|
Results for Colorado
|
On this page:
|
A state of the west-central United States. It was admitted as the 38th state in 1876. First explored by the Spanish in the 16th and 17th centuries, the region was added to the United States through the Louisiana Purchase (1803) and a cession by Mexico (1848). The Colorado Territory was organized in 1861. Denver is the capital and the largest city. Population: 4,860,000.
Coloradan Col'o·ra'dan or Col'o·ra'do·an adj. & n.
For more information on Colorado, visit Britannica.com.
Archaeological evidence reveals that humans have lived in the area that is now Colorado for over 10,000 years. In the aftermath of the last ice age, over 6,000 years ago, humans adapted to the main geographical regions of Colorado: the high plains of the east; the Rocky Mountains that cross the state from north to south; and the western plateaus and mesas. Rock paintings, remains of campsites, and other evidence reveal the social complexity of successive cultures of peoples who lived primarily through hunting and foraging, and later, agriculture. By the beginning of the Common Era, groups developed trading networks that skirted the Rocky Mountains south to New Mexico. The Ancestral Pueblans, also known as the Anasazi, built spectacular villages in southwestern Colorado. Mesa Verde, one of the best-known sites, was in habited between 600 and 1200 A.D. By 1500, many Native American groups lived in Colorado. The Ute lived in the mountains and western plains, while the Apache, Navajo, Comanche, Cheyenne, and Arapaho occupied the eastern plains.
The Spanish claimed Colorado as part of the province of New Mexico, but because it was at the northernmost edge of the empire, the Spanish presence was intermittent until the 1700s. However, the Spanish influence was profound. They brought with them the horse, which Native Americans adopted throughout the 1600s and 1700s, greatly affecting the social and economic base of their societies.
Over the centuries, the Spanish defended their claim to Colorado from the Ute and Comanche, the French, and the Americans. After the 1803 Louisiana Purchase, the U.S. government dispatched expeditions to survey its new territory. In 1805, Lieutenant Zebulon Pike led an expedition into the area and described the mountain now known as Pike's Peak. The Spanish captured Pike in 1806 and did not release him until the following year. In 1819 the U.S. and Spanish governments negotiated an international boundary that ran along the Arkansas River.
Mexico gained independence from Spain in 1821. The new government encouraged trade with the United States, and the Santa Fe Trail, from Missouri to New Mexico, became an important route. Trinidad, Colorado, developed on the basis of this trade. In the 1830s and 1840s, the Mexican government gave away land grants in its New Mexico province to elite residents, with the expectation that the grantees would encourage settlement by farmers. One of the first towns the farmers established was San Luis, in present-day Colorado. During the next several decades, Spanish-speaking farmers created towns throughout southern Colorado based on the patterns they had known in New Mexico. These farmers irrigated their crops, a technique that later settlers would adopt.
At the beginning of the nineteenth century, trappers became an important presence in the region. These men sold beaver pelts to European and American markets via the New Mexico-Missouri trade route. The trappers traveled along the Rocky Mountains' rivers, lived and worked among Native Americans and Mexicans, and often married into these groups. Native American and Mexican women gave their husbands access to trade networks and social acceptance. In Colorado, settlements such as Bent's Fort, Fort Vasquez, and Fort Lupton became centers for trade and social interaction in this multiethnic enterprise. By the 1840s, however, the trappers had nearly wiped out the beaver. Some trappers became full-time traders and established new settlements, the most famous of which was El Pueblo (present-day Pueblo), which was founded in 1842.
The 1846–1848 war between Mexico and the United States ended in the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (1848). This treaty required Mexico to surrender huge portions of its land to the United States; southern Colorado was part of the cession. The United States was slow to organize this territory, and present-day Colorado was variously considered part of Texas and the territories of Utah, New Mexico, Nebraska, and Kansas. The impetus for the organization of the Colorado territory was the discovery of gold.
Gold-Rush Colorado
From the time of the first Spanish explorers, many people hoped to find gold in Colorado, but it was not until 1858 that this hope was realized. The 1859 gold rush brought over 100,000 prospectors, merchants, and speculators to the region. Even after the initial claim dwindled, more discoveries of gold continued to bring settlers to the Rocky Mountains.
The confluence of the South Platte River and Cherry Creek became the headquarters for the rush, by passing the region's older towns. Two groups established towns on either side of Cherry Creek—Auraria and Denver City—each hoping that its town would become the dominant city. Denver won this contest and absorbed Auraria. Denver emerged as the transportation, business, and cultural hub of the region.
