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100-776: The Eastern Plains of Colorado refers to a region of the U.S. state of Colorado east of the Rocky Mountains and east of the population centers of the Front Range . The Eastern Plains are part of the High Plains , which are the westernmost portion of the Great Plains . The region is characterized by mostly rolling plains, divided by the South Platte River and Arkansas River valleys. There are also several deciduous forests, canyons, buttes, and

200-782: A National Historic Landmark on February 10, 2006. On March 18, 2022, U.S. President Joe Biden signed the Amache National Historic Site Act authorizing the Granada War Relocation Center to become part of the National Park System . It was formally established as part of the National Park Service on February 15, 2024, the third National Historic Site in Colorado after Bent's Old Fort and

300-720: A gunman killed 10 people , including a police officer, in a King Soopers supermarket in Boulder . In an instance of anti-LGBT violence , a gunman killed 5 people at a nightclub in Colorado Springs during the night of November 19–20, 2022. Four warships of the U.S. Navy have been named the USS Colorado . The first USS Colorado was named for the Colorado River and served in the Civil War and later

400-686: A few large natural lakes and rivers throughout the region. The Eastern Plains rise from approximately 3,400 feet (1,000 m.) at the eastern border of Colorado with Kansas , where the Arkansas River leaves the state, to 7,500 feet (2,300 m.) east of the Denver Basin . Most of the Eastern Plains region lies within Colorado's 4th congressional district . The Eastern Plains have a semi-arid climate and receive little rainfall. Much of

500-620: A major industry in Colorado. This period became known locally as the Carnation Gold Rush . Poor labor conditions and discontent among miners resulted in several major clashes between strikers and the Colorado National Guard , including the 1903–1904 Western Federation of Miners Strike and Colorado Coalfield War , the latter of which included the Ludlow massacre that killed a dozen women and children. Both

600-653: A rapid decline in the organization's power, with membership waning significantly by the end of the 1920s. Colorado became the first western state to host a major political convention when the Democratic Party met in Denver in 1908. By the U.S. census in 1930 , the population of Colorado first exceeded one million residents. Colorado suffered greatly through the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl of

700-719: A score of 7-0, the only touchdown coming from a trick play, thus the Amache team can claim to be undefeated on their own field. Adults in camp had various opportunities for employment. The camp had a police department which was worked by sixty Japanese American internees, although it was headed by a white security officer. Similarly, the Amache Fire Department consisted of three crews of Japanese American firefighters and one internee fire chief working under white supervisors. Some (though not many) who had earned teaching credentials prior to their confinement were employed in

800-648: A significant portion of the extreme weather occurs in the least populated areas of the state. Thunderstorms are common east of the Continental Divide in the spring and summer, yet are usually brief. Hail is a common sight in the mountains east of the Divide and across the eastern Plains, especially the northeast part of the state. Hail is the most commonly reported warm-season severe weather hazard, and occasionally causes human injuries, as well as significant property damage. The eastern Plains are subject to some of

900-465: Is Christianity , with Roman Catholicism the largest denomination. Eastern Colorado roads span the gamut from paved roads to gravel roads to dirt roads. The unpaved roads are typically county or local roads that do not receive enough traffic to be paved. Some of the major paved roads include: Colorado The region has been inhabited by Native Americans and their ancestors for at least 13,500 years and possibly much longer. The eastern edge of

1000-455: Is a mix of high plains, foothills, and mountains. Northwest and west Colorado are predominantly mountainous, with some desert lands mixed in. Southwest and southern Colorado are a complex mixture of desert and mountain areas. The climate of the Eastern Plains is semi-arid ( Köppen climate classification : BSk ) with low humidity and moderate precipitation, usually from 15 to 25 inches (380 to 640 millimeters) annually, although many areas near

1100-478: Is also significant livestock farming, dairy and poultry farming, including chicken for meat and eggs, and turkey farming. Most of the towns in the region have grain elevators and prominent water towers . Also, over 90% of the farms in Eastern Colorado are family farms . In Eastern Colorado most small towns have their own schools and sports teams, but in some parts where depopulation has been

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1200-841: Is drained by the Colorado River. The South Park of Colorado is the region of the headwaters of the South Platte River. In south-central Colorado is the large San Luis Valley , where the headwaters of the Rio Grande are located. The northern part of the valley is the San Luis Closed Basin , an endorheic basin that helped created the Great Sand Dunes . The valley sits between the Sangre de Cristo Mountains and San Juan Mountains . The Rio Grande drains due south into New Mexico, Texas, and Mexico. Across

