Origins
On August 25, 1855, the Kansas Territory created Arapahoe County, a huge county that included the entire western portion of the territory. The boundaries of Arapahoe County were defined as:
Beginning at the northeast corner of New Mexico, running thence north to the south line of Nebraska and north line of Kansas; thence along said line to the east line of Utah Territory; thence along said line between Utah and Kansas territories, to where said line strikes New Mexico; thence along the line between said New Mexico and the territory of Kansas to the place of beginning.
Since Arapahoe County was occupied primarily by Cheyenne and Arapaho Indians with only a few white settlers, the county was never organized. (A remnant of this county survives today as Arapahoe County, Colorado, in the Denver metropolitan area.)
The Pike's Peak Gold Rush began with the discovery of gold in July 1858 at the Dry Creek Diggings in Arapahoe County, Kansas Territory (now Englewood in Arapahoe County, Colorado.) The gold rush brought 100,000 gold seekers to the area known as the Pike's Peak Country, which included Arapahoe County in the Kansas Territory and the unorganized southwestern corner of the Nebraska Territory. The leaders of the Kansas Territory were much preoccupied with the violent events of Bleeding Kansas in the populous eastern portion of the territory, so little time or attention was available to attend to the needs of the far western portion of the territory. The United States Congress was likewise preoccupied with threats of secession by the slave states.
The settlers in the region attempted to organize Arapahoe County on their own. On March 28, 1859, an election was held to elect officers for Arapahoe County. A total of 774 votes were cast, including 231 from Auraria and 144 from Denver City. Unfortunately, the voters did not realize that the Kansas Territorial Legislature had replaced Arapahoe County with six new unorganized counties on February 7, 1859. When no word was received from Kansas Territorial officials, many settlers decided that they should establish a separate government themselves.
Read more about this topic: Jefferson Territory
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