Document Type
Article
Citation Information
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Abstract
The first rush of gold seekers to Colorado occurred in 1858 and 1859. In the
present volume are found the records of the earliest organizations in the state
and the legislation of the early mining. districts. In June, 1859, the Rocky
Mountain News reported "The first mass meeting ever held in the Rocky Mountains."
It was at the "Gregory Diggings", attended by "between two and three
thousand miners", and was addressed by Horace Greeley. A report on what
they found at Gregory Diggings was prepared by a committee of three distinguished
visitors, consisting of Horace Greeley, A. D. Richardson, and Henry
Villard. At the mass meeting then held the miners designated boundaries of the
district, prescribed rules as to the size and location of claims, and created a
miners' court. At later meetings these laws were amplified. In the volume
is found the legislation of some nineteen mining districts, enacted at similar
public meetings of the entire population. This legislation deals chiefly with
the mining industry, but criminal codes are also included. The Hawk Eye
District enacted that "Any person found guilty of wilful murder shall be hanged
by the neck till dead and then given to his friends if called for and if not to be
decently buried, and all other crimes not enumerated in these laws shall be
punished as the Court or jury of men may direct."
Date of Authorship for this Version
1921