Editing Breckenridge, Colorado (section)

==History==
===Name===
The first prospectors in the area built a stockade known as [[Fort Mary B]] named after Mary Bigelow, who was the only woman in the party. The town of Breckenridge was founded in November 1859 and named for prospector Thomas Breckenridge.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.summitdaily.com/news/summit-county-history-two-theories-of-how-breckenridge-got-its-name-2/|title=Summit County history: Two theories of how Breckenridge got its name|work=SummitDaily|last=Hague|first=Rick|date=May 8, 2015|access-date=September 29, 2022}}</ref> General [[George E. Spencer]] persuaded the citizens to change the spelling of the town's name to Breckinridge in honor of [[Vice President of the United States|U.S. Vice President]] [[John Cabell Breckinridge]] in the hopes of gaining a [[post office]]. Spencer succeeded in his plan and on January 18, 1860, the [[Breckinridge, Colorado|Breckinridge]] post office became the first U.S. post office between the [[Continental Divide]] and [[Salt Lake City]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015051116740&view=1up&seq=17|title=Breckenridge|work=Place Names in Colorado: Why 700 Communities Were So Named|last=Dawson|first=John Frank|page=11|date=1954|access-date=September 29, 2022}}</ref> Thirty days after John Breckinridge accepted a commission as a [[General officers in the Confederate States Army#Brigadier general|brigadier general]] in the [[Confederate States Army]] on November 2, 1861, the loyal [[Union (American Civil War)|Union]] town changed its name back to the original Breckenridge on December 2, 1861.<ref name="Town History">{{cite web
 |title=Town History, Gold Dust to White Gold 
 |work=Special Features 
 |publisher=Town of Breckenridge 
 |url=http://www.townofbreckenridge.com/index.cfm?d=history 
 |access-date=February 23, 2007 
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070209234241/http://www.townofbreckenridge.com/index.cfm?d=history 
 |archive-date=February 9, 2007 
 |url-status=dead 
}}
</ref>

===Discovery===
[[File:Snow tunnel to Breckenridge CO , 1898.jpg|thumb|upright|Snow tunnel in Breckenridge, 1898. The winter of 1898–99 was extremely harsh. The trains could not run, and supplies were running short.]]
Prospectors entered what is now Summit County (then part of [[Utah Territory]]) during the [[Pikes Peak Gold Rush]] of 1859, soon after the [[placer gold]] discoveries east of Breckenridge near [[Idaho Springs, Colorado|Idaho Springs]].  Breckenridge was founded to serve the miners working rich placer gold deposits discovered along the [[Blue River (Colorado)|Blue River]]. [[placer mining|Placer gold mining]] was soon joined by [[Underground mining (hard rock)|hard rock mining]], as prospectors followed the gold to its source [[Vein (geology)|veins]] in the hills.  Gold in some upper gravel benches east of the Blue River was recovered by [[hydraulic mining]].  Gold production decreased in the late 1800s, but revived in 1908 by gold [[dredging]] operations along the Blue River and [[Swan River (Colorado)|Swan River]].  The Breckenridge mining district is credited with production of about one million [[Troy weight|troy ounces]] (about 31,000 kilograms) of gold.<ref>A. H. Koschman and M. H. Bergendahl (1968) ''Principal Gold-Producing Districts of the United States''. US Geological Survey, Professional Paper 610, p.116–117</ref>
The gold mines around Breckenridge are all shut down, although some are open to tourist visits.  The characteristic gravel ridges left by the gold dredges can still be seen along the Blue River and [[Snake River (Colorado)|Snake River]], and the remains of a dredge are still afloat in a pond off the Swan River.

Notable among the early prospectors was [[Edwin Carter]], a log cabin naturalist who decided to switch from mining to collecting wildlife specimens.  His log cabin, built in 1875, still stands today and has been recently renovated by the Breckenridge Heritage Alliance with interactive exhibits and a small viewing room with a short creative film on his life and the early days around Breckenridge.

Harry Farncomb found the source of the French Gulch placer gold on Farncomb Hill in 1878.  His strike, Wire Patch, consisted of alluvial gold in wire, leaf and crystalline forms.  By 1880, he owned the hill.  Farncomb later discovered a gold vein, which became the Wire Patch Mine.  Other vein discoveries included Ontario, Key West, Boss, Fountain, and Gold Flake.<ref name=Voynick>Voynick, S.M., 1992, Colorado Gold, Missoula: Mountain Press Publishing Company, {{ISBN|0878424555}}</ref>{{rp|57}}
[[File:Gold-263851.jpg|thumb|upright|Gold specimen from Farncomb Hill, Breckenridge]]

The Town of Breckenridge was incorporated on March 3, 1880.<ref name=MuniIncCO/> The Breckenridge Heritage Alliance reports that in the 1930s, a women's group in Breckenridge stumbled upon an 1880s map that failed to include Breckenridge. They speculated that Breckenridge had never been officially annexed into the United States, and was thus still considered "No Man's Land". This was completely false—official US maps did include Breckenridge—but these women created an incredibly clever marketing campaign out of this one map. In 1936 they invited the Governor of Colorado to Breckenridge to raise a flag at the Courthouse officially welcoming Breckenridge into the union—and he came. There was a big party, and the entire event/idea of Breckenridge being left off the map made national news. The "No Man's Land" idea later morphed into a new theme of Breckenridge being referred to as "Colorado's Kingdom", and the theme of the town's independent spirit is still celebrated to today during the annual "Kingdom Days" celebrations every June.

In December 1961, skiing was introduced to Breckenridge when several trails were cut on the lower part of Peak 8, connected to town by Ski Hill Road. In the ensuing decades, the ski area was gradually expanded onto adjacent peaks, with trails opening on Peak 9 in the early 1970s, Peak 10 in 1985, Peak 7 in 2002, and Peak 6 in 2013.

On November 3, 2009, voters passed ballot measure 2F by a nearly 3 to 1 margin (73%), which legalized [[marijuana]] possession for adults. The measure allows possession of up to an ounce of marijuana and also decriminalizes the possession of marijuana-related paraphernalia. Possession became legal January 1, 2010. Possession was still illegal by state law, however, until the passage of [[Colorado Amendment 64]] in 2012.<ref name="CBS News: Breckenridge votes">
{{cite news
  | title =Breckenridge Votes to Legalize Pot
  | publisher =CBS
  | date =November 3, 2009
  | url =https://www.cbsnews.com/news/breckenridge-votes-to-legalize-pot/
  | access-date =November 5, 2009}}
</ref>