List of Colorado county name etymologies

This is a list of Colorado county name etymologies.cite web | date = 2001-04-18 | url = http://www.colorado.gov/dpa/doit/archives/arcgov.html | title = Colorado Government History | format = HTML | publisher = State of Colorado, Department of Personnel & Administration, Colorado State Archives | accessdate = 2008-09-25] Colorado counties tend to be named after U.S. and state politicians, geographic and other locations in the counties, Native American tribes and early settlers, with many of the geographic terms resulting from early Spanish exploration of the area.

*Adams County is named in honor of Alva Adams, the fifth Governor of the State of Colorado.
*Alamosa County is named from a Spanish word meaning "cottonwood grove".
*Arapahoe County is named for its predecessor county, Arapahoe County, Kansas Territory, which in turn was named for the Arapaho Native American tribe.
*Archuleta County is named in honor of Colorado State Senator Antonio D. Archuleta.
*Baca County is named in honor of the prominent Baca family of Trinidad, Colorado, members of which had settled early in the area.
*Bent County is named in honor of frontier trader William Bent.
*Boulder County is named from the abundance of boulders in the area.
*The City and County of Broomfield is named for the quantity of broom corn which was grown nearby.
*Chaffee County is named in honor of Jerome Bunty Chaffee, a United States senator from Colorado.
*Cheyenne County is named for the Cheyenne Native American tribe.
*Clear Creek County is named for Clear Creek, which runs through the county.
*Conejos County is named from the Spanish word for rabbits, as cottontail rabbits are abundant in the area.
*Costilla County is named for the Costilla River.
*Crowley County is named in honor of Colorado State Senator John H. Crowley.
*Custer County is named in honor of George Armstrong Custer, the U.S. Army Colonel defeated at the Battle of Little Bighorn.
*Delta County is named for Delta, Colorado, located at the Uncompahgre River delta.
*The City and County of Denver is named in honor of James William Denver, Governor of the Territory of Kansas from 1857 to 1859.
*Dolores County is named for the Dolores River, originally "Rio de Nuestra Senora de los Dolores", or, in English, "River of our Lady of Sorrows".
*Douglas County is named in honor of United States Senator Stephen Arnold Douglas.
*Eagle County is named for the Eagle River.
*El Paso County is named for Ute Pass. "El paso" is Spanish for "the pass".
*Elbert County is named in honor of Samuel Hitt Elbert, the sixth Governor of the Territory of Colorado.
*Fremont County is named in honor of John Charles Frémont, the explorer and U.S. Senator.
*Garfield County is named in honor of James Abram Garfield, the twentieth President of the United States.
*Gilpin County is named in honor of William Gilpin, the first Governor of the Territory of Colorado.
*Grand County is named for the Grand River, later renamed the Colorado River.
*Gunnison County is named in honor of John Williams Gunnison, the U.S. Army captain who explored the region.
*Hinsdale County is named in honor of George Aaron Hinsdale, a lieutenant governor of Territory of Colorado.
*Huerfano County is named for the Huerfano River. "Huerfano" is "orphan" in Spanish.
*Jackson County is named in honor of Andrew Jackson, the seventh President of the United States.
*Jefferson County is named for its extralegal predecessor county, Jefferson County, Jefferson Territory, which in turn was named in honor of Thomas Jefferson, the author of the Declaration of Independence and the third President of the United States.
*Kiowa County is named for the Kiowa Native American tribe.
*Kit Carson County is named in honor of Christopher Houston (Kit) Carson, the famous frontier scout and soldier.
*La Plata County is named from the Spanish word for "silver". Deposits of that mineral were found in the area during the 18th century.
*Lake County is named for the Twin Lakes within the county.
*Larimer County is named in honor of William Larimer, a pioneer.
*Las Animas County is named for the Spanish language name of the Animas River, "Rio de las Animas Perdidas," meaning "River of the Souls in Purgatory."
*Lincoln County is named in honor of Abraham Lincoln, the sixteenth President of the United States.
*Logan County is named in honor of John Alexander Logan, a general in the American Civil War and United States Senator.
*Mesa County is named for the mesas which are widespread in the county.
*Mineral County is named from the significant mineral deposits found within the county.
*Moffat County was named in honor of railroad pioneer David H. Moffat.
*Montezuma County is named in honor of Moctezuma II, the famous Aztec leader at the time of Spain's conquest of the Aztec Empire. Local ruins were originally thought to have been of Aztec origin.
*Montrose County is named for the City of Montrose, which in turn was named probably from the novel "A Legend of Montrose", published in 1819 by Sir Walter Scott.
*Morgan County is named for Fort Morgan, located in the present-day county.
*Otero County is named in honor of Miguel A. Otero of the prominent Otero family of the Southwest.
*Ouray County is named in honor of Ouray, a Ute Native American leader.
*Park County was named from the fact that the general region was called South Park by early explorers and fur trappers.
*Phillips County is named in honor of R.O. Phillips, secretary of the Lincoln Land Company.
*Pitkin County is named in honor of Frederick Walker Pitkin, the second Governor of the State of Colorado.
*Prowers County is named in honor of John W. Prowers, a pioneer of the lower Arkansas River valley.
*Pueblo County is named for "the pueblo" ("pueblo" is Spanish for "town" or "village") located on the site of the current town of Pueblo, Colorado.
*Rio Blanco County is named for Rio Blanco, or, in English, the White River.
*Rio Grande County is named for the Rio Grande, which runs through the county.
*Routt County is named in honor of John Long Routt, the first Governor of the State of Colorado.
*Saguache County is named from a Ute word meaning "blue earth" or "water at blue earth".
*San Juan County is named for the San Juan River and San Juan Mountains.
*San Miguel County is named for the San Miguel River.
*Sedgwick County is named for Fort Sedgwick, which, in turn, was named for U.S. Army General John Sedgwick.
*Summit County is named from the county's many mountains.
*Teller County is named in honor of Henry Moore Teller, United States Senator from Colorado and United States Secretary of the Interior.
*Washington County is named for George Washington, the first President of the United States.
*Weld County is named in honor of Lewis Ledyard Weld, the first Secretary of the Territory of Colorado.
*Yuma County is named for the Yuma Native American tribe.

ee also

*Lists of U.S. county name etymologies
*Colorado counties
*County (United States)
*State of Colorado

External links

* [http://www.colorado.gov/dpa/doit/archives/arcgov.html Colorado Government History]
* [http://www.kmitch.com/Pueblo/origins.html Pueblo County Presents: Colorado's Dates of Establishment and Origin of County Names]
* [http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~sabthomp/colorado/broomfield/cobr.htm The Broomfield County Colorado Homepage]

References