Colorado Homeland Security and Emergency Services Resources

It took 47 years for the United States to acquire all of Colorado! In 1803, most of the eastern part of the state was included in the Louisiana Purchase. Mexico ceded most of the rest of the state in the 1848 treaty. And, in 1850, the U.S. purchased claims that Texas had in the state. Colorado became the the 38th state on August 1, 1876.

In 1858 and 1859, discoveries of small amounts of gold resulted in the "Pike's Peak or Bust" gold rush. Thousands of people began flocking to the state. But, those strikes quickly panned out. A wealth of silver discovered at Leadville in the late 1870's and gold mines at Cripple Creek in the 1890's brought great prosperity for the state.

The mining booms faded after the turn of the century and Coloradans began to put their money in the tourism trade. Today, tourism is one of the state's main resources. Colorado has a big service driven economy including medical providers and other professional services and is a strong manufacturing state, although agriculture and farming still plays an important role as well.

Colorado has the highest elevation of any other state. The Rocky Mountains have over 1,000 peaks that are over 10,000 feet high and 54 peaks that are over 14,000 feet high. The most famous mountain is Pike's Peak, discovered in 1806 by Army Lieutenant Zebulon M. Pike.

Find College Degrees
Need Stories