The Timeline of Denver

Denver

All historical dates are noted as C.E. or in the Common Era as the new historical annotation.

• -- 01 - 1299

Advent of great Prehistoric Cliff Dwelling Civilization in the Mesa Verde region.

• -- 1276 - 1299

A great drought and/or pressure from nomadic tribes forced the Cliff Dwellers to abandon their Mesa Verde homes.

• -- 1497

Britain claims all of North America.

• -- 1500

Ute Indians inhabit mountain areas of southern Rocky Mountains making these Native Americans the oldest continuous residents of Colorado.

• -- 1541

Coronado, famed Spanish explorer, may have crossed the southeastern corner of present Colorado on his return march to Mexico after vain hunt for the golden Seven Cities of Cibola.

• -- 1682

Explorer La Salle appropriates for France all of the area now known as Colorado east of the Rocky Mountains.

1700 A.D. In the early 1700's the Great Plains, including the area that would later be Denver, were claimed by Spain as one of its New World possessions.

1714 A.D. Joseph Naranjo, the son of an African man and a Hopi mother, explored the through the area along the S.Platte on his way to what was then Pawnee Tribes in current day Nebraska. He made at least three trips over the years before 1714, when he was awarded Spain's prestigious title of 'Captian of War'.

1719 A.D. War breaks out between the Spanish and French. Spain decides the French fur traders are poaching on their New World trade with the plains indians and decide something has to be done about it. They will send an army in 1720 to deal with the problem.

1720 A.D. Lieutenant-General Pedro de Villasur of Santa Fe is given the task of creating an army and defeating the incursions of French traders and possibly French military forces in and along the S.Platte. June 16th, 1720 Villasur and his army leave Santa Fe on their way to what will one day be called Nebraska. The exact route taken by Villasur's army is unknown, but the principle guide for this army is none other than Joseph Naranjo, who explored fairly extensively the area around the S.Platte and possibly the Junction of the S.Platte with the Cherry Creek. In mid-August of the same year, Villasur's army was massacred by joint Oto and Pawnee forces and only a handful of survivors returned to Santa Fe in September of that year.

1765 A.D. Juan Maria Rivera leads Spanish expedition into San Juan and Sangre de Cristo Mountains in search of gold and silver.

1776 A.D. Friars Escalante and Dominguez seeking route from Santa Fe to California missions, traverse what is now western Colorado as far north as the White River in Rio Blanco County.

1803 A.D. Through the Louisiana Purchase, signed by President Thomas Jefferson, the United States acquires a vast area which included what is now most of eastern Colorado. While the United States lays claim to this vast territory, Native Americans have resided here for hundreds of years.

1806 A.D. Lieutenant Zebulon M. Pike and small party of U.S. soldiers sent to explore southwestern boundary of Louisiana Purchase; discovers peak that bears his name, but fails in effort to climb it; reaches headwaters of Arkansas River near Leadville.

1807 A.D. Pike crosses Sangre de Cristo Mountains to Conejos River in San Luis Valley and builds Pike's Stockade; placed under nominal arrest by Spanish authorities and taken to Santa Fe; later, he and his men are released.

1820 A.D. Numerous Native American tribes live in the Colorado area. The Utes live in the mountains, the Cheyenne and Arapahoe reside on the plains from the Arkansas to the Platte rivers, and the Kiowas and Comanches live south of the Arkansas River. The Pawnee tribe hunts buffalo along the Republican River and the Sioux sometimes hunt in the outskirts of the Cheyenne and Arapahoe lands. Major Stephen H. Long is sent by President Monroe to explore southwestern boundary of the Louisiana Purchase. The expedition came up the South Platte River and Long's Peak is named for him. Major Long's Expedition called the area the "Great American Desert" and stopped at the junction of the S.Platte and C.Creek rivers on July 5th of that year. Capt. John Bell made notes of where Long's Expedition camped and what he saw. Dr. Edwin James, historian of Long's expedition, lead the first recorded ascent of Pike's Peak. James Peak, west of Denver is named for him.

