1.
Grand County, Utah
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Grand County is a county located in the U. S. state of Utah. As of the 2010 census, the population was 9,225 and its county seat and largest city is Moab. The county was named for the Colorado River, which at the time of statehood was known as the Grand River and it is west from the Colorado state line. According to the U. S. Census Bureau, the county has an area of 3,684 square miles. The Green River forms the boundary and Colorado lies on the eastern boundary. The Colorado River flows through the southeast corner, deserts, cliffs and plateaus make up the scenery, with few settlements apart from the city of Moab, a Colorado River oasis. Arches National Park lies in the part of the county. Also, the northernmost extension of Canyonlands National Park lies in the southwest corner of the county, the population density was 2 people per square mile. There were 4,062 housing units at a density of 1 per square mile. The racial makeup of the county was 92. 65% White,0. 25% Black or African American,3. 85% Native American,0. 22% Asian,0. 05% Pacific Islander,1. 66% from other races, and 1. 32% from two or more races. 5. 55% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race,29. 50% of all households were made up of individuals and 9. 50% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.44 and the family size was 3.06. In the county, the population was out with 26. 90% under the age of 18,8. 20% from 18 to 24,27. 90% from 25 to 44,24. 50% from 45 to 64. The median age was 37 years, for every 100 females there were 96.30 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.10 males, the median income for a household in the county was $32,387, and the median income for a family was $39,095. Males had an income of $31,000 versus $21,769 for females. The per capita income for the county was $17,356, about 10. 90% of families and 14. 80% of the population were below the poverty line, including 21. 20% of those under age 18 and 8. 40% of those age 65 or over. While most of Utah is deeply Republican, Grand County has become a county in recent years
2.
Colorado
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Colorado is a state in the United States encompassing most of the Southern Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains. Colorado is part of the Western United States, the Southwestern United States, Colorado is the 8th most extensive and the 21st most populous of the 50 United States. The United States Census Bureau estimates that the population of Colorado was 5,540,545 on July 1,2016, the state was named for the Colorado River, which Spanish travelers named the Río Colorado for the ruddy silt the river carried from the mountains. The Territory of Colorado was organized on February 28,1861, Colorado is nicknamed the Centennial State because it became a state in the same year as the centennial of the United States Declaration of Independence. Colorado is noted for its landscape of mountains, forests, high plains, mesas, canyons, plateaus, rivers. Denver is the capital and the most populous city of Colorado, residents of the state are properly known as Coloradans, although the term Coloradoan has been used archaically and lives on in the title of Fort Collins newspaper, the Coloradoan. Colorado, Wyoming and Utah are the states which have boundaries defined solely by lines of latitude and longitude. The summit of Mount Elbert at 14,440 feet elevation in Lake County is the highest point in Colorado, Colorado is the only U. S. state that lies entirely above 1,000 meters elevation. The point where the Arikaree River flows out of Yuma County, Colorado and this point, which holds the distinction of being the highest low elevation point of any state, is higher than the high elevation points of 18 states and the District of Columbia. A little less than one half of the area of Colorado is flat, East of the Rocky Mountains are the Colorado Eastern Plains of the High Plains, the section of the Great Plains within Nebraska at elevations ranging from roughly 3,350 to 7,500 feet. The Colorado plains were mostly prairies, but they have many patches of forests, buttes. Eastern Colorado is presently covered in farmland and rangeland, along with small farming villages. Precipitation is fair, averaging from 15 to 25 inches annually, corn, wheat, hay, soybeans, and oats are all typical crops, and most of the villages and towns in this region boast both a water tower and a grain elevator. Irrigation water is available from the South Platte, the Arkansas River, and a few other streams, however, heavy use of ground water from wells for irrigation has caused underground water reserves to decline. As well as agriculture, eastern Colorado hosts considerable livestock, such as cattle ranches. Roughly 70% of Colorados population resides along the edge of the Rocky Mountains in the Front Range Urban Corridor between Cheyenne, Wyoming, and Pueblo, Colorado. This region is protected from prevailing storms that blow in from the Pacific Ocean region by the high Rockies in the middle of Colorado. The Front Range includes Denver, Boulder, Fort Collins, Loveland, Colorado Springs, Pueblo, Greeley and other townships, on the other side of the Rockies, the significant population centers in Western Colorado are the cities of Grand Junction, Durango, and Montrose
3.
