Greeley, Colorado

Greeley is a city in the northern part of Colorado. It is the county seat and most populous city in Weld County. Greeley covers 30 sq mi (77.7 sq km) and has a population of 77,000 (2011 estimate). The city is in the Mountain Standard Time, which is seven hours behind Coordinated Universal Time (UTC-7), and six hours behind during Daylight Saving Time of summer. The phone area code is 970.

Greeley is located at an elevation of 4,658 ft (1,420 m). To the north of Greeley flows the Cache la Poudre River while to the south the South Platte River. Greeley experiences a semi-arid climate. July is the hottest month here, when the average temperature rises to 86.6°F (31.5°C). January is the coldest month when the average temperature drops to 15.6°F (-9.11°C). Greeley is extremely dry. Its annual precipitation amounts to only 14.22 in (361.2 mm), with the wettest month being May, receiving 2.55 in (64.8 mm) of rainfall.

Greeley, Colorado
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Downtown_Greeley_Colorado.jpg
Author: David Shankbone


The city of Greeley traces its history to the mid-19th century, when a stagecoach station was built there. The town of Greeley was founded in 1869 by a newspaper reporter, Nathen C. Meeker, who was attempting to create a religion-oriented utopian community. He bought land at the confluence of the Cacehe la Poudre and South Platte Rivers to establish his new town. At that time, the settlement was known as the Union Colony of Colorado. It was renamed Greeley in honor of Horace Greeley, the editor of New York Tribune who was also Meeker's employer.

To populate the utopian settlement of Greeley, Meeker actually ran advertisements in the Tribune calling for people who are of high moral standard, upright, literate and temperant. Meeker had made it his mission to convert the Native Americans of the Utes tribe to Christianity.

Despite warnings that his actions were antagonising the Indians, Meeker plowed over the Ute horse racing tracks, intending to turn them into farmland. This set forth a confrontation between the Indians and Meeker, who called for military assistance from the US Army. The confrontation erupted into what is known today as the Meeker Massacre, in which Meeker and 10 of his male employees were killed by the Indians.

In retaliation over the massacre, the US Congress passed the Ute Removal Act which forceably removed the Ute tribe from the 12 million acres of land earlier granted to them. The Indians were forced to relocate to eastern Utah.

Visiting Greeley, Colorado

Greeley is connected to the rest of the country by US Highways 34 and 85. US Highway 85 runs north south, connecting Greeley with Cheyenne to the north and Denver to the south while US Highway 34 runs east west, connecting it with Loveland to the west and McCook to the east.

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