Colorado Trivia & Tidbits - Page 14

Looking for Colorado trivia? Try our list Colorado little know facts, tidbits and trivia.

John B. Stetson created the first Stetson hat by felting, rather than tanning, rabbit fur, near Central City (pop. 515) in the early 1860s. The hat’s wide brim and large crown protected wearers against both sun and rain, and became known as “The Boss of the Plains” after Stetson returned to Philadelphia and began producing the hat commercially.

first appeared: 10/12/2003

When five-acre Keystone Lake in the ski resort village of Keystone (pop. 825) freezes over during the winter, it’s put to good use: it’s reportedly the nation’s largest Zamboni-maintained outdoor ice skating rink.

first appeared: 10/12/2003

Thanks to San Juan Hut Systems, mountain bikers can travel 206 miles on dirt roads from the high alpine tundra of the San Juan Mountains near Telluride (pop. 2,221) to the slickrock and desert canyon country of Moab, Utah. Six huts spaced 35 miles apart provide basic overnight accommodations.

first appeared: 10/5/2003

At 6.2 miles long, the Moffat Tunnel near Winter Park (pop. 662), which eliminated 27 miles of steep railroad grades over the Continental Divide, is among the world’s longest tunnels. The route took 48 months and $18 million to build before the first train passed through in February 1928. Construction required the excavation of 750,000 cubic yards of rock—the equivalent of 1,600 freight trains of 40 cars each.

first appeared: 9/28/2003

When Adolph Coors found clear, cool water in springs near the town of Golden (pop. 17,159) he decided it was the perfect place for his brewery. The Golden Brewery opened in 1873, and today produces more than 20 million barrels of beer annually as the Coors Brewing Co.—the nation’s third largest brewer.

first appeared: 9/21/2003

The transcontinental telegraph line reached Julesburg (pop. 1,467) in May 1861, with messages forwarded to Denver by pony express or stage. That changed in October 1863, when the line was extended to Denver. At that time, 10 words sent from Denver to New York cost $9.10.

first appeared: 9/14/2003

The commission appointed to help select a site for the U.S. Air Force Academy traveled 21,000 miles and considered 580 sites in 45 states before the present-day site near Colorado Springs was selected. Construction began in 1955, with 1,145 cadets moving in on Aug. 29, 1958. More than 35,000 cadets have graduated since then, with more than 51 percent still on active duty.

first appeared: 9/7/2003

The state’s oldest church—Our Lady of Guadalupe in Conejos, located in Conejos County (pop. 8,400)—was considered part of New Mexico territory when it was founded in 1858. The Colorado territory’s establishment in 1861 “moved” it to Colorado.

first appeared: 8/31/2003

The Colorado Avalanche made National Hockey League history last April when the team won its ninth consecutive division title. The team won its first division title in 1995 when it was known as the Quebec Nordiques, and went on to win another eight after its 1995 move to Colorado. The team’s home is Denver, with a practice facility in nearby Englewood (pop. 31,727).

first appeared: 8/31/2003

In 1962, Wallace “Buddy” Werner, a native of Steamboat Springs (pop. 9,815), became the first American to win a major European ski event—the Austria’s Hahnenhamm. Werner was a member of the U.S. Olympic alpine teams for 1956, 1960, and 1964, and was inducted into the National Ski Hall of Fame in 1964. After his death in a Swiss avalanche in 1964, Steamboat Springs named nearby Mount Werner after him.

first appeared: 8/24/2003

Founded in 1963 as a 668-acre subdivision near Boulder, the community of Gunbarrel (pop. 9, 435) gained its name from the saying “as straight as a gunbarrel”—although exactly what was straight isn’t certain. Varying reports include the area’s long, straight roads, a local farmer who plowed very straight furrows, and a man who traded a gun for a nearby farm.

first appeared: 8/17/2003

Antoinette Perry, who inspired the Tony awards for distinguished achievement in theater, was born in Denver in 1888. An accomplished actor and director, Perry also nurtured new theatrical talent, and as chairman and secretary of the American Theatre Wing during World War II, she helped found the Stage Door Canteen program, in which theater personnel served and entertained servicemen. The first Tony awards were presented in 1947, the year after Perry’s death.

first appeared: 8/10/2003

The five Collegiate Peaks in the Sawatch mountain range—all of which exceed 14,000 feet elevation—are named for the universities that early explorers had links to. Mount Harvard, for example, was named by surveyor and geology professor J.D. Whitney to honor Harvard University, which funded one of the first survey parties. Mounts Columbia, Oxford, Princeton, and Yale are the other Collegiate Peaks.

first appeared: 8/3/2003

Outlaws such as Butch Cassidy, the Sundance Kid, Tom Horn, and Ann Bassett often hid from the law in Brown’s Park, a remote valley in the state’s northwest that stretches across the Utah border. Cassidy committed his first bank robbery at the San Miguel Valley Bank in Telluride (pop. 2,221) in 1889.

first appeared: 7/27/2003

The state named rhodochrosite its official mineral in 2002 after science students at Platte Canyon High School near Bailey (pop. 4,448) suggested it. The students chose rhodochrosite because its red crystals reminded them of the state’s name, which is Spanish for “reddish.” The mineral can be found in 18 Colorado counties, often near gold, silver, and zinc deposits.

first appeared: 7/20/2003

Measuring 5 inches across, the “Alma King” is the world’s largest rhodochrosite crystal, and was found in 1992 at the Sweet Home Mine near Alma (pop. 179). The mine dates to 1872, when silver was mined there; today, it’s known for the size and rich color of its rhodochrosite.

first appeared: 7/20/2003

Pikes Peak was named for Lt. Zebulon Montgomery Pike, who discovered the 14,110-foot-high mountain in 1806 while exploring the Rocky Mountains and the Southwest. Pike attempted to climb the “great peak,” as he called it, but was turned back by heavy snow at 10,000 feet.

first appeared: 7/13/2003

When the cornerstone of the state Capitol building was laid in Denver in 1890, 20 mules were required to move the 20-ton stone. Sealed within the stone was a copper box containing the Colorado and U.S. constitutions, a Bible, American flag, Denver city directory, Colorado map, gold coins, and copies of government reports and local newspapers.

first appeared: 7/6/2003

Southwest Colorado is one of the state’s primary dry bean-growing areas, and Dove Creek (pop. 698), in the Four Corners region, calls itself the world’s Pinto Bean Capital. The region’s soil has a high iron content, which gives the beans a distinct reddish color, and the high altitude helps the beans store longer and cook faster.

first appeared: 6/29/2003

The Eisenhower Memorial Tunnel is the world’s highest auto tunnel. It runs for 1.7 miles under the Continental Divide between Clear Creek and Summit counties, at an elevation of 11,000 feet. The tunnel was opened to two-way traffic March 8, 1973, and saves motorists from a 9.8-mile journey over Loveland Pass.

first appeared: 6/22/2003

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