Colorado

The state was named after the Colorado River by Spanish explorers. They called it the Río Colorado for the ruddy (Spanish: colorado) silt the river carried from the mountains.

The river in western Colorado, with the California Zephyr running alongside

Colorado was admitted as the 38th U.S. State on August 1, 1876. President Ulysses S. Grant signed the proclamation 28 days after the Centennial of the United States earning it the moniker "Centennial State".

Colorado is one of three U.S. states that have only lines of latitude and longitude for boundaries and has no natural borders.

When government surveyors made the border markers for the "Territory of Colorado", minor surveying mistakes made many small kinks along the borders, most seen along the border with the "Territory of Utah."

The tip of Mount Elbert at 14,440 feet elevation in Lake County is the state's highest point and the highest point in the entire Rocky Mountains.

Colorado's second highest mountain is Mount Massive. The state's two tallest mountains are so close to each other in height that fans of each mountain would repeatedly pile up rocks to try and make their preferred mountain taller.

Colorado is the only U.S. state that lies entirely above 1,000 meters (3,281 ft) in height. The point where the Arikaree River flows out of Colorado into Kansas is the lowest point in the state at 1,010 m (3,315 ft)  elevation, which is the highest low point of any U.S. state.

The highest point in Pennsylvania is lower than the lowest point in Colorado.

Every point in Colorado is higher than every point in Minnesota, and every point in Minnesota is higher than every point in Florida.

There is a volcano in Colorado which is likely to become active again---Dotsero, beside Interstate 70, last erupted only 4,200 years ago.

The state's largest city, and capital, is Denver. The "Denver-Aurora-Boulder Combined Statistical Area", is home to 2,927,911 people, which is more than two-thirds of the state's population.

The World's first rodeo was held on July 4, 1869 in Deer Trail, Colorado. Rodeo contests began in the early days of the cattle industry when men gathered in cow towns at roundup time. Following the American Civil War, rodeo competitions emerged, with the first documented organized one with prizes awarded being in Deer Trail. The first prize was a new suit of clothing.

Branding calves, 1888. Many rodeo events were based on the real life tasks required by cattle ranching

The words for "America the Beautiful,” were written by Katherine Lee Bates in 1895 atop Pikes Peak overlooking Colorado Springs.

On January 1, 2014 Colorado became the first state to make marijuana legal. In the first week of this $5 million of marijuana was sold.

The federal government owns a significant amount of land in Colorado , with estimates suggesting that the federal government owns over 35% of the land in the state. This land is managed by various federal agencies, including the Bureau of Land Management, the National Park Service, the U.S. Forest Service, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, among others. 

The federal government's control of such a large portion of land in Colorado has been a source of controversy and disagreement between local communities, state governments, and the federal government, as the management and use of this land can have significant impacts on the local economy, environment, and quality of life for residents.

In Colorado, riding a horse while intoxicated is considered a traffic offense.

Source Wikipedia