How do you turn a beet into sugar and what impact did that have on Colorado’s economy? Using authentic tools of historic trades, students explore jobs of the past and the human, capital and natural resources required for that industry. Your class will leave this program with a deep understanding of the economic drivers that built our state after 1850, trying out the jobs for themselves, using authentic artifacts from these industries:
·         Flour Mills
·         Mining
·         Saddlery and Spurs
·         Ice
·         Millinery and Dressmaking
·         Sugar Beets

Who were the migrant peoples who sought to make lives for themselves in Colorado? Which resources drew them here and what factors determined their destinies? Using the tools of an historian and authentic artifacts and photographs, students will uncover the stories of the movement of people across Colorado from pre-history to 1870. Your students can walk through the Colorado Frontier on a massive floor-map, discover the ways resources were used by various industries through inquiry-based object exploration and analysis, and put it all into context in an interactive timeline. Your students will become experts on the migration, trade and interactions of:
·         Ancient Puebloans
·         Utes
·         Cheyenne and Arapaho
·         Hispanos
·         Mountain Men
·         Miners