Colorado Territory

The Colorado Territory as drawn in 1860 from the Utah, Nebraska, Kansas, and New Mexico Territories. Colorado appears to have a rectangular border at this scale, but there are in fact some slight deviations from a straight line along its southern border.
The Colorado Territory as drawn in 1860 from the Utah, Nebraska, Kansas, and New Mexico Territories. Colorado appears to have a rectangular border at this scale, but there are in fact some slight deviations from a straight line along its southern border.

Organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from February 28, 1861, until August 1, 1876, when it was admitted to the Union as the State of Colorado.

- Colorado Territory
The Colorado Territory as drawn in 1860 from the Utah, Nebraska, Kansas, and New Mexico Territories. Colorado appears to have a rectangular border at this scale, but there are in fact some slight deviations from a straight line along its southern border.

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Gold prospectors in the Rocky Mountains of western Kansas Territory

Pike's Peak Gold Rush

Gold prospectors in the Rocky Mountains of western Kansas Territory
Prospector in Pikes Peak
"At timber line, Pike's Peak trail" ~ circa unknown
Sluicing for gold, photo by the U.S. Geological and Geographic Survey of the Territories. (1874–1879) Photographer: William Henry Jackson
A map from the late 1850s showing prominent routes to the gold regions

The Pike's Peak Gold Rush (later known as the Colorado Gold Rush) was the boom in gold prospecting and mining in the Pike's Peak Country of western Kansas Territory and southwestern Nebraska Territory of the United States that began in July 1858 and lasted until roughly the creation of the Colorado Territory on February 28, 1861.

Colorado

State in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States.

State in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States.

Ruins of Cliff Palace at Mesa Verde National Park. Photo by Gustaf Nordenskiöld, 1891
Great Kiva at Chimney Rock in the San Juan Mountains of Southwestern Colorado. It is said to have been built by the Ancient Pueblo peoples.
The Spanish discovering the Colorado River, namesake of the state, in 1540, by Augusto Ferrer-Dalmau. García López de Cárdenas can be seen overlooking the Grand Canyon.
Map of the Mexican Cession, with the white representing the territory the United States received from Mexico (plus land ceded to the Republic of Texas) after the Mexican–American War. Well over half of Colorado was received during this treaty.
The Anasazi Heritage Center in Dolores
The territories of New Mexico, Utah, Kansas, and Nebraska before the creation of the Territory of Colorado
Mount of the Holy Cross, photographed by William Henry Jackson in 1874
The Georgetown Loop of the Colorado Central Railroad as photographed by William Henry Jackson in 1899
Three 10th Mountain Division skitroopers above Camp Hale in February 1944.
The arid high plains in Southeastern Colorado
Front Range Peaks west of Denver
Tenmile Range and Dillon Reservoir near Breckenridge
Grays Peak at 4352 m is the highest point on the Continental Divide in North America
The high desert lands that make up the San Luis Valley in Southern Colorado
Maroon Bells, at 14163 ft, is part of White River National Forest and a tourist destination
The Colorado National Monument near Grand Junction is made up of high desert canyons and sandstone rock formations
Köppen climate types of Colorado, using 1991-2020 climate normals.
Breckenridge naturalist Edwin Carter with a mounted gray wolf killed in the Colorado Rockies, ca. 1890–1900.
An enlargeable map of the 64 counties of the State of Colorado
An enlargeable map of the 17 core-based statistical areas of Colorado
Colorado population density map
Denver Energy Center lies in the Denver financial district along 17th Street, known as the Wall Street of the West
Corn growing in Larimer County
An oil well in western Colorado
History Colorado Center in Denver
Street art in Denver
The Colorado Rockies baseball club at Coors Field
Empower Field at Mile High in Denver, home field of the Denver Broncos and the Denver Outlaws
Ball Arena, home of the Denver Nuggets, the Colorado Avalanche, and the Colorado Mammoth
Dick's Sporting Goods Park, home of the Colorado Rapids
A Colorado state welcome sign
The main terminal of Denver International Airport evokes the peaks of the Front Range.
The westbound and eastbound California Zephyrs meet in the Glenwood Canyon.
Colorado Christian University
Colorado College
Colorado Mesa University
Colorado School of Mines
Colorado State University
Regis University
The United States Air Force Academy
The University of Colorado Boulder
The University of Denver
Fort Carson
Peterson Space Force Base
United States Air Force Academy
The Southern Ute Tribal Administration Building
The Ute Mountain Ute Tribal Office Complex
Lowry Pueblo in Canyons of the Ancients National Monument
Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve
Spruce Tree House in Mesa Verde National Park

The Territory of Colorado was organized on February 28, 1861, and on August 1, 1876, U.S. President Ulysses S. Grant signed Proclamation 230 admitting Colorado to the Union as the 38th state.

