Jefferson Territory

1858 in Kansas Territory1858 in Nebraska Territory1858 in New Mexico Territory1858 in Utah Territory1859 establishments in the United States ... and 15 more

1861 disestablishments in the United States1861 in Colorado TerritoryColorado TerritoryFormer regions and territories of the United StatesHistory of the American WestJefferson TerritoryKansas TerritoryNew Mexico TerritoryPre-statehood history of ColoradoPre-statehood history of WyomingProposed states and territories of the United StatesStates and territories disestablished in 1861States and territories established in 1859Utah TerritoryWashington Territory

The Provisional Government of the Territory of Jefferson was an extralegal and unrecognized United States territory that existed in the Pike's Peak mining region from October 24, 1859, until it yielded to the new Territory of Colorado on June 6, 1861. The Jefferson Territory, named for Founding Father and third United States president Thomas Jefferson, included land officially part of the Kansas Territory, the Nebraska Territory, the New Mexico Territory, the Utah Territory, and the Washington Territory, but the region was remote from the governments of those five territories. The government of the Jefferson Territory, while democratically elected, was never legally recognized by the United States government, although it managed the territory with relatively free rein for 19 months. Many of the laws enacted by the General Assembly of the Territory of Jefferson were reenacted and given official sanction by the new Colorado General Assembly in 1861.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Jefferson Territory (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).