He was the Mark Zuckerberg or Jeff Bezos of his time in the mid-1800s. But John Mackay's name isn't widely known today.
A new book from author Gregory Crouch, "The Bonanza King," hopes to reintroduce Mackay to popular knowledge. Crouch talked to Colorado Matters about Mackay's rags-to-riches story.
Mackay immigrated to America from Ireland at age 9, and lived in a New York City slum with his family. He worked from a young age and went on to strike it rich mining for gold and silver in the Sierra Nevada mountains.