Kansas Territory

Organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from May 30, 1854, until January 29, 1861, when the eastern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the free state of Kansas.

Organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from May 30, 1854, until January 29, 1861, when the eastern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the free state of Kansas.

Map of the United States in 1812
Site No. JF00-072: The Nebraska–Kansas state line at the intersection of Nebraska counties Thayer and Jefferson and Kansas counties Washington and Republic
1855 first edition of Colton's map of the Nebraska and Kansas Territories
Territorial changes of Kansas

The Territory of Colorado was created to govern this western region of the former Kansas Territory on February 28, 1861.

Utah Territory

Organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from September 9, 1850, until January 4, 1896, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Utah, the 45th state.

Organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from September 9, 1850, until January 4, 1896, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Utah, the 45th state.

The Utah Territory upon its creation, with modern state boundaries shown for reference
The evolution of the Utah Territory from its creation by Congress in 1850 to 1896, when statehood was granted
The Utah Territory upon its creation, with modern state boundaries shown for reference

In 1861 a large portion of the eastern area of the territory was reorganized as part of the newly created Colorado Territory.

New Mexico Territory

Organized incorporated territory of the United States from September 9, 1850, until January 6, 1912.

Organized incorporated territory of the United States from September 9, 1850, until January 6, 1912.

Map of the later Arizona and New Mexico Territories, split from the original New Mexico Territory of 1851, showing existing counties
Proposed boundaries for the earlier federal State of New Mexico, 1850
Map of the later Arizona and New Mexico Territories, split from the original New Mexico Territory of 1851, showing existing counties
New Mexico Territory, 1852
The Gadsden Purchase, 1853

The Colorado Territory was established by the "Colorado Organic Act" on February 28, 1861, with the same boundaries that would ultimately constitute the State of Colorado.

Nebraska Territory

Organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from May 30, 1854, until March 1, 1867, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Nebraska.

Organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from May 30, 1854, until March 1, 1867, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Nebraska.

$1 City of Omaha 1857 uniface banknote. The note is signed by Jesse Lowe in his function as Mayor of Omaha City. It was issued as scrip in 1857 to help fund the erection of the territorial capitol building at Omaha.
The front page of the December 6, 1854 issue of the Nebraska Palladium, the first newspaper to be published in the Nebraska Territory
The front page of the May 4, 1857 issue of the Nebraska Advertiser founded by Robert Wilkinson Furnas, in Brownville, Nebraska Territory
Site No. JF00-072: The Nebraska–Kansas state line at the intersection of Nebraska counties Thayer and Jefferson and Kansas counties Washington and Republic
Map of the territory of Nebraska and seal of the Nebraska Territory

The Colorado Territory was formed February 28, 1861 from portions of the territory south of 41° N and west of 102°03′ W (25° W of Washington, D.C.) (an area that includes present-day Fort Collins, Greeley and the portions of Boulder north of Baseline Road, in addition to portions of Kansas Territory, New Mexico Territory, and Utah Territory).

Bent's Old Fort's internal courtyard and fur press

List of forts in Colorado

List of military and trading forts established in the U.S. State of Colorado.

List of military and trading forts established in the U.S. State of Colorado.

Bent's Old Fort's internal courtyard and fur press

William Butler, who wrote about the fur trade in Colorado, stated that there were 24 trading posts built in the pre-territorial area of what is now Colorado.

William A. H. Loveland from a 19th-century engraving

William A. H. Loveland

U.S. railroad entrepreneur and businessman in the late 19th century.

U.S. railroad entrepreneur and businessman in the late 19th century.

William A. H. Loveland from a 19th-century engraving

An early resident of Golden when it was the capital of the Colorado Territory, he was one of the founders of the Colorado Central Railroad and a principal figure in the early history of Colorado.

Map of Jefferson Territory

Jefferson Territory

Map of Jefferson Territory
Plan of the cities of Denver, Auraria, and Highland, Jefferson Territory; Auraria and Highland, 1859

The Territory of Jefferson was an extralegal and unrecognized United States territory that existed from October 24, 1859 until the creation of the Colorado Territory on February 28, 1861.

William Larimer Jr.

Kansas state senator, American settler, and land developer who is best known as the founder of Denver, Colorado, in 1858.

Kansas state senator, American settler, and land developer who is best known as the founder of Denver, Colorado, in 1858.

Larimer was instrumental in the formation of the Colorado Territory in 1861, and in making Denver its capital.