Re: “The 150 most notable people in Colorado history,” July 28 news story

I enjoyed reading your list of the 150 most notable people in Colorado History, but was dismayed that you left out Willard Libby, who was born in my hometown of Parachute; he won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the development of Carbon-14 Dating. How did you miss that one?

Russel Murray, Broomfield

Your list of 150 notable Coloradans was well considered except for one entry – John Evans.  The fact that he founded what became the University of Denver and brought the Union Pacific Railroad to Denver ought not to provide absolution for his role in the murder of 28 unarmed Native American men along with 105 women and children at Sand Creek. He was, and I use this phrase advisedly, a genocidal racist. If his name was removed from a mountain, perhaps you should consider removing it from your list as well.

Guy Wroble, Denver

Everyone, including Bernie Sanders, has got to get on the same socialism page

Re: “We should all learn about democratic socialism,” July 18 letter to the editor.

The intention of the letter is correct but still inaccurate in defining democratic socialism. There are enormous differences in the terms: communism, democratic socialism and social democracy, and most of us, including Bernie Sanders, need to be on the same page. I suggest we all use the original definitions for uniformity and clarity.

Communism, in the classical sense, seeks to replace capitalism entirely and has often led in practice to one-party authoritarian states.

Democratic socialism shares some goals of socialism but insists on achieving them through democratic elections and protecting civil liberties, with a varying range of how much of capitalism should remain.

Social democracy accepts capitalism but seeks to tame its excesses and provide strong safety nets like universal health care, worker protections, and public services. The Nordic countries fit here and are the happiest people in the world.

These are basic definitions, and it is paramount that we and Bernie study the longer, detailed definitions and come to a mutual understanding of the differences.

David King, Erie

As a proud Democrat, I’ve been taunted lately in the “owning a lib” manner, asking what I think of Zohran Mamdani and the emerging social democratic candidates. My easy, unintimidated response is “do you mean as compared to Donald Trump?”

Mamdani and others exemplify commitment to a government “of the people, by the people, for the people.” They may be guilty of overzealousness to provide affordable childcare, healthcare, and housing opportunities to fellow Americans, social justice here and throughout the world, and inspiring young people to get involved and vote. How horrible is that?

But, we Democrats can confidently ask our friends about their willingness to ignore everything they see and ignore: election denial and sowing lies to build distrust in our election process, horrific expenses of an unnecessary war and disruption of the peace process in the Middle East, the cost of ICE agents flooding cities targeting immigrants and intimidating citizens, and Trump and his family gaining tremendous wealth in a deeply questionable manner.

Republicans are preparing to use McCarthy-era communism rhetoric to demean this new breed of Democrats who care so much more about fellow Americans than Donald Trump.

Our country was created to be democratic, and our form of capitalism needs to include all citizens who proudly support the social programs for so many, in so many ways.  I’m a very proud, wealthy and well-educated, 76-year-old Democratic Socialist.

Mark Zaitz, Highlands Ranch

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Denver was the first city to turn down the Olympics

After being selected to host the 1976 Winter Games, Denver made history when it became the first ever city to reject the Olympics. On May 12, 1970, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) chose Denver over bids from Sion, Switzerland; Tampere, Finland; and Vancouver, Canada. The Mile High City’s Olympic plans were ambitious: Alpine events were slated for Loveland Basin and Mt. Sniktau, located on Loveland Pass outside of Dillon, while Denver Mountain Parks would host Nordic competitions, bobsled and luge races. Tthe Denver Coliseum was set for figure skating and hockey.

But the Games never made it out of the starting gate in Denver as concerns over funding and costs snowballed, and by late 1972 organizers told the IOC that Denver couldn’t host. The Winter Olympics were reassigned to Innsbruck, Austria, which had already hosted the Games in 1964 and had the infrastructure in place.

Even still, Colorado has strong ties to the Olympics as Colorado Springs is home to the and the .

Colorado lit the way on legal cannabis

California was a pioneer in legalizing medical marijuana back in 1996. Several states, Colorado among them, followed suit. But in 2014, we to legalize recreational marijuana.

At the University of Colorado, the Business Research Division at Leeds School of Business maintains a for Colorado’s Marijuana Enforcement Division that tracks a number of metrics, including sales. In 2021, marijuana sales topped $2.2 billion, but it looks like the green rush has slowed some in recent years with sales registering at $1.3 billion in 2025.

Our mountain communities are also high (in elevation)

stakes its claim as the highest incorporated town in North America, perched at 10,578 feet. Meanwhile, is the highest incorporated city in North America, soaring at 10,430 feet. Curious how Leadville got its name? The city’s founding fathers were looking for an alternative because there were too many places with “silver” in the name at the time.

Colorado’s Sand Dunes reach surprising heights

Colorado may be known for its mountains, but our state’s Sand Dunes are pretty impressive, too. , located in southern Colorado near Alamosa in the San Luis Valley, is home to the tallest dunes in North America, according to the National Park Service. Star Dune soars 750 feet from its base to its crest. The park’s High Dune rises 699 feet, but because it starts on higher ground it actually rises higher above sea level than Star.

Dinger’s story has a prehistoric backstory

Ever wonder why the Rockies mascot is a purple triceratops? When construction crews were excavating Coors Field, they unearthed a dinosaur fossil near home plate. When Dinger was introduced to fans, he hatched out of a giant dino egg on April 16, 1994.

Pikes Peak inspired ‘America the Beautiful’

The summit of Pikes Peak inspired Katharine Lee Bates to write “America the Beautiful.” Locals and visitors can take to the summit of the peak for those same awe-inspiring views.

You may do better at a Colorado driving range than one out of state

Home turf advantage? Golf balls fly on average in Colorado than they do in other states. Chalk it up to the altitude. If you’re playing at a mountain course, you may notice your ball goes even farther when you tee off, thanks to the higher altitudes.

150 things that make Colorado quintessentially cool

Burlington’s antique carousel is a rare piece of Americana

Originally built in 1905 for Denver’s Elitch Gardens, a hand-carved wooden carousel migrated to its new home in Burlington in 1928, when the amusement park upgraded to a newer model with "jumping" animals that moved up and down. Kit Carson County snapped up the classic for $1,200, preserving a rare piece of Americana. It����ap the only antique carousel in America still having original paint on both the scenery panels and on the animals. The is open from Memorial Day through Labor Day.

Boulder came close to becoming a prison town

Boulder is known today as an idyllic college town, with the University of Colorado deeply woven into the city’s identity. But the city could have taken a very different path.

In the late 1870s, Boulder leaders lobbied state lawmakers to make the city home to a university, competing with Cañon City for Colorado’s flagship school. There was a twist: The losing city would receive a consolation prize: a new state prison.

Visitors can explore this alternate-history scenario at the , where an interactive exhibit imagines how the city might look if history had unfolded differently. Onscreen, CU’s familiar red-tile roofs and campus buildings are replaced with barbed-wire fences and stark concrete structures spread across the foothills.

Today, Cañon City is home to the Colorado State Penitentiary and several other correctional facilities, along with the Museum of Colorado Prisons.

Colorado’s first skiers were mail carriers, not powder chasers

Long before Colorado became a ski destination, skiing here was all about getting the mail delivered. In the late 1800s, more than 50 mail carriers traversed snowy mountain terrain on homemade wooden skis secured with simple toe straps. These rugged couriers battled whiteout conditions, avalanches and brutal winter weather to reach remote communities. Today, visitors can learn about these early ski pioneers at the in Vail.

The state capitol has a mile-high marker

Want proof you're exactly a mile above sea level? Head to the west steps of the Colorado State Capitol. A marker on the 15th step designates the famed 5,280-foot elevation. You can also find a row of purple seats at Coors Field that denote exactly 5,280 feet, and The Mile High Loop at City Park follows a 5k route along the city’s mile-high contour line.

The cheeseburger has a meaty history in Denver

From Jolly Ranchers and cheeseburgers to teddy bears and tampons, these inventions were created in Colorado

Colorado has superior hot springs

Glenwood Springs is home to the world’s largest natural hot springs pool, where more than one million gallons of mineral-rich water fill the , which stretches more than two blocks long. Meanwhile, claims another geothermal distinction: the Guinness World Records-certified deepest geothermal hot spring aquifer in the world. The town’s Mother Spring extends more than 1,002 feet underground.

Aspen miners once unearthed a record-breaking treasure

Colorado’s mining history is filled with big discoveries, but Aspen delivered one that was especially massive. In 1894, miners pulled the world’s largest silver nugget from Aspen’s Smuggler Mine. The colossal chunk weighed in at a staggering 2,350 pounds, according to the .

Fort Collins helped inspire Disneyland’s Main Street

Take a stroll through Old Town Fort Collins and you may experience a little déjà vu, especially if you’re a Disney fan. Disneyland’s iconic Main Street U.S.A. was inspired by Fort Collins’ . Before Disneyland was built, Walt Disney enlisted Hollywood art director Harper Goff to help design the park. Goff grew up in Fort Collins, and when he sketched concepts for Main Street, he drew from childhood memories of familiar local buildings, including the city hall, the Old Linden Hotel, Old Firehouse Books and other local storefronts.

Colorado’s Capitol is home to a one-of-a-kind stone

Brittany Anas is a Denver-based freelance writer. 

What kind of a gift can you get for a state that seemingly has it all? Movie-star good looks. A frontier spirit. Bountiful resources. Nikola freaking Jokic.

How about a wish for 150 more? Our country, and the world, could use a little more Colorado. A little more optimism, a little more happiness and a little more rugged individualism.

For more than 150 years, the call of Colorado has been strong, and millions and millions of us have answered it. Even before statehood, this unsettled land of towering mountains and windswept plains was a beacon of sorts, a promise of something new, something better.

But as we celebrate this milestone, there’s more than a hint that Colorado’s luster has worn thin. Headlines warn that businesses are bolting or shuttering. Fewer people are moving to Colorado, according to the state’s demographer. Moving van companies suggest that in 2025, more people left Colorado than moved in.

Our state’s sesquicentennial gives us a chance to reflect on our past, to honor the giants who once roamed this land, but also to consider the moment we’re in, and to wonder, to dream, about what the next 150 years look like.

Each of us has our own Colorado story. How we got here. Why we stay.

Early settlers and Native Americans came here searching for food and clean water and better migratory and transportation routes. (Even back then, there was still no light rail to Boulder.)

Years later, it was the desire for riches of a different kind – gold and silver – that sent pioneers scrambling to the banks of the South Platte River and Ralston Creek and to places such as Gold Hill and Black Hawk.

Our boom times boomed because of searchers and explorers. The weak didn’t venture to Colorado. Men and women searching for more built our state on a foundation of hard work but also of dreams and aspirations.

The rugged individualism that we’re known for in the West was on full display – even before statehood. Ten years before Colorado became a state, voters in the territory rejected the newly written state constitution 3-to-1 because it included a pre-selected slate of candidates for state and national office. Talk about no kings! Even before statehood, Colorado was standing up for direct democracy.

As statehood dawned in 1876, this idea of Colorado as a beacon persisted. The state had already built its first “consumption hospital” for the masses pouring into our state seeking the promise of clean, dry air that doctors back East were prescribing for tuberculosis.

In the summer of 1893, as a deep economic depression gripped the country, an English professor named Katharine Lee Bates ambled up to the top of Pikes Peak riding on a mule. Imagine what she saw that day. No observatory. No monument. Just an unspoiled view. Windswept plains. Awe-inspiring mountains.

Laid out before her was the never-ending promise of a place called Colorado.

An Easterner by birth, Bates had seen poverty tearing into America’s cities. But standing there, looking out across the plains that stretched before her, and the craggy peaks around her, she saw Colorado not only for its beauty, but for its promise as well.

When she returned to the old Antlers Hotel in Colorado Springs, she jotted this down in a notebook: “All the wonder of America seemed displayed there, with the sea-like expanse.” She would then write a poem she called “Pikes Peak.”

It was a dream about a future for our country, but it also was a love song to a place.

O beautiful for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain!

America! America!
God shed His grace on thee
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!

Dreamers continued to follow for decades, whether chasing a job or the rush of a downhill ski run, the calm of a campfire, or simply following the song of John Denver, and our young state really began to fill out its britches.