1825 A.D. Opening of era of fur-traders, trappers and Mountain Men - Bent brothers, Ceran St.Vrain, Louis Vasquez, Kit Carson, Jim Baker, James Bridger, Thomas Fitzpatrick, "Uncle Dick" Wooten, and Jim Beckworth - who established posts in Arkansas and South Platte Valleys.

1832 A.D. Bent's Fort, one of the most important trading posts in the West, is built by the Bents and St. Vrain near present city of La Junta.

1836 A.D. Texas becomes independent republic and claims narrow strip of mountain territory extending northward through Colorado to 42nd parallel.

1840's A.D. Mexico granted lands to the wealthy, south of the Arkansas Valley and in the San Luis Valley hoping to secure claims against Texas or America.

1842 A.D. Lieutenant John C. Fremont undertakes first of his five exploration trips into Rocky Mountains. His last expedition, in 1853, took him through the San Luis Valley and into the Gunnison River country.

1846 A.D. General Stephen W. Kearney leads Army of the West along Santa Fe Trail through southeastern Colorado en route to conquest of New Mexico during Mexican War.

1848 A.D. By Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, Mexico cedes to United States most of that part of Colorado not acquired by Louisiana Purchase.

1850 A.D. Federal Government purchases Texas' claims in Colorado, and present boundaries of Colorado established.

1851 A.D. First permanent non-Indian settlement in Colorado is founded at Conejos in San Luis Valley; irrigation is begun; Fort Massachusetts established in San Luis Valley to protect settlers from Indians who believe that the non-Indians are encroaching on their land.

1853 A.D. Captain John W. Gunnison leads exploring party across southern and western Colorado. Gunnison named for him. Fremont's last expedition, seeking feasible railroad route through mountains, follows Gunnison's route.

1854 A.D. Treaties with Native American groups prove unsatisfactory which results in conflict as the Utes kill fifteen inhabitants of Fort Pueblo on Christmas Day.

1858 A.D. Green Russell's discovery of small placer gold deposits near confluence of South Platte River and Cherry Creek, precipitates gold rush from the East and "Pikes Peak or Bust" slogan. Montana City, St. Charles, Auraria, and Denver City are founded on present site of Denver. November 6, two hundred men meet here to organize County of Arapahoe, Kansas Territory. Pueblo founded as Fountain City.

1859 A.D. Gold is found by George A. Jackson along Chicago Creek on present site of Idaho Springs. March 9, first stagecoach with mail for Cherry Creek settlements leaves Leavenworth, Kansas. April 23, first newspaper in the region, the Rocky Mountain News, is published by William N. Byers. May 6, John Gregory makes famous gold-lode strike on North Clear Creek, stimulating rush of prospectors, who establish camps of Black Hawk, Central City and Nevadaville. October 3, O.J. Goldrick opens first school, at Auraria. Jefferson Territory is organized without sanction of Congress to govern gold camps; officers are elected. Prospectors spread through mountains and establish camps at Boulder, Colorado City, Gold Hill, Hamilton, Tarryall, and Pueblo.

1860 A.D. Rich placer discoveries cause stampede of miners to California Gulch on present site of Leadville. First schoolhouse is built at Boulder. Region continues to be administered variously by Jefferson Territory officials, and Miners' and People's Courts.

1861 A.D. Congress establishes Colorado Territory with boundaries of present state; President Lincoln appoints William Gilpin as first Territorial governor. July, Supreme Court is organized and Congressional delegates chosen. September, first assembly meets, creates 17 counties, authorizes university, and selects Colorado City as Territorial capitol. Manufacture of mining machinery begins. The population of the Colorado Territory is 25,371.

1862 A.D. Colorado troops aid in defeating Confederate General Henry H. Sibley's Army at La Glorieta Pass, New Mexico. Second Territorial Legislature meets for a few days at Colorado City, adjourns to Denver, and selects Golden as the new capitol. First tax-supported schools are established. First oil well drilled near Florence.

1863 A.D. Telegraph line links Denver with East; ten words to New York cost $9.10. Plains Indians attempt to drive white intruders from their hunting lands on the Eastern slopes. Telegraphic communications were sometimes interupted, mostly by Indians cutting the "talking wires" or buffaloes pushed down the telegraph poles which scratching themselves. Fire sweeps through the frontier town of Denver, fanned by high winds, which destroyed most of the buildings of the city and leaves many hundreds homeless and destitute.

