[Colorado]:

$27,500 · Offered by William Reese Company · No longer available

CONSTITUTION OF THE STATE OF JEFFERSON. [Contained in: ROCKY MOUNTAIN NEWS. Vol. 1. No. 13]. [with:] PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONVENTION TO FORM A PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT FOR THE TERRITORY OF JEFFERSON. ... A great rarity of Colorado political and printing history, these two issues of the Rocky Mountain News contain the full text of the constitution of the "State [actually Territory] of Jefferson," the political entity that preceded the formation of the Colorado Territory by two years, and the proceedings of the convention to form a provisional government for the territory. They therefore contain the earliest framework of government for what is now Colorado. As Colorado imprints, they are preceded only by the previous twelve issues of the newspaper, a single issue of another paper, and a broadside printing of the laws of the Gregory Mining District.The Territory of Jefferson comprised Arapahoe County in the Kansas Territory, covering almost exactly the same area as the present-day state of Colorado. The Pike's Peak Gold Rush of the late 1850s brought an influx of settlers to the region, and the inhabitants felt the need to have a closer, more responsive government than those in Kansas. A convention was held in April 1859 in Auraria, and a constitutional convention was planned for June. The convention concluded its work in August 1859, creating the constitution printed in this August 20 issue of the Rocky Mountain News. The proceedings of the convention are covered in the October 20

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