%1 http://coloradoencyclopedia.org/ en Douglas County http://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/douglas-county <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--title--encyclopedia-article.html.twig x field--node--title.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--title.html.twig * field--string.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Douglas County</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: x field--node--field-article-image--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-article-image.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-article-image.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--field-article-image--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div id="carouselEncyclopediaArticle" class="carousel slide" data-bs-ride="true"> <div class="carousel-inner"> <div class="carousel-item active"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'node' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * node--2369--article-detail-image.html.twig * node--2369.html.twig x node--image--article-detail-image.html.twig * node--image.html.twig * node--article-detail-image.html.twig * node.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/content/node--image--article-detail-image.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-encyclopedia-image--image.html.twig * field--node--field-encyclopedia-image.html.twig * field--node--image.html.twig * field--field-encyclopedia-image.html.twig * field--image.html.twig x field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-encyclopedia-image field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'image_formatter' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-formatter.html.twig' --> <a href="/image/douglas-county-courthouse-1880"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'image_style' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-style.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'image' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image.html.twig' --> <img loading="lazy" src="/sites/default/files/styles/wide/public/Douglas-County-Media-2_0_0.jpg?itok=OZwVA01T" width="1000" height="770" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" class="image-style-wide" /> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-style.html.twig' --> </a> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-formatter.html.twig' --> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="carousel-caption d-none d-md-block"> <h5><a href="/image/douglas-county-courthouse-1880" rel="bookmark"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--title--image.html.twig x field--node--title.html.twig * field--node--image.html.twig * field--title.html.twig * field--string.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Douglas County Courthouse, 1880</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> </a></h5> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--body--image.html.twig * field--node--body.html.twig * field--node--image.html.twig * field--body.html.twig x field--text-with-summary.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--text-with-summary.html.twig' --> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>The Douglas County Courthouse was completed in 1890. It burned in 1978 as a result of arson.</p> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--text-with-summary.html.twig' --> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/content/node--image--article-detail-image.html.twig' --> </div> <div class="carousel-item"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'node' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * node--2368--article-detail-image.html.twig * node--2368.html.twig x node--image--article-detail-image.html.twig * node--image.html.twig * node--article-detail-image.html.twig * node.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/content/node--image--article-detail-image.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-encyclopedia-image--image.html.twig * field--node--field-encyclopedia-image.html.twig * field--node--image.html.twig * field--field-encyclopedia-image.html.twig * field--image.html.twig x field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-encyclopedia-image field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'image_formatter' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-formatter.html.twig' --> <a href="/image/douglas-county"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'image_style' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-style.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'image' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image.html.twig' --> <img loading="lazy" src="/sites/default/files/styles/wide/public/Douglas-County-Media-1_0.jpg?itok=hxEUXP5a" width="1000" height="724" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" class="image-style-wide" /> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-style.html.twig' --> </a> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-formatter.html.twig' --> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="carousel-caption d-none d-md-block"> <h5><a href="/image/douglas-county" rel="bookmark"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--title--image.html.twig x field--node--title.html.twig * field--node--image.html.twig * field--title.html.twig * field--string.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Douglas County</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> </a></h5> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--body--image.html.twig * field--node--body.html.twig * field--node--image.html.twig * field--body.html.twig x field--text-with-summary.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--text-with-summary.html.twig' --> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>Douglas County, one of the original seventeen counties of Colorado, is located on the Palmer Divide, a ridge that separates tributaries to the South Platte and the Arkansas Rivers.</p> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--text-with-summary.html.twig' --> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/content/node--image--article-detail-image.html.twig' --> </div> </div> <button class="carousel-control-prev" type="button" data-bs-target="#carouselEncyclopediaArticle" 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field--label-hidden"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'username' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/user/username.html.twig' --> <span lang="" about="/users/yongli" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">yongli</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/user/username.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--created--encyclopedia-article.html.twig x field--node--created.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--created.html.twig * field--created.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'time' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/time.html.twig' --> <time datetime="2017-02-21T16:36:30-07:00" title="Tuesday, February 21, 2017 - 16:36" class="datetime">Tue, 02/21/2017 - 16:36</time> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/time.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'addtoany_standard' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * addtoany-standard--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * addtoany-standard--node.html.twig x addtoany-standard.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/addtoany/templates/addtoany-standard.html.twig' --> <span class="a2a_kit a2a_kit_size_32 addtoany_list" data-a2a-url="http://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/douglas-county" data-a2a-title="Douglas County"><a class="a2a_dd addtoany_share" href="https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Fcoloradoencyclopedia.org%2Farticle%2Fdouglas-county&amp;title=Douglas%20County"></a><a class="a2a_button_facebook"></a><a class="a2a_button_twitter"></a><a class="a2a_button_email"></a></span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/addtoany/templates/addtoany-standard.