The Plains tribes—the Cheyenne and the Arapaho—were alarmed by the flood of settlers traveling through, and building cities on, land they considered theirs. Unlike the fur traders, these settlers had no interest in striking alliances with Native Americans. The tribes did not have a unified response to the settlers. Some, such as the Arapaho chief Little Raven, and the Cheyenne chief Black Kettle, advocated peacefully accommodating the newcomers, while others, especially members of Cheyenne warrior societies, argued for war. In the 1851 Fort Laramie Treaty, the Cheyenne and Arapaho agreed to restrict themselves to the land between the South Platte and Arkansas Rivers. Ten years later, the 1861 Fort Wise Treaty forced these groups to cede their claims to the foothills.
On 28 February 1861, the U.S. government organized the Territory of Colorado. (Colorado City and Golden served as the territory's capital, before Denver was declared the capital in 1867.) The territory was immediately thrown into the Civil War (1861–1865). Although the territory's residents included Southern sympathizers, radical and moderate abolitionists, and former slaves, the territory aligned itself with the Union cause. Troops from the Colorado Territory defeated General Henry S. Sibley's Confederates in the 1862 battle of Glorieta Pass, in New Mexico.
Another notorious military action was waged against the Cheyenne and the Arapaho. During 1864, the tensions between the Plains tribes and the settlers steadily escalated. Black Kettle led a group of his Cheyenne and Arapaho followers to their winter camp near Sand Creek, in southeastern Colorado Territory, after having declared his peaceful intentions to the military authorities. An American flag and a white flag flew over the camp, which largely consisted of the elderly, women, and children. The First and Third Colorado Volunteers, under the leader-ship of Colonel John Chivington, attacked this settlement on 29 November 1864. The soldiers killed over 150 people, wounded scores of others, and mutilated the dead. The Sand Creek Massacre began a cycle of violence between whites and Native Americans throughout the territory. In 1867, many of the Cheyenne and Arapaho agreed to the Medicine Lodge Treaty, which required them to relocate to Indian Territory.
Colorado in the Nineteenth Century
Colorado became a state on 1 August 1876. Due to the expansion of the railroads across the plains and into the mountains, and the subsequent increase in economic linkages, the state's population quickly grew. In 1870 there were 40,000 people in the Colorado Territory; by 1880, the population had increased to over 194,000.
Colorado's settlers demanded that the Ute, who occupied most of the western plateaus, cede their land. In 1879, several Northern Ute at the White River Agency rose up against the Indian agent and killed him, along with eleven other white men. Outraged Coloradoans called for the expulsion of the Ute. In March 1881, in Washington, D.C., the federal government concluded a treaty with the Ute that required the tribe's various bands to live in reservations in Utah or Colorado. Prospectors and farmers quickly swarmed into the land vacated by the Ute.
Farming, ranching, and mining formed the pillars of nineteenth-century Colorado's economy. Politicians and business leaders were preoccupied with encouraging economic development and growth. However, the state's economy proved to be vulnerable to violent fluctuations—a boom-and-bust cycle.
Colorado's early farmers grew grains, but by the early twentieth century sugar beets and potatoes had also become important crops. Farmers in western Colorado were known for their fruit orchards. Many farmers had to irrigate their fields, and the reliance on irrigation sparked off arguments between Colorado and its neighbors over water rights that still continue today.
Colorado was home to numerous, often short-lived, agricultural colonies. Some, such as Greeley, had utopian origins. Members of ethnic or religious groups also organized colonies. For example, in 1882 Jewish emigrants from Poland and Russia lived in a colony in Cotopaxi. One of the last colonies was the African American settlement of Dear field, established in 1910–1911.
Livestock ranching was an important sector of the economy. By the 1880s, cattle ranchers had large establishments along the South Platte and Arkansas Rivers. Cattle ranching later spread to western Colorado. From the 1880s to the 1920s, cattle ranchers and sheepherders repeatedly clashed over land in northwest Colorado. Access to public land for grazing also became a longstanding conflict between Colorado and the federal government.
In the nineteenth century, mining was a mainstay of the economy. Some settlements, such as Leadville and Georgetown, developed into full-fledged towns, while scores of mining camps faded when the vein of ore was exhausted. Mining activities altered the land: hills were deforested and many streams became polluted.
Smelting gold, silver, and other metals was an important component of the mining industry. This process gradually moved from the mining towns to large cities such as Pueblo and Denver. Pueblo was also a steel town and the home of Colorado Fuel and Iron, an enormous company that was eventually owned by the industrialist John D. Rockefeller.
