On August 13, 1859 — during the Pikes Peak Gold Rush — the settlement of Colorado City was established in western Kansas Territory (near the base of Pikes Peak itself). The abundance of red sandstone in the area is what inspired the founders to use the Spanish word colorado, meaning “red,” in the settlement’s name.
A mere two weeks later, Colorado City welcomed its first baby. The Rocky Mountain News (which was just four months old at the time) published the following announcement:
BIRTH. — Born in Colorado City, Aug. 28th, Colorado Johnson, son of Mr. and Mrs. [William] Johnson, late of Pensylvania [sic].
In consideration of its being the first birth in the embryo city of Colorado, a share of eight lots was donated to the new comer.
Colorado City became part of the newly organized Colorado Territory in 1861. (Interestingly, the territory was not named after the city, but after the Colorado River, whose headwaters were located within the boundary of the territory.) Today, the settlement is a neighborhood within the city of Colorado Springs.
P.S. Colorado City was founded several weeks before the settlements of Auraria and Denver to the north.
Sources:
- “Local Items.” Rocky Mountain News 10. Sept. 1859: 3.
- Renaming of the Grand River, Colo.: Hearing Before the Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce, House of Representatives, 66th Cong., 21 (1921).
- Old Colorado City – Wikipedia
Image: Clipping from the Rocky Mountain News (10 Sept. 1859)