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Colorado Fun Facts & Trivia

The Rocky Mountains

Facts:

Capital: Denver
Flower: Rocky Mountain Columbine
Tree: Blue Spruce
Animal: Big Horn Sheep
Bird: Lark Bunting
Dance: Square Dancing
Dinosaur: Stegosaurus
Nickname: The Centennial State
Statehood: 1876 - 38th
Motto: "Nothing without Providence"
Area: 104,247 square miles
Governor: Bill Owens

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Interesting Dates:

Anasazi's inhabited Mesa Verde in C.E. 1000-1300
Gold discovered in Idaho Springs (near Denver) on January 7, 1859
Women received the right to vote in 1893
1st coin minted in Denver in 1906
Rocky Mountain National Park designation in 1915
Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park designation in 1999

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Sports Teams:

Football: Denver Broncos - Back-to-back Super Bowl champs XXXI & XXXII
Baseball: Colorado Rockies - The first National League Team Wildcard to go to the playoffs in 1995
Hockey: Colorado Avalanche - Stanley Cup Winners
Basketball: Denver Nuggets
Soccer: Colorado Rapids
Lacrosse: Colorado Mammoth

Rockies Game at Coors Field

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Colorado Trivia:

General Trivia

Colorado means "colored red".
Colorado's southwest corner borders Arizona, New Mexico and Utah, the only place in America where the corners of four states meet.
Colorado is the only state in history to turn down the Olympics. Denver was supposed to host the 1976 Olympics. 62% of all state voters choose at almost the last minute not to host the Olympics, because of the cost, pollution and population boom it would have on the State of Colorado and the City of Denver.
Colorado has more microbreweries per capita than any other state.

About Our Towns

The United States Air Force Academy is located in Colorado Springs.
The world's largest flattop mountain is in Grand Mesa.
In Fruita, the town folk celebrate "Mike the Headless Chicken Day". Seems that a farmer named L.A. Olsen cut off Mike's head on September 10, 1945 in anticipation of a chicken dinner - and Mike lived for another 4 years without a head.
The Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad has been in continuous operation since 1881. The line was constructed primarily to haul mine ores, both gold and silver, from the San Juan Mountains. The Railroad continues to provide year round train service and has appeared in more than a dozen movies including "How the West was Won" (1963) and "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" (1969).
Leadville is the highest incorporated city in the United States at 10,430 ft. above sea level. Because there was lots of "silver" named towns at the time, the founding fathers suggested Leadville.
Hundreds of thousands of valentines are re-mailed each year from Loveland.
Fountain has the distinction of being the United States' millennium city because it best symbolizes the overall composition of America. Fountain is the most accurate representation of the American "melting pot". Fountain was chosen after a Queens College sociologist crunched Census Bureau statistics in an effort to find the one city in the country that best represented the population make-up of the United States.
Pueblo is the only city in American with four living recipients of the Medal of Honor.
Dove Creek is the "Pinto Bean" capital of the World.
The world's first rodeo was held on July 4th, 1869 in Deer Trail.
The aptly named town of Twin Lakes lays adjacent to two natural lakes at the foot of Colorado's highest fourteener, Mt. Elbert.
Rocky Ford has been dubbed the "melon capital of the world".
The world's largest natural hot springs pool covers 2 blocks in Glenwood Springs.

Mileage Table:

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About Denver

Denver has the largest city park system in the nation with 205 parks in City limits and 20,000 acres of parks in the nearby mountains.
"Beulah Red" is the name of the red marble that gives the Colorado State Capital its distinctive splendor. Cutting, polishing, and installing the marble in the Capital took six years, from 1894 to 1900. All of the "Beulah Red" marble in the world went into the Capital. It cannot be replaced, at any price.
The 13th step of the state capital building in Denver is exactly 1 mile high above sea level.
The LoDo region of Denver stands for Lower Downtown.
Denver lays claim to the invention of the cheeseburger. The trademark for the name Cheeseburger was awarded in 1935 to Louis Ballast.
Colfax Avenue in Denver is the longest continuous street in America.
The tallest building in Colorado is the Republic Plaza at 57 stories high, in Denver.
Every year Denver hosts the worlds largest Rodeo, the Western Stock Show.

Denver's Capital Building in Downtown

Denver's Capital Building and Civic Plaza

Our Mountains

Colorado has the highest mean altitude of all the states.
Colorado contains 75% of the land area of the U.S. with an altitude over 10,000 feet.
The Colorado Rockies are part of the North American Cordillera, which stretches 3,000 miles from Alaska, through western Canada and the United States, into northern Mexico. The centerpieces of this dramatic uplift are the peaks over 14,000 feet, or "Fourteeners", as they are affectionately named by climbers. There are 52 Fourteeners in Colorado.
The highest paved road in North America is the Road to Mt. Evans off of I-70 from Idaho Springs. The Road climbs up to 14,258 ft. above sea level.
At 14,110 feet above sea level, over 400,000 people ascend Pikes Peak each year.
The Dwight Eisenhower Memorial Tunnel between Clear Creek & Summit County is the highest auto tunnel in the world. Bored at an elevation of 11,000 feet, under the Continental Divide, it is 8,960 feet long and the average daily traffic exceeds 26,000 vehicles.

