Arapahoe City

The camp took its name from the people whose country it stood on, the Arapaho, Hinono'eino in their own language, and the company that claimed the ground organized on November 29, 1858, six years to the day before Colorado troops attacked Arapaho and Cheyenne families at Sand Creek. The bronze sends George Jackson and John Gregory out from here to the strikes at Idaho Springs and Central City, and the camp emptied behind them; it counted 80 people in 1860. Dredges turned over part of the site in 1904. The bronze now standing recasts the missing 1946 original.

What the plaque says

This tablet is the property of the State of Colorado In this immediate area once stood Arapahoe City A pioneer placer mining camp, the earliest town in Jefferson County. Named for the Arapaho Indians. Town company organized Nov 29, 1858. From here went George A. Jackson and John H. Gregory to make their historic gold discoveries near Idaho Springs and Central City. Arapahoe's population was 80 in 1860. Extensive gold dredging operations of 1904 covered part of the site. Erected by the State Historical Society of Colorado from the Mrs. J.N. Hall Foundation and by students of Fairmount School, A.D. Quaintance and the American Pioneer Trail Association. 1946

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Dinosaur Ridge — 6.0 mi
  A hogback near Morrison with the bones of 1877 on one flank and the footprints a road crew blasted open in 1937 on the other.
• Red Rocks Amphitheatre — 7.7 mi
  Walker's Garden of the Titans, finished by the CCC between Ship Rock and Creation Rock and dedicated on June 15, 1941.
• Colorado State Capitol — 11 mi
  A capitol of Colorado granite, marble, onyx and gold, with three different steps claiming to stand exactly a mile high.
• Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge — 16 mi
  Mustard gas, nerve agent and pesticides for forty years, then bald eagles, bison and black-footed ferrets on the same ground.

More markers nearby

• Colorado School of Mines — 2.7 mi
• Gold Was Discovered — 6.4 mi
• Manhattan Beach — 7.1 mi
• Camp Weld — 9.3 mi