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--body--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--body.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--body.html.twig * field--text-with-summary.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item" id="id-body"><p>Douglas County covers 843 square miles between <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/denver"><strong>Denver</strong></a> and <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/colorado-springs"><strong>Colorado Springs</strong></a> on the western <a href="/article/colorado%E2%80%99s-great-plains"><strong>Great Plains</strong></a> along the <a href="/article/front-range"><strong>Front Range</strong></a>. The county was established in 1861 as one of the original seventeen counties of the <a href="/article/colorado-territory"><strong>Colorado Territory</strong></a>. It is bordered to the north by <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/arapahoe-county"><strong>Arapahoe County</strong></a>, to the east by <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/elbert-county"><strong>Elbert County</strong></a>, to the south by <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/el-paso-county"><strong>El Paso</strong></a> and <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/teller-county"><strong>Teller</strong></a> Counties, and to the west by <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/jefferson-county"><strong>Jefferson County</strong></a>. The county took its name from Stephen A. Douglas, a popular politician in the 1850s who argued for popular sovereignty and who ran against Abraham Lincoln in the 1858 senate race and in the 1860 presidential race.</p><p>With a population of 322,387, Douglas County is the seventh-most populous county in the state. The county seat is <strong>Castle Rock</strong>, a burgeoning <a href="https://medium.com/@solar-power-systems/solar-companies-in-california-fd66358a8661">community</a> just south of the Denver Metro area linked to the capital by <strong>Interstate 25</strong>. Other towns include the Denver suburbs of <strong>Highlands Ranch</strong>, <strong>Lone Tree</strong>, and <strong>Parker</strong>, and <strong>Larkspur</strong>, located south of Castle Rock on I-25.</p><p>Douglas County sits atop the western edge of the <strong>Palmer Divide</strong>. The broad ridge, which runs from the Rocky Mountains in the west to the town of Limon in the east, divides tributaries of the <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/south-platte-river"><strong>South Platte</strong></a><strong> </strong>and <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/arkansas-river"><strong>Arkansas Rivers</strong></a> and ranges between 6,000 and 7,500 feet in elevation. Because of this, the county’s climate is generally wetter than those to the north and south. The county also includes part of the <strong>Pike National Forest</strong>, Roxborough State Park, <strong>Castlewood Canyon State Park</strong>, and the Chatfield State Recreation Area. The South Platte River forms the county’s northwestern border with Jefferson County, flowing out of the foothills into <strong>Chatfield Lake</strong>. Plum Creek, a tributary of the Platte, begins in the foothills southwest of Larkspur and runs through Castle Rock and the small community of <strong>Sedalia</strong> before it also empties into Chatfield Lake.</p><h2>Native Americans</h2><p>Douglas County’s archaeological record holds evidence of human occupation from about 13,000 years ago. Projectile points, millstones, and other early tools found at the <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/lamb-spring-archaeological-site"><strong>Lamb Spring</strong></a> site and others indicate the presence of people from the <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/clovis"><strong>Clovis</strong></a>, <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/folsom-people"><strong>Folsom</strong></a>, and Plano periods. These early people were hunter-gatherers, following the seasonal migrations of large game, collecting dietary plants, and camping near the foothills along waterways during the winter. The earliest <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/paleo-indian-period"><strong>Paleo-Indians</strong></a> hunted large game, including mammoth and camels. Later groups hunted more familiar large game such as <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/rocky-mountain-elk"><strong>elk</strong></a>, <strong>bison</strong>, and <a href="/article/mule-deer"><strong>deer</strong></a>.</p><p>Modern Native American groups were also hunter-gatherers. <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/search/google/ute"><strong>Ute</strong></a> people occupied the mountains of western Douglas County by the sixteenth century, following the same seasonal migration routes as earlier indigenous groups. After tracking game into the high country during the summer and fall, Utes moved to the base of the mountains and set up winter camps in the areas of present-day Denver and Castle Rock. Utes lived in temporary or mobile dwellings such as <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/wickiups-and-other-wooden-features"><strong>wickiups</strong></a> and <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/tipi-0"><strong>tipis</strong></a>.</p><p>By the early nineteenth century, the <strong>Cheyenne</strong> and <strong>Arapaho</strong> had migrated to the Douglas County area. These two groups moved southwest from the upper Midwest, where they had historically lived in more sedentary farming communities. During their westward migration the Cheyenne and Arapaho adopted a nomadic way of life centered around the horse, which they used to follow the great buffalo herds across the plains. While both groups primarily lived on the plains, their pursuit of buffalo and other game often led them into the mountains, where they fought with the Ute for access to hunting grounds. Like the Ute, the Cheyenne and Arapaho often wintered along water sources such as Plum Creek and the South Platte, using trees and plants in the area for shelter and fuel.</p><h2>Early American Era</h2><p>The United States acquired the area of Douglas County as part of the <strong>Louisiana Purchase</strong> in 1803, but the area was nonetheless controlled by Ute, Cheyenne, and Arapaho for the next several decades. <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/fur-trade-colorado"><strong>Fur</strong></a> trappers arrived during the 1820s to trap <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/beaver"><strong>beaver</strong></a>, and during the 1830s the area’s native groups harvested buffalo hides to trade at <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/bents-forts"><strong>Bent’s Fort</strong></a> farther south. In the <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/treaty-fort-laramie"><strong>Treaty of Fort Laramie</strong></a> (1851), the Cheyenne and Arapaho agreed to allow safe westward passage of white travelers as long as they retained sovereignty over their land in Colorado.</p><p>However, events later in the decade refocused the US government’s attention on Colorado. In 1858 the <strong>William Green Russell Party</strong>, a group of prospectors from Georgia, followed the <strong>Cherokee Trail</strong>, a popular route west that ran through Douglas County, to prospect for gold in the Rockies. They reportedly found some flakes of gold in Russellville Gulch, east of modern Castle Rock, but the party soon moved on toward present-day Denver, where they found an even larger deposit. News of their findings in present Douglas County and Denver set off the <a href="/article/colorado-gold-rush"><strong>Colorado Gold Rush</strong></a> (1858–59)<strong>.