Arapahoe County was a

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

of the extralegal

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

Territory of Jefferson that existed from November 28, 1859, until February 28, 1861. The county name was also spelled Arapaho County, Arapahoe County, Arrapahoe County, and Arappahoe County. The county seat was Denver City.

History

In July 1858, gold was discovered along the

South Platte River The South Platte River is one of the two principal tributaries of the Platte River. Flowing through the U.S. states of Colorado and Nebraska, it is itself a major river of the American Midwestern United States, Midwest and the American Sout ...

in Arapahoe County, Kansas Territory. This discovery precipitated the Pike's Peak Gold Rush. Many residents of the mining region felt disconnected from the remote territorial governments of

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...

and

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the southwe ...

, so they voted to form their own Territory of Jefferson on October 24, 1859. On November 28, the General Assembly of the Territory of Jefferson organized 12 counties: Arapahoe County, Cheyenne County, El Paso County, Fountain County, Heele County, Jackson County, Jefferson County, Mountain County, North County, Park County,

Saratoga County Saratoga County is a county in the U.S. state of New York, and is the fastest-growing county in Upstate New York. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the county's population was enumerated at 235,509, representing a 7.2% increase from the 2010 popul ...

, and St. Vrain's County. The legislation that created Arapahoe County declared:

That the territory comprised within the following limits, be erected into a county to be called Arappahoe county: commencing at a point where the 40th parallel of north latitude crosses the 104th meridian of west longitude; thence west on said parallel to the centre of the main channel of the south fork of the Platte River, thence upon the main channel of said stream to the mouth of Clear Creek; thence up the main channel of Clear Creek to the mouth of Ralston's Creek; thence in a straight line to a point where Montana Creek joins the main channel of the Platte; thence up the main channel of said stream to the mouth of the canon at the base of the mountains, thence on the main divide between the waters of the Arkansas and the Platte River, to where the 104th meridian of longitude crosses the same, thence north on said meridian to the place of beginning.

Arapahoe County was named for the

Arapaho Nation The Arapaho (; french: Arapahos, ) are a Native American people historically living on the plains of Colorado and Wyoming. They were close allies of the Cheyenne tribe and loosely aligned with the Lakota and Dakota. By the 1850s, Arapaho band ...

of Native Americans that lived in the region. Denver City served as the

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US st ...

of Arapahoe County and was the

territorial capital Below is an index of pages containing lists of capital cities. National capitals *List of national capitals *List of national capitals by latitude *List of national capitals by population *List of national capitals by area *List of capital citie ...

until November 12, 1860. The Jefferson Territory never received federal sanction, but on February 28, 1861,

U.S. President The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States ...

James Buchanan James Buchanan Jr. ( ; April 23, 1791June 1, 1868) was an American lawyer, diplomat and politician who served as the 15th president of the United States from 1857 to 1861. He previously served as secretary of state from 1845 to 1849 and repr ...

signed an act organizing the

Territory of Colorado The Territory of Colorado was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from February 28, 1861, until August 1, 1876, when it was admitted to the Union as the State of Colorado. The territory was organized in the w ...

. On November 1, 1861, the

Colorado General Assembly The Colorado General Assembly is the state legislature of the State of Colorado. It is a bicameral legislature that was created by the 1876 state constitution. Its statutes are codified in the ''Colorado Revised Statutes'' (C.R.S.). The ses ...

organized 17 counties, including

Arapahoe County Arapahoe County may refer to: *Arapahoe County, Colorado *Arapahoe County, Kansas Territory Arapahoe County was a county of Kansas Territory in the United States that existed from August 25, 1855, until Kansas's admission into the Union on January ...

, for the new Colorado Territory. On November 15, 1902, the

State of Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the ...

split Arapahoe County into three new counties: the

City and County of Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unite ...

, Adams County, and South Arapahoe County (soon to revert to Arapahoe County).

Elections And Elected Officials

Arapahoe County's first office holding official was William M. Slaughter, appointed by Governor

Robert Williamson Steele Robert Williamson Steele (January 14, 1820 – February 7, 1901) was governor of the extralegal Territory of Jefferson, which existed in the western United States from 1859 to 1861, when it was replaced by the Territory of Colorado. Early life ...

in December 1859 as President Judge of Arapahoe County. He was to hold office until the county's first popular

election An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has opera ...

was held on January 2, 1860.

References

External links

Colorado State Historical Society website
{{coord, 39.7392, -104.9850, dim:300000_region:region:US-CO_type:adm2nd, name=Arrappahoe County, Jefferson Territory (historical), display=title Jefferson Territory Geography of Colorado Adams County, Colorado Arapahoe County, Colorado Geography of Denver 1859 establishments in Kansas Territory

History

Elections And Elected Officials

See also

References

External links