Seward’s Folly and Colorado’s Golden Beginning
As America approaches its 250th anniversary in 2026, and Colorado prepares to celebrate its 150th year of statehood, it is a good time to reflect on the bold decisions and strokes of fortune that shaped both our nation and our state.
In 1803, President Thomas Jefferson completed the Louisiana Purchase, doubling the size of the young United States and opening the vast lands west of the Mississippi River. That single act set in motion the exploration and settlement that would eventually lead to the development of the Rocky Mountain region.
By 1848, the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ended the Mexican-American War and brought much of the present-day American Southwest—including Colorado—under the U.S. flag…