Even though silver in Colorado was discovered in 1859, silver mining didn’t reach its boom until the mid 1870’s. Gold had more worth than silver and therefore was more profitable.
The Bland Allison Act of 1878 required that the U.S. Government buy more silver, making it more competitive and ultimately raising the price of silver. The U.S. became the second largest buyer of silver, India being the first. This led to more silver mines in Colorado bringing more people to that state with the hopes of making a fortune in silver.
Railways were incorporated in the mountainous regions, and the town of Aspen was saved from being a ghost town. The Sherman Silver Purchase Act of 1890 had the government buy twice as much silver as before.
But by 1893, the Sherman Act was repealed and silver prices dropped. Colorado’s silver boom came to a crash, but the new businesses that the boom brought survived. Mining silver didn’t cease and the other minerals found since has kept the mining business alive in Colorado.
For more information check out http://denvercolorado.org/history-places-of-interest/colorado-silver-boom/ and http://www.westernmininghistory.com/articles/9/page1.
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