Companies developed the coalfields in northern and southern Colorado and established "company towns" for their workers. The coal towns were racially and ethnically diverse. Whites, African Americans, and Hispanics worked alongside immigrants from Asia and central and eastern Europe.
The mining industries were the site of labor conflicts from the 1880s to the 1920s. During the nineteenth century, miners demanded better safety and working conditions, but the state was reluctant to enforce such measures. This situation led to many workers joining unions. Many gold and silver miners joined the Western Federation of Miners, while the United Mine Workers made progress on the coalfields. The strikes were often long and occasionally violent, such as the 1903–1904 strike by gold miners in Cripple Creek. From 1913 to 1914, coal miners striked in southern Colorado for greater health and safety regulations, recognition of their union, and an increase in wages. On 20 April 1914, at Ludlow, the National Guard attacked a tent colony, and the subsequent fire killed two women and eleven children.
Colorado in the Twentieth Century
Colorado began the century as a leader in some national reform movements. In 1893, women in Colorado received the right to vote. The state enacted prohibition of alcohol in 1916, long before the rest of the country. Colorado became home to two national parks at the beginning of the twentieth century. Mesa Verde became a national park in 1906; Rocky Mountain National Park was dedicated in 1915.
World War I (1914–1918) was a stimulus for Colorado's economy. The demand for crops such as sugar beets and wheat, and metals—molybdenum, vanadium, and tungsten— led to an economic boom. The bust came after the war, when prices for metals and agricultural commodities plummeted.
After the war, Colorado politics took a turn to the right. The state was consumed by a "RedScare" over feared Communist and Socialist influence. During the 1920s, the Ku Klux Klan emerged as a powerful statewide organization, widely disseminating its hate-based politics. The Klan dominated politics in Denver and held weekly cross burnings. Klan members and sympathizers controlled the lower house of the state legislature. Although the Klan's influence faded somewhat after the mid-1920s, local and state governments took little initiative in protecting the civil rights of political, racial, or ethnic minorities.
Colorado was ill equipped to deal with the economic disaster of the Great Depression. Prices dropped even lower for minerals and agriculture, and between 1933 and 1938, many of the farms of eastern Colorado were stripped bare by the Dust Bowl's winds. Displaced farmers and workers received very little aid from city and state governments that had only minimal provisions for the un-employed and needy. President Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal programs helped fill this gap. For example, one New Deal program, the Works Progress Administration, became one of the state's largest employers, and by 1942 had completed over 5,000 projects in Colorado.
World War II had a wide-ranging impact on Colorado. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, President Roosevelt ordered the detention of Japanese Americans living on the Pacific coast and in Arizona. A detention camp, Amache, was located in southeast Colorado. However, Colorado's governor resisted demands to intern Japanese American Coloradoans and allowed Japanese Americans from other parts of the country to settle in the state. Many military bases and facilities, such as Camp Hale, home of the Tenth Mountain Division, were located in the state. War industries boomed. Even the mining sector revived with the demand for uranium.
During the Cold War, industries involved in defense, aerospace, and high technology research moved into the state. The federal government also located many facilities in the state, including the new Air Force Academy, in Colorado Springs. This inflow of industry, commerce, and population, however, was concentrated among the Front Range cities.
Many of Colorado's oldest economic sectors were in steep decline by the 1970s. Sugar beet processors closed their operations. Mining was greatly diminished and concentrated on coal and molybdenum. In the 1970s, the Exxon Corporation developed facilities in northwest Colorado for processing oil shale into oil. When Exxon abruptly abandoned the project on 2 May 1982, the resulting crash had state wide ramifications.
Since the 1970s, Colorado's service industries have become an increasingly important part of the economy. For example, the tourism and recreation sectors have developed from the spas and campgrounds of the early twentieth century to the ski resort industry, which emerged after World War II.
During the last quarter of the twentieth century, Colorado wrestled with controversial issues, such as desegregation, environmental policy, the size of government, and nuclear energy. The issue of civil rights for African Americans, Native Americans, Hispanics, and gays and lesbians repeatedly surfaced during this time. Longstanding issues, including water policy, land use, and growth, remain vexing. Colorado's natural beauty and opportunities continue to attract immigrants from around the country and the world. According to the 1990 census, less than half of the population was born in the state. Over 82 percent of Colorado's 4.4 million people live in urban areas, and most of the population is concentrated on the Front Range. As the state enters the twenty-first century, it faces challenges and opportunities that are both grounded in its history and common to all of the United States.
