Back in 2007, I was a coordinator for the Otero County COGenWeb Project. I did not have the time to maintain and grow the website, so it was passed on to someone else. I wrote the following Otero County Marriage Research Guide. I have updated as the information for the CD-ROM, for as of today, it is no longer for sale.
There are three sources in the state of Colorado to obtain marriage information that was registered with the state. These sources do not account for any church records anywhere in the state.
In 1936, the Works Progress Administration (WPA), working through the Division of Vital Statistics, indexed all known marriages statewide from the gold rush (1858) until 1939. These index cards contained information such as the names of the bride and groom, date and place, the couple’s race and the official that presided over ceremony. (There is also other miscellaneous information, such as the official’s address, clerk that recorded the information and license number.) This information was later converted to 106 reels of microfilm. As of 2004, these are available to researchers at the Denver Public Library, Colorado State Archives, Pueblo Library, and through the LDS Family History Library. (The original card index is held by the Colorado State Archives and is not known to be accessible to the public.)
In 1992, a set of dedicated volunteers banded together to generate a Bride’s Index based on the original information generated by the WPA. After careful review and cross checking with the original work, both were combined to create a new edition of the Colorado Marriage Index. The final manuscript was given to the Western History/Genealogy Department of the Denver Public Library for binding and cataloguing in 26 volumes.
The electronic data files of the Bride’s Index were provided to the Colorado Genealogical Society for the production of the Colorado Marriages 1858-1939 CD-ROM. The CD-ROM is available for purchase from Colorado Genealogical Society for $10.00 plus $2.00 shipping and handling. (This price is as of August 2007.) The Colorado Genealogical Society is a non-profit organization and proceeds from this and the other publications they offer are used to help publish a quarterly journal called the The Colorado Genealogist as well as offer some research services and free classes at locations in the Denver Metro area.
From the The Colorado Genealogical Society Website as of June 2022:
This immensely popular and useful CGS/DPL statewide index to Colorado marriages, previously available only on CD-ROM sold by the Society, is now available for free on the Denver Public Library website. Check it out at Colorado Marriages, 1858-1939. The CD is no longer sold.
References:
Denver Public Library, Colorado Marriages, 1858-1939 , CD-ROM. Denver : Colorado Genealogical Society, 2004.
The Colorado Genealogical Society. (n.d.). Retrieved August 29 2007, from http://www.rootsweb.com/~cocgs/index.htm
Colorado Genealogical Society, 2004.
The Colorado Genealogical Society, Other Publications. (2015-2022). Retrieved June 24, 2022, from https://cogensoc.us/publications.php