My family added to Colorado’s growth during that time, with my great-grandparents on both sides of my family coming here in the first two decades of the last century. Like many, they were seeking a better life. One of my maternal grandfathers found work as a “mule skinner” in the coal mines north of Denver, toiling in places such as the Standard Mine in Lafayette, the Cameron Mine in Frederick and the Russell Mine in Firestone. My grandma remembered living for a short time in a small miner’s shack with a dirt floor that her stepmother swept every day ‘til the dirt became brick hard.

To a citizen of the 21st century, it may not seem much like a “better life.” But while each generation had its struggles, with hard work and perseverance, our conditions changed for the better with each passing generation.

Our family has now called Colorado home for five generations. We’ve watched skyscrapers grow in downtown Denver, mere feet from the Denargo Market where immigrants and farmers once sold their vegetables and fruit. We’ve watched interstates go up and expand, and light rail arrive, and stadiums and arenas erected and torn down, only to be built again. We’ve buried loved ones and baptized new ones.

We’ve been able to build our lives here and raise children and grandchildren.

But what does the future hold?

Today, some 6 million of us call Colorado home. If you’re a newcomer, Colorado may seem downright roomy compared to Los Angeles and the 405. But if you’ve been here for a while, the effects of 6 million are obvious.

Once quiet trails can be noisy and crowded. Restaurants that always had a table waiting for you now have crowds standing outside on Friday nights. The commute to work takes longer. (And even if you go off hours, the roadways and highways are still packed.) And what����ap with everyone wearing Los Angeles Dodgers jerseys?

People have left Colorado, and fewer are coming, for various reasons. Cost of living is chief among them, especially as housing grows more unaffordable and unattainable. It doesn’t help that downtown still seems way too sketchy in certain areas and, for some, politics are way too one-sided.

At a crossroads: Downtown Denver is waiting for its rebound

The demographic shifts come with issues. Fewer people moving here means slower growth expectations in short-term and long-term economic forecasts. And while slower growth may sound like a breath of fresh air when you’re tired of sitting in Interstate 25 traffic, the only thing worse than a slow-growing economy is one that is dying.

Colorado is known for a younger, more vibrant populace, but it also has one of the fastest-aging populations. The number of people aged 65 and older is expected to over the next decade. Slower migration, coupled with an aging population, can mean rising costs in a state that����ap already unaffordable.

I’ve always been proud to be a Coloradan, and especially proud to be a Colorado native – almost annoying-“NATIVE”-bumper-sticker-on-my-car proud. I went to Casa Bonita before it was cool. I can still smell Jolly Ranchers being made in Wheat Ridge. I drink Coors exclusively and consider John Elway family, even though I don’t know him personally.

But sometimes even I wonder what else might be out there.

Will my daughters be able to grow roots here, find meaningful work or build a business and raise a family?

Will they want to?

As we celebrate our 150th birthday and our great nation’s 250th birthday, our “system,” our politics and our culture can feel broken. Not everyone is in the mood to celebrate. I’m old enough to remember the nation’s bicentennial celebration, and even though I was a kid, the celebration felt different back then. It felt bigger, bolder, more unified.

But it����ap important to remember that while we’re living through some difficult times now, and the pace of change is frenetic, we’ve been through tough times before. And Colorado is not immune.

It may seem to outsiders that Colorado is one big Warren Miller ski film or some Mountain Dew commercial with beautiful, young people splashing around in a lake. But our past, at times, was complicated and problematic. The Sand Creek massacre. The Ku Klux Klan. Columbine and mass shootings.

But we have always persevered.

We get blessed, from time to time, by true leaders who stand up and do what����ap best for our state, politics be damned.

During World War II, unlike other governors across the country, Colorado Gov. Ralph Carr put his political career on the line by welcoming Japanese Americans into Colorado. “If you harm them,” he said, “you must first harm me.”

His stance likely cost him his job, but Colorado, and our nation, were better for his confident, moral leadership. He was one of those giants who once roamed our land.

Too often today, policy decisions impacting real people are made for political reasons. Profiles in courage seem fewer and farther between. But you can still find courage and compassion in Colorado every day if you look in the right places. Soup kitchens on cold nights. The evacuation area during a wildfire. Neighbors helping neighbors.

In our next 150 years, we must continue to lure dreamers and explorers here. (Heck, maybe tech bros mining for bitcoin are the new pioneers?) A pioneering spirit and political courage will be needed to handle the hurdles that are coming our way with generative AI, a changing workforce, a changing climate and a broken political system.

Our history is deep, rich and diverse, and it has been well-documented, from the carvings by ancient Puebloans on the buff-colored rocks of Mesa Verde to the colorful, lively murals of Welton Street that run through Denver’s Five Points.

But our future is unwritten, and it����ap in the hands of the young and the brave. It����ap in the hands of those who stay, and those who are lured here by the promise of Colorado. God shed his grace on thee.

Dan Haley is a Colorado native who lives in Arvada with his family. He previously worked at The Denver Post for 13 years in various roles, including as editorial page editor. He now serves as executive director of Coloradans for Responsible Energy Development. 

Because Colorado is cool.

From the Rocky Mountains to the Great Plains, from the urban corridor to tiny towns on the Western Slope, from Denver to Durango, from La Junta to Rifle, from the Arkansas River to the Black Canyon of the Gunnison, Colorado is a beautiful, diverse tapestry.

We have wonderful music, vibrant arts, hiking, biking, skiing, rafting, fishing, paragliding and good eating. A Colorado experience can be weird, wild, scary, spectacular, sublime, or soothing.

But seldom boring.

As the Centennial State celebrates its 150th birthday, here are 150 things that are quintessentially Colorado:

1. A summer concert at Red Rocks: Music at the world-renowned, natural sandstone amphitheater fills the soul.

2. Maroon Bells: Too pretty to be real — but they are, and undoubtedly the most photographed spot in the state.

3. Powder days: Getting off the Panoramic lift at Winter Park on a bluebird day, skiing Vail’s Back Bowls, or riding clouds of champagne powder at Steamboat: heaven.

4. Bagging a fourteener: Summiting one of Colorado’s 58 ranked and unranked peaks that rise above 14,000 feet in elevation is a rite of passage for many.

5. Palisade peaches: Juicy and sweet, the famous, scrumptious Western Slope fruit is available late July through September.

6. State flag: How many other states celebrate — and market — their state flag like Colorado? (Fun fact: The blue stripes represent Colorado skies, the white is for snow-capped peaks, the golden circle is sunshine, and the red “C” represents the rocks and earth.)

7. Opening day at Coors Field: Colorado’s Mardi Gras as baseball fans and partyers — not necessarily in that order — pour into LoDo.

8. Riding Mr. Twister: Baby Boomers got their thrills riding the roller coaster, which opened in 1964 at the original Elitch Gardens in north Denver. debuted at the new location in 2023.

9. : Fielder was not only a spectacular nature photographer, but he was also a state historian.

10. KBCO radio: Long before streaming and SiriusXM came along, KBCO’s “World Class Rock’ brought quality music and new artists to listeners in the Denver-Boulder area, starting in 1976.

11. Manitou Incline: Want to get your steps in? Hike “The Incline,” in less than a mile via 2,768 steep steps.

12. Colorado Columbine: The state flower (Aquilegia caerulea) blooms in summer and brings a smile to every hiker’s face.

13. Rocky Mountain big horn sheep: The state animal was nearing extinction around 1900, but conservation efforts saved them. There are now in Colorado.

14. : The Arkansas River Valley produces watermelon, honeydew, and, most famously, cantaloupe, which have up to 3% more sugar than California cantaloupe. (Fun fact: Rocky Ford High School’s mascot is a Meloneer.)

15. Chipotle: “Do you want guac on that?” In 1993, Steve Ells, a graduate of Boulder High School and CU Boulder, opened the first Chipotle Mexican Grill blocks from the University of Denver.

16. Glenwood Springs Hot Springs: The spring waters — called Yampah, or literally “Big Medicine,” by Utes — have been soothing tired muscles and spirits for centuries. It’s now touted as the .

17. Mesa Verde National Park: Established in 1906, the cliff dwellings give visitors a glimpse of what life was like over 700 years ago when the Ancestral Pueblo people built thriving agricultural communities on the mesas and in the cliffs.

18. Great Sand Dunes National Park: Hike the tallest dunes in North America or sand sled or sandboard down the slopes. Then look into .

19. Pikes Peak: The 14,115-foot peak is touted as “America’s Mountain.” Drive to the top, hike up or ride the world’s highest and longest cog railroad.

20. Bolder Boulder: It’s not just a run, it’s also a celebration, complete with costumes. The Memorial Day 10K began in 1979 with 2,700 entrants. By 2004, it was the largest timed 10K in the world, with 47,454 participants.

21. Bent’s Old Fort: The reconstructed adobe fortress became a national historic site in 1960. It was built in 1833 as near the Arkansas River along the Mountain Branch of the Santa Fe Trail.

22. Colorado welcome signs: There are 40 of the wooden, brown-and-white “Welcome to Colorado” road signs around the state. The design dates back to the 1950s.

23. Telluride Bluegrass Festival: It began as the Telluride Fourth of July Celebration in 1973. It became the Telluride Bluegrass Festival on July 6, 1974. Emmylou Harris once called it “the Valhalla of places to perform.”

24. View from Wolf Creek Pass: Coming off the pass, looking west toward Pagosa Springs, is the look above the west fork of the San Juan River Valley. Breathtaking.

25. Empower Field at Mile High: Exiting the stadium with the fans after a big win is a magic carpet ride.

26. Stanley Hotel: Founded in 1909 by F.O Stanley, the reigns over Estes Park and sits at the doorstep of Rocky Mountain National Park. And it was the inspiration for Stephen King’s “The Shining.”

27. Garden of the Gods: The park was gifted to Colorado Springs in 1909 by the children of railroad magnate Charles Elliot Perkins. , a 35-foot, 1.4-million-pound red rock, is the star.

28. Subarus: Preferably with a sticker-covered Thule strapped to the top of an Outback, they are Colorado’s vehicle of choice. Or so it seems.

29. Hanging Lake: A short but steep and rocky hike takes you to a cliffside turquoise . It was named a National Natural Landmark in 2011.

30. South Park vista: From the top of Kenosha Pass, the valley — filled with green ranchland, twisting creeks and rimmed with snowcapped peaks — seems to go on forever.

31. The Numbers: A challenging, whitewater stretch of the Arkansas River just south of Buena Vista, The Numbers is a guaranteed adrenaline rush.

32. Big Blue Bear: The 40-foot-high bear, created by local artist Lawrence Argent, peers into the Colorado Convention Center in downtown Denver.

33. “Blucifer:” Love it or hate it, you can’t ignore the 32-foot-tall fiberglass sculpture with glowing red eyes on Peña Blvd approaching Denver International Airport.

Blucifer just turned 13. But the family of the artist who died creating it would prefer you don’t call it that.

34. Eisenhower Tunnel: The only bore through the Continental Divide that is named after a U.S. president. (The accompanying is named for Gov. Edwin C. Johnson.)

35. Frozen Dead Guy Days: The festival, begun in Nederland in 2002 and relocated to Estes Park in 2023, revolves around , a Norwegian mountain pioneer who died in 1989 but is cryogenically preserved.

36. The Broadmoor: Known for comfortable luxury, the famed hotel opened in 1918 and is the longest-running, consecutive Forbes five-star, AAA five-diamond resort in the country.

37. The Brown Palace: The Downtown Denver hotel has been a landmark since 1892. It has hosted U.S. presidents, heads of state, and in 1964 ... The Beatles!

38. The Colorado Trail: One of the most spectacular long-distance trails in the country, the 567-mile Rocky Mountain journey begins in Denver and finishes in Durango.

39. Grand Lake fireworks: The over the state's largest natural lake, deep in the mountains, is unforgettable.

40. : You can't miss the signs touting the store's “Stetson Hats, “Levi Overalls” and more. According to Rocky Mountain PBS, there are 100 of the signs alongside US 40 and Colorado 131, starting 100 miles from downtown Steamboat Springs.

41. Golf at elevation: Everyone has a favorite course, from municipal links to posh country clubs. But it's tough to top Grand Junction's Redlands Mesa.

42. : The 17.6-mile  trail in southeast Colorado features 150-million-year-old dinosaur footprints and prehistoric Native American rock art.

43. The Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad: A spectacular ride into the past along the Animas River through canyons in the San Juan National Forest, active since 1882.

