COLORADO (see 6.717). The pop. of the state in 1920 was 939,629; in 1910, 799,024—an increase of 140,605, or 17.6% as compared with 48% in the preceding decade. Native-born were 83.8% in 1919, whites 98%, negroes and Indians numbered 12,935, and there were 3,736 Chinese and 2,300 Japanese. The density of pop. increased from 7.7 persons to the sq.m. in 1910 to 9.1 in 1920. The decay of mining towns altered the balance between urban and rural pop.; in 1920 the urban pop. was 48.2%, the rural 51.8%; in 1910 the urban 50.7% and the rural 49.3%. The pop. in 1920 of the six cities then having a pop. of over 10,000, their pop. for 1910 and the percentage of increase, were:—
| 1920 | 1910 | Increase Per cent | |
| Denver | 256,491 | 213,381 | 20.2 |
| Pueblo | 43,050 | 41,747 | 3.1 |
| Colorado Springs | 30,105 | 29,078 | 3.5 |
| Boulder | 11,006 | 9,539 | 15.4 |
| Greeley | 10,958 | 8,179 | 34.0 |
| Trinidad | 10,906 | 10,204 | 6.9 |
Leadville decreased in pop. from 12,455 in 1900 to 7,508 in 1910 and to 4,959 in 1920.
Agriculture.—During the decade 1910–20 agriculture displaced mining as Colorado's most important industry. The number of farms increased 29.8%, to 59,934; their area 80.8%, to 24,462,014 ac.; and their average size 39.2%, to 408.1 acres. The value of all farm property increased 119.1%, to $1,076,794,749. Land values
were estimated at $763,722,716; buildings at $102,290,944; implements and machinery at $49,804,509; and live stock at $160,976,580. The farm crops in 1919 were:—
| Crop | Acreage | Production | Value |
| All crops | $181,065,239 | ||
| Cereals, total | 2,640,664 | 38,436,55 bus. | 63,380,214 |
| Corn | 752,637 | 10,105,627 bus. | 14,147,875 |
| Oats | 174,189 | 4,535,527 bus. | 4,308,752 |
| Wheat | 1,328,616 | 18,260,663 bus. | 37,616,960 |
| Hay and forage | 2,215,730 | 3,580,123 tons | 60,769,080 |
| Vegetables | 24,804,225 | ||
| Misc. crops, total | 176,494 | 17,673,726 | |
| Fruits and nuts | 8,751,678 | ||
| Orchard fruits | 4,627,825 bus. | 8,226,734 |
The irrigated area was 2,792,032 ac. in 1909, 3,348,385 ac. in 1919, while acreage under all irrigation enterprises, whether completed or not, had decreased from 5,917,457 to 5,220,588 acres. Organized drainage enterprises, most of them having been rendered necessary by faulty irrigation, had affected 171,656 ac. at a cost of $1,081,875. In 1920 there were in the state 420,704 horses, 31,125 mules, 3,099 asses and burros, 1,434,423 beef cattle, 322,193 dairy cattle, 1,813,255 sheep, 28,688 goats, and 449,866 swine. In the same year the number of poultry was 2,994,347, and there were 63,253 hives of bees.
Mining.—Colorado's rank among the states in the production of the principal metals in 1918 was as follows: Radium, first, with an output of $7,500,000; tungsten, first, with an output of $1,833,600; gold, second, with an output of $12,944,600; lead, second, with an output of 64,282,841 lb.; zinc, fifth, with an output of 88,141,748 lb.; silver, fifth, with an output of 7,071,768 oz.; copper, tenth, with an output of 6,423,919 pounds. Production of coal reached a total of 12,511,481 short tons in 1917. Petroleum production in 1917 fell off to 204,000 barrels. There has been great interest in the deposits of oil shale in the Green river formation in the western parts of the state. Processes for exploitation on a commercial scale have not yet been put in operation.
Manufactures.—From 1900 to 1920 the number of manufacturing establishments in Colorado nearly doubled, the number of persons engaged more than doubled, and the capital invested increased 225%. In 1919 there were 2,631 manufacturing establishments, employing 44,731 persons, using capital to the amount of $243,827,000, and the value of the products was $275,622,000. Higher prices rather than increased production caused most of the increase. In 1914 the state ranked thirty-second in value of manufactured products, which represented only 0.6 % of the value for the United States. Beet-sugar manufacture became the leading factory industry in 1914. There were 14 operating plants in 1919, which manufactured sugar valued at more than $37,000,000. Slaughtering and meatpacking products amounted to more than $41,000,000. Flour and gristmill products ranked third in 1914, with a value of $7,535,633; a moderate increase in output in 1919 was accompanied by high prices, giving that year an unusual value of $20,000,000. Butter, cheese, and condensed-milk industries became important, their products being estimated at $12,000,000 in 1919.
