Rumors of precious metals in North Park began when John C. Fremont's expedition passed through the valley in 1844, but prospecting did not begin there until nearly thirty years later. In the early 1870s, Canadian James O. Pinkham began prospecting for gold, sparking a modest gold rush, and in 1874 his house became the first permanent home in North Park. In the early 1900s, coal was discovered at Coalmont, about 14 miles southwest of here, and coal mining eventually became a more significant industry than precious metals. As extraction and transportation costs rose, demand for coal diminished. In the 1920s, vast oil, natural gas, and carbon dioxide reserves were discovered beneath North Park, and large quantities of these substances have been extracted from fields throughout the valley. Around 1915, an underground coal fire started several miles west of here and is still burning today.