Bibliography
Abbot, Carl, Stephen J. Leonard, and David McComb. Colorado: A History of the Centennial State. 3ded. Niwot: University Press of Colorado, 1994.
Deutsch, Sarah. No Separate Refuge: Culture, Class, and Gender on an Anglo-Hispanic Frontier in the American Southwest, 1880–1940. New York: Oxford University Press, 1987.
Jameson, Elizabeth. All That Glitters: Class, Conflict, and Community in Cripple Creek. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1998.
Taylor, Quintard. In Search of the Racial Frontier: African Americans in the American West, 1528–1990. New York: W.W. Norton, 1998.
Ubbelohde, Carl, Maxine Benson, and Duane A. Smith. A Colorado History. 8th ed. Boulder, Colo.: Pruett Publishing Company, 2001.
West, Elliot. The Contested Plains: Indians, Gold seekers, and the Rush to Colorado. Lawrence: The University Press of Kansas, 1998.
Wyckoff, William. Creating Colorado: The Making of a Western American Landscape, 1860–1940. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1999.
—Modupe G. Labode
Facts and Figures
Area, 104,247 sq mi (270,000 sq km). Pop. (2000) 4,301,261, a 30.6% increase since the 1990 census. Capital and largest city, Denver. Statehood, Aug. 1, 1876 (38th state). Highest pt., Mt. Elbert, 14,433 ft (4,402 m); lowest pt., Arkansas River, 3,350 ft (1,022 m). Nickname, Centennial State. Motto, Nil Sine Numine [Nothing without Providence]. State bird, lark bunting. State flower, Rocky Mountain columbine. State tree, Colorado blue spruce. Abbr., Colo., CO
Geography
Colorado's eastern expanses are part of the High Plains section of the Great Plains. On their western edge the plains give way to the Rocky Mountains, which run north-south through central Colorado. The mountains are divided into several ranges that make up two generally parallel belts, with the Front Range and a portion of the Sangre de Cristo Mts. on the east and the Park Range, Sawatch Mts., and San Juan Mts. on the west. Mt. Elbert (14,433 ft/4,399 m) is the highest peak in the U.S. Rocky Mts. The mountain ranges are separated by high valleys and basins called parks. These include North Park, Middle Park, South Park, Estes Park, and San Luis Park. The Continental Divide runs north-south along the Rocky Mts. in Colorado.
One of the most scenic states in the country, Colorado has recreational parks including Rocky Mountain National Park, Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park with its narrow gorge cut by the Gunnison River, Dinosaur National Monument in NW Colorado, and Great Sand Dunes National Monument and Preserve in S central Colorado. Mesa Verde National Park and Canyons of the Ancients National Monument, once home to the Anasazi cliff dwellers, are in the southwestern corner of the state, a beautiful but formidable area of mesas and canyons.
Most of W Colorado is occupied by the Colorado Plateau, where deep canyons have been formed by the action of the Colorado, Gunnison, and other rivers. Colorado has a mean elevation of c.6,800 ft (2,070 m) and has 51 of the 80 peaks in North America over 14,000 ft (4,267 m) high, thus laying claim to the name “top of the world.”
A broad timber belt, largely coniferous and mostly within national forest reserves, covers large sections of the mountains. The mighty Colorado River originates in Rocky Mountain National Park, and the headwaters of the North Platte, South Platte, Arkansas, and Rio Grande also gather in Colorado's mountains. The average annual rainfall in Colorado is only 16.6 in. (42.2 cm), but the state has been able to develop otherwise unusable land and ranks high among the states in irrigated acres. The Colorado–Big Thompson project and the Fryingpan-Arkansas project are two major water-diversion systems that carry water by tunnel across the Continental Divide to farms on the plains of E Colorado.
Most of the population lives in cities among the Front Range foothills, principally in Denver, the capital, largest city, and regional metropolis. Other major cities are Colorado Springs,
Economy
Agriculture, especially the raising of cattle and sheep and production of dairy goods, is economically important in the state. Crops include wheat, hay, corn, and sugar beets. Since the 1950s manufacturing has been the major source of income in the state. Food processing is a major industry; others include the manufacture of computer equipment, aerospace products, transportation equipment, and electrical equipment; printing and publishing; and the production of fabricated metals, chemicals, and lumber. Federal facilities including army and air force bases, prisons, and the Denver Mint, as well as regional offices, contribute greatly to the economy. A new $4 billion international airport opened near Denver in Feb., 1995.
