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74-472: The Constitution of the State of Colorado is the foundation of the laws and government of the U.S. state of Colorado . The Colorado State Constitution was drafted on March 14, 1876; approved by Colorado voters on July 1, 1876; and took effect upon the statehood of Colorado on August 1, 1876. As of 2020, the constitution has been amended at least 166 times. The Constitution of Colorado derives its authority from

148-528: A force of Texans . Sibley's New Mexico campaign was intended as a prelude to an invasion of the Colorado Territory northward to Fort Laramie , cutting the supply lines between California and the rest of the Union . The Coloradans, under the command of Union Army General Edward Canby and Colonel John P. Slough , Lt. Col. Samuel F. Tappan and Major John M. Chivington , defeated Sibley's force at

222-574: A legislature in any particular way, as doing so would be contrary to the republican form of government guaranteed by the Guarantee Clause of the US Constitution. Amendment 12 was subsequently repealed in 2002, though it had not been in effect for four years. The second congressional term limit amendment (Article XVIII, Section 12a, "Amendment 18" ) was much reduced in scope, and instead opted to allow candidates for US Congress to sign

296-481: A partisan election. The state attorney general also has power to prosecute certain crimes, and in rare circumstances a special prosecutor may be appointed to prosecute a crime on a case by case basis. Municipal ordinance violations are prosecuted by city attorneys . Colorado is divided into 64 counties , two of which ( Pitkin and Weld ) are home rule. Counties are important units of government in Colorado since

370-703: A pledge to honor term limits to three terms in the US House of Representatives and two terms in the US Senate, with information about a candidate's pledge status appearing on the ballot next to their name. This amendment took effect on December 30, 1998. In 2006, the constitution was amended to allow and regulate medical marijuana ( "Amendment 20" ). Eight years later, another amendment legalized marijuana possession and use generally ( "Amendment 64" ). Both of these amendments are presently contained in Article XIX of

444-608: A third, fourth, and fifth Colorado Statehood Bill in 1869, 1871, and 1873 respectively. Then in December 1873, Grant endorsed a second enabling act for Colorado's statehood during his address to congress. The second "Enabling Act for the State of Colorado" was then enacted and signed into law by Grant on March 3, 1875. Colorado voters elected delegates to the third Colorado Constitutional Convention on October 10, 1875. This convention in Denver adopted their third proposed "Constitution of

518-553: A vote of 1520 to 4672, primarily because it included a pre-selected slate of candidates for state and national office. Abraham Lincoln was assassinated in April 1865, and the civil war ended in May. The second Colorado Constitutional Convention adopted their proposed "Constitution of the State of Colorado" on August 12 of that year. Colorado voters approved this constitution on September 1. However, President Andrew Johnson refused to declare

592-894: The Colorado Register and codified in the Code of Colorado Regulations (CCR). The legislative body of Colorado is the Colorado General Assembly made up of two houses, the House of Representatives and the Colorado Senate . Members of the House are elected for two year terms from single-member, equal population districts. Approximately half of the members of the state senate are elected each two years to four year terms from single-member, equal population districts. The House of Representatives has 65 members and

666-804: The American Centennial celebrationn in August 1876 East and West of the Continental Divide , which split the North American continent and the Rocky Mountains , plus the new territory which included the western portion of the previous Kansas Territory , as well as some of the southwestern decade-old Nebraska Territory , and a small parcel of the northeastern corner of the New Mexico Territory . On

740-687: The California Gold Rush . They reported finding trace amounts of gold in the South Platte and its tributaries as they passed along the mountains. In the south, in the San Luis Valley , early Mexican families established themselves in large land grants (later contested by the U.S.) from the Mexican government. In the early 19th century, the upper South Platte River valley had been infiltrated by fur traders , but had not been

814-702: The Centennial of the United States . President Grant then proclaimed that the Territory of Colorado had been accepted into the US as the State of Colorado on August 1, with its 1876 constitution. The state was immediately nicknamed the "Centennial State". When it was adopted in 1876, the constitution included a "Schedule" at the end, which laid out specific provisions for the transition of Colorado from its territorial government to its statehood. From 1876 to 2007,

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888-594: The Civil War , the tide of new miners into the territory slowed to a trickle, and many left for the East to fight. The Missourians who stayed formed two volunteer regiments, as well as home guard. Although seemingly stationed at the periphery of the war theaters, the Colorado regiments found themselves in a crucial position in 1862 after the Confederate invasion of the New Mexico Territory by General Henry Sibley and