United States
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Forty-eight of the fifty states and the federal district are contiguous and located in North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east, the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U. S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean, the geography, climate and wildlife of the country are extremely diverse. At 3.8 million square miles and with over 324 million people, the United States is the worlds third- or fourth-largest country by area, third-largest by land area. It is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, paleo-Indians migrated from Asia to the North American mainland at least 15,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century, the United States emerged from 13 British colonies along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the following the Seven Years War led to the American Revolution. On July 4,1776, during the course of the American Revolutionary War, the war ended in 1783 with recognition of the independence of the United States by Great Britain, representing the first successful war of independence against a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, after the Articles of Confederation, the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791 and designed to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties. During the second half of the 19th century, the American Civil War led to the end of slavery in the country. By the end of century, the United States extended into the Pacific Ocean. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the status as a global military power. The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the sole superpower. The U. S. is a member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States. The United States is a developed country, with the worlds largest economy by nominal GDP. It ranks highly in several measures of performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP. While the U. S. economy is considered post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge economy, the United States is a prominent political and cultural force internationally, and a leader in scientific research and technological innovations. In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere America after the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci
4.
Colorado River
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The Colorado River is one of the principal rivers of the Southwestern United States and northern Mexico. The 1, 450-mile-long Colorado River drains an expansive, arid watershed that encompasses parts of seven U. S. starting in the central Rocky Mountains in the U. S. After entering Mexico, the Colorado approaches the mostly dry Colorado River Delta at the tip of the Gulf of California between Baja California and Sonora. Known for its dramatic canyons, whitewater rapids, and eleven U. S. National Parks, the Colorados large flow and steep gradient are used for generating hydroelectric power, and its major dams regulate peaking power demands in much of the Intermountain West. Intensive water consumption has dried up the lower 100 miles of the river, beginning with small bands of nomadic hunter-gatherers, Native Americans have inhabited the Colorado River basin for at least 8,000 years. Most native peoples that inhabit the basin today are descended from groups that settled in the region beginning about 1,000 years ago. Europeans first entered the Colorado Basin in the 16th century, when explorers from Spain began mapping and claiming the area, early contact between Europeans and Native Americans was generally limited to the fur trade in the headwaters and sporadic trade interactions along the lower river. After most of the Colorado River basin became part of the U. S. in 1846, several expeditions charted the Colorado in the mid-19th century – one of which, led by John Wesley Powell, was the first to run the rapids of the Grand Canyon. American explorers collected valuable information that would later be used to develop the river for navigation, lesser numbers settled in the upper basin, which was the scene of major gold strikes in the 1860s and 1870s. Large engineering works began around the start of the 20th century, with guidelines established in a series of international. The U. S. federal government was the driving force behind the construction of dams and aqueducts in the river system, although many state. Most of the dams in the river basin were built between 1910 and 1970, the system keystone, Hoover Dam, was completed in 1935. The Colorado is now considered among the most controlled and litigated rivers in the world, as demands for Colorado River water continue to rise, the level of human development and control of the river continues to generate controversy. The Colorado begins at La Poudre Pass in the Southern Rocky Mountains of Colorado, after a short run south, the river turns west below Grand Lake, the largest natural lake in the state. As it flows southwest, it gains strength from many tributaries, as well as larger ones including the Blue, Eagle. In a few areas, such as the marshy Kawuneeche Valley near the headwaters, arcing northwest, the Colorado begins to cut across the eponymous Colorado Plateau, a vast area of high desert centered at the Four Corners of the southwestern United States. In Utah, the Colorado flows primarily through the slickrock country and this is one of the most inaccessible regions of the continental United States. Here, the San Juan River, carrying runoff from the slope of Colorados San Juan Mountains, joins the Colorado from the east. S
5.
