Eben Smith - Move To Colorado

Move To Colorado

The fall of 1859 proved to be a turning point in the life of Eben Smith. While visiting his brother, Dr. S.D. Smith (a prominent physician in St. Joseph, Missouri), he met Jerome B. Chaffee. The two men met a party of miners returning from Colorado who had participated in the Pike's Peak Gold Rush. The men told glowing accounts of rich gold-laden quartz veins in the region. Smith became determined to have milling machinery constructed, disassembled and hauled overland to Pikes Peak. Although Chaffee had no experience in mining or milling, he agreed to co-finance and partner with Smith in the venture. Chaffee left for Colorado in February 1860, settling in Gilpin County. Smith in Denver on May 26. Setting up business in Lake Gulch, the Smith & Chaffee mill began working lead ore.

Smith was the only man in Colorado at the time who had experience in milling quartz to extract gold. Smith soon hired himself out to various mines, and inaugurated measures for working and developing promising gold lodes in Gilpin County.

In 1863, Smith and Chaffee sold their mill. They purchased and developed the Bobtail Mine near Black Hawk; the Gregory Mine in Teller County; and other mines. They held the properties for about a year before selling to a Rhode Island mining consortium (retaining a small interest). For many years, the Bobtail remained one of the greatest gold producers in Colorado. Late in 1863, Smith's third child, Nellie, was born.

However, the move to Colorado proved to be a strain on the Smith marriage. Eben and Caroline Smith divorced in 1864. Caroline retained custody of the children and settled in Iowa.

When Chaffee established the First National Bank of Denver in 1865, Smith was a co-investor in the bank and named president.

In 1866, Smith was elected to the Colorado state legislature from Gilpin county. He served one term. That same year, he married Emily Rundel of Rochester, New York.