Page:Bench and bar of Colorado - 1917.djvu/36

32 after the first few appointments, were selected through the influence of the people within the territory, without an exception, were men of the highest character and ability.

There were quite a number of attorneys among the men who came West and settled in Colorado during the first few years. These men, aside from practicing their profession, took a great interest in public affairs. They were among the leaders in the movements which resulted in the organization of Jefferson territory, and later brought about the organization of the territory and the admission of the territory as a state. As members of the territorial legislatures and of the general assemblies, lawyers took a leading part in the framing of our laws and of the criminal and civil codes.

Many lawyers were not only honored by their elevation to the bench, but were placed in high positions by the people of the state. Among Colorado's governors, United States senators, congressmen, and other high officials, there are found scores of men whose names are famous in the court's annals of jurisprudence—men whose names are known from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and from the Great Lakes to the Gulf—men whose achievements have brought everlasting glory to the people of the state who elected them.

Colorado may well be proud of the men to whom her people have entrusted the administration of justice, and who are today practicing within her borders the noble profession of the law.