Full text of "History of Clear Creek and Boulder valleys, Colorado : containing a brief history of the state of Colorado ... an account of the Ute trouble : a history of Gilpin, Clear Creek, Boulder, and Jefferson counties, and biographical sketches"

NYPL RESEARCH LIBRARIES

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HISTORY

Clear Creek and Boulder Valleys,

COLORADO.

Containing a brief History of the State of Colorado from its earliest settlement to the present

time, embracing its geological, physical and climatic features ; its agricultural.

stockgrowing, rai/roail and mining interests ; an account of the

Ute trouble ; a History of Gilpin, Clear Creek,

Boulder and Jefferson Counties, and

Biographical Sketches.

ILLITSTEATED.

(II [CAGO:

O. L. BASKIN & CO., HISTORICAL PUBLISHERS,

186 Dearborn Stki.i i
1880.

O. L. BASKIN. NELSON M1LLETT.

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Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1880, by

O. L. BASKIN & CO.,

In the Office of the librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C.

CHICAGO
CULVER, PAGE, HOYNE & CO PRINTERS,

118 AND 120 MONRi.E StSEKT.

"^ 5)

PREFACE

J X T has seemed eminently proper that the historical facts and data pertaining to the

remarkable State of Colorado should be gathered and placed upon record in a
permanent form, while those who have participated in its growth, and to a
great extent made, its history, still remain upon the scene of action, to render
an authentic account of what might seem in some respects an almost fabulous growth
and development. These sources of information have been freely drawn from, and we
here desire to express our thanks to the many who have assisted our writers in the com-
pilation of this work.

The history of Gilpin County was prepared by Capt. James Burrell ; that of
Clear Creek County, by Aaron Frost, Esq.; Jefferson County, by Capt. E. L. Ber-
thoud, and Boulder County by Amos Bixby, Esq. The biographical department is
instructive, as illustrating in numberless instances the career of truly self-made men,
and is invaluable as a permanent record.

Trusting that this history of the Centennial State, and of these counties with their
enormous mining interests, forecasting their still greater possibilities for mineral wealth,
will be found of great and increasing value and interest to her citizens, we submit this
volume to the approbation of our patrons and the public.

0. L. BASKIN & CO.,

Publishers.

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CONTENTS,

PART FIRST.

POEM 11

CHAPTER I.— Ringiug up the Curtain 17

CHAPTER II.— Enrly Discoveries of Gold 22

CHAPTER III. — Journalism in Colorado 25

CHAPTER IV.— Early Politics ami Organization of the Terri-
tory ;11

CHAPTER V.— Lo! the Poor Indian M

CHAPTER VI.— The Mountains of Colorado 38

CHAPTER VII.— Colorado During the Rebellion— Territorial

Officials II

CHAPTER VIII.— Progress of the Country 47

CHAPTER IX.— Climate of Colorado 48

CHAPTER X.— Agricultural Resources of the State. 53

CHAPTER XI.— Stock-raising in Colorado 59

CHAPTER XII— Leadville and California Gulch 67

CHAPTER XIII— History of the First Colorado Regiment 73

CHAPTER XIV.— History of the Second Colorado Regiment 77

CHAPTER XV— Sketch of the Third Colorado Regiment 89

CHAPTER XVI.— The Geology of Colorado 90

CHAPTER XVII —Peak Climbing in the Rocky Mountains 1"S

CHAPTER XVIII.— Sketch of the San Juan Country and Do-
lores District 112

CHAPTER XIX— The University of Coloiado 119

POSTSCRIPT

CHAPTER I.— The Ute Rebellion.. 122

CHAPTER II.— Affairs at White River Agency 125

CHAPTER III— The News in Denver 137

CHAPTER IV.— Advance upon the Agency 140

CHAPTER V.— Arrival at Agency— The Massacre 145

CHAPTER VI.— Cessation of Hostilities— Rescue of the Pris-
oners - 148

CHAPTER VII— Sad Story of the Captives 151

CHAPTER VIII.— The Atrocities in Colorado 161

CHAPTER IX— The Peace Commission Farce 165

CHAPTER X.— The Ute Question in Congress 169

CHAPTER XI.— The Present Condition of the Ute Question 176

PART SECOND.

