Indians - The Ute Indians have occupied the area since 1500 AD and are the oldest, continuous resident culture.  Several explorers crossed the area looking for easy routes and gold.  In 1803 a portion of eastern Colorado was included in the Louisiana Purchase by President Jefferson.  By 1820 numerous Native American tribes lived in the Colorado area.  The Utes lived in the mountains, the Cheyenne and Arapahoe resided on the plains from the Arkansas to the Platte rivers, and the Kiowas and Comanches lived south of the Arkansas River.  The Pawnee tribe hunted buffalo along the Republican River and the Sioux sometimes hunted in the outskirts of the Cheyenne and Arapahoe lands.

Boundaries - By 1836 Texas became an independent republic and claimed a narrow strip of mountain territory extending northward through Colorado to 42^nd parallel [that is the northern border of Utah].  But Mexico granted lands to the wealthy, south of the Arkansas Valley and in the San Luis Valley hoping to secure claims against Texas or America.  By the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, in 1848 Mexico ceded to United States most of that part of Colorado not acquired by the Louisiana Purchase.  In 1850 the Federal Government purchased Texas' claims in Colorado, and the present boundaries of Colorado were established:

North = 41 N latitude (parallel) => Wyoming and Nebraska
South = 37 N latitude (parallel) => New Mexico and Oklahoma
East = 102 W longitude => Kansas and Nebraska
West = 109 W longitude => Utah

In 1851 the first permanent non-Indian settlement in Colorado was founded at Conejos in San Luis Valley; irrigation was begun; Fort Massachusetts was established in the San Luis Valley to protect settlers from Indians who believe that the non-Indians are encroaching on their land.  In 1854 the treaties with Native American groups prove unsatisfactory which results in conflict as the Utes kill fifteen inhabitants of Fort Pueblo on Christmas Day.

Politics - In 1858 Green Russell's discovery of small placer gold deposits near confluence of South Platte River and Cherry Creek, precipitated a gold rush from the East and the "Pikes Peak or Bust" slogan is coined.  Montana City, St. Charles, Auraria, and Denver City are founded on present site of Denver.  November 6, two hundred men meet here to organize the County of Arapahoe, Kansas Territory.  Pueblo was founded as Fountain City.

Gold - In 1859 gold is found by George A. Jackson along Chicago Creek on the present site of Idaho Springs.  March 9, the first stagecoach with mail for Cherry Creek settlements leaves Leavenworth, Kansas.  April 23, the first newspaper in the region, the Rocky Mountain News, is published by William N. Byers.  May 6, John Gregory makes famous gold-lode strike on North Clear Creek, stimulating a rush of prospectors, who establish camps of Black Hawk, Central City and Nevadaville.  October 3, O.J. Goldrick opens the first school, at Auraria.  Jefferson Territory is organized, without sanction of Congress, to govern gold camps; officers are elected.  Prospectors spread through mountains and establish camps at Boulder, Colorado City, Gold Hill, Hamilton, Tarryall, and Pueblo.  More gold is found in 1860 when rich placer discoveries cause a stampede of miners to California Gulch on present site of Leadville.  The first schoolhouse is built at Boulder.  The region continues to be administered variously by Jefferson Territory officials, and the Miners' and People's Courts.

Territory - In 1861 congress establishes Colorado Territory with boundaries of present state; President Lincoln appoints William Gilpin as first Territorial governor.  In July, a Supreme Court is organized and Congressional delegates are chosen.  By September, the first assembly meets, creates 17 counties, authorizes a university, and selects Colorado City as the Territorial capitol.  The manufacture of mining machinery begins.  The population of the Colorado Territory is 25,371.

Civil War - Colorado troops aid in defeating Confederate General Henry H. Sibley's Army at La Glorieta Pass, New Mexico in 1862.  The Second Territorial Legislature meets for a few days at Colorado City, adjourns to Denver, and selects Golden as the new capitol.  The first tax-supported schools are established and the first oil well is drilled near Florence.

