List of territorial claims and designations in Colorado
Geographic chronology of Colorado / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The area currently occupied by the U.S. State of Colorado has undergone numerous changes in occupancy, territorial claims, and political designations. Paleoamericans entered the region about 11,500 BCE,[1] although new research indicates the region may have been visited much earlier.[2] At least nine Native American nations have called the area home. Although Europeans may have entered the region as early as 1540,[3] the first European fort[lower-alpha 1] was not constructed until 1819,[4] and the first European town[lower-alpha 2] was not established until 1851,[5] primarily due to the opposition of the Ute people. Spain,[6] France,[7] Mexico,[8] and the Republic of Texas[9] have all claimed areas of future state. The United States first claimed an eastern portion of the future state with the Louisiana Purchase of 1803.[10][lower-alpha 3] The United States surrendered the portion of the region south and west of the Arkansas River to the Spanish Empire with the Adams–Onís Treaty in 1821.[11][lower-alpha 4][lower-alpha 5] The United States completed its acquisition of the region with the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo that ended the Mexican–American War in 1848.[12] The United States created the free Territory of Colorado in 1861 following the Pikes Peak Gold Rush.[13] The Territory fought for the Union during the American Civil War[14] despite many of its founders being natives of slave states or territories.[15] The Territory of Colorado joined the Union as the State of Colorado in 1876, the centennial year of the United States.[16]