Colorado

Colorado is a state in the western United States. The name of Colorado came from the Spanish word "colorado" which means "reddish". It is famous for the Rocky Mountains, where the highest peaks of the range exist. The state capital and largest city is Denver. As of the 2000 census, Colorado's population is 4,301,261. The U.S. Post Office abbreviation for the state is CO.

USS Colorado was named in honor of this state.

Table of contents

1 History 2 Law and Government 3 Geography 4 Colorado Tourism and Recreation 4.1 National Parks 5 Monuments and Historical Sites 6 Economy 7 Demographics 8 Important Cities and Towns 9 Education 9.2 Colleges and Universities 10 Professional Sports Teams 11 Miscellaneous Information 11.3 Major Highways 12 External Links and Information

History

The Colorado Gold Rush of 1859 brought large numbers of settlers to the Denver area. Gold in paying quantities was soon discovered in the Central City area. By 1860 the population of Central City was 60,000. Like all resource extraction, mining is a boom or bust situation and over the years many small towns were established then abandoned when the paying ore ran out or the market collapsed. Some like Aspen, Telluride, and Cripple Creek have found new life as ski resorts, cultural centers, or gambling towns; others never recovered and became ghost towns.

• History prior to joining the United States
• Colorado was organized as a United States territory on February 28, 1861.
• when first came under U.S. control (if it was a territory prior to being a state)
• Attained statehood: 1876
• Colorado women were granted the right to vote starting on November 7, 1893.

Law and Government

Like the majority of the states, Colorado's current constitution provides for 3 branches of government: the legislative, executive and judicial branches. The legislative body is the General Assembly made up of two houses, the House of Representatives and the Senate. The House of Representatives has 65 members and the Senate has 35. The governor, currently Bill Owens (Republican), heads the executive branch.See: List of Colorado Governors

Geography

East of the front range of the Rocky Mountains are the Great Plains, within Colorado at elevations ranging from 3500 to 7000 feet. Kansas, Nebraska and Oklahoma border Colorado to the east. The plains are sparsely settled with most settlements along the South Platte and the Arkansas rivers and the I-70 corridor. Rainfall is meager, averaging about 15 inches per year. There is some irrigated farming, but much of the land is used for dryland farming or ranching. Winter wheat is a typical crop and most small towns in the region boast both a water tower and a grain elevator.

The major cities and towns lie just east of the front range, in the I-25 corridor. The majority of the population of Colorado lives in this densely urbanized strip.

To the west lies the front range of the Rocky Mountains with notable peaks such as Long's Peak, Mount Evans, Pike's Peak, and the Spanish Peaks near Walsenburg in the south. This area drains to the east, is forested, and is partially urbanized. With urbanization, utilization of the forest for timbering and grazing was retarded which resulted in accumulation of fuel. During the drought of 2002 devastating forest fires swept this area.

To the west of the front range lies the Continental divide. To the west of the continental divide is the Western Slope of Colorado. Water west of the continental divide drains into the Pacific Ocean via the Colorado River.

Within the interior of the Rocky Mountains there are several large parks or broad high basins. In the north, on the east side of the Continental divide is North Park. North Park is drained by the North Platte River which flows north into Wyoming. Just south, but on the west side of the continental divide is Middle Park, drained by the Colorado River. South Park is the headwaters of the South Platte River. To the South lies the San Luis Valley the headwaters of the Rio Grande which drains into New Mexico. Across the Sangre de Christo Range to the east of the San Luis Valley lies the Wet Mountain Valley. These basins, particularly the San Luis Valley, lie along the Rio Grande Rift, a major geological formation, and its branches. See Great Rift Valley.

The Rocky Mountains within Colorado contain 52 14,000 foot peaks. The mountains are timbered with conifer and aspen to an elevation of about 12,000 feet in southern Colorado to about 10,500 feet in northern Colorado which is Timberline, above which only alpine vegetation grows. The Rockies are snow-covered only in the winter; most snow melts by mid August with the exception of a few small glaciers. The Colorado Mineral Belt stretching from the San Juan Mountains in the southwest to Boulder and Central City on the front range contains the historic gold and silver mining districts of Colorado.

The Western Slope is generally drained by the Colorado River and its tributaries. Notable to the South are the San Juan Mountains an extremely rugged mountain range and to the west of the San Juans, The Colorado Plateau a high desert bordering Southern Utah. Grand Junction is the largest city on the Western Slope. Grand Junction is served by Interstate Hiway I-70. To the southeast of Grand Junction is Grand Mesa, a large flat-topped mountain. Further east lie the ski resorts of Aspen, Vail, Crested Butte, and Steamboat Springs. The northwestern corner of Colorado bordering Northern Utah and Western Wyoming is mostly sparsely populated rangeland.

From west to east, the state consists of desert-like basins, turning into plateaus, then alpine mountains, and then grasslands. Mount Elbert is the highest peak in the Rocky Mountains within the continental United States. The famous Pike's Peak is just west of Colorado Springs. Its lone peak is visible from near the Kansas border on clear days.

Colorado Tourism and Recreation

National Parks

* Black Canyon Of The Gunnison National Park
* Mesa Verde National Park
* Rocky Mountain National Park

* Colorado National Monument
* Dinosaur National Monument
* Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument
* Great Sand Dunes National Monument

Demographics

Education

Colleges and Universities

Adams State College Colorado Christian University Colorado College Colorado School of Mines Colorado State University Colorado Technical University Fort Lewis College Jones International University Mesa State College Metropolitan State College of Denver

Naropa Institute National Technological University Nazarene Bible College Regis University Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design United States Air Force Academy University of Colorado System University of Colorado at Boulder University of Colorado at Colorado Springs University of Colorado at Denver University of Colorado Health Sciences Center University of Denver University of Northern Colorado University of Southern Colorado Western State College

Professional Sports Teams

Denver Broncos, National Football League Denver Nuggets, National Basketball Association Colorado Rockies, Major League Baseball

Colorado Avalanche, National Hockey League Colorado Rapids, Major League Soccer Colorado Springs Sky Sox, minor league baseball

Miscellaneous Information

See: Colorado River

Major Highways

External Links and Information

• The Official Colorado State Website

• Explore Colorado, A Naturalist's Handbook, The Denver Museum of Natural History and Westcliff Publishers, 1995, ISBN 1-56579-124-X for an excellent guide to the ecological regions of Colorado.
• The Archeology of Colorado, Revised Edition, E. Steve Cassells, Johnson Books, Boulder, Colorado, 1997, trade paperback, ISBN 1-55566-193-9.
• Chokecherry Places, Essays from the High Plains, Merrill Gilfillan, Johnson Press, Boulder, Colorado, trade paperback, ISBN 1-55566-227-7.
• The Tie That Binds, Kent Haruf, 1984, hardcover, ISBN 0030719798, a fictional account of farming in Colorado.
• Railroads of Colorado: Your Guide to Colorado's Historic Trains and Railway Sites, Claude Wiatrowski, Voyageur Press, 2002, hardcover, 160 pages, ISBN 0-89658-591-3