GILPIN COUNTY — It is a pleasant coincidence to be writing about Colorado’s 150 years as a state in one of Colorado Territory’s original 17 counties.

The state of Colorado was the 38th star on the United States flag. President Ulysses S. Grant signed the proclamation that Colorado was admitted to the Union on August 1, 1876. 

The Sand Creek Massacre Site in southeastern Colorado. On November 29, 1864, the US Army attacked a village of Cheyenne and Arapaho (mostly women, children, and elders) who were told they were safe in this area along the Big Sandy Creek.

Photo by Sara Sandstrom

It was a bumpy road to statehood. There were five attempts at statehood in 17 years.

Colorado was recognized by the United States as a Territory on June 6, 1861. Before that, some people called it the Territory of Jefferson, but that was never seen as legal in the eyes of the US government. What became the Territory of Colorado consisted of parts of Kansas Territory, Nebraska Territory, Utah Territory, and New Mexico Territory. 

Wait. We need to go back further. History Colorado’s research says “Over fifty-one Native Nations, including Cheyenne, Arapaho, and Ute Tribes, call the land that is now Colorado home. For generations, Indigenous peoples survived and thrived across this land.”

All of Turtle Island (named North America by Europeans) was lived on and cared for before Europeans came. 

The lives of the tribes changed forever when gold was discovered in California in 1848 and Colorado in 1858 and 1859. 

There were some negotiations and treaties with tribes. All the treaties were violated and broken by settlers and the government. As more settlers came west, more Acts (Homestead Act, Morrill Land-Grant Act) were enacted by the US government. For the people of the Native Nations it meant struggle for survival as they were removed from their land. It meant genocide. 

The powerful in Denver, including Territorial Governor John Evans and Colonel John Chivington, viewed the Native population as an obstacle to their personal goals and to  statehood when the bid was lost again in 1864. In fact, the lost bid for statehood was much more complex. 

The point of view of Evans and Chivington led to one of the deadliest days in Colorado history. The Sand Creek Massacre occurred in the early morning of November 29, 1864. 

A chief’s village of Cheyenne and Arapaho were camped along the Big Sandy Creek in southeastern Colorado. Several chiefs were in the camp along with mostly elders, women, and children. They believed they were safe there because of treaties, and that they had been promised by Evans and Chivington them they would be safe there and have food. 

It did not matter, nor did Cheyenne Chief Black Kettle’s white flag and US flag flying above his tipi. Chivington and his soldiers brought guns and howitzers. 

Captain Silas Soule and Lieutenant Joseph Cramer defied Chivington and ordered their companies to stand down. They witnessed executions, mutilations of the dead, looting, and burning of the village. 

Captain Soule to Major Edward Wynkoop, December, 1864: “It was hard to see little children…their brains beat out by men professing to be civilized.”

The soldiers murdered over 230 peaceful Arapaho and Cheyenne. They took human body parts to Denver as trophies. 

Native Americans live in Colorado today. However, when the reservation system was established, only two were within the borders of Colorado, the Southern Ute Indian Reservation and Ute Mountain Ute Reservation, both in southern Colorado. This is a result of the push for statehood and some people’s aspirations. 

An Indigenous Corporation 5280 dancer performs the Fancy Shawl Dance. Do you see a butterfly flying? The mission of this group is to bring Indigenous cultural awareness into every space through dance and education.

Photo by Sara Sandstrom

The Ute tribe of the Uintah and Ouray have a reservation in northeastern Utah. The Northern Cheyenne Nation is headquartered in southeastern Montana. Many Northern Arapaho Tribal members live on the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming. Members of the Southern Cheyenne and Southern Arapaho are headquartered in central Oklahoma. (History Colorado)

One of the reasons why it took Colorado so long to become a state was that the people did not feel represented. There were times when the miners felt they were being ignored. People in southern Colorado felt they were being ignored. African American men wanted the right to vote, and as the fight for women’s voting rights spread, women wanted representation in Colorado. 

In 1876, when statehood was attempted again, delegates chosen to write the constitution were elected from different areas across the state. This had not been done before. 

The issue of women’s suffrage came up quickly. Ultimately, it was voted down. However, H.P.H. Bromwell and Agapito Vigil, delegates from southern Colorado, argued in favor of women’s suffrage: “It is false that Woman is inferior to Man…each is part and parcel of the same humanity.”

This Colorado Constitution Convention did give women the right to vote in school elections and it provided a provision to a popular vote on the subject in the future.

Not all counties agreed with the document; however, there were enough votes to send it to Washington, DC. President Andrew Johnson had rejected the last attempt at statehood, but this time President Grant was in the White House. 

Maybe Grant’s visit to Central City helped sway his vote. On August 1, 1876, Grant declared that Colorado was the 38th state in the United States and the only Centennial State. 

Colorado being admitted to the Union instantly impacted the nation. 1876 was a presidential election year. To simply state a complicated election, Colorado had three electoral votes. Rutherford B. Hayes won the presidency by one electoral vote. Samuel J. Tilden won the popular vote by 3%. 

With the election of Hayes as president, he agreed to end Reconstruction policies. This brought the era of Jim Crow to the United States—an era of enforced racial discrimination after the Civil War. 

Within the borders of the State of Colorado (which is not a perfect rectangle or square; it has 697 sides) throughout the years miners have had booms and busts. Ranchers and farmers have faced drought and thrived in other years. The tech, ski, and tourism industries have thrived in Colorado. 

Colorado has two state songs. There is one that few people know, “Where the Columbines Grow,” written by A.J. Fynn in 1911. The state adopted it as the official state song in 1915. And a song written in 1972, “Rocky Mountain High” written by John Denver and Mike Taylor. When Coloradans hear this song the whole state seems to dance to the rhythm of the tune. “Rocky Mountain High” officially became a state song in 2007. 

The Rocky Mountain Columbine is the Colorado state flower. It is a symbol of resilience and strength.

Photo by Sara Sandstrom

We do love to see the columbines grow (the state flower). The National and State Parks across Colorado are amazing! The Great Sand Dunes National Park has alpine peaks, lakes, forests, grasslands, and dunes. Mesa Verde is a park and World Heritage Site. It is sacred land for 27 Pueblos and Tribes, according to the National Park Service. 

Rocky Mountain National Park, the mountain meadows, Trail Ridge Road, the wildlife—it is quintessential Colorado. 

Is there someplace in Colorado you would like to visit or learn more about? Have you been to Amache National Historical Site? This is near Granada, Colorado, where from 1942 to 1945 a Japanese Internment/Concentration Camp was located. Do you know about the Ludlow Massacre in 1914? Miners and their families sacrificed (some died) for better working conditions. This still impacts labor laws today.

Colorado State Capitol in Denver is the seat of the state government.

Photo by Sara Sandstrom

Have you been to the Royal Gorge Bridge or taken a dip in some of Colorado’s hot springs? Go high in the Rockies to Leadville at 10,152 feet and drive over Independence Pass for one of the most scenic mountain views in the state. It is closed in the winter, and maybe much of the year. Explore railroad history and ride the Silverton-Durango Train, the Georgetown Loop, or Leadville Railroad. 

Explore and learn about the past and present State of Colorado. Enjoy your adventures.