 Tom and his brothers sailed the Great Lakes and Tom became a ship's captain while still in his early twenties.Bored and in search of wealth, Tom followed the gold rush to Pike's Peak in 1859 building the road from Leavenworth to Denver.From there he pursued the San Juan Gold Rush of 1860 to Taos County, New Mexico, and that same year followed the Colorado Gold Rush to Gila City in Arizona.