44. : About 15 miles north of Durango are the iconic cliffs where Paul Newman (Butch Cassidy) and Robert Redford (The Sundance Kid) jumped into the Animas River to escape a posse. (Fun fact: Part of the famous scene was filmed in California.)

45. Rocky Mountain National Park: How to describe Colorado's slice of mountain paradise? The park's 415 square miles encompasses a spectacular range of mountain environments, from meadows to alpine lakes to towering peaks.

46. : There were nearly 2,500 wooden carousels carved in America between 1885 and the 1930s, but fewer than 150 survived. One of the best can be found at the county fairgrounds in Burlington.

47. Pawnee National Grassland: Covering 193,060 acres northeast of Greeley, it is home to hundreds of birds, pronghorn antelopes and other wildlife.

48. Crested Butte wildflowers: The town owns the title as “Wildflower Capital of Colorado.” Look for varieties like lupine, paintbrush, elephant heads, fireweed and glacier lilies.

49. : Within the 32 square miles of the Colorado Plateau in northwest Colorado are towering stone monoliths, red-rock canyons and the 23-mile Rim Rock Drive.

50. : A thundering triple waterfall and limestone caves make this a gem of the Colorado State Parks system.

51. DIA: The largest U.S. airport in square miles is easily recognizable, with its tent-like roof intended to mimic the snow-capped peaks of the Rockies. (It's also known for  conspiracy theories, never-ending construction projects, parking woes, long security lines ... .)

52. Complaining about Californians and Texans: Come on, admit it, you've done it.

53. "Rocky Mountain High": You sing along when you hear John Denver's ode to Colorado, the state's second official song. (The first is “Where the Columbines Grow.”)

54. The : Held annually in January at the National Western Complex, the event has celebrated Colorado's cowboy roots since 1906.

55. : In late July, Fairplay celebrates its heritage with burro, llama, dog and outhouse races, as well as a parade. The fete began in 1949 when a challenge went out to anyone who wanted to race alongside a burro from Leadville to Fairplay.

56. Sliding down a snow field: It's boiling hot on the Eastern Plains, but nice and cool at 11,990 feet on Loveland Pass. Find a patch of snow and away you go! (Don't forget the selfies.)

57. Fly fishing: Colorado is heaven for anglers casting for rainbow, brown, cutthroat and brook trout. What's the best spot? The Gunnison River? The Frying Pan River? The fly fisherman will never tell.

58. : With steep, dramatic walls that range from 2,700 to 1,750 feet, this national park east of Montrose is stunning.

59. Hot-air balloon festivals in Colorado -- like the ones in Telluride, Erie, Colorado Springs and Moffat County -- offer kaleidoscopes of color against Rocky Mountain skies. (Wanna take a ride? There are that will take you up.)

60.: Before craft brewing was all the rage, there was Coors in Golden, the largest single-site brewery in the world.

61. Ralphie: CU's famous buffalo just might be the best mascot in college football. (The current Ralphie, nicknamed Brandy, is the seventh bison to fill the role.)

62. : At the base of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains in the San Luis Valley, the area includes a Hindu temple, a Zen center, several Tibetan Buddhist centers, and various New Age activities.

63. : Touted as the oldest tavern in Denver, continuously serving fine beers and spirits since 1873, it also offers a famous jalapeño cream cheese burger.

64. Dinger: Love him or not, the purple Triceratops mascot for the Colorado Rockies has been around since  April 16, 1994, famously "hatching" from an oversized egg on the grounds that would become Coors Field.

65.  "Bucky" the Bronco: , Bucky first stood above the scoreboard at the original Mile High Stadium. He now stands atop the South Stand scoreboard at Empower Field at Mile High.

66. Loveland Valentines: The northern Colorado town, known as the Sweetheart City, has been for 80 years.

67. : For more than six decades, thespians have performed The Bard's works under the stars on the University of Colorado Boulder campus at the Mary Rippon Theatre.

68.  : The annual party celebrates Pueblo's famed green. Every September, more than 100,000 people stroll along Pueblo’s historic Union Avenue listening to live music, browsing local art and getting tastes of roasted chiles.

69. Million Dollar Highway: Stunning and scary (for some), the road travels between Silverton and Ouray in Southwest Colorado. Full of switchbacks and sheer cliffs, it .

70. : Telluride, perhaps Colorado's most picturesque mountain town, sits in a box canyon. At the end of the canyon, you’ll find the highest free-falling waterfall in the state.

71. :  Dating back to the founding of the Town of San Luis in 1851, the late July weekend festival celebrates the history of Colorado's oldest town with bands, vendors, parades, mariachi mass, a softball tournament, food stalls and a 10k run.

72. Chapel at the Air Force Academy: The (closed until 2028 for renovation) is the most recognizable building at the U.S. Air Force Academy. The aluminum, glass, and steel structure features 17 spires that shoot 150 feet into the sky.

73. New Year's fireworks on Pikes Peak: For more than 100 years, members of the AdAmAn Club have hiked Pikes Peak to ring in the New Year with a fireworks display on the famous mountain.

74. Near Grand Junction, this trail features 35 sandstone arches, the second-highest concentration of natural rock arches in North America outside Utah.

75. : A 32-mile mountain bike route that descends 6,000 feet from the top of the Grand Mesa to the town of Palisade. Spectacular.

76. America's oldest whitewater festival is held along the banks of the Arkansas River in June. It features concerts, craft beer, river rafting, kayaking, mountain biking, and running. FYI,  FIBArk stands for "First in Boating in the Arkansas River."

77. : Located in Teller County, in the mountains west of Colorado Springs, the monument protects 34-million-year-old fossils of redwood trees and insects.

78. : For more than 40 years, the Lakewood restaurant has served Mexican food in a pink adobe building that features caves, cliff divers, and endless sopapillas. The iconic restaurant gained cult fame after being featured in an episode of "South Park." Casa Bonita (Spanish for “pretty house") is now owned by the show’s creators, Trey Parker and Matt Stone.

79. Mountaintop matrimony: For 35 years, couples have gathered on the Forest Meadow run at to exchange vows and kisses at 12,000 feet.

80. : Dating back to 1879, the saloon is an enduring piece of Leadville’s history with a classic, wild-west oak bar. Touted as "a gathering place for locals, outlaws, and legends," it has hosted figures such as Doc Holliday, Molly Brown and Oscar Wilde, and witnessed the rise and fall of Leadville’s mining boom.

81. : Founded in 1932, it's the fifth-oldest professional opera company in the country. The summer performances take place at 8,500 feet in the intimate 550-seat opera house built in 1878.

82. : Held annually during Labor Day weekend for 52 years, the event matches movies and the mountains. The 2025 event included the debut of "Springstreen: Deliver Me from Nowhere."

83.  A: Just outside the historic San Juan Mountains town of Silverton, the well-preserved ghost town features abandoned buildings and mining structures, taking visitors back to Silverton's mining frontier history.

84. Meeker base camp: The town in the northwest corner of the state is the center for some of the best in Colorado. Hunters encounter terrain ranging from 6,000 feet to mountain peaks exceeding 12,200 feet in the Flattops Wilderness.

85. : The annual 10-day celebration, culminating on the Fourth of July, brings the Northern Colorado community together with rodeos, concerts, carnival rides, parades and more.

86. galore: Need some culcha? The dozens of museums in Colorado can help. Among them: the Denver Art Museum; the Firefighters Museum; the Museum of Nature & Science; the Museum of Illusions; the Morrison Natural History Museum; the Museum of Contemporary Art Denver; the Museum of Northwest Colorado; the Colorado Ski & Snowboard Museum; The ProRodeo Hall of Fame & Museum of the American Cowboy; the Children's Museum of Denver; Colorado Railroad Museum; Wings Over the Rockies Air & Space Museum; the Fort Collins Museum of Discovery; the Aspen Art Museum; the Museum of the West; the National Mining Museum; Forney Transportation Museum; the Clyfford Still Museum; the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Museum; and the History Colorado Museum, where you can currently see "Zoom In: The Centennial State in 100 Objects."

87. Rocky Mountain Oysters: A famous -- or is it infamous? -- delicacy consisting of deep-fried, thinly sliced bull or bison testicles.

88. :  The original "mountain pie" pizza restaurant opened in Idaho Springs in 1973 and has been a sanctuary to escape I-70 ski traffic ever since.

80. : A restaurant with heads of actual wildlife on the walls? That they can then serve you? Seriously? (And they also offer Rocky Mountain oysters; see above.) Wild.

90. Colorado natives: Who brag about being Colorado natives.

91. Transplants: Who are annoyed by those who brag about being Colorado natives.

92. The Front Range: Even after decades of living in Colorado, you catch yourself pulling over on Interstate 25 to snap a photo of the majestic mountains after a rainshower, when the clouds are lying heavy on the horizon. Stunning.

93. Glenwood Canyon, that took 12 years to build. Workers had to bore three tunnels through the canyon’s rock; built 15 miles of retaining walls to hold the road in place; and construct  40 bridges and viaducts, according to CDOT. Amaze amaze amaze. (If you get it, you get it.)

94. Sleigh rides, dog sled rides: Take an old-fashioned in Steamboat Springs, or zip behind a pulling you along snowy Breckenridge trails. The kids will never forget it.

95. : The home of Titanic survivor Margaret Brown offers a Victorian Horrors theater program around Halloween, letting guests traipse through the 1889 house and enjoy ghostly tales.

96. Golf: Where else can you partake nearly year-round without baking (don't tell me it's a dry heat, Arizona) or drowning (hello, humid Florida)? And with nearly to choose from, you might even be able to find a tee time.

97. The Olympics: Denver is the only city in the country to reject the Winter Olympics (in 1976), giving us the right to gloat over by doing so (sorry, Montreal).

98. : With the Arkansas River flowing 956 feet below, it remains America’s highest suspension bridge. The bridge spans 1,260 feet and features 1,257 wooden planks.

99. Fickle weather:  A day in May begins with bright sunshine and warms up to 80 degrees. Eight hours later, it's snowing. Two days later, it's 80 degrees.

100. The : The man-made ice-climbing park sits in a spectacular natural gorge just outside Ouray. The free, public park is home to more than 150 named ice and mixed climbs and draws adventurers from around the world.

101. DCPA: The is a downtown treasure hosting Broadway touring plays, Tony Award-winning theater, classical music, ballet and operas.

102. Aspens: Monarch Pass? Kenosha Pass? Independence Pass? Guanella Pass? Does it matter? With aspen glittering golden against cobalt-blue skies, autumn in Colorado is magical.

103. Enstrom toffee: Based in Grand Junction, but found throughout the state, the almond toffee is the star of the show for , a business that dates to 1929 and is still family-run.

104. : The urban oasis features native and exotic plants and trees, the Boettcher Memorial Tropical Conservatory, the Mordecai Children's Garden and outdoor concerts in the summer.

105. Eldorado Canyon: Just south of Boulder, is a mecca for rock climbers. For others, hiking along scenic South Boulder Creek and stopping for a picnic works just fine.

106. : Nestled at the base of the Flatirons in Boulder, Chautauqua is a national historic landmark that includes Chautauqua Auditorium, built in 1898. From the Chautauqua Trailhead, hikers can access 40 miles of trails.

107.  Apres ski: The after-ski bliss begins with taking off the boots, then gathering at a lodge, bar, or restaurant to unwind and exaggerate your most epic run of the day. A hot tub session is optional.

108. : At the top of Lookout Mountain, just west of Denver, is the Buffalo Bill museum and gravesite. The popular tourist attraction tells the story of William F. “Buffalo Bill” Cody, star of his Wild West Show that began in 1882.

105. : Though not as famous as Mesa Verde, the Canyon of the Ancients National Monument is a precious time capsule. Sitting just outside of Dolores, it consists of nearly 200,000 acres and features the largest concentration of archaeological dig sites and Ancestral Puebloan ruins in the United States.

106. : Boulder's pedestrian mall features restaurants, shops, flowers, street artists, and people watching. It's about as Boulder as it gets.

107. : Gold and silver first brought people rushing to these mountain towns as they gambled on their future. Now people gamble in the casinos.

110. Hiking is more than just a walk in the park: From a half-mile stroll atop Trail Ridge Road in Rocky Mountain National Park to a 10-mile trek deep into the wilderness, hiking is Colorado's religion.

