastern Townships around 1860
  • Holcomb Valley Gold Rush

    Holcomb Valley, located in the San Bernardino Mountains about five miles north of Big Bear Lake, was the site of the most gold mines in Southern California. It was named after William F. Holcomb, who found gold there in 1860.
  • Jeans were invented

    1873 Jeans were invented to help protect their legs
  • Black Hills Gold Rush

    The Black Hills Gold Rush took place in Dakota Territory in the United States. It began in 1874 following the Custer Expedition and reached a peak in 1876-77.
  • Leadville

    Leadville was founded in 1877 by mine owners Horace Tabor and August Meyer at the start of the Colorado Silver Boom.
  • Klondike Gold Rush

    In August 1896 when Skookum Jim Mason, Dawson Charlie and George Washington Carmack found gold in a tributary of the Klondike River in Canada's Yukon Territory, they had no idea they would set off one of the greatest gold rushes in history.
  • Mount Baker Gold Rush

    The Mount Baker Gold Rush occurred in Whatcom County, Washington, United States, upon the discovery of the Lone Jack Mine.
  • Nome Gold Rush

    During that summer alone, more than two million dollars' worth of gold was taken from the beaches of the booming city of Nome.
  • Pick axe was used to mine

    A mandrill, also referred to as a miner’s pickaxe is used in traditional mining, or old-school mining, as it is a mining method involving the use of basic manual tools, like pickaxes. This type of mining was employed throughout the world up to the early 1900s. It is still a mining method employed in some countries today, such as Colombia, Peru, and parts of Africa.
  • Conveyor Belt was invented

    In 1901, Sandvik invented and started the production of steel conveyor belts.
  • Coal Mining

    Some coal mining began before 1900, but the most productive coal mining techniques didn’t develop until after the turn of the century, including the first conveyor belt and mechanized coal loading.
  • Fairbanks Gold Rush

    On July 22, 1902, Pedro discovered gold north of Fairbanks in Interior Alaska which triggered the beginning of the Fairbanks Gold Rush,