</strong></p><p>The Cherokee Trail—also called the Trapper’s Trail—and the <strong>Smoky Hill Trail</strong> had been used by Cherokees and prospectors to participate in both the California and Colorado gold rushes in the mid-nineteenth century. As part of this trail, two stage stops in present Douglas County, <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/seventeen-mile-house"><strong>Seventeen Mile House</strong></a> and <strong>Twenty Mile House</strong>, functioned as rest stops for travelers. Their names reflected the distance from Denver.</p><h2>County Development</h2><p>The <a href="/article/colorado-territory"><strong>Colorado Territory</strong></a> was established in 1861, and Douglas County became one of the original seventeen counties. It was named for Stephen A. Douglas, a popular politician who debated Abraham Lincoln before the Civil War. The county originally stretched from the Rocky Mountains to the Kansas border. The first county seat was Franktown, a ranching and farming community along the Jimmy Camp Trail, another popular route for early miners and travelers. After Colorado became a state in 1876, the county shrunk to its current size following the creation of Elbert, <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/lincoln-county"><strong>Lincoln</strong></a>, and <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/kit-carson-county"><strong>Kit Carson</strong></a> Counties.</p><p>The <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/treaty-fort-wise"><strong>Treaty of Fort Wise</strong></a> in 1861 led to the removal of the Cheyenne and Arapaho to a reservation in eastern Colorado, and in 1864 the US government approved a treaty with the Ute Indians that granted the United States the entire Front Range. However, all three groups continued to visit Douglas County to hunt and trade with white immigrants, who arrived to take advantage of the <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/homestead"><strong>Homestead Act</strong></a> of 1862.</p><p>The relatively high rainfall of the Palmer Divide supports more trees and vegetation than surrounding areas, making the land around Plum Creek, the South Platte, and Cherry Creek ideal for the development of farming and cattle ranching. Sawmills converted felled trees into lumber for local ranches and farmhouses, as well as for buildings in developing Denver. Additionally, <strong>rhyolite</strong> quarries near present Castle Rock provided stone for buildings in Douglas County, <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/auraria-west-denver"><strong>Auraria</strong></a>, and Denver.</p><p>Quarry workers and ranchers in the Plum Creek valley established the town of Castle Rock in the 1870s. <a href="/article/william-jackson-palmer"><strong>William Jackson Palmer</strong></a>’s <strong>Denver &amp; Rio Grande Railroad</strong> (D&amp;RG) reached Castle Rock in the early 1870s and built a train depot in the town, which then became the county seat in 1874. The railroad lowered the costs of shipping local timber, rhyolite, and cheese, and Castle Rock became an important stop along a Front Range rail corridor that eventually extended south to Colorado Springs and <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/pueblo"><strong>Pueblo</strong></a>.</p><p>One of the earliest farmers in the area was Dad Rufus Clark, who set up a successful potato farm near present-day Highlands Ranch. Dairies, creameries, and cheese factories also developed in the county, including the Big Dry Creek Cheese Ranch, which was set up in the 1870s.</p><p>Drawn by financial interests in timber, mining, ranching, farming, and real estate, the eastern industrialist Samuel A. Long filed for a <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/homestead"><strong>homestead</strong></a> in Douglas County in 1884. Four years later he had acquired 2,000 additional acres, and in 1891 Long built a modest farmhouse on the property. In 1891 Long sold the house to rancher John Springer, who expanded it into the <strong>Highlands Ranch Mansion.</strong> Long went on to become one of Douglas County’s pioneers of dryland farming—farming with low-water crops such as winter wheat—in the late 1890s. Springer, meanwhile, kept buying ranch land in the surrounding area, eventually owning 12,000 acres on which he raised horses and cattle.</p><p>The Englishman Charles Allis also arrived during the 1880s and set up a ranch near Castle Rock. The Allis ranch eventually became known as Greenland and raised cattle, pigs, milk cows, and sheep on more than 1,700 acres. The ranch stayed in the family for generations, and its proprietors became leading citizens in Douglas County; Charles’s son Alfred not only helped usher the ranch through the Great Depression but also served on the Greenland School Board and as a firefighter with the Larkspur Fire Department. He also served as postmaster of Larkspur in the 1970s.</p><p>The Douglas County courthouse was completed in 1890 with stone from local rhyolite quarries. That same year, Denver officials commissioned the building of Castlewood Dam to ensure proper irrigation for local farms and ranches.</p><p>In the early 1880s a second rail line was completed through the county. The Denver &amp; New Orleans (D&amp;NO) connected Denver and Pueblo, with a stop in the area of present-day Parker. Parker began as a collection of homesteads around Twenty Mile House, and the railroad allowed the town to expand. By the turn of the century it included a saloon, mercantile, dry goods store, water tower and pump house, creamery, and school.</p><h2>Twentieth Century</h2><p>In 1906 a new industry came to Douglas County—DuPont’s dynamite factory. DuPont bought the site of present-day&nbsp;<a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/louviers"><span style="display:none;"><strong> </strong></span><strong>Louviers</strong></a> in 1906, where it built the town and the factory. Initially, workers lived in tents, but the company soon built homes for the workers, the first of which were completed in 1908. By 1917 the company had built a clubhouse as a community center for workers in the town. The company town flourished until the factory closed in the 1970s.</p><p>Pike National Forest, covering the western part of Douglas County, was also established in 1906. In 1912 the <a href="/article/us-forest-service-colorado"><strong>Forest Service</strong></a> built a fire lookout in the foothills called the<a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/devils-head-lookout"><strong> Devil’s Head Lookout</strong></a>, which is still used today.</p><p>Disaster hit the county in 1933 when <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/castlewood-dam"><strong>Castlewood Dam</strong></a> broke following several days of heavy rain. A torrent of water gushed down Cherry Creek toward Parker and Denver, killing two people and causing extensive property damage.</p><p>During the first half of the twentieth century, ranches and creameries continued operation, and Douglas County towns remained relatively small and rural. In 1940 about 67 percent of the land in Douglas County was covered by farms.</p><h2>From Ranches to Subdivisions</h2><p>The 1960s brought the first urban sprawl from the Denver area. The population of Colorado grew substantially after World War II. As Denver and its suburbs grew, so did the need for housing and transportation. Construction of Interstate 25 between Castle Rock and Denver was completed in 1963, giving Douglas County a connection to both Denver and Colorado Springs along the state’s newest and longest north-south highway.</p><p>Motorists had only been using the new highway for two years when the largest <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/south-platte-flood-1965"><strong>flood</strong></a> in Douglas County history occurred in June 1965. Following several days of rain, a tornado hit Palmer Lake. With the ground saturated, a flood began and surged along East Plum Creek into Castle Rock. In addition to inundating the city, the floodwaters washed out I-25 and all the bridges between Castle Rock and Denver. The torrent destroyed buildings in Louviers, and as the floodwaters reached Denver, the city closed roads and evacuated buildings.