Advent of great Prehistoric Cliff Dwelling Civilization in the Mesa Verde region.
1276 to 1299
A great drought and/or pressure from nomadic tribes forced the Cliff Dwellers to abandon their Mesa Verde homes.
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 Cebolla.
1682
Explorer La Salle appropriates for France all of the area now known as Colorado east of the Rocky Mountains.
1724
Bourgmant explores Colorado Area.
1811
Ezra Williams, a Missourian, leads an expedition of 19 men to Colorado to trap beaver. Half of this expedition crossed the Continental Divide and were never heard from again. Williams and two other members of his party were captured by Arapahoe Indians and held hostage for two years before escaping.
1820
Major Stephen H. Long is sent by President Monroe to explore southwestern boundary of the Louisiana Purchase. Long's party came up the South Platte River. Long's Peak named for him. Dr. Edwin James, historian of Long's expedition, leads first recorded ascent of Pike's Peak. James Peak, west of Denver, named for him. Long dubs Colorado "The Great American Desert".
1825
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
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.
1839
Farnham's Oregon Dragoons, led by Thomas Jefferson Farnham, arrived in Colorado in 1839 from Peoria, Illinois. Five men from this group, Farnham (originally from Vermont), Obadiah Oakley, Sidney Smith, and William Blair made it to Summit County, along with their guide, a blacksmith from Kentucky named Kelley.
1836
Texas becomes independent republic and claims narrow strip of mountain territory extending northward through Colorado to 42nd parallel.
Early 1840's
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.
1931
Population reaches over one million.
1932
Groswold Ski Co. founded in Denver by Thor Groswold, Marcellus Merrill and Ned Grant at East 38th Avenue and York Street. This company specialized in making handmade hickory skis and in 1934 moved to 1202 Shoshone Street.
Great Sand Dunes National Monument created.
1933
Black Canyon of the Gunnison set aside as a national monument.
1934
Denver Mint gets $3 billion in gold bullion from San Francisco.
Near Morrison, the Civilian Conservation Corp was turning scenic Red Rocks park into what would become one of the nation's great concert venues.
The Taylor Grazing Act became law, authorizes ranchers use of public lands for their herds and parceling the range into allotments and creating the modern Bureau of Land Management. The act, strongly supported by local, state and national stockmen's associations, finally stopped range warfare and solved some major public lands problems. But it did not reverse the degradation of rangelands. It did, however, produce small, stable western communities built on feeding, supplying and financing ranchers,
1935
Baby Doe Tabor, widow of mining tycoon Horace A.W. Tabor is found frozen to death at the Matchless Mine in Leadville.
1964
5.6 million tourist visit Colorado, primarily due to a growing number of ski resorts.
1965
14" of rain near Larkspur sends a 20' wall of water down the South Platte River. This flood caused $530 million in damages to Denver, prompting construction of the Chatfield Dam and Reservoir.
1966
NORAD combat operations center opens its headquarters in Colorado Springs, 1200 feet below Cheyenne Mountain.
1967
The Denver Rockets become Colorado's professional American Basketball Assn team. They are later renamed the Denver Nuggets.
1968
Interstate 70 opens through Mount Vernon Canyon.
1969
Jefferson City is incorporated out of the west suburbs of Denver. It is later renamed Lakewood.
1993
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers nixes plans for the Adam's Rib ski resort near Vail because developers would destroy 48 acres of wetlands. Vail's expansion is proceeding -- around protesters -- only after the Division of Wildlife and the Forest Service were satisfied that the plans minimized damage to wildlife.
I-70 is finally completed through Glenwood Canyon. This 18 mile stretch cost $500 million to build and has been dubbed the "Crowning Jewel of the Interstate System".
1994
The Regional Transportation District's light-rail system begins running in Denver.
6 July 1994 - Fourteen firefighters perish while fighting a forest fire on Storm King Mountain west of Glenwood Springs. These four women and ten men are remembered at a memorial on the site of Colorado's deadliest forest fire.
1995
Denver International Airport opens, replacing Stapleton Airport.
Coors Baseball Field opens.
Denver lands a National Hockey League franchise.
The 5430 acre Triangle fire near Edwards rages for a week, despite efforts of 500 firefighters.
1996
Denver's new hockey team, The Colorado Avalanche, wins the Stanley Cup.
Child beauty pageant star Jon-Benet Ramsey is found murdered on the morning after Christmas.
The Rocky Mtn News discontinues circulation in neighboring states and many outlying areas of Colorado.
Careless campers ignite the Buffalo Creek fire that scorches 12,000 acres and destroys 9 homes.
A lightening strike in Mesa Verde National Park dispatches flames across 4681 acres.
1997
The Oklahoma City bombing trials are held in Denver.
1998
The Denver Broncos win the Superbowl.
The Rocky Mtn News is renamed the Denver Rocky Mountain News.
1999
The Denver Broncos again win the Superbowl.
Bill Owens elected Governor.
12 students and 1 teacher of Columbine High School in Denver are murdered in the deadliest school shooting ever. 23 students are also wounded before the murderers commit suicide. The teenage gunmen also kill themselves.
Black Canyon of the Gunnison is declared a National Park by President Clinton.
San Luis Valley rancher proposes to build a tower "to watch for alien spaceships" in the San Luis Valley.
The lynx is reintroduced to Colorado.
2000
May 12 - after a century of newspaper battles, the Denver Post and the Denver Rocky Mountain News announce a joint operating agreement.
June 12 - The Hi Meadow fire ravages 10,800 acres and destroys 51 homes near Pine, to become Colorado's most destructive forest fire.
June 12 - The Bobcat fire blackens 10,600 acres and destroys 22 structures.
July 20 - The Bircher fire sweeps across 23,000 acres in Mesa Verde National Park and rages unabated for 10 days, threatening priceless Anasazi ruins.
November 7 - George Bush takes Colorado from Al Gore for the Presidency.
Isn't Life great in colorado???