Editing Bent County, Colorado (section)

==History==
As Colorado experienced population growth following the [[American Civil War]], government had to be closer to the people for commerce and justice to be better served in growing communities. Territorial Bent County was created in February 1870, followed by [[Greenwood County, Colorado Territory|Greenwood County]] the following month. The June 1, 1870, Federal Census was several months away and plans were being made to apply for statehood. On February 2, 1874, Grand County and [[Elbert County, Colorado|Elbert County]] were formed. On February 6, 1874, Greenwood County was dissolved and divided between Bent and Elbert Counties. At the time of this annexation, Bent County included a large portion of southeastern Colorado. In 1889, Bent County acquired its current borders when it was partitioned to create [[Cheyenne County, Colorado|Cheyenne]], [[Lincoln County, Colorado|Lincoln]], [[Kiowa County, Colorado|Kiowa]], [[Otero County, Colorado|Otero]], and [[Prowers County, Colorado|Prowers]] Counties.