The Colorado Portal

Colorado is the state of the United States of America that encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the high western edge of the Great Plains. Admitted to the Union on August 1, 1876, Colorado became the 38th U.S. state. Colorado ranks 21st in population, eighth in total area, and first in mean elevation among the 50 U.S. states. Fifty-five of the 124 highest major mountain peaks of North America rise in Colorado. The United States Census Bureau estimated that the population of the State of Colorado was 5,829,926 on July 1, 2022, an increase of 1.15% since the 2020 United States census. Denver is the state capital, the most populous city, and the heart of the most populous metropolitan area of the Rocky Mountain Region. Colorado Springs is the state's second most populous city. While the population of the Front Range Urban Corridor now exceeds five million, many rugged portions of the state remain pristine wilderness.

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Colorado Events

  • Wikimedia US Mountain West Winter 2025 online meeting, Tuesday, February 11, 2025, 8:00-9:00 PM MST
  • Wikimedia US Mountain West Spring 2025 online meeting, Tuesday, May 13, 2025, 8:00-9:00 PM MDT
  • Wikimedia US Mountain West Summer 2025 online meeting, Tuesday, August 12, 2025, 8:00-9:00 PM MDT
  • Wikimedia US Mountain West Autumn 2025 online meeting, Tuesday, November 11, 2025, 8:00-9:00 PM MST
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Colorado events

Colorado Facts

Class 2. John Hickenlooper (D) (2021–)
Class 3. Michael Bennet (D) (2009–)
1. Diana DeGette (D) (1997–)
2. Joe Neguse (D) (2019–)
3. Lauren Boebert (R) (2021–2025)
4. vacant
5. Doug Lamborn (R) (2007–2025)
6. Jason Crow (D) (2019–)
7. Brittany Pettersen (D) (2023-)
8. Yadira Caraveo (D) (2023–)

State Symbols

State flag: Flag of the State of Colorado                State seal: Great Seal of the State of Colorado
State motto: NIL SINE NUMINE (LatinNothing without providence)
State nickname: The Centennial State
State slogan: Colorful Colorado
State amphibian: Western Tiger Salamander
(Ambystoma mavortium)
State bird: Lark Bunting
(Calamospiza melanocoryus Stejneger)
State cactus: Claret Cup Cactus
(Echinocereus triglochidiatus)
State fish: Greenback Cutthroat Trout
(Oncorhynchus clarki somias)
State flower: Rocky Mountain Columbine
(Aquilegia caerulea)
State grass: Blue Grama
(Bouteloua gracilis)
State insect: Colorado Hairstreak Butterfly
(Hypaurotis cysaluswas)
State mammal: Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep
(Ovis canadensis)
State pets: Colorado shelter pets
(Canis lupus familiaris & Felis catus)
State reptile: Western Painted Turtle
(Chrysemys picta bellii)
State tree: Colorado Blue Spruce
(Picea pungens)
State fossil: Stegosaurus
(Stegosaurus armatus)
State gemstone: Aquamarine
State mineral: Rhodochrosite
State rock: Yule Marble
State soil: Seitz soil
State folk dance: Square Dance
State ship: USS Colorado (SSN-788)
State songs: Where the Columbines Grow & Rocky Mountain High
State sport: Pack Burro Racing
State highway route marker:
Route marker for Colorado State Highway 5
State tartan:
Colorado State Tartan
Commemorative U.S. coin:
Commemorative U.S. stamp:
Colorado Statehood stamp

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Seal of the Executive Office

The governor of Colorado is the head of government of the U.S. state of Colorado. The governor is the head of the executive branch of Colorado's state government and is charged with enforcing state laws. The governor has the power to either approve or veto bills passed by the Colorado General Assembly, to convene the legislature, and to grant pardons, except in cases of treason or impeachment. The governor is also the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces.

Seven people served as governor of Colorado Territory over eight terms, appointed by the president of the United States. Since statehood, there have been 38 governors, serving 43 distinct terms. One governor Alva Adams served three non-consecutive terms, while John Long Routt, James Hamilton Peabody, and Edwin C. Johnson each served during two non-consecutive periods. The longest-serving governors were Richard "Dick" Lamm (1975–1987) and Roy Romer (1987–1999), who each served 12 years over three terms. The shortest term occurred on March 16 and 17, 1905, when the state had three governors in the span of 24 hours: Alva Adams won the election, but soon after he took office, the legislature declared his opponent, James Hamilton Peabody, governor, but on the condition that he immediately resign, so that his lieutenant governor, Jesse McDonald, could be governor. Thus, Peabody served less than a day as governor. (Full article...)

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William Wells Bent
William Wells Bent
William Wells Bent (May 23, 1809 – May 19, 1869) was a frontier trader and rancher in the American West, with forts in Colorado. He also acted as a mediator among the Cheyenne Nation, other Native American tribes and the expanding United States. With his brothers, Bent established a trade business along the Santa Fe Trail. In the early 1830s Bent built an adobe fort, called Bent's Fort, along the Arkansas River in present-day Colorado. Furs, horses and other goods were traded for food and other household goods by travelers along the Santa Fe trail, fur-trappers, and local Mexican and Native American people. Bent negotiated a peace among the many Plains tribes north and south of the Arkansas River, as well as between the Native American and the United States government.

In 1835 Bent married Owl Woman, the daughter of White Thunder, a Cheyenne chief and medicine man. Together they had four children. Bent was accepted into the Cheyenne tribe and became a sub-chief. In the 1840s, according to the Cheyenne custom for successful men, Bent took Owl Woman's sisters, Eagle Woman and Island, as secondary wives. He had his fifth child with Eagle Woman. After Owl Woman died in 1847, Island cared for her children. Each of the sisters left Bent and, in 1869, he married the young Adaline Harvey, the educated mixed-race daughter of Alexander Harvey, a friend who was a prominent American fur trader in Kansas City, Missouri. Bent died shortly after their marriage, and Adaline bore their daughter, his sixth child, after his death. (Full article...)

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The Eisenhower Tunnel, officially the Eisenhower–Edwin C. Johnson Memorial Tunnel, is a dual-bore, four-lane vehicular tunnel in the western United States, approximately 60 miles (97 km) west of Denver, Colorado. The tunnel carries Interstate 70 (I-70) under the Continental Divide in the Rocky Mountains. With a maximum elevation of 11,158 feet (3,401 m) above sea level, it is one of the highest vehicular tunnels in the world. The tunnel is the longest mountain tunnel and highest point on the Interstate Highway System. Opened in 1973, the westbound bore is named after Dwight D. Eisenhower, the U.S. President for whom the Interstate system is also named. The eastbound bore was completed in 1979 and is named for Edwin C. Johnson, a Colorado governor and U.S. Senator who lobbied for an Interstate Highway to be built across Colorado. (Full article...)

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The Daniels & Fisher Tower is a distinctive historic landmark located at 1101 16th Street in Denver, Colorado.

National Parks in Colorado

The 23 national parks in Colorado:

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Mount Elbert seen from Turquoise Lake

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