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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

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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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The U.S. State of Colorado has 20 statistical areas that have been delineated by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). Statistical areas are important geographic delineations of population clusters used by the OMB, the United States Census Bureau, planning organizations, and federal, state, and local government entities.

On July 21, 2023, the OMB delineated three combined statistical areas, seven metropolitan statistical areas, and ten micropolitan statistical areas in Colorado. The most populous of these statistical areas is the Denver-Aurora-Greeley, CO CSA, with a population of 3,623,560 at the 2020 census.

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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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Frances Mary McConnell-Mills (July 9, 1900 – December 28, 1975) was an American toxicologist. She was the first woman to be appointed Denver's city toxicologist, the first female toxicologist in the Rocky Mountains, and probably the first female forensic pathologist in the United States.

McConnell was raised in Colorado and after studying chemistry she became a high school teacher. She later attended medical school at the University of Colorado Denver, graduating in 1925. She specialized in the fields of toxicology and forensic pathology, which led her to testify in many high-profile criminal cases throughout her career. In addition to working as Denver's city toxicologist, she held positions in multiple hospitals and administrative boards. After battling lifelong health problems, including rheumatic heart disease and a leg amputation, McConnell died in 1975. She was posthumously inducted into the Colorado Women's Hall of Fame. (Full article...)
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Estes Park and Longs Peak
Estes Park and Longs Peak
Estes Park and Longs Peak
A painting by Albert Bierstadt, 1876

National Parks in Colorado

The 23 national parks in Colorado:

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The Four Corners Monument

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Associated Wikimedia

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  • Commons
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  • Wikibooks
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  • Wikidata
    Free knowledge base
  • Wikinews
    Free-content news
  • Wikiquote
    Collection of quotations
  • Wikisource
    Free-content library
  • Wikiversity
    Free learning tools
  • Wikivoyage
    Free travel guide
  • Wiktionary
    Dictionary and thesaurus

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