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Colorado History Trivia

Colorado History Trivia Quizzes

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2 Colorado History quizzes and 20 Colorado History trivia questions.
1.
  Colorado History    
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
Even non-Coloradans have a chance here. Good Luck.
Difficult, 10 Qns, whocares9989, Jan 02 18
Difficult
whocares9989
1942 plays
2.
  It Happened in Colorado    
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
How well do you know the history of our 38th state?
Tough, 10 Qns, capehaze, Jan 21 13
Tough
capehaze
407 plays
Related Topics
  Colorado Rockies [Sports] (5 quizzes)

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  Colorado [Geography] (17 quizzes)

  Colorado Avalanche [Sports] (20 quizzes)


Colorado History Trivia Questions

1. In November 1864 a band of peaceful Arapahoe and Cheyenne Indians was attacked by vigilantes from Denver, who killed perhaps as many as 150 men, women, and children. What is this event called?

From Quiz
It Happened in Colorado

Answer: Sand Creek Massacre

On November 29, 1864, members of the Colorado Territory militia, numbering 700 strong, attacked and destroyed a village of Cheyenne and Arapaho camped along Sand Creek in southeastern Colorado. The band of Indians was under the leadership of Black Kettle, who had been assured that the American flag he flew over his lodge would protect his village from attack. Today, the National Park Service administers the Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site to honor the victims of this atrocity, most of whom were women and children.

2. Alfred Packer is a notorious figure from Colorado's past. He was convicted and sentenced to death in 1883 for:

From Quiz Colorado History

Answer: manslaughter

Early in the winter of 1874, Alfred Packer became snowbound along with five others. His traveling companions either succumbed to the cold or were murdered by Alfred who claimed self-defense. For nearly two months, Alfred survived by eating their remains. Though he is often thought of as a convicted cannibal, it was killing his fellow travelers that landed him in prison. Originally, Alfred was convicted of murder but the charges were reduced to manslaughter on appeal and the death sentence was commuted.

3. What Ute chief has a town and a mountain peak named for him?

From Quiz It Happened in Colorado

Answer: Ouray

The town of Ouray is located in southwestern Colorado in a box canyon filled with natural hot springs and was a favorite winter camp of the mountain branch of the Ute tribe. Mount Ouray stands at 13,961 feet along the western edge of the San Luis Valley.

4. Colorado was selected to host the 1976 Winter Olympics. They were never held in Colorado. Why?

From Quiz Colorado History

Answer: Colorado voters refused to foot the bill

5. What infamous gold prospector spent the winter of 1874 on the Cannibal Plateau, so named because he killed and ate his five companions?

From Quiz It Happened in Colorado

Answer: Alferd Packer

Warned not to venture into the high country late in the season, the prospectors nevertheless became completely lost and snowbound. When the party ran out of provisions they apparently began to eat their dead, eventually turning on each other. Packer was the only survivor and claimed he had acted in self-defense, though he later confessed to murdering and eating his companions. Sentenced to 40 years in jail for his crimes, he was eventually pardoned and settled in the suburbs of Denver, where he lived until his death at age 65. It is rumored that he spent the last years of his life as a vegetarian.

6. The Pike's Peak gold rush began in 1858 following the discovery of gold at the confluence of the South Platte River and this creek, now surrounded by downtown Denver?

From Quiz It Happened in Colorado

Answer: Cherry Creek

The first gold discoveries in Colorado occurred in what is now Denver. These were placer deposits, gold "dust" eroded from mountain veins and washed downstream to be discovered in shallow gravel bars. Prospectors followed the streams west into the mountains in search of the source of this placer gold, leading to the widespread exploration and settlement of the interior of the state.

7. The 1st Regiment of Colorado Volunteers fought:

From Quiz Colorado History

Answer: for the Union during the Civil War

There were approximately 4,000 Union volunteers.

8. What famous frontiersman and Indian fighter became commandant of Fort Garland in the San Luis Valley following the end of the American Civil War?

From Quiz It Happened in Colorado

Answer: Kit Carson

Following the war, Colonel Carson was appointed commandant of Ft. Garland in the San Luis Valley, an area controlled by the Ute Indian tribe. Many of the original fort's buildings, including the house occupied by Carson and his wife, have been restored and can be visited today.

9. When a National Hockey League franchise first moved to Denver, from where did it move?

From Quiz Colorado History

Answer: Kansas City

The Kansas City Scouts moved to Denver in the late 1970's and became the Colorado Rockies. In 1983, the Colorado Rockies moved to New Jersey to become the New Jersey Devils. The Quebec Nordiques moved to Denver in 1995 becoming the Colorado Avalanche - Denver's 2nd NHL franchise.

10. What military man and early explorer of Colorado represented the Republican Party in the presidential election of 1856?

From Quiz It Happened in Colorado

Answer: John C. Fremont

In November 1848, Fremont led a party into the Sangre de Cristo mountains at the onset of winter, losing 10 of his party to exposure and starvation. He went on to become a US Senator from California and won the nomination of the newly formed, anti-slavery Republican Party in 1856, losing to James Buchanon in the general election.

11. Colorado entered the Union as the 38th state in:

From Quiz Colorado History

Answer: 1876

Colorado became a state as the U.S. celebrated its centennial year (Declaration of Independence signed in 1776).

12. The highest mountain in Colorado is ... ?

From Quiz Colorado History

Answer: Mt. Elbert

At 14,433 feet.

13. Camp Hale, a former US Army training center located along Colorado's Eagle River, was the headquarters of the 10th Mountain Division during World War II. Which ski resort was founded by veterans of this infantry unit following the war?

From Quiz It Happened in Colorado

Answer: Vail

Camp Hale, at 9,300' elevation, was built to provide a training ground for an elite division of mountain soldiers. The 10 Mountain Division was schooled in skiing, mountain climbing, and cold weather survival, and the unit saw action in the mountains of Italy in 1945. Training exercises at Camp Hale exposed the men to the terrain of what is now Vail Mountain, revealing itself to be an ideal location for a commercial ski resort. Vail opened as a ski resort in 1962.

14. Another country which laid claim to all or part of present day Colorado was _____?

From Quiz Colorado History

Answer: Texas

Texas was its own republic beginning in 1836 and laid claim to a narrow strip of mountain territory extending northward to the 42nd parallel. The U.S. purchased this claim from Texas in 1850. Mexico also claimed parts of Colorado up to 1848 when Mexico ceded its claims to the U.S.

15. In November of 1864, U.S. troops attacked a Cheyenne indian camp killing 200 - mostly women and children. This sad day in Colorado history is known as:

From Quiz Colorado History

Answer: The Sand Creek massacre

Neither the Battle of the Little Bighorn nor Wounded Knee occured in Colorado. The Ludlow incident (massacre) involved striking coal miners.

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