Hi Tracie,

I'm sorry to hear about your tree!

You can get a soil test from either the CSU lab on the Spur campus in central Denver, or from one of many commercial labs in the region (summarized in a table here: https://extension.colostate.edu/topic-areas/agriculture/selecting-an-analytical-laboratory-0-520/)

For a tree, organic matter, salts, and soil pH are particularly important.  In your part of the county, a soil low in organic matter and with high pH is somewhat likely; this will make life challenging for trees like maples, which prefer more developed, acidic soils with high organic matter that would be characteristic of their woodland homes.

In newer developments, compacted soil can also be a problem.  If the soil is compacted, water and air for the roots become limited and soil chemistry is essentially irrelevant.  You can get an idea of compaction by trying to insert a probe like a big screwdriver at least 10" into the damp soil and evaluating how difficult it is in different parts of the yard.  Compaction is difficult to remediate, but if you know your soil is compacted, you'll want to dig a "million-dollar" hole for planting your new tree--by which I mean a wide hole shaped like a shallow bowl.  At least 3 times as wide as the root ball.  This excerpt from the Colorado Master Gardener training curriculum covers tree-planting steps in good detail.

Quickly growing trees that tend to do well in our area include Honey locust (Gleditsia triacanthos) --thornless and fruitless varieties are available--, Hackberry (Celtis occidentalis), and Lindens (Tilia sp), among others.  If you like the idea of a maple, consider a Sensation Boxelder (Acer negundo 'Sensation').  Kentucky coffee tree (Gymnocladus dioicus) is another good tree for tough sites in Douglas County.  

I hope this is helpful; let me know if you have other questions.

Cordially,

John