Unrest - A telegraph line links Denver with East in 1863; ten words to New York cost $9.10.  Plains Indians attempt to drive white intruders from their hunting lands on the Eastern slopes.  And in 1864 the tension between non-Indians and the Native American tribes escalates.  The massacre (Sand Creek Massacre) of Native American men, women and children in a Cheyenne and Arapahoe Indian encampment by soldiers and settlers stirs Native Americans to fresh violence and overland trails are often closed.  Fort Sedgwick is established near Julesburg.  Camp Collins is established to protect travelers on Overland Trail.  That camp later became Fort Collins.  Colorado Seminary (now University of Denver) is chartered; Sisters of Loretto open an academy.  By 1865 the Indian attacks along trails reach their highest intensity; food is scarce for settlers and prices are high; potatoes bring $15 a bushel and flour costs $40 per 100 pounds.  Fort Morgan is established for protection against the Indians.

Development - In 1867 Denver is established as a permanent seat of government by a territorial legislature meeting in Golden.  The Golden Transcript established by George West.  In 1868 Nathaniel Hill erects first smelter in Colorado, at Blackhawk, inaugurating era of hard-rock mining.  The Battle at Beecher Island in northeastern Colorado fought between U.S. troops and Native Americans.  Northern Cheyenne and Sioux tribesmen laid siege for 9 days on 50 U.S. troops until reinforcements arrived.  The Pueblo Chieftain established by Dr. M. Beshoar at Pueblo. In 1869 the final military engagement between whites and plains Indians in the eastern part of the territory took place at Summit Springs.  In 1870 the Denver and Pacific Railroad is constructed to connect Denver with Union Pacific at Cheyenne, Wyoming; the Kansas Pacific enters Colorado from Missouri River.  Union Colony is established by Horace Greeley and Nathan C. Meeker at Greeley, and the first irrigation canal is surveyed there.  The Greeley Tribune is established.  The population of Colorado territory is now 39,864.  In 1871 Colorado Springs is founded by General William J. Palmer.  Denver and Rio Grande Railroad is built southward from Denver by Palmer.  The Colorado School of Mines is established at Golden.

Growth - In 1872 Blackhawk and Central City are connected with Denver by railroad; the Denver and Rio Grande reaches Pueblo.  Agricultural settlements established throughout South Platte Valley.  Out West, later the Colorado Springs Gazette, was established.  This year signals an end to the major use of the "Mountain Branch" of the Santa Fe Trail.  In 1874 the Colorado College is founded at Colorado Springs; the territorial legislature appropriates $15,00 for University of Colorado at Boulder, on condition that equal sum is raised by that city.  W.H. Jackson, famous photographer of the Hayden Geological Survey, notes ruins of ancient cliff dwellings along the canyon on Mancos River.  In 1875 some lead carbonate ores, rich in silver, are found near thr present site of Leadville.  The Constitutional Convention of 38 members holds their first meeting.

Statehood - In 1876 Colorado is admitted to Union as 38th State; John L. Routt is elected as the first governor.  Greeley's first industry, the tanning of buffalo hides, turns out 12 robes a day.  Not to remain as "the frontier", Colorado steps up to the challenge of contributing to the Union with resources and enthusiasm.

1879 Colorado College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts offers instruction at Fort Collins.  Nathan C. Meeker, Indian Agent on White River (near Meeker) and several employees are slain in Ute uprising.  Major Thornburg and half of his command of 160 soldiers are killed in effort to give protection to Meeker.  Utes are defeated.

1880 Denver & Rio Grande lays tracks through Royal Gorge and on to Leadville.  Great Ute Chief, Ouray, dies.  Dry land farming is undertaken extensively in eastern Colorado.  The population of Colorado, 194,327.

1881 Ute tribes are removed onto reservations.  Grand Junction is founded.   Small quantities of carnotite are found in western Colorado along with gold; later, this mineral is found to contain radium.  The Tabor Opera House opens in Denver, built by H.A.W. Tabor, famous Leadville capitalist.

1882 Steel is milled in Pueblo from Colorado ores.  This company later becomes the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company (CFI).

