Hispanic and Latino Coloradans are residents of the state of Colorado who are of Hispanic or Latino ancestry. As of 2020, Hispanics and Latinos of any race made up 21% of the state's population, or 1,269,520 of the state's 5,770,545 residents.[1]

History

1598- During Juan de Oñate's expedition from Mexico, following the Rio Grande del Norte north, he claimed all of the river's drainage for Spain.[2]

1694- The New Mexico governor Diego de Vargas traveled to present-day Colorado, following the Rio Grande to a tributary, Culebra Creek. He recorded several toponyms, including Colorado River.

1706- Juan de Ulibarri claimed the west of present-day Colorado for Spain.[3] Western Colorado was incorporated into Santa Fe de Nuevo México.[4] In 1762, after the Seven Years' War, France ceded western Louisiana to Spain, including eastern Colorado.

1776- The Domínguez-Escalante expedition took place in northern New Spain. Led by friars Silvestre Velez de Escalante and Francisco Atanacio Dominguez, the expedition team sought a route linking Santa Fe to Monterey. They travelled through northern New Mexico, Colorado and Utah.[5]

1787- Juan Bautista de Anza established the settlement of San Carlos near present-day Pueblo, Colorado, but it quickly failed.[3]

1800- Spain returns Louisiana to France in 1800, including eastern Colorado. France later cedes Louisiana to the US in 1803.

1821- Mexico wins independence from Spain. Mexico grows concerned about protecting its northernmost territory from North Americans and US citizens. To reinforce Mexican claims of what is now part of Colorado, Gov. Manuel Armijo creates land grants to attract settlers.[2]

1833- A group of 80 families from Abiquiu and Taos migrated to modern-day Colorado. They settled in Conejos County, but the Navajos attacked them and the settlers lost their goods, so they returned to their homeland.

1840's- The Utes prevent the settlement of Nuevomexicanos.[6] The Maxwell Land Grant is acquired, extending from the Sangre de Cristo Range to as far south as Taos, New Mexico, including modern day Las Animas County.[2]

1848- Northwest Mexico was incorporated into the US, including western Colorado.

1851- A small group of Nuevomexicanos from Taos migrated to the San Luis Valley. They founded the first Hispanic permanent settlement and initiated Hispanic migration to Colorado.[6] This first group was followed by another 50 Nuevomexicano families from Abiquiu and El Llanito, which settled in Guadalupe three years later. San Luis is the oldest permanent town in Colorado.

1854- Town of Guadalupe, Colorado is established, later absorbed by the town of Conejos, in a higher, less flood-prone area.[2]

1860's- Hispanic pastoralists migrate to Colorado from Latin America when the country demanded wool uniforms for its soldiers during the American Civil War, while many other Nuevomexicanos migrated to counties such as Las Animas or Huerfano.

1870's- Over 5,000 people of that origin lived in these counties, making up more than 90% of the population in both regions. From then on, many other Hispanics migrated to Colorado.

1880's- Mexican migration even gave rise to a Hispanic neighborhood in the modern-day "America the Beautiful Park" in Colorado Springs, which included a school, a church and several businesses. This was abandoned in the early 20th century.[7]

1890's- US Congress authorized settlement of land grant claims. The court throws out the Conejos Grant and upholds a reduction of the Vigil and St. Vrain grants from four million acres (16,000 km2) to 97,390.95 acres (39,412.72 ha).[2]

1940's- Following World War I and World War II, Hispanic servicemen move families from rural agricultural areas to urban areas such as Denver and Ft. Collins.[2]

1950's- Hispanics are distributed in various regions of Colorado (San Acacio, Saguache, Guadalupe, etc.).[6]

1960's- Chicano rights organizations are founded in Colorado. Corky Gonzales and Richard Castro bring new contemporary Hispanic history to Colorado. The growth in popularity leads to the elections of Federico Peña, Ken Salazar, and John Salazar.[2]

1990 to Present - The Hispanic population grows significantly, consisting of mostly Mexicans, seeking better social and economic conditions.

2010- US Census confirms Hispanics are the fastest growing and largest ethnic group in Colorado. Approximately one in five Coloradans is Hispanic and one in three from Denver is Hispanic.[2]

Demographics

According to the Latino Leadership Institute website, Hispanics number more than 100,000 people in Adams, Arapahoe, Denver and El Paso. They represented over 33% in Adams, Alamosa, Conejos, Costilla, Huerfano, Las Animas, Morgan, Otero, Prowers, Pueblo, Rio Grande and Saguache counties. Most of the Hispanics and Latinos of Colorado live in Western Colorado. The majority of Hispanics in the state are under the age of 18 (35% of Hispanics), while the rest of the Hispanic population is mainly made up of the 18-34 and 35-54 age groups (28% and 25% respectively).[8]

(self-identified ethnicity, not by birthplace)
Ancestry by origin (2019 surveys)[9] Population %
Argentine 4,448
Bolivian 1,521
Chilean 2,890
Colombian 8,149
Costa Rican 4,118
Cuban 12,823
Dominican 4,920
Ecuadorian 1,922
Guatemalan 11,901
Honduran 5,616
Mexican 920,228
Nicaraguan 2,035
Panamanian 3,026
Paraguayan 204
Peruvian 8,824
Puerto Rican 42,525
Salvadoran 24,375
"Spanish" 54,922
"Spaniard" 50,819
"Spanish American" 3,161
Uruguayan 183
Venezuelan 4,710
All other 83,342
Total 1,256,903
Hispanic or Latino Origin[10][11] 2010 Census 2010 percenatge 2020 Census[12] 2020 Percentage
Mexicans 757,181 15.1% 903,912 15.6%
Central Americans 29,386 0.6% 63,834 1.1%
South Americans 19,117 0.4% 46,735 0.8%
Other Hispanic 202,011 4.0% 223,743 3.8%
Total 1,007,695 20% 1,293,214 22.3%