Road to top of Mount Evans

Mount Evans

Colorado Parks, Forests, and Wildlife

The United States Federal Government owns more than 1/3 of the land (15 million acres) in Colorado. The Bureau of Land Management controls more than 8 million acres of public land.
The Colorado Division of Wildlife manages more than 250 public areas for hunting and fishing.
Of the 113 species of wildlife classified as sport game in Colorado, 105 are considered small game.
Colorado has 222 state wildlife areas.
Abundant nesting and migrating birds and other native animals provide a "world-class" watchable wildlife experience. Bald eagles and other raptors, sand hill cranes, shore birds and water birds can be seen seasonally at San Luis Lakes near Alamosa.
The Yampa River below the northwest town of Craig holds northern pike in the 20-pound range, while the Roaring Fork and Frying Pan rivers are prime spots for trout fishing.
There are nearly 20 rivers whose headwaters begin in Colorado, with the Continental Divide directing each river's course.
Last year the Division of Wildlife registered 46,000 off-highway vehicles to residents and about 7,000 to non-residents. That number grows by 20% each year.
There are 11 national forests within the state of Colorado and 38 state parks and recreation areas.
The tallest sand dune in America is in Great Sand Dunes National Park outside of Alamosa. This bizarre 46,000-acre landscape of 700-foot sand peaks was the creation of ocean waters and wind more than one million years ago.
Mesa Verde features an elaborate four-story city carved in the cliffs by the Ancestral Pueblo people between 600 and 1300 A.D. The mystery surrounding this ancient cultural landmark is the sudden disappearance of the thousand of inhabitants who created the more than 4,000 identified structures.
The highest suspension bridge in the world is over the Royal Gorge near Canon City. The Royal Gorge Bridge spans the Arkansas River at a height of 1,053 feet.
Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument near Cripple Creek is a lesson in history set in the one-time shadow of the Guffey Volcano. The Volcano erupted millions of years ago, creating fossils and leaving the valley filled with the petrified trees.

Pikes Peak

Historic Colorado

Katherine Lee Bates wrote "America the Beautiful" atop Pikes Peak overlooking Colorado Springs.
Lieutenant Zebulon Montgomery Pike explored the southwest portion of the Louisiana Territory in 1806 and though he never climbed the peak that bears his name, he did publish a report that attracted a lot of interest to the area.
The slogan of "Pikes Peak or Bust", painted across many of the prairie schooners, was born at a time as fortune hunters headed west. Although only a handful of those who flocked to the region ever found gold.
Colorado's first and oldest military post, Fort Garland, was established in 1858 and commanded by the legendary frontiersman, Kit Carson.
In 1859, John Gregory discovered "The Gregory Lode" in a gulch near Central City. Within 2 weeks, the gold rush was on and within 2 months the population grew to 10,000 people in search of their fortune. It came to be known as "The Richest Square Mile on Earth".
Built in 1867 by Seth Lake, the Astor House in Golden was the first stone hotel built west of the Mississippi River.
John Henry "Doc" Holliday's brief and tumultuous existence led him to Glenwood Springs where he succumbed to tuberculosis and died at the Hotel Glenwood on November 8, 1887.
Glenwood Springs was a favorite stop of former president and hunting enthusiast Teddy Roosevelt. It was in this town where the teddy bear got its name.
The Kit Carson County Carousel in Burlington dates back to 1905, making it the oldest wooden merry-go-round in the United States. It is the only wooden carousel in America still with its original paint.

Durango/Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad

Royal Gorge Bridge

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Helpful Hints:

