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Colorado
is
one of the least geographically homogenous of the United States,
ranging from the flat, endless plains of the east to the colossal
mountains of the west. In the north, Native Americans hunted
and trapped in lush mountain alleys in summer, and returned to the
prairies for the winter; in the south, the Ancestral Puebloans of
Mesa Verde grew corn on their isolated mesas and shared in the great
early civilization of the southwest.
Different parts of what's now Colorado accrued to the US at
different times: the east and north were acquired under the
Louisiana Purchase in 1803, while the south was won 45 years
later in the war with Mexico . (Land grants issued under
Mexican rule were honored by the Americans, which accounts for a
still-strong Hispanic influence.) Gold-hungry Spaniards came through
in the sixteenth century, and US Army Colonel Zebulon Pike ventured
into the mountains on an exploratory expedition in 1806, but the
Native American way of life only became seriously threatened with
the discovery of gold west of Denver in 1858.
At that time
Colorado was still part of Kansas Territory; it became a territory
in its own right in 1861, and a state in 1876. The distractions of
the Civil War gave the Native Americans the opportunity to fight
back, but they were soon overwhelmed. From then until the end of the
century, Colorado boomed; the quantities of gold and silver
extracted from the mountains did not really compare with the riches
found in California, but they were sufficient to fuel a rip-roaring
frontier lifestyle. At first, too, absentee landlords attempted to
exploit massive ranches on the plains, but their disregard
for conservation ensured that the droughts and storms of 1886 and
1887 swept away the topsoil.
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For the modern visitor, the obvious first port of call is
Denver, at the eastern edge of the Rockies and the biggest city for six
hundred miles. Outside Denver, the northern half of the state holds
the most popular destinations, starting with the dynamic college
town of Boulder and the spectacular Rocky Mountain
National Park . The majority of the resorts that have made
Colorado the continent's foremost skiing destination snuggle
into the mountains to the west of Denver: Summit County
attracts the most visitors, ail is considered best for
terrain, and Aspen boasts the glitziest après-ski scene. The
far west of the state stretches onto the red-rock deserts of the
Colorado Plateau. Pikes Peak towers over the enjoyable city
of Colorado Springs, but the rest of the state's
southeast quarter is mostly agricultural plains. To the
southwest untouched old mining towns like Crested Butte
and Durango stand in the mountains, while Mesa Verde
National Park preserves perhaps the most impressive of all the
cliff cities left by the ancient Ancestral Puebloan civilization.
 Colorado
guide, hotels
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Colorado
guide, hotels
Colorado
Getting
around
Denver
The
City
Arrival
& info
Transportation
Eating
Nightlife & entertainment
Northern Colorado
Explore Northern
Colorado
Aspen
Town
and mountains
Arrival,
info
Cafés
and restaurants
Nightlife, entertainment
 Hotels in Aspen
Boulder
Practicalities
Hotels in Boulder
Glenwood Springs
Practicalities
Hotels in Glenwood Springs
Grand
Junction
Practicalities
Colorado
Nat'l Monument
Hotels in Grand Junction
Grand
Mesa
Leadville
Skiing, mountain
 biking
Practicalities
Rocky Mountain National
Park
Exploring Rocky Mountain
Steamboat Springs
Practicalities
Hotels in Steamboat Springs
Summit County
Arrival
and information
Skiing, outdoor
activities
Eating
Bars, pubs
Vail
Practicalities
Winter Park
Practicalities, nightlife
Car rental
Google maps
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