Starbucks Colorado mug: Discovery Series
The Colorado mug from Starbucks' Discovery Series sets the state name in orange-red over a dark green circle, with a mountain bike, a tent, a bighorn sheep, two blue flowers and a figure leaping with a long board.
- Series
- Discovery Series
- Place
- Colorado, USA
- Type
- Mug
- Released
- Not confirmed
- Capacity
- 14 fl ozstandard mug size
- SKU
- Not confirmed
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How a broken-down truck started a bighorn herd
By the 1880s, Colorado's bighorn sheep had been hunted close to extinction, and a hunting ban in 1885 protected the few hundred survivors [1]. In September 1944, wildlife workers made the first bighorn captures and releases in the nation, at a corral at Tarryall Reservoir, luring 27 sheep with alfalfa, salt blocks and apple pulp behind 16-foot fences [1]. In 1946 a truck carrying 14 of those sheep to Pikes Peak broke down in Green Mountain Falls, and the driver released them where they stood [2]. They wandered north and stopped on the railroad tracks just as a train approached. According to the wildlife manager who later wrote up the story, all but one ram escaped [2]. The survivors crossed US Highway 24 and settled in the Rampart Range, where the herd is now around 135 [3]. The bighorn on the Colorado mug (4) is the state animal, by an act of 1961 [4].
The mug does not label its drawings, so connecting this one to the story is our reading.
What's on the mug
- 1Lettering
COLORADO in orange-red capitals over a dark green circle.
- 2Mountain bike
A pink mountain bike hangs above the lettering.
- 3Tent
A teal dome tent with an orange door sits at the upper right.
- 4Bighorn sheep
A pale green bighorn sheep with curled horns and orange markings stands at the right.
- 5Blue flowers
Two blue flowers with white centres grow below the lettering.
- 6Leaping figure
A figure in an orange top leaps with a long dark board at the left of the lettering.
- 7Snowy mountains
Snow-capped mountains and dark pines run along the base.
The photo shows one side of the mug. The back and the area behind the handle are out of view.
Collector notes
- The inside of this mug is deep teal, which shows at the rim in the photo.
- Aspen and Vail also have Discovery Series mugs on our checklists; this one is lettered COLORADO.
Before you buy
Aspen and Vail have their own Discovery mugs, and Colorado also appears in the Been There, Icon and You Are Here series. Look for COLORADO in orange-red capitals, with a deep teal inside the rim.
