Leadville, Colorado, is located at the junction of U.S. Highway 24 and Colorado Highway 91 high in the Rocky Mountains. Abe Lee discovered gold in the vicinity in 1860. Thousands of prospectors rushed in and Oro City, a miner's camp, sprang up over night. The gold was difficult to mine because it was found in a heavy sand. In 1877 it was determined that the sand contained a lot of lead and silver and the community became known as Leadville. By 1880, it was one of the richest sliver boom towns in the country and more than 40,000 people lived there. Famous Western characters including Doc Holliday, Frank and Jesse James, Oscar Wilde, Harry Houdini, John Philip Sousa, and Buffalo Bill visited. In 1893 the Sherman Purchase Act was repealed and the value of silver plummeted. By the end of the century gold and silver mining had fallen off, but in 1918 molybdenum restored prosperity. During World War II Camp Hale trained the 10th Mountain Division. Today Camp hale is a ski resort and Leadville is an artist's community that caters to visiting tourists.
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