1300-629: Is flat and rolling land. East of the Rocky Mountains is the Colorado Eastern Plains of the High Plains , the section of the Great Plains within Colorado at elevations ranging from roughly 3,350 to 7,500 feet (1,020 to 2,290 m). The Colorado plains are mostly prairies but also include deciduous forests , buttes , and canyons. Precipitation averages 15 to 25 inches (380 to 640 mm) annually. Eastern Colorado

1400-544: Is generally accessed through artesian wells . Heavy usage of these wells for irrigation purposes caused underground water reserves to decline in the region. Eastern Colorado also hosts a considerable amount and range of livestock, such as cattle ranches and hog farms. Roughly 70% of Colorado's population resides along the eastern edge of the Rocky Mountains in the Front Range Urban Corridor between Cheyenne, Wyoming , and Pueblo, Colorado . This region

1500-773: Is higher than the high elevation points of 18 states and the District of Columbia. The Continental Divide of the Americas extends along the crest of the Rocky Mountains. The area of Colorado to the west of the Continental Divide is called the Western Slope of Colorado . West of the Continental Divide, water flows to the southwest via the Colorado River and the Green River towards the Gulf of California . Within

1600-471: Is known as "The Western Slope") are the cities of Grand Junction , Durango , and Montrose . Download coordinates as: To the west of the Great Plains of Colorado rises the eastern slope of the Rocky Mountains . Notable peaks of the Rocky Mountains include Longs Peak , Mount Blue Sky , Pikes Peak , and the Spanish Peaks near Walsenburg , in southern Colorado. This area drains to the east and

1700-405: Is located is named after Prowers.) The Camp Amache residential area is spread atop a low hill, which prevented the flooding and mud problems which plagued other WRA camps, although the area was prone to high winds and severe dust storms. It was surrounded by barbed-wire fencing, with eight machine-gun towers located all around the camp. However, all eight towers were rarely manned at one time, and

1800-466: Is more complex than states outside of the Mountain States region. Unlike most other states, southern Colorado is not always warmer than northern Colorado. Most of Colorado is made up of mountains, foothills, high plains, and desert lands. Mountains and surrounding valleys greatly affect the local climate. Northeast, east, and southeast Colorado are mostly the high plains, while Northern Colorado

1900-522: Is partially protected from prevailing storms that blow in from the Pacific Ocean region by the high Rockies in the middle of Colorado. The "Front Range" includes Denver, Boulder , Fort Collins , Loveland, Castle Rock , Colorado Springs, Pueblo, Greeley, and other townships and municipalities in between. On the other side of the Rockies, the significant population centers in western Colorado (which

2000-559: Is presently mainly farmland and rangeland, along with small farming villages and towns. Corn , wheat , hay , soybeans , and oats are all typical crops. Most villages and towns in this region boast both a water tower and a grain elevator . Irrigation water is available from both surface and subterranean sources. Surface water sources include the South Platte , the Arkansas River , and a few other streams. Subterranean water

2100-551: Is rare. Eastern Colorado was once home to many Native American tribes. The Plains Indians that lived in the region included the Arapahoe , Cheyenne , Kiowa , Pawnee , and Sioux . The Ute people formally ruled all over central and western Colorado, and onto the eastern plains as well. The Comanche once ruled all over southeastern Colorado, and the Jicarilla Apache ruled in southeastern Colorado as well. In 1541,

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2200-464: Is the highest point in Colorado and the Rocky Mountains of North America. Colorado is the only U.S. state that lies entirely above 1,000 meters elevation. The point where the Arikaree River flows out of Yuma County, Colorado , and into Cheyenne County, Kansas , is the lowest in Colorado at 3,317 feet (1,011 m) elevation. This point, which is the highest low elevation point of any state,

2300-568: Is today the State of Colorado has been inhabited by Native Americans and their Paleoamerican ancestors for at least 13,500 years and possibly more than 37,000 years. The eastern edge of the Rocky Mountains was a major migration route that was important to the spread of early peoples throughout the Americas. The Lindenmeier site in Larimer County contains artifacts dating from approximately 8720 BCE. The Ancient Pueblo peoples lived in

2400-432: Is very prone to droughts. Most of the precipitation comes from thunderstorms, which can be severe, and from major snowstorms that occur in the winter and early spring. Otherwise, winters tend to be mostly dry and cold. In much of the region, March is the snowiest month. April and May are normally the rainiest months, while April is the wettest month overall. The Front Range cities closer to the mountains tend to be warmer in

2500-578: The Adams-Onís Treaty of 1819. The treaty took effect on February 22, 1821. Having settled its border with Spain, the U.S. admitted the southeastern portion of the Territory of Missouri to the Union as the state of Missouri on August 10, 1821. The remainder of Missouri Territory, including what would become northeastern Colorado, became an unorganized territory and remained so for 33 years over