111. Indoor rock climbing: For those who need their fix, there are rock-walled gyms throughout Colorado. Climb on!

112. : Robert Redford's beloved festival will make its Boulder debut Jan. 21-31, 2027, after beating out Utah and Ohio to become the event's next host. Sundance is moving from its longtime home in Park City, Utah.

113. : The famed adobe restaurant opened in February 1963, specializing in what founder Sam Arnold called “New Foods of the Old West.” The building was inspired by a drawing of Bent����ap Old Fort, the famous fur-trading post on the Santa Fe Trail.

114. Golden retrievers: We love our dogs. Labrador retrievers, bulldogs, hunting dogs, even "little yippers." But according to , golden retrievers are Colorado's most popular breed.

115. and Rodeo: In late August through Labor Day, Pueblo hosts rodeos, carnival rides, agricultural competitions, big-name concerts, monster trucks, fine art, and food, drink and Western and Hispanic culture.

116. Strawberry Park Hot Springs: Thermal pools, unique stone masonry in the Rockies near Steamboat Springs. Famously, clothing is optional after dark, so minors are not permitted after sundown.

117. Craft beer. OK, so the latest heyday of craft beer in Colorado -- which started with Boulder Brewing Company in 1979 and was popularized by the Wynkoop in LoDo in 1988 -- may have passed, but local breweries are often still the social and economic hubs of their neighborhoods -- and still employ thousands of people and bring people from around the world to the state.

118. Marijuana legalization: Even if you don't partake, it's kind of awesome that Colorado was the .

119. The Denver City and County Building at the holidays: The tradition of kicking off the holiday season in Denver by lighting up the City and County Building dates back to 1918, which brings us to ...

120. ... the fact that colored outdoor Christmas lights were invented by in 1914, as a way to bring cheer to his ailing son.

From Jolly Ranchers and cheeseburgers to teddy bears and tampons, these inventions were created in Colorado

121: Parades: Sure, we have organized marches for Memorial Day, St. Patrick's Day, PrideFest, and MLK Day, but smaller parades are a hoot, like Goldens in Golden and the Fourth of July parades that small towns like Salida, Frisco and Florence hold each year. (Watching little kids scramble for candy tossed off of a 1950s firetruck and saluting veterans in uniform strolling behind will make you proud to be an American, and perhaps long for a more innocent time.)

122. Naked skiing: The , started at Glenwood Springs' Sunlight Mountain Resort in 2021, invites women -- and only women or nonbinary individuals (there were 700 of them in 2025) -- includes a run in which participants are invited to ski or snowboard sans clothes. Brrrr.

123. Free concerts: in Ruby Hill Park produces more than 50 free concerts at its outdoor amphitheater every summer. And stake out a spot early with your picnic basket for one (or all) of the 10 free concerts at . (Which leads us to ... )

124. Jazz live: Who says it's a dying art form? Colorado is home to the Winter Park Jazz Festival, Telluride Jazz Festival, Denver Jazz Fest, Evergreen Jazz Festival, UNC-Greeley Jazz Festival and Jazz Aspen Snowmass. (Which leads us to ... )

125. and : These two music venues in Denver offer stellar performances by some of the most acclaimed jazz artists in the country in intimate settings.

124. Colorado's culinary chops: abound here, from Bobby Stuckey and Lachlan Mackinnon Patterson (Frasca); Erika and Kelly Whitaker (The Wolf's Tailor); Caroline Glover (Annette); Matt Vawter (Rootstalk); Johnny Curiel (Alma Fonda Fina); Alex Seidel (Fruition); Troy Guard (TAG); and Jennifer Jasinski (Rioja). Eat up.

125. : In the summer, take a ride to the top of the Continental Divide, where you will be treated to 360-degree views of five mountain ranges.

126. The Denver Nuggets: They may not always win, but boy, these guys have heart -- and the best basketball player in the world in Nikola Jokic. And an NBA title in 2023.

127. The Colorado Avalanche: Three Stanley Cup titles and a roster of Hall of Famers for a rabid fan base.

128. The Denver Broncos: Eight Super Bowl appearances. Three Super Bowl wins. John Elway. Peyton Manning. Floyd Little. Orange Crush. Football as religion since 1960.

129. The Rapids: Fans have been getting their kicks from the pro soccer team since 1996. The Rapids won their only MLS Cup in 2010, their second MLS Cup appearance.

130: : Crazy for women's soccer? Colorado sure is. On March 28, Summit FC set the U.S. attendance record for a women’s professional sporting event at Empower Field, with 63,004 fans on hand to witness the club’s inaugural home match against the Washington Spirit.

131. The Colorado Rockies: "Rocktober" took the Rockies to the World Series in 2007, but the LoDo ballclub usually struggles. But a summer night at Coors Field with a beer and a hot dog has been a great combo since 1995.

132. Sandhill cranes: Each spring and fall, thousands of the long-necked birds during migration. Every March, there's even a party to celebrate them, in the form of the .

133. Olympic & Paralympic Training Center: There's a pool, gyms, an indoor shooting range, velodrome (track) and more at the Colorado Springs site. And are available.

134. Four-wheeling on Imogene Pass: A rugged and scary former mining road that connected Telluride and Ouray in the San Juan. Mountains. Thrill-seekers top out at 13,114 feet.

135. , not just the marathon: Playboy Magazine once called Colfax Avenue the “longest, wickedest street in America.” Jack Kerouac wrote about Colfax in his novel "On the Road." Music venues, bars, restaurants, shops, and interesting people-watching. Colfax has a thriving live music scene with The Fillmore, The Ogden Theater, The Lion’s Lair and many more bars serving up live music as well. The Colfax Renaissance is well underway. Come check it out!

136. Running around Wash Park: From fit singles scouting out other fit singles, to fit seniors just looking to stay fit, the 2.5-mile crushed-gravel outer loop in South Denver is a runner's mecca.

137. The name: Colorado's lyrical name has its origins in Spanish, as the word for "colored red." So very apropos.

138. Race to open by Memorial Day: The highest continuous paved road in the United States to 12,183 feet through Rocky Mountain National Park, connecting the towns of Estes Park and Grand Lake. The goal is for snowplows to clear the road by late May. It doesn't always work out.

139. Olathe sweet corn: Iowans may try to argue, but one bite of this variety will have you longing for several ears, slathered with butter and a touch of salt. (And it freezes well off the cob, as well; save some for your holiday casseroles.)

140. : The heart and soul of Denver, where it got its start between 14th and 15th in the late 1800s. Named for the pioneering General William Larimer, it was the city’s first block, its first commercial district, home to its first residence and first city hall, and was the city’s first designated historic district.

141. : At the peak of elk rut in Rocky Mountain National Park -- typically mid-September through mid-October, you might hear the bulls' loud bugling. Researchers say the animals call out as a warning, or to communicate with their harems. The sound will haunt you.

142. Same-sex marriage: Colorado has offered civil unions since 2013 and they have been legally recognized here since October 2014. They weren't established as a until June 26, 2015.

143. Denver Press Club: The in the United States, founded in 1867, and the building itself was designated a Historic Landmark in 1986. Stop in and toast Damon Runyon at the bar.

144. Georgetown and the : A charming ride on this narrow-gauge railroad (called "an engineering marvel" after its construction in 1884) takes you through a scenic path over the Devil's Gate Bridge. Afterward, stroll the quaint streets of historic Georgetown, once the center of the mining industry in Colorado.

145. Pulitzer winners: The Denver Post (nine), Rocky Mountain News (four), and Colorado Springs Gazette (one) have been in reporting, photography and editorial cartooning.

146. Nobel winners: Colorado is home to , including CU Boulder's David Wineland (in physics, 2012); John Hall (physics, 2012), and Thomas Cech (chemistry, 1989).

147. Authors: Dozens of accomplished , including Gonzo journalist and author Hunter Thompson; Jon Krakauer ("Into Thin Air"); Jack Kerouac ("On the Road"); Peter Heller ("The Dog Stars"); Allen Ginsberg (Beat poet); Stephen White (Alan Gregory thrillers); Blake Crouch ("Dark Matter); and Kent Haruf ("Plainsong").

148. Root Shoot Whiskey: The Loveland-based Root Shoot Spirits’ American Single Malt Whiskey was named Whiskey of the Year  in this year's London Spirits Competition. That's in the world.

149. Horseback riding: Fans of "Yellowstone" with visions of Western cowboys on horseback are in luck: will let you come out and saddle up. Cowboy hats optional.

150. Well, you live here. Duh.

Denver Post staffer Barbara Ellis contributed to this report. 

We — and readers — had nominated people who may have been famous, notorious, important, standouts in their professions and/or well known, but … were they really influential?

And if they were, how strong were their ties to the Centennial State? (Born here but moved at age 3? Sorry, not influential.)

Using those criteria, we had dozens who were booted from that primary list but thought them still worth mentioning. In alphabetical order:

Amy Adams (actor)

Billy Adams (governor)

Norma Anderson (state legislator)

Sam Arnold (restaurateur)

Wayne Aspinall (U.S. congressman)

Felipe Baca (founder of Trinidad)

Richard Ballantine (publisher of Durango Herald)

Bill Barrett (oil and gas explorer, businessman)

Phil Bender (co-founder of Pirate Art)

Bruce Benson (Republican Party chairman)

Jello Biafra (punk rock icon)

Blinky the Clown (TV personality)

Arleigh Burke (U.S. chief of naval operations)

Neal Cassady (Beat Generation author)

Butch Cassidy (outlaw)

Lon Chaney (actor)

Mary Coyle Chase (journalist and playwright)

Don Cheadle (actor)

Col. John Chivington (Sand Creek Massacre)

Ken Chlouber (state senator)

Dutch Clark (first All-American football player from Colorado)

Buffalo Bill Cody (showman)

Margaret Coel (author)

Schuyler Colfax (U.S. vice president)

Judy Collins (singer)

William Cooke Daniels (entrepreneur, Daniels & Fisher tower)

Paul Danish (slow-growth plan developer)

Kristin Davis (actor)

Terrell Davis (Broncos)

Fisher DeBerry (Air Force Academy football coach)

John Dunning (author, bookstore owner)

Mamie Eisenhower (first lady)

Charlie Ergen (Dish Network/EchoStar founder)

Anne Evans (arts patron)

Douglas Fairbanks (actor)

Brad Feld (Foundry Group co-founder)

Kate Ferretti (nationally known hatmaker)

Eugene Field (poet)

Redwood “Red” Fisher (rancher)

Keith Fitzgerald (celebrity veterinarian and comic)

Eugene Fodor (classical violinist)

Barney Ford (civil rights pioneer)

Loretta C. Ford (co-founder of first nurse practitioner school in U.S., at CU)

Ross Ford (radio commentator)

Missy Franklin (Olympic swimmer)

Andrea Gibson (poet laureate)

Candy and David Givens (pioneering blues-rock band Zephyr)

Goose Gossage (MLB pitcher)

Horace Greeley (“Go West, young man”)

Pam Greer (actor)

Peter Groff (member of Obama administration)

Regis Groff (teacher, politician)

Troy Guard (chef and restaurant owner)

Ruth Handler (creator of Barbie)

Kent Haruf (author)

Kalyn Rose Heffernan (activist for disabled)

Herman Heiser (maker of HHH saddles)

John Iliff (founder, Iliff School of Theology)

Hale Irwin (golfer, course designer)

James Irwin (astronaut)

Dan Issel (Nuggets coach)

William Henry Jackson (Western photographer)

Nikola Jokic (Denver Nuggets)

Glenn Jones (cable news pioneers)

George Karl (Nuggets coach)

Bob Katz (pioneer in recording industry)

Jack Kerouac (author of “On the Road)

Ken Kesey (author)

Vance Kirkland (painter and educator)

Jon Krakauer (author)

Sadie Likens (Denver’s first policewoman)

Dave Logan (sports radio personality)

Amory Lovins (co-founder of the Rocky Mountain Institute)

Charlie Lyons (media executive)

Bob Magness (cabel and telecommunications giant)

Michael Malone (Nuggets coach)

Peyton Manning (celebrity quarterback)

Bruce McCandless (astronaut)

Steve McNichols (governor)

James Michener (author of “Centennial”)

Doug Moe (Nuggets coach)

Greg Moore (Denver Post editor)

John Kernan Mullen (founder of Colorado Mining & Elevator Co.)

