Prospectors crossed the mountains into the Breckinridge area in the summer of 1859 and soon built a fort and town. It was named for Vice President John C. Breckinridge. A Post Office was established on January 18, 1860 in what was then Utah Territory. The name was changed to Breckenridge when its namesake supported the Confederate States in 1861.
The only reported cover with a postmark from Colorado while Utah Territory
11 October 1860 Breckinridge, Utah Territory to New York
Miner’s letter mentions:
I never want any of my friends to go to a Gold Country to get a fortune. The hardest, slowest most uncertain way of making cash that ever was known is in the Gold region.”