962-755: The Colorado State Board of Education , and the Regents of the University of Colorado are elected from districts coterminous with Colorado's congressional districts or at large . As a result, the Governor does not have direct management authority over either the Department of Education or any of the state's institutions of higher education. The executive branch is otherwise composed of the principal departments: Regulations are published in

1036-670: The Colorado War , in November 1864, a force of 800 troops of the Colorado home guard, after heavy drinking, attacked an encampment of Cheyenne and Arapaho at Sand Creek , murdering between 150 and 200 Indians, mostly elderly men, women and children. This Sand Creek Massacre or 'Massacre of Cheyenne Indians' led to official hearings by the United States Congress Joint Committee on the Conduct of

1110-682: The Confederate States of America (which eventually grew in the next year by two more divided state governments to thirteen in the Confederacy, with two alleged western territories) that precipitated the American Civil War of April 1861 to June 1865. The boundaries of the Federals' newly designated Colorado Territory were essentially identical with those of the current / modern State of Colorado , with lands taken from

1184-658: The High Plains . The land that eventually became the Colorado Territory fell under the jurisdiction of the United States in three separate stages: the Louisiana Purchase in 1803 (as adjusted by the 1819 Adams–Onis Treaty ), then the Annexation of Texas in 1845, and finally the Mexican Cession in 1848. The land claims of Texas were initially controversial. The border between the U.S. and Mexico

1258-801: The John C. Frémont expedition in 1845–46, and the Powell Geographic Expedition of 1869 by John Wesley Powell . In 1779, Governor de Anza of New Mexico fought and defeated the Comanches under Cuerno Verde on the Eastern Slope of Colorado, probably south of Pueblo. In 1786, de Anza made peace with the Comanches, creating an alliance against the Apaches. A group of Cherokee crossed the South Platte and Cache la Poudre River valleys on their way to California in 1848 during

1332-548: The Kansas Territory . Larimer did not intend to mine gold himself; he wanted to promote the new town and sell real estate to eager miners. Larimer's plan to promote his new town worked almost immediately, and by spring 1859 the western Kansas Territory along the South Platte was swarming with miners digging in river bottoms in what became known as the Colorado Gold Rush . Early arrivals moved upstream into

1406-517: The Taxpayer Bill of Rights (TABOR). This law is a constitutional provision which intentionally limits tax increases every year, making it impossible for the Colorado legislature or other bodies to raise taxes in Colorado beyond set annual increases without explicit voter approval via referendum. There have been at least two amendments related to congressional term limits. The first of these amendments (Article XVIII, Section 12, "Amendment 12" )

1480-607: The Taxpayer Bill of Rights ), and must explicitly approve any change to the constitution, often with a 55% majority. The Colorado state constitution is one of the longest in the United States. In June 1858, Green Russell found placer gold along the South Platte River in western Kansas Territory , inciting the Pike's Peak Gold Rush . The first election in the gold fields was held for officers of Arapahoe County, Kansas Territory , on March 3. Unfortunately, voters were at

1554-650: The United States Congress did not recognize the territory, and it never gained legal status. Congressional grant of territorial status for the region was delayed by the slavery issue, and a deadlock between Democrats, who controlled the Senate, and the antislavery Republicans, who gained control of the House of Representatives in 1859. The deadlock was broken only by the Civil War. In early 1861, enough Democratic senators from seceding states resigned from

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1628-574: The law of Colorado . The administration of the state judicial system is the responsibility of the Chief Justice of the Colorado Supreme Court as its executive head, and is assisted by several other commissions. Colorado courts include the: All of the courts above, other than municipal courts and Denver's county court, are part of the state court system. In Denver , county and municipal courts are integrated and are not part of

1702-448: The sovereignty of the people . As such, the people of Colorado reserved specific powers in governing Colorado directly; in addition to providing for voting for Governor, state legislators, and judges, the people of Colorado have reserved initiative of laws and referendum of laws enacted by the legislature to themselves, provided for recall of office holders, and limit tax increases beyond set amounts without explicit voter approval (via

1776-551: The Cache la Poudre in 1858. See Forts in Colorado . In 1858, Green Russell and a party of Georgians , having heard the story of the gold in the South Platte from Cherokee after they returned from California, set out to mine the area they described. That summer they founded a mining camp Auraria (named for a gold mining camp in Georgia) at the confluence of the South Platte and Cherry Creek . The Georgians left for their home state

