The Manitou Springs Heritage Center and Museum welcomes author and historian John Wesley Anderson for a talk and presentation on his new book, 'A To Z-Colorado's Nearly Forgotten History 1776-1876.'

This is a storybook about Colorado history tells 26 short stories, each a chapter, one for each letter of the alphabet. Within each chapter are interrelated historical vignettes of real people, places and events which served as building blocks providing the foundation upon which the State of Colorado was built. The common thread which runs through these 26 stories is that these people, places and events happened within a 100-year period, in what is today Colorado, and are at risk of being forgotten.

This period of time, 1776-1876, was one of unprecedented change worldwide. Change was the catalyst which fueled the birth of our nation in 1776. This book culminates in 1876 with the addition of a new state being added to that union – Colorado. But before Colorado had earned the right to become the 38th State of the United States, it was first forged in the calloused hands of indigenous, Spanish, French, Mexican and American people who lived during this century of conflict.