Dead Broke, Colorado

Welcome to Dead Broke, Colorado. Where all that glitters is not gold—it’s silver. Where miners and grifters get rich or go broke. And where the money flows like blood . . .

JOHNSTONE COUNTRY. COLORADO OR BUST.


The town got its unusual name when a pair of brokedown prospectors accidentally dropped a stick of dynamite in the Rockies—and unwittingly unearthed a massive vein of silver. One of the two men dropped dead from excitement. The other one named the place “Dead Broke” in honor of his dead broke companion and declared himself mayor of a brand-new mining town. Mayor Allane Auchenleck—better known as Nugget—put Dead Broke on the map. But when the silver market takes an unexpected nosedive, the bustling boomtown… Keep Reading