Colorado State History - Colorado, state in the western United States. The Rocky Mountains, or Rockies, form the most dominant physical feature of the state. To the west of the Rockies lie the high plateaus of the Colorado Plateau, and to the east are the Great Plains. High, rugged mountains and plateaus occupy fully two-thirds of the state and make Colorado a state of striking beauty. All of Colorado is more than 1,000 m (3,300 ft) above sea level. The state, with an average elevation of 2,070 m (6,800 ft), is the highest of all the states. The mountains and plateaus are rich in gold, silver, and other minerals and are the source of most of the state’s water. The mountains have played a major role in the development of Colorado, most recently by attracting a steady flow of tourists, but they have also been a barrier to travel, communication, and settlement. Except for small cities and towns in the sheltered river valleys and mountain basins, most of western Colorado is sparsely populated.
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In contrast, eastern Colorado has flat, treeless plains that extend from the Rockies to the Nebraska and Kansas state lines. Cultivated where there is sufficient moisture or irrigation, they consist of croplands and grasslands. On the plains just east of the Rockies is Denver, which is the state capital, the center of the state’s largest metropolitan area, and a major city of the Western United States.
The state’s name, Colorado, is a Spanish word meaning “reddish colored.” It was the name early Spanish explorers gave to the Colorado River, which originates in the state. When Colorado became a territory in 1861, William Gilpin, the first territorial governor, formally requested that it be called by the old Spanish name. Colorado was admitted to statehood on August 1, 1876, during the 100th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, and today its official nickname is the Centennial State. The Official State Website is http://www.colorado.gov/
Colorado fell under several governmental jurisdictions during its developmental history, being for a time part of the territories of Spain, Missouri, Mexico, Utah, the United States, New Mexico, unorganized Native American land, and finally Nebraska and Kansas. Records, however, exist only for the domains of Utah, New Mexico, Kansas, and Nebraska territories. The territory of Colorado, with its seventeen counties, was formed in 1861. Sixteen years later, on 1 August 1876, it was admitted as the thirty-eighth state in the Union.
The San Luis Valley was the site of the first permanent white settlement in what became Colorado, with the town of San Luis being founded in 1851. One year later, Fort Massachusetts, later replaced by Fort Garland, was erected on the Ute Creek to protect travelers on the Santa Fe Trail. At that time most pioneers were not settling in Colorado but rather moving through to California and Oregon.
Mining accounted for the first extensive settlement around what is now Denver. Reports of gold began in the spring of 1858 and brought many newcomers to the area. Later that year the “Pike's Peak or Bust” gold rush began, and in 1859 a “Second Stampede” brought additional thousands searching for gold, including both settlers and speculators. Two censuses, taken one year apart, indicate that the population of Colorado was beginning to shift from speculator to settler. The 1860 territorial census of Colorado counted 32,654 white males and 1,577 white females, but by May 1861 the census of Territorial Governor William Gilpin counted 20,798 males and 4,484 females. Clearly, the type of people coming to Colorado was beginning to change.
Early native tribes in Colorado included the Ute, the Apache, and “the wandering tribes” of Cheyenne, Arapaho, and Sioux. On 18 February 1861 the Cheyenne and Arapaho negotiated a treaty at Fort Wise, Kansas, in which they ceded all lands in the Pike's Peak region to the United States. A treaty with the Ute followed in 1864, ceding all Ute land east of the Continental Divide. By 1881 the Ute Indians completed moving from the western part of the state into Utah, and large sections of Colorado became open for settlement.
During the Civil War, many Northerners living in Colorado returned to their prior residences to help fight for the Union cause, but other settlers remained in their new domicile. Colorado participated in a major battle in the Civil War which occurred in March 1862 when Governor Gilpin organized one of three Colorado companies to stop the Confederate attempt to block the western supply of gold to the eastern states. Forces clashed at Glorieta Pass, New Mexico, and the Confederate forces retreated.
After the Civil War, the population of Colorado began to expand primarily through the development of railroads. The first “Iron Horse” arrived in Denver on 24 June 1870. The researcher with early Colorado ancestors should watch for migration during the 1870s and follow the growth of the railroads. A promotional organization, the Colorado Board of Immigration, was created in 1872, and the population of Colorado tripled between 1870–75. Unfortunately, this decade also brought grasshoppers and economic depression—forcing many settlers to return to the east. Throughout the difficult times, mining and agriculture remained the two important industries.
