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Colorado
Approximately 15,000 years ago the first Native Americans may
have appeared in Colorado. The earliest inhabitants were hunters
and nomadic foragers on the plains as well as the western plateau.
Agricultural settlements began appearing along river valleys in
the eastern part of Colorado from approximately 5,000 B.C. as
people learned farming techniques from the Mississippi River Native
Americans. Perhaps the most highly developed culture before the
European migration was the Anasazi who, four centuries before
Columbus, lived in multi-story cliff dwellings in canyons in the
southwestern corner of Colorado. At the end of the thirteenth
century, these Indians abandoned their cliff dwellings and apparently
moved southward.
The first Europeans to venture into Colorado were the Spanish.
In 1540-41, Coronado led an expedition north from Mexico in search
of the Seven Cities of Cibola where the streets were allegedly
paved with gold. Although this exact route is unknown, it is likely
Coronado and his party passed through the present-day area of
southeastern Colorado. Over the next 250 years, the Spanish made
other expeditions into the Colorado area.
In 1800, Spain ceded a vast area, including Colorado, to Napoleon
Bonaparte and the French. Three years later, the same parcel of
land was sold by Napoleon the United States as the "Louisiana
Purchase". In 1806, President Jefferson commissioned Lieutenant
Zebulon Pike to explore the recently purchased territory. Among
the sites mentioned by Pike in his report of the expedition was
the 14,110-foot peak, which today bears his name. Pike stated
in his report that it was unlikely the summit would ever be scaled.
A group of explorers led by Major Stephen H. Long proved Pike
to be wrong in 1820 when Dr. Edwin James and two others in the
Long party became the first to climb to the summit of Pike's Peak.
In making their journey, Long and his party passed the present
day locations of Greeley, Denver, and Colorado Springs. They also
viewed the mountain later known as Lounge's Peak.
At about the same time as the Long expedition, fur trappers and
traders began working their trade in the Rocky Mountains. Beaver
fur was considered one of the most precious commodities on the
continent. The beaver pelt, small and light in weight, provide
d a high-priced product in a small package. A single pelt sold
in eastern markets for six to eight dollars. During the decade
of the 1830's both the supply and price of beaver skins declined,
forcing traders to turn to hunting buffalo. In addition, trading
posts were established for barter with the Indians. Fort Pueblo
(1842), Fort Vesquez (1835), and Bent's Fort (1834) were the most
important posts.
Many Indian tribes roamed Colorado and contributed to the state's
history. The Apache, Cheyenne, Utes, Arapaho, Comanche, and Kiowa
were important plains tribes. The Apaches followed the base of
the Rocky Mountains from their homeland in Canada to their residences
on the eastern plains . The Navajo eventually settled in southern
Colorado. After the Apaches moved south, the Cheyenne and Arapaho
roamed the state's north eastern plains while the Comanche and
Kiowa lived in the south eastern plains. The Utes inhabited the
mountains and river valleys of western Colorado. Many Native Americans
have remained in Colorado, especially members of the Ute tribe.
Indian reservations exist today in the southwestern corner of
the state.
The discovery of gold in California in 1849 touched off a search
for gold in other regions including the Rocky Mountains and accounted
for the first extensive settlement of Colorado. In July of 1858,
William Green Russell, a Georgia miner, discovered several hundred
dollars worth of gold at the mouth of Dry Creek in the present-day
Denver suburb of Englewood. Russell's find started the "Pike's
Peak or Bust" gold rush of 1858-59. Historians estimate that
approximately 50,000 people came to Colorado in search of gold
in 1858-59.
After Russell and his brothers made another gold discovery on
Cherry Creek, General William Larimer led a group of men from
the Kansas Territory to establish a settlement there. The resulting
settlement was christened Denver City in honor of James W. Denver,
governor of Kansas Territory. Cherry Creek provided a boundary
between Denver City and another community established earlier,
Auraria. Despite an initial rivalry, these two communities were
consolidated into the single community of Denver in 1860.
Gold deposits found in other areas led to the establishment of
more towns. In particular, the discovery of gold forty miles west
of Cherry Creek led to the establishment of the twin towns of
Central City and Blackhawk. The first permanent European settlements
in the state were in the San Luis Valley. The town of San Luis
founded in 1851 is generally considered the oldest continually
occupied town in Colorado.
In January of 1861, Congress voted statehood for Kansas. A bill
to create Colorado Territory was passed almost immediately thereafter.
President Lincoln appointed William Gilpin as the state's first
territorial governor. The population of Colorado in 1861 was 21,000.
The first legislature, sitting in Denver, selected Colorado City
(west of present day Colorado Springs) as the capitol. The second
legislature met there only a few days, in 1862, and adjourned
to Denver. The assembly met in Denver and Golden up to 1867 when
Denver was named the permanent seat of the territory. In the years
following the establishment of the territory, numerous attempts
were made to gain statehood for Colorado. However, it was not
until 1876 - fifteen years after becoming a territory - that Colorado
was admitted as the thirty-eighth state in the union. Colorado
was called the "Centennial State" in honor of the one-hundredth
year of the Declaration of Independence.
