Thomas L. Golden

Thomas L. Golden, nicknamed Tom, was a gold miner from Georgia who was one of the earliest gold rushers who came to today's Jefferson County, Colorado in 1858. He was the partner and most trusted friend of George Andrew Jackson, who also came from the south in search of gold.

History

Golden and Jackson settled in Arapahoe City, one of Colorado's first towns, situated just east of today's Golden along Clear Creek west of McIntyre Street. While living here and later camping in the Golden valley, these men searched for gold in the mountains, seeking the mother lode from which the placer deposits washed down.

On January 7, 1859 Jackson made what would become one of the most important gold discoveries in Colorado history around today's Idaho Springs. He trusted only Golden with the secret men would kill for, believing his mouth was "as tight as a No. 4 beaver trap".

Golden did not let Jackson down. Nor did he let him down one fateful day in June, 1859, when while returning from mountain prospecting the pair stopped to rest on Clear Creek just west of the Golden valley, and Jackson ventured out to fish for their lunch. He was caught in a flash flood of the river, and Golden stayed with him though he swore that at any minute Jackson "would pass in his cheeks and quit the game for good." Upon recovery, the pair returned to their base camp in the valley to discover a new town being laid out upon it. At Jackson's request it was named for his trusted partner and friend, Tom Golden.

Golden helped lay out the townsite that bore his name, but he wasn't destined to live there. Seeing greater opportunity at the nearby mouth of Golden Gate Canyon, he teamed up with others to establish Golden Gate City there. There Golden ran a storage and commission business and was reputedly the first in the region to advertise his prices. In 1860 Golden was elected to the House of Representatives of the provisional Jefferson Territory government, organized by the people in lieu of federal organization. Some of Golden's correspondence may be read in the Missouri Republican and Western Mountaineer newspapers from this era. Golden disappeared from the area in 1861, rumored to have gone back east, which might also lend credence to his possibly being called Capt. Golden.

Upon discovery that Golden never was a landholder in the city, historians speculated the city may not have been named for him and instead named after gold, but the account of George West, who helped lead the town's organization, has laid this theory to rest.