1864 A.D. - Tension between non-Indians and the Native American tribes escalates. The massacre (Sand Creek Massacre) of Native American men, women and children in a Cheyenne and Arapahoe Indian encampment by soldiers and settlers stirs Native Americans to fresh violence and overland trails are often closed. - Fort Sedgwick is established near Julesburg. Camp Collins established to protect travelers on Overland Trail. Later became Fort Collins. - Colorado Seminary (now University of Denver) is chartered; Sisters of Loretto open academy. - Cherry Creek overflows its bounderies and floods much of the frontier town of Denver, several deaths result and a tremendous amount of property damage results. - There is another Rush, as pure silver veins are discovered near Georgetown, but after all the easy metal had been picked up, the prospectors were back to the same problem of not being able to extract the heavy ore from the dross stone. - Christmas is apparently ruined by a freak, two day windstorm. - Nathaniel P. Hill goes to Swansea, Wales to study smelting.

1865 A.D. Indian attacks along trails reach highest intensity; food is scarce for settlers and prices high; potatoes bring $15 a bushel and flour costs $40 per 100 pounds. Fort Morgan established for protection against Indians. In another bizarre natural event, grasshoppers pour in from the prairie and devoured nearly every green thing in the town.

1866 A.D. In November of this year, Union Pacific Railroad announces its decision to build across the continent by way of the plains of Wyoming instead of through or over the Continental Divide. The news staggers the town, but aggressive citizens, led by ex-governor John Evans, quickly raise enough money to finance the Denver Pacific Railroad, which tapped the main line at Cheyenne in 1870. Other Railroads would soon stretch in and out of Denver, but not across the barrier Rockies to the west coast.

1867 A.D. Denver established as permanent seat of government by territorial legislature meeting in Golden. Golden Transcript established by George West.

1868 A.D. January - Nathaniel Hill erects first smelter in Colorado, at Blackhawk, inaugurating era of hard-rock mining. -Cheyenne Indians disastrously defeated at Beecher Island near present site of Wray. -The Pueblo Chieftain established by Dr. M. Beshoar at Pueblo. - The Lynching of Sanford S.C. Dougan on December 1st, (for no apparent reason, the citizens of the towne of Denver hanged this distrusted character from a cottonwood tree and the body swung all night. The present site: on 12th Street between Walnut & Larimer). A photograph (Dagerrotype) of historical note was made by the famous photographer Choncey Ruelle.

1869 A.D. The final military engagement between whites and plains Indians in the eastern part of the territory took place at Summit Springs. 1870 A.D. - Denver and Pacific Railroad is constructed to connect Denver with Union Pacific at Cheyenne, Wyoming; the Kansas Pacific enters Colorado from Missouri River. - Union Colony is established by Horace Greeley and Nathan C. Meeker at Greeley, and first irrigation canal surveyed there. - The Greeley Tribune established. Population of Colorado territory 39,864.

1871 A.D. Colorado Springs is founded by General William J. Palmer. Denver and Rio Grande Railroad is built southward from Denver by Palmer. Colorado School of Mines established at Golden. - First Denver streetcar line built from Auraria to Five Points 1872 A.D. Blackhawk and Central City are connected with Denver by railroad; Denver and Rio Grande reaches Pueblo. Agricultural settlements established throughout South Platte Valley. Out West, later the Colorado Springs Gazette, was established. This year signals an end to the major use of the "Mountain Branch" of the Santa Fe Trail. 1874 A.D. Denver's population rises to 14,197. Colorado College is founded at Colorado Springs; territorial legislature appropriates $15,00 for University of Colorado at Boulder, on condition that equal sum is raised by that city. W.H. Jackson, famous photographer of the Hayden Geological Survey, notes ruins of ancient cliff dwellings along the canyon on Mancos River.

1875 A.D. - Lead carbonate ores, rich in silver, are found near present site of Leadville. Constitutional Convention of 38 members holds first meeting.

