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A Selective Bibliography

by Rosalia Rooney

Arthur Lakes Library, Colorado School of Mines

Mining activity has played a colorful and significant part in Colorado's history and information on these former mining areas is often sought for historic, economic, and environmental reasons. People seeking information on old mines, mining districts, or mining towns, include modern- day prospectors looking for riches, environmental contractors who must locate and mitigate environmental hazards left from the days of mining, family members who have relatives associated with an old mine, lawyers with their many concerns, realtors who hope to trace old access roads, mining geologists who may be employed by large corporations, historians, government officials, and others.

Although earlier explorers mention mineral occurrences in the Rocky Mountain area, the mining history of Colorado truly began in 1858 when a party, under the leadership of William G. Russell, set out from Georgia to explore for gold in the Rocky Mountains. After the first discoveries of gold from placers along Cherry Creek, prospectors quickly spread throughout the Territory, and the mining industry developed rapidly. Colorado was chiefly a producer of gold and silver, but large quantities of lead and zinc, along with lesser amounts of copper, were produced as by-products of the gold and silver mining. A chronology and description of the mining history of Colorado is given in Henderson (1926), and numerous other books provide colorful accounts, see the bibliography by Smith (1993). The total value of minerals produced in Colorado reached a peak in 1900, and declined rapidly after 1918.

To facilitate the search for information on mines and mining districts in Colorado, I have assembled a selected list of references, by County. Much of the early geological work in the State was performed by government agencies, and the reports from the U.S. Geological Survey, the Colorado Geological Survey, and the U.S. Bureau of Mines dominate the citations. I have limited the bibliography to publications that include descriptions of mines or that provide locations of the mines or maps of mining areas; publications that describe the geology of an area without significant reference to mines are not included in the bibliography. Also omitted are publications describing mines that produced coal or industrial minerals. Most of the citations listed are included in the GeoRef database and in the Bibliography and Index of Colorado Geology and its supplements; however, to cull the citations from these sources is an uncertain and tedious task.

This bibliography is a ready reference tool. General references are listed first and include annotations indicating the type of information provided; they include bibliographies, summary descriptions of the mining areas, and help identify mining districts. I have listed separately, in chronological order, annual reports compiled by the various government agencies that collect mineral production statistics. In addition to production statistics these annual reports describe mining activities for the year.

The remainder of the bibliography lists, by County, citations to publications on the various mines or mining districts. Names of mining districts for each County were taken from the alphabetical list of mining districts in Henderson (1926), with additions from other sources.

General References

Sources for Mineral Production Statistics