Cities and town where the Hispanics are majority (2010 census)

Places with between 10,000 and 25,000 people

Places with fewer than 10,000 people

Historic Hispanic/Latino population

Colorado Colorado Number of people of Mexican Origin (1880-1930) and of Hispanic/Latino Origin (1940-2020) in Colorado[13][14][15][16][a] +% of Population of Mexican Origin (1880-1930)
and of Hispanic/Latino Origin (1940-2020) in Colorado
1860 + 2,000 (immigrants)[6]
1870 11,95 30%[17]
1880 13,311[18]
1890 N/A
1900 19,273[18]
1910 3,196 - 23,991[18] 0.4% (percentage of first data)
1920 15,034 - 38,665[18] 1.6% (percentage of first data)
1930 59,040 - 80,355[18] 5.7% (percentage of first data)
1940 92,549 8.2
1950 119,258 9.0%
1960 157,855 9.0%
1970 255, 994 (15% sample) 11.6
1980 339,717 11.8
1990 424,302 12.9
2000 735,801 17.1%
2010 1,038,687 20.7%
2020 1,263,390 21.9%

Notable residents

See also

References

  1. ^ "Colorado QuickFacts from the US Census Bureau". Quickfacts.census.gov. 2018. Retrieved January 23, 2019.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h "Colorado Hispanic / Latino Historical Overview | History Colorado". www.historycolorado.org. Retrieved 2023-03-27.
  3. ^ a b Carl Ubbelohde, Duane A. Smith, Maxine Benson: A Colorado History, Pruett Publishing, 2006, p. 17
  4. ^ Cardelús, Borja (2007). La huella de España y de la cultura hispana en los Estados Unidos (2nd ed.). Madrid: Centro de Cultura Iberoamericana (CCI). p. 174. ISBN 978-84-611-5036-6.
  5. ^ Solorzano, A (1998). "Struggle over Memory: The Roots of the Mexican Americans in Utah, 1776 through the 1850s". Aztlán: A Journal of Chicano Studies.
  6. ^ a b c d Carl Abbott; Stephen J. Leonard; Thomas J. Noel (August 15, 2015). Colorado: A History of the Centennial State (4th ed.). University Press of Colorado. ISBN 978-0-87081-800-4.
  7. ^ Francisco Miraval (February 22, 2020). Vecinos rescatan del olvido barrio hispano de ciudad del sur de Colorado. El Diario.es.
  8. ^ COLORADO'S DEMOGRAPHIC DESTINY. Publisher by Latino Leadership Institute. Retrieved on October 20, 2021.
  9. ^ "HISPANIC OR LATINO ORIGIN BY SPECIFIC ORIGIN: 2019 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates". United States Census Bureau. 2019.
  10. ^ US Census Bureau: "Redistricting Data, First Look at Local 2010 Census Results" Archived 2013-10-20 at the Wayback Machine
  11. ^ US Census Bureau, Systems Support Division. "Population by Race and Hispanic or Latino Origin for the United States: 1990 and 2000 (PHC-T-1)". Census.gov. Archived from the original on 20 January 2012. Retrieved 16 January 2018.
  12. ^ "Explore Census Data". data.census.gov. Retrieved 2023-03-27.
  13. ^ "Historical Census Statistics on Population Totals By Race, 1790 to 1990, and By Hispanic Origin, 1970 to 1990, For The United States, Regions, Divisions, and States" (PDF). Census.gov. p. 76. Retrieved 2015-07-30.
  14. ^ "U.S. Census of Population: 1960" (PDF). Www2.census.gov. Retrieved 2012-09-30.
  15. ^ "The Hispanic Population: 2000" (PDF). US Census Bureau. Retrieved 2015-07-30.
  16. ^ "The Hispanic Population: 2010" (PDF). US Census Bureau. Retrieved 2015-07-30.
  17. ^ Jens Manuel Krogstad; Mark Hugo Lopez (June 10, 2014). "For three states, share of Hispanic population returns to the past". Pew Research Center.
  18. ^ a b c d e José A. Cobas; Joe R. Feagin; Daniel J. Delgado; Maria Chávez (2009). Latino Peoples in the New America: Racialization and Resistance. New Critical Viewpoints On Society Series. p. 3. ISBN 978-0-429-75363-3.
  19. ^ "Casimiro Barela: Perpetual Senator". Colorado Virtual Library. 2015-07-13. Retrieved 2020-04-09.
  20. ^ "Casimiro Barela (1847-1920)". Denver Public Library History. 2019-06-14. Retrieved 2020-04-09.
  21. ^ "Casimiro Barela" (PDF). History Colorado.
  22. ^ "Rodolfo "Corky" Gonzales". Denver Public Library History. 2014-06-26. Retrieved 2020-04-09.

External links

Demographics of the United States
Hispanic and Latino Americans by location
Category