Dikembe Mutombo (Denver Nuggets)

Joe Nacchio (Qwest exec, convicted of insider trading)

Quigg Newton (Denver mayor, CU president)

Tom Noel (historian)

DC Oakes (brought first sawmill to Colorado)

Bill Owens (governor)

Alfred Packer (cannibal)

Sean Payton (Broncos coach)

Cassandra Peterson (Elvira)

Zebulon Pike (explorer)

Little Raven (Native American chief)

Roy Romer (governor)

Keri Russell (actor)

Rashaan Salaam (Heisman Trophy winner)

Kristen Schaal (actress, comedian)

John Shafroth (governor)

Soapy Smith (con artist, gangster)

James Stafford (Catholic cardinal)

Ben Stapleton (Denver mayor)

Clyfford Still (artist, teacher)

Winfield Scott Stratton (prospector, capitalist)

Bobby Stuckey and Lachlan Mackinnon Patterson (Frasca restaurateurs)

Sam Suplizio (Colorado Baseball Commission)

John Suthers (state attorney general, Colorado Springs mayor)

Arie Parks Taylor (first Black female Air Force officer)

Nikola Tesla (scientist, inventor)

Chogyan Trungpa (founder of Naropa University)

Charles Tutt Sr. (Colorado Springs real estate investor)

Amy Van Dyken (Olympic swimmer)

John Valentine (founded FTD flower delivery)

Lindsey Vonn (Olympic skier)

Joe Walsh (musician, sang “Rocky Mountain Way”)

Walton-Penner family (majority owners of the Broncos, part owners of the Rockies)

Shaun White (Olympic snowboarder)

Betty Woodman (pioneering ceramics artist)

Bowen Yang (actor, comedian)

The competition was fierce. We looked for those who had roots in Colorado that went beyond living here just a few months, had a profound impact on this state’s culture and history, helping the Centennial State become what it is today.

Some on the list are people whose achievements were of national, international or interstellar significance, so their inclusion is warranted even if their direct influence in Colorado was less marked.

We did not include notorious people. Just being famous, even very famous, wasn’t enough to earn a spot on the list. People are flawed, and some on this list were both deeply flawed and greatly influential. We weighed this in deciding whether or not to include them.

We sought to cover a broad array of fields. And sometimes we put two people in one entry because the accomplishment of one could not be separated from the other.

The Post hopes you enjoy our list!

Madeleine Albright

As the first female secretary of state, Albright internationally. The Graduate School of International Studies at the University of Denver is named for her father, Josef Korbel, who was also a diplomat.

Elias M. Ammons

Rancher and founder of the Colorado Cattle and Horse Grower’s Association, and one of the in 1906. As governor, beginning in 1912, he initiated a state parks system.

Susan Anderson

One of the first women to practice medicine in Colorado, she to the residents of Fraser, whom she tended to as the only physician in town for 49 years. (Some claim was based on her life.)

Philip Anschutz

An entrepreneur and one of the wealthiest individuals in the world, he has to the University of Colorado School of Medicine. He is the founder of AEG and owns sports teams and sports venues.

Bill Armstrong

The former U.S. senator was a pillar of Colorado’s Republican Party and a force behind the conservative economic policies of Ronald Reagan. He’s viewed as pivotal in helping the party recover after Watergate.

Marilyn Van Derbur Atler

The , University of Colorado graduate and former Miss America founded two nonprofits dedicated to strengthening laws to protect adult survivors and child victims of abuse. She is the subject of the documentary chronicling the years of sexual abuse by her socially prominent father.

Philip Bailey

The Grammy-winning Denver East High School graduate made his name as a lead singer for Earth, Wind, and Fire. The band sold worldwide.

Thomas Bailey

Thomas Bailey (now Janus Henderson), one of the largest asset managers in Colorado. The Janus Foundation helps more than 140 national nonprofits by offering education to at-risk youths.

Ceal Barry

Barry worked 37 years at the University of Colorado. In 22 seasons as the head women’s basketball coach, her record was 427-242. As an associate and later deputy athletic director, she championed women’s sports.

Odell C. Barry

Barry started in Colorado as a record-breaking kick return specialist for the Denver Broncos. He quickly transitioned into a statesman, business owner, mentor and philanthropist. Barry served on the Northglenn City Council and was elected the first Black mayor of Northglenn in 1980. U.S. Rep. Joe Neguse called Barry “a giant in our community.”

William Bent

The fur trader developed a strong relationship with the Cheyenne and built Bent����ap Fort, now a National Historic Site. He bequeathed land along the Arkansas River, specifying that it should be granted to mixed-race settlers, .

Alan Berg

Member of the in the 1980s, the outspoken liberal, a Jew, by the white supremacist group The Order outside his Denver home in 1984 at age 50.

Chief Black Kettle

Member of the Cheyenne tribe that settled on the Eastern Plains in the 1830s, near La Junta. He was an during the 1860s Colorado War and before and after the Sand Creek Massacre along Big Sandy Creek in 1864.

Claude Boettcher

His father built the family fortune through various business interests, including hardware, sugar and cement. Claude Boettcher created the Boettcher Foundation in 1937.

Frederick Bonfils and Harry Tammen

The two purchased a failing newspaper in 1895 and renamed it the Denver Evening Post, predecessor of The Denver Post.

Helen Bonfils

Bonfils became president of The Denver Post when her father, founder Frederick G. Bonfils, died. the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, the Bonfils Memorial Theater (now Lowenstein Theater) and the Bonfils Blood Center.

Frank Bonanno

The restaurateur has been at the helm of in Colorado, including Mizuna, Luca, Osteria Marco, Green Russell and Denver Milk Market. He is also the creator of the eight-episode

Steve Bosley

Bosley, a University of Colorado graduate, served for 12 years on the CU Board of Regents and was the president and CEO of Independent Bank of Boulder for 24 years. Bosley is a co-founder of the Bolder Boulder 10k race, which helped put the city on the map as a running mecca.

Pat Bowlen

The former Broncos owner created a culture of winning and made himself the most successful sports team owner in Colorado history.

Stan Brakhage

Experimental filmmaker whose 300-plus works helped define the “language of American avant-garde cinema,” according to the . Taught Cinema Studies & Moving Image Arts at for more than 20 years.

Antonia Brico

The conductor and pianist settled in Denver in 1942, where she founded a Bach Society and the Women’s String Ensemble. In 1948, Brico became (later the Denver Philharmonic). She taught piano to Judy Collins, who directed a movie about the musician in 1974.

Clara Brown

Born into slavery, she headed to Denver in search of a daughter who had been sold. They would not be reunited for many years. She formed a laundry business in Central City, made enough to invest in mining claims, and later  to Colorado using her own money to support the new communities.

Henry Brown

Brown arrived in Denver in 1860 and is linked to the city’s earliest development. He built the Brown Palace on his land and donated 10 acres for the state Capitol. Brown also is credited with establishing the Denver City Library.

Molly Brown

Before she was heralded as a hero of the Titanic for her efforts to help get survivors into lifeboats and raise money for them, Margaret Brown ran for the U.S. Senate and was a champion of women’s rights.

Norm Brownstein

He’s been given the moniker  “America’s 101st Senator” because of the influence he wields as founder and chairman of the law and lobbying firm Brownstein Hyatt Farber and Schreck. Among his contributions was a major role in securing the

Doug Bruce

The Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights, or TABOR, is a fundamental element of how Colorado spends and taxes its residents. who served in the state House of Representatives.

Joy Burns

in Denver; chair of the Denver Metro Convention and Visitors’ Bureau; founder and director of the Women’s Bank, now called Colorado Business Bank; founder of the Women’s Foundation of Colorado; the first woman to chair the ; and president of the Sportswomen of Colorado Foundation.

William Byers

Byers founded the Rocky Mountain News, Denver’s first newspaper. He helped create the city’s first Chamber of Commerce and joined John Evans and Henry Brown in starting the Denver Tramway Company.

Patty Calhoun

Calhoun co-founded Westword magazine in 1977 (from which she is stepping down as editor this summer), a frequent panelist on “Colorado Inside Out,” and past president of the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies.

Ben Nighthorse Campbell

Known for his advocacy of Native American issues, Campbell pushed to upgrade the Great Sand Dunes National Monument to a national park. He was a fiscal conservative who left the Democratic Party in 1995.

John Francis Campion

Campion arrived in Colorado in 1879 and made a He is remembered as a key figure in founding the Museum of Natural History, now Denver Museum of Nature & Science, but also donated money to build the Cathedral of Immaculate Conception.

Hendrika Bestebreurtje Cantwell

The pioneering pediatrician started the in Colorado to help abusive and neglectful parents. As the physician for Denver Social Services, she established a Family Services Center and helped increase public awareness of child abuse.

Scott Carpenter

The Boulder native was the and the second to orbit the Earth — ending in a frightening landing far from the target site. He helped develop underwater training to prepare for spacewalks.

Gov. Ralph Carr

Governor during World War II, he was an outspoken

Kit Carson

Carson moved to and negotiated a peace treaty with the Utes. The famed frontiersman, who also led campaigns against Native Americans, ended his career as superintendent of Indian affairs for the Colorado territory.

George Caulkins

Caulkins played a critical role in raising the money that created Vail. The Ellie Caulkins Opera House is named for his wife, a supporter of opera in Colorado.

Thomas Cech

The in chemistry in 1989 (along with Sidney Altman) discovered that RNA had the ability to “form stable, structured molecules – not just transient messengers,” according to Yale School of Medicine. He is a distinguished professor of chemistry and biochemistry at the University of Colorado.

Walter S. Cheesman

The businessman, developed the real estate industry and, with his daughter, Gladys, planned his “grand mansion” along Eighth Avenue. It was built in 1908 and later became the Governor’s Residence at the Boettcher Mansion in 1924.

Chin Lin Sou

Chin arrived in Black Hawk in 1871 when work on the transcontinental railroad ended. He became wealthy when he and moved to Denver, where he ran an import business and was a leader in the Chinese community. His descendants still live here.

Adolph Coors

The founder of Coors Brewing Co., he His son, William Coors, is credited with developing recyclable aluminum cans.

Eric Cornell

Cornell, a physicist at the Boulder-based National Institute of Standards and Technology, was among the winners of the 2001 His team was the first to achieve the first pure Bose-Einstein condensate, a new form of matter predicted by Albert Einstein that makes the study of quantum physics less difficult.

Lillian Covillo/Freidann Parker

The Denver natives began a ballet school in 1951 that grew into Colorado Ballet.

Dana Crawford

Crawford is widely seen as a visionary for her ability to grasp the value of Denver’s historic architecture and preserve it. Her signature project was Larimer Square, which she saved despite city leaders who saw her as blocking progress and hurdles thrown up by bankers.

Bill Daniels

A pioneer in cable television, he founded Daniels & Associates, setting the stage for  Denver to become the industry’s capital. His estate created the

Jack Dempsey

The “Manassa Mauler” became a legend fighting in front of record-breaking crowds. He became the world heavyweight champion in 1919.

John Denver

Born Henry John Deutschendorf Jr., he settled in Aspen and for his music and his activism. “Rocky Mountain High” is one of the state’s two official songs.

James Dobson

He founded the Colorado Springs-based conservative ministry Focus on the Family and was a major force in pushing conservative Christian ideals in mainstream American politics in the 1980s.

Jean Dubofsky

While a lawyer in the Legal Aid Society of metro Denver beginning in 1972, she contributed to 34 new laws, including one that got banks to issue . She was the first woman appointed to the Colorado Supreme Court and was the lead attorney in the 1996 challenge overturning .

Steve Ells

Ells is the founder of Chipotle Mexican Grill, which the noted pioneered a fast-food restaurant “serving fresh, whole, unprocessed ingredients cooked in an open kitchen.”

John Elway

The nine-time Pro Bowler and former NFL MVP led the Broncos to their first Super Bowl championship, winning back-to-back titles, completing a Hall of Fame career defined by breathtaking fourth-quarter comeback victories.

Elizabeth Piper Ensley

She was one of only a few Black women working for women’s suffrage and was key in persuading Black men to vote for women’s suffrage.

John Evans

cannot be separated from the Sand Creek Massacre, which led to him losing his federally appointed position in the years before Colorado became a state. He also founded Denver Seminary, now the University of Denver. He was instrumental in securing the land and money for the Union Pacific line from Cheyenne to Denver.