RAILROADS.

CHAPTER I.— The Denver Pacific... 17''

CHAPTER II.— The Denver * Rio Grande 182

CHAPTER III— The Denver, South Park & Pacific 188

I IIAPTER IV.— The Colorado Central 193

CHAPTER V.— The Kansas Pacific 197

CHAPTER VI.— The Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe 200

CHAPTER VII.— The Denver & Boulder Valley 204

PART THIRD.

HISTORY OF GILPIN COUNTY PA0E

CHAPTER I.— Grand Opening of the Golden Gate 205

CHAPTER II.— Early Discoveries of Gold Mines— Mining and

Milling and other Treatment of Ores 206

CHAPTER III— Journalism in Gilpin County 232

CHAPTER IV.— Early Organization of Mining Districts— Their
Laws, Rules and Customs — Recognition of Same by Con-
gress 234

CHAPTER V.— Public Schools and Sabbath Schools 236

CHAPTER VI. — Religious Societies and Church Organization- 239

CHAPTER VII. County, City and Precinct Organizations 246

CHAPTER VIII— Miscellaneous Organizations :

Masonic Order — Odd Fellows — Good Templars— Knights of
Honor — Knights of Pythias — Knights of the New World
— Places of Amusement — Fire Department — Military Com-
panies — Miners and Mechanics' Institute.... 248

CHAPTER IX— Miscellaneous and Public:

Post offices — Land Office — Banks— Expresses— Telegraph —

Telephone— Railroads 257

CHAPTER X.— Destruction of Central City by Fire. May 21,

1874, and its Subsequent Reconstruction 259

HISTORY OF CLEAR CREEK COUNTY.

CHAPTER I.— Location and Topography, Climate, Sermons in

Stones .267

CHAPTER II— The Wheels of Progress 272

CHAPTER III.— Towns and Mining Camps. 286

CHAPTER IV.— Mining forthe Precious Metals.. 299

CHAPTER V.— The Mines of Clear Creek County "I

CHAPTER VI.— Mills and Milling

CHAPTER VII— The Sublime and the Beautiful... 145

HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY.. 353

BOUNDARIES OF LOUISIANA .359

RELIGIOUS ADVANTAGES 176

Kill CATION .. 376

scllool. OF MIXES ........ 376

THE Pi; ESS :77

HISTORY OF BOULDER COUNTY.

CHAPTER I.— Vision of the Valleys and HillB 379

CHAPTER II.— Peculiarities and Advantages of Situation 381

CHAPTER III— First "Find" of Gold Dust 382

CHAPTER IV.— The Boulder Coal Measures .386

CHAPTER V.— Agricultural Trials and Triumphs..

CHAPTER VI.— The Road and Mill Builders 392

CHAPTER VII— Early Society,— Courts, Cri - and Scl Is 396

CHAPTER VIII.— Conflicts with the Indians.... 397

' II LPTBH IX.— Boulder and Valley Towns and Villages 401

CHAPTER X — Mountain Towns and Mining Camps 425

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CONTENTS.

PART FOURTH.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES

ALPHABETICALLY. ai[|;i\i;ii. tv NTH- PAGE

GILPIN COUNTY ..4:15

CLEAR CREEK COUNTY 493

JEFFERSON COUNTY 547

BOULDER COUNTY 601

MISCELLANEOUS BIOGRAPHIES ...709

ERBATUM— Biography of Hon. H. M. Hale... 493

ILLUSTRATIONS.