Colorado's 2nd congressional district
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Colorados 2nd congressional district is a congressional district in the U. S. state of Colorado. The district is located in the part of the state and encompasses the northwestern suburbs of Denver including Boulder, Northglenn, Thornton. The district also includes the towns of Vail, Grand Lake. Redistricting in 2011 has moved Larimer County, including the cities of Fort Collins and Loveland, the district is currently represented by Democrat Jared Polis, who is one of seven openly gay members of the House of Representatives. Polis succeeded fellow Democrat Mark Udall who subsequently served in the U. S. Senate from 2009 to 2015. While there are towns in the rural parts of the district that tilt Republican. Following the census, the 2nd district stretched further north to the Wyoming border while losing the western portion of Eagle County and this district is anchored in Boulder and Adams counties which have the bulk of population in the district. A liberal base around the city of Boulder, coupled with a sizable Latino population in the Adams County portion of district, usually bodes well for Democrats. As of April 2015, there are three members of the U. S. House of Representatives from Colorados 2nd congressional district who are currently living at this time. Colorados congressional districts List of United States congressional districts Martis, Kenneth C, the Historical Atlas of Political Parties in the United States Congress. The Historical Atlas of United States Congressional Districts, Congressional Biographical Directory of the United States 1774–present
6.
National Register of Historic Places
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The National Register of Historic Places is the United States federal governments official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation. The passage of the National Historic Preservation Act in 1966 established the National Register, of the more than one million properties on the National Register,80,000 are listed individually. The remainder are contributing resources within historic districts, each year approximately 30,000 properties are added to the National Register as part of districts or by individual listings. For most of its history the National Register has been administered by the National Park Service and its goals are to help property owners and interest groups, such as the National Trust for Historic Preservation, coordinate, identify, and protect historic sites in the United States. While National Register listings are mostly symbolic, their recognition of significance provides some financial incentive to owners of listed properties, protection of the property is not guaranteed. During the nomination process, the property is evaluated in terms of the four criteria for inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places, the application of those criteria has been the subject of criticism by academics of history and preservation, as well as the public and politicians. Occasionally, historic sites outside the proper, but associated with the United States are also listed. Properties can be nominated in a variety of forms, including individual properties, historic districts, the Register categorizes general listings into one of five types of properties, district, site, structure, building, or object. National Register Historic Districts are defined geographical areas consisting of contributing and non-contributing properties, some properties are added automatically to the National Register when they become administered by the National Park Service. These include National Historic Landmarks, National Historic Sites, National Historical Parks, National Military Parks/Battlefields, National Memorials, on October 15,1966, the Historic Preservation Act created the National Register of Historic Places and the corresponding State Historic Preservation Offices. Initially, the National Register consisted of the National Historic Landmarks designated before the Registers creation, approval of the act, which was amended in 1980 and 1992, represented the first time the United States had a broad-based historic preservation policy. To administer the newly created National Register of Historic Places, the National Park Service of the U. S. Department of the Interior, hartzog, Jr. established an administrative division named the Office of Archeology and Historic Preservation. Hartzog charged OAHP with creating the National Register program mandated by the 1966 law, ernest Connally was the Offices first director. Within OAHP new divisions were created to deal with the National Register, the first official Keeper of the Register was William J. Murtagh, an architectural historian. During the Registers earliest years in the late 1960s and early 1970s, organization was lax and SHPOs were small, understaffed, and underfunded. A few years later in 1979, the NPS history programs affiliated with both the U. S. National Parks system and the National Register were categorized formally into two Assistant Directorates. Established were the Assistant Directorate for Archeology and Historic Preservation and the Assistant Directorate for Park Historic Preservation, from 1978 until 1981, the main agency for the National Register was the Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service of the United States Department of the Interior. In February 1983, the two assistant directorates were merged to promote efficiency and recognize the interdependency of their programs, jerry L. Rogers was selected to direct this newly merged associate directorate
7.
Rocky Mountain National Park
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The park is situated between the towns of Estes Park to the east and Grand Lake to the west. The eastern and westerns slopes of the Continental Divide run directly through the center of the park with the headwaters of the Colorado River located in the northwestern region. The main features of the park include mountains, alpine lakes, the Rocky Mountain National Park Act was signed by then–President Woodrow Wilson on January 26,1915, establishing the park boundaries and protecting the area for future generations. The Civilian Conservation Corps built the main route, named Trail Ridge Road. In 1976, UNESCO designated the park as one of the first World Biosphere Reserves, in 2016, more than four and a half million recreational visitors entered the park, which is an increase of about nine percent from the prior year. The history of Rocky Mountain National Park began when Paleo-Indians traveled along what is now Trail Ridge Road to hunt, Ute and Arapaho people subsequently hunted and camped in the area. In 1820, the Long Expedition, led by Stephen H. Long for whom Longs Peak was named, approached the Rockies via the Platte River. Settlers began arriving in the mid-1800s, displacing the Native Americans who mostly left the area voluntarily by 1860, lulu City, Dutchtown, and Gaskill in the Never Summer Mountains were established in the 1870s when prospectors came in search of gold and silver. The boom ended by 1883 with miners deserting their claims, the railroad reached Lyons, Colorado in 1881 and the Big Thompson Canyon Road—a section of U. S. Route 34 from Loveland to Estes Park—was completed in 1904. The 1920s saw a boom in building lodges and roads in the park, prominent individuals in the effort to create a national park included Enos Mills from the Estes Park area, James Grafton Rogers from Denver, and J. Horace McFarland of Pennsylvania. The national park was established on January 26,1915, Precambrian metamorphic rock formed the core of the North American continent during the Precambrian eon 4. 5–1 billion years ago. During the Paleozoic era, western North America was submerged beneath a sea, with a seabed composed of limestone. Concurrently, in the period from 500–300 million years ago, the region began to sink while lime, eroded granite produced sand particles that formed strata—layers of sediment—in the sinking basin. About 300 million years ago, the land was uplifted creating the ancestral Rocky Mountains, fountain Formation was deposited during the Pennsylvanian period of the Paleozoic era, 290–296 million years ago. Over the next 150 million years, the uplifted, continued to erode. Wind, gravity, rainwater, snow, and glacial ice eroded the mountains over geologic time scales. The Ancestral Rockies were eventually buried under subsequent strata, the Pierre Shale formation was deposited during the Paleogene and Cretaceous periods about 70 million years ago. The region was covered by a deep sea—the Cretaceous Western Interior Seaway—which deposited massive amounts of shale on the seabed
8.
Summit County, Colorado
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Summit County is one of the 64 counties in the U. S. state of Colorado. As of the 2010 census, the population was 27,994, Summit County comprises the Breckenridge, CO Micropolitan Statistical Area. Summit County was organized as one of the seventeen original Colorado counties by the First Territorial Legislature on November 1,1861 and it was named for the many mountain summits in the county. Until February 2,1874, its boundaries included the area now comprising Summit County, Grand County, Routt County, Moffat County, Garfield County, Eagle County, and Rio Blanco County. In 1874, the half of the original Summit County was split off to form Grand County, with the creation of Garfield and Eagle counties in 1883. In addition, Summit County has seen two major boom eras, according to the U. S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 619 square miles, of which 608 square miles is land and 11 square miles is water. The population density was 39 people per square mile, there were 24,201 housing units at an average density of 40 per square mile. The racial makeup of the county was 91. 84% White,0. 68% Black or African American,0. 48% Native American,0. 87% Asian,0. 07% Pacific Islander,3. 96% from other races, and 2. 10% from two or more races. 9. 79% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race,21. 60% of all households were made up of individuals and 1. 60% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.48 and the family size was 2.86. In the county, the population was out with 17. 40% under the age of 18,15. 70% from 18 to 24,44. 30% from 25 to 44,19. 40% from 45 to 64. The median age was 31 years, for every 100 females there were 139.00 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 144.90 males, the median income for a household in the county was $56,587, and the median income for a family was $66,914. Males had an income of $33,741 versus $27,017 for females. The per capita income for the county was $28,676, about 3. 10% of families and 9. 00% of the population were below the poverty line, including 4. 30% of those under age 18 and 3. 40% of those age 65 or over. The 2012 average real estate prices in Summit County were $708,660 for a family home, $359,536 for a condo, townhome or duplex