1876 A.D. - Colorado is admitted to Union as 38th State; John L. Routt is elected first governor. Originally called the Centenial State for its inception on the hundreth birthday of the Union, later it would change its nickname to the Silver State when vast quantities of silver were found in the small mountain town of Leadville. - Greeley's first industry, the tanning of buffalo hides, turns out 12 robes a day. - Denver creates an ordinance against frame houses due to continuous problem of fires. After this date, brick homes become common and one can tell whether or not an area is an annex of the city or independent community based on this ordinance. 1877 A.D. - University of Colorado opens classes at Boulder, with two teachers and 44 students. State Board of Agriculture is created to develop Agricultural College at Fort Collins. 1878 A.D. - Leadville is incorporated; rich silver strikes on Iron, Carbonate, and Fryer hills soon make is one of the world's greatest mining camps. Central City opera house opens. - Nathaniel P. Hill moves his Boston & Colorado Smelting Company from Black Hawk to a point morth of Denver, giving his new intdustiral town the classical and apt name of Argo. 1879 A.D. - The first telephones installed in Denver homes and the first free mail delivery service establishes mail routes to the other states. - Colorado College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts offers instruction at Fort Collins. Nathan C. Meeker, Indian Agent on White River (near Meeker) and several employees are slain in Ute uprising. - Major Thornburg and half of his command of 160 soldiers killed in effort to give protection to Meeker. Utes defeated. - Nathathaniel P. Hill goes to the U.S. Senate to represent Colorado. 1880's A.D. Brown's Bluff (the bluff east of Broadway, becomes a popular place to build new homes and is colonized by the Silver Kings of the mountain towns. Racial tolerance is proven by the election of the genial Wolfe Londoner as mayor despite his Jewish heritage; but racial tolerance didn't extend to the "Yellow Peril", as a number of Chinese settled in Denver after completing the transcontinental railroad lines in 1870 and the area between Blake and Wazee above 16th street became known as "Chink Alley", in 1880 there were 238 Chinese in Denver, mostly laundrymen. These Chinese were often taunted and sometimes attacked by local boys or hoodlums and this wasn't a local sentiment by any means, in the autumn of 1880 national political slogans included one which read "The Chinese must go!"

1880 A.D. - Denver & Rio Grande lays tracks through Royal Gorge and on to Leadville. Great Ute Chief, Ouray, dies. Dry land farming undertaken extensively in eastern Colorado. Population of Colorado, 194,327. - A riot breaks out in Denver over the Chinese and local men hunt the Chinese like rats thru the city and eventually hang an old man on 17th street for nothing other than his race; the riot is broken by the head of a local detective agency, while the police watched.

1881 A.D. - Denver becomes the official capital of Colorado, but not without bitter and statewide competition. Ute tribes are removed onto reservations. Grand Junction is founded. Small quantities of carnotite are found in western Colorado along with gold; later, this mineral is found to contain radium. Tabor Opera House opens in Denver, built by H.A.W. Tabor, famous Leadville capitalist. Union Station built. This train station was an spectacular example of the Italian Romanesque architectural style and burned down in 1894. It was replaced with the current station which is Neoclassical is style.

1882 A.D. - Eugene Fields comes to Denver to work on the Tribune Steel is milled in Pueblo from Colorado ores. Company later becomes Colorado Fuel and Iron Company. High Line Canal created (it and the Windsor Hotel financed by the Dunsirn branch of the Giovanni...this note to go into the Storyteller's version of the Supernatural history of Denver). 1883 A.D. - Narrow gauge line of Denver & Rio Grange is completed from Gunnison to Grand Junction. First electric lights are installed in Denver. 1886 A.D. – The Steamboat Pilot established at Steamboat Springs. Charles H.Leckenby becomes owner and publisher, 1893. - Denver Union Stockyards are established, later becoming largest receiving market for sheep in the nation. - Town of Lamar is founded. - The last public hanging in Denver occurred when Andrew Green was executed for the murder of streetcar driver, Joseph Whitnah. - July 31st. Electric streetcar system completed by Sydney Howe Short, a five year professor at the University of Denver. The system is abandoned in late 1887 because of shorts in the system and the inability of citizens and mules to avoid the electified third rail.

