COGenWeb Project

USGenWeb Project

WorldGenWeb Project

Links to Counties

• Interactive Map
• County List

Colorado GenWeb Links

• Adopt a County The Wish List
• Information on How to Adopt a Colorado County
• The Reception Committee
  For when you adopt a Colorado County.
• About the Colorado GenWeb Project
• Colorado History
• Colorado Lookups
• Colorado GenWeb Project - Colorado Guest Book
• Colorado Links Page
  Lots more helpful links to information
• HTML Help with Modern HTML 4.01
• County Mail lists
• COGenWeb's Memorial Page
• Naturalization Infomation, part of the COGenWeb Project
• Notes on CO Vital Records
• Colorado News Papers On line
• COGenWeb Queries
• Dating Tyntipes submitted by Leslie
• Colorado GenWeb Project - TRANSLATORS
• Colorado GenWeb Project - Spanish
• Who's Who in COGenWeb
  
  
• Colorado Gold Mine
• Treasure Chest Lost and found memorabilia, Old Bibles, Letters, Documents Updated: Sunday, May 19, 2002
• Gold Mine Photos Lost Pictures that have identified People
• Mystery Photo Galery Can you help identify These People?

Special Projects

• USGenWEb Colorado Archives Project
• Colorado Census Project images and transcriptions on line!
• Colorado GenWeb Deeds Project
• Colorado Grave Stone photo Project
• Colorado Digital Map Library
• Colorado Migrations Project
• The Colorado Military Pages
  To Honor those who served
• The Colorado Native Americans Genealogy and History page
• Colorado Obituary Project
• Colorado Photo Project
• Colorado Places by County
• COKidsGenWeb ProjectThe Colorado Children's Genealogy page.

Cemeteries

• Cemeteries sorted by name
• Cemeteries sorted by county

Archives

• USGW Colorado Archives
• Guidelines for Submissions
• USGenWeb Archives
• State of Colorado Archives
• Colorado State Archives 1870 Census index
• Fort Collins Local History Archive

Genealogical Societies

• Colorado Genealogical Society
• Colorado Genealogical Organizations
• Colorado Council of Genealogical Societies
• Colorado Genealogical Libraries
• Colorado Historical Society

Helpful links

• Vital Records
• Vital Check - Colorado
  (on-line order form for birth and death certificates)
• Colorado Dept of Health
  See Notes
• Search all marriages (from 1975 to Present) in the state of Colorado.
  a searchable data base
• Search all divorces/dissolutions (from 1851 to 1939 and 1968 to Present) in the state of Colorado.
  a searchable data base
• 
  Listed in Cyndi's List of Genealogy Sites on the Internet for Colorado

Colorado History

The Colorado area, first claimed by Spain in the16th century, and France in the18th century. Spain traced its claim to the southwestern US to the 1540 Coronado expedition that explored much of New Mexico and Arizona. While he probably didn't reach present day Colorado, that didn't keep Spain from citing the trip as precedence for a claim to the Rio Grande and Colorado river basins.

The first Spanish settlements on the middle Rio Grande were in 1598. Spanish explorers had to have reached Colorado prior to 1694 since the written record from the Don Diego de Vargas 1694 trip into southern Colorado refers to already named landmarks that he passed.

Colorado was acquired in part by the Louisiana Purchase (1803) and explored by U.S. Army officers Zebulon Pike (1806), Stephen Long (1819-20), and John Fremont (1842-43). Additional lands came from Mexico in 1848 as a result of the Mexican War, and from Texas in 1850.

Early Spanish explorers who came to Mexico heard the natives tell exciting tales of cities of gold and silver to the north. To find the precious metals many of these fortune hunters pressed northward, some of them coming into sections of the present New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, and Colorado. Some of these adventurers were the first white men to see the Grand Canyon of the Colorado, the Rio Grande Valley, and other sections of the Rocky Mountain Territory. Escalante, the Catholic priest who tried to find a shortcut from Santa Fe to the Pacific coast, came through there on his unsuccessful trip in the summer of 1776.

About fifty years later these sections swarmed with competing trappers and fur traders working for the various large fur companies of the eastern United States and Canada.

The real settlers of Colorado came about 1858, thus making the state the last to be occupied by permanent settlers. Many of the first comers were attracted by the discovery of gold and other metals. Not too successful in their fortune hunt, they turned to the land and the ranges for their livelihood.

The territory of Jefferson was voted by the residents in 1859 but was never recognized by congress. Thus some of the counties have organization dates and records prior to 28 February 1861 when the Territory of Colorado was recognized.

The 1860 census showed a population of about 33,000 men, and 1,500 women. This was taken when Colorado was still a part of Kansas.

The first territorial assembly created the first seventeen counties in September 1861. They were Arapahoe, Boulder, Clear Creek, Costilla, Douglas, El Paso, Fremont, Gilpin, Guadalupe (later named Conejos), Huerfano, Jefferson, Lake, Larimer, Park, Pueblo, Summit and Weld.

A few birth records before January 1907 may be obtained at the office of the county registrars, after January 1907 at the State Bureau of Vital Statistics in Denver. A few death records before January 1900 may be obtained from the respective county registrars. After these dates, from the State Bureau of Vital Statistics in Denver.

Marriage records were not generally recorded until after 1881, but some counties have marriage records as early as 1860, and are kept by the county clerks, as are probate matters, wills, etc. All land titles, deeds, mortgages, leases, etc are kept by the county recorder.