Education.—In 1919 the illiterates, 10 years of age or over, were 3.7% of the pop. of the state, although the foreign-born whites of those ages were 11.3%. There were 1,880 school districts in the state in 1919, maintaining 3,125 schools and employing about 7,500 teachers. The school pop. for the year ending June 30 1918 was 257,884, and the enrolment in public schools 191,199. Public school expenditures for the year were $9,892,699. The total amount invested in school property was $15,212,000, an average of $79.08 per pupil enrolled. The state's permanent school fund, derived from Federal land grants, amounted to $4,948,492 in 1918. The income of the permanent school fund (about $600,000) is apportioned among the school districts, giving about $2.35 per capita of the school population. Sales and leases of school lands, and royalties on minerals, have increased the state school funds, and the unsold lands, together with coal and other mineral reserves, are estimated at $125,000,000. County and district tax levies, the main source of school revenues, produced $11,572,155 in 1918. There was a pronounced movement for the consolidation of rural schools, and for joint support of centralized schools in which two or more counties are interested. The Legislature of 1921 passed a law providing a minimum salary for teachers graded for the several classes of districts. Several districts in cities (notably in Denver, Colorado Springs, and Sterling) in 1920 adopted salary schedules which fixed higher standards for teachers with advanced professional training. Public high schools and institutions of higher education developed from 1910 to 1920 even more rapidly than elementary schools. Enrolment of students taxed the capacity of secondary schools and colleges, requiring increased taxation for current expenditures and bond issues for buildings. The enrolment in the secondary schools in 1920 was 24,404; in 1910, 11,495.
Finances.—The total bonded indebtedness of the state Nov. 20 1920 was $4,187,300. The general assessment valuation of taxable property in 1919 was $1,498,661,128, in 1920 $1,591,307,396, on which there was a state levy of 3.47 mills, producing $5,200,355 in 1919 and $5,521,836 in 1920.
History.—A special session of the Legislature in 1910 submitted to the voters a constitutional amendment adopting initiative and referendum, which was ratified in Nov. of that year. The same special session adopted a primary election law, providing for direct nominations by the people of candidates for the U.S. Senate, Representatives in Congress, and all elective state, district, county, ward and precinct officers, as well as members of the state Legislature. This Act provided for party assemblies, at which party candidates might be designated to seek nominations in the primaries, every candidate receiving 10% or more of the votes of the delegates to the assembly being certified by the assembly as a candidate to enter the primaries. It was also provided that persons not entering the assembly might become candidates for any of the offices above mentioned by petition, the number of signers required being 300 for any official who is to serve any political district in the state greater than a county and 100 for other officials. The expense of candidates in such primaries was limited by the Act and severe penalties were provided for violations. In 1911 an Act was passed providing for registration of voters for all elections to be held in the state except school elections, and providing severe penalties for false registration and other violations of the Act. In Nov. 1912 the people approved amendments to the state constitution providing for recall of elective officials and, in certain cases, for the recall of judicial decisions. An Act proposed by initiative was passed at the same time, providing for a ballot without party headings.
The voters adopted in Nov. 1914 an amendment to the state constitution prohibiting the sale and manufacture of intoxicating liquor, which became effective Jan. 1 1916. The Legislature at its regular session in 1917 petitioned Congress to adopt an amendment to the Federal Constitution to prohibit the manufacture and sale of intoxicating liquors in the United States, and the prohibition amendment to the Federal Constitution was ratified by the Colorado Legislature in regular session Jan. 15 1919.
The Legislature in 1919 passed an Act providing for a budget system in making appropriations and creating a state budget and efficiency commissioner. The first budget prepared under this Act was presented to the Legislature in 1921. The Legislature in 1921 passed amendments to the constitution, for submission to the voters, proposing the extension of the tenure of state and county officers from two to four years. A proposal was submitted to the voters for a convention to revise the state constitution, this action being simultaneous with the failure of a series of Acts urged by the governor for the reform and consolidation of executive offices and boards. Persistent advocacy by the governor secured the passage of laws for reëstablishment and encouragement of a national guard, for a department of safety with a force of rangers as a state police force, and for a substantial appropriation to be available to suppress riots.
There were a number of serious labour disturbances between 1910 and 1920, some of them marked by violence and virtual insurrection which had to be put down by the military forces. A notable contribution to better relations between capital and labour was the industrial representation plan put into effect by John D. Rockefeller, Jr., in the properties of the Colorado Fuel and Iron Co. in 1916. Employees, by districts and classified groups, elect representatives who have the right to confer with executives on all questions affecting wages, conditions of employment and operation, and general welfare. The success of the system in Colorado has had marked influence on similar large industrial organizations elsewhere.
In 1910 the state administration was in the hands of the Democratic party, with Joseph H. Shafroth as governor. The Democrats again elected a governor in 1912, Elias M. Ammons, a result largely due to the split in the Republican party throughout the nation. In 1914 George A. Carlson, Republican, was chosen governor. He was succeeded by Julius C. Gunter, Democrat, elected in 1916 when the leadership of President Wilson on international issues made his party dominant in the states, largely through women's votes. A reunited Republican party, profiting by popular reaction on war issues, elected Oliver H. Shoup as governor in 1918, and reëlected him in 1920 with an increased majority and a Legislature almost completely Republican.
During the World War, approximately 45,000 men from Colorado served in the army, navy and marine corps, of whom about 22,000 had been drafted. There were in the state 698,169 subscriptions to the Liberty and Victory loans, amounting to $144,813,550, which was 24% more than the quota.
Bibliography.—Wilbur Fiske Stow, History of Colorado (three vols., 1918); Jerome C. Smiley, Semicentennial History of Colorado (1913); Irving Howbert, Indians of the Pike's Peak Region (1914); Prof. James F. Willard, Union Colony of Greeley (State Univ. Hist. Collections, 1918); Enos A. Mills, Spell of the Rockies (1911), Rocky Mountain Wonderland (1915), In Beaver World (1913). Your National Parks (1917); E. Parsons, Guide Book to Colorado (1911); A. C. Carson, Colorado, the Top of the World (1912); Mae Lacy Baggs, Colorado, the Queen Jewel of the Rockies (1918); Alice Palk Hill, Colorado Pioneers in Picture and Story (1915). (C. A. D.)