1887 - October, a cowboy tournament was held at River Front Park; the events included: catching, saddling and riding a wild bronco...roping and hog-tying a wild steer...'tailing a steer...picking up twenty single potateoes by a rider going at a pace no slower than a lope. It is from such tournaments that (and this was one of the earliest big ones in the United States) Rodeos evolved. 1888 A.D. Band of Utes from Utah under Colorow make last Indian raid into Colorado; they are defeated and returned to the reservation. Union Colony at Greeley completes 900,000 acre irrigation project. Cliff Palace ruins, in what is now Mesa Verde National Park, discovered by two cowboys. Colorado Supreme Court Case: High Line Canal Company v.s. Dr. B.A. Wheeler (The issue is the cost of irragation water and whether or not the company that dug the High Line Canal can charge anything they want for the water; the fight against this company is led by a homeopathic physician-farmer and other like minded farmers in the area. The decision was in favor of the farmers, stating that the company can only charge to deliver the water, not for the water itself, which is public; this case is epochal decision in the annals of irrigation law.) Note: The farmers involved in this struggle along with idle silver miners and eastern Colorado drought farmers banded together and formed the Populist Party. 1890 A.D. - Peak year for Colorado's economy during nineteenth century. Passage of Sherman Silver Purchase Act raises price of silver to more than $1.00 an ounce. New rich silver strikes are made along Rio Grande and Creede is founded. - July 4, cornerstone of State Capitol at Denver is laid. - October 3, first building of the State Normal School (now University of Northern Colorado) at Greeley is occupied. - Population of state, 413,249. - Boulder Daily Camera established by L.C. Paddock. 1891 A.D. Robert Womack's discoveries open great gold field of Cripple Creek. First national forest reserve in Colorado is set aside - White River Forest in Meeker area. Pike's Peak cog railroad begins operation.

1892 A.D. - The Denver Post established. - H. C. Brown opens Brown Palace Hotel in Denver.

1893 A.D. National panic brings great distress to Colorado. Repeal of Sherman Act strikes silver mining a paralyzing blow and adds to already acute unemployment problems. The "Panic" hit Denver in July. Ten banks fail, real estate values collapse, morgages are forclosed and unemployment reaches epidemic levels. During this time, Denver establishes a camp for the needyat the foot of 16th street, at the site of River Front Park. Grand Junction Sentinel established. Many criminals, including the famous "Soapy" Smith flee an economically depressed Denver after the "Panic" sweeps the country. 1894 A.D. - State Capitol is completed at a cost of $2,500,000. - Union Station burns down. - November, Colorado is second state in the nation to extend suffrage to women, following the precedent set by Wyoming. - March 15th, City Hall War. Apparently, Denver police and Firefighting board-members baracaded themselves inside City Hall and were armed with guns and a significant amount of dynamite, Governor Waite called in the First Regiment of Colorado Infantry and the Chaffee Light Artillery armed with gattling guns and had them trained on City Hall; ultimately, the standoff was resolved peacefully. Its interesting to note, that the police trapped in City Hall were provided the necessities of life and war by a grateful underworld.

1897 A.D. - The U.S. Mint established in Denver.

1898 A.D. - First ascent of Ivy Baldwin's war-balloon, the "Santiago". In the summer of the same year, the twenty-four man Signal Corps unit at Fort Logan when to Cuba, where they were the entire air-force of the United States Army. - After intense promotion, the National Stock Growers Association Convention meets here, by 1906 the National Western Stock Show is officially at home in Denver. 1899 A.D. - First beet sugar refinery is built at Grand Junction. 1900 A.D. - Electric trolleys replace the old horse and steam cable system with four lines of double electric tracks. Gold production reaches peak of more than $20,000,000 annually at Cripple Creek, the second richest gold camp in the world. Population of State, 539,700. 1902 A.D. - Constitutional amendment permits towns of 2,000 to adopt "Home Rule"; Denver becomes home rule city. - Beet sugar refinery built at Fort Collins. - David H. Moffat and associates begin construction of Moffat Railroad over the Continental Divide. Completed to Steamboat Springs in 1980 and to Craig in 1913. - Construction begun on a system of storage reservoirs for water conservation. 1903 A.D. - With Ben B. Lindsey as Judge, Denver Juvenile Court opens - the first such court in the United States. - Mine, mill and smelter workers strike in many camps for higher wages and better working conditions; at Cripple Creek, strike results in much property damage and loss of life; all strike objectives in gold field are lost. - Uncompahgre irrigation project, first federal government reclamation project in Colorado, is authorized. - The construction of Cherry Creek Blvd. 1904 After years of effort, Article XX of the Colorado Constitution gives Denver home rule and the city adopts a charter which consolidates nearby towns such as Valverde, Montclair and Argo with greater Denver. The enlarged town was separated from Arapahoe County to become the City and County of Denver. The Denver Chamber of Commerce forms the Denver Convention League, which books 42 conventions its first year.

