The New Eldorado: The Story of Colorado's Gold and Silver Rushes

by Phyllis Flanders Dorset

For forty years they flooded Colorado—gold diggers, silver miners, outlaws, gamblers, and pioneers—looking for another Golden Fleece. Colorado comes alive in this classic overview of the gold and silver rushes, where fortunes were won and lost. Phyllis Flanders Dorset has re-created a lusty frontier scenario of one of the most exciting chapters in American history. Crammed with colorful characters and unforgettable incidents, The New Eldorado races through lawless, thrilling, turn-of-the-century Colorado with the fascination of a novel and fidelity of scholarly history.

Phyllis Flanders Dorset is a freelance technical editor and the author of Historic Ships Afloat.

Genres: Nonfiction

464 pages, Paperback

First published October 25, 2011

Reviews

[Chris Oakland · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the most interesting books I have read.. The breadth of knowledge by the author is amazing. Her story telling makes history come alive and shines a glory and romantic edge to a hard world for the hardworking men.
Superb

[Brian Bigelow · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really excellent book that's thoroughly researched.

[Kathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was a gift from Lee and David. It was a delightfully detailed and lengthy account of the gold and silver rushes in Colorado from 1859 until the early 1900s. It was also a beautiful description of the history of Colorado, especially in the Denver area and in the mining areas of Central City, Leadville, and Cripple Creek. Excellently written and enjoyable to read!

My favorite story from the many in this book:
"When a miner names Scotty died in the middle of the first winter that saw the town's birth, his friends wanted him to have a decent burial in the newly laid out cemetery. So they hired a gravedigger, promising him $20 if he would dig through the ten feet of snow piled on the ground and through six feet of hard frozen earth under it to make a proper grave. While the grave-digger, dug, Scotty's remains rested chillily on a snow bank. When at the end of the day the grave-digger failed to appear and collect his money, Scotty's friends went out to investigate. When they found the site of the grave, the grave-digger was missing, and there was a note pinned to Scotty's body: 'Struck it rich at 4 feet below grass roots. Gone to town to record location. Will be up to plant old pard in the morning.'"

[Kelly Knapp · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great read. I thought this was a new book but realized in the middle of chapter 2 that I had already read this about 15-20 years ago. The author clearly did her research and wrote the book in an easy to read format.

My favorite part is the discription and history of the Doe family. Baby Doe was a strong female for her time. Reading that not all women were barefoot, pregnant, and doing kitchen duty (or purposeless and charity projects)was of great importance. I could use this woman to show my children, both boys and girls, that some women have always been equal to men.

Another interesting part was knowing that we learned a little about the California rushes and the Alaskan rush, in school, but never about the Colorado rushes. Yet, There were several distinct rushes in both gold and silver.

Perhaps the most profound thing about the books is how Dorset connects every thing together. Each business from the merchantile to the saloon to the church to the railroad played a part in the success or failure of the miners.