Pikes Peak Gold Rush
Start: July, 1858
End:
History
The Colorado gold rush attracted a boom of prospectors and miners to the Rocky Mountains. This influx led to the establishment of Colorado City, now called Old Colorado City, which served as a supply hub for miners heading into the Rockies.
Cowboy Stag Dances
A tradition among miners for leisure and fun among the work and loneliness of the occupation were dances that went by different names. Cowboy Dances, Bull Dances, Stag Dances, or Miner's Balls.
A post card depicting a Cow Boy Stag Dance.[2]
Miners took turns "heifer-branding" themselves, using visual cues to signal that their dance partner could take the lead.
Key Dates
- July, 1858: The Pikes Peak Gold Rush leads to an influx of miners and prospectors, leading to the founding of Colorado City as a supply hub. Miners brought their traditions of same sex dances with them, which went by a handful of names, among them: cowboy dances, bull dances, stag dances, or "Miner's Balls" #key-date
References
“Pike’s Peak gold rush,” Wikipedia, May 18, 2026, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Pike's_Peak_gold_rush&oldid=1354838129. ↩︎
"Postcard: #29 Cowboy Dance "Stag"" (2021). Tim Johnson Postcard Collection. 1342.
https://scholars.fhsu.edu/tj_postcards/1342 ↩︎