Government
The discovery of gold in 1858 brought people to the fledgling towns of Denver City, Auraria and other front range mining camps. The new inhabitants quickly realized the need for some form of government and movement began toward a territorial and a subsequent state government which led up to the admittance of Colorado as the 38th state of the Union on August 1, 1876.
Links
Chronology of the Colorado Constitution: Eighteen Years to Statehood
1876 Colorado Constitution (PDF copy)
The Constitutional Convention of 1875