Benjamin Harrison Eaton first came to Colorado in the 1859 Gold Rush. He had been born in Ohio in 1833, and during his early years had worked as a railroad surveyor, a farmer, and a teacher. When his wife, Delilah,…
A few years ago, a couple dozen paintings of Colorado governors and other state officials were uncovered behind a wall at the Colorado State Archives. An article in the January 2020 issue of 5280 Magazine highlights the search for the…
One of the world’s most famous diamonds has a Colorado connection. The dazzling blue Hope Diamond, weighing 45.52 carats, is now in the collection of the National Museum of Natural History. A century ago, however, the diamond was owned and…
The early twentieth century was an era of social reform in the United States. The labor movement, women’s suffrage, and better opportunities for those less fortunate were among the causes that defined the period. In Colorado, one of the state’s…
James Benton Grant served as Governor of Colorado from 1883 to 1885. He was the state’s first Democratic governor as well as Colorado’s youngest statehood governor. Grant was born January 2, 1848, the son of a wealthy Alabama plantation family.…
If you’ve ever been inside the State Capitol, the Brown Palace Hotel, or the Telephone Building on 14th Street, you’ve seen the work of 1930s artist Allen True. Recently, another of his murals has been restored in Capitol Hill’s Tammen…
Colorado’s first Hispanic Speaker of the House, Ruben Valdez, passed away on Tuesday at age 82. He is remembered as a strong advocate for the Latino community and civil rights. The son of a coal miner, Valdez was born in…
Colorado’s Pitkin County was named for Frederick Walker Pitkin, who served as governor of the state from 1879 to 1883. Born in Connecticut in 1837, Pitkin had settled in Milwaukee until ill health caused him to seek the “climate cure”…
You may be familiar with the Eugene Field branch of the Denver Public Library, but have you ever wondered, who was Eugene Field? And what was his connection to Colorado? Eugene Field is best known for his poems for children,…
John L. Routt has the distinction of being both the final territorial governor of Colorado as well as the first statehood governor. His political career also included a term as Denver mayor. Born in 1826, Routt grew up in Illinois,…