1905 A.D. - Colorado has 3 governors in one day in a political squabble. First, Alva Adams, then James H. Peabody, and finally Jesse F. McDonald. Construction of the six mile Gunnison water tunnel started by Bureau of Reclamation. - January, the first National Western Stock Show & Rodeo held in Denver.

1906 A.D. - United States Mint, Denver, issues first coins. March 12, National Western Stock Show is born with chartering of Western Stock Show Association following successful showing of about 60 head of cattle and horses and a few sheep and hogs in makeshift tent at Stockyards. July 29, Mesa Verde national Park is created by Congress.

1908 A.D. - July 7, Denver municipal Auditorium, seating 12,500, is completed in time for the Democratic National Convention, when William Jennings Bryan was nominated the third time for President. - August 1, Colorado Day is first celebrated, marking thirty-second anniversary of State's admittance to Union. Dome of the State Capitol is plated with gold leaf at a cost of $14,680. - The Chamber raises funds to prevent the closure of the Denver Museum of Natural History. 1909 A.D. - Colorado attains first rank among states in irrigation area with 2,790,000 acres under irrigation. Gunnison water tunnel completed by Reclamation Service and opened, on September 23, by President William Howard Taft at the tunnel site. Western State Teachers College opens at Gunnison. 1910 A.D. - Population of State, 799,024. Number of farms, 46,170. Colorado voters adopt a constitutional amendment giving to the people the right of the initiative and referendum. May 8, first long distance phone call made from Denver to New York City. First airplane flight in Denver. 1911 A.D. - Colorado National Monument west of Grand Junction, created by Presidential order. 1913 A.D. - State Tax Commission created by Legislature. Assessed value of Colorado property for tax purposes set at $1,306,536,692. The "Big Snow of 1913" covers Colorado to a depth of 3 - 5 feet; transportation paralyzed for weeks. State begins licensing autos for the first time. 1914 A.D. - Strike of coal miners in southern Colorado fields is climaxed by "Battle of Ludlow" near Trinidad; several men, women and children killed during hostilities between miners and the State militia. August: WWI begins.

1915 A.D. - Worker's compensation measures are passsed: State Industrial Commission is created. Rocky Mountain National Park created by Congress. Toll road for auto travel to top of Pikes Peak built by Spencer Penrose. Construction of Broadmoor Hotel at Colorado Springs started.

1916 A.D. - Colorado adopts prohibition. Emily Griffith Opportunity School is opened in Denver. Mining of tungsten causes flurry in Boulder-Nederland area. 1917 A.D. - April 6: Congress declares war on Germany and many Coloradans volunteer for service. - Colorado reaches maximum mineral production, more then $80,000,000. - William F. "Buffalo Bill" Cody, Famous Indian scout, dies and is buried on Lookout Mountain, west of Denver. - The Denver Chamber of Commerce purchases and later donates, the land on which Fitzsimons Army Medical Center is located. 1918 A.D. - Agricultural production increased sharply to aid war needs. Dry lands plowed up to produce wheat. Colorado citizens purchase Liberty Bonds by the millions of dollars to help finance war. More than 125,000 Colorado men register for the draft for army service. Fitzsimmons General Hospital established near Denver. Coal production of state reaches new high of 12,500,000 tons. Impetus of war stirs development of mining of molybdenum at Climax, near Leadville - the nation's greatest source of the metal. Denver Tourist Bureau establishes free auto camp ground for tourists at Overland Park, Denver. Other cities follow suit during the next few years. Federal Reserve branch bank established in Denver. Colorado voters approve constitutional amendment providing Civil Service for state employees. November, 11, 1918, Germany surrenders. 1919 A.D. - Post-war inflation brings higher prices to farmers and producers; prices of farm land high; wages high; boom times everywhere. Colorado enacts tax of one cent per gallon on gasoline, for building of roads. Monte Vista stages first Ski-Hi Stampede.

