Jefferson Territory - Establishment

Establishment

In April 1859, a tiny convention was held at Wootton's Hall in Auraria about the need for a local government. The name Jefferson (in honor of Thomas Jefferson, the third President of the United States who had authorized the 1803 Louisiana Purchase that included much of the proposed territory) was chosen and a constitutional convention was scheduled for June 6, 1859. The conventioneers met that day, and then adjourned until August 1, 1859, when 37 district representatives met to draft a constitution for Jefferson State, which was subsequently rejected in a popular referendum on September 24. The original authors determined to hold another convention on October 3, and drafted a provisional constitution for the Territory of Jefferson.

The proposed Territory of Jefferson included all of the present State of Colorado, but it was 70 percent more extensive. The territory had the same southern boundary as the present State of Colorado, the 37th parallel north, but it extended 138.1 miles (222.2 kilometers) farther north to the 43rd parallel north, about 2.7 miles (4.3 kilometers) farther east to the 102nd meridian west, and about 50 miles (81 kilometers) farther west to the 110th meridian west. The territory was divided into eight council districts and 19 representative districts.

On October 24, 1859, an election was held to approve the formation of the Provisional Government of the Territory of Jefferson and to elect officials for the territory. The formation of a provisional government was approved by a vote of 1,852 to 280 and the following officials were elected:

On November 7, 1859, Governor Robert Williamson Steele opened the first session of the provisional Jefferson Territorial Legislature in Denver City with the following proclamation:

Let us then enter upon our duties with a determination of spirit that conquers all difficulties: working for the benefit of the whole commonwealth, encouraging moderation and conservation in all our acts, that we may never be ashamed of having taken an humble part of the organization of a Provisional Government for the Territory of Jefferson.

During this first session, the legislature organized 12 counties. (The Colorado General Assembly would create 17 counties with somewhat similar boundaries in 1861.) The legislature adjourned on December 7, 1859.

Many settlers from eastern Kansas preferred to be governed by that territory. Those resistant to the self-government of Jefferson Territory held an election on December 8, 1859, and elected Captain R. Sopris as their representative to the Kansas Territorial Legislature.

Governor Steele called the second session of the provisional Jefferson Territorial Legislature to meet at Denver City on January 23, 1860.

Many disappointed gold seekers left the region in 1860. The United States Census of 1860 counted approximately 35,000 persons in the region of the Jefferson Territory. Governor Steele pointed out that many gold seekers were working claims in remote areas and estimated that the total number of people in the Jefferson Territory was 60,000.

Governor Steele attempted to reach accommodation with the officials of the Kansas Territory. On August 7, 1860, Steele issued a proclamation requesting that the Provisional Government of the Jefferson Territory be merged into the Kansas Territory. Kansas officials would have no merger with what they considered to be an outlaw government, so the stalemate continued.

On November 7, 1860, the U.S. presidential election produced a victory for Abraham Lincoln and precipitated the secession of seven slave states and the formation of the Confederate States of America. These events eliminated any chance for federal endorsement of the Territory of Jefferson and any role in government for Governor Steele, a staunch pro-Union Democrat and vocal opponent of Lincoln and the Republican Party.

Seeking to augment the political power of the free states, the Republican led U.S. Congress hurriedly admitted the portion of the Territory of Kansas east of the 25th meridian west from Washington to the Union as the free State of Kansas on January 29, 1861. Kansas statehood left the western portion of the now defunct Kansas Territory, which the Jefferson Territory also claimed, officially unorganized. While the federal government refused to sanction the Jefferson Territory, it had effectively acknowledged the eastern border of the region.