</p><p>Despite the setback from the flood, development continued in Douglas County over the next several decades. New neighborhoods were built in the Parker area in the 1960s, and in 1979 Mission Viejo bought the Highlands Ranch area. The developer finished building the modern residential community of Highlands Ranch in 1981. The city of Lone Tree was incorporated in 1996, with a population of around 3,000. Since then the city has quadrupled in size, going from a small bedroom community of Denver to a thriving suburb. In 1997 farms occupied just 38 percent of Douglas County land.</p><p>As new towns and developments increased the county’s population, residents needed more local shopping options. In 1992 the Factory Shops, a sprawling outlet mall complex, opened in Castle Rock, and 1996 brought the opening of Park Meadows Shopping Mall in Lone Tree. The small bedroom community incorporated the same year. These developments encouraged residents to shop locally instead of traveling outside the county for purchases. It also brought needed tax revenue to the county.</p><h2>Today</h2><p>Currently, the largest employer in Douglas County is the retail industry, followed by government jobs. The population continues to rise, from about 175,000 in 2000 to about 319,000 in 2015. As new developments change the face of the county, residents work to balance urban and suburban growth while preserving the area’s cultural and natural heritage.</p><p>Organizations such as Historic Douglas County, Douglas County History Research Center, the Castle Rock Historical Society, the Parker Area Historical Society, and the Highlands Ranch Historical Society work to preserve significant historic buildings. In 1996, for instance, the Castle Rock Historical Society refurbished the town’s train depot and converted it into the <strong>Castle Rock Museum</strong>. Additionally, the town’s Historic Preservation Board circulates walking tour guides that take visitors past twenty-one historic sites and buildings. Douglas County also helped secure funds to restore Seventeen Mile House in 2001, and the Parker Historical Society lists an additional twenty-seven historic properties that it has helped preserve.</p><p>Douglas County also works to preserve its environment through the Pike National Forest and several state recreation sites. These sites ensure that its natural resources, such as timber and water sources—which allowed the county to be settled in the nineteenth century—can be enjoyed by generations to come.</p></div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-author--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-author.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-author.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-author field--type-entity-reference field--label-above" id="id-field-author"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-author">Author</div> <div class='field__items'> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-author"><a href="/author/encyclopedia-staff" hreflang="und">Encyclopedia Staff</a></div> </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-keyword--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-keyword.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-keyword.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-keyword field--type-entity-reference field--label-above" id="id-field-keyword"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-keyword">Keywords</div> <div class='field__items'> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/douglas-county" hreflang="en">Douglas County</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/colorado-gold-rush" hreflang="en">Colorado Gold Rush</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/ranching" hreflang="en">ranching</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/castle-rock" hreflang="en">Castle Rock</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/highlands-ranch" hreflang="en">Highlands Ranch</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/parker" hreflang="en">Parker</a></div> </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'links__node' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * links--node.html.twig x links--inline.html.twig * links--node.html.twig * links.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/navigation/links--inline.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/navigation/links--inline.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-references-html--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-references-html.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-references-html.html.twig * field--text-long.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-references-html field--type-text-long field--label-above" id="id-field-references-html"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-references-html">References</div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-references-html"><p>Castle Rock Chamber of Commerce, “<a href="https://visitcastlerock.org/about-castle-rock/history/">About Castle Rock</a>,” 2016.</p><p>City of Lone Tree, “<a href="https://cityoflonetree.com/">About Lone Tree</a>,” n.d.</p><p>Colorado Department of Transportation, “<a href="https://www.codot.gov/about/CDOTHistory/50th-anniversary/interstate-25">Interstate 25 History</a>,” n.d.</p><p>Douglas County, “<a href="https://www.douglas.co.us/museum/vex16/index.htm">Douglas County, Colorado Historic Preservation,”</a> 2014.</p><p>Douglas County Museum, “<a href="https://www.douglas.co.us/museum/vex13/index.htm">Allis Ranch: Greenland, Colorado: A Pioneer Ranch on the Palmer Divide</a>,” n.d.</p><p>Douglas County Planning Commission, “<a href="https://www.douglas.co.us/documents/full-cmp.pdf/">Douglas County 2035 Comprehensive Master Plan</a>,” Douglas County, 2014.</p><p>Douglas County Community Planning and Sustainable Development Department, “<a href="https://www.douglas.co.us/documents/douglas-county-profile-for-the-at-risk-population.pdf/">Douglas County Profile</a>,” Douglas County, 2011.</p><p>Douglas County History Research Center, “<a href="https://douglascountyhistory.org/digital/collection/documents/id/0">Douglas County History Research Center</a>,” Douglas County Libraries, 2015.</p><p>Fleta Nockels, “<a href="https://douglascounty-co.aauw.net/about/history/">Douglas County Branch History</a>,” AAUW Douglas County Branch, n.d.</p><p>Highlands Ranch Metro District, “<a href="http://highlandsranch.org/community/history/">Highlands Ranch History</a>,” n.d.</p><p>Highlands Ranch Mansion, “<a href="http://highlandsranchmansion.com/history-2/mansion-families/john-springer/">John Springer</a>,” 2016.</p><p>Highlands Ranch Mansion, “<a href="http://highlandsranchmansion.com/history-2/mansion-families/samuel-allen-long/">Samuel Allen Long</a>,” 2016.</p><p>Historic Douglas County, “<a href="https://historicdouglascounty.org/about">About Douglas County</a>,” n.d.</p><p>Colleen O’Connor, “<a href="https://www.denverpost.com/2014/08/16/after-20-years-lone-tree-is-setting-the-bar-with-incredible-potential/">After 20 years, Lone Tree is setting the bar with incredible potential</a>,” <em>The Denver Post</em>, August 16, 2014.</p><p>Office of Archaeology and Historic Preservation, “<a href="https://www.historycolorado.org/oahp/douglas-county">Douglas County</a>,” History Colorado, n.d.</p><p>Parker Area Historical Society, “<a href="https://www.parkerhistory.org/">A Brief History of Parker, Colorado</a>,” Parker Area Historical Society, 2016.</p><p>Parker Area Historical Society, “<a href="https://www.parkerhistory.org/local-sites">Local Parker Historical Sites</a>,” 2016.</p><p>Larry T. Smith, “<a href="https://www.parkerhistory.org/17-mile-house">17 Mile House and Barn</a>,” Parker Area Historical Society, 2009.</p><p>The Weather and Climate Impact Assessment Science Program, “<a href="http://www.assessment.ucar.edu/flood/flood_summaries/06_14_1965.html">South Platte &amp; Arkansas Basins: June 14-20, 1965</a>,” University Corporation for Atmospheric Research, 2007.</p><p>Town of Castle Rock Historic Preservation Board, “<a href="https://www.crgov.com/DocumentCenter/View/337">Walking Tour of Historic Downtown Castle Rock, Colorado</a>,” 2015.</p><p>US Department of Agriculture, “<a href="https://usda.library.cornell.edu/">Colorado</a>,” US Census of Agriculture, Vol. 1, Part 41 (1940).</p><p>US Department of Agriculture, “<a href="https://usda.library.cornell.edu/">Colorado</a>,” US Census of Agriculture, Vol. 1, Part 6 (1997).</p><p>US Forest Service, “<a href="https://www.fs.usda.gov/main/psicc/about-forest/about-area">Pike National Forest</a>,” United States Forest Service, 2016.</p></div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-additional-information-htm--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-additional-information-htm.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-additional-information-htm.html.twig * field--text-long.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-additional-information-htm field--type-text-long field--label-above" id="id-field-additional-information-htm"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-additional-information-htm">Additional Information</div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-additional-information-htm"><p><a href="https://visitcastlerock.org/">Castle Rock (official website)</a></p><p><a href="https://visitcastlerock.org/">Castle Rock (tourism website)</a></p><p><a href="https://www.castlerockmuseum.org/">Castle Rock Museum</a></p><p><a href="https://www.douglas.co.us/">Douglas County</a></p><p><a href="https://douglascountyhistory.org/digital/collection/documents/id/0">Douglas County History Research Center</a></p></div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> Tue, 21 Feb 2017 23:36:30 +0000 yongli 2370 at http://coloradoencyclopedia.org Front Range http://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/front-range <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--title--encyclopedia-article.html.twig x field--node--title.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--title.html.twig * field--string.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Front Range</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--uid--encyclopedia-article.html.twig x field--node--uid.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--uid.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'username' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/user/username.html.twig' --> <span lang="" about="/users/yongli" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">yongli</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/user/username.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--created--encyclopedia-article.html.twig x field--node--created.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--created.html.twig * field--created.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'time' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/time.html.twig' --> <time datetime="2017-01-23T16:06:17-07:00" title="Monday, January 23, 2017 - 16:06" class="datetime">Mon, 01/23/2017 - 16:06</time> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/time.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'addtoany_standard' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * addtoany-standard--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * addtoany-standard--node.html.twig x addtoany-standard.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/addtoany/templates/addtoany-standard.html.twig' --> <span class="a2a_kit a2a_kit_size_32 addtoany_list" data-a2a-url="http://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/front-range" data-a2a-title="Front Range"><a class="a2a_dd addtoany_share" href="https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Fcoloradoencyclopedia.org%2Farticle%2Ffront-range&amp;title=Front%20Range"></a><a class="a2a_button_facebook"></a><a class="a2a_button_twitter"></a><a class="a2a_button_email"></a></span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/addtoany/templates/addtoany-standard.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--body--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--body.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--body.html.twig * field--text-with-summary.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item" id="id-body"><p>The Front Range is a corridor of the <a href="/article/rocky-mountains"><strong>Rocky Mountains</strong></a> and surrounding land stretching 200 miles from the Wyoming border on the north to the<a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/arkansas-river"> <strong>Arkansas River</strong></a> on the south. The western border of the Front Range consists of a collection of high mountain ranges, from the Medicine Bow and Laramie Mountains in the north to the <a href="/article/pikes-peak"><strong>Pikes Peak</strong></a> massif in the south. The western border of the Front Range consists of an assortment of mountain ranges, including a group of peaks between <a href="/article/georgetown%E2%80%93silver-plume-historic-district"><strong>Georgetown</strong></a> and <strong>Silverthorne</strong>, as well as the <strong>Indian Peaks</strong>, <strong>Mummy Range</strong>, Laramie Mountains, Medicine Bow Mountains, Kenosha Mountains, Tarryall Mountains, Rampart Range, and Pikes Peak. The region’s eastern boundaries are somewhat less clear, generally consisting of the foothills of the mountains and the western edge of the <a href="/article/colorado’s-great-plains"><strong>Great Plains</strong></a>.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>The Front Range has a long history of human migration and habitation, as it offers access to the resources of both mountains and plains, as well as shelter from the extreme weather of both environments. Today, the corridor has a population of 4.5 million and is the site of Colorado’s largest cities, including <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/fort-collins"><strong>Fort Collins</strong></a>, <a href="/article/boulder"><strong>Boulder</strong></a>, <a href="/article/denver"><strong>Denver</strong></a>, and <strong><a href="/article/colorado-springs">Colorado Springs</a>.</strong></p>&#13; &#13; <h2>Early Inhabitants</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>Stone tools and other artifacts found at the <a href="/article/lindenmeier-folsom-site"><strong>Lindenmeier</strong></a> archaeological site in northern <a href="/article/larimer-county"><strong>Larimer County</strong></a> indicate the presence of indigenous hunter-gatherers along the Front Range as early as 12,300 years ago. On the eastern slope of Pikes Peak, archaeologists have found evidence of human occupation dating to 5,000 years ago, and some etchings in the rocks at <strong>Garden of the Gods</strong> date back at least 1,000 years.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>By AD 1500, the Front Range was home to the Nuche (<a href="/article/northern-ute-people-uintah-and-ouray-reservation"><strong>Ute</strong></a><strong> </strong>people), who spent the summers hunting in the high country and wintered in camps at the base of the mountains. After the Ute obtained horses in the mid-seventeenth century, some bands began hunting buffalo on the plains. In the early nineteenth century the Utes along the Front Range were joined by the <strong>Arapaho</strong> and <strong>Cheyenne</strong>, two peoples who had been pushed out of their homeland in the upper Midwest. The Arapaho ranged farther into the mountains than the Cheyenne and became enemies of the Ute as the two groups competed for game and other resources in the high mountain valleys. Other indigenous groups that frequented the Front Range plains in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries included the <strong>Jicarilla Apache</strong>, <strong>Comanche</strong>, <strong>Kiowa</strong>, and <strong>Lakota</strong>.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>These people’s identities are inextricably linked to the geography and ecology of the Front Range. Pikes Peak, for instance, figures prominently in the Ute creation story in which the Creator built their nation around the mountain. The band that most commonly frequented the area around Pikes Peak knew the mountain as “Tava,” or “sun mountain,” and called themselves the “Tabeguache,” the “People of Sun Mountain.”