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Gilpin County, Colorado
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Gilpin County is the second-least extensive of the 64 counties of the U. S. state of Colorado, behind only the City and County of Broomfield. As of the 2010 census, the population was 5,441, the county seat is Central City. The county was formed in 1861, while Colorado was still a Territory, and was named after Colonel William Gilpin, Gilpin County is part of the Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, CO Metropolitan Statistical Area. According to the U. S. Census Bureau, the county has an area of 150 square miles. It is the second-smallest county by area in Colorado, the population density was 32 people per square mile. There were 2,929 housing units at a density of 20 per square mile. The racial makeup of the county was 94. 37% White,0. 53% Black or African American,0. 82% Native American,0. 69% Asian,0. 19% Pacific Islander,1. 53% from other races, and 1. 87% from two or more races. 4. 25% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race,26. 80% of all households were made up of individuals and 3. 70% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.32 and the family size was 2.81. In the county, the population was out with 21. 10% under the age of 18,5. 80% from 18 to 24,37. 40% from 25 to 44,30. 00% from 45 to 64. The median age was 38 years, for every 100 females there were 112.70 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 116.10 males, the median income for a household in the county was $51,942, and the median income for a family was $61,859. Males had an income of $38,560 versus $30,820 for females. The per capita income for the county was $26,148, about 1. 00% of families and 4. 00% of the population were below the poverty line, including 1. 40% of those under age 18 and 6. 10% of those age 65 or over
10.
Trail Ridge Road
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Trail Ridge Road is the name for a stretch of U. S. Highway 34 that traverses Rocky Mountain National Park from Estes Park, Colorado in the east to Grand Lake, Colorado in the west. It requires access to Rocky Mountain National Park even for local residents, from Kawuneeche Visitor Center at the parks Grand Lake Entrance, Trail Ridge Road follows the North Fork of the Colorado River north through the Kawuneeche Valley. There are several trailheads along this section of the road, notably the Colorado River Trailhead, the road crosses the Continental Divide at Milner Pass and reaches a maximum elevation of 12,183 ft, near Fall River Pass. Near the highest point on the road is another pass, Iceberg Pass, according to construction contracts and park maintenance files the east end of the road is located at the Fall River Entrance, however some guides state that earlier - at Deer Ridge Junction. Trail Ridge is a flat spur range extending east from the main range of the Rockies between Fall River in the North and the Big Thompson River in the South. The road follows Trail Ridge from the Fall River Pass near Alpine Visitor Center to the Deer Ridge Junction, Fall River Road was the first road into the parks high country. It opened in 1921 and quickly proved inadequate for motor travel as a road with steep grades, tight curves. Construction began in 1929 and was complete to Fall River Pass by July 1932, the road was complete through the Kawuneeche Valley to Grand Lake in 1938. The route followed what was known to local Arapaho Indians as the Dog Trail, internal opposition to the construction of a road through the parks alpine tundra was overruled by National Park Service director Horace Albright, who wished to encourage park visitation. The road was designed to intrude as little as possible into the landscape, hidden Valley was a local ski area attraction from 1955 -1991, off of Trail Ridge Road, now in defunct status. Trail Ridge had been used by Native Americans to cross the mountains between their lands in the west and hunting areas on the east side. Arapahoe Indians called the trail located on the ridge as taienbaa because it was so steep that children could not be carried, the Ute tribe crossing the mountains at Forest Canyon Pass marked their route with stone cairns. The present park Ute Trail follows partially that ancient route, on the west side, about 1880, a wagon road was constructed along the Kawuneeche Valley from the town of Grand Lake to the mining camps of Lulu City and Gaskil. The camps were abandoned after a few years when short-lived mining boom ended and later the road was used occasionally by hunters
Colorado portal
Grand County, Colorado