2600-593: The Asiatic Squadron , where it was attacked during the 1871 Korean Expedition . The later three ships were named in honor of the state, including an armored cruiser and the battleship USS Colorado , the latter of which was the lead ship of her class and served in World War II in the Pacific beginning in 1941. At the time of the attack on Pearl Harbor , the battleship USS Colorado was located at

2700-561: The Great Lakes region to hunt across the High Plains of Colorado and Wyoming . The Spanish Empire claimed Colorado as part of Nuevo México . The U.S. acquired the territorial claim to the eastern Rocky Mountains with the Louisiana Purchase from France in 1803. This U.S. claim conflicted with the claim by Spain to the upper Arkansas River Basin . In 1806, Zebulon Pike led a U.S. Army reconnaissance expedition into

2800-511: The Louisiana Purchase . Zebulon M. Pike was sent by the federal government to lay out the boundary lines of territory in 1806. This expedition investigated the area now known as Colorado Springs. The prominent mountain in the area was named Pike's Peak after Pike, the leading commander of the exploration. There were multiple expeditions sent to lay out and explore the territory throughout the early 1800s. This created multiple trading posts with fur trades attracting many backcountry adventurers. There

2900-731: The Pawnee National Grasslands and Comanche National Grasslands are located in the Eastern Plains. They are composed of marginal farmlands that were withdrawn from agriculture and consolidated under federal control beginning in the Dust Bowl. The Amache National Historic Site , located near Granada in Prowers County is administered by the National Park Service. Eastern Colorado is largely farmland , with many small farming communities. The major cash crops are corn , wheat , hay , oats , and soybeans . There

3000-728: The Provisional Government of the Territory of Jefferson on August 24, 1859, but this new territory failed to secure approval from the Congress of the United States embroiled in the debate over slavery. The election of Abraham Lincoln for the President of the United States on November 6, 1860, led to the secession of nine southern slave states and the threat of civil war among the states . Seeking to augment

3100-615: The Rocky Mountains was a major migration route for early peoples who spread throughout the Americas. In 1848, much of the Nuevo México region was annexed to the United States with the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo . The Pike's Peak Gold Rush of 1858–1862 created an influx of settlers. On February 28, 1861, U.S. President James Buchanan signed an act creating the Territory of Colorado , and on August 1, 1876, President Ulysses S. Grant signed Proclamation 230 , admitting Colorado to

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3200-648: The Sangre de Cristo Range to the east of the San Luis Valley lies the Wet Mountain Valley . These basins, particularly the San Luis Valley, lie along the Rio Grande rift , a major geological formation of the Rocky Mountains, and its branches. The Western Slope of Colorado includes the western face of the Rocky Mountains and all of the area to the western border. This area includes several terrains and climates from alpine mountains to arid deserts. The Western Slope includes many ski resort towns in

3300-558: The Territory of New Mexico , and the Territory of Utah . On April 9, 1851, Hispano settlers from the area of Taos settled the village of San Luis , then in the New Mexico Territory , as Colorado's first permanent Euro-American settlement , further cementing the traditions of New Mexican cuisine and New Mexico music in the developing Southern Rocky Mountain Front . In 1854, Senator Stephen A. Douglas persuaded

3400-590: The U.S. Congress to divide the unorganized territory east of the Continental Divide into two new organized territories, the Territory of Kansas and the Territory of Nebraska , and an unorganized southern region known as the Indian Territory . Each new territory was to decide the fate of slavery within its boundaries, but this compromise merely served to fuel animosity between free soil and pro-slavery factions. The gold seekers organized

3500-557: The Union as the 38th state. The Spanish adjective "colorado" means "colored red" or "ruddy". Colorado is nicknamed the " Centennial State " because it became a state 100 years (and four weeks) after the signing of the United States Declaration of Independence . Denver is the capital, the most populous city , and the center of the Front Range Urban Corridor . Colorado Springs is the second most populous city of

3600-508: The Union cause. In 1862, a force of Texas cavalry invaded the Territory of New Mexico and captured Santa Fe on March 10. The object of this Western Campaign was to seize or disrupt Colorado and California's gold fields and seize Pacific Ocean ports for the Confederacy. A hastily organized force of Colorado volunteers force-marched from Denver City, Colorado Territory , to Glorieta Pass , New Mexico Territory, in an attempt to block

3700-617: The Ute Indian reservation in southwestern Colorado. The Ute people were removed from the San Juan Mountains the following year. The United States Congress passed an enabling act on March 3, 1875, specifying the requirements for the Territory of Colorado to become a state. On August 1, 1876 (four weeks after the Centennial of the United States ), U.S. President Ulysses S. Grant signed a proclamation admitting Colorado to