PORTRAITS

PAGE

Allison, F. H 27

Aikins, T. A 37

Burrell. James 45

Bacon, Corbit 55

Berkley, G 63

Berthoud, E. L 73

Beverley, W. H 81

Blake, Orris 91

Berkley, Junius. 99

Barber, Joseph S 109

Bixby, A 117

Brookfleld, A. A 1'27

Crawford, D. C 135

Carpenter, C. C 145

Chatillon, Henry 153

Chase, George V 163

Cornell, L. S 171

De France, A. H 1*1

Davis, John... 189

Dabney, Charles 199

Everett, F. E 207

Fisher, S. W 217

Fish, Charles R 225

Green, David S 235

Graham, T. J. 243

Greene, o. F. A 253

Hale, H. M 26]

Henry, 0. H . . 271

llnlm. s B. 279

Holman,.l 11 289

Hall, G. W 297

Hinnian, P. T..
Howell, Yv". R..

Hill, N. P

Jones, A. M

PAGE

....307
...315
.... 23
....325

Kelly. James 333

Lea, A. E 343

Loveland, YV. A. H 351

Merkel, S. B 361

Mackey, Richard 369

Marshall, F. J 379

Maxwell, J. P 387

Macky, A. J 397

McKunzie, N. D 4115

North, James M 115

Old, Robert 412:'.

Owen, N. D 433

Orahood, H. M 441

Post, Charles 451

Paul, Henry I ■•■>

RatlifT, J. W 469

Roberts, John G 477

Rogers, A. N 4s7

Rollins, J. CJ. A 195

Smith, Eluius 505

Schwartz, B 513

Stratton, G. VV 523

st"it, Israel 531

Sargent, N II

Smith, N. K •!:'

Smith, J. Ablen i59

Smith, Ebei, 567

Teller. II. M 17

PA UK

Tyler, C. M :,77

Thomas, Mary 585

Van Deren, A.J 595

Van Fleet, Charles G 603

«.-!. Ii. i'. C 613

Wright, Alpheus 621

Wells, II, C i;:n

West, George 639

Wise, William 649

Wollman, Sylvanns 657

W 1. G. P 667

Williamson, G. R 075

Well-. I; T 685

VIEWS.

Barton House, Georgetown 285

Golden Brewery, at Golden 375

Hard Money Silver Mine 231

Hidden Treasure Mine 249

Public School, Boulder 383

Public School, Central City 205

Public Schools, Golden 378

Public School, Georgetown 267

Residence of Eugene Austin 429

Residence of Capt Tyler 393

Residence oi Maj. Whiteley 429

Smelting Works of Golden 353

University of Colorado 205

View of Rollinsville 213

Yellow Pine Mine 411

Map of North America in 1597 357

i£

SHIELD with three white peaks in chief,
A pick and sledge beneath them crossed :
J\^, For crest, an eye with rays ; a sheaf
Of reeds about an ax ; and tossed
About its base a scroll I see,
That says, "■Nil sine numine."

< >h, child of Union, last born State,
We read thee well in this device :

That which hath made shall make thee great.
Between green base and crown of ice

Shine golden gifts tbat dower thee,

Yet are "■Nil sine numine."

The ax makes way for fold and field

And marching men ; and none may beni

Thy sheaf of knitted hearts ; who wield
In caverns dim the blows that rend

From earth her treasures ; these agree

All is " Nil sine numine."

We sing thy past, we sing thy praise.

Not long for thee hath man made song.
But hosts shall sing in coming days.

And when thou sittest great ami strong.
Thy future still, oh, Queen, shall be,
Though great, "Nil sine numine."

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By running streams that fill the sands

That thirsting, prayed so long in vain,

The desert children fill their hands

With strange, sweet fruits, and deem the pain

Of him that tills, its own reward,

Nor any meed of thanks accord.

So, Princess proud, of infant years,

Embowered here in green and gold,

Thou hast no trace of all the tears

These sands drank up ; the hearts of old,

That broke to see yon doors unseal,

Naught of themselves in thee reveal.

Thus doth to-day annul the past ;

There is no gratitude at all
In Time, and Nature smooths at last

The mounds men heap o'er those who fall,
However nobly; thus we see
It is, hath been, shall ever be.

But once shall one rehearse thy days

And all the pride of those that made

Thy places pleasant and thy ways

Sweet with swift brooks and green, gray shade ;

Lo, memory opens here a book

On which our children's eyes shall look.

