History Colorado

On the evening of October 23, 1973, members of the Gay Coalition of Denver (GCD) and more than 300 of their friends and allies packed into the evening’s Denver City Council meeting. The hearing was about discrimination against the gay and le***an community. The “gay revolt” becomes known as “Colorado’s Stonewall.”

🏳️‍🌈 Here's a story of a revolutionary City Council meeting that sparked Colorado’s movement for LGBTQ+ rights. Read more: https://h-co.org/denvers_stonewall

-
Image courtesy Jerry Gerash

In 1783, a paper-and-silk balloon carried two French passengers safely over Paris, across five miles in 25 minutes. It was the first time humans went up in the air, and we have been chasing that high (literally) ever since. America’s first balloon flight launched from Philadelphia ten years later, with George Washington observing. Inflatable vehicles dominated the skies for 110 years, until the Wright brothers completed the first successful airplane flight in 1903.

Hot air balloons still captivate the aviation imagination, offering unique vantage points of stunning scenery and mesmerizing onlookers from the ground below as the colorful orbs make their ascent. For those looking to fly and those who prefer to keep both feet on the ground, Colorado hosts some of the world’s most spectacular balloon festivals from June through October, starting with Telluride on June 5.

-
Image: A hot air balloon celebrates an occasion in style, about 1900. Fred M. Mazzulla Collection. History Colorado, 2022.57.235

Don't miss these upcoming events & experiences! Get the details at: https://h-co.org/events-experiences

Mining helped forge our Centennial State. In 1858, the discovery of gold along the South Platte River and Cherry Creek sparked a flood of over 100,000 hopeful prospectors to the region. These miners founded towns, purchased supplies, and formed the backbone of the economy. From Erie’s coal fields to Central City’s gold strikes, the mining industry touched much of the land that would become Colorado.

In order to become a state, Colorado needed the support of these miners. Statehood attempts in 1859 and 1864 failed because miners were concerned about high taxes. But rich discoveries of gold and silver in the 1870s supported Colorado’s economy, enabling statehood’s passage in 1876. As we commemorate the 150th anniversary of Colorado, we can reflect on the mining industry’s enduring impact on the Centennial State.

-
Image: Mining at Gregory Gulch, 1859. History Colorado 99.270.4207
America 250 - Colorado 150 Commemoration

With a little intuition and a few scoops of his shovel, John H. Gregory changed the trajectory of Colorado’s story forever. It was May 6, 1859—the day the famous prospector discovered one of the richest gold deposits in the state. By the end of the week, he had excavated gold ore worth more than $1000.

News of gold flakes in Colorado’s streams was not new by the time Mr. Gregory made his discovery. Other prospectors were already panning along the Platte River and Cherry Creek. But what he established in the hills above Clear Creek near what would become Central City was something different altogether: a hard rock gold mining industry that created an area boosters called “the richest square mile on Earth.”

Gregory’s discovery launched the Colorado Gold Rush, sending thousands of hopeful argonauts on a trek across the plains and sparked a nearly instantaneous (and often violent and wrenching) transformation. As a historian, I haven’t encountered many moments when so much change can be pinned to such a specific starting point. But that day in early May was the inflection point that informs everything that came after. Reflecting on the Gold Rush in Colorado’s 150th year makes it that much clearer: It’s the moment that set us on the path towards becoming the state we are today.

—Sam Bock, Director of Publications and Interpretation

Learn more about Colorado’s long road to statehood in our exhibition, "38th Star: Colorado Becomes the Centennial State." Now on view at the History Colorado Center.

-
Image: Central City was booming in just a few short years after John H. Gregory struck gold, as photographed here in 1864 by G.D. Wakely. History Colorado, 83.255.1