THE BOUNDARIES OF COLORADO 



By Frederic L. Paxson 



The State of Colorado is bounded on the north and south, respect- 

 ively, by the thirty-seventh and forty-first parallels of north latitude, 

 and on the east and west by the twenty-fifth and thirty-second meridians 

 of longitude west from Washington. The territory inclosed by this 

 rectangle has had a history of remarkable variety and change. It has 

 at various times, in whole or in part, been subject to the jurisdiction of 

 the independent countries, France, Spain, Mexico, Texas, and the 

 United States; and while under the United States it has formed parts of 

 the territorial governments of Utah and New Mexico, Kansas and 

 Nebraska, and of the State of Texas. It is the purpose of this article to 

 trace the external facts in connection with this history of change. 1 



With the acquisition of Louisiana under the convention of April 30, 

 1803, the territory of Colorado came for the first time within the jurisdic- 

 tion of the United States. The boundaries of this vast province beyond 

 the Mississippi had never been surveyed, and it is doubtful whether at 

 the time of the transfer they were really known. Certain it is that the 

 terms of the treaty threw no light upon them, for the First Consul was 

 not averse to planting seeds of discord between the United States and 

 Spain. The territory had passed from France to Spain in 1763, from 

 Spain to France in 1800, and now, "with the same extent that it now 

 has," 2 was delivered by the French Republic to the United States. 



The province of Louisiana extended, by all laws of discovery, explo- 

 ration, and conquest, to the limits of the drainage basin of the Mississippi. 3 



1 The various boundaries within the United States have been described briefly in Bulletin of the United- 

 States Geological Survey No. 71, which is a pamphlet by Henry Gannett on the "Boundaries of the United 

 States." This is a second edition, printed in 1900, of Bulletin No. 13 of 1885. The second edition is fully 

 illustrated with maps; but these are inaccurate in a number of instances and must be used with care. As a 

 whole, the work is extremely useful. All references in this article are to the second edition. 



a Treaties and Conventions Concluded between the United States of America and Other Powers, p. 331. 



3 Hermann, The Louisiana Purchase (Washington, 1898), contains an excellent map showing the relations 

 of Colorado to Louisiana and Texas. 



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