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Colorado
Capital:
Denver
State abbreviation/Postal code:
Colo./CO
Nickname:
Centennial State
Origin of name:
Taken from the Spanish for the "color
red" and was applied to the Colorado river.
Briefs on Colorado:
Ranked 8th in the world in terms of
area and 22nd due to its population, Colorado is a western
state in the central part of the United States. Like Wyoming and Utah,
Colorado is also a place that has only latitude and longitude for
borders. Colorado stretches from 37 degrees north to 41 degrees north
and 102 degrees west to 109 degrees west.
The capital of the state is its largest city
Denver also known as the Mile High City. Denver is located on the
plains and is the county seat of and shares the same borders with,
Denver County, one of the few consolidated city counties. Besides
other things Denver is also a great reminder of Colorado’s rich and
uneven past.
 Without going into much detail about the
prehistoric times and the foundation or discovery of the state, we
find that before the Colorado Gold Rush and the organization of
Colorado Territory from the western portion of Kansas, the eastern
part of the Utah territory, the southwestern portion of the Nebraska
Territory and a small area of the northeastern New Mexico Territory on
28th February 1861 several French, Spanish and American
explorers and military expeditions as well as fur traders and trappers
and early settlers had entered the land that later came to be reckoned
as the state of Colorado. So the situation of Colorado was quite
different in the early days particularly prior to the Colorado Gold
Rush.
The period between 1832 and1856 witnessed
numerous trading posts and small settlements being established on the
banks of the Arkansas River. These settlements were also developed on
the South Platte near the Front Range. Out of these the significant
trading posts on the Arkansas were Bent’s Fort and Fort Pueblo while
on the South Platte were Ft. St. Vrain.
In 1859 Colorado witnessed the Colorado Gold
Rush. The Colorado Gold Rush was the boom in the prospecting and
mining of gold in the United States of America. It began in 1859 and
continued till early 1860s. Till date this rush is deemed to be the
greatest gold rush in the history of America. As a result of this Gold
Rush there were large number of settlers in the region especially in
the Denver area. Soon in the Central City (county seat of Gilpin
County) area gold as discovered and the population of the Denver city
rose to 60,000. Due to mining work running successfully and happening
at a large scale there many small towns were established but most of
these were later abandoned when there was a downfall in this business.
In 1972 Colorado became the only state to decline the award as the
site of Olympics after they had been granted.
Over the years Colorado has progressed to a great
extent. At present it is one of the hot vacation destinations of the
world. The natural beauty of the state, the hillside glowing bright
yellow with fallen aspen leaves, jagged and snow laden peaks of San
Juans woo the heart of every visitor coming to the place.
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