diarydiscoveries

Episode 63: The 1859 Gold Rush and A Lonely Heart

(To Hear This Episode Scroll to the Bottom)

The 1859 gold rush to Colorado is on! “Pike’s Peak or bust!” was the saying of many a fortune hunter who headed out west, but what about those left behind? In this episode, passages from a newly married woman’s diary are read, and we discuss some aspects of the gold rush itself. Mira missed her husband Ziba dearly and she wrote down her deepest thoughts. Imagine today having to wait months to learn about a loved one’s situation, or possibly hearing nothing at all until they returned. There were physical and emotional hardships on both ends during a time when many people died separated from each other.

Elmira’s 1859 Diary
Tin-Type that came with the diary. No identification but we believe it’s Ziba.
Example of an original 1859 Pike’s Peak Gold Rush Guide Book

1859 Photo of Larimer Street in Denver City, taken from the website Western Mining History. Thought to be the oldest photo of Denver.

Ziba Huntington Evans and his second wife Minerva Carr. To the left of Ziba is his daughter Helen Octavia Evans Sappington, the daughter he had with Elmira. The children in the back are Ansel and Bertha from his second marriage.

Another example of Elmira’s 1850’s Diary page.

To Hear This Episode:

https://www.sallysdiaries.com/podcast/episode/815dcc08/63-the-1859-gold-rush-and-a-lonely-heart

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