Golden and Clear Creek
The history of Golden reflects the history of Clear Creek. Eons ago, this creek, then a raging river, coursed its way through the mountains, cutting out the canyon and leaving behind fertile soil where an abundance of plants provided food for wild animals. The animals attracted trappers to the area in the 1700s. The river also laid down the placer gold to be found by gold seekers in the mid-1800s, and provide underground aquifers supplying fresh spring water for the future settlement of Golden.
The French first named the waterway “Cannon Ball Creek” because of the size and shape of the river rock on the creek bottom. In 1832, the name was changed to Vasquez Fork, also commonly called the Vasquez River, named after Louis Vasquez, a fur trader who built his fort north of the confluence of the South Platte River and the Creek. Around 1859, the people of the region began calling it Clear Creek because of the clarity of the water at that time.
Background photo: Clear Creek running through Golden. Courtesy Colorado Historical Society.
Marker is on Washington Avenue Bridge, on the right when traveling north.
Courtesy hmdb.org
