Colorado Facts
Early History of Colorado
By Richard Fisher

In 1803 The United States bought was is now Colorado from Napolean Bonaparte as part of The Louisiana Purchase. By1806, Zebulon Pike had been sent by President Jefferson to explore the recently acquired lands.  Among the sites mentioned by Pike in his report of the expedition was the 14,110-foot peak now named pikes Peak. 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 Long’s Peak.

Many Indian tribes roamed Colorado and contributed to the state's history. The Cheyenne, Arapaho, Comanche, and Kiowa were the most important plains tribes. They were nomadic, hunting and making clothes from the skins of buffalo and deer, living in teepees, and depending on berries and roots for vegetables. The Spanish found Navajo in southwestern Colorado. The Apache frequently came into the state from New Mexico and Arizona. The Utes inhabited the state’s mountains and appear to have been the only indigenous tribe of Colorado. Utes remaining in Colorado today live in the southwestern corner of the state. The Cheyenne and Arapaho roamed the state's eastern plains.

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.

In January of 1861, Congress voted statehood for Kansas. A bill to create  The Colorado Territory was passed almost immediately afterwards. William Gilpin was named the territorial states first 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 It was not until 1876 that Colorado was finally able to gain official Statehood.  Colorado was immediately known as the Centennial State due to its 1876 admittance into the union.