Mennonite-related locations in Colorado. Map by planiglobe

Colorado (area 104,247 sq. miles; pop. 1,1. million in 1950; 4.5 million in 2003), a state known for its Pikes Peak among the 200 or more peaks over 13,000 feet high. The discovery of gold in the Pikes Peak region in 1858 led to the first important settlements of English-speaking people. In 1950 mining was an important industry in the state.

But the chief attraction for Mennonite colonization was its agricultural resources. There is a wide arid plain on the eastern slope of the mountains which was adapted for stock raising and the production of grain and feed crops. The Arkansas and Platte River valleys furnished large areas of potential irrigation projects which through the years have been developed. Besides this eastern slope, there were the smaller rich valleys between the mountain ranges on the western slope which were well adapted to a varied agricultural program.

The promising agricultural opportunities led the Old Order Amish to establish three settlements in Colorado during 1909-1910 -- in Elbert, Cheyenne and Crowley counties. Lack of resources, poor crops, and internal disunity were factors that led to the failure of all three communities by 1920.

Agricultural possibilities also attracted Mennonite (MC) colonization to several areas of the state, where churches were established. One of the earliest of these was established near the close of the 19th century at Thurman, about 80 miles east of Denver. A few years later the colony at Limon was established. About 1900 the Holbrook irrigation project was developed near La Junta. Mennonite settlers under the leadership of J. M. Nunemaker, R. J. Heatwole, and others established rural homes here and the East Holbrook and La Junta Mennonite churches.

Another factor that contributed largely in the making of the Colorado Mennonite churches was the attraction of climate for health seekers. Following the Trudeau experiment in tuberculosis treatment, many sanatoria were established in the arid climate of the Rocky Mountains. Some Mennonites were thus induced to move west. These health seekers centered around La Junta. From the need created by this movement there was born the idea of a sanatorium built by the Mennonite Church. From this grew the Mennonite Sanitarium west of La Junta, and later the Mennonite Hospital and Sanitarium, and the La Junta Mennonite School of Nursing in La Junta.

In Rocky Ford, CO, another hospital was built in 1953, to be operated by the Mennonite Church (MC) as an integral part of the Mennonite Hospital and Sanitarium of La Junta. The Mennonite Board of Missions and Charities also negotiated a contract to operate a hospital to be built by the Glenwood Springs community. These two additions would add much to the resources of the church in taking care of the sick in Colorado.

Through these activities the Colorado Mennonite program was publicized throughout the Mennonite Church as a whole. This work also served to strengthen the Mennonite church program throughout the state.

Another factor aiding the growth of the church was the missionary activity of the Kansas, Nebraska, Missouri, and Iowa Mennonite (MC) churches. Some Mennonites were settled in Colorado Springs. Others came out for the summer for employment in the rush tourist season. This led to the suggestion that the church should establish a mission in Manitou Springs, both to conserve Mennonites who were there and to reach the tourist group for Christ. In the 1950s there was a well-established congregation in Manitou Springs.

The Denver Mennonite Church was the outgrowth of missionary suggestions prompted by the affiliated nurses in Denver, sent there by the home school of nursing in La Junta. From a small mission effort, this work grew to an established congregation.

The Pueblo church was also begun as a missionary venture sponsored through the La Junta Mennonite congregation. This was organized as a congregation in 1949. The work was not large, but was active as a missionary center with some support from the South Central Mennonite Conference Mission Board.

Thus through agricultural colonization, hospital institutional work, and missionary endeavor a quite virile Mennonite program developed in Colorado.

Likewise a missionary program was started by the East Holbrook Mennonite Church among the Spanish people. This grew into a Spanish mission church at La Junta under the auspices of the General Mission Board, Elkhart, IN.

In 1954 the General Conference Mennonites had one congregation in Colorado, located at Vona. Its membership in 1954 was 20. A Mennonite Brethren congregation reported 50 members in 1948. In 1950 the total number of baptized Mennonites in Colorado was therefore approximately 550. AHE

Clear evidence of Mennonite settlement in Colorado dates from ca. 1900. However, since Dunkers (Church of the Brethren) were there by the early 1870s, it is likely that small groups of Mennonites had entered the state by the 1880s.

Mennonite migration to Colorado continued to increase after World War II, with the largest concentrations arriving in the early 1950s and the late 1960s when hundreds of conscientious objectors were assigned to hospital work during the Korean conflict and the Vietnam War. By the late 1950s the General Conference Mennonite Church (GCM) and the Mennonite Brethren (MB) had established congregations in the Denver metropolitan area.

In 1987 there were nearly 1,800 baptized members of Mennonite congregations in the state. There were 17 Mennonite Church (MC) congregations with more than 1,100 members, 2 of which were dually affiliated with the General Conference Mennonite Church; 6 General Conference congregations with 300 members; and 4 Mennonite Brethren congregations with 370 members.

Mennonites are active in a variety of outreach ministries in Colorado. In 1987 Mennonite Board of Missions (MC) and Mennonite Health Resources administered or sponsored hospitals, medical centers, and nursing homes in La Junta, La Jara, Walsenburg, and Rocky Ford. A Voluntary Service (VS) unit was located at La Jara. Rocky Mountain Mennonite Camp (established in 1951) is located near Divide, CO. The General Conference Mennonite Church operated three VS units in the Denver area. Mennonite (MC, GCM, Manitoba, Canada) congregations in Denver cooperated in sponsoring Mennonite Urban Ministries and an Mennonite Central Committee Thrift Shop and Ten Thousands Villages store in Lakewood.

Bibliography

Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Scottdale, Pennsylvania, and Waterloo, Ontario, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 1, p. 646, v. 5, p. 168-169. All rights reserved. For information on ordering the encyclopedia visit the Herald Press website.

©1996-2008 by the Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. All rights reserved.

To cite this page: