Things

Water has profoundly shaped Colorado’s past and will play a vital role in its future. The resource is essential to the state’s agriculture, cities, industries, energy supply, and environment. Furthermore, eighteen other states and parts of Mexico rely on waters from the mountains of Colorado, known...

The agricultural extension service in Colorado (1887–present) links individuals, organizations, and communities with research experts to address agrarian issues. These issues encompass rural problems associated with farming and ranching, as well as urban topics such as cooperative gardens and...

The Santa Fé Trail was an international overland route of both commerce and social interaction, joining the US prairie state of Missouri with the province of México Nuevo, Mexico, through much of the nineteenth century. Though its specific date of origin is unclear, it appears to have been the...

Longs Peak is an icon of the Rocky Mountain landscape. At 14,259 feet, it is one of Colorado’s tallest mountains, the only Fourteener in Rocky Mountain National Park . For more than a century, the mountain has inspired adventuresome men and women to test themselves against its bouldered slopes,...

Beneath the glacier -carved peaks and valleys of Rocky Mountain National Park , below the alpine lakes and rushing streams, a concrete-lined tunnel belies the illusion of a pristine wilderness. In 1944, the two ends of the Alva B. Adams Tunnel were connected with a blast of dynamite, creating the...

The circular Seal of the State of Colorado is an adaptation of the Territorial Seal, which was adopted by the First Territorial Assembly on November 6, 1861. The only changes made in the Territorial Seal design were the substitution of the words, "State of Colorado" and the figures "1876" for the...

The white and lavender Columbine, Aquilegia caerulea , was adopted as the official state flower on April 4, 1899 by an act of the General Assembly. In 1925, the General Assembly made it the duty of all citizens to protect this rare species from needless destruction or waste. To further protect this...

The Lark Bunting, Calamospiza melanocoryus Stejneger , was adopted as the official state bird on April 29, 1931. The Lark Bunting is a migrant bird. Flocks arrive in April and inhabit the plains regions and areas up to 8,000 feet in elevation. They fly south again in September. The male bird is...