The
Territory of Jefferson was an extralegal and unrecognized
United States territory that existed from October 24, 1859 until the
creation of the
Colorado Territory on February 28, 1861. The Jefferson Territory included land officially part of the
Kansas Territory, the
Nebraska Territory, the
New Mexico Territory, the
Utah Territory, and the
Washington Territory, but the area 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 16 months. Many of the laws enacted by the Jefferson Territorial Legislature were reenacted and given official sanction by the new
Colorado General Assembly in 1861.