Lewis Ralston

At age 21, he moved to the Cherokee district in the northern part of Georgia, in what is now Lumpkin County.

Ralston signed an Oath of Allegiance to the United States, but his property was awarded to Henry Slaughter in a lottery.

The party followed the Trail of Tears west, and on June 22, 1850, they crossed the South Platte River (a few miles north of what is today Denver) and camped near the confluence of two streams.

He found about ¼ troy ounce (8 g) of gold, then worth about five dollars (about $550 USD today.)

On June 24, the party arrived at the site of Ralston’s 1850 discovery, then a part of the Kansas Territory.

In July, Green Russel and Sam Bates discovered a small placer deposit of gold at the mouth of Little Dry Creek (in what is today Englewood) that yielded about 20 troy ounces (620 g) of gold, then worth about 380 dollars (about $44,000 USD today.)

Word of the discovery spread quickly and soon precipitated to Pike’s Peak Gold Rush.