And on that note, please nominate your favorite local business that could use some love right now: During the late 13th century, the Puebloans began migrating south to Arizona and New Mexico, where their descendants continue to live to this day. [10] The borders of the new state coincided with the borders established for the Colorado Territory. In 1858, several parties of gold seekers bound for the California Gold Rush panned small amounts of gold from various streams in the South Platte River Valley at the foot of the Rocky Mountains in then western Kansas Territory, now northeast Colorado. However, as easy-to-reach surface deposits played out, miners increasingly turned to hard rock mining.
Not knowing how to manage a population of homeless, ill people, many were taken to jail. Everything changed for Colorado when gold was discovered in the 1870’s in the northeast corner of the state. Colorado became part of the Spanish province of Santa Fe de Nuevo México as part of the Viceroyalty of New Spain. Coal mining in Colorado began soon after the first settlers arrived. Enter your e-mail address for things to do, restaurants to try and much more! Colorado’s revival came in the 1960s when European skiers discovered the incredible undeveloped terrain of the Rocky and San Juan mountains. By the time the mining boom petered out at the end of the 19th century, Colorado was something of a lawless Wild West state. Summer music festivals, extreme sports buffs and the pervasive attitude of living in the moment make Colorado a great place to visit or live. Me too…until I discovered these 12 interesting tidbits of Colorado history that I never learned in school: Gold found." While the information found on our websites is believed to be sensible and accurate based on the author’s best judgment, readers who fail to seek counsel from appropriate health professionals assume risk of any potential ill effects. The history of Colorado dates back to its first inhabitants, who were probably the Anasazi Indians. [24], On July 20, 2012, not far from the location of the aforementioned massacre at Columbine High School, 12 people were killed and 70 people were injured[25] in the 2012 Aurora, Colorado shooting, when James Eagan Holmes, a former neuroscience doctoral student, walked into an Aurora, Colorado Cinemark movie theater with multiple firearms, and started shooting at random at people trying to escape during a midnight Thursday showing of The Dark Knight Rises, killing 12 people and injuring 70 others. The mines began to close when natural gas lines arrived. In 1972, Colorado became the only state to reject the award of hosting the Olympic Games after they had been granted. From the railroads, petroglyphs and various museums, there is a good deal of history in Colorado just waiting to be explored. Colorado was the first state in the union to grant universal suffrage through a popular vote. Symbols & Emblems. [27], Colorado is now 1 of 8 states[28] that have legalized both medical and recreational marijuana, allowing them to tax the product. [6] An estimated 100,000 gold seekers flocked to the region over the next three years. Notable labor disputes between hard rock miners and the mine operators included the Cripple Creek strike of 1894 and the Colorado Labor Wars of 1903–04. The Provisional Government freely administered the region despite its lack of official status until the U.S. 1906 June 29 U.S. President . The war was centered on the Eastern Plains of the Colorado Territory and resulted in the removal of these four Native American peoples from present-day Colorado to present-day Oklahoma. Colorado is known as the “colorful” state and it is home to the Rocky Mountains and the Denver Broncos, but those are facts everyone knows. The locals are relaxed and friendly for the most part, but have little time for visitors who don’t respect or understand their way of mountain living. All Rights Reserved Reports of the revival of molybdenum mining in 2007 resulted in ambivalent responses[12] with Leadville welcoming the opening of the mine at Climax,[13][14] but strong opposition in Crested Butte over proposed operations at Mount Emmons.