Denver (1998 metropolitan population estimate 2,365,345), capital of Colorado, emerged in the mid-nineteenth century as a center for gold, railroads, ranching and exchange for the plains and Rocky Mountain states. Remaining relatively small, it boomed after the Second World War as a federal center, including the Mint, multiple regional offices and military and aerospace interests. In the 1970s and 1980s, Denver underwent a further renaissance as a center for energy interests, including coal, oil, gas and oil shale, which transformed the skyline and underpinned the narrative of the night-time soap opera Dynasty (ABC, 1981–9). The city also emerged as a center for Sunbelt development of the mountainous West around winter sports, environmentalism and natural landscapes.

The “Mile-High City” boasts professional franchises in football (Broncos), basketball (Nuggets) and baseball (Rockies), whose names evoke the history and images of the city dramatically echoed in the peaks of it.