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Colorado’s Beginnings

Before white settlers reached what would become Colorado, the area was home to several Indian tribes, including the Utes in the mountains; the Cheyenne and Arapaho on the Eastern plains; and the Ancestral Puebloans (formerly called Anasazi) in southwestern Colorado, whose cliff dwelling houses at Mesa Verde can still be seen today.

The first Europeans to explore Colorado were the Spanish, who came looking for gold in the sixteenth century. Hispanic Americans would make their homes in the San Luis Valley beginning in the 1840s, the earliest non-Indians to do so.

In 1806, Zebulon Pike, a U.S. Army officer, was sent to explore the land that Stephen Long had termed the “Great American Desert.” Here Pike recorded seeing the mountain that would later be named in his honor, Pikes Peak. It wasn’t until 1859, however, that white settlers would finally start pouring in to the Rocky Mountains. Gold had been discovered, and now, fortune-seekers traveled to what was then mainly part of Kansas Territory to make their fortune, claiming “Pikes Peak or Bust.” Two years later, as the population grew, the area became Colorado Territory.

Meanwhile, as white settlers moved in, Indians like Little Raven and Chipeta worked hard to bring peace between the settlers and the tribes, while men and women like William Byers, Helen Hunt Jackson, and Uncle Dick Wootton, and others came to Colorado to make a new life in Colorado, shaping the future of the territory as they did so. It was a time of great change for an area that would become, in 1876, the State of Colorado.

Colorado's Beginnings

“Father” John Lewis Dyer: The Snowshoe Itinerant

When: 1812-1901 Where: Central Colorado Mountains Why important: Beloved circuit-riding Methodist preacher Biography John Lewis…

Madison Basch, January 4, 2019
Colorado's Beginnings

John Charles Frémont: Senator, Governor, Presidential Candidate, and Explorer

  When: 1813-1890 Where: Colorado’s Sangre de Cristo Mountains Why important: Explorer, Presidential Candidate, Civil…

Madison Basch, December 7, 2018
Colorado's Beginnings

Black Kettle: Cheyenne Chief and Peace Negotiator

When: around 1803- 1868 Where: South Dakota Why Important: Native American peace negotiator Biography Black…

Colorado Virtual Library, March 30, 2017
Colorado's Beginnings

Julia Archibald Holmes: First Woman to Summit Pike’s Peak

When: 1838-1887 Where: Nova Scotia, Canada Why Important: First woman known to summit Pike’s Peak…

Colorado Virtual Library, February 6, 2017
Colorado's Beginnings

Ouray: Ute Chief and Negotiator

When: 1833-1880 Where: Southern Rocky Mountains, CO Why Important: Ute Chief and Treaty Negotiator Biography…

Colorado Virtual Library, January 23, 2017
Colorado's Beginnings

Silas S. Soule: Abolitionist and Brave Soldier

When: 1838-1865 Where: Fort Lyon near Sand Creek, Colorado Why Important Soldier who refused orders…

Colorado Virtual Library, December 19, 2016
Colorado's Beginnings

David Moffat: Railroad Tycoon and Industrialist

When: 1839-1911 Where: Denver, CO Why Important: Denver Businessman, Colorado railroad owner Biography David Halliday…

Colorado Virtual Library, November 15, 2016
Colorado's Beginnings

Clara Brown: Angel of the Rockies

When: 1800-1882 Where: Central City and Denver Why Important: One of the first African-American women…

Colorado Virtual Library, August 26, 2016
Colorado's Beginnings

William Byers: Founder of Rocky Mtn News

When: 1831-1903 Where: Ohio, Iowa, Nebraska, and finally, Denver Why Important: Byers was the greatest Denver promoter,…

Colorado Virtual Library, July 13, 2015
Colorado's Beginnings

Frances Wisebart Jacobs: Health Care Activist

When: 1843 – 1892 Where: Central City and Denver Why Important: She helped establish the Jewish Hospital…

Colorado Virtual Library, July 13, 2015
Colorado's Beginnings

Chief Little Raven: Peacemaker

When: c. 1810-1889 Where: Colorado and Oklahoma Why Important: This Chief sought peaceful relations between Native Americans and whites…

Colorado Virtual Library, July 13, 2015
Colorado's Beginnings

Zebulon Pike: Explorer

When: 1779 – 1813 Where: Born in New Jersey, explored Pikes Peak and Arkansas River Valley,…

Colorado Virtual Library, July 13, 2015
Colorado's Beginnings

William Palmer: Engineer, Soldier, Founder of Colorado Springs

When: 1838 – 1909 Where: Delaware, Pennsylvania, a “trek west,” Denver and Colorado Springs Why Important: A…

Colorado Virtual Library, July 13, 2015
Colorado's Beginnings

Teresita Sandoval: Colorado Pioneer

When: 1811 – 1894 Where: Born in Taos, New Mexico, she moved to Mora, New Mexico…

Colorado Virtual Library, July 13, 2015
Colorado's Beginnings

Richens “Uncle Dick” Wootton: Frontiersman

When: 1816 – 1893 Where: Raised in Virginia and settled in Denver, Colorado Why Important: Wootton was…

Colorado Virtual Library, July 13, 2015
Colorado's Beginnings

Owl Woman: Cheyenne Trader

When: 1800s – 1847 Where: Born and lived in southeastern Colorado Why Important: Owl Woman married…

Colorado Virtual Library, July 13, 2015
Colorado's Beginnings

Juana Suaso Simpson: A Frontier Life

When: 1827 – 1916 Where: Born in New Mexico and settled in Trinidad, Colorado. Why Important: Simpson did…

Colorado Virtual Library, July 13, 2015
Colorado's Beginnings

Helen Hunt Jackson: Author and Indian Advocate

When: 1830 -1885 Where: Born in Massachusetts, moved to Colorado Springs Why Important: Author and Indian Advocate…

Colorado Virtual Library, July 13, 2015
Colorado's Beginnings

Felipe Baca: Rancher and Town Founder

When: 1828 – 1874 Where: Born in Taos, New Mexico, and founded Trinidad, Colorado Why Important: Colorado…

Colorado Virtual Library, July 13, 2015
Colorado's Beginnings

Chipeta: Admired and Respected Indian Leader

When: 1843 -1924 Where: Born in the Kiowa Apache tribe and raised by the Ute tribe…

Colorado Virtual Library, July 13, 2015
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Digital Colorado Sections

  • Colorado Histories
    • Colorado’s Beginnings
    • Boom Years
    • 20th Century & Beyond
    • All Bios, Alphabetically
  • CVL Collections
  • Historic Newspapers
  • Plains to Peaks Collective

Related Sites

Colorado Historic Newspapers Collection

Contact

Leigh Jeremias
Digital Collections Consultant
ljeremias@coloradovirtuallibrary.org

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