Editing Paonia, Colorado (section)

==History==
The area was first explored by a white man of European descent in 1853, Captain [[John W. Gunnison]] of the United States Army. Gunnison was on an expedition for the [[Corps of Topographical Engineers]] to locate a suitable pass through the [[Rocky Mountains]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://townofpaonia.com/paonia/ |title=About Paonia - Town of Paonia |website=townofpaonia.com |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150621202029/http://townofpaonia.com/paonia/ |archive-date=June 21, 2015}}</ref>

The North Fork Valley was inhabited by the [[Ute people]] until 1880, when the Ute Indian Reservation was closed by the federal government following the infamous [[Meeker Massacre]].

Following the closure of the reservation, the site was settled in 1880 by Samuel Wade and William Clark, who had accompanied Enos Hotchkiss to the area. The town was officially incorporated in 1902 and had its first election in July of that year. The [[peony]] roots that Samuel Wade brought with him to Colorado in 1881 inspired him to submit the Latin name for peony, ''Paeonia'', as a town name. The post office would not allow the extra vowel, so "Paeonia" became "Paonia". The full name of the flower is ''[[Paeonia mascula]]''.