History Colorado

Denver Public Library, Special Collections and Archives

The early trappers and fur traders, who came to be known in the West as Mountain Men, were the pioneer explorers of Colorado.

Tom Tobin (1823 - 1904) was an American tracker, trapper, mountain man, guide, US Army scout, and occasional bounty hunter. Tobin explored much of southern Colorado, including the Pueblo area. He associated with men such as Kit Carson, "Uncle Dick" Wootton, Ceran St. Vrain, Charles Bent, John C. Fremont, "Wild Bill" Hickok, William F. Cody, and the Shoup brothers. Tobin was one of only two men to escape alive from the siege of Turley's Mill during the Taos Revolt. In later years he was sent by the Army to track down and eliminate the notorious Felipe Espinosa, supposedly returning to Ft. Garland with Espinosas' head in a sack.

Photograph, Tom Tobin

Tom Tobin was born in St. Louis in 1823 and known at the time by the outdated term “free colored.” After heading for the Taos area as a youth, he became a trapper, an adept mountain man and guide, and a scout for the U.S. Army. He explored much of southern Colorado, including the Pueblo area, and on occasion worked as a bounty hunter. He associated with the likes of Kit Carson, “Wild Bill” Hickok, and William F. “Buffalo Bill” Cody.

Studio portrait of James P. Beckwourth (1798-1866), African-American trapper, trader, and former slave who built a trading post that later became the community of Pueblo, Colorado. In 1859 Beckwourth settled in Denver, Colorado and became a storekeeper. In 1864 Beckwourth was hired as a scout for a military campaign against the Cheyenne and Arapaho, which resulted in the Sand Creek Massacre. This photo was shot by W. G. Chamberlain in Denver, Colorado circa 1860.

Photograph, James P. Beckwourth

Born into slavery in 1805, Virginian James P. Beckwourth joined expeditions to the lead mines of Illinois in 1822 and the Rocky Mountains in 1824 before becoming a fur trader and trapper. Later, he was captured by Crow Tribe and then married into the tribe and became a well-respected member of the tribe.  He discovered Beckwourth Pass (1850) and established Beckwourth Trail (1851) before settling in Denver in 1859, where he became a storekeeper and military scout. He died in 1866. He narrated his life story to Thomas D. Bonner, a traveling justice of the peace. The book was published in New York and London in 1856 as 

The Life and Adventures of James P. Beckwourth: Mountaineer, Scout and Pioneer, and Chief of the Crow Nation of Indians

Edward Rose, also known as Five Scalps, Cut Nose, and Nez Coupe, was the son of a white trader father and a Cherokee and African American mother. His heritage and knowledge of Crow and Arikara culture earned him a job as a guide and interpreter for several expeditions, including Jedediah Smith’s to the Rocky Mountains and Colonel Henry Atkinson’s Yellowstone expedition in 1825. He returned to live among the Crow, earning the name “Five Scalps” and became a famous war chief, later dying on the Yellowstone River during an Arikara attack in 1832.

Early History - Mountain Men

Early History - Political Leaders

African American Cowboy, c. 1900, possibly taken around Leadville, Colorado.

Early History - Cowboys

Camp Nizhoni was founded in 1924 in response to the segregationist policies of the time, which prevented African American girls from attending the same YWCA camps as white children. 

Lincoln Hills - Camp Nizhoni

Opened in 1922 by Black entrepreneurs from Denver’s Five Points neighborhood, Lincoln Hills was an oasis in a segregated society—the biggest resort west of the Mississippi built BY and FOR African Americans. People from across the country came to Lincoln Hills to camp, stay in Wink’s Lodge, or buy a lot and build a cabin.


Lincoln Hills

Colorado has a long, rich history of African American owned businesses and enterprise. This history is best exhibited in communities such as  Denver’s Five Points.  Five Points became a central point for African Americans moving to Denver in the 1920s.

Early History - Entrepreneurs

10th Cavalry soldiers in uniform at Fort Washakie, Wyoming.  More than 180,000 African Americans fought for the Union Army in the Civil War. Of them, more than 33,000 died. War’s end left the future of the Army’s African Americans in doubt.

Early History - Buffalo Soldiers

In the early 1920s, Denver entrepreneur Obrey Wendell Hamlet, known as “Wink,” set out to build a resort in Lincoln Hills. He and first wife Naomi broke ground on a three-story, six-bedroom lodge in 1925 and finished it three years later. They officially named it Wink's Panorama, but everyone knew it as Wink's Lodge.  Wink's Lodge was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980


Lincoln Hills - Wink's Lodge

Thanks to the all-Black Phyllis Wheatley branch of the YWCA and the vision of the Lincoln Hills Development Corporation, the YWCA established Camp Nizhoni at Lincoln Hills. The name comes from the Navajo word for “beautiful.” Segregation kept African American women and girls from attending the nearby YWCA girls’ camp at Lookout Mountain. So every summer, up to fifty girls went to Camp Nizhoni to hike, swim and learn outdoor skills. After 18 years in operation, Camp Nizhoni closed in 1945 with the integration of Camp Lookout.


Lincoln Hills - Camp Nizhoni Album

Explore the development of civil rights throughout Colorado and the United States of America.

Civil Rights Timeline

There were no formal Jim Crow laws in Denver, home to Colorado’s largest African American community. But Black citizens still faced widespread discrimination in the early twentieth century. Denver’s Five Points neighborhood created a sense of community when people  had trouble finding housing except in limited areas, were largely confined to low-paying jobs, and met with segregation in schools, parks, and other public places.  CLICK ON THE STARTS TO EXPLORE DENVER IN THE 1920s.

Explore Denver in the 1920s

From exploring the Colorado territory to fighting discrimination, to expanding voting rights, African American people have had a long and active role in shaping Colorado's past and present.


Resource Kits

Object Library

Museums

Early African American History in Colorado

Early History - Mountain Men