Placer gold was first discovered near present-day Golden in 1839 on Tuerto
Creek on the southwest side of the Ortiz Mountains, and two camps,
Tuerto and Real de San Francisco were established.
Both camps were small--a few hundred Hispanic miners and Indians using
burros to carry ore. When the gold rush started in 1879, the name
Golden was selected as here was the center of a new gold-mining
district. Golden grew to support several saloons and even a stock exchange.
In 1880, several large mining companies moved in and the two camps
were renamed "Golden" reflecting the expectations of mineral wealth.
Four years later, in 1884, these expectations had been dashed and the
population steadily dwindled. Now (2002) mining is all but gone from
the area, though the community of Golden survives.