Colt did take up the reins and rechambered their Series 80 model 1911 for the 10mm cartridge around 1987, and this did revive the cartridge, which had no home after the Bren Ten's failure, but the Colt was not sprung properly, and the powerful 10mm caused excessive slide speed and prematurely wore out first generation Colt Delta Elite autos.  Their reputation suffered (except with Allan), and they did not help the 10mm's popularity.

Around that time the FBI was looking for a new cartridge.  Without going into detail, the FBI suffered devestating results in a gunfight in 1986 against two heavily armed bad guys in which the FBI perceived that a 9mm round of the day had failed.  In fact it was a pretty good cartridge but the round had needed to penetrate through and through the bad guy's arm to reach the vitals, and in fact only lodge a couple inches short of his heart.  The bad guy went on to kill agents before dying himself of blood loss, but the FBI considered this a bullet failure and were determined to adopt a new cartridge, which ended up being the 10mm in the then-new S&W1076 pistol, a SIG-like traditional double action. 

Long story short, since the FBI tends to hire college graduates with degrees in law and accounting, and as many of these recruits are not gun people or particularly athletic, and oftentimes smaller-statured, the large S&W 10mm pistol presented a serious handicap in qualifying scores.  In fact, it was nearly impossible for agents.  The first thing the FBI did was to ask for a downloaded 10mm cartridge, creating the "10mm Lite" (today a majority of 10mm loads are in fact downloaded).  S&W looked at this and realized that they could get as much power as the "10mm Lite" (never an official designation) by shortening the case enough to fit it into their 9mm frame, instead of building the 10mm on their .45 frame.  This they did and in less than a year, S&W had the .40S&W on the market.  (Glock actually released the first .40S&W pistols but that isn't part of the story).  Around the same time this was all happening, the FBI had problems with their special FBI 10mm pistols where they would be cocked and could not be decocked.  S&W had altered their original design for the FBI, and some say the problem was the FBI's fault.  Others blame S&W.  Whatever the cause, the FBI dropped the 10mm pistol.  Nevertheless, during that time, many 10mm pistols were also sold to the public* by Smith & Wesson.

Still, the .40S&W took off like a rocket, and 10mm interest faded.  There remained a niche interest, but mainstream defensive shooters wanted the capacity of the .40, which held almost as much as a 9mm, while the 10 held barely more than a .45.  (And we know capacity is the only thing needed for gun fights. )

Since the mid-90s the 10mm went from a near-obsolescence to a growing interest again.  More companies began chambering pistols in 10mm.  Glock had been making 10mms all along, and different 1911 makers were offering 10mms--springing them correctly, not making the same mistakes Colt had made.  CZ-75 clones were offered, and fans of the original Bren Ten bought these as the closest thing to a Bren Ten--and they actually came with magazines.   Many 10mm fans bemoned the fact that 10mm ammunition was almost all "10mm Lite" now, but a few boutique ammo companies still offered full power 10mm, and a handloader could of course load his own original power ammo.

Today there are more 10mm handguns than ever, and even a few rifles--mostly ARs.  There is more full power ammo, although the big factories still make 10mm Lite, which is usually about 100fps faster than .40S&W at best.  The original stuff was closer to treading on the heels of .41 Magnum.

Short answer to your question is that the 10mm was always tied to the guns and their availability or lack thereof, as well as the apparent blessing or lack thereof from law enforcement agencies.  Of course, even though the 10mm makes a good if very powerful defensive round, it is also a good handgun hunting round, and has a large following for that purpose today as well.

* My own S&W Model 1006:
Image below from Mark Freburg - Image Title: Two S&Ws
Image Info: My "new" S&W Model 4506-1 in front, my S&W Model 1006 in back.