The area currently occupied by the U.S. State of Colorado has undergone numerous changes in occupancy, territorial claims, and political designations. Paleoamericans entered the region about 11,500 BCE,[1] although new research indicates the region may have been visited much earlier.[2] At least nine Native American nations have called the area home. Although Europeans may have entered the region as early as 1540,[3] the first European fort[a] was not constructed until 1819,[4] and the first European town[b] was not established until 1851,[5] primarily due to the opposition of the Ute people. Spain,[6] France,[7] Mexico,[8] and the Republic of Texas[9] have all claimed areas of future state. The United States first claimed an eastern portion of the future state with the Louisiana Purchase of 1803.[10][c] The United States surrendered the portion of the region south and west of the Arkansas River to the Spanish Empire with the Adams–Onís Treaty in 1821.[11][d][e] The United States completed its acquisition of the region with the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo that ended the Mexican–American War in 1848.[12] The United States created the free Territory of Colorado in 1861 following the Pikes Peak Gold Rush.[13] The Territory fought for the Union during the American Civil War[14] despite many of its founders being natives of slave states or territories.[15] The Territory of Colorado joined the Union as the State of Colorado in 1876, the centennial year of the United States.[16]
Indigenous peoples who have lived in the area of the present State of Colorado:
Early Iberian claims in the New World:
Territorial claims of the Spanish Empire in the area of the present State of Colorado:
Territorial claim of the Kingdom of France to the Mississippi River basin:[t]
Territorial claims of the Kingdom of Spain in the Mississippi River basin:[t]
Territorial claims of the French Republic in the Mississippi River basin:[t]
Territorial claims of Mexico south and west of the Adams–Onís border:[d]
Territorial claim of the Republic of Texas between the Rio Grande and the Adams–Onís border:[d]
Historical political divisions of the United States in the area of the present State of Colorado:
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38°59′50″N 105°32′52″W / 38.9972°N 105.5478°W / 38.9972; -105.5478 (State of Colorado)