1850-496: The Constitution of the State of Colorado had been amended 152 times. In 2012, voters approved recreational use of marijuana via constitutional amendment. In 2018, voters approved a new set of amendments related to congressional apportionment at state and federal levels intended to reduce gerrymandering . There are presently three ways to amend the Colorado state constitution. First, an initiative may be proposed directly by

1924-736: The Coronado expedition of 1540–42 only skirted the future border of the Colorado Territory to the south and southeast. In 1776, Francisco Atanasio Domínguez and Silvestre Vélez de Escalante explored southern Colorado in the Dominguez-Escalante Expedition. Other notable explorations included the Pike Expedition of 1806–07 by Zebulon Pike , the journey along the north bank of the Platte River in 1820 by Stephen H. Long to what came to be called Longs Peak,

1998-643: The Senate has 35 for a total of 100 legislators in Colorado. The session laws are published in the Session Laws of Colorado . The laws of a general and permanent nature are codified in the Colorado Revised Statutes (C.R.S.). In addition to providing for voting , the people of Colorado have reserved to themselves the: The judiciary of Colorado is defined by Article VI of the Colorado Constitution as well as

2072-699: The State of Colorado " on March 21, 1864, which allowed the citizens of the territory to organize a state, contingent on later congressional recognition. Three months later, on July 11, 1864, the first Colorado Constitutional Convention in Denver City adopted the first proposed "Constitution of the State of Colorado". This proposed constitution was inspired by the Wyandotte Constitution of the State of Kansas drafted in 1859. However, on October 11, Colorado voters rejected this particular formulation by

2146-553: The State of Colorado" on March 14, 1876. This proposed state constitution was inspired by the third Constitution of the State of Illinois (1870), the fourth Constitution of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (1873), and the third Constitution of the State of Missouri (1875). This constitution was at the time (and remains to this day) one of the lengthiest of the state constitutions in the United States. Colorado voters approved this constitution on July 1, 1876, three days before

2220-668: The State of Kansas to the Union " was signed into law by President James Buchanan . The act included only the eastern two-thirds of the Territory of Kansas in the boundaries of the new state, which left the western portion of the Kansas Territory (claimed by the Territory of Jefferson ) formally unorganized . The next month, Buchanan signed the Organic Act for the Territory of Colorado . This new territory occupied most of

2294-733: The Territorial government remain: the historic log building in Colorado City, and the Loveland Block in downtown Golden City (which had housed the complete legislature, Territorial Library and possibly Supreme Court from 1866 to 1867, with library remaining to 1868). Others which served include the original Loveland Building (1859–1933, 1107 Washington Avenue in Golden, housing the Territorial House from 1862 to 1866);

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2368-568: The U.S. Senate to give control of both houses to the Republicans, clearing the way for admission of new territories. Three new territories were created in as many days: Colorado (February 28), Nevada (March 1), and Dakota (March 2). Colorado Territory was officially organized by Act of Congress on February 28, 1861 (12  Stat.   172 ), out of lands previously part of the Kansas, Nebraska , Utah , and New Mexico territories. Technically

2442-481: The U.S., government to build roads, military and other posts on Indian lands. If these roads could be used by U.S. citizens to lawfully pass through the Indian territories was not stated but apparently implied since the U.S. government bound itself to protect Indian nations against depredations by U.S. citizens. The treaty did not grant any rights for the erection of posts or settlements by U.S. civilians. Since this treaty

2516-463: The US Constitution. The first of these, Section 30b, was passed in 1992 and prohibited legislative or administrative bodies in Colorado from declaring sexual orientation a basis of protected status; this was found unconstitutional in Romer v. Evans and so is not in force. The second of these provisions, Section 31, passed as 2006 Colorado Amendment 43 , effectively banned same-sex marriage. This provision

2590-550: The United States Congress passed the Admission Act for the territory in late 1865, but it was vetoed by President Andrew Johnson . For the next eleven years, the movement for territorial admission was stalled, with several close calls. President Grant advocated statehood for the territory in 1870, but Congress did not act. In the meantime, the territory found itself threatened by lack of railroads . By

2664-804: The University of Colorado Hospital Authority, which provides patient care through UCHealth (University of Colorado Health), and the Denver Health And Hospital Authority ( Denver Health ), which operates a hospital south of downtown Denver among other facilities. There are two federally recognized tribes in Colorado: the Southern Ute Indian Tribe and the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe . There are no other known state-recognized tribes . Territory of Colorado The Territory of Colorado