</p>&#13; &#13; <p>The Arapaho shared with the Ute a reverence for the mountains of the Front Range. They knew Pikes Peak as “heey-otoyoo’,” or “long mountain,” and at least one Arapaho hunter made a habit of ascending <a href="/article/longs-peak"><strong>Longs Peak</strong></a> in today’s <a href="/article/rocky-mountain-national-park"><strong>Rocky Mountain National Park</strong></a> to hunt eagles. Meanwhile, the identity and spirituality of both the Cheyenne and Arapaho were tied to the plains, the realm of the all-important <a href="/article/bison"><strong>bison</strong></a> and horse.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>Early American Era</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>Early American explorers such as Lieutenant <a href="/article/zebulon-montgomery-pike"><strong>Zebulon Pike</strong></a> in 1806–7 and Major <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/stephen-h-long"><strong>Stephen Long</strong></a> in 1820 saw the Front Range as part of the so-called <a href="/article"><strong>Great American Desert</strong></a> and unfit for farming. What Pike and Long had seen was a land baked by sun, with too little moisture to sustain the agricultural way of life they were familiar with in the east.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>From the summit of Pikes Peak in 1893, <strong>Katharine Lee Bates</strong> saw the region differently. She was so impressed by the view that she penned the words to “America the Beautiful.” The 20,000 square miles of Front Range before her had indeed changed in seventy-five years since Major Long had seen it. Farmers had come to seed the “amber waves of grain” and irrigated agriculture had supplanted <a href="/article/beaver"><strong>beaver</strong></a> and bison pelt hunting primary industry on the “fruited plain.”</p>&#13; &#13; <p>When <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/precious-metal-mining-colorado"><strong>gold</strong></a> was discovered on Ralston, Dry, and Clear Creeks in 1859, the region’s economy and history were forever altered. Thousands of would-be miners swarmed into the Front Range, propelling Denver’s growth and sparking the emergence of towns such as Boulder, <strong>Idaho Springs</strong>, <a href="/article/central-city%E2%80%93black-hawk-historic-district"><strong>Central City</strong></a>, and <a href="/article/central-city%E2%80%93black-hawk-historic-district"><strong>Black Hawk</strong></a>. The gold boom was short lived, but miners and the men who supplied them were here to stay.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>Agriculture</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>To support the mining boom, Front Range towns imported tools, clothing, and building materials from Midwestern cities such as St. Louis and Chicago. But food was more difficult to import, so farmers followed the gold seekers to Colorado to work the land along the streams of the Front Range.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Growing crops in Colorado was not easy. The Front Range offered plenty of sunshine and warm winter Chinook winds, but the growing season was short, rainfall was scarce, and unpredictable spring blizzards wiped out many harvests. Though it was difficult, farming along the Front Range had its rewards. Miners were hungry, railroad crews needed provisions, and land was plentiful thanks to a campaign that relocated the Ute, Cheyenne, and Arapaho to surrounding states. Propaganda from Colorado’s earliest boosters maintained that <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/irrigation-colorado"><strong>irrigation</strong></a> was “not a burden but a pleasure” and that <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/water-colorado"><strong>water</strong></a> constantly flowed from the mountains to the plains, furnishing a reliable supply of nutrient-rich soil. Later generations would find that this was mostly untrue—the water supply was hardly limitless—but in the early days of settlement the propaganda made life on the Front Range seem downright Edenic. Believing the area to be free from “Hay Asthma,” where one could be cured of chronic bronchitis and “<a href="/article/tuberculosis-colorado"><strong>tubercular</strong></a> or scrofulous consumption,” land-hungry easterners suffering from the repeated economic recessions of the nineteenth century poured into Colorado seeking a healthful and productive place to live.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>But the real stimulus to irrigated agriculture came from those who believed that cooperative agricultural societies in the west could be a profitable and harmonious alternative to the industrial competition and aggressive individualism of the east. Although he knew relatively little of the west, <a href="/article/nathaniel-meeker"><strong>Nathan Meeker</strong></a>, the agricultural editor of the <em>New York Herald Tribune</em>, led a committee to Colorado in search of a site for a farming community in 1869. They found a 12,000-acre parcel on the <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/cache-la-poudre-river"><strong>Cache la Poudre River</strong></a>, four miles upstream from its junction with the <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/south-platte-river"><strong>South Platte</strong></a>. Before the year was out, ground had been broken on the <strong>Union Colony</strong>, the beginnings of present-day <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/greeley"><strong>Greeley</strong></a>. Towns such as <strong>Arvada</strong>, Boulder, <a href="/article/city-and-county-broomfield"><strong>Broomfield</strong></a>, and <strong>Wheat Ridge </strong>all developed along a similar model—growing crops to feed miners—in the mid- to late nineteenth century. In 1870 the Colorado territorial legislature designated Fort Collins as the site of the Agricultural College (now <strong>Colorado State University</strong>), which researched and helped implement best practices for irrigation and crop production across the state.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>As overhunting led to a sharp decline in the buffalo herds during the late nineteenth century, rangy longhorn cattle began to fill the empty space on the plains. Driven up from Texas in herds of 2,000 to 3,000 along the Goodnight-Loving Trail, the cattle were sold to Indian reservations, mining communities, and railroad crews or driven east to markets in Kansas City or Chicago. The era of large-scale, free-range ranching along the Front Range was short lived, however; a severe summer drought in 1886 was followed by early<a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/snow"><strong> snows</strong></a> and freezing temperatures that decimated the cattle herds, paving the way for much of the former grazing land to be fenced off and sold into private ownership.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>Gold, Steel, and Beets</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>By the early twentieth century, three major developments injected new life into the Front Range economy, broadening the region’s financial and industrial base: a new gold rush at <a href="/article/cripple-creek"><strong>Cripple Creek</strong></a>, <a href="/article/colorado-fuel-iron"><strong>Colorado Fuel &amp; Iron</strong></a>’s <strong>steel mill </strong>in <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/pueblo"><strong>Pueblo</strong></a>, and the rise of the <a href="/article/sugar-beet-industry"><strong>sugar beet industry</strong>.