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Its skyscrapers marking the final transition between the Great
Plains and the American West, DENVER stands at the threshold
of the Rocky Mountains. Despite being known as the " Mile
High City," and serving as the obvious point of arrival for
travelers heading into the mountains, it is itself uniformly flat.
The majestic peaks are clearly visible, but they only begin to rise
roughly fifteen miles west of downtown, and Denver has, during the
last century, had plenty of room to spread out.
Mineral wealth
has always been at the heart of the city's prosperity, with all the
fluctuations of fortune that this entails. Though local resources
have been progressively exhausted, Denver has managed to hang on to
its role as the most important commercial and transportation nexus
in the state. Its original "foundation" in 1858 was by pure chance;
this was the first spot where small quantities of gold were
discovered in Colorado. There was no significant river, let alone a
road, but prospectors came streaming in, regardless of prior claims
to the land - least of all those of the Arapahoe, who had
supposedly been confirmed in their ownership of the area by the Fort
Laramie Treaty of 1851. various communities had their own names for
the settlement; with the judicious distribution of whiskey, one
faction persuaded the rest to agree to "Denver" in 1859. The hope
was to ingratiate themselves with the governor of the Kansas
Territory, James Denver, but it turned out he had already resigned.
The newspaperman Horace Greeley passed through in the early days,
and described the place as a "log city of 150 dwellings, not
three-fourths completed nor two-thirds inhabited, nor one-third fit
to be."
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There was actually very little gold in Denver itself; the infant
town swarmed briefly with disgruntled fortune-seekers, who decamped
when news came in of the massive gold strike at Central City. Denver
survived, however, prospering further with the discovery of
silver in the mountains. All sorts of shady characters made this
their home; Jefferson "Soapy" Smith, for example, acquired his
nickname here, selling bars of soap at extortionate prices under the
pretence that some contained $100 bills. When the first railroads
bypassed Denver - the death knell for so many other communities -
the citizens simply banded together and built their own connecting
spur.
These days, Denver is a welcoming and enjoyable, though
conservative
city. Tourism is based on getting out into the wide open spaces
rather than on sightseeing in town, but somehow its isolation, a
good six hundred miles from any conurbation of even vaguely similar
size, gives its two-million population a refreshing friendliness;
and in a city which is used to providing its own entertainment there
always seems to be something going on
 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
Boulder
Practicalities
Glenwood Springs
Practicalities
Hotels in Glenwood Springs
Grand
Junction
Practicalities
Colorado
Nat'l Monument
Grand
Mesa
Leadville
Skiing, mountain
 biking
Practicalities
Rocky Mountain National
Park
Exploring Rocky Mountain
Steamboat Springs
Practicalities
Summit County
Arrival
and information
Skiing, outdoor
activities
Eating
Bars, pubs
Vail
Practicalities
Winter Park
Practicalities, nightlife
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