For those with some degree of understanding of Ouray’s history, the name Thomas Walsh may sound somewhat familiar. The Irish-American miner established his place in history after discovering one of the country’s largest gold mines. He also achieved fame for gifting his daughter the Hope Diamond, considered to be one of the world’s most famous jewels with a history spanning centuries.
Thomas Walsh emigrated to the United States in the late 1860s. In the 1870s, he put his skills as a carpenter to work and headed to Colorado. Seeing the fever behind the gold rush, Walsh’s interest grew enough to the point where he was trading mining equipment to prospectors for mining claims as payment by day and learning more about mining technology at night, eventually becoming an expert gold miner.
Unlike others in search of gold, Walsh took a more meticulous approach to prospecting. His efforts would yield success when he discovered Camp Bird Gold Mine in 1896 which turned out thousands of dollars per day in ore and made the Walsh family rich. The remnants of Camp Bird Mine are still visible to this day.
Today, Thomas Walsh is remembered and honored through the Ouray City Hall and Walsh Library, the latter of which he donated in the early 1900s.
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