3800-483: The War Relocation Authority , the government body responsible for administration of the incarceration program, Granada was one of ten such camps, the only one to be built on private land. The camp site covered 10,000 acres (40 km ), of which only 640 acres (2.6 km ) was used for residential, community and administrative buildings, while the rest was devoted to agricultural projects. The land

3900-476: The free Territory of Colorado . The original boundaries of Colorado remain unchanged except for government survey amendments. In 1776, Spanish priest Silvestre Vélez de Escalante recorded that Native Americans in the area knew the river as el Rio Colorado for the red-brown silt that the river carried from the mountains. In 1859, a U.S. Army topographic expedition led by Captain John Macomb located

4000-526: The question of slavery . After 11 years of war, Spain finally recognized the independence of Mexico with the Treaty of Córdoba signed on August 24, 1821. Mexico eventually ratified the Adams–Onís Treaty in 1831. The Texian Revolt of 1835–36 fomented a dispute between the U.S. and Mexico which eventually erupted into the Mexican–American War in 1846. Mexico surrendered its northern territory to

4100-597: The 1913–1914 Coalfield War and the Denver streetcar strike of 1920 resulted in federal troops intervening to end the violence. In 1927, the 1927-28 Colorado coal strike occurred and was ultimately successful in winning a dollar a day increase in wages. During it however the Columbine Mine massacre resulted in six dead strikers following a confrontation with Colorado Rangers . In a separate incident in Trinidad

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4200-471: The 1930s, but a major wave of immigration following World War II boosted Colorado's fortune. Tourism became a mainstay of the state economy, and high technology became an important economic engine. The United States Census Bureau estimated that the population of Colorado exceeded five million in 2009. On September 11, 1957, a plutonium fire occurred at the Rocky Flats Plant , which resulted in

4300-585: The Green River briefly crosses over into Colorado. The Western Slope of Colorado is drained by the Colorado River and its tributaries (primarily the Gunnison River , Green River , and the San Juan River ). The Colorado River flows through Glenwood Canyon , and then through an arid valley made up of desert from Rifle to Parachute , through the desert canyon of De Beque Canyon , and into

4400-469: The Rocky Mountains and towns west to Utah. It is less populous than the Front Range but includes a large number of national parks and monuments. The northwestern corner of Colorado is a sparsely populated region, and it contains part of the noted Dinosaur National Monument , which not only is a paleontological area, but is also a scenic area of rocky hills, canyons, arid desert, and streambeds. Here,

4500-755: The Southwestern United States. In 1864, Territorial Governor John Evans appointed the Reverend John Chivington as Colonel of the Colorado Volunteers with orders to protect white settlers from Cheyenne and Arapaho warriors who were accused of stealing cattle. Colonel Chivington ordered his troops to attack a band of Cheyenne and Arapaho encamped along Sand Creek. Chivington reported that his troops killed more than 500 warriors. The militia returned to Denver City in triumph, but several officers reported that

4600-420: The Spanish came to the area now known as the south eastern portion of Colorado, in search of gold after hearing rumors in Mexico city. Not having found any gold, the Spanish largely left the area untouched. During the late 17th and 18th century Spain and France claimed southeastern Colorado. However, nobody settled the land. In 1803 the United States gained possession of much of the land east of Rocky Mountains with

4700-421: The Territory. The Union Pacific linked up with the Central Pacific Railroad at Promontory Summit, Utah , on May 10, 1869, to form the First transcontinental railroad . The Denver Pacific Railway reached Denver in June of the following year, and the Kansas Pacific arrived two months later to forge the second line across the continent. In 1872, rich veins of silver were discovered in the San Juan Mountains on

4800-466: The Texans. On March 28, the Coloradans and local New Mexico volunteers stopped the Texans at the Battle of Glorieta Pass , destroyed their cannon and supply wagons, and dispersed 500 of their horses and mules. The Texans were forced to retreat to Santa Fe. Having lost the supplies for their campaign and finding little support in New Mexico, the Texans abandoned Santa Fe and returned to San Antonio in defeat. The Confederacy made no further attempts to seize

4900-715: The U.S. Since 1990, the Amache Preservation Society, a Granada high school group, has worked on preservation of the site and its documents. As a school project, Granada Undivided High School students have set up a museum for the Granada War Relocation Center. On December 21, 2006, President George W. Bush signed H.R. 1492 into law guaranteeing $ 38,000,000 in federal money to restore the Granada relocation center and nine other former Japanese American internment camps. Granada Relocation Center National Historic Site Acts were introduced in 2006 and 2007 by Colorado Sen. Wayne Allard but got no traction. In April 2021, Colorado U.S. Representatives Ken Buck and Joe Neguse introduced

5000-423: The U.S. Army from this camp, either volunteering or accepting their conscription into the famed 100th/442nd and MIS. In the southwest corner of the camp is a small cemetery and memorial dedicated to the Japanese Americans from there who volunteered to fight in Europe in World War II. A large stone memorial with 31 men's names engraved in it sits in the cemetery in memory of those soldiers from Amache who died defending