1920's A.D. - Ku Klux Klan comes to power with the elections of klansmen Clarence Morely as governor of Colorado and Ben Stapleton as mayor of Denver.

1920 A.D. Population of State, 939,629. Employees of Denver Tramway company go on strike. Aroused by editorials in The Denver Post, strikers raid Post building and do much damage to property.

1921 A.D. - General Assembly creates State Highway Department with seven man Advisory Board. Colorado begins building concrete highways on main traveled routes. Pueblo suffers disastrous flood in June; scores drowned and property damage amounts to $20,000,000. Post war deflation sets in and decline in prices brings trouble in the rural areas. During the next several years, numerous banks serving farming areas close, price and farm lands decline sharply from levels reached in World War I, and farmers clamor for farm relief. 1922 A.D. - Coloradans vote $6,000,000 in bonds for highway construction. Moffat Tunnel Improvement District is created by General Assembly for construction of 6.4 mile bore under Continental Divide to provide better rail connections between Eastern and Western Slopes of the State. First commerical radio license in Colorado is issued, to station KLZ. Daring daylight hold-up of Federal Reserve bank truck is staged as it leaves U.S. Mint in Denver and $200,000 stolen. Robbery never solved.

1923 A.D. - Oil discovered in Wellington field north of Fort Collins; flurry of oil stock promotion follows. - Lowry Aviation Field established. 1924 A.D. - April 26, Colorado is second state to ratify child labor amendment to federal Constitution. Celebration held in Greeley marking completion of concrete pavement between Denver and Greeley - first two major cities in State to be connected by paved highways. Ku Klux Klan secures domination of Republican party in Colorado and elects a pro-Klan Governor and U.S. Senator.

1925 A.D. Adams State Teachers College at Alamosa and junior colleges at Grand Junction and Trinidad are opened. Ku Klux Klan often meets and burns crosses, east of Golden on top of Table Mountain; the office of the Kleagle, Dr. Galen Locke was at 1345 Glenarm Steet.

1926 A.D. - Air Mail service comes to Denver.

1929 A.D. - The opening of Denver Municipal Airport (later renamed Stapleton International Airport). 1930's - Denver Develops its mountain parks system, including Red Rocks Outdoor Amphitheater and Winter Park Ski Area.

1931 - Population reaches over one million. - The Denver Chamber of Commerce donates the land for Lowry Air Force Air Base to the federal government. 1932 - First railroad line passes through the Moffat Tunnel to the west coast. 1941-1945 - During World War II agriculture industry has greatest production in Colorado history. - Growth of military installations in Colorado mushrooms. 1941 - Denver recruiting offices swamped by over 2,000 enlistments during the month of December as United States enters World War II.

1942 - Federal government established Amache, a camp for Japanese-Americans who were interned and relocated from their homes on the West Coast. 1945-1950 - Federal government presence in Colorado grows, military installations and scientific institutions continue to develop while many veterans relocate to Colorado. These changes cause a steady increase in population. 1945-1955 - Mayor Quigg Newton modernizes Denver, installing Dr. Florence Sabin as head of Health and Hospitals; Hank Barnes sets up one-way streets and "The Barnes Dance" (diagonal pedestrian crossings downtown). 1958 - Air Force Academy is built near Colorado Springs and first class graduates in June, 1959.

1950's and 1960's A.D. - Numerous water storage and diversion projects are constructed in response to increased agricultural and municipal water demands. Tourist and ski industries blossom. Population continues to increase.

