Polar Star Consolidated Mines Co. - Unissued Denver, Colorado Mining Stock Certificate

Unissued Stock printed by Goes. Denver, Colorado. In the summer of 1858, amidst the Pike's Peak Gold Rush, a contingent of gold prospectors hailing from Lawrence, Kansas, founded Montana City as a mining settlement along the banks of the South Platte River, which was part of the western Kansas Territory at that time. This settlement marked the first historical establishment in what would eventually evolve into the city of Denver. However, the site quickly declined in significance, and by the summer of 1859, it was abandoned in favor of Auraria, named after the gold-mining town in Georgia, and St. Charles City.

On November 22, 1858, General William Larimer and Captain Jonathan Cox, both land speculators from eastern Kansas Territory, placed cottonwood logs to claim a bluff overlooking the confluence of the South Platte River and Cherry Creek, directly across from the mining settlement of Auraria and the future site of St. Charles. Larimer designated the townsite as Denver City in an attempt to gain favor with Kansas Territorial Governor James W. Denver, hoping that the name would assist in its selection as the county seat of Arapaho County. Unbeknownst to him, Governor Denver had already resigned from his position. The location was strategically situated near existing trails and was opposite the South Platte River from the seasonal encampments of the Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes. Today, the area where these early towns once stood is now occupied by Confluence Park, located near downtown Denver.