Colorado Gov. Jared Polis opens 1907 time capsule found underneath statue at Colorado State Capitol

On Tuesday morning, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis and History Colorado teamed up to open a sealed time capsule from 1907. The tin box was discovered beneath a pedestal that once held a statue commemorating Civil War soldiers, which had stood in front of the Colorado State Capitol.

"On Guard," created by artist John Dare Howland, was erected in 1909 to memorialize Colorado soldiers who fought in the Civil War. Colorado troops fought for the Union Army in several battles that prevented Confederate forces from taking over western gold fields.

But Union troops in Colorado were also responsible for forcing Indigenous people from their homes as white settlers moved into the state. The Sand Creek Massacre was included on the pedestal's list of "Battles and Entanglements," asserting that it was a legitimate battle despite condemnation by a military commission at the time.

The statue was toppled during a Black Lives Matter protest in June 2020 and was later placed in an interactive exhibition at the History Colorado Center. Plans are in place to relocate the statue to land belonging to the Department of Veterans and Military Affairs, and during work last year to remove the remaining pedestal base, a crane crew was surprised to discover a tin box in a hole beneath it.

"This was kind of hidden in plain sight in some ways, because anybody who visited the Capitol as a kid or growing up would have seen the life-sized version of this statue that we have right here," said Polis.

The contents were a mystery, and a CT scan was performed at the University of Colorado Research Imaging Center in Aurora.

CBS Colorado had an exclusive look as the time capsule was opened this morning at History Colorado. Inside were documents dating back to 1907, two years before the statue was installed at the Capitol.

Along with several newspapers from the day, including copies of The Denver Post, The Denver Republican, The Denver Times and the Rocky Mountain News,  people involved in the installation left a letter and business cards. They also included a bound copy of the legislative acts that cleared the way for the monument's construction.

"I think this is amazing to see. First of all, this is Colorado's 150th anniversary, so to celebrate some of our history from 117 years ago, it's really cool. And once the historians go through all of this, we're going to learn a lot about the time and the statue," said Polis.

History Colorado hopes that the time capsule will spark Coloradans' interest in learning more about the state's history and its role in the Civil War.