The Mapping of Colorado: From Indigena to Statehood
The Mapping of Colorado: From Indigena to Statehood is the story of Colorado maps, the people who made them, the methods they employed and what can be found on them. Beginning at a time prior to European contact, when the North American continent was entirely unknown to the rest of the world until the State of Colorado was created in 1876, nearly 400 years later, the state’s history is viewed through the lens of maps showing what people knew or thought they knew at the time. Ninety surviving maps of the origins of our State, found in the archives of the Library of Congress, Denver Public Library, History Colorado and numerous public and private collections, are reproduced in high resolution. These include those of the first explorers, the Native American reservations, Mexican land grants, Kansas Territory, the establishment of the Colorado Territory in 1861, first township surveys, Great Surveys, early trails, gold rush routes, mail and stagecoach routes, railroads, and panoramic views of the State’s cities and towns.
Before photography, movies and television, it was these printed and hand-colored maps that introduced Colorado’s geographical features, diverse cultures, and early development to the world. This is their story.
August 1, 2026 (Colorado’s 150th birthday)
Explore nearly 400 years of Colorado’s story through rare maps, remarkable discoveries, and the people who helped define the American West.
Get to Know the Author
For more than three decades, P. J. Anderson has pursued stories hidden within Colorado’s landscapes, archives, maps and family records. What began as a lifelong interest in local history evolved into years of research, initially centered around Cheyenne Mountain and the Pikes Peak region. Alongside his son Patrick, he spent thirty years exploring Cheyenne Mountain’s trails, uncovering forgotten accounts and preserving stories that might have otherwise been lost. Learning that Zebulon Pike, Stephen H. Long and John C. Fremont had all traveled along the foothills of Cheyenne Mountain in the early 1800’s, they wondered who had been the first to map Colorado. They learned that the first map of Colorado drawn from observable information was a 1777 Spanish map which had then influenced later maps of the early American explorers’ travels through “Colorado” which had then influenced the maps used during the Pikes Peak Gold Rush which had then influenced the maps that created the Territory and State of Colorado. It was fascinating and became the genesis for The Mapping of Colorado, From Indigena to Statehood.”
Book Reviews
“P. J. Anderson’s narrative provides both a history of Colorado as told through maps and an essay about the maps and their makers. Each phase of the state’s cartographic past is covered, including the period of total obscurity, the key explorations, the gold rush, and eventual commercial development. Anderson weaves a story that will entertain and inform. The images of maps are chosen with care and reproduced to a high standard. With an extensive cartobibliography briefly describing about 250 maps, the book will serve as a lasting reference.”
– Wesley Brown, Co-founder, Rocky Mountain Map Society and one of Colorado’s foremost map collectors and benefactors.