Mount Evans, named for disgraced Colorado territorial governor, officially has a new name

Curt Fentress

Founder of Fentress Architects in Denver, Fentress was the , as well as the Colorado Convention Center, the National Museum of the Marine Corps near Washington, D.C., and Incheon International Airport in South Korea.

Barry Fey

The concert promoter is credited with for musical acts, starting in 1967. Fey also started the “Summer of Stars” concert series at Red Rocks in 1976 that boosted the venue's national reputation.

John Fielder

The nature photographer highlighted the beauty of Colorado. He produced more than 40 books, and one of his photographs will be featured on a postage stamp for the state's 150th birthday.

Donald Fletcher

The 19th-century real estate developer (now called Aurora) in 1890.

Jay Fetcher

The Routt County rancher to preserve agricultural lands.

Justina Ford

In 1902, Ford became the first licensed Black female doctor in Colorado, but the Colorado Medical Society would not accept her. She took her practice door to door, delivering 7,000 babies over 50 years. Her home now houses the Black American West Museum.

Tim Foster

Foster Transitioned Mesa State College to Colorado Mesa University during his 17-year tenure as president. Before moving back home to Grand Junction, he served in the state House and was majority leader.

Nate Gart

Nate started selling newspapers to help support his family and finally saved $500 to buy a store. Gart Brothers Sporting Goods was formed in 1928.

Charles Gates Sr.

Gates arrived in Tincup in 1904 to work in the gold mines. He left for a few years and, when he returned, used his life savings of $700, plus borrowed money, to buy the They replaced leather with rubber and created The Gates Rubber Company in 1918.

Dick Gibson

Founder of the Fort Collins company that , Gibson ran an annual jazz party over Labor Day weekend in Colorado for 30 years, starting in 1963, “,” according to The New York Times.

Tim Gill

Gill, a University of Colorado graduate, made millions off his software company Quark, but his legacy will be the Gill Foundation, which for more than 25 years has fought in Colorado and across the nation for LGBTQ rights. He received the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

William Gilpin

Gilpin was the and raised the troops to protect the area from a Confederate invasion. He developed a theory called Isothermal Axis and used it to envision Denver as an important international hub.

Allen Ginsberg

The poet, along with Jack Kerouac and William S. Burroughs, was a  in the 1950s and '60s. Ginsberg founded the Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics at the Naropa Institute (now University) in Boulder, home to the Allen Ginsberg Library.

Rodolfo "Corky" Gonzales

Gonzales was a civil rights leader and founder of the Crusade for Justice. His efforts, as his Denver Post obituary noted, "energized Denver’s Chicano community, paving the way for Hispanics to seek a greater role in civic and political life."

Temple Grandin

Grandin has used around the world. She is autistic and speaks on that subject as well as animal behavior. She has taught at Colorado State University for 30 years.

Emily Griffith

A teacher and administrator, Griffith saw the need for a school for adults to learn useful skills. She raised the money, and her dream became Her 1947 murder remains unsolved.

Frederic C. Hamilton

The philanthropist and masterworks from his private collection upon DAM, creating one of the best collections in the Western United States.

Zipporah Parks Hammond

The first Black person to earn a nursing degree from the University of Colorado School of Nursing, her later work at the Tuskegee Institute helped establish treatment protocols for polio patients. Back home, she indexed materials about Denver’s Five Points community.

John Harold

In a region known for its corn, John Harold is the farmer most associated with the Olathe Sweet, his trademark brand. Harold founded Tuxedo Corn in 1986, and his produce was soon shipped across the country to Kroger stores. He helped to launch the Olathe Sweet Corn Festival.

Gary Hart

His presidential run was famously derailed when he was caught in an affair. After that, the former Colorado senator became involved in international law and business, serving as co-chair of the U.S. Commission on National Security for the 21st Century.

Todd Helton

The Hall of Famer spent 17 years with the Colorado Rockies, becoming the face of the franchise. He teamed up with Undue Medical Debt to erase $10 million of medical debt faced by Coloradans.

John Hickenlooper

Colorado’s current U.S. senator first made his mark with the Wynkoop Brewery in lower downtown, his restaurant investments and finally as the mayor of Denver. Hickenlooper worked to revitalize downtown before serving eight years as governor.

Bob Howsam

He was the founder of the Denver Bears minor-league baseball team, builder of Bears Stadium (later the original Mile High Stadium) and , in 1959.

Margaret and Phillip Isely

In 1995, they launched one of the first grocery store chains in America that would only stock natural and organic products. Vitamin Cottage, today called Natural Grocers, has 170 stores in 21 states.

Oliver Toussaint Jackson

A few buildings are all that's left of Dearfield, ounded by Jackson in 1910. The community's crops sold well during World War I, but the Dust Bowl caused the residents to move away in search of work. The town in Weld County is on the National Register of Historic Places.

Frances Wisebart Jacobs

What is now National Jewish Hospital or the work she did to establish it to treat tuberculosis patients.

Jennifer Jasinski

She was the first Denver chef to win a  in 2013.

Jonathan Kennedy

Kennedy had three deaf children. When he moved to Colorado, he convinced the territorial Legislature to begin a school for deaf children that is now the Colorado School for the Deaf and Blind.

Billy Kidd

Kidd was the first American to ever win an Olympic medal in Alpine skiing, taking silver in the slalom at the 1964 Winter Olympics. Kidd then spent the next 50 years heading the skiing programs at Steamboat Springs, helping to create the next generation of Alpine athletes.

Josef Korbel

Korbel was founder and first dean of the . The master’s program at DU’s Josef Korbel School of Global and Public Affairs is world-renowned. He was the father of Madeleine Albright and mentor to Condoleezza Rice.

Luther and Charles Kountze

Luther expanded the family banking business to Colorado, where he was joined by his brother. The bank became Colorado National Bank.

Jerry Krantz

Longtime owner of downtown, whose slogan “Hot Burritos and Cool Jazz Nightly” drew the coolest cats in Denver for decades. Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald and the Marsalis brothers played there, and Bill Clinton visited. Krantz is in the Colorao Music Hall of Fame.

Dottie Lamm

Colorado’s most active first lady used her platform from 1975 to 1987 to advocate for women’s rights and then had a weekly column in The Denver Post. She was a delegate to the United Nations in 1994 and 1995.

Richard Lamm

Colorado's longest-serving governor led the opposition to from coming here, in part because of the environmental damage the Games might cause. He was a strong supporter of immigration restrictions.

Mary Lathrop

She graduated from the University of Denver Law School in 1896 and became the first woman to open a law practice in Colorado.

Judge Benjamin Barr Lindsey

He established the and was known for his advocacy for the rights of women and workers.

Mary Elitch Long

What became o provide fruit and vegetables. That became Elitch’s Zoological Gardens, and, after she was widowed in 1891, Long continued work at the gardens, which offered entertainment. In 1897, she formed the country’s first summer stock company.

John Love

Love, a Republican, served as governor for 10 years starting in 1963. He sought to draw more businesses to the state. Among the key legislation while he was governor: State support for education increased, abortion was legalized, and the Sunshine Law opened government meetings to the public.

Henry Lowenstein

Holocaust survivor Lowenstein at the Bonfils Theatre in Denver. He designed and produced more than 400 plays through 1986. “Henry would have to be considered one of the 10 most important people in shaping this city,” said DCPA founder Donald Seawell.

Carrie Ann Lucas

Lucas, an activist attorney, won countless victories for Coloradans with disabilities, increasing parental rights and access to private businesses, public spaces and transit. She used the courtroom and civil disobedience to fight for federal Medicaid funding.

Joseph Machebeuf

Colorado's pioneer bishop arrived when there were two adobe churches in Colorado and Utah. His accomplishments included founding a convent for Sisters of Loretto, being the visionary behind St. Joseph's Hospital, and bringing College of the Sacred Heart, now Regis University, to Colorado.

John Malone

The New York Times described Malone as the of those who have transformed the modern media industry. The chairman emeritus of Liberty Media is also the second-largest private landowner in the United States.

Bill McCartney

The University of Colorado football team won its first national title under McCartney. He is remembered for the culture he created, featured in an ESPN documentary, “The Gospel According to Mac.”

Hattie McDaniel

McDaniel's career was marked by a series of firsts, including becoming the first African-American to win an Oscar, which she received for her role as Mammy in "Gone with the Wind." Segregation laws prevented her from attending the movie's premiere.

Bill McNichols Jr.

McNichols was Denver's mayor for 14 years, a time when the city began its transformation into the metropolis it is today. He was defeated by Federico Peña, in large part because of the city's inadequate response to the 1982 Christmas Eve blizzard.

Otto Mears

Mears built more than in the southern and southwest Colorado. He helped establish Saguache and the routes that became the basis for much of the region’s highway system, including the Million Dollar Highway between Ouray and Silverton.

Ellis Meredith

She was the leader of and, according to a 1910 newspaper headline, the first woman elected to office in Denver. After Colorado gave women the right to vote in 1893, Meredith became a national leader in the movement.

Joyce Meskis

The pioneering bookstore owner and fierce First Amendment advocate built Denver’s Tattered Cover into one of the nation’s most beloved literary institutions.

Glenn Miller

The Fort Morgan High School graduate recorded the first gold record: "Chattanooga Choo Choo." His music came to

Enos Mills

Mills homesteaded the area around Longs Peak and led the fight to preserve the area as a national park. Congress established Rocky Mountain National Park in 1915.

Larry Mizel

Mizel founded M.D.C. Holdings, parent company of Richmond American Homes. His philanthropy is far-reaching. He founded the Mizel Institute, which includes the Mizel Museum and the Counterterrorism Education Learning Lab (CELL).

David Moffat

Moffat was the visionary behind the tunnel through the Continental Divide that now bears his name.

The Monfort family

In 1930, Warren Monfort founded a Greeley feedlot, and his son Kenneth Monfort revolutionized the industry with butchering facilities in the 1950s. Warren’s grandsons, Dick and Charlie Monfort, are principal owners of the Colorado Rockies.

Isaac E. Moore Jr.

He co-founded the law firm Flanigan & Moore and served in the state House in the 1950s and ’60s, co-sponsoring “some of the strongest civil rights laws in the country at the time,” according to the at the University of Colorado.

Lt. Col. John Mosley

After graduating from Manual High School, Mosley became one of nine Black students enrolled at Colorado State University. He was the first Black athlete on the CSU football team. Mosley then pushed during World War II to enlist as a fighter pilot, eventually joining the Tuskegee flight training center.

Rachel B. Noel

The granddaughter of a slave, Noel became the first in Colorado when she was elected to the Denver School Board in 1965. The Noel Resolution highlighted the de facto segregation of the Denver schools.

George Norlin

He served as the University of Colorado president from 1919-1939, during which time the current campus was developed.

Sue O’Brien

O’Brien was the editorial page editor at The Denver Post for eight years until her death in 2003. Dean Singleton called her the “conscience of Colorado.” She was a press secretary for Gov. Dick Lamm and ran Gov. Roy Romer’s first campaign for governor.

Chief Ouray and Chipeta

The U.S. government declared him He negotiated the treaties that led to the loss of Ute territory. He was considered a promoter of peace who fought to prevent the destruction of his people by a U.S. government intent on taking their land at any cost.

William Jackson Palmer

The founder of Colorado Springs. He came to Colorado, where he co-founded the  running a narrow-gauge line from Denver to what became Colorado Springs.

Trey Parker and Matt Stone

The creative partners are best known for writing "The Book of Mormon" and "South Park." " for its use of satire to explore some of the biggest issues of our time. The duo also bought and restored Colorado's famous Casa Bonita restaurant, saving it from closure.

Federico Peña

Peña Boulevard is named for this two-term mayor, who began work on Denver's new airport. He also played a role in Peña went on to serve in the Clinton administration as both secretary of transportation and energy.

Spencer Penrose

Penrose was a who was active in the Colorado Springs region, financing the Broadmoor Hotel and Cheyenne Mountain Zoo and establishing the El Pomar Foundation.

Antoinette Perry

The are named for this Denver native, who first performed at Elitch Theater. Among her greatest successes was directing the play "Harvey," written by Coloradan Mary Chase.

The Rev. James Peters

Peters led the New Hope Baptist Church in Denver for nearly 30 years. He marched with Martin Luther King Junior in Selma, Ala., in 1965, and spent much of his life fighting for Civil Rights in Colorado, including pushing for reform at the Denver Sheriff’s Office.