1960 A.D. Colorado gets the Denver Broncos professional football team which eventually wins two Super Bowls.

1962-1965 A.D. - Disposition of poisonous wastes into a deep well at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal results in earthquakes and hundreds of tremors around the Denver area. 1967 A.D. - Denver Rockets become Colorado's professional American Basketball Association team. In 1974 they are renamed the Denver Nuggets. 1970's A.D. - The population swells, traffic problems grow, and the "brown cloud" develops over much of the Front Range. Coloradans become concerned over the consequences of pollution and overselling Colorado and reject hosting the 1976 Winter Olympics as a result.

1973 A.D. - Eisenhower Tunnel is built beneath the Continental Divide sixty miles west of Denver, making it easier to reach the ski slopes of western Colorado. 1974 A.D. - Desegregation of schools in Denver begins as busing attempts to achieve racial balance. 1976 - July 31st, A cloudburst on the Big Thompson River results in a massive flood in Larimer County, killing more than 145 people. - Auraria Higher Education Center opens in Denver’s oldest neighborhood. - Denver celebrates Colorado Centennial and U. S. Bicentennial by opening its Platte River Greenway at Confluence Park. 1970's - 1980's - Tremendous growth of Denver suburbs occurs.

1980's 1980 - Coal mining production in Colorado on the Western Slopes hits all time high as United States becomes more dependent on energy resources at home rather than overseas. 1981 - Federico Pena becomes Denver’s first Spanish-surnamed mayor

1982 - The state economic structure is shaken when the oil shale giant Exxon announces the closure of its oil shale development fields in Rio Blanco, Mesa and Garfield counties. Thousands are laid off and the economic stability of the western slope of the state is severely impacted.

1980's and 1990's A.D. Major growth of technological industries occurs in Colorado. 1991 - Wellington Edward Webb becomes Denver’s first African-American mayor. 1992 The voters of Colorado pass a citizens' initiative to limit the growth of state and local governments with the passage of the TABOR (Taxpayer Bill of Rights)amendment to the state constitution. 1993 Colorado Rockies become first regional major league baseball team. 1994 - Regional Transportation District opens first light-rail line from Auraria to Five Points. 1995 Quebec Nordiques National Hockey League team moves to Colorado to become the Colorado Avalanche. 1997 - White supremist violence breaks out, Race Riots in the wake of brutal race related shootings, police barracade themselves inside precincts while Aryan supremists or their victims attack in reactionary rage. 1998 Colorado voters elect the first Republican Governor (Bill Owens) to the statehouse in twenty-four years. 1999

2002 The passing of the Homeland Security Act.

2012 The Quebec Crisis

2013-2015 New Foundlands' War (The United States and England struggle for supremacy over the North Atlantic and the Canadian Territories)

2022

2023-2030 Native American War of Independence/Second American Civil War.

2074 November 1st – Denver, thousands of miles distant from Mexico City feels tremors from the devistating earthquake there that destroys much of central Mexico and Mexico City during the last day of its weeklong Los Dias de Muertos celebration. Tremors are registered around 3.0 on the richter scale. November 7th – The Crash hits the NATF and Denver as it becomes public knowledge that Mexico has completely colapsed under the political and economic stress brought on by the Dias de Muertos Quake. Stocks plumet and the Credit loses half its value in one day, businesses fail, layoffs epidemic and unemployment soar to pre-Second Civil War levels. November 29th – NATF declaires war on Japan after that nation seizes Hawaii in a lightning military strike. In Denver, half a million sign up to fight Japanese expansionism and the "Yellow Menace". December 17th – A momentous historic event occurs at Mazatlan, when Japanese forces move to take the city and native forces clash with an asian military power on North American Continental soil. Denver's Arapaho Light Armor Division hold the city against Japanese armor and infantry for the better part of a day, until Navaho heavy armor and infantry reinforce the city. December 27th- Denver holds a parade for the survivors of the Arapaho Light Armor Division and services are held for the deceased. The Mazatlan Monument is dedicated to those who fought bravely in the first continental military action in 200 years. 2075-2115 THIRD WORLD WAR For the fourty years of WWIII, Denver suffers under rationing, rabid anti-asian sentiment, persistent peace activism, rioting by Valhalla Movement simpathizers and continued urban growth as many businesses and displaced populations move to the city in an attempt find security in a period of unpredictable and unparalelled violence.