5100-408: The U.S. with the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo after the war in 1848; this included much of the western and southern areas of Colorado. Most American settlers first traveled to Colorado through the Santa Fe Trail , which connected the U.S. to Santa Fe and the Camino Real de Tierra Adentro southward. Others were traveling overland west to the Oregon Country , the new goldfields of California , or

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5200-399: The Union as the 38th state and earning it the moniker "Centennial State". The discovery of a major silver lode near Leadville in 1878 triggered the Colorado Silver Boom . The Sherman Silver Purchase Act of 1890 invigorated silver mining, and Colorado's last, but greatest, gold strike at Cripple Creek a few months later lured a new generation of gold seekers. Colorado women were granted

5300-442: The Western Slope can be found at Colorado Mesa University in Grand Junction, Western Colorado University in Gunnison, Fort Lewis College in Durango, and Colorado Mountain College in Glenwood Springs and Steamboat Springs. The Four Corners Monument in the southwest corner of Colorado marks the common boundary of Colorado, New Mexico , Arizona , and Utah ; the only such place in the United States. The climate of Colorado

5400-447: The Western Slope. Grand Junction and Durango are the only major centers of television broadcasting west of the Continental Divide in Colorado, though most mountain resort communities publish daily newspapers. Grand Junction is located at the juncture of Interstate 70 and US 50, the only major highways in western Colorado. Grand Junction is also along the major railroad of the Western Slope, the Union Pacific . This railroad also provides

5500-499: The alpine snow melts by mid-August except for a few snow-capped peaks and a few small glaciers. The Colorado Mineral Belt , stretching from the San Juan Mountains in the southwest to Boulder and Central City on the front range, contains most of the historic gold- and silver-mining districts of Colorado. The 30 highest major summits of the Rocky Mountains of North America are all within the state. The summit of Mount Elbert at 14,437.6 feet (4,400.58 m) elevation in Lake County

5600-401: The area relies on irrigation to survive. Summers are typically hot and dry, often bringing thunderstorms , which are often severe, to the area, with some occasionally forming landspouts and tornadoes . Eastern Colorado winters are cold and dry, with significant snowfalls and icy conditions. Temperatures can sometimes fall to -40 to -30 degrees Fahrenheit in extreme cold waves, although this

5700-403: The arid desert of Grand Valley , where the city of Grand Junction is located. Also prominent is the Grand Mesa , which lies to the southeast of Grand Junction; the high San Juan Mountains, a rugged mountain range; and to the north and west of the San Juan Mountains, the Colorado Plateau . Grand Junction, Colorado , at the confluence of the Colorado and Gunnison Rivers, is the largest city on

5800-410: The biggest hail storms in North America. Notable examples are the severe hailstorms that hit Denver on July 11, 1990, and May 8, 2017, the latter being the costliest ever in the state. Amache National Historic Site Granada War Relocation Center , known to the internees as Camp Amache ( / ɑː m ɑː tʃ i / ah-mah-chee ) and later designated the Amache National Historic Site ,

5900-432: The boundaries of the new Territory of Colorado exclusively by lines of latitude and longitude , stretching from 37°N to 41°N latitude, and from 102°02′48″W to 109°02′48″W longitude ( 25°W to 32°W from the Washington Meridian ). After 163 years of government surveys, the borders of Colorado were officially defined by 697 boundary markers and 697 straight boundary lines . Colorado, Wyoming , and Utah are

6000-531: The camp schools. A silkscreen shop was established in 1943, and its forty-five staff members created training materials and over 250,000 color posters for the U.S. Navy, in addition to calendars, program events and other personal-use items for camp residents. As in all the WRA camps, doctors, nurses, dentists, and other healthcare workers found work at the camp hospital, although they were paid significantly less than their white coworkers — and fellow internees often pooled money to subsidize their low wages. Most of

6100-413: The confluence of the Green River with the Grand River in what is now Canyonlands National Park in Utah . The Macomb party designated the confluence as the source of the Colorado River. On April 12, 1861, South Carolina artillery opened fire on Fort Sumter to start the American Civil War . While many gold seekers held sympathies for the Confederacy , the vast majority remained fiercely loyal to

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6200-583: The country suffered from wartime shortages, U.S. Senator Edwin C. Johnson called it an example of "pampering" the enemy. The high school was completed in June 1943, but plans to construct two additional schools for elementary and junior high students were abandoned; middle schoolers shared the Amache High building with older students, while elementary school classes continued in a barracks in Block 8H. There were several clubs, extracurricular activities, and social events that were available to students of all grade levels in Amanche High School. Sources indicate that