2738-456: The War in March and April 1865. After the hearings, the Congress Joint Committee in their report on May 4, 1865, described the actions of Colonel John Chivington and his Volunteers as "foul, dastardly, brutal, cowardly" and: It is difficult to believe that beings in the form of men, and disgracing the uniform of United States soldiers and officers, could commit or countenance the commission of such acts of cruelty and barbarity as are detailed in

2812-454: The agreement, and became even more belligerent over the 'whites' encroaching on their hunting grounds. Tensions mounted when Colorado territorial governor John Evans in 1862 created a home guard of regiments of Colorado Volunteers returning from the Civil War and took a hard line against Indians accused of theft. On August 21, 1864, a band of 30 Indians attacked four members of the Colorado Cavalry as they were rounding up stray cattle. Three of

2886-447: The amendment is limited only to repealing a part of the constitution, it only needs a simple majority approval in state-wide referendum. Third, the state assembly may call a constitutional convention (political meeting) by a two-thirds majority vote in each house and simple majority approval of voters in a state-wide referendum, with members then determined by state-wide election using state senate districts, who would submit alterations to

2960-430: The constitution, "Miscellany". Also in 2006, "Amendment 41" was passed, creating an independent ethics commission for state officers with the intent of regulating gifts and lobbying. Law and government of Colorado The five statewide elected officers are: The Lieutenant Governor is elected on a ticket with the Governor. All statewide elected officers serve four-year terms. There are also elected members of

3034-502: The establishment of the Federal territory, the Arapaho and Cheyenne agreed with the United States government in the East in Washington, D.C. to give up most their areas of the Great Plains to white settlement but were allowed to live in their larger traditional areas, so long as they could tolerate homesteaders near their camps. By the end of the American Civil War in 1865, the Native American presence had been largely reduced or pacified through military action or peace treaties on

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3108-442: The extralegal territory of Jefferson, but was 41% less extensive. The Jefferson Territory formally disbanded on June 6, 1861, in favor of the government of the Territory of Colorado. The American Civil War started in April 1861, shortly after Abraham Lincoln became the president of the US in March. During the war, the Colorado territory's population remained generally supportive of the Union . Lincoln signed " An Enabling Act for

3182-406: The following winter. At Bent's Fort along the Arkansas River , Russell told William Larimer, Jr. , a Kansas land speculator, about the placer gold they had found. Larimer, realizing the opportunity to capitalize on it, hurried to Auraria. In November 1858, he laid claim to an area across Cherry Creek from Auraria and named it " Denver City " in honor of James W. Denver , the previous governor of

3256-404: The four surrounding previous Federal territories of Nebraska , Kansas , New Mexico , and Utah (Deseret) established during the 1850s . The organization of the new territory helped solidify Union / Federal control over the mineral-rich area of the western Rocky Mountains . Statehood was regarded as fairly imminent with the expected growth in the constantly westward moving population, but

3330-414: The lands, ten years earlier designated to their tribes, for white settlement, keeping only a fragment of the original reserve , located between Arkansas River and Sand Creek . This new fragment was assigned in severalty to the individual members of the respective tribes with each member receiving 40 acres (160,000 m ) of land. The United States, by the Fort Wise Treaty, wished to have the Indians settle

3404-454: The late 1860s, many in Denver had sold their businesses and moved northward to the Dakota Territory communities of Laramie and Cheyenne , which had sprung up along the transcontinental railroad . Faced with the possible dwindling of the town and its eclipse by the new towns to the north, Denverites pooled their capital and built the Denver Pacific Railroad northward to Cheyenne to bring the rail network to Denver. The Kansas Pacific Railway

3478-415: The local territorial ambitions for full statehood were thwarted at the end of the war in 1865 by a constitutional veto by newly sworn in 17th President Andrew Johnson (1808-1875, served 1865-1869), who was a War Democrat who succeeded to the office after briefly only serving one month as Vice President after Lincoln's assassination that April. Statehood for the territory was a recurring issue during

3552-431: The members made it back to the stockade at Franktown, Colorado, but the fourth man failed to return. This man, Conrad Moschel, was found a few days later having been shot with a firearm and pierced with an arrow, and had been scalped in the manner of the Cheyenne. This offensive action by the warring Cheyenne further enraged the U.S. people of Colorado. After several minor incidents in what would later come to be designated as

3626-414: The mountains quickly, seeking the lode source of the placer gold, and founded mining camps at Black Hawk and Central City . A rival group of civic individuals, including William A.H. Loveland , established the town of Golden City at the base of the mountains west of Denver City, with the intention of supplying the increasing tide of miners with necessary goods. The movement to create a territory within