Tourism plays a vital role in Colorado's economy. The state's climate, scenery, historical sites, and extensive recreational facilities bring millions of visitors annually. Numerous resorts in towns such as Vail and Aspen attract visitors year-round as well as during ski season. Besides fine hunting, fishing, and skiing there are many special events held in the state, including arts festivals, rodeos, and fairs.
Gold, the lure to exploration and settlement of Colorado, was the first of many valuable minerals (notably silver and lead) discovered here. Leading minerals today are petroleum, coal, molybdenum, sand and gravel, and uranium. Gold is no longer mined extensively. There are also large coal and oil deposits.
Government, Politics, and Higher Education
Colorado's state government is based on the constitution drawn up in 1876 and since amended. The governor serves for a term of four years. The legislature is made up of a senate with 35 members and a house of representatives with 65 members. Colorado is represented in the U.S. Congress by two senators and six representatives and has eight votes in the electoral college. Democrat Roy Romer, elected governor in 1986 and reelected in 1990 and 1994, was succeeded by Republican Bill Owens, elected in 1998 and reelected in 2002. In 2006 a Democrat, Bill Ritter, won the governorship.
Among Colorado's institutions of higher learning are the Univ. of Colorado, at Boulder; the Univ. of Denver, at Denver; Colorado State Univ., at Fort Collins; and the United States Air Force Academy, at Colorado Springs.
History
Early Inhabitants, European Exploration, and U.S. Conquest
Colorado's earliest inhabitants were the Basket Makers, Native Americans who settled in the mesa country before the beginning of the Christian era. Later people known as cliff dwellers inhabited the area, building their pueblos in canyon walls.
The first European to enter the region was probably the Spanish conquistador Francisco Vásquez de Coronado in the 16th cent. Spain subsequently claimed (1706) the territory, although no Spanish settlements were established there. Part of the area was also claimed for France as part of the Louisiana Territory. At the end of the French and Indian Wars (1763), France secretly ceded the Louisiana Territory, including much of Colorado, to Spain. The French regained the whole area in 1800 by the secret Treaty of San Ildefonso concluded with Spain (see San Ildefonso, Treaty of).
The United States bought the area N of the Arkansas River and E of the Rocky Mts. in the Louisiana Purchase of 1803. The federal government sent expeditions to Colorado which generated some public interest in the new territory, and they explored routes opened earlier by the famous mountain men, trappers, and fur traders who included William H. Ashley, James Bridger, Jedediah S. Smith, Kit Carson, and the Bent brothers. Bent's Fort, in Colorado, was one of the best-known Western trading posts. Settlement in the area did not begin, however, until the United States acquired the remainder of present-day Colorado from Mexico by the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848.
Gold, Settlement, and Statehood
In the early 1800s a small farming settlement had been established in the San Luis valley, but most settlers pushing westward across the Great Plains continued on to the more fertile lands of Oregon, Washington, and California. It was the discovery of gold that first brought large numbers of settlers to Colorado. Prospectors led by Green Russell discovered gold in 1858 at Cherry Creek, where part of the city of Denver now stands, and after another strike the following year, the mining boom began.
At the time of the gold rush the area in which the gold fields were located was part of the U.S. Kansas Territory. A group of miners organized the gold fields as Arapahoe co. of Kansas Territory. The region was divided into districts, and miners' and people's courts were set up to provide quick justice. The miners sought separate territorial status in 1859 and formed the illegal Territory of Jefferson, which operated until the bill for territorial status was passed by Congress in 1861. William Gilpin, the first territorial governor, chose the name Colorado [Span.,=red or colored]. Measures proposing statehood for Colorado were introduced in the U.S. Congress in 1864, and again in 1866 and 1867 when they were vetoed by Andrew Johnson. A bill granting Colorado's statehood was finally passed by Congress in 1876.
When the first settlers came to Colorado, the Ute lived in the mountain areas, while the Comanche, Cheyenne, Arapaho, and Kiowa inhabited the Great Plains. Warfare between plains and mountain ethnic groups was continuous. The tribes of the plains combined their forces in 1840 to halt the invasion of their homelands and hunting grounds by settlers, and violence ensued. The warfare finally culminated in the Native Americans' defeat after the Indian Wars (1861–69) and the Buffalo War (1873–74). Colorado's Native Americans now live mainly on the Southern Ute reservation and in the Denver area.
