Introduction to History of Colorado
Nomadic hunters roamed the area that is now Colorado thousands of years ago. About the first century A.D., a people known as the Anasazi, or Basketmakers, settled in what is now the southwestern part of the state. Their descendants, the Cliff Dwellers, flourished from about 1000 to 1300 A.D. Various Indian tribes were inhabiting the land when the first European explorers reached the Colorado region in the 16th century. The dominant tribes at that time were the Cheyenne and Arapaho, who lived on the eastern plains, and the Ute, who were mountain-dwellers.
Important dates in Colorado1706 Juan de Ulibarri claimed the Colorado region for Spain.1803 The United States acquired eastern Colorado as part of the Louisiana Purchase.1806 Zebulon M. Pike explored Colorado.1848 The United States took western Colorado after the Mexican War.1858 Gold was discovered at Dry Creek, near the site of what is now Denver.1859 The Colorado gold rush attracted thousands of prospectors and settlers.1861 Congress created the Colorado Territory.1870 The Denver Pacific Railroad was completed to Denver.1876 Colorado became the 38th state on August 1.1879 The Meeker Massacre marked the end of serious Indian fighting.1899 The state's first beet-sugar factory began operating.1906 The U.S. Mint in Denver issued its first coins. Congress established Mesa Verde National Park.1915 Rocky Mountain National Park was established.1927 The Moffat Tunnel, a railroad tunnel through the mountains, was completed.1956 The Colorado River water storage project was approved by Congress.1958 The U.S. Air Force Academy's permanent campus opened near Colorado Springs.1959 The Colorado-Big Thompson irrigation system was completed.1962 Ground was broken for the three-dam Curecanti water storage system (now the Wayne N. Aspinall Storage Unit). The system was completed in 1976.1985 The Frying Pan-Arkansas Project, which transfers water across Colorado, was completed.1999 Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Monument was made a national park.2004 Great Sand Dunes National Monument became a national park.Important dates in Colorado
Exploration and Early Settlement
In 1541, Francisco Vasquez de Coronado, leading an expedition north from Mexico, may have passed through part of what is now south-eastern Colorado while searching for gold. None was found, and the Spanish lost interest in Colorado, ignoring it for more than a hundred years.
During the 17th and 18th centuries, a large portion of eastern Colorado was claimed by both Spain and France. Neither country, however, conducted an extensive exploration of the region. The disputed area of Colorado passed to French control in 1800, when Spain ceded the Louisiana territory, of which it was part, to France. Colorado east of the Rocky Mountains came into United States possession in 1803 as part of the Louisiana Purchase; the western half remained Spanish territory.
Zebulon M. Pike, sent by the federal government to determine the southwestern boundary of the newly acquired territory, led the first United States expedition into Colorado, 1806–07. West of what is now Colorado Springs, the expedition reached the mountain peak that now bears Pike's name During 1819–20, a party under Stephen H Long, traveling up the Arkansas River, explored the Colorado Rockies. Long's description of the arid eastern plains section as the "Great American Desert" discouraged settlement of the region for years. However, many adventurous fur trappers and traders, including Charles and William Bent, Kit Carson, and Jim Bridger, were attracted by the expedition's reports that beaver and other fur-bearing animals were seen in great abundance in the region.
In 1840, Colorado was still largely unknown to settlers Several surveying expeditions were undertaken in the 1840's for the federal government by John C. Frémont, and a few white settlers began to move into the area. However, it was not until after the United States acquired the remainder of Colorado at the end of the Mexican War in 1848 that permanent settlement began, in the south. San Luis was founded, on the Culebra River, in 1851 by Spanish-speaking settlers moving north from New Mexico. In the next few years, San Pedro, San Acacio, and Guadalupe were also established.
The Bonanza Years
Gold was discovered in 1858 on the South Platte River, at what is now Denver. A larger strike in 1859 at the present site of Central City began a great gold rush. About 50,000 prospectors poured into the region during the so-called Pikes Peak rush. Much of the mining activity centered in and around what is now Gilpin County; several towns were founded, including Black Hawk and Nevadaville.
In the 1850's, Colorado was part of Kansas, Nebraska, Utah, and New Mexico territories. The miners, however, wanted their own government. In 1859 they established a provisional territorial government in what they called Jefferson Territory, which encompassed an area somewhat larger than the present state. Congress refused to recognize it, and instead created Colorado Territory in 1861 within the present state boundaries. William Gilpin was appointed the first governor. Colorado City, Golden, and Denver served as the territorial capital at various times until 1867, when Denver was named the permanent capital.
Conflict over white settlement on tribal lands led to warfare between the settlers and the Indians in the Cheyenne-Arapaho War, 1864–65. Governor John Evans raised a militia to defend against Indian raids and to force the tribes onto reservation land. Some whites called for extermination of the Indians. In 1864 the militia attacked a Cheyenne and Arapaho encampment at Sand Creek in southeastern Colorado, killing about 150 men, women, and children. Retaliatory Indian raids followed before an agreement was reached in 1865 to end the warfare. The Treaty of Medicine Lodge was signed in 1867, but some fighting continued until 1870, when most of the Cheyenne and Arapaho were resettled in Indian Territory (now Oklahoma).
