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Celebrating Colorado’s immigrant heritage

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In June, Colorado celebrates Immigrant Heritage Month! Immigrant Heritage Month was created in 2014 to recognize the cultures and accomplishments of immigrants to the United States. Around 10% of Colorado’s current population is foreign-born, and most of the population can trace their heritage back to immigrant ancestors. To celebrate, the State Publications Library put together a reading list covering the many waves of immigration and emigration into Colorado, from the first explorations by nomads to present day!

Four children wearing old-fashioned clothing hold gardening hoes in a dirt field.
Volga German children working in a sugar beet field. Photo from Library of Congress.

Prehistory – 1850: Indigenous occupation and early European exploration

Before the invention of borders and immigration laws, nomadic hunter-gatherers crossed an ice bridge from Asia into North America and eventually arrived at what is now Colorado. Clovis artifacts found in Colorado date back to 11,500 BCE. As indigenous cultures developed and shifted, the mountains, plains, and deserts of Colorado were home to the Folsom culture, ancestral Puebloans, and the Fremont people, as well as the Ute, Arapaho, and Cheyenne communities that remain in the state to this day.

The first Spanish explorers arrived in Colorado around 1540, searching for gold and routes between Spanish missions in Santa Fe and California. They were followed by French trappers in the 1700s and European American expeditions from the east coast in the early 1800s. Permanent white settlements like Bent’s Old Fort started to crop up in the 1830s, signaling the beginning of a larger wave of migration and immigration to the area.

1851 – 1870: The Gold Rush

The Pikes Peak Gold Rush from 1858-1861 began the colonization of Colorado as people flooded into the Mountain West to stake their mining claims. Most of the prospectors were born in the eastern United States, while immigrants from England, Ireland, and German-speaking parts of Europe comprised the rest.

The mass migration west spurred the United States to create the Colorado Territory in 1861, taking over indigenous territory through a series of treaties. White settlers on the Eastern Plains and Front Range mountains set up mining camps in traditional hunting grounds, cut down trees, and occupied winter camping grounds. This new competition for natural resources, along with the US government reneging on treaty agreements, took a devastating toll on Colorado’s indigenous communities. They resisted the encroachment of the United States onto their land until the Battle of Summit Springs in 1869, after which most Arapaho and Cheyenne were forced to move to a reservation in Oklahoma.

1871-1918:  A new state grows

Although Colorado’s Gold Rush turned out to be more of a bust, increased opportunities for mining and homesteading continued to attract immigrants into the new territory. The territorial government encouraged immigration from European countries to address Colorado’s labor shortage and increase population numbers for Colorado’s official bid for statehood. By the 1880 census, nearly 200,000 people were living in Colorado and one in five were first generation immigrants.

Immigrants from northern Europe had an easier time assimilating into Colorado, whereas those from Italy and eastern Europe were discriminated against when they first arrived in the 1880s to work in mines and on railroad construction. Disparate European immigrant groups eventually banded together during labor disputes, finding common ground in opposing the mine owners exploiting their labor.

Starting in the 1860s, Chinese and Irish workers were hired to do the difficult jobs required to build the Transcontinental Railroad. Thousands stayed in the Mountain West after the project was completed. Despite their contributions to connecting the country, Chinese immigrants were subject to racist antagonism by European immigrant groups and Americans (who were mostly also the descendants of immigrants). Escalating violence culminated in Denver’s anti-Chinese race riot in 1880 and the passage of the Chinese Exclusion Act, which prohibited Chinese people from immigrating to the United States. However, Colorado still faced a labor shortage and recruited people from Japan and other Asian countries to replace Chinese workers.

1918-64: An era of nativism

After World War I, there was a rise in eugenics “science” that was used to justify the end of the United States’ free immigration policy.  Congress passed several acts in the 1920s and 1930s placing quotas on the number of immigrants allowed into the country each year and barring immigration from Asia and southern and eastern Europe.

Despite federal restrictions on immigration, Colorado still encouraged immigration and emigration into the state. The State Board of Immigration published several pamphlets in the 1920s describing Colorado’s regions and declaring, “No state in the Union offers better opportunities for those of limited means if they possess energy, industry and intelligence.”

There were no restrictions on immigration from Latin America, so Mexican immigrants continued to move to Colorado, joining the Hispano community that existed here long before Colorado became a state. By 1930, people with Mexican ancestry made up 13% of the state’s population and contributed to the state’s most important industries, like coal mining and agriculture. Colorado’s sugar beet farms depended on labor from Mexican migrant workers, who were recruited through the Bracero Program to work in Colorado in exchange for fair pay, housing, and protections from racial discrimination. Although these benefits were not always provided, many braceros were able to support their families on the wages they earned supporting Colorado’s agriculture industry. The Bracero Program ended in 1964, but American food systems still depend on the labor of migrant workers from Mexico and Central America.

1964 – Present: Attempting a more global approach

A more globalized world shifted immigration policy after World War II. Congress repealed the Chinese Exclusion Act, ended policies prohibiting immigrants based on race, and passed the Hart-Cellar Act in 1965, which attempted to create a fair immigration system and established a family reunification process.

In the past 50 years, Colorado’s culture, politics, and economic prosperity have all benefited from increasing immigration. By 2021, about 10% of Colorado’s population was foreign-born. Most come from Mexico, India, Vietnam, China, and Germany and frequently share their unique food, art, and customs. Colorado also has a history of welcoming refugees fleeing dangerous situations their home countries. While there is often concern that refugees will be a burden on the state’s resources, a 2018 study found that investing in refugees has a net positive economic impact for Colorado. Aside from the financial benefit, welcoming new neighbors from around the world contributes to Colorado’s cultural identity and creates a more interesting state for all of us to live!

To check out any of the books listed or for any other assistance, contact the library at spl@cde.state.co.us.

Miranda Doran-Myers
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