Arapahoe County, Colorado Territory Criminal Court Index, 1862-1879

The Arapahoe County Criminal Court Index 1862-1879 contains an alphabetical list of criminal cases filed by the name of the first defendant listed on the case. It gives the date of filing, the case number, the charge, the book and page number of subsequent hearings, and a brief description of the findings of those hearings. Often, the dispensation of the case will be given in the notes. The very early cases, listed as occuring "bef 1862," have no actual dates on the case but occur in the order of cases before others prosecuted in late 1862. These early cases being prosecuted as The People of the United States of America vs the defendant, and were probably in the jurisdiction of the US Marshals. Most of these cases are listed as Treason, etc., most likely cases of Southern sympathizers as the Civil War was underway. It appears that the courts had their hands full with notorious saloon-owning brothers Edward and John Chase, not to mention forgers and miners passing off counterfeit gold dust.