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© 2004 Jeffrey Aaronson, Network Aspen Introduction Essay for Colorado 24/7 A State of Mountains By Peter G. Chronis Denver native and noted poet Thomas Hornsby Ferril regularly used to warn other writers against "god-finding" when they went into the Colorado Rockies, but usually to no avail. Even today, the grandeur of our mountains inspires some god-awful purple prose. But the Rockies are irrefutable. The ramparts, peaks, and valleys dominate the landscape and shape the story of Colorado, from the first Native Americans eons ago, to the arrival of land grant settlers from Spain and Mexico in the San Luis Valley in the early 19th century, to the fortune-seekers of the Pikes Peak Gold Rush of 1858. Wherever there was tillable land, homesteaders staked out farms. Immigrants from Europe and Mexico built railroads and worked the coal mines. When Denver was still a wild frontier town, civic leaders realized they needed rail service to remain viable. So, in 1870, Denverites paid for a rail connection with the Union Pacific's transcontinental mainline at Cheyenne, Wyoming. Statehood arrived in 1876--and the state had a nickname: the Centennial State. Gold and silver were okay for making overnight "cities" and overnight millionaires, but Colorado needed people to settle in for the long haul. It needed an economy less vulnerable to boom-and-bust cycles. Settlers carved sheep and cattle ranches out of the rugged country, and Denver with its rail yards became a cattle town. Industries sprouted all along the Rocky Mountains' Front Range. Colleges sprang up to turn out teachers, doctors, lawyers, and engineers. World War II brought the defense industry and tens of thousands of GIs to Colorado for training as air crew members, foot soldiers, and ski troops. Veterans of the 10th Mountain Division who had trained here launched the state's ski industry. There are now 24 ski resorts in the mountains. Droves of veterans fell in love with the place and moved here after the war. More recent arrivals include refugees from wars in Asia and poverty in Latin America. Always growing, always adding to the mural that is Colorado. There are now more than 4.3 million of us: 83 percent Caucasian, 17 percent Latino, 4 percent African American, 2.2 percent Asian, and 1 percent Native American. Growth has continued almost unabated--the beauty and variety of the terrain may be partly to blame for that. Some even grouse that Colorado's gotten too crowded. New industries (and the short-lived oil boom of the early 1980s) brought waves of new residents and new ideas to a basically conservative state where people cling to western habits like a gun or two at home, a healthy skepticism about government, and a tendency to mind their own business. Politics range from lefty-liberal to far-right Christian fundamentalist. Maybe that's why Colorado political campaigns are never dull. Argue? You bet! Coloradans can be as unyielding as granite. We get it from the mountains. Browse    View All    A State of Mountains    Hearth & Home    Hard at Work    Colorado at Play    Reason to Believe    Our Town Photos: 119 Photographers: 33 Towns: 43

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