3700-412: The new reservation as farmers. The U.S. agreed to pay the tribes a combined total of $ 30,000 per year for 15 years and in addition to provide a lumber mill, one or more mechanic shops, dwelling houses for an interpreter, and a miller engineer. See Article 5 of the Fort Wise Treaty. A good part of their co-nationals repudiated the treaty, declared the chiefs not empowered to sign, or bribed to sign, ignored

3774-432: The people of Colorado, achieve a required number of signatures on a petition, and then be voted on in a state-wide referendum, in which must achieve a 55% majority in order to be adopted. Second, the state assembly may draft an amendment, approve it by a two-thirds majority vote in each house, and then send it to the voters, who must again approve it with a 55% majority in a state-wide referendum. In either of these methods, if

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3848-455: The precarious balance of power between the free states and the slave states in the US. However, the Jefferson Territorial government effectively governed the region until 1861 with little interference from the federal government . The next year, on October 10, 1860, Denver City voters approved the Constitution of the "People's Government of Denver", which operated as an independent municipal government. On January 29, 1861, " An Act Admitting

3922-443: The present boundaries of Colorado followed nearly immediately. Citizens of Denver City and Golden City pushed for territorial status of the newly settled region within a year of the founding of the towns. The movement was promoted by William Byers , publisher of the Rocky Mountain News , and by Larimer, who aspired to be the first territorial governor. In 1859, settlers established the Territory of Jefferson , and held elections, but

3996-492: The rejected state constitution that was drafted two months earlier. By a vote of 2163 to 280, the voters of the gold fields approved the creation of the free Territory of Jefferson on October 24, 1859. The new territory included portions of the Territory of Kansas , the Territory of Nebraska , the Territory of New Mexico , the Territory of Utah , and the Territory of Washington . The United States Congress refused to recognize this new citizen-initiated territory because of

4070-408: The site of permanent settlement. The first movement of permanent U.S. settlers in the area began with the Kansas–Nebraska Act of 1854, which allowed private land claims to be filed. Among the first settlers to establish claims were former fur traders who returned to the lands they once trapped, including Antoine Janis and other trappers from Fort Laramie , who established a town near Laporte along

4144-411: The southwestern, southern, and parts of southeastern Colorado. The Comanche and Jicarilla Apache lived in the area that would become the southeastern portions of the Territory. The Arapaho and Cheyenne also had a presence in the eastern and northeastern plains of the area at times. The earliest explorers of European extraction to visit the area were Spanish explorers such as Coronado , although

4218-410: The state court system for administrative purposes, and the Denver Probate Court and the Denver Juvenile Court have jurisdiction over probate and juvenile matters, respectively. Outside Denver, these matters are within the jurisdiction of the district courts. Most crimes in Colorado are prosecuted by a district attorney . One district attorney is elected for each of the state's 22 judicial districts in

4292-547: The state has no secondary civil subdivisions, such as townships . Two of these counties, the City and County of Denver and the City and County of Broomfield , have consolidated city and county governments . The 273 Colorado municipalities operate under one of five types of municipal governing authority: A municipality may extend into multiple counties. There are no township governments in Colorado, but there are more than 4,000 special districts . See Active Colorado Local Governments . Other political subdivisions include

4366-487: The statehood of Colorado, in part because he feared it would lead to a Republican majority in the US Congress. This action frustrated congress, who subsequently approved a new "Colorado Statehood Bill", which Johnson vetoed May 15, 1866. Congress subsequently approved a second Colorado Statehood Bill, which was also vetoed in January 1867. Ulysses S. Grant became the President of the United States in March 1869. During Grant's time in office, Congress tried and failed to pass

4440-412: The subsequent Ulysses S. Grant presidential administration, with Republican 18th President Grant advocating statehood against a less willing Congress during the following post-war Reconstruction era (1865-1877). After a long constant lobbying campaign, the old Colorado Territory finally ceased to exist after only 15 years when the State of Colorado was admitted to the Union as the 38th state during

4514-421: The territory was open to slavery under the Dred Scott Decision of 1857, but the question was rendered moot by the impending American Civil War and the majority pro-Union sentiment in the territory. The name "Colorado" was chosen for the territory. It had been previously suggested in 1850 by Senator Henry S. Foote as a name for a state to have been created out of present-day California south of 35° 45'. During