ALTITUDE AWARENESS
In Colorado's high country, skies are bluer and stars are brighter because of our altitude. Our air is thinner, with less oxygen, than at sea level, especially above 8,000 feet. Until your body adjusts, go easy on physical activity; drink more water than usual; minimize your intake of alcohol, caffeine and salty foods; and eat high carbohydrate foods, such as grains, fruits and vegetables. There is less atmosphere to screen out ultraviolet rays, so remember to use sunscreen, sunglasses, and a hat with a brim for shade. If you adopt the proper attitude toward Colorado's altitude you and your family will have the most enjoyable vacation experience possible.
CLIMATE/WEATHER
T here is an average of 30 degrees difference between low temperatures at night and high temperatures in daytime.
CLOTHING
Dress in layers! We have a saying in Colorado: "If you don't like the weather, wait 5 minutes!"
DON'T BLAME FIDO
If your dog seems sluggish in the mountains, know that dogs do not automatically adjust to higher altitudes. Like humans, pets should be given time to get used to the thinner air. Give your dog lots of water, and while hiking, be careful of overheating. If your dog lags behind or its tongue hangs out, your dog is overexerted. Let the dog rest. If hiking away from water, carry a water bottle for your dog. Note: Dogs can get giardia drinking from streams. Check with your vet for giardia shots. Also be sure to watch your dogs paws. Hiking in the woods can cause cuts, scrapes and foot pad injuries. Carry an anesthetic and gauze or tape to bandage wounds.
DEAD AIR
Cell phones don't always work in the mountains. If you have to use one for an emergency, a higher ridgeline will give you the best reception. (Just don't be on a ridge during a thunderstorm!) If you call 911, tell them where you are )ie: what trail, park, peak or county). Depending on where you are, you may reach an emergency center for a different county.
NO BUTTS ABOUT IT
Use your ashtray. Colorado state law states that anyone who throws a lit cigarette or other burning material from a moving vehicle faces a fine of up to $1,000 and could spend a year in jail. Triple civil damages can be charged for causing a wildfire.
BE PREPARED
The drier climate, higher altitude and different outdoor pollens can trigger allergic reactions. If you have allergies, always be prepared for medical emergencies. Carry antihistamines or other allergy medications with you at all times.
BICYCLING IN COLORADO - RULES OF THE ROAD Bicyclists have all the rights and duties applicable to the driver of any other vehicle and can be penalized for violating traffic laws:
Courtesy of CDOT Bicycle/Pedestrian Program.
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Collecting Fossils:
Why collect fossils?
The main reason to collect fossils is to find the remains of past life that can answer a question about that life. Finding fossils of certain types will support or change a scientist's theory of what kinds of animals lived together, and how they lived together at a specific time in the past. For instance, the Stegosaurus here at Dinosaur Depot is answering many questions about what it looked like and how it might have lived and died. It also had many other kinds of animals with it that tell us something about populations in the late Jurassic.
Another reason to collect fossils is to use them for education. Nothing can catch the attention of a curious person better than being able to get close to a real fossil and think for themselves about what it might have looked like alive. For instance, the Othnielia in the exhibit shows that not all dinosaurs were huge and that we can also find them as babies.
What happens to the fossils after they are collected?
The lab here at Dinosaur Depot is a fossil "preparation" lab. Preparation means freeing the fossils from the rock that surrounds them and treating them with hardeners and glues to preserve them. They are then put into exhibits or into safe storage where no harm can come to them. They are then available to study.
What happens to them in the long run?
The public responsibility of a museum or university that collects and studies fossils lasts forever. The institutions that can keep fossils from public lands are called repositories. Dinosaur Depot achieved this status in 1996. For the first time in history, fossils collected from the nearby Garden Park Fossil Area under a government permit can be kept here in Canon City. We don't just collect them to hard them. They are shared with scientists who study and interpret them. We carefully store them for others to study in the future and for exhibiting to the public from time to time. Many exciting new discoveries are made in older, stored fossils as new knowledge leads to different interpretations of them.
Why does it seem like so many people are fighting over fossils at this time?
In recent years, fossils have become commercially valuable. While it is legal to sell fossils that are collected on private land, it is against the law to ever sell those from public land. There is a movement to open public lands for collecting fossils for later sale, but there are many people who think this would be wrong. Fossils can tell us a great deal about life in the past, but only if there are freely available for study, not hidden away in private collections.
Can people without permit collect fossils?
Anyone can collect fossils if they have the landowner's permission. In the case of land owned by the Federal Government, the law says you cannot collect fossils of animals that have backbones. However, you can collect plant fossils or fossils of animals without backbones. Only the small amount you can reasonably use yourself can be collected, and you can never sell them. You also cannot collect any fossils in special areas like national parks, or an Area of Critical Environmental Concern like Garden Park Fossil Area. As with any activity you take part in, there are rules and regulations that you should know before you get involved.
How can amateurs collect public fossils like dinosaurs and other animals with backbones?
You may volunteer with an organization like the Garden Park Paleontology Society / Dinosaur Depot museum that employs a professional who has a collecting permit. If you are willing to accept training and work within the rules, you can collect fossils to your heart's content. Many museums and universities have programs where you can get training and work with a variety of scientists on all aspects of paleontology; collecting, preparing, and studying about life in the past.
This information was supplied by the Dinosaur Depot Museum
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Colorado Fun Facts & Trivia

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