Colorado history is filled with maverick men and women who shaped the
state's identity and culture. Trailblazers Zebulon Pike and Stephen Long
laid groundwork for the miners, farmers and statesmen who helped the
area evolve into a territory and a state. Father of Rocky Mountain
National Park Enos Mills and writer Isabella Bird praised the
surrounding natural splendor and championed its preservation.
Entrepreneurs Otto Mears and William Jackson Palmer linked mines with
towns such as Colorado Springs and Telluride, while the innovations of
F.O. Stanley and Nikola Tesla energized the state. Author Phyllis J.
Perry chronicles the lives of thirty men and women who left their
indelible marks on Colorado.