Migration to Colorado came from a block of states extending from New York and Pennsylvania on the east to Kansas and Nebraska on the west. In 1860 Ohio had the greatest number of immigrants to Colorado, followed by Illinois, New York, Missouri, and Indiana. The population explosion after the Civil War brought native-born Americans primarily from the states of Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska and Iowa. The population of Colorado also included a large number of foreign-born immigrants such as Czechs, Slovaks, Irish, Germans, Russians, Canadians, Swedish, Scots, Italians, and Chinese. By 1880, one-fifth of the population of Colorado was foreign-born. In the 1890s Germans arrived, an ethnic group which predominates in eastern Colorado today.
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Colorado Discontinued Counties - This section provides an list of Colorado counties that no longer exist. They were established by the state, provincial, or territorial government. Most of these counties were created and disbanded in the 19th century; county boundaries have changed little since 1900 in the vast majority of states.
- Arapahoe County, Kansas Territory, (1855-08-25 - 1861-01-29) was created but never organized. Reverted to unorganized territory when Kansas joined the Union.
- Broderick County, Kansas Territory, (1859-02-07 - 1861-01-29) was split from Arapahoe County, but never organized. Reverted to unorganized territory when Kansas joined the Union.
- El Paso County, Kansas Territory, (1859-02-07 - 1861-01-29) was split from Arapahoe County, but never organized. Reverted to unorganized territory when Kansas joined the Union.
- Fremont County, Kansas Territory, (1859-02-07 - 1861-01-29) was split from Arapahoe County, but never organized. Reverted to unorganized territory when Kansas joined the Union.
- Montana County, Kansas Territory, (1859-02-07 - 1861-01-29) was split from Arapahoe County, but never organized. Reverted to unorganized territory when Kansas joined the Union.
- Oro County, Kansas Territory, (1859-02-07 - 1861-01-29) was split from Arapahoe County, but never organized. Reverted to unorganized territory when Kansas joined the Union.
- Peketon County, Kansas Territory, (1859-02-07 - 1861-01-29) was created but never organized. Reverted to unorganized territory when Kansas joined the Union.
- Arrappahoe County, Jefferson Territory, (November 1859 - 1861-02-28) was one of the 12 counties created by the extralegal Territory of Jefferson.
- Cheyenne County, Jefferson Territory, (November 1859 - 1861-02-28) was one of the 12 counties created by the extralegal Territory of Jefferson.
- El Paso County, Jefferson Territory, (November 1859 - 1861-02-28) was one of the 12 counties created by the extralegal Territory of Jefferson.
- Fountain County, Jefferson Territory, (November 1859 - 1861-02-28) was one of the 12 counties created by the extralegal Territory of Jefferson.
- Heele County, Jefferson Territory, (November 1859 - 1861-02-28) was one of the 12 counties created by the extralegal Territory of Jefferson.
- Jackson County, Jefferson Territory, (November 1859 - 1861-02-28) was one of the 12 counties created by the extralegal Territory of Jefferson.
- Jefferson County, Jefferson Territory, (November 1859 - 1861-02-28) was one of the 12 counties created by the extralegal Territory of Jefferson.
- Montana County, Jefferson Territory, (November 1859 - 1861-02-28) was one of the 12 counties created by the extralegal Territory of Jefferson.
- North County, Jefferson Territory, (November 1859 - 1861-02-28) was one of the 12 counties created by the extralegal Territory of Jefferson.
- Park County, Jefferson Territory, (November 1859 - 1861-02-28) was one of the 12 counties created by the extralegal Territory of Jefferson.
- Saratoga County, Jefferson Territory, (November 1859 - 1861-02-28) was one of the 12 counties created by the extralegal Territory of Jefferson.
- St. Vrains County, Jefferson Territory, (November 1859 - 1861-02-28) was one of the 12 counties created by the extralegal Territory of Jefferson.
- Guadalupe County, Colorado Territory, (1861-11-01 - 1861-11-07) was one of the 17 original counties created by the Territory of Colorado. The county was renamed Conejos County after only six days.
- Greenwood County, Colorado Territory, (1870-02-11 - 1874-02-06) was created from former Cheyenne and Arapaho tribal land and the eastern portion of Huerfano County. The county was abolished four years later, and its territory split between Elbert County and Bent County.
- Platte County, Colorado Territory, (1872-02-09 - 1874-02-09) was created from the eastern portion of Weld County. The county was abolished two years later after organizers failed to secure voter approval, and the territory of the county was returned to Weld County.
- Carbonate County, Colorado, (1879-02-08 - 1879-02-10). Lake County was renamed Carbonate County in 1879. Only two days later, Carbonate County was split into the new Chaffee County and the re-renamed Lake County.
- Uncompaghre County, Colorado, (1883-02-27 - 1883-03-02). Ouray County was renamed Uncompaghre County for only four days in 1883.
- South Arapahoe County, Colorado, (1902-11-15 - 1903-04-11) was one of three counties created from Arapahoe County in 1902. The name was changed back to Arapahoe County after five months.
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