6300-409: The disputed region. Colonel Pike and his troops were arrested by Spanish cavalrymen in the San Luis Valley the following February, taken to Chihuahua , and expelled from Mexico the following July. The U.S. relinquished its claim to all land south and west of the Arkansas River and south of 42nd parallel north and west of the 100th meridian west as part of its purchase of Florida from Spain with

6400-417: The entire Great Basin and all lands drained by the rivers Green , Grand , and Colorado . The federal government of the U.S. flatly refused to recognize the new Mormon government because it was theocratic and sanctioned plural marriage . Instead, the Compromise of 1850 divided the Mexican Cession and the northwestern claims of Texas into a new state and two new territories, the state of California ,

6500-419: The entire camp population and send the surplus to the U.S. Army and other camps. (In 1943, for example, Granada farmers grew 4 million pounds of vegetables.) Internee leaders set up a separate Amache District for Boy Scouts at the camp. These Scouts still flew the American flag as seen in the photograph at right of a Boy Scout Memorial Day parade at the camp. In June 1942, the War Department authorized

6600-408: The few to welcome the Japanese Americans and the only governor not to oppose the establishment of a WRA camp in his state, going against the anti-Japanese sentiment of the times. Granada opened August 27, 1942, and reached a peak population of 7,318 persons by February 1943, making it the smallest of the WRA camps (although the total number who passed through the camp during its three-year existence

6700-500: The formation of the 100th Infantry Battalion consisting of 1,432 men of Japanese descent in the Hawaii National Guard and sent them to Camps McCoy and Shelby for advanced training. Because of its superior training record, the Army's previous restrictions against Nisei (listed as enemy aliens ineligible for active service after Pearl Harbor) were lifted in order to create the 442nd RCT in January 1943 when 10,000 men from Hawaii signed up with eventually 2,686 being chosen along with 1,500 from

6800-419: The guns were never used. The Project Director, James G. Lindley , allowed internees to take day trips to the town of Granada, located within walking distance of the camp, and although some locals remained hostile to their "Jap" neighbors, most eventually warmed to the internees, with many business owners hiring Japanese Americans and stocking goods that catered to their Amache customers. Although relations with

6900-482: The high school football team lost one game in three years. One noteworthy event was when the Amache football team played the undefeated football team from Holly, Colorado, which is located just 11 miles (17.7 km) east of Amache on U.S. 50. This game was unique because Holly actually agreed to come up to the camp and play Amache on their home field. One of the Holly team players was Roy Romer , who went on to become Governor of Colorado. The Amache team won this game by

7000-431: The infamous Columbine High School massacre in 1999 which made international news, where two gunmen killed 12 students and one teacher, before committing suicide. The incident has spawned many copycat incidents . On July 20, 2012, a gunman killed 12 people in a movie theater in Aurora . The state responded with tighter restrictions on firearms, including introducing a limit on magazine capacity. On March 22, 2021,

7100-402: The interior of the Rocky Mountains are several large parks which are high broad basins. In the north, on the east side of the Continental Divide is the North Park of Colorado . The North Park is drained by the North Platte River , which flows north into Wyoming and Nebraska. Just to the south of North Park, but on the western side of the Continental Divide, is the Middle Park of Colorado , which

7200-628: The local and state Democrat and Republican parties , particularly in the governor's office and city governments of Denver, Cañon City , and Durango . A particularly strong element of the Klan controlled the Denver Police . Cross burnings became semi-regular occurrences in cities such as Florence and Pueblo. The Klan targeted African-Americans, Catholics , Eastern European immigrants, and other non-White Protestant groups. Efforts by non-Klan lawmen and lawyers including Philip Van Cise led to

7300-664: The mainland. The 100th Infantry Battalion entered combat in September 1943 and it became known as the Purple Heart Battalion because of their heroism and horrific casualties. It was joined by the 442nd RCT in June 1944 and together it lived up to the motto "Go For Broke" because of the degree to which its soldiers risked their lives in battle and became the most highly decorated unit in the war and to this day, for its size and length of service. Eventually, 441 Nisei joined

7400-700: The mayor was accused of deputizing members of the KKK against the striking workers. More than 5,000 Colorado miners—many immigrants—are estimated to have died in accidents since records were first formally collected following an 1884 accident in Crested Butte that killed 59. In 1924, the Ku Klux Klan Colorado Realm achieved dominance in Colorado politics. With peak membership levels, the Second Klan levied significant control over both

7500-560: The midst and aftermath of the Civil War, many discouraged prospectors returned to their homes, but a few stayed and developed mines, mills, farms, ranches, roads, and towns in Colorado Territory. On September 14, 1864, James Huff discovered silver near Argentine Pass , the first of many silver strikes. In 1867, the Union Pacific Railroad laid its tracks west to Weir, now Julesburg , in the northeast corner of

