On August 25, 1855, the
Kansas Territory created
Arapahoe County, a huge county that included the entire western portion of Kansas to the Rocky Mountains. The boundaries of Arapahoe County were defined as: beginning at the northeast corner of
New Mexico, running thence north to the south line of
Nebraska and north line of
Kansas; thence along said line to the east line of
Utah Territory; thence along said line between Utah and Kansas territories, to where said line strikes New Mexico; thence along the line between said New Mexico and the territory of Kansas to the place of beginning. Occupied primarily by
Cheyenne and
Arapaho Indians with few white settlers, the county was never organized. The leaders of the Kansas Territory were preoccupied with the violent events of
Bleeding Kansas, so little time or attention was available to attend to the needs of the far western portion of the territory. The question of whether to admit Kansas to the union as a slave state or free state dominated discussion in the populous eastern portion of the territory and led to three failed constitutional proposals between 1855 and 1858 (the
Topeka,
Lecompton and
Leavenworth constitutions). The
United States Congress was likewise preoccupied with threats of secession by the
slave states. In July 1858, the
Pike's Peak Gold Rush began with the discovery of gold at the
Dry Creek Diggings in Arapahoe County, Kansas Territory (now
Englewood in
Arapahoe County, Colorado). The gold rush brought 100,000 gold seekers to the area known as the
Pike's Peak Country, which included Arapahoe County as well as the unorganized southwestern corner of the
Nebraska Territory and parts of the
New Mexico and
Utah territories. On February 7, 1859, the Kansas Territorial Legislature replaced Arapahoe County with six new unorganized counties and appointed county commissioners for each. The governments were provided with no funds and had no significant effect. The settlers in the region attempted to organize a county on their own and on March 28, 1859, an election was held to elect officers. A total of 774 votes were cast, including 231 from
Auraria and 144 from
Denver City. A desire for a new territorial government kept the elected officials from taking their offices, as doing so would have given recognition to the Kansas Territorial government. In the meantime, Hiram J Graham, the local delegate to Congress, had introduced a bill to establish a new territory in Pike's Peak Country. Though the bill did not pass, it nevertheless encouraged settlers to establish a separate government themselves. ==Establishment==