During the 1920s, Colorado had the largest and most influential Knights of the Ku Klux Klan following of any other state west of the Mississippi River. In the 1924 elections, the Klan gained control not only of state government with the election of Governor Morley, but also of many local governments. Fremont County was one of those local governments with a dominating Klan presence, having a particularly large following of Klansmen and Klanswomen in Caņon City and Florence. As a result of this local Klan presence, the Local History Center of the Caņon City Public Library contains in its archives newspapers, photographs, oral histories, and other materials pertaining to the Klan in Fremont County.