the race which, after six thousand years, had not yet penetrated
Colorado. Islanded in a cruel brown ocean of sand, she hid her
treasures of gold and silver in her virgin bosom and dreamed,
unstirred by any echoes of civilization. When she woke at last it
was to the sound of an anvil chorus--to the ring of the mallet
and drill, and the hoarse voices of men greedy only for gold.

In 1858, when the Ninth National Convention of women to demand
their legal rights was in session in New York, there were only
three white women in the now rich and beautiful city of Denver.
Still another ten years of wild border life, of fierce
vicissitudes, of unwritten tragedies enacted in forest and mine,
and Colorado was organized into a territory with a population of
5,000 women and 25,000 men.

The first effort for suffrage was made in 1870, during the fifth
session of the legislative assembly, soon after General Edward
McCook was sent out by President Grant to fill the gubernatorial
chair. In his message to the legislature, he promptly recommended
to the attention of its members the question of suffrage for
woman:

Before dismissing the subject of franchise, I desire to call
your attention to one question connected with it, which you
may deem of sufficient importance to demand some
consideration at your hands before the close of the session.
Our higher civilization has recognized woman's equality with
man in all respects save one--suffrage. It has been said
that no great reform was ever made without passing through
three stages--ridicule, argument, and adoption. It rests
with you to say whether Colorado will accept this reform in
its first stage, as our sister territory of Wyoming has
done, or in the last; whether she will be a leader or a
follower; for the logic of a progressive civilization leads
to the inevitable result of a universal suffrage.

This was the first gun of the campaign, and summoned to the field
various contending forces, armed with ridicule, argument, or an
optimistic diplomacy, urging an immediate surrender of the ground
claimed. Bills favoring the enfranchisement of women were
discussed both in the Territorial Council Chamber and in the
lower House of the legislature