Colorado was the source of numerous territorial claims by several nations and groups in the 19th century. Originally claimed by the Spanish, the United States later laid claim to parts of the territory as it expanded west. Parts of what is now Colorado were claimed at various times by Mexico, the Mormon state of Deseret, and the Confederate States of America. The territory went unorganized for quite a long time, while the Native Americans, Hispanic settlers, and white prospectors that lived there carried on in absence of governmental authority. The territory was part of a heated debate by the American North and South over whether slavery would be allowed in the western state, an argument which ultimately culminated in the American Civil War.
