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Jefferson Territory
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==Origins== On August 25, 1855, the [[Kansas Territory]] created [[Arapahoe County, Kansas Territory|Arapahoe County]], a huge county that included the entire western portion of Kansas to the Rocky Mountains. The boundaries of Arapahoe County were defined as: beginning at the northeast corner of [[New Mexico Territory|New Mexico]], running thence north to the south line of [[Nebraska Territory|Nebraska]] and north line of [[Kansas Territory|Kansas]]; thence along said line to the east line of [[Utah Territory]]; thence along said line between Utah and Kansas territories, to where said line strikes New Mexico; thence along the line between said New Mexico and the territory of Kansas to the place of beginning.{{citation needed|date=November 2014}} Occupied primarily by [[Cheyenne]] and [[Arapaho]] Indians with few white settlers, the county was never organized. The leaders of the Kansas Territory were preoccupied with the violent events of [[Bleeding Kansas]], so little time or attention was available to attend to the needs of the far western portion of the territory. The question of whether to admit Kansas to the union as a slave state or free state dominated discussion in the populous eastern portion of the territory and led to three failed constitutional proposals between 1855 and 1858 (the [[Topeka Constitution|Topeka]], [[Lecompton Constitution|Lecompton]] and [[Leavenworth Constitution|Leavenworth]] constitutions). The [[United States Congress]] was likewise preoccupied with threats of secession by the [[slave states]].<ref name=quarterly>{{cite journal|url=http://www.kshs.org/p/kansas-historical-quarterly-kansas-territory-and-its-boundary-question/13180 |title=Kansas Territory and Its Boundary Question: 'Big Kansas' or 'Little Kansas' |last=Gower |first=Calvin W. |journal=Kansas Historical Quarterly | date=Spring 1967 |volume= 33 |issue= 1 |pages=1β12 |access-date=November 6, 2014}}</ref> In July 1858, the [[Pike's Peak Gold Rush]] began with the discovery of gold at the [[Little Dry Creek (Englewood, Colorado)|Dry Creek Diggings]] in Arapahoe County, Kansas Territory (now [[Englewood, Colorado|Englewood]] in [[Arapahoe County, Colorado]]). The gold rush brought 100,000 gold seekers to the area known as the [[Pike's Peak Country]], which included Arapahoe County as well as the unorganized southwestern corner of the [[Nebraska Territory]] and parts of the [[New Mexico Territory|New Mexico]] and [[Utah Territory|Utah]] territories.<ref name=King_GovernmentofDenver>{{cite book | last = King | first = Clyde Lyndon | title = The history of the government of Denver with special reference to its relations with public service corporations | publisher = The Fisher Book Company | location = Denver, Colorado | year = 1911 | url = https://archive.org/details/historygovernme00kinggoog |access-date=November 6, 2014}}</ref> Kansas, with a growing divide between the eastern commercial centers and the central agricultural populations, had concerns over how the gold rush and the influx of miners to the Rockies could shift the base of power from the northeastern side of Kansas to the mountainous region in the west of the state. Meanwhile, the miners, being {{convert|600|mi|km}} from the capital of the territory, felt that the legislature was out of touch with their needs. They thought a new territory or state would have the benefit of being responsive to their economic situation and consolidate the population that was currently spread across four territories. Denver area leaders decided to pursue both a relationship with Kansas and a bid for separation by sending delegates to the Kansas Territorial Legislature and the United States Congress. On February 7, 1859, the Kansas Territorial Legislature replaced Arapahoe County with six new unorganized counties and appointed county commissioners for each. However, since the commissioners were not provided a salary, they never took office. The settlers in the region attempted to organize a county on their own and on March 28, 1859, an election was held to elect officers. A total of 774 votes were cast, including 231 from [[Auraria, Denver|Auraria]] and 144 from [[Denver, Colorado|Denver City]]. A desire for a new territorial government kept the elected officials from taking their offices, as doing so would have given recognition to the Kansas Territorial government. In the meantime, Hiram J Graham, the local delegate to Congress, had successfully introduced a bill to establish a new territory in Pike's Peak Country. Though the bill did not pass, it nevertheless encouraged settlers to establish a separate government themselves.<ref name=King_GovernmentofDenver/>
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