Some idea of the magnitude of the merchandising that was carried on in Atchison in 1858 may be gathered from the fact that during the summer of that year twenty-four trains comprising 775 wagons, 1,114 men, 7,963 oxen, 142 horses, 1,286 mules conveyed 3,730,905 pounds of merchandise across the Rocky mountains and California. One single train that was sent out that year consisted of 105 wagons, 225 men, 1,000 oxen, 200 mules, fifty horses and 465,500 pounds of merchandise. During the latter part of 1859 and the early months of 1860, forty-one regular traders and freighters did business out of Atchison. During nine months of one of those years, the trains outfitted from Atchison were drawn by mules and cattle and comprised 1,328 wagons, 1,549 men, 401 mules and 15,263 oxen. The Pike’s Peak gold mines, which were discovered in 1858, and the prospecting in that region were the causes of the larger part of this enormous business. Denver at that time had a population of about 2,500, and was the center of the mining region around Pike’s Peak. In the period just mentioned, thirty-three of the trains that left Atchison were destined for Denver. One of these trains was composed of 125 wagons, carrying 750,000 pounds of merchandise. It extended from the levee on the river far beyond the western outskirts of the city. The outfit was managed by fifty-two men, twenty-two mules and 1,542 oxen. Several of the trains for Denver had from twenty to fifty wagons. One, sent out by Jones & Cartwright, had fifty-eight wagons and carried over 3,000 pounds of merchandise. Among the trains that left Atchison during the latter part of 1859 were, one for Santa Fe, N. M., another for Colorado City, Colo., two for Green River, Wyo., and four for Salt Lake City. The biggest overland outfit was owned by Irwin, Jackson & Company, who were Government freighters. During one season this firm sent out 520 wagons, 650 men, 75 mules and 6,240 oxen. This firm had a good contract for supplying the military posts on the plains, including Forts Kearney, Laramie, Bridger, Douglas, and Camp Floyd, a short distance from Salt Lake City. In addition to these larger overland staging concerns there were a number of lesser outfits sent out by private parties in Atchison, with one, two or three wagons each. Most of the freight conveyed across the plains in wagons was brought to Atchison in steamboats, which unloaded at the levee extending along two or three blocks, beginning at about Atchison street and running south. Very frequently loaded ox trains nearly a mile in length were seen on Commercial street, and some of the prairie schooners would be loaded with hardware or some other dead weight, drawn by six to eight yoke of cattle; and more wagon trains were loaded and departed from Atchison than from any other point on the Missouri river.