Uncovering America's Heritage... Coin by Coin

2006 Colorado Quarter

Howdy-do, my friends.  I wanted to write to you about the Colorado quarter from actual experience, so I climbed a fourteener first.  ("Fourteener" is what us mountain climbers call a mountain that's more than 14,000 feet high!)  Course, I'm not really used to climbing mountains.  I feel pretty strange up here.like a fish out of water.  A frozen fish at that!

But I did learn a lot.  For example, the state's nickname that appears on the quarter is "Colorful Colorado."  That's probably because of the colorful mountains, rivers, and plains across the state.  The nickname "Centennial State" comes from the fact that Colorado gained statehood on the 100th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

The Rocky Mountains that pass through Colorado are one of this state's best-known features, great for winter sports like skiing and climbing.  The Rockies are part of a chain of Western mountains that stretches 3,000 miles from Canada through to Mexico.  And the chain has plenty of fourteeners!  The tallest mountain in Colorado is a fourteener.  It's called Mount Elbert, 14,433 feet high.  And Congress created Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado in 1915.

Another interesting thing I learned about the Rocky Mountains is that they form the Continental Divide.  That's a mountainous ridge that runs smack through North America.  Rivers flow down the mountains in opposite directions to both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans and even the Gulf of Mexico.

There's lots more I could tell you about the Rockies.  Of course there's a lot to learn about something so big!  But my time's up for now.  Besides, I have to figure out how to get down from here!  Bye!

—Goldie