What Were Some of the Earliest Towns that Developed in Colorado After the Gold Rush?
St. Charles (renamed Denver City), and its rival, Auraria, were settled on the east and west sides of Cherry Creek (now lower downtown Denver) in 1858. Soon after these towns were established, Boulder City near the mouth of Boulder Canyon was founded. To the north, on the Cache La Poudre River, a fur trader, named Antoine Janise, began a settlement called Colona which later changed its name to La Porte. Arapahoe City and Golden Gate were established to the west of St. Charles and Auraria in the closing days of 1858, while to the south, at the mouth of Fountain Creek, the town of Fountain City (later to be named Pueblo) was laid out. Another site, El Paso, was staked out near Pike’s Peak.
