Denver City was founded in November 1858 as
a mining town during the Pike's Peak Gold Rush in western Kansas Territory.
That summer, a group of gold prospectors from Lawrence, Kansas, had arrived and
established Montana City on the banks of the South Platte River. This was the
first settlement in what was later to become the city of Denver. The site faded
quickly, however, and by the summer of 1859 it was abandoned in favor of
Auraria (named after the gold mining town of Auraria, Georgia), and St. Charles
City.
On November 22, 1858, General William
