Salida - The State Capital
- Title:
- Salida - The State Capital
- Alternate Title:
- Salida - The State Capital
- Collection:
- Persuasive Maps: PJ Mode Collection
- Creator:
- Moore, J.M.
- Other Creators:
- Rand, McNally & Co.
- Date:
- 1881
- Posted Date:
- 2017-04-14
- ID Number:
- 2046.01
- File Name:
- PJM_2046_01.jpg
- Style/Period:
- 1870 - 1899
- Subject:
- Advertising & Promotion
Deception/Distortion
Politics & Government
Ethnocentrism
Not So Persuasive - Measurement:
- 26 x 36 on page 59 x 42 (centimeters, height x width)
- Notes:
- A political map arguing that Salida should become the capital of Colorado. When Colorado became a state in 1876, the drafters of its Constitution were concerned that the designation of a permanent state capital would cause residents of other cities to oppose ratification. Accordingly, they designated Denver the temporary capital and provided for selection of a permanent capital by popular vote five years later. When that time came, there were five contenders: Denver, Pueblo, Colorado Springs, Canon City and Salida, a tiny railroad junction established as a town only the previous year.
Salida's election campaign consisted of full page editorials in every edition of its weekly newspaper, the Mountain Mail, beginning at least on September 10 and continuing until this one on November 5, two days before the vote. The Mountain Mail's editor, J. M. Moore, argued that Salida should become the state capital primarily because it was "the Geographical Center" of the state. In 1881, when transportation and communication were rudimentary, such an argument carried much more weight than it would today - particularly in a rugged, mountainous state like Colorado. And Moore's map clearly shows Salida precisely in the center of the state. In fact, Saliba is not at the geographic center of Colorado. It is about 38 miles southwest of the center, just a little closer than Denver, which is about 56 miles northeast of the center. The Moore's map distorted the sizes and shapes of several counties and cropped the northern and eastern sides of the map, eliminating portions of what was then seven counties.
Denver won the election with almost two-thirds of the popular vote. J.M. Moore's reaction a few days later: "Salida . . . don't need the State capital in her business. If she had needed it she would have got there." http://coloradoreflections.blogspot.com/2009/01/salida-colorado-state-capital.html, accessed December 24, 2016.
For further information on the Collector’s Notes and a Feedback/Contact Link, see https://persuasivemaps.library.cornell.edu/content/about-collection-personal-statement and https://persuasivemaps.library.cornell.edu/content/feedback-and-contact - Source:
- [Salida Colorado] Mountain Mail, November 5, 1881.
- Repository:
- Private Collection of PJ Mode
- Format:
- Image
- Rights:
- For important information about copyright and use, see http://persuasivemaps.library.cornell.edu/copyright.