Cemeteries in Colorado (State)

The State of Colorado, admitted to the Union in 1876 as the 38th state, is located in the central Rocky Mountain region of the United States.

Long before European settlement, the area was home to Indigenous peoples including the Ute, Cheyenne, Arapaho, and Apache. Spanish explorers entered southern Colorado in the 16th century, and the region later fell under the control of New Spain, Mexico, and briefly the Republic of Texas before becoming part of the United States through the Louisiana Purchase (1803) and the Mexican Cession (1848). The Colorado Territory was organized in 1861, spurred by the Pike’s Peak Gold Rush of 1858–59, which drew thousands of settlers. Colorado’s name—meaning “colored red” in Spanish—refers to the reddish silt of the Colorado River. The state has attracted diverse groups including German, Irish, Hispanic, Scandinavian, and Asian immigrants.

Cemeteries such as Riverside in Denver and Crystal Valley in Manitou Springs reflect its settlement history from the 19th century to the present.