Decline and Diversification
While Colorado was seeking to establish a government and engaged in conflict with Native Americans, the state's mining boom was in sharp decline. The surface gold had been extracted in the middle 1860s, and mining areas became, and in many cases remain, studded with ghost towns—machinery abandoned and shacks deserted. Other towns, such as Central City with its famous opera house dating from the city's days of opulence, managed to stay alive.
The completion (1870) of a railroad link from Denver to the Union Pacific in Cheyenne, Wyo., and later railroad construction helped to stimulate the extension of farming and the growth of huge cattle ranches as well as to encourage an influx of settlers. Between 1870 and 1880 population increased almost fivefold. Denver briefly became the largest receiving market for sheep, and a smelting industry was established.
In the 1870s the discovery of silver-bearing lead carbonite ore at Leadville started a new mining boom. Prosperity was short-lived, however, for in the 1890s, despite a rich silver strike at Creede and the discovery of the state's richest gold field at Cripple Creek, Colorado suffered a depression. In 1893 the U.S. government stopped buying silver in order to restore confidence in the nation's currency, which had been placed on the gold standard in 1873. The silver market subsequently collapsed, dealing a severe blow to Colorado's economy.
Labor conflicts, disputes over railway franchises, and warfare between sheep and cattle interests also plagued the state at the turn of the century. Many of labor's battles in this period were fought in the mines of Colorado, and the lawlessness and ruthlessness that prevailed among both employers and miners were reminiscent of the early days of the mining camps. When the silver market broke, Colorado turned politically to fusion Populist-Democratic leaders advocating a return to bimetallism. The free-silver movement, however, was unsuccessful, and by 1910, with the improvement of national economic conditions, Colorado settled down to a predominantly agricultural economy.
The Twentieth Century
Large national parks, established in the early 1900s, have provided a continuing source of revenue; tourism has grown steadily. During World War I the price of silver soared again and the economy prospered. The stock-market crash of 1929 and the droughts of 1935 and 1937 brought hardships, but the economy recovered again during World War II, when the state's foods, minerals, and metal products were important to the war effort.
In the mid-1960s Colorado experienced a large influx of new residents and rapid urban growth and development, especially along a strip (c.150 mi/240 km long) centered on Denver and stretching from Fort Collins and Greeley in the north to Pueblo in the south. This growth, combined with the area's high altitude, caused pollution problems, most notably smog. The discovery and exploitation of oil created a boom in the 1970s, which collapsed in the early 1980s. Diversifying industry, swelling in-migration and accompanying construction, and tourism and recreation have since enabled Colorado to rebound, and between 1990 and 2000 it had the third largest percentage of growth of any state in the union.
Bibliography
See P. Eberhart, Guide to the Colorado Ghost Towns and Mining Camps (1959); C. Bancroft, Colorful Colorado: Its Dramatic History (1959); P. F. Dorset, The New Eldorado: The Story of Colorado's Gold and Silver Rushes (1970); L. R. Hafen, Colorado: The Story of a Western Commonwealth (1970); C. Abbott, Colorado: A History of the Centennial State (1982); M. Griffiths and L. Rubright, Colorado: A Geography (1983); G. Lawson, Colorado (1990).
State in the west-central United States in the Rocky Mountains, bordered by Wyoming and Nebraska to the north, Nebraska and Kansas to the east, Oklahoma and New Mexico to the south, and Utah to the west. Its capital and largest city is Denver.
Local Time: Jul 26, 10:53 PM
It might surprise some people that this high-altitude Rocky Mountain state is home to over thirty wineries and two american viticultural areas. Most Colorado vineyards are located in the temperate river valleys and plateaus of Mesa and Delta counties in western Colorado. Here the vineyards are at the 4000- to 7000-foot level, which makes them some of the world's highest vineyards. Terror Creek Winery in Paonia stands at 6,417 feet above sea level, making it the highest commercial vineyard currently on record. True, there are a couple of vineyards at higher altitudes (the kingdom of Bhutan in the Himalayas at 7,200 feet and Colorado's Locke Mountain Vineyards, which is just over 6,500 feet), but they only make wine for private consumption. Colorado's Grand Valley AVA encompasses some 32,000 acres and is located on the western slope, east of Grand Junction in Mesa County. The West Elks AVA is located in eastern Delta County covering approximately 48,000 acres of the North Fork of the Gunnison Valley, extending from Bowie to Hotchkiss. Much like California coastal areas, the long hot days allow Colorado grapes to mature and ripen to proper sugar levels; cool nights help set the grape's acid content. There are an estimated 450 acres of vineyards and, in order of popularity, the most widely planted grape varieties are chardonnay, merlot, riesling, cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc, pinot noir and gewürztraminer.
