The Arrival at Auraria

It was hardly more than a pleasant summer excursion, and when we came within sight of the two towns of Auraria and Denver, I said to Myself, and repeated it to Mrs. Middleton, that we were certainly wise in coming to a place through which must pass all the people who were rushing into the country, either in search of gold or of homes.

I thought joyfully that we had found here the one spot above all others in this Colorado country that would prove most to our advantage, and when we drew up the wagons in a circle that night, within a short half mile from the outermost shanties of the settlement, I was almost too excited to sleep.

Who would choose to be a very successful farmer, when he might have his name emblazoned in golden letters on a signboard proclaiming him, for all the world to see, as one of the merchants of Auraria?

We were not the only people who encamped about those two settlements. I believe there were at least three hundred wagons in sight when I unyoked the oxen at the close of the day's work, and within a wide radius on all sides were white tents dotting the plain until it looked as if a mighty army had come up to besiege the new settlers.