Gerald Phipps

The founder of GH Phipps Construction (in 1952) bought the Denver Broncos in 1965 and with his brother, Allan, took the team to its first AFC Championship. He was the first non-player to be inducted into the , in 1985.

Bishop George Maxwell Randall

The Episcopalian missionary established the School of Mines, known then as the Territorial School of Mines in 1873. It became Colorado's first public institution of higher education.

Bruce Randolph

Daddy Bruce, as he was known, quit school after third grade. He worked odd jobs until figuring out how to make his love of barbecue successful in Denver, where he had moved to be near his son. , marked by his legendary Thanksgiving dinner for those in need.

Condoleezza Rice

The former U.S. secretary of state moved to Colorado in 1968, when her father took a job at the University of Denver. She attended St. Mary's Academy and earned her bachelor's degree at the University of Denver. George W. Bush appointed her secretary of state. She is now part of the Denver Broncos' ownership.

Clark Richert

An artist known for his brilliantly colored paintings of geometric shapes, he was a groundbreaking creative force who helped inspire thousands of artists as a teacher at the Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design. He helped found Drop City, the legendary hippy artist colony outside Trinidad.

Dan Ritchie

Ritchie's business acumen, steady leadership and knack for philanthropy righted the rough seas for a number of Denver's most iconic organizations, including the University of Denver and the Denver Center for the Performing Arts.

Walter Orr Roberts

Roberts moved to Colorado in 1940, and his early solar research labs drew scientific investment to Boulder for the High Altitude Observatory and eventually the National Center for Atmospheric Research.

Cleo Parker Robinson

The dancer grew up in Five Points, transforming the neighborhood's historic Shorter AME Church into the Cleo Parker Robinson Dance studio, which has brought the healing power of dance, music and art to thousands of children across the state.

William Green Russell

Russell and his party of Georgians established, in November 1858, the first significant white settlement where Cherry Creek and the South Platte come together.  They called their new town Auraria.

Florence Sabin

The Central City native led an investigation i helping lay the groundwork for a cure. Upon her retirement, she returned to Colorado, where she helped educate health professionals about the disease. She is immortalized with a statue at the U.S. Capitol.

Ken Salazar

The fifth-generation Coloradan served in the U.S. Senate and was secretary of the interior under President Barack Obama,  As the state’s attorney general (1999 to 2004), he established the Fugitive Prosecutions Unit. He was a visionary behind Great Outdoors Colorado.

Katherine “Kay” Schomp

The longtime Denver education and arts activist was known as the "founding mother" of the Denver School of the Arts, which she crusaded to establish.

Don Seawell

The former publisher of The Denver Post left his greatest legacy as the visionary behind the Denver Performing Arts Complex.

Pat Schroeder

The congresswoman from Denver helped define the role women have in politics. She was an advocate of family-work issues, famously saying, “I have a brain and a uterus, and I use both” when asked about being a congresswoman and a mother. She was a force behind the Pregnancy Discrimination Act and the Family Leave Act.

Peter Seibert

After he was injured in World War II, Seibert headed to Aspen as the head of the ski patrol. His career developed, and he set out to find the land to Seibert raised the money needed and became president of the Vail Corporation.

Frank Shorter

Two-time Olympic medalist Frank Shorter moved to Boulder in 1970 to pursue high-elevation training for marathons. After Shorter’s gold medal win in the Montreal Olympics, athletes flocked to Boulder to mimic his training. He is the co-founder of the Bolder Boulder 10k.

John Sie

The Entertainment Group, Sie wrote the first white paper on digital High Definition Television (HDTV) submitted to Congress and the FCC. The Anna and John J. Sie Foundation supports multiple causes, notably research for people with Down syndrome.

Dean Singleton

Denver Post readers can thank for The Post existing today. The founder of Media News Group is credited with winning the newspaper war with The Rocky Mountain News and securing The Post's future.

Silas Soule

Soule was a Union officer, and he and his company refused to fire a shot at the Sand Creek Massacre. Shortly after he testified against Maj. John Chivington, he was shot and killed in Denver.

Robert Speer

Speer was elected mayor of Denver three times, starting in 1904. He died during his third term. He is remembered for the that brought Denver its network of parks, tree-lined boulevards and public buildings.

Jack Swigert

The Denver native and University of Colorado football star on the moon flight Apollo XIII. He made the famous statement, “Houston, we have a problem here” when an oxyen tank exploded.

Horace and Baby Doe Tabor

Horace Tabor's Leadville silver mines made him a rich man, and . But he and his second wife, Baby Doe, were also lavish spenders, and she died in poverty.

Harry Talbott

Palisade peach farmer Harry Talbott helped . He started land trusts for the area and fought off a home development scheme during the oil shale boom that soon went bust.

Hunter S. Thompson

where the journalist becomes central to the story, spent decades living in Woody Creek. He wrote "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas."

Dalton Trumbo

This once cub reporter for The Daily Sentinel in Grand Junction published his first book, “Eclipse,” in 1935, which was . Trumbo was forced to testify before Congress during the Red Scare. He became a fierce defender of the First Amendment.

Brian Vicente and Mason Tvert

The two were the big, leading to legalize recreational marijuana in Colorado.

Wellington Webb

The mayor from 1991-2003, Webb played a major role in shaping Denver’s economic future. Most of Denver International Airport was finished under his watch. Downtown experienced a revitalization with new housing and restaurants. His efforts supported the opening of Coors Field. He was the city's first Black mayor.

Byron "Whizzer" White

The first University of Colorado football player to be named an All-American, White went on to become a U.S. Supreme Court justice. He wrote the opinion

Beatrice Willard

Willard was a tundra ecologist who did important work high in Rocky Mountain National Park, understanding the impact of human trampling on alpine tundra.

Judi and Marvin Wolf

Philanthropists who gave their time and money to the arts and the University of Colorado, supporting the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, Opera Colorado, the Denver Symphony Orchestra, the Denver Art Museum and the CU law school.

Pierre Wolfe

Chef and in Capitol Hill, which was ranked among the best restaurants in Denver for more than 30 years. He also opened Normandy French Restaurant and Tante Louise. He hosted a for 60 years, “America’s Dining and Travel Guide.”

Richens Lacy “Uncle Dick” Wootton

The frontiersman built a 27-mile toll road over Raton Pass. According to “The Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway offered him $50,000 to buy the road in 1878. He turned them down. Instead, Wootton asked that the railroad give his wife groceries and a pass to ride the train for life.”

Mildred “Babe” Didrikson Zaharias

The Associated Press named her Female Athlete of the Half Century in 1950. She competed in multiple sports and helped break down stereotypes of women in professional sports. She was a founder of the LPGA.

Before she died in 2023 at the age of 74, she churned out two exhaustive editions of the each more than 300 pages long, and both standing as definitive catalogues of the important buildings and landscape design that make up the urban geography.

As for applying all that knowledge to spell out exactly what might constitute a regional style of buildings, Chandler would have none of it. “There is no such thing, much as people might try to find one,” she wrote in the introduction to her final book.

Looking around, or maybe better-put, driving around this state of hills and highways, that statement is hard to disagree with.

What could possibly connect, from a visual standpoint, crucial Colorado structures as diverse as the Beaux Arts-inspired Denver Union Station, built with local stone and decorated with excessive nods to European classicism, to a more contemporary masterpiece, like the 2011 Clifford Still Museum, architect Brad Cloepfil’s stripped-down, concrete shell that serves as the perfectly palid backdrop for the abstract expressionists’ colorful paintings?

What link could there be between the sort of building that defines Denver’s early days as a metropolis — such the 1810 Denver Athletic Club, designed by Varian and Sterner, and like so many of its contemporaries surfaced with sandstone and red brick to give it an air of exclusivity for the upper class — and architect Shigeru Ban’s 2014 Aspen Art Museum, which uses glass walls, a cocktail-friendly roof deck and a playful, picnic basket-like exterior cladding to reinforce its transparency and openness to the public?

It����ap easy to tick off a long list of important buildings in the state, and everyone has their favorites: visual icons such as the 1892 Equitable Building on 17th Street in Denver, designed by Andres, Jaques & Rantoul to echo the great edifices of Florence and Venice; or John Gaw Meem’s 1936 Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center, which fuses Art Deco and Southwestern design elements into an art temple that is both elegant and highly original; or various houses of worship, such as Saint Catherine’s Chapel on the Rock in Allenspark, designed in a Romanesque Revival style by Jacques Benedict in 1934, which looks like it has risen up naturally out of the stony terrain that surrounds it.

Of course, there are more contemporary buildings that deserve a nod, including Charles Deaton’s whimsical 1963 Sculptured House in Genesee; Michael Graves’ shamelessly post-modern 1995 Denver Central Library; and Curt Fentress’s 1995 Denver International Airport, which accomplished the rare feat of becoming a symbol for the city.

And because it is hard not to call them out by name, buildings dreamed up by the most important figures in Colorado design history: Frank E. Edbrooke’s Brown Palace Hotel; Burnham Hoyt����ap Red Rocks Amphitheatre; William Lang’s Victorian-inspired Castle Marne; Temple Hoyne Buell’s namesake Buell Theatre; and David Owen Tryba’s History Colorado Center, as well as his sparkling new Western Stock Show Association Legacy Building, which wraps more than a century of statewide architectural history into one contemporary showpiece of a building.

These objects might not have much in common stylistically, though each has accomplished one thing that unites them: They have managed to stand out in the stiff competition that is the Rocky Mountains. No architect builds successfully in this state — from Denver to Vail to Aspen to Boulder to Grand Junction — without understanding that those mountains are nearly always there in the background, framing every moment, influencing the way people look at them.

It����ap a classic battle between man and nature, played out in the art form that is architecture, and let����ap face it, the mountains always win. Better to accept that fact and just do your best at creating good views, or at least not getting in the way of the ones that exist.

And good views, combined with progressive design, do characterize some of our best structures, including I.M. Pei’s 1961 headquarters for the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder; Gio Ponti’s 1971 tower for the Denver Art Museum; and the state’s tallest building, the 1984 Republic Plaza in downtown Denver, by Skidmore Owings and Merrill.

That mountainous terrain has also inspired great structures in places where that might have been thought impossible.

“Coloradans have rarely recognized natural obstacles to development,” wrote the state’s most influential historian, Thomas J. Noel, in “Buildings of Colorado,” his comprehensive 1997 tome. “They have built in some of the most hostile environments, where gold, silver and other natural resources lie.”

A lavish opera house constructed in the rough hills of Central City in 1878? Another in Leadville at an altitude of 10,154 feet a year later? That is called staring down the enemy. Though it must be said, those builders had role models in the Pueblo people, rooted in what is now the state’s southwest corner, who carved out their famous Cliff Village six centuries earlier.

Maybe that is where the concept of a great Colorado building might begin to emerge, in that dare to build in a dry, rocky climate, mingled with an acceptance that the natural surroundings will always be a partner in how we understand our skylines, both high and humble. Some architects of the most successful buildings know there is no overshadowing those tall peaks or deep canyons, no escape from the aura and energy of the great forests and open plains that make life in the state so rewarding, that provide a sense of identity for 6 million residents.

Fentress understood that when he created the airport, with a faux-snow covered roof as an homage to the Rocky Mountains. More recently, Jeanne Gang and her design studio followed the same go-with-the-flow leanings in creating the 2024 Populous Hotel in Denver, which takes its exterior shape, audaciously, from the bark of an aspen tree.

Architect Walter Netch certainly got it when he designed the 1962 Cadet Chapel at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs. Instead of ignoring the mountainous backdrop, he used the view to his advantage, reinterpreting the nearby snowcapped peaks as pointy, abstract triangles and letting that form dominate his design. It����ap Colorado’s best building, a work of modern art, populist yet groundbreaking.

Mary Voelz Chandler was right, sort of. There is no style that defines Colorado buildings, not a clear one at least. But if you trace it back holistically, from Mesa Verde through the Western Slope, and up and down the Front Range, you can see a common spirit, one that places humans respectfully in their earthly landscape, that looks back with gratitude, that moves forward the progress of the state and its people.

Ray Mark Rinaldi is a Denver-based freelance writer specializing in fine arts and architecture.

Colorado has nurtured some of the best minds responsible for dreaming up some of the world’s most beloved — and, in some cases, despised — creations.

They’re jolly. They’re cheesy. They’re sartorially noteworthy.

