Experience Colorado with this new, expanded edition of A Colorado History. For fifty years, the authors of this preeminent resource have led readers on an extraordinary exploration of how the state has changed—and how it has stayed the same. An engaging narrative, A Colorado History begins with the prehistoric cliff dwellers of Mesa Verde and proceeds chronologically with accounts of Colorado’s role as a frontier territory—its fur trade, mining, Indian relations, cattle ranching, and homesteading—and continues to the present day political, economic, cultural, and environmental issues. Fascinating, informative, and accessible to history buffs, students, researchers—or anyone—interested in the remarkable story of a remarkable place. The tenth edition features a new chapter on recent events, new photos, and an updated bibliography section. 

Experience Colorado with this new, enlarged edition of A COLORADO HISTORY. For fifty years, the authors of this preeminent resource have led readers on an extraordinary exploration of how the state has changed—and how it has stayed the same. From the arrival of Paleo-Indians in the Mesa Verde region to the fast pace of the twenty-first century, A COLORADO HISTORY covers the political, economic, cultural, and environmental issues, along with the fascinating events and characters, that have shaped this dynamic state. In print for fifty years, this distinctive examination of the Centennial State is a must-read for history buffs, students, researchers—or anyone—interested in the remarkable place called Colorado.

Clarice E. Richards of Dayton, Ohio, was a tenderfoot when in 1900 she moved to a ranch in Elbert County, Colorado, east of Pikes Peak. She was the bride of Jarvis Richards, a former Congregational minister from Vermont. It was an unlikely place for these two cultured easterners to land, but Clarice, possessing curiosity and a lively sense of humor, became thoroughly westernized as she witnessed the ebb of the tide of the wild, lawless days, succeeded by the more pastoral eras of the sheepman and farmer. Her memoir, A Tenderfoot Bride, was first published in 1920 and praised for its charm and verisimilitude, qualities that have increased in value with time. Maxine Benson's introduction expands on the ranching and political activities of the close-knit Richards family and on a well-publicized courtroom trial in 1902 pitting Jarvis against a neighboring rancher. Maxine Benson, an authority on Colorado history, is the author of Martha Maxwell: Rocky Mountain Naturalist (1986), also published by the University of Nebraska Press.