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In 1741, Pierre and Paul Mallet, two French explorers, investigated the
Platte River. This lithograph is from a sketch by Samuel Seymour, who
traveled with the Stephen Long Expedition in 1820.
Douglas County came into the United States as part of the Louisiana Purchase
in 1803.
Francis Parkman had just graduated from Harvard when he came to Douglas
County in 1846 and wrote about his adventures in the book The Oregon Trail.
Photo courtesy Peter Landry at www.blupete.com
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c. 1500
|
| |
| * Ute Indians settle in Rocky Mountain Region of
Colorado, including Western Douglas County. (CSA
p.1) |
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1682
|
| |
| * Robert Cavalier, Sieur de La Salle claims Mississippi
River drainage for France. He names the area Louisiana for Louis XIV.
(Stone p.34) |
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1741
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| * Pierre and Paul Mallet follow the Platte River
to the Rocky Mountains. This would have put them in Douglas County.
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1763
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|
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| * The Treaty of Paris is signed, ending of French
and Indian War. France cedes Louisiana to Spain. (Stone
p.35) |
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1801
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|
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| * The Treaty of Madrid forces Spain to relinquish
the Louisiana Territory to France. (Stone
p.35) |
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1803
|
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| * April 30: Napoleon sells the Louisiana Territory
to United States for $15 Million (Magill
p.445) |
| * May 9: Negotiations completed for the Louisiana
Purchase. |
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1820
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|
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| * Numerous Native American tribes live in the Colorado
area. The Utes live in the mountains, the Cheyenne and Arapahoe reside
on the plains from the Arkansas to the Platte rivers. (CSA) |
| * July 7: Major Stephen Long and the Long Expedition
enters Douglas County near the area where the South Platte River flows
from the mountains. |
| * July 9: Long and another ascend a high butte, probably
Dawson Butte, to get their bearings. July 10: The Long Expedition
exits Douglas County to the south. (Bell
p. 148-159) |
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1831
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|
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| * Thomas Fitzpatrick, founder of the Rocky Mountain
Fur Company, surveys what is now I-25 through Douglas County. (Douglas
County News, December 1974.) |
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1843
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|
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| * John C. Fremont's second expedition takes Fremont
and thirty-eight companions through Douglas County. Among members
of the company are Kit Carson, and future territorial governor William
Gilpin. (Stone p.58) |
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1846
|
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| * August: Francis Parkman travels though future Douglas
County on his exploration of the American West. His travels are recounted
in his book The Oregon Trail. (Parkman
p.305-306) |
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1849
|
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| * Parties of miners, including Green
Russell travel the Trapper's Trail on the way to the California Gold
Rush. They discover a little gold along Cherry Creek, possibly in
future Douglas County. (Hall, Vol.
III p.333 and Spencer) |
| * The Trappers Trail is renamed the
Cherokee Trail (Sanford p.30) |
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