7600-531: The naval base in San Diego, California, and thus went unscathed. The most recent vessel to bear the name USS Colorado is Virginia-class submarine USS Colorado (SSN-788) , which was commissioned in 2018. Colorado is notable for its diverse geography, which includes alpine mountains, high plains, deserts with huge sand dunes, and deep canyons. In 1861, the United States Congress defined

7700-901: The new Mormon settlements of the State of Deseret in the Salt Lake Valley , avoided the rugged Southern Rocky Mountains , and instead followed the North Platte River and Sweetwater River to South Pass (Wyoming) , the lowest crossing of the Continental Divide between the Southern Rocky Mountains and the Central Rocky Mountains. In 1849, the Mormons of the Salt Lake Valley organized the extralegal State of Deseret , claiming

7800-482: The only states that have their borders defined solely by straight boundary lines with no natural features. The southwest corner of Colorado is the Four Corners Monument at 36°59′56″N , 109°2′43″W . The Four Corners Monument , located at the place where Colorado, New Mexico , Arizona , and Utah meet, is the only place in the United States where four states meet. Approximately half of Colorado

7900-620: The plains and into the foothills, there is a wide variety of climate types. Locations merely a few miles apart can experience entirely different weather depending on the topography. Most valleys have a semi-arid climate, not unlike the eastern plains, which transitions to an alpine climate at the highest elevations. Microclimates also exist in local areas that run nearly the entire spectrum of climates, including subtropical highland ( Cfb/Cwb ), humid subtropical ( Cfa ), humid continental ( Dfa/Dfb ), Mediterranean ( Csa/Csb ) and subarctic ( Dfc ). Extreme weather changes are common in Colorado, although

8000-577: The political power of the Union states , the Republican Party -dominated Congress quickly admitted the eastern portion of the Territory of Kansas into the Union as the free State of Kansas on January 29, 1861, leaving the western portion of the Kansas Territory, and its gold-mining areas, as unorganized territory. Thirty days later on February 28, 1861, outgoing U.S. President James Buchanan signed an Act of Congress organizing

8100-444: The population of Colorado resides, lies in a pronounced precipitation shadow as a result of being on the lee side of the Rocky Mountains. In summer, this area can have many days above 95 °F (35 °C) and often 100 °F (38 °C). On the plains, the winter lows usually range from 25 to −10 °F (−4 to −23 °C). About 75% of the precipitation falls within the growing season, from April to September, but this area

8200-466: The region, with the exception of comparatively urban areas like Sterling , is experiencing depopulation, which in some areas began with the influenza pandemic of 1918 and agricultural price collapses after World War I . The Dust Bowl devastated the region and further accelerated this outmigration. Baca County is emblematic of the population decline and its associated effects, as the county's population declined in every census from 1960 to 2020. Both

8300-516: The residents of Granada and other nearby communities were largely positive, many Coloradans protested the construction of Amache High School in 1943. The region was still recovering from the Depression of the 1930s, and citizens argued their tax dollars should not go to support Japanese American students. Echoing widespread rumors that the WRA was "coddling" confined Japanese Americans while the rest of

8400-494: The right to vote on November 7, 1893, making Colorado the second state to grant universal suffrage and the first one by a popular vote (of Colorado men). The repeal of the Sherman Silver Purchase Act in 1893 led to a staggering collapse of the mining and agricultural economy of Colorado, but the state slowly and steadily recovered. Between the 1880s and 1930s, Denver's floriculture industry developed into

8500-405: The rivers are semi-humid climate. The area is known for its abundant sunshine and cool, clear nights, which give this area a great average diurnal temperature range . The difference between the highs of the days and the lows of the nights can be considerable as warmth dissipates to space during clear nights, the heat radiation not being trapped by clouds. The Front Range urban corridor, where most of

8600-479: The significant plutonium contamination of surrounding populated areas. From the 1940s and 1970s, many protest movements gained momentum in Colorado, predominantly in Denver. This included the Chicano Movement , a civil rights , and social movement of Mexican Americans emphasizing a Chicano identity that is widely considered to have begun in Denver. The National Chicano Youth Liberation Conference

8700-635: The site of the Sand Creek Massacre . Following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt authorized the forced relocation of Japanese Americans living on the West Coast with Executive Order 9066 . Over the spring of 1942, some 120,000 Japanese Americans were moved into temporary assembly centers before being transferred to more permanent and isolated relocation centers like Granada. Run by

8800-483: The so-called battle was a blatant massacre of Indians at peace, that most of the dead were women and children, and that the bodies of the dead had been hideously mutilated and desecrated. Three U.S. Army inquiries condemned the action, and incoming President Andrew Johnson asked Governor Evans for his resignation, but none of the perpetrators was ever punished. This event is now known as the Sand Creek massacre . In

