Arapahoe County (Kansas Territory)
The Arapahoe County was a county in Kansas Territory , which consisted of 25 August 1855 to 29 January. 1861
history
On August 25, 1855, the Kansas Territorial Legislature created Arapahoe County to administer the western portion of the Kansas Territory. Today the area is part of the state of Colorado . The county was named after the Arapaho Nation , an Indian people who lived in the area.
In July 1858 gold was discovered along the South Platte River in Arapahoe County. This discovery sparked the Pikes Peak gold rush . To aid local government in the gold mining region, the Kansas Territorial Legislature divided Arapahoe County into six counties on February 7, 1859: a small Arapahoe County, Broderick County , El Paso County , Fremont County , Montana County, and Oro County . None of these six counties was ever organized. Many residents of the mining region did not feel represented by the territorial government, so they voted on October 24, 1859 to form their own Jefferson Territory .
After the Republican Party won the US presidential election in 1860, the US Congress passed a bill that would allow Kansas to join the Union. The Kansas Act of Admission excluded the portion of the Kansas Territory west of the 25th degree of longitude from the new state, making Arapahoe County and the rest of that region once again a disorganized territory.
On February 28, 1861, United States President James Buchanan signed a bill that organized the Colorado Territory . Then on November 1, 1861 , the new Colorado General Assembly organized 17 counties, including a new Arapahoe County , for the new Colorado Territory.
Individual evidence
- ^ An Act for the Admission of Kansas into the Union (cgi-bin) 36th US Congress. January 29, 1861. Retrieved November 26, 2007.
- ^ An Act to provide a temporary Government for the Territory of Colorado ( PDF ; 18 kB) 36th US Congress. February 28, 1861. Retrieved November 26, 2007.