During the 1860's and 1870's, the Utes lived a peaceful nomadic life in western Colorado. When the federal government decided to relocate all tribes onto reservations to open more land to white settlement, the Utes resisted. After years of fighting, a treaty was signed, in 1880; under its terms, the Utes were removed to lands in Utah and southwestern Colorado.
Meanwhile, in the 1870's, railway lines were built to connect the territory with the rest of the nation. The Denver Pacific was the first; it linked Denver with the transcontinental railroad at Cheyenne, Wyoming Improved transportation brought more settlers, who established farms and ranches and built towns. With the population increase came demands for statehood. A constitution was adopted, and on August 1, 1876, Colorado was admitted as the 38th state. John L. Routt was elected governor.
Early Statehood
The discovery of large silver deposits near Leadville in the late 1870's began a new mining boom. The population, estimated at 40,000 in 1870, reached almost 200,000 by 1880 and jumped to more than 400,000 by 1890. Many of the new residents were farmers who settled in the eastern plains section and introduced irrigation and dry-farming methods. New silver and gold strikes at Creede and Cripple Creek brought increased prosperity. Refineries and smelters were built, and coalfields were opened to mining.
Then, in 1893, Colorado's economy suffered a staggering blow when a nationwide financial panic caused the federal government to end the purchase of silver. Mines were forced to shut down. Hoping for a solution to their economic problems, Colorado voters turned to the newly formed Populist party, whose platform called for the resumption of unlimited silver coinage; David H. Waite, a Populist, became governor in 1893. The depression that followed the panic of 1893 kept the state economically distressed throughout the decade.
Labor conflicts were common during this period as workers in mines, smelters, and factories organized into unions and met armed resistance from owners. Unrest continued into the 1900's. Particularly violent clashes resulted from strikes in the gold mines of Cripple Creek, 1903–04, and at the Ludlow coalfields in 1914.
Modern Development
The economy slowly improved in the early 1900's, as farm production increased. By 1910, agriculture had replaced mining as the state's most important industry. The rise of agriculture was based largely on better irrigation methods and the cultivation of sugar beets. The economy was also helped by construction of highways that made the mountain areas of the state more accessible and by the establishment of large national parks (Mesa Verde in 1906 and Rocky Mountain in 1915), which brought tourist revenue.
Prosperity returned with World War I, as demand rose for products from Colorado's mines, farms, and ranches. The economic boom, however, was short-lived. In the postwar period, prices for grain and livestock fell and the demand for coal and industrial metals dropped significantly. Manufacturing suffered because it mainly involved the processing of foods and minerals. During the 1920's, the rate of population growth slowed. Also, there was a rise in extremist, ultraconservative politics, a phenomenon occurring in many other parts of the country as well. This reactionary political atmosphere allowed the Ku Klux Klan to become a power in Colorado and influence the selection of the governor and the state legislature in the 1924 election.
The Great Depression of the 1930's led to more economic hardships, which were intensified by prolonged drought in eastern Colorado—part of the region that came to be known as the Dust Bowl. Many farms were abandoned, and their owners moved to California. World War II brought military training camps, airfields, and jobs. The state again, as in World War I, provided food and metals for the war effort. Manufacturing expanded rapidly; existing facilities increased their capacities and new plants were built. By the mid-1950's, manufacturing had surpassed agriculture as Colorado's leading economic activity.
During the 1950's and 1960's, a number of federal agencies established regional offices in the state, and several large military installations were constructed near Denver and Colorado Springs, including the U.S. Air Force Academy. Extensive flood control, irrigation, and water-storage projects were undertaken. Colorado's attractiveness as a year-round vacation spot led to a boom in tourism.
By the early 1970's, the expanding population—it had doubled since World War II—was a matter of concern to state officials, who feared the problems caused by rapid and unplanned growth. Much of the expansion had taken place in a 120-mile (190-km) corridor that included Denver, its suburbs, Colorado Springs, Boulder, Greeley, and Fort Collins. Also of concern was the environmental threat caused by increased industrialization. Environmental protection versus expanded development became the major issue of the 1970's and 1980's. In 1976, the Big Thompson River flooded vacation and residential areas near Loveland and killed over 135 people.
The end of the Cold War led to layoffs at defense-related businesses in Colorado and to the closure of some of the state's military installations in the 1990's.
In 1999, Colombine High School in Littleton was the scene of one of the worst school shooting sprees in U.S. history.
As of the early 2000's, Colorado is one of the fastest growing states, but also has many challenges ahead such as increasing air and water pollution, overcrowding along the eastern edge of the Rocky Mountains, and urban decay.