8900-651: The southeast, ultimately either via the Mississippi River or the Rio Grande into the Gulf of Mexico . The Rocky Mountains within Colorado contain 53 true peaks and 58 named peaks that are 14,000 feet (4,267 m) or higher in elevation above sea level, known as fourteeners . These mountains are largely covered with trees such as conifers and aspens up to the tree line , at an elevation of about 12,000 feet (3,658 m) in southern Colorado to about 10,500 feet (3,200 m) in northern Colorado. Above this tree line, only alpine vegetation grows. Much of

9000-456: The state. Residents of the state are known as Coloradans , although the antiquated "Coloradoan" is occasionally used. Major parts of the economy include government and defense, mining, agriculture , tourism, and increasingly other kinds of manufacturing. With increasing temperatures and decreasing water availability, Colorado's agriculture forestry, and tourism economies are expected to be heavily affected by climate change . The region that

9100-505: The tracks for Amtrak 's California Zephyr passenger train, which crosses the Rocky Mountains between Denver and Grand Junction. The Western Slope includes multiple notable destinations in the Colorado Rocky Mountains, including Glenwood Springs , with its resort hot springs, and the ski resorts of Aspen , Breckenridge , Vail , Crested Butte , Steamboat Springs , and Telluride . Higher education in and near

9200-794: The valleys and mesas of the Colorado Plateau in far southwestern Colorado. The Ute Nation inhabited the mountain valleys of the Southern Rocky Mountains and the Western Rocky Mountains , even as far east as the Front Range of the present day. The Apache and the Comanche also inhabited the Eastern and Southeastern parts of the state. In the 17th century, the Arapaho and Cheyenne moved west from

9300-467: The winter due to Chinook winds which warms the area, sometimes bringing temperatures of 70 °F (21 °C) or higher in the winter. The average July temperature is 55 °F (13 °C) in the morning and 90 °F (32 °C) in the afternoon. The average January temperature is 18 °F (−8 °C) in the morning and 48 °F (9 °C) in the afternoon, although variation between consecutive days can be 40 °F (22 °C). Just west of

9400-554: The work in Granada was directed at agricultural production. Like most of the other WRA camps, the land surrounding the residential areas were devoted to farming and raising livestock. The WRA budget restricted the per-inmate food allotment to 45 cents a day, partly to avoid the complaints of coddling and partly because the camp was intended to be mostly self-sufficient in its food production. These efforts proved especially successful at Granada, where internee laborers produced enough to feed

9500-465: The worst, a single school is shared among surrounding towns. There are also a number of schools serving students in grades K–12 run by religious groups or public school districts. Eastern Colorado is one of the few remaining places in the United States that was still operating one-room school houses in 2010. Eastern Colorado is home to several institutions of higher education, primarily community colleges: The most prominent religion in Eastern Colorado

9600-576: Was a concentration camp for Japanese Americans in Prowers County, Colorado . Following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, Japanese Americans on the West Coast were rounded up and sent to remote camps. The camp, located 1.3 miles (2.1 km) southwest of the small farming community of Granada , south of U.S. Highway 50 , was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on May 18, 1994, and designated

9700-490: Was held in Colorado in March 1969. In 1967, Colorado was the first state to loosen restrictions on abortion when governor John Love signed a law allowing abortions in cases of rape, incest, or threats to the woman's mental or physical health. Many states followed Colorado's lead in loosening abortion laws in the 1960s and 1970s. Since the late 1990s, Colorado has been the site of multiple major mass shootings , including

9800-583: Was over 10,000). Nearly all of the camp's original internees came from California: southwest Los Angeles , the Central Valley and the northern coast. Many had been residents of the Yamato Colony , a farming settlement established by Issei businessman Kyutaro Abiko . The camp's unofficial name quickly became Camp Amache, named after a Cheyenne chief's daughter, Amache Prowers , the wife of John Wesley Prowers . (The county where Camp Amache

9900-409: Was owned by several ranchers and farmers before the war, and only one of these property owners willingly sold his acreage to make way for the camp, creating tension between the WRA and the other landholders, whose parcels were taken via condemnation . This did not necessarily translate to overall resistance to Japanese Americans being housed in the area: Colorado Governor Ralph Lawrence Carr was one of

10000-545: Was still no permanent settlement created until after the conclusion of the Mexican War in 1848. San Luis was founded on the Culebra River in 1851. Spanish-speaking settlers who had moved north from New Mexico founded it. San Luis was shortly followed by settlements of San Pedro, San Acacio and Guadalupe. The Eastern Colorado plains are among the most sparsely populated areas in the continental United States. Some of

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