August is Happiness Happens Month and is a time to remind us to find happiness in everything we do. Once upon a time, a group called the Secret Society of Happy People decided to dedicate a day to the pursuit of happiness. In 2000, the Secret Society of Happy People expanded the celebration to Happiness Happens Month in August.
Today’s Post by Joe Farace
You don’t need missionaries in Colorado; you got Colorado. —Trey Parker
In 1981, I moved from my home in Maryland to Colorado and now, having spent a big chunk of my life here, I now consider myself, at least, a semi-native.
Today we recognize the 38th state on National Colorado Day. aka the Centennial State, Colorado entered the union in 1876. The Spanish first explored Colorado seeking streets they believed were paved with gold. After Colorado became a US territory, Colorado is dominated by the looming presence of Rocky Mountains. Army Lieutenant Zebulon Pike explored the mountain range and at one particular summit he predicted it would never be scaled. That’s why Pike’s Peak bears his name today.
How Mary made this shot: This photograph of the iconic Maroon Bells near Aspen, Colorado was made several years ago with a Nikon FM2 when you could still drive down the road to the lake. Nowadays, you have to park further away and take a bus to reach the lake. The Maroon Bells are two peaks in the Elk Mountains, Maroon Peak and North Maroon Peak. The elevation: 14,163 ft. The lens, film type and exposure were not recorded although I think it was Kodak Ektachrome 100.
14,000 years ago, several Native American tribes, including the Puebloans, Apache, Arapaho, Cheyenne, Comanche, Shoshone, and Ute nations came to inhabit the area that would come to be called Colorado. The first European contact was on July 11, 1598 and eventually, Colorado became a part ‘Santa Fe de Nuevo Mexico.
In 1803, the United States made a territorial claim to the eastern part of the Rocky Mountains, which the Spanish, who claimed sovereignty over the territory, contested. In 1846, the U.S. went to war with Mexico, winning and claiming the Southern Rocky Mountains for American settlement. In 1857, gold seekers began flooding the territory to search for gold, which led to the beginning of the “Pikes Peak Gold Rush.”
On February 28, 1861, Colorado became a U.S. territory and on August 1, 1876, President Grant signed a proclamation admitting Colorado to the Union as the 38th State, 28 days after the Centennial Celebration of the United States, earning it the moniker “Centennial State.” ‘Colorado Day’ was first celebrated in 1907.
Sights to See
Prehistoric Colorado comes to life in the Florissant Fossil Beds where there is one of the most abundant deposits of fossils in the world and is part of the Green River Formation, that’s located across parts of Colorado, Wyoming, and Utah. Along the cliffs of Mesa Verde, a city once thrived that was populated by the Ancient Pueblo people.
Rocky Mountain National Park provides breathtaking views, trails, camping and more. With an elevation higher than any other state, Colorado counts 53 mountain peaks that reach 14,000 feet or more making the state’s rugged landscape attractive for hikers and rock climbers. Known as “fourteeners” in the mountaineering world, these peaks are on many a climbing to-do list.
And now one of my favorite trivia items about my adopted state: Colorado also stakes claim to the creation of the creamy and delicious root beer float! Those white frosty peaks of ice cream in churning dark root beer seem appropriate somehow for the Rocky Mountain State.
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