<P> On June 22 , 1850 , a wagon train bound for California crossed the South Platte River just north of the confluence with Clear Creek , and followed Clear Creek west for six miles . Lewis Ralston dipped his gold pan in a stream flowing into Clear Creek , and found almost $5 in gold ( about a quarter of a troy ounce ) in his first pan . John Lowery Brown , who kept a diary of the party 's journey from Georgia to California , wrote on that day : `` Lay bye . Gold found . '' In a notation above the entry , he wrote , `` We called this Ralston 's Creek because a man of that name found gold here . '' Ralston continued on to California , but returned to ' Ralston 's Creek ' with the Green Russell party eight years later . Members of this party founded Auraria ( later absorbed into Denver City ) in 1858 and touched off the gold rush to the Rockies . The confluence of Clear Creek and Ralston Creek , the site of Colorado 's first gold discovery is now in Arvada , Colorado . </P>
<P> On June 22 , 1850 , a wagon train bound for California crossed the South Platte River just north of the confluence with Clear Creek , and followed Clear Creek west for six miles . Lewis Ralston dipped his gold pan in a stream flowing into Clear Creek , and found almost $5 in gold ( about a quarter of a troy ounce ) in his first pan . John Lowery Brown , who kept a diary of the party 's journey from Georgia to California , wrote on that day : `` Lay bye . Gold found . '' In a notation above the entry , he wrote , `` We called this Ralston 's Creek because a man of that name found gold here . '' Ralston continued on to California , but returned to ' Ralston 's Creek ' with the Green Russell party eight years later . Members of this party founded Auraria ( later absorbed into Denver City ) in 1858 and touched off the gold rush to the Rockies . The confluence of Clear Creek and Ralston Creek , the site of Colorado 's first gold discovery is now in Arvada , Colorado . </P>
who was the first person to find gold in colorado
who was the first person to find gold in colorado
Lewis Ralston
Lewis Ralston