</a></p>&#13; &#13; <p>The gold discoveries in the Cripple Creek and <a href="/article/victor"><strong>Victor</strong></a> areas in 1890 came at just the right time. The great silver boom of the 1870s and 1880s was snuffed out when the nation returned to the gold standard in 1893, but Cripple Creek was a gold strike, and its mines were the single most important reason for Colorado’s rapid emergence from economic depression. The money that poured into Colorado Springs from the mines on the other side of Pikes Peak financed the <a href="/article/broadmoor"><strong>Broadmoor Hotel</strong></a>’s construction and covered the dome of the <a href="/article/colorado-state-capitol"><strong>capitol</strong></a> building in Denver with gold leaf. It also created millionaires who went on to build department stores, railroads, tunnels, and other industries and infrastructure in the state.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>To the south, <a href="/article/colorado-fuel-iron"><strong>Colorado Fuel and Iron</strong></a> (CF&amp;I) turned Pueblo into the “Pittsburgh of the West.” Through employment in its mines and mills, the company attracted thousands of immigrants to Colorado and permanently altered the social milieu of the southern end of the Front Range.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>While the Cripple Creek mines and CF&amp;I placed their faith in the seemingly endless mineral wealth of the Rockies, the Great Western Sugar Company gambled on a crop that was unfamiliar to most Colorado farmers in the early twentieth century. Sugar beet agriculture had not been a great success in <a href="/article/grand-junction"><strong>Grand Junction</strong></a>, where Great Western built its first factory in 1899, but the altitude, soil, and mild winters of the Front Range seemed ideally suited to this crop. Front Range farmers were eager to plant beets because they were a cash crop whose market price was guaranteed at the time of planting. In 1909 farmers harvested 108,000 acres of beets; ten years later they harvested 166,000 acres. In just one decade, Colorado had become the largest producer of sugar beets in the nation.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>However, converting fields from cereal grains to water-intensive beets and other vegetable crops put a strain on the available water supply. From 1925 to 1933, many of these crops received less than half the water they required, and sizable acreages received no water at all. When a drought hit in the 1930s, Great Western Sugar became one of the principal proponents of the <a href="/article/colorado–big-thompson-project"><strong>Colorado–Big Thompson</strong> <strong>project</strong></a> (C-BT) a transmountain water diversion project that imported water from Colorado’s <strong><a href="/article/western-slope">Western Slope</a> </strong>by pumping it under the <strong><a href="/article/great-divide">Continental Divide</a>. </strong>When it was completed in the mid-1950s, the C-BT not only allowed farmers to continue growing water-intensive crops along the Front Range but also increased the supply of drinking water for the region’s expanding urban population.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>Twentieth Century</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>The 1920s and 1930s were hard times for the Front Range and the state as a whole. The <strong>Great Depression</strong> and the <a href="/article/dust-bowl"><strong>Dust Bowl</strong></a> decimated the region’s agricultural industry, and thousands of farmers and ranchers were forced to abandon their homes and fields. In the late 1930s, <a href="/article/new-deal-colorado"><strong>New Deal</strong></a> programs addressed problems of unemployment, overused land, schools, airports, roads, and other public facilities. But it was not until World War II that the Front Range experienced its next economic boom. This time, assistance came from the Department of Defense.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>World War II launched Colorado into the industrial age. The <a href="/article/denver-ordnance-plant"><strong>Denver Ordnance Plant</strong></a>, <strong>Rocky Mountain Arsenal</strong>, <a href="/article/rocky-mountain-fleet"><strong>Denver Shipyard</strong></a>, and <strong>Lowry Air Field </strong>were all established in Colorado by the Department of Defense as part of the war effort. Front Range universities received funds for training soldiers in language and intelligence specialties.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Following the war, the Front Range received national attention during the administration of President Dwight D. Eisenhower (1953–61), partly because the president and his wife spent a lot of time in Colorado and partly because federal funds continued to pour into the area. The <a href="/article/norad"><strong>North American Air Defense Command (NORAD)</strong></a> built its missile detection center in the bowels of <a href="/article/cheyenne-mountain"><strong>Cheyenne Mountain</strong></a> near Colorado Springs, while Denver became the regional home of a variety of federal agencies. Meanwhile, Denver’s position as a regional transportation hub brought <a href="/article/interstate-70"><strong>Interstate 70</strong></a> and <strong>Interstate 25</strong> together just north of the city’s rapidly expanding downtown.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>Population Pressure</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>By 1960, Colorado was the ninth fastest-growing state in the nation with the fourth-largest population increase since 1950. Ninety percent of the gain was confined to the Front Range between Pueblo and Fort Collins, while many counties on the Western Slope continued to lose population. A backlash to the progrowth doctrine of the mid-twentieth century occurred in the 1970s. Recognizing the steep environment costs of progrowth policies, antigrowth coalitions came together to shut down Colorado’s bid to host the <a href="/article/1976-winter-olympics"><strong>1976 Winter Olympics</strong></a> in protest.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>By 1989 more than 2.3 million people called the Front Range home. Securing an adequate water supply for such a quickly growing population had always been a major concern, but under President Jimmy Carter (1977–81), federal money for water projects was almost entirely cut off. Colorado was on its own and was unprepared to pay the full cost of the diversion, storage, and treatment projects that seemed necessary to support sustained population growth and a booming agricultural economy.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>The biggest problem the Front Range faced at the time was that most of the state’s water fell in the form of snow on the other side of the Continental Divide. Diversion projects that drew water from the Western Slope successfully secured enough water to sustain the Front Range, but they also led to animosity between those living on the west and east side of the Continental Divide. Those living on the western side believed the Front Range was sucking up all of their water. Tensions still run high over the issue of how much water should be diverted from the Western Slope to the Front Range, resulting in fierce debates between farmers, environmentalists, recreationalists, and city and county officials over how to manage such a critical and scarce resource.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>Toward the Future</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>The Metro Denver area continues to expand, and communities such as Broomfield and Thornton have purchased water rights from farmers to meet their growing urban needs. As farmers evaluate options for the future, local communities may have to come up with plans to prevent the remaining prime agricultural land along the Front Range from drying up.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Some Coloradans are less than enthusiastic about spending taxpayer money to promote tourism, but people who are familiar with state finances know that it is a multibillion-dollar industry that is increasingly becoming the lifeblood of many communities. In 2014, for instance, the tourism industry set records by attracting 71.3 million visitors who spent a total of $18.6 billion in Colorado. Since 2014, revenue associated with the state’s legalization of recreational <a href="/article/cannabis-marijuana"><strong>marijuana</strong></a> has also helped the tourism economy, especially in Denver.