Silver mining in Colorado

Silver mining in Colorado has taken place since the 1860s. In the past, Colorado called itself the Silver State. (Nevada also calls itself the Silver State. Idaho, however, actually produces the most silver in the US.)

Silver veins were discovered in the Central City-Idaho Springs district a short time after gold was discovered there in 1859. However, mining the silver veins was delayed for the most part until smelters were built in the late 1860s. The veins of the district are zoned in a roughly concentric manner, with gold-bearing pyrite veins in the center, and silver-bearing galena veins more common in the outlying areas.

The first silver discovery in Colorado was one mile (1.6 km) south of Montezuma in 1864. The discovery led to others in the Montezuma district, including those at Saints John.

The discovery of silver in the Montezuma district led to the silver discovery at the Belmont lode in the Argentine district just northeast of the Montezuma district.

Prospectors found gold veins near present Georgetown in 1859. Silver, the main product from the district, was not discovered until 1864. John Henry Bowman (1850–1900) came to Silver Plume, Colorado, in 1883, then moved to Georgetown, Colorado, in 1885. A machinist, he worked as foreman of the Miners Sampling Works. Later, he was superintendent of the American Sisters Mine, a company in which he owned stock. American Sisters Mine was a consolidation of Two Sisters Mine and Native American Mine, silver mines located on Columbia Mountain in upper Clear Creek County, Colorado. In 1891–1892, John Bowman and his wife Lavinia Potts Bowman (1848–1901) built what later became known as the Bowman/White House in Georgetown (a historical site today). There they raised two daughters, Iorria and Mary Ellen ("Mellie"). In 1899, Iorria married J.E. Carnal and moved to Ohio.

For the most part, Mellie (1876–1969) stayed in the family home after she married John James ("J.J.") White (1870–1932) in 1901. She inherited half of her father's share in the American Sisters Mine and served on the Georgetown Library Association from 1911 to 1922.

Mellie's husband, John James White Sr., bought the remaining stock of what was now called the Two American Sisters Mine. He managed the construction of a dam and power plant north of Georgetown and built a new shaft house and mill at the mine site. White, an attorney, practiced law, served as the Police Judge and Mayor of Georgetown from 1900 to 1902, and was President of the Georgetown school board. The Bowman-White House still remains and is registered as a historical site in Georgetown, Colorado.

Despite the early silver discoveries, Colorado's largest silver district, Leadville, was not discovered until 1874. Leadville was the largest silver-producing district in Colorado. Cumulative production through 1963 was 240 million troy ounces (16 million pounds; 7.5 million kilograms) of silver, three million troy ounces (210 thousand pounds; 93 thousand kilograms) of gold, 987 million tonnes (2.2 trillion pounds; 987 billion kilograms) of lead, 712 million tonnes (1.6 trillion pounds; 712 billion kilograms) of zinc, and 48 million tonnes (110 billion pounds; 48 billion kilograms) of copper.