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4588-405: The testimony, but which your committee will not specify in their report. Nevertheless, justice was never served on those responsible for the massacre; and nonetheless, the continuation of this Colorado War led to expulsion of the last Arapaho, Cheyenne, Kiowa and Comanche from the Colorado Territory into Oklahoma . Following the end of the American Civil War, a movement was made for statehood;

4662-467: The time unaware that the Kansas Territorial Legislature had split Arapahoe County into six new counties four weeks earlier on February 7. The next month, a constitutional convention was held in Denver City which proposed a new " State of Jefferson " to govern the gold fields. The first Jefferson Constitutional Convention meeting in Denver City adopted a proposed "Constitution of the State of Jefferson" on August 1, 1859. This proposed state constitution

4736-414: The two day Battle of Glorieta Pass along the Santa Fe Trail, thwarting the Confederate strategy. In 1851, by the Treaty of Fort Laramie , the United States acknowledged the Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes control, in the Colorado area, of the Eastern Plains between North Platte River and Arkansas River eastward from the Rocky Mountains . The Fort Laramie Treaty, in Article 2 of the treaty, did allow

4810-480: The voters to approve as a slate via simple majority. Despite these relatively high bars to passing any given amendment, at least 166 amendments to the constitution have been passed since its initial adoption in 1876. Prior to 2016, constitutional amendments needed to only achieve a 50% majority upon state-wide referendum. The constitution's Article II, The Bill of Rights, contains two provisions added via amendment related to sexual orientation that were found to violate

4884-459: The western side of the Divide, the territory included much of the eastern older Utah Territory , all of which besides its substantial while Mormon / L.D.S. population especially around the capital of Salt Lake City , was strongly controlled by the Ute and Shoshoni native tribes The Eastern Plains were held much more loosely by the intermixed Cheyenne and Arapaho , as well as by the Pawnee , Comanche and Kiowa . In 1861, ten days before

4958-402: Was a modified version of the second Constitution of the State of Iowa that was drafted two years earlier. The next month (September 5), voters of the gold fields reject statehood as premature. On October 3, the second Jefferson Constitutional Convention in Denver City adopted a proposed Constitution of the Territory of Jefferson. This proposed territorial constitution was a modified version of

5032-468: Was affected by three different federal cases: Kitchen v. Herbert (2014), Bishop v. Smith (2014), and Obergefell v. Hodges (2015). The last of these cases guaranteed the right to same-sex marriage in every state in the US, effectively nullifying this section. However, these two sections remain in the text of the present Colorado constitution, and have not been repealed. In 1992, voters approved an amendment creating Article X, Section 20, which established

5106-435: Was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from February 28, 1861, until August 1, 1876, when it was admitted to the Union as the 38th State of Colorado . The territory was organized in the wake of the Pike's Peak Gold Rush of 1858–1862, which brought the first large concentration of white settlement to the region. The organic legislative act creating the slave-free Territory of Colorado

5180-466: Was completed to Denver two months later. The move cemented the role of Denver as the future regional metropolis. The territory was finally admitted to the Union in 1876. Three Colorado cities served as the capital of the Territory of Colorado: For much if not all of its existence, the Colorado Territorial government did not actually own its houses of government, instead renting available buildings for governmental purposes. Today, two buildings which served

5254-482: Was enacted before the railroads had come and before the finding of gold in the region, few whites had ventured to settle in what is now Colorado. By the 1860s, as a result of the Colorado Gold Rush and homesteaders encroaching westward into Indian terrain, relations between U.S. and the Native American people deteriorated. On February 18, 1861, in the Treaty of Fort Wise , several chiefs of Cheyenne and Arapaho supposedly agreed with U.S. representatives to cede most of

5328-464: Was made effective in December 1996 and attempted to direct Colorado's representatives to the US Congress to propose and vote for an amendment to the US constitution in support of congressional term limits. This amendment was found unconstitutional in the 1998 Colorado Supreme Court case Morrissey v. State , on the grounds that a state's voters could not compel their representatives to vote or act in

5402-426: Was passed by the United States Congress and signed by 15th President James Buchanan (1791-1868, served 1857-1861), into law on February 28, 1861. During that period which at the same time (since beginning with South Carolina the previous December 1860), the secession of seven, later eleven southern slave states had been occurring those several months proclaiming / forming a new independent Southern government of

5476-612: Was redrawn in 1848 with the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo at the end of the Mexican–American War , and the final borders of the state of Texas were established by the Congressional Compromise of 1850 . The land that was eventually defined as the Colorado Territory was home to a number of indigenous civilizations. The Ute lived across both Western Colorado and the eastern high plains . The Anasazi lived in

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