Located in the southwest corner of Colorado just north of the New Mexico border, the Chimney Rock Archaeological Area is home to hundreds of archaeological sites. One of these sites, the Chimney Rock Pueblo, is known for its dramatic setting high atop…

In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, coal mining was the most important industry in Colorado. Coal mines served as the crucibles of empire, churning out the fuel needed to power the railroads, precious-metal mines, and smelters that…

The Colorado Building at 409 North Main Street in Pueblo was built in 1925 on the site of the former Grand Opera House. The four-story rectangular building housed many of Pueblo’s major artistic and commercial outfits throughout the twentieth century,…

As Europe stumbled into war in late July and early August 1914, Coloradans viewed the conflict with mixed emotions. Some favored the English, French, Italians, Russians, and their allies. Others preferred the Germans and Austrians and their friends. The…

Colorado, “the Centennial State,” was the thirty-eighth state to enter the Union on August 1, 1876. Its diverse geography encompasses 104,094 square miles of the American West and includes swathes of the Great Plains, southern Rocky Mountains, and the…

Juan J. Morales was born in the United States to an Ecuadorian mother and a Puerto Rican father. He is the author of three poetry collections, including Friday and the Year That Followed (Fairweather Books, 2006), The Siren World (Fruita, CO: Lithic…

Mesa Verde National Park was established on June 29, 1906. It is the largest of the National Park Service parcels protecting cultural resources in Colorado, with nearly 5,000 documented sites, including about 600 cliff dwellings. A majority of the…

Mesa Verde National Park was established in 1906 as the country’s ninth national park. The site was visited and considered sacred by multiple Indigenous nations before it began attracting interest from white Americans in the late nineteenth and early…

Pueblo is a city of approximately 110,000 people located near the confluence of Fountain Creek and the Arkansas River, along the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains. It is the county seat of Pueblo County, lying just off Interstate 25 about 100 miles…

Pueblo County covers 2,398 square miles in southeast Colorado, from the southern Front Range and Wet Mountains in the west to the Arkansas River valley and Great Plains in the east. It is bordered by El Paso County to the north, Crowley and Otero…

The Sacred Heart Cathedral at 1025 North Grand Avenue in Pueblo was dedicated as Sacred Heart Church in 1913. A rare example of Gothic Revival architecture in Pueblo, the cathedral demonstrates the continued importance of Catholicism in the history of…

General William Jackson Palmer (1836–1909) had a lasting impact on the environment of southern Colorado. Palmer’s initial impact on the Colorado environment resulted from his network of railroads through his Denver & Rio Grande Railroad Company. This…

The modern pueblo at Zia is one of nineteen in New Mexico that can trace some part of its history to residence in southwestern Colorado. Located on a mesa above the Jemez River about thirty-five miles northwest of Albuquerque, New Mexico, the pueblo of…