Colorado History Summary

For the second half of this semester in Colorado History, I chose to read Colorado: A Sports History, by CU Denver’s very own James Whiteside. This book goes into detail on the history and impact of sports in Colorado - from early Indian games all the way to the legacy of the University of Colorado Buffaloes and the Denver Broncos. This state was shaped and effected by the emergence of sports, whether a fun pastime or an economic monopoly, sports of all kinds have a rich history in The Centennial State. This paper will discuss the importance of Whiteside’s discussion of Indian sports, recreational skiing, and the modern day popularity of college football. At first glance, Whiteside’s novel overwhelmed me from it’s sheer size in relevance
Whiteside’s extensive sports knowledge coupled with a writing style that in informative yet compelling made for an amazingly fascinating read. Not only does he explain the sporting changes throughout Colorado’s history, but analyzes how these changes reflected larger social, economic, and cultural changes within the communities. The first chapter of the book is titled “Interacting with the Sacred: American Indian Sports in Colorado.” This chapter is FANTASTIC; growing up in a rural community on the Eastern Plains, I am so stranger to Indian cultures, but rarely have I been educated on their sporting and gaming traditions. Today, Americans view sports as a fun and recreational pastime. People from all walks of life become united on College Game Days, or when they hear that familiar NFL Sunday theme song. We love - no scratch that - we adore our teams, players, and coaches. Backtrack two hundred years ago and Native Americans viewed gaming though a different lens, one of religion and spirituality. Whiteside recounts this fact eloquently: “In traditional Indian societies, sport was an expression of life of the community-it’s values, myths, techniques of survival-as well as entertainment” (pg.6). Each game was laden with semiotics, and
Dr. Whiteside then ushers in a whole new feel of Colorado sports, and that is the gambling and recreational ways of participating in activities during the 1800s. Mining towns were known for their mundane appearances and monotonous tendencies. Day in and day out, men headed to the mine shafts in the mountainous terrain in hopes of striking it rich. The games that were created out of sheer boredom during this lifestyle remind me so much of my childhood in small-town, U.SA. Their pastime activities were a large reflection on the downright depressive tones that unfortunately define this epoch at times. When push comes to shove, the most commonplace of items can (and did) become toys! Miners participated in unique competitions such as rock drilling and fire cart racing. Skiing, one of Colorado’s most famous pastimes, has it’s roots dug deep in early Colorado mining towns. The winter months in the mountains brought along severe weather and heavy snowfall. When doctors, midwives, and other town necessities needed to reach patients, skiing was their most common mode of transportation. The newly found activity quickly morphed into weekly competitions, and soon the Colorado Rockies were