1883 A narrow gauge line of the Denver & Rio Grange is completed from Gunnison to Grand Junction.  First electric lights are installed in Denver.

1886 The Steamboat Pilot established at Steamboat Springs.   Charles H.Leckenby becomes owner and publisher in 1893.  The Denver Union Stockyards are established, later becoming largest receiving market for sheep in the nation.  The town of Lamar is founded.  The last public hanging in Denver occurred when Andrew Green was executed for the murder of streetcar driver, Joseph Whitnah.

1888 A band of Utes from Utah under Colorow make last Indian raid into Colorado; they are defeated and returned to the reservation.  The Union Colony at Greeley completes a 900,000 acre irrigation project.  Cliff Palace ruins, in what is now Mesa Verde National Park, are discovered by two cowboys.

1890 The passage of the Sherman Silver Purchase Act raises the price of silver to more than $1.00 an ounce.  New rich silver strikes are made along the Rio Grande and Creede is founded.  On July 4, the cornerstone of State Capitol at Denver is laid.  On October 3, the first building of the State Normal School (now University of Northern Colorado) at Greeley is occupied.  Population of the state is 413,249.   Boulder Daily Camera is established by L.C. Paddock.

1891 Robert Womack's discoveries open the great gold field of Cripple Creek.   The first national forest reserve in Colorado is set aside - White River Forest in Meeker area.  The Pike's Peak cog railroad begins operation.

1892 The Denver Post is established.  H. C. Brown opens the Brown Palace Hotel in Denver.

1893 National panic brings great distress to Colorado.  The repeal of the Sherman Act strikes silver mining a paralyzing blow and adds to already acute unemployment problems.  The Grand Junction Sentinel established.

1894 The State Capitol is completed at a cost of $2,500,000.  Colorado is the second state in the nation to extend suffrage to women, following the precedent set by Wyoming.

1898 Five-acre mining claims continue to be granted in the Central City area with the result being mostly disputes over ownership and very little new gold.  The Free Coinage claim is accepted when gold is found at 82 feet.  The vein runs out in 12 feet. [This is the Pool mountain cabin location.]  There is estimated to be more gold still in the ground of Colorado than has ever been removed.

1899 The first beet sugar refinery is built at Grand Junction.

1900 Gold production reaches peak of more than $20,000,000 annually at Cripple Creek, the second richest gold camp in the world.  Population of State reaches 539,700.

1902 A constitutional amendment permits towns of 2,000 to adopt "Home Rule"; Denver becomes home rule city.  A beet sugar refinery is built at Fort Collins.  David H. Moffat and associates begin construction of Moffat Railroad over the Continental Divide.  It is completed to Steamboat Springs in 1908 and to Craig in 1913.

1903 With Ben B. Lindsey as Judge, Denver Juvenile Court opens - the first such court in the United States.

1903 Mine, mill and smelter workers strike in many camps for higher wages and better working conditions; at Cripple Creek, the strike results in much property damage and loss of life; all strike objectives in gold field are lost.  The Uncompahgre irrigation project, first federal government Reclamation project in Colorado, is authorized.

1905 Colorado has 3 governors in one day in a political squabble.  First, Alva Adams, then James H. Peabody, and finally Jesse F. McDonald.  Construction of the six mile Gunnison water tunnel is started by Bureau of Reclamation.

1906 The United States Mint in Denver issues its first coins.  March 12, thr National Western Stock Show is born with the chartering of the Western Stock Show Association following a successful showing of about 60 head of cattle and horses and a few sheep and hogs in a makeshift tent at the Stockyards.  July 29, Mesa Verde national Park is created by Congress.

1908 July 7, the Denver Municipal Auditorium, seating 12,500, is completed in time for the Democratic National Convention, when William Jennings Bryan was nominated the third time for President.  August 1, Colorado Day is first celebrated, marking the thirty-second anniversary of the State's admittance to Union.  The dome of the State Capitol is plated with gold leaf at a cost of $14,680.

1909 Colorado attains a first ranking among states in irrigation area with 2,790,000 acres under irrigation.  The Gunnison water tunnel is completed by the Reclamation Service and opened, on September 23, by President William Howard Taft at the tunnel site.  The Western State Teachers College opens at Gunnison.