 |
| State of Colorado | |||||||||||
|
|||||||||||
| Official language(s) | English | ||||||||||
| Capital | Denver | ||||||||||
| Largest city | Denver | ||||||||||
| Largest metro area | Denver-Aurora Metro Area | ||||||||||
| Area | Ranked 8th | ||||||||||
| - Total | 104,185 sq mi (269,837 km²) |
||||||||||
| - Width | 280 miles (451 km) | ||||||||||
| - Length | 380 miles (612 km) | ||||||||||
| - % water | 0.36% | ||||||||||
| - Latitude | 37°N to 41°N | ||||||||||
| - Longitude | 102°03'W to 109°03'W | ||||||||||
| Population | Ranked 22nd | ||||||||||
| - Total (2000) | 4,301,261 | ||||||||||
| - Density | 41.5/sq mi 16.01/km² (37th) |
||||||||||
| - Median income | $51,022 (10th) | ||||||||||
| Elevation | |||||||||||
| - Highest point | Mount Elbert[1][2] 14,440 ft (4401 m) |
||||||||||
| - Mean | 6,800 ft (2073 m) | ||||||||||
| - Lowest point | Arikaree River[1] 3,315 ft (1010 m) |
||||||||||
| Admission to Union | August 1, 1876 (38th) | ||||||||||
| Governor | Bill Ritter (D) | ||||||||||
| U.S. Senators | Wayne Allard (R) Ken Salazar (D) |
||||||||||
| Congressional Delegation | List | ||||||||||
| Time zone | Mountain: UTC-7/DST-6 | ||||||||||
| Abbreviations | CO Colo. US-CO | ||||||||||
| Web site | www.colorado.gov | ||||||||||
The State of Colorado (IPA: /ˌkɑ.ləˈɹɒ.doʊ/) is a state located in the Rocky Mountain region of the
The State of Colorado is defined as the geoellipsoidal rectangle that stretches from 37°N to 41°N latitude and from 102°03'W to 109°03'W longitude (25°W to 32°W from the Washington Meridian).[4] Colorado is one of only three U.S. states (with Wyoming and Utah) that have only lines of latitude and longitude for boundaries.
The summit of Mount Elbert at meters ( ft) elevation in Lake County is the state's highest point and the highest point in the entire Rocky Mountains.[1][2] Colorado has more than 500 mountain peaks that exceed meters ( ft) elevation. Colorado is the only U.S. state that lies entirely above meters ( ft) elevation. The state's lowest elevation is meters ( ft) at the point on the eastern boundary of Yuma County where the Arikaree River flows into the State of Kansas.[1]
East of the Southern Rocky Mountains are the Colorado Eastern Plains of the High Plains, the section of the Great Plains within Colorado at elevations ranging from 3314 to 6562 feet (1010 to 2000 m). The states of Kansas and Nebraska border Colorado to the east. The plains are sparsely settled with most population along the South Platte and the Arkansas rivers. Precipitation is meager, averaging from 12 to 18 inches (300 to 450 mm) annually. There is some irrigated farming, but much of the land is used for dryland farming or ranching. Winter wheat is a typical crop and most small towns in the region boast both a water tower and a grain elevator.
The bulk of Colorado's population lives along the eastern edge of the Rocky Mountains in the Front Range Urban Corridor. This region is partially protected from prevailing storms by the high mountains to the west.
To the west lies the eastern slope of the Rocky Mountains with notable peaks such as Longs Peak, Mount Evans, Pikes Peak, and the Spanish Peaks near Walsenburg in the south. This area drains to the east, is forested, and partially urbanized. During the drought of 2002 devastating forest fires swept this area.
The Continental Divide stretches across the crest of the Rocky Mountains. To the west of the Continental Divide is the Western Slope. Water west of the Continental Divide drains west into the Sea of Cortez via the Colorado River.
Within the interior of the Rocky Mountains are several large parks or high broad basins. In the north, on the east side of the Continental Divide is North Park. North Park is drained by the North Platte River, which flows north into Wyoming. Just south but on the west side of the Continental Divide is Middle Park, drained by the Colorado River. South Park is the headwaters of the South Platte River. To the south lies the San Luis Valley, the headwaters of the Rio Grande, which drains into New Mexico. Across the Sangre de Cristo Range to the east of the San Luis Valley lies the Wet Mountain Valley. These basins, particularly the San Luis Valley, lie along the Rio Grande Rift, a major geological formation, and its branches.
