Births and death in Colorado were not officially registered with the State until approximately 1908. Before that time there is no guarantee that a record of a birth or death even exists. A few counties recorded births during that time. Birth and death records, if they do exist, prior to 1908 are held by the Colorado State Archives
For listing of births records before 1908 available click here.
For listing of death records before 1908 available click here. (pdf)
There is NO master death index for Colorado available to the public. We are a closed records state. You will have to use other means to locate a death date (newspapers, Bibles, Find-a-Grave) before you can order a record. Otherwise you will pay an extra fee for searching larger time spans. There are societies and other groups working on alternative indexes. The largest index of obituaries is the Denver Obituary Project at the Denver Public Library. You may also try searching in the Colorado Historic Newspaper Collection (free).
After 1908 contact Colorado Department of Public Health & Environment. You will have to follow their
directions to see if you qualify to order a record and have the correct documents.
Marriage records were generally held by each county. There is a marriage index for Colorado 1858-1939 compiled by CGS volunteers at the Denver Public Library and Denver Marriages 1940-1974 are also at DPL.
Some counties have filed their records with the Colorado State Archives and their listing of records held can be seen here (pdf). If they are not listed in the Archive holdings you will have to contact the specific county of interest.
Start by looking at the Colorado Divorce Index compiled by researchers at the Denver Public Library. The Colorado State Archives holds some records for some counties.
If the date and place of the divorce you are researching is listed on that pdf, you can contact the Archives for copies if you have the case number. If the record you are looking for (date and place) does not appear on the list it could be held by the District Court or the County Clerk of your location.
No master index of all naturalization records currently exists. Immigrants could file for citizenship in county, district or other courts between 1861 and 1906 in Colorado. Click here for a listing of naturalization records held at the Colorado State Archives. An index for Denver and Pueblo Naturalizations created in Colorado Federal District Courts is available at the Denver Public Library web site.
An index for Declarations of Intention for the Arapahoe County Court (includes Denver), Books A-F, 1880-1906 is available in our Members Only section.
The Denver Public Library has a large collection of obituary indexes for the Denver Post and Rocky Mountain News on its website. If you find one you want, you can contact a librarian for a copy.
The Colorado Genealogical Society has a database listing of obituaries of some of the pioneers from all over the state of Colorado which also are housed at the Denver Public Library. You can send a request to search this database to our contact.