From mouth-watering eats to childhood staples you can’t live without, these are some inventions created right here in Colorado.

Jolly Rancher

This hard candy classic was born out of hard times.

Dorothy and Bill Harmsen opened Jolly Rancher Ice Cream in 1949 beneath Golden’s iconic “Howdy folks” arch, according to the

Stretches of rain and problems with the ice cream machines meant the couple needed to think of a way for their business to survive the looming winter. Their savior came in the form of bulk candy and boxed chocolates that initially came from a small candy firm in Denver, the museum said.

The candy sales were coming in so hot — as hot as the original cinnamon flavored Jolly Rancher — that they turned their barn into a candy factory and switched up their whole operation, giving it a new company motto: “Jolly Rancher is the only candy guaranteed to be positively superior to any other you have ever eaten!”

Hershey Company bought the candy company — which had gone through different mergers over the years — in 1997, the museum said.

Snap-button shirts

Cowboy Jack A. Weil had a solution to a Wild West problem.

Bull riders were prone to having their shirts ripped when they got caught by a rogue horn. If the shirt buttons snapped, they could break away at the horn’s contact without tearing the shirt. In 1946, Weil founded in downtown Denver and made his snap-button shirt dreams come to fruition.

Weil’s signature Western shirt designs with sawtooth pockets and pearl diamond snaps are still being sold today from the generational family business. Yeehaw!

Denver boot

These are not the rootin’ tootin’ kind you’d wear to the rodeo nor the highfalutin kind you’d don to strut a runway. The Denver boot is made for walking, though, as it will render your car worthless.

Park somewhere you’re not supposed to, and your car wheel may meet the fate of the Denver boot — a wheel clamp designed to stop you in your tracks. The oft-maligned innovation came from the mind of after a cop friend of his asked him how to immobilize cars rather than towing ticketed vehicles to an impound lot, which costs time and money.

The Denver police rolled out Marugg’s boot design in 1955, and parkers the world over have had a pit in their stomachs ever since.

Cheeseburger

OK, there’s a bit of controversy around this one.

Colorado’s first drive-in, the long-gone Humpty Dumpty Barrel Drive-In in Denver, claims to have acquired a trademark for “the cheeseburger” in 1935. There’s even a monument at Speer Boulevard and Alcott Street highlighting the achievement.

But they’re not the only establishment staking cheeseburger claims.

The Rite Spot in Pasadena, Calif., also claims to be the birthplace of the cheeseburger, as does Kaelin’s in Louisville, Ky.

A hearty thanks to whoever decided to layer a burger patty with cheese. I’ll pay my respects at the monument outside a Denver KeyBank.

Teddy bear

While there are multiple accounts of how exactly it unfolded, claims to play a role in the invention of the childhood staple, the teddy bear.

Two accounts exist within the book “Hotel Colorado: Fountains of Enchantment.” The first story states that Theodore Roosevelt — a frequent guest of the hotel — nabbed a bear during a hunting trip near the property. His daughter, Alice, allegedly nicknamed the bear “Teddy.”

The second retelling is that Roosevelt had an unsuccessful bear hunt and, in an effort to cheer him up, Hotel Colorado’s housekeeping staff sewed old fabric together in the shape of a bear, which his daughter then dubbed “Teddy.”

The hotel boasts a huge, plush bear in the lobby as an ode to the toy — and the president — to this day.

Tampon

In 1931, Colorado physician Earle Haas invented a cardboard applicator tampon after a female friend confided in him about the bulky menstrual pads that existed for women at the time, according to

Haas filed for a patent for his invention — which he modeled after telescope tubes — in Denver in 1931, according to ASU.

Haas sold the patent to Colorado businesswoman and German immigrant Gertrude Tendrich for $32,000 in 1933. She started out sewing tampons at home and ended up creating the first commercial tampon brand, Tampax.

Miners who spent their lives underground often explained the noises the only way they could: as the work of the Tommyknockers. These figures were described as small, 2-foot-tall green gnomes, sometimes with white whiskers or beards, said to live within the tunnels themselves.

In some accounts, they were believed to be the , returning underground to warn crews of cave-ins or other disasters. At other times, they were thought to be guides, leading miners toward gold. In less generous tales, they were mischievous, stealing tools and extinguishing lanterns.

The Tommyknockers are part of Colorado’s myth and lore that lives on and has expanded, from mountain legends and Bigfoot sightings to stories surrounding Denver International Airport. As Colorado celebrates its 150th anniversary, those stories continue to shape how its history, culture and geography are understood.

“A lot of the folklore that we have in Colorado are kind of regional variants of stories that we see take place in other places across the country and across the globe, but within Colorado, they’ll sort of have a way of finding this sort of regional contextual importance for us,” said Jack Daly, a folklorist and lecturer in the University of Colorado Boulder Program for Writing and Rhetoric.

The legends and myths travelers carried into Colorado

Some of the state’s most enduring legends emerged from mining and mountain communities, shaped in part by the , which drew unprecedented numbers of people into the region in the late 1850s.

Among the stories migrants carried with them were tales of the Tommyknockers, a myth rooted in Irish, Cornish and Welsh mining traditions in the British Isles.

Sam Bock, History Colorado’s Director of Interpretation and Publications, said the myth took root in Colorado as miners carried it west, where it became embedded in the state’s mining culture, which is still a significant part of its economic and historical identity.

The myth was said to originate as a way for miners to of the strange echoes and unexplained sounds deep within the mines, as well as to cope with the constant dangers of their work.

Bock said many of these myths and legends may begin with a kernel of truth, later shaped and expanded by cultural beliefs, traditions and specific historical moments.

“There’s no such thing as a legend that comes out of nowhere. There’s no such thing as a myth that doesn’t have some connection to a point of truth, even if that point was really long ago,” he said.

“Colorado is one of those places where people have been coming from all over the world for hundreds of years. Every single culture has its own myths and they don’t stay in one place, they go with the people, because the people find value in those myths.”

As a folklorist, Daly said myths are “sacred narratives” explaining how the world came to be. Legends, on the other hand, are stories rooted in specific places and periods in history, often with some kind of believable or supernatural element to them.

As those stories traveled, they often became tied to the landscapes people move through.

A Bigfoot- and UFO-lovers’ travel guide to Colorado

Take elephants up on Boreas Pass as an example. When the came to Breckenridge, it was said the circus train was too heavy to make it up to the pass. According to the legend, elephants were it to the summit. While no elephants roam the mountains today, hikers can still find in the area.

But not every Colorado legend arrived from somewhere else. Some were invented in the mountains themselves, including one of the state’s strangest creatures: the Slide-Rock Bolter.

Described in William T. Cox’s 1910 novel "," the whale-like creature inhabits only the steepest mountain slopes. With tiny eyes, a wide sculpin-like mouth, and a tail with enormous grab-hooks, it clings to mountain ridges, waiting for unsuspecting tourists below.

Once it spotted its prey, the Bolter would release its grip and slide downhill, swallowing the victim whole before dragging itself back up the mountainside. The bolter was said to devastate forests as well, uprooting trees in its path.

Bock said History Colorado’s research center traced the story back to the U.S. Forest Service woodcutting camps and miners in the Colorado mountains.

“If you look at the time in which this myth was kind of beginning to reach audiences, it's right when Colorado is transitioning from an extractive economy, primarily based in mining and agriculture and in wood cutting, to an economy based in outdoor recreation and travel,” he said.

“The first one to record the story that we've been able to find was a Forest Service historian, storyteller who went around the Forest Service camps in Colorado, and recorded these stories, and it seems like he was recording them as kind of a ‘tongue-in-cheek’ story.”

Bock said the foresters and loggers used to swap stories about setting decoy traps for the Bolter, using dummy tourists dressed in plaid and stuffed with explosives.

“So these guys kind of saw an end of an economic era in Colorado. And that's how that legend came about, and it was propagated kind of as a joke,” he said.

Colorado’s vast wilderness has also helped make the state a longtime hotspot for Bigfoot lore. While the modern Bigfoot craze gained popularity in California during the mid-20th century from a construction worker creating a practical joke, , a dedicated souvenir shop and museum in Bailey, and even annual festivals in Estes Park have helped keep the legend alive locally.

Bock said stories of large, hairy ape-like creatures, like Gigantopithecus, have appeared across cultures for centuries, often sharing similar traits despite originating in different regions.

“I personally want for there to be a Bigfoot. I would be thrilled if tomorrow someone was like, ‘Look, here is irrefutable proof. I have him,’” Bock said. “But until we see that, I have to put it in the realm of myth and legend.”

For Bock, the persistence of Bigfoot stories also reflects something deeper about modern culture.

“I think one of the reasons that legend is so enduring across so many different places in this country is that it connects to a lot of anxieties that Euro Americans have had around what our industrial culture has done to the natural world and to the native people that still call this place home,” he said.

Detailed in his book "Eerie Colorado: Mountain Folklore, Monsters and Tales of the Supernatural," Daly said he has taken part in a four-day Bigfoot expedition in southern Colorado with the Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization, as well as a night hike with the Sasquatch Outpost in Bailey.

He said he approaches his research without positioning himself as either a skeptic or a believer, arguing that these stories shouldn’t be dismissed out of hand.

“It's a difficult thing when you're dealing with the supernatural as an academic researcher, but it's important in this day and age to think critically about the world,” he said.

“I try to put my own cultural assumptions and biases and beliefs to the side and say, ‘I don't know everything about how the world operates,’” he said.

The making of modern stories

In contrast to these mountain legends, Denver sought to shape a different image in the 1870s, promoting itself as a city with “300 days of sunshine” to enhance Colorado’s reputation and attract railroad travelers.

While that claim was more promotional, the city remains one of the sunniest in the United States, averaging about 245 sunny days per year compared to the of roughly 205.

Today, when people talk about myths and legends in Colorado, their first thought always goes to Denver International Airport. Over the years, it has become a focal point for conspiracy theories and urban legends, ranging from secret societies and underground bunkers to aliens, lizard people, and eerie interpretations of its public artwork.

One of the most recognizable symbols tied to these stories is a large horse sculpture near Peña Boulevard. Officially titled “Mustang,” it was created by artist Luis Jiménez and commissioned in the mid-1990s. The sculpture stands 32 feet tall and is known for its vivid blue color and glowing red eyes, which led many to nickname it “Blucifer.”

The story of the sculpture’s creation is also part of why it draws attention.

During the final stages of its construction, Jiménez was tragically killed in a studio accident in 2006 when a piece of the sculpture fell and severed an artery in his leg.

His family later completed the work, and it was installed at the airport in 2008. Since then, Blucifer has been a target for mythmakers, with many insisting that he’s cursed, despite its artistic intent.

Beyond the sculpture, online narratives have expanded into claims of extensive underground tunnel systems and “lizard people” supposedly operating beneath the airport.

In reality, the airport has acknowledged that there are , including the trains that carry passengers to and from different concourses and infrastructure from a previously used automated baggage system. Officials also said the tunnels only extend out to the perimeter of the airport, less than two miles.

In addition, officials have said that these areas are limited to operational needs and do not extend into the elaborate networks often described in several conspiracy theories.

However, part of what makes these stories persist is the airport����ap scale and design. Large, complex infrastructure projects often create informational gaps.

Daly said these are precisely the environments where modern legends or theories tend to emerge, as people don't necessarily know what occurs behind the scenes.

As a result, Daly said, when the details are examined closely, most of the legends surrounding the airport trace back to interpretation and internet amplification.

In recent years, the airport itself has even acknowledged its curious reputation, hosting exhibits and campaigns that explore and gently push back on these theories and legends. Rather than confirming certain narratives, these efforts tend to highlight how stories grow around large, complex public spaces.

As Daly puts it, the internet has become “the new Dark Forest” for folklore, an ecosystem where stories spread faster than ever, but where algorithms, hoaxes and increasingly realistic AI fakes make critical media literacy essential.

However, that same ecosystem doesn’t just preserve old myths, it reshapes them. Legends evolve, rename themselves, and adapt to contemporary culture in ways that make them feel newly discovered.

Lately, Daly has been researching reports of a “Dogman,” often described as a wolf-like creature, which he argues is essentially a modern rebranding of the traditional werewolf myth.

In this sense, even newer legends remain connected to older storytelling patterns. Daly said the stories that we have are likely going to continue to shift in ways that mirror and reflect culture, as well as changes in industry and economics.