Denver: The State Capitol

Things I learned on a tour of Colorado's State Capitol:

• Colorado was almost called Idaho
• State representatives and senators are paid $30,000 and expected to work other jobs
• Water is a delicacy in Colorado. There isn't very much, as Denver only receives about 15 inches of rain every year. See: rain shadow. (Thanks, grade nine geography)
• When Japanese-Americans were expelled from the west coast in 1941, and most inland states denied them from entry, Colorado decided to play hero:

During World War II, Colorado governor Ralph Lawrence Carr was the only elected official to publicly apologize for the internment of American citizens. The act cost him reelection, but gained him the gratitude of the Japanese American community, such that a statue of him was erected in Sakura Square in Denver's Japantown.

Wow. All this in just 45 minutes.