From Colorado, the Story of a Western Commonwealth. 1933, the first American in Colorado was James Purcell, who hunted beaver and traded with the native Americans for furs. In the early years of the 19th century, beaver skins could bring $6-$8 a piece in the eastern market, making the difficult and dangerous life of a trapper worth the effort. In the book The Leading Facts of New Mexican History, Vol II, by Ralph Emerson Twitchell, James Purcell (or as he was sometimes call