History of slavery in Colorado

[needs citation][Barney Ford]] and Edward J. Sanderlin were successful businessmen, and William Jefferson Hardin was a legislator and mayor of Leadville.

Former enslaved men and women settled in Colorado, establishing themselves as business people, legislators, and other professions.

[1] Utes and other Native Americans were captured and enslaved by the Spanish colonists of Santa Fe de Nuevo México (1598–1848).

[5][6] Bent's Fort, established along the Santa Fe Trail in 1833, was visited by Native Americans, the Spanish, and the French, among others.

Charles Bent brought Dick Green with him to Santa Fe when he became governor of the New Mexico Territory.

[10] Colorado Territory (1861–1876) was established on February 28, 1861, in response to a large influx of fortune seekers and settlers during the Pike's Peak Gold Rush.

Before the American Civil War, there was a clash between Democrats who were pro-slavery and anti-slavery Congressional Republicans, who were able to pass the Colorado Organic Act in mid-February 1861.

A number of Black members of the 9th and 10th United States Cavalry, the Buffalo Soldiers, settled in Colorado after they completed their military career.

[12] Elijah Wentworth, whose nickname was "Lige", was born into slavery without any knowledge of his family or his early life in Virginia.

[13] Barney Ford was an enslaved man from Virginia who ran away using the Underground Railroad, he lived in several places in the United States an in Central America before he settled in Denver.

[13] John Taylor, born a slave in Kentucky, served in the army during the Civil War and afterward to fight Native Americans.

[13] Henry O. Wagoner, an Underground Railroad conductor before moving to Colorado, promoted civil rights.

He was the mayor of Leadville, fought for civil rights, and was the first African American elected to the Wyoming Territory Legislative Assembly.

One historian said, "Black life in the West varied from other parts of the U.S. in that relatively large Asian and Latino and indigenous populations served as something of a lightning rod deflecting bigotry that traditionally was received in full force by African Americans.

An icon of Julia—with a child, mountains of Colorado, Sacred Heart, Franciscan coat of arms, and other relevant iconography—was commissioned by the Archdiocese.

Its members, who "played sterling roles" throughout the city and beyond, included former enslaved people, activists, teachers, doctors, preachers, politicians and more.

In 1867, President Andrew Johnson rejected the bill for statehood that gave Black people the right to vote.

[18] Juneteenth, which was first celebrated in Denver in the 1950s, commemorates emancipation of African Americans and focuses on education and achievement.

It supports "redevelopment and elimination of financial blight in Denver, Colorado’s Historic Five Points Neighborhood.

A group of Ute people . Utes and other Native Americans were enslaved by Spanish colonialists beginning in the 16th century. They were called Genízaros . After bands of Native Americans, like the Utes and Comanche , obtained horses from the Spanish, they rode horseback into villages of other indigenous people, captured children and adults, and sold them into slavery.
Louisiana Purchase (1803), that included part of Colorado, and Nuevo México (1598–1848), that also included part of present-day Colorado (as well as Utah, New Mexico, Arizona, and California)
Map prior to the founding of Colorado Territory (1861–1876). The outline for Colorado includes parts of the Nebraska Territory , Utah Territory , Kansas Territory , and New Mexico Territory . [ b ]
James Beckwourth , circa 1856, was a mountain man and explorer beginning in 1822.
Map of Public Surveys in Colorado Territory
Clara Brown , former enslaved woman, businesswoman, investor and philanthropist
Denver at Cherry Creek and South Platte Rivers , 1859, representing an encampment of Cheyenne and Arapaho and the early settlement of European Americans. See History of Denver .
Henry Louis Stephens , a Black man reading newspaper by candlelight, with headline, "Presidential Proclamation, Slavery," which refers to the January 1863 Emancipation Proclamation , drawing and watercolor, Library of Congress , Prints & Photographs Division
Servant of God Julia Greeley and a child , O.F.S.
A Black unity Juneteenth celebration