科罗拉多州小档案：
人口：约430万
面积：约269，999平方公里，排名第8位
州府：丹佛Denver
科罗拉多州名称来自西班牙语，其意义是“红色”Red。
1858年开始殖民。1867年8月1日成为美国第38州。较美国独立建国之年，恰巧迟100年之久。因此，本州的别名叫做“百年之州”Centennial State。以耧斗菜花Columbine为州花。本州箴言：“上帝无，一切皆无”Nothing Without Deity。州府是丹佛Denver是本州第一大都市。市区海拔为1，600公尺，恰好是一哩。因此，本市的别名，叫做“一哩高城”Mile High City。又因它是圣路易与旧金山两大都市之间的最大都市，被称为“大平原内皇后城”Queen City of the Great Plains。附近有美国造币厂及原子能发电厂。市内州议会大厦屋顶全部贴上黄金薄片；引人注目。州府以南的科罗拉多泉Colorado Springs。附近有美国空军学院。本州高等学府有34所。其中最著名的是科罗拉多大学，创于1876年，地点在波尔德Boulder。丹佛及科罗拉多泉两市均有分校。
本州特征有二：第一，它是美国境内最高的一个州（美国最高峰在阿拉斯加州）。第二，本州钼（钼与钢混合，叫做钼钢，极硬）产量列世界第一位。此外，尚产锡、钒、钨及铀等。
美国西南部六州中之科罗拉多、新墨西哥、犹他、亚利桑那四州，面积彼此差不很多，都是正方形。合起来看，是一个田字。本州由于地势高峻，气候复杂，作物种类也十分复杂，有小麦、甜菜。畜牧有牛、羊。矿产有油页岩、钼、铀、钒及石油。科罗拉多、犹他及怀俄明三州之油页岩（可以提炼石油），蕴藏极富，尚未开采。钼产量约占全世界产量四分之三（钼是制造火箭必需的物质），产地在克莱马克斯Clinmax。本州旅游业极盛，年获6亿多美元。
Introduction简介
Colorado’s first inhabitants were probably the Anasazi Indians who，four centuries before Columbus，lived in multi－story cliff dwellings in canyons（〈美〉峡谷，溪谷）in the southwestern corner of Colorado．At the end of the thirteenth century，these Indians abandoned their cliff dwellings and apparently moved southward．
First visited by Spanish explorers in the 1500s，the territory（领土，版图，地域）was claimed for Spain by Juan de Ulibarri in 1706．In 1540—1541，Coronado led an expedition north from Mexico in search of the Seven Cities of Cibola where the streets were allegedly（依其申述）paved with gold．Although this exact route is unknown，it is likely Coronado and his party passed through the present－day area of southeastern Colorado．Over the next 250years，the Spanish made other expeditions into the Colorado area．
In 1800，Spain ceded（放弃）a vast area，including Colorado，to Napoleon Bonaparte and the French．Three years later，the same parcel of land was sold by Napoleon the United States as the “Louisiana Purchase”．In 1806，President Jefferson commissioned Lieutenant Zebulon Pike to explore the recently purchased territory．Among the sites mentioned by Pike in his report of the expedition was the 14，110－foot peak，which today bears his name．Pike stated in his report that it was unlikely the summit would ever be scaled．
A group of explorers led by Major Stephen H．Long proved Pike to be wrong in 1820when Dr．Edwin James and two others in the Long party became the first to climb to the summit of Pike’s Peak．In ****** their journey，Long and his party passed the present day locations of Greeley，Denver，and Colorado Springs．They also viewed the mountain later known as Lounge’s Peak．
At about the same time as the Long expedition，fur trappers and traders began working their trade in the Rocky Mountains．Beaver fur was considered one of the most precious commodities on the continent．The beaver（海狸（毛皮））pelt，small and light in weight，provide d a high－priced product in a small package．A single pelt sold in eastern markets for six to eight dollars．During the decade（十年）of the 1830’s both the supply and price of beaver［海狸（毛皮）］skins declined，forcing traders to turn to hunting buffalo．In addition，trading posts were established for barter with the Indians．Fort Pueblo（1842），Fort Vesquez（1835），and Bent Fort（1834）were the most important posts．
Many Indian tribes roamed（漫游，徜徉）Colorado and contributed to the state’s history．The Cheyenne，Arapaho，Comanche，and Kiowa were the most important plains tribes．They were nomadic（游牧的），hunting and ****** clothes from the skins of buffalo（〈美〉［动］美洲野牛）and deer，living in teepees（美国印第安人的圆锥形帐篷），and depending on berries and roots for vegetables．The Spanish found Navajo in southwestern Colorado．The Apache frequently came into the state from New Mexico and Arizona．The Utes inhabited the state’s mountains and appear to have been the only indigenous（本土的）tribe of Colorado．Utes［犹特人（美洲印第安人的一种）］remaining in Colorado today live in the southwestern corner of the state．The Cheyenne and Arapaho roamed（闲逛）the state’s eastern plains．
Colorado has the highest mean elevation（海拔）of any state，with more than 1，000Rocky Mountain peaks over 10，000feet high and 54towering above 14，000feet．Pikes Peak，the most famous of these mountains，was discovered by U．S．Army Lieut．Zebulon M．Pike in 1806．The U．S．obtained eastern Colorado as part of the Louisiana Purchase in 1803，the central portion in 1845with the admission of Texas as a state，and the western part in 1848as a result of the Mexican War．
The discovery of gold in California in 1849touched off a search for gold in other regions including the Rocky Mountains and accounted for the first extensive settlement of Colorado．In July of 1858，William Green Russell，a Georgia miner，discovered several hundred dollars worth of gold at the mouth of Dry Creek in the present－day Denver suburb of Englewood．Russell’s find started the “Pike’s Peak or Bust”gold rush of 1858—1859．Historians estimate（估计）that approximately 50，000people came to Colorado in s earch of gold in 1858—1859．
After Russell and his brothers made another gold discovery on Cherry Creek，General William Larimer led a group of men from the Kansas Territory to establish a settlement there．The resulting settlement was christened（命名为）Denver City in honor of James W．Den ver，governor of Kansas Territory．Cherry Creek provided a boundary between Denver City and another community established earlier，Auraria．Despite an initial rivalry（竞争，竞赛），these two communities were consolidated into the single community of Denver in 1860．
Gold deposits found in other areas led to the establishment of more towns．In particular，the discovery of gold forty miles west of Cherry Creek led to the establishment of the twin towns of Central City and Blackhawk．The first permanent white settlements in the state were in the San Luis Valley．The town of San Luis founded in 1851is generally considered the oldest continually occupied town in Colorado．