The Rocky Mountains within Colorado contain 51 peaks that are feet ( m) or higher elevation, known as fourteeners. The mountains are timbered with conifers and aspen to the tree line, at an elevation of about feet ( m) in southern Colorado to about feet ( m) in northern Colorado; above this only alpine vegetation grows. The Colorado Rockies are snow-covered only in the winter; most snow melts by mid-August with the exception of a few small glaciers. The Colorado Mineral Belt, stretching from the San Juan Mountains in the southwest to Boulder and Central City on the front range, contains most of the historic gold- and silver-mining districts of Colorado.
The Western Slope is generally drained by the Colorado River and its tributaries. Notable to the south are the San Juan Mountains, an extremely rugged mountain range, and to the west of the San Juans, the Colorado Plateau, a high desert bordering Southern Utah. Grand Junction is the largest city on the Western Slope. Grand Junction is served by Interstate Highway I-70. To the southeast of Grand Junction is Grand Mesa, the worlds largest flat-topped mountain. Further east are the ski resorts of Aspen, Vail, Crested Butte, and Steamboat Springs. The northwestern corner of Colorado bordering Northern Utah and Western Wyoming is mostly sparsely populated rangeland.
From west to east, the state consists of desert-like basins, turning into plateaus, then alpine mountains, and then the grasslands of the Great Plains. The famous Pikes Peak is just west of Colorado Springs. Its lone peak is visible from near the Kansas border on clear days.
Colorado is also one of only four states in the United States to share a common border (Four Corners), along with Arizona, New Mexico and Utah. At this intersection, it is possible to stand in four states at once.
The climate of Colorado is best described as being cool and dry compared to the rest of the United States. While that is generally true throughout most of the state, the climate of Colorado is very complex. The typical south-north/cooler-warmer variation in other states is generally not applicable at all in Colorado. The location of mountain ranges and surrounding valleys affect local climate greatly. As a general rule, with an increase in elevation come a decrease in temperature and an increase in precipitation. A main climatic division in Colorado occurs where the Rocky Mountains begin with the Front Range cities and the plains to the east, the mountains and valleys to the west, and the foothills as a transitional zone in between the two.
The climate of the Eastern Plains is a semi-arid continental climate (Koppen climate classification BSk) of low humidity and moderately low precipitation, usually from 10 to 15 inches (250 to 380 mm) annually. The area is known for its abundant sunshine and cool clear nights, which give this area the highest average diurnal temperature range in the United States. In the summer, this area can have many days above 95 °F (35 °C) and sometimes 100 °F (38 °C) or more. Temperatures in excess of 115 °F (46 °C) in the northeast corner of the state are not uncommon, although 105 °F (41 °C) is the maximum in the front range cities above 5000 ft (1500 m). About 75% of the precipitation falls within the growing season, from April to September, but this area is very prone to droughts. Most of the precipitation comes in the form of thunderstorms which are often severe. Winters are cold and dry: in much of this region, March and April are the snowiest months. The Front Range cities closer to the mountains tend to be warmer in the winter due to chinook winds which warm the area, sometimes bringing temperatures up to 60 °F (16 °C) or higher in the winter.[5] The average July temperature is 57 degrees in the morning and 87 degrees in the afternoon.The average January temperature is 15 degrees in the morning and 43 degrees in the afternoon,although temperatures can be 60 one day and 0 the next.
West of the plains and foothills, the weather of Colorado is much less uniform. Even places a few miles (kilometers) apart can experience entirely different weather, depending on the topography of the area. Most valleys also have a semi-arid climate, which becomes an alpine climate at higher elevations. Generally, the wettest season is in the winter in Western Colorado while June is the driest month, which is the opposite of the precipitation patterns in the east. The mountains have cool summers with many days of high temperatures around 60 °F (16 °C) and 70 °F (21 °C), although frequent thunderstorms can cause a sudden drop in temperatures. Summer nights are cool, and cold at the highest altitudes which can sometimes bring snow even in the middle of the summer. The winters bring abundant, powdery snowfall to the mountains which the skiers love, although even in the winter, there can be many days with abundant sunshine in between major storms. The Western Slope has high summer temperatures similar to those found on the plains while the winters tend to be slightly cooler due to the lack of any warming winds which are common in the plains and Front Range. Other areas in the west have their own unique weather. The San Luis Valley is generally dry with little rain or snow, although the snow that falls tends to stay on the ground all winter.