1910 Population of State is 799,024.  Number of farms is 46,170.   Colorado voters adopt a constitutional amendment giving to the people the right of the initiative and referendum.  On May 8 the first long distance phone call is made from Denver to New York City.  The first airplane flight leaves Denver.

1911 The Colorado National Monument, west of Grand Junction, is created by Presidential order.

1913 The State Tax Commission is created by Legislature.  Assessed value of Colorado property for tax purposes set at $1,306,536,692.  The "Big Snow of 1913" covers Colorado to a depth of 3 - 5 feet; transportation is paralyzed for weeks.  State begins licensing autos for the first time.

1914 Strike of coal miners in southern Colorado fields is climaxed by the "Battle of Ludlow" near Trinidad; several men, women and children are killed during hostilities between miners and the State militia.  August: WWI begins.

1915 Worker's compensation measures are passed: State Industrial Commission is created.  The Rocky Mountain National Park is created by Congress.  A toll road for auto travel to the top of Pikes Peak is built by Spencer Penrose.  Construction of the Broadmoor Hotel at Colorado Springs is started.

1916 Colorado adopts prohibition.  Emily Griffith Opportunity School is opened in Denver.  The mining of tungsten causes a flurry in Boulder-Nederland area.

1917 April 6: Congress declares war on Germany and many Coloradans volunteer for service.  Colorado reaches a maximum mineral production at more then $80,000,000.   William F. "Buffalo Bill" Cody, Famous Indian scout, dies and is buried on Lookout Mountain, west of Denver.

1918 Agricultural production is increased sharply to aid war needs.  Dry lands are plowed up to produce wheat.  Colorado citizens purchase Liberty Bonds by the millions of dollars to help finance war.  More than 125,000 Colorado men register for the draft for army service.  Fitzsimmons General Hospital is established near Denver.  Coal production of the state reaches new high of 12,500,000 tons.   Impetus of war stirs development of mining of molybdenum at Climax, near Leadville - the nation's greatest source of the metal.  The Denver Tourist Bureau establishes a free auto camp ground for tourists at Overland Park, Denver.  Other cities follow suit during the next few years.  The Federal Reserve branch bank is established in Denver.  Colorado voters approve a constitutional amendment providing Civil Service benefits for state employees.  November, 11, 1918, Germany surrenders.

1919 Post-war inflation brings higher prices to farmers and producers; prices of farm land high; wages high; boom times everywhere.  Colorado enacts a tax of one cent per gallon on gasoline, for building of roads.  Monte Vista stages the first Ski-Hi Stampede.

1920 Population of State is 939,629.  Employees of the Denver Tramway company go on strike.  Aroused by editorials in The Denver Post, strikers raid the Post building and do much damage to the property.

1921 The General Assembly creates a State Highway Department with seven man Advisory Board.  Colorado begins building concrete highways on main traveled routes.   Pueblo suffers a disastrous flood in June; scores drowned and property damage amounts to $20,000,000.  Post war deflation sets in and a decline in prices brings trouble in the rural areas.  During the next several years, numerous banks serving farming areas close, the prices of farm lands decline sharply from levels reached in World War I, and farmers clamor for farm relief.

1922 Coloradans vote $6,000,000 in bonds for highway construction.  The Moffat Tunnel Improvement District is created by General Assembly for construction of a 6.4 mile bore under the Continental Divide to provide better rail connections between the Eastern and Western Slopes of the State.  The first commercial radio license in Colorado is issued, to station KLZ.  A daring daylight hold-up of a Federal Reserve bank truck is staged as it leaves the U.S. Mint in Denver and $200,000 stolen.  The robbery is never solved.

1923 Oil is discovered in Wellington field north of Fort Collins; a flurry of oil stock promotion follows.

1924 April 26, Colorado is the second state to ratify a child labor amendment to federal Constitution.  A celebration is held in Greeley marking the completion of concrete pavement between Denver and Greeley, the first two major cities in the State to be connected by paved highways.  The Ku Klux Klan secures domination of the Republican party in Colorado and elects a pro-Klan Governor and U.S. Senator.

