(currently adding the Native American systems of communication after the 9pm deadline)
Colorado quickly became a distinguished region because of the most rampant form of communicative technology in the United States at the start of the Gold Rush – the US Postal Service. The Post Office Department did not bring in financial profit initially, but rather helped connect the east and west coasts. The mail carriers worked to find the best routes of travel and include supply stations on the path to California. The construction of the route would soon be used over the previous route – traveling by steamship down to the Panama canal, then crossing over and back up to the Californian coast.
The first overland mail service was sent from Salt Lake City to California. Overtime, more routes were perfected for safety and efficiency, leading to the opening of more routes, including the legendary Californian Butterfield Overland route. The route eventually managed to deliver postage every 22 days, connecting St. Louis and Memphis to San Francisco. Until the completion of the transcontinental railroad in 1869, mail was carried via stagecoach and steamship. Though postage itself never paid more than half of its expense, yet it was invaluable in expanding state commerce and trade, binding the west to the east.
In the 1890s, the influx of people into Colorado increased with health professionals from abroad because of advertising and exchanging of letters describing Colorado as an ideal atmosphere for healing from consumption. Exchanging of letters led to greater investments in Sanitariums and visits from famous English writers suffering from tuberculosis. It can be argued that Colorado’s initial reputation as a healthy environment for easing TB symptoms in the Midwest ties to its current regional reputation as one of the most health-driven states in the US.
Native American Tribe Smoke Signals https://www.warpaths2peacepipes.com/native-american-culture/war-paint.htm
(quick addition to the list I discovered recently, currently updating right now)
Smoke signals were one of the most common developments in Native American establishments for mass communication. By lighting several fires (best burned using damp leaves, oil, and animal dung to develop the thickest smoke) in a series and covering them with blankets to create pulsations of smoke in the air, tribes could communicate warnings, alarms, death counts from battles, as well as invitations to inter-tribal meetings.
Native American War Paint
War paint involved a language of symbolism and badges adorned by Native American Indians as means of communicating intimidation in battle and distinction, as well as other functions including camouflage, protection from weather and insects, mental religious preparation, ritual performances, and visual messages of victory or mourning. Each color used can reference a religious or emotional state, and in the 1800s body paint was a widespread means of visual emotional representation and communal support within individual tribes. It transcended verbal communication between tribes in social rituals, and established an hierarchy and level of prestige amongst tribe members.
https://www.encyclopedia.com/fashion/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/war-paint
Colorado Newspapers
(I found this archive of old newspapers from my hometown)
Newspapers in the United States increased from 500 printed newspapers in 1820 to over 3,000 being published by 1860. Magazines further increased alongside the newspapers, both sources further jumping in popularity at the outbreak of the Civil War. The pricing of the papers themselves allowed for accessibility to all audiences. Specific newspapers targeted certain audiences including women, blue collar workers, and immigrants. Current newspapers in 2018 gained their routes from over a century ago, including the Sun, Herald, and Tribune. The newspapers included compilations of poetry, lectures, book reviews, advertisements, crimes, and politics. The African American communities at the time developed a greater sense of community and identity from the African Methodist Episcopal Church publication The Christian Recorder in 1852. Publications in the United States arguably stood at the forefront of communicative technology at the time in helping construct the United States identity in a population with such highly diverse backgrounds.
Boulder County News publication established itself in 1869, just a decade after gold prospectors first discovered gold in the Boulder region. The news publication acted as the first pivot point to encourage a longterm community to stay within the region; what soon followed was the establishment of schools, universities, and railroads in the same decade. The publication was one of the first businesses established just after legislation passed to mark Territory of Colorado; it increased the incoming population by advertising the region, while also developing a unified community around the town.