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>As the Front Range continues to grow, questions remain about how to secure an adequate water supply and how to address the unequal distribution of economic growth in the state. As Colorado faces the challenges of a changing <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/colorado-climate"><strong>climate</strong></a> and an uncertain future, residents will need to figure out how to forge a more solid sense of unity and cooperation. Still, with the state’s reputation for producing hearty, pragmatic citizens, Colorado’s future shines almost as brightly as its capitol’s gilded dome in the summer sun.</p>&#13; &#13; <p><em>This article is an abbreviated and updated version of the author’s essay “The Colorado Front Range to 1990,” distributed in 2006 as part of <strong>Colorado Humanities</strong>’ “Five States of Colorado” educational resource kit.</em></p>&#13; </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-author--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-author.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-author.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-author field--type-entity-reference field--label-above" id="id-field-author"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-author">Author</div> <div class='field__items'> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-author"><a href="/author/tyler-daniel" hreflang="und">Tyler, Daniel</a></div> </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-keyword--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-keyword.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-keyword.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-keyword field--type-entity-reference field--label-above" id="id-field-keyword"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-keyword">Keywords</div> <div class='field__items'> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/boulder" hreflang="en">boulder</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/colorado-springs" hreflang="en">colorado springs</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/ranching" hreflang="en">ranching</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/farming" hreflang="en">farming</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/colorado-big-thompson-project" hreflang="en">colorado-big thompson project</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/south-platte-river" hreflang="en">south platte river</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/weld-county" hreflang="en">weld county</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/larimer-county" hreflang="en">larimer county</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/boulder-county" hreflang="en">boulder county</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/broomfield" hreflang="en">broomfield</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/el-paso-county" hreflang="en">el paso county</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/castle-rock" hreflang="en">Castle Rock</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/douglas-county" hreflang="en">Douglas County</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/cache-la-poudre-river" hreflang="en">cache la poudre river</a></div> </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'links__node' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * links--node.html.twig x links--inline.html.twig * links--node.html.twig * links.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/navigation/links--inline.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/navigation/links--inline.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-references-html--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-references-html.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-references-html.html.twig * field--text-long.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-references-html field--type-text-long field--label-above" id="id-field-references-html"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-references-html">References</div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-references-html"><p>Carl Abbott, Stephen J. Leonard, and David McComb, <em>Colorado: A History of the Centennial State </em>5th ed. (Boulder: University Press of Colorado, 2013).</p>&#13; &#13; <p>“After the Crisis,” <em>Coloradoan </em>(Fort Collins, CO), February 28­–29 and March 1–3, 1988.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Jason Blevins, “Colorado Tourism Numbers Set Record in 2014,” <em>The Denver Post</em>, June 23, 2015.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>“Denver Could Drink Deep from Wells,” <em>Rocky Mountain News</em>, December 5, 1987.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>“Front Range Futures,” December 1981.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Mel Griffiths and Lynnell Rubright, <em>Colorado </em>(Boulder: Westview Press, 1983).</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Letter, Charles Hansen to D. W. Aupperle, July 29, 1937, Northern Colorado Water Users Association folder, Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District Archives, Loveland, Colorado.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Letter, March 11, 1936, Frank Delaney to Dan Hughes, Delaney Papers, Norlin Library, University of Colorado.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Letter, F. J. Bancroft, M.D., to the Territorial Board of Immigration, November 15, 1873, in <em>A Colorado Reader</em>, ed. Carl Ubbelohde (Boulder: Pruett Press, 1962).</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Western Slope Protective Association, “Minutes,” March 20, 1935 (Glenwood Springs: Colorado River Conservation District Archives).</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Gleaves Whitney, <em>Colorado Front Range: A Landscape Divided </em>(Boulder: Johnson Books, 1983).</p>&#13; </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-additional-information-htm--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-additional-information-htm.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-additional-information-htm.html.twig * field--text-long.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-additional-information-htm field--type-text-long field--label-above" id="id-field-additional-information-htm"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-additional-information-htm">Additional Information</div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-additional-information-htm"><p>Kathleen A. Brosnan, <em>Uniting Mountain and Plain: Cities, Law, and Environmental Change along the Front Range </em>(Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 2002).</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Colorado.com, “<a href="https://www.colorado.com/region/denver-cities-rockies">Front Range</a>.”</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Ben Fogelberg, <em>Walking into Colorado’s Past: 50 Front Range History Hikes </em>(Boulder, CO: Westcliffe Publishing, 2006).</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Patricia N. Limerick and Jason Hanson, <em>A Ditch in Time: The City, the West and Water </em>(Golden, CO: Fulcrum, 2012).</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Thomas T. Veblen and Diane C. Lorenz, <em>The Colorado Front Range: A Century of Ecological Change </em>(Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1991).</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Elliott West, <em>The Contested Plains: Indians, Goldseekers, and the Rush to Colorado </em>(Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 1998).</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Ellen Wohl, <em>Virtual Rivers: Lessons from the Mountain Rivers of the Colorado Front Range</em> (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2001).</p>&#13; </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> Mon, 23 Jan 2017 23:06:17 +0000 yongli 2208 at http://coloradoencyclopedia.org