1925 Adams State Teachers College at Alamosa and junior colleges at Grand Junction and Trinidad are opened.

1931 Population reaches over one million.

1941 Denver recruiting offices swamped by over 2,000 enlistments during the month of December as United States enters World War II.

1941-1945 During World War II agriculture industry has greatest production in Colorado history.

1941-1945 Growth of military installations in Colorado mushroom.

1942 Federal government established Amache, a camp for Japanese-Americans who were interned and relocated from their homes on the West Coast.

1945-1950 Federal government presence in Colorado grows, military installations and scientific institutions continue to develop while many veterans relocate to Colorado.   These changes cause a steady increase in population, employment and wealth.

1958 Air Force Academy is built near Colorado Springs and the first class graduates in June, 1959.

1950's and 1960's Numerous water storage and diversion projects are constructed in response to increased agricultural and municipal water demands.  Tourist and ski industries blossom.  Population continues to increase.

1960 Colorado gets the Denver Broncos professional football team which eventually wins two Super Bowls.

1962-1965 Disposition of poisonous wastes into a deep well at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal results in earthquakes and hundreds of tremors around the Denver area.

June, 1965 A cloudburst on the upper reaches of Plum Creek in Douglas and Jefferson counties results in massive flooding along the South Platte River, causing widespread property damage and loss of life.  The extensive damage extended from south of Denver all the way to Sedgwick County near the Nebraska border.

1967 The Denver Rockets become Colorado's professional American Basketball Association team.  In 1974 they are renamed the Denver Nuggets.  [The Pool family arrived.]

1973 Eisenhower Tunnel is built beneath the Continental Divide sixty miles west of Denver, making it easier to reach the ski slopes of western Colorado.

1974 Desegregation of schools in Denver begins as busing attempts to achieve racial balance.

1970's and 1980's Tremendous growth of Denver suburbs occurs.

1970's The population swells, traffic problems grow, and the "brown cloud" develops over much of the Front Range.  Coloradans become concerned over the consequences of pollution and overselling Colorado and reject hosting the 1976 Winter Olympics as a result.

July 31, 1976 A cloudburst on the Big Thompson River results in a massive flood in Larimer County, killing more than 145 people.

1980 Coal mining production in Colorado on the Western Slopes hits all time high as the United States becomes more dependent on energy resources at home rather than overseas.

1982 The state economic structure is shaken when the oil shale giant Exxon announces the closure of its oil shale development fields in Rio Blanco, Mesa and Garfield counties.  Thousands are laid off and the economic stability of the western slope of the state is severely impacted.

1980's and 1990's Major growth of technological industries occurs in Colorado.

1992 The voters of Colorado pass a citizens' initiative to limit the growth of state and local governments with the passage of the TABOR (Taxpayer Bill of Rights) amendment to the state constitution.

1993 Colorado Rockies become the first regional major league baseball team.

1995 Quebec Nordiques National Hockey League team moves to Colorado to become the Colorado Avalanche.

1998 Colorado voters elect the first Republican Governor (Bill Owens) to the statehouse in twenty-four years.

2005 Colorado voters passed at the November elections a five year tax package that will allow state government to retain excess tax revenues to fund various state programs that were previously targeted for reduction or elimination.  Referendum C as it was called, was the first successful attempt at modifying the Taxpayers Bill of Rights which was passed thirteen years earlier.

2006 The Colorado legislature debates over how to spend the excess tax dollars.  Total confusion erupts.  The State has the lowest unemployment of the nation.  The city of Lakewood increases its tax by 50% and scrambles to find ways to spend the income.

2007 Prices for food, cars, and medicine increase at an alarming rate, but housing costs go down.  This forces many homes into foreclosure with the state ranking 6th in the nation.  Water taps for housing strain the available water supply which has been rationed for many years.  The Democratic National Convention returns to Colorado.

With such a colorful past and beautiful vistas, it is no wonder that this state is called Colorado.