Colorado Springs and El Paso County Relocation ... - Keep Trees

Colorado
Welcome to
All those mountains and forests are part of why Colorado
residents enjoy such a high quality of life. The
clean air and relatively mild and temperate climate
make spending time outdoors year-round a natural way of
life when you live in Colorado. The Anasazi fi gured that out
about 1,500 years ago when they inhabited cliff dwellings in
Colorado. Long before that, about 7,000 years ago, archaeological
evidence points to agricultural settlements in eastern
Colorado.
Thousands of years passed before Europeans fi rst
saw Colorado, then it was probably through the eyes
of gold-seeking Spaniards led by conquistador Francisco
Vasquez de Coronado. It is widely thought he came through
southeastern Colorado during his 1540-1541 expedition for
gold. It is known the Spanish explored Colorado during the
next two and a half centuries, until 1800, when Spain ceded
the area to France. The French promptly sold it. As part of
the Louisiana Purchase, Colorado was put into the hands of
the United States in 1803, became a U.S. Territory in 1861,
and a state in 1876.
In Spanish, Colorado means “colored red,” and it was
the Spaniards who are to be credited with naming the state.
Deciding to live in Colorado is deciding
to join 4.7 million people who already
call it home. They already know what a
wonderful place Colorado is, nestled in
the heart of the Rocky Mountains. Perched
along and fanning out from the continental
divide, Colorado has the most land of any
state higher than 10,000 feet, and the most
mountains higher than 14,000 feet.
It’s the top of the world in many ways.
The reddish-brown clay that geographically makes up so much of the river
beds, ground and mountains throughout the state distinguished the area
in the early days.
Through exploration, gold rushes, westward migration, railroads,
mining, agriculture, ranching, logging, tourism, commerce, industry and
the military, Colorado eventually became widely populated and built up.
Today, Colorado is highly rated the world over as one of the best places to
live and visit. Ten percent of the population is foreign born. Another large
percent migrated from other states. Capital city Denver, with the state’s
largest population, is a short two- to four-hour fl ight to most major cities
6 Colorado Springs Relocation GUIDE 2007