Colorado's statehood: a century and a half of unsettled histories

The journey to statehood for Colorado wasn't a swift procession of patriotic fervor; it was a protracted, often contentious struggle spanning nearly 17 years and requiring five separate attempts. As Colorado marks its 150th anniversary, History Colorado’s exhibit, “The 38th Star,” offers a vital, and at times uncomfortable, reckoning with the complexities of that moment—a moment shaped by competing visions, silenced voices, and the dispossession of Indigenous peoples.

Beyond the gold rush: a tapestry of conflicting claims

The initial impetus for statehood was undeniably the Gold Rush of 1858-59, which unleashed a flood of over 100,000 prospectors onto the land. The sudden population boom created an urgent need for a functioning government, yet the miners, flush with newfound wealth, resisted the taxes that statehood would inevitably bring. Katherine Mercier, Exhibition Developer and Historian at History Colorado, observes, “The idea of giving up the little bit of money that you had scrounged out of the ground was just impossible for these miners.” It was a peculiar paradox: the very catalyst for organized government became a roadblock to its realization.

But the story extends far beyond the miners' fiscal anxieties. The land, of course, had a History predating the Gold Rush—a History deeply intertwined with 51 Native nations. The exhibit sheds light on the experiences of the Cheyenne, Arapaho, and Ute, acknowledging their enduring connection to the region. The Sand Creek Massacre, a brutal act of violence, tragically accelerated the displacement of these communities, leaving no Cheyenne or Arapaho reservations within Colorado’s current borders—a stark legacy of broken treaties, like the original Fort Wise Treaty signed by Abraham Lincoln in 1861, now on display.

Adding another layer of complexity were the descendants of Spanish settlers, who had established deep cultural roots in southern Colorado long before the arrival of the prospectors. Mercier notes, “We have these people who are living on the land that would become southern Colorado. They have deep cultural ties to the land.” Yet, these Latino communities often found themselves marginalized, their voices unheard in the process of forging a new state. The territorial legislation wasn't translated into Spanish, effectively barring them from meaningful civic participation; a point Mercier underscores with a pointed question: “How can you be expected to follow laws that you can't read in your language?”

The forgotten fight for black suffrage

Perhaps the most startling revelation within