Turn back the leaves a space, what then

Beside this ever-changing stream :
The rude scarce camp of bearded men.

In guarded sleep they lie, nor dream
( )f shadowy walls about them set
And domes of days that are not yet.

The sun looks not upon their rest.

I hear the creak of scorching wheels,
I know the hope that fills the breast,

I feel the thrill the foremost feels;
I see the faces grimly set

One way, with eyes that burn, and yet

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I know that when all wearily

Their feet have climbed the horizon

They may not rest, for there will be
The rainbow's foot still further on.

That some shall faint and fall and die,

With eyes fixed on that fantasy.

And yet the saddest face that turns

Back from a quest unsatisfied
May have more hope than his that burns

A beacon in the eyes to guide
Those harpies, Luxury and Lust —
Lo, how they leave us in the dust.

I see the tide rise up and fall.

I see the spent waves turn and fly
That broke upon that mountain wall,

And see where at its bases lie
Worn waifs of men that cling and wait.
That cling and droop, yet bravely wait.

A paean for the brave who wait.

Impatience slinks along the wall,
And hears afar the battered gate

Some day go thundering to its fall.
Lo, how the worn host, wan and thin,
Like giants rise and enter in.

"To him that wills," the prophet cries,

"All good shall come." Behold! how fair

The vision that their eager eyes

Deemed unsubstantial as the air.

We see fair streets from hill to hill,

And by the river many a mill.

And temples towering far above,

And busy markets crouched between,

And bowers beside the hills, for love,
As fair as any land hath seen,

Ami fanes for Science reared, and Art.

Beautiful, and sacred, and apart.

>S k. j

Vet felt in all men's lives, to dream

Was theirs with faith ; they drove the plow

And kept their herds, and it did seem
As though the end were even now

And here ; so all held to their way,

And day was added unto day.

The wild things of the plain and hill

Preyed on them, and were preyed upon.

And vengeance had its own wild will.

To come and go 'tween man and man.

And might that questioned not of right.

And hate, and fear, crept out at night.

And blood was cheap upon the street,

And gold was dearer, some, than life,

And many mornings did repeat

The brutal record of the knife ;

There were worse spirits here, I know,

Than Cheyenne and Arapahoe.

Yet ever grew the vision plain,

And was a wonder, more and more,

How day by day the golden grain

Spread all the hills and valleys o'er.

How wall on wall and street on street

Its promised features men might greet.

One day a cloud rose in the east,

And when night fell it was a flame ;

And soon across yon treeless waste,

With sounds of winds and waters came

The steeds of Empire, and her star

From each plumed forehead flared afar.

The rays of steel before them beam.

And close the myriad chariots throng

With thunderous wheels, and arms that gleam

Are borne by brown bands true and strong.

And now, upon her bonier lands

The vanguard of a, nation stands.

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Swift as those cloud-winged steeds may fly,
The stranger journeys to our gates.

Swift, day and night, he passes by

Long stretches where the gray wolf waits.

And lo! on his astonished eyes

See Tadmor of the Desert rise.

A thousand leagues to yesterday,

A thousand to the day before,
And, right and left, away, away,

Stretch solid seas without a shore,
Where porpoise shoals of buffalo
Along the sharp horizon go.

And now, he deems it half unreal.

The sunset glints in golden hues
Back from the river's polished steel,

Up from the stately avenues,
And sparkles from the spires, and swells
And throbs, with sweet of evening bells.

The cows come lowing to the fold.

And men throng glad to happy homes.

He stands knee-deep in blossomed gold,

The distant mountains are God's domes.

And on his lips, in deep content,

He tastes His wine of Sacrament.

Oh, happy homes, a prophet stands

Here all alone on virgin soil,
And spreads to you his hardened hands,

That here will take their bliss of toil.
Be glad ; your bow of promise bends
And spans all beauty with its ends.

Seek not beyond : the happy shores
Bend nearer here than otherwhere.

The gifts that wait beside your doors.
And on the hills, ami in the air,

Are better than all old conceits.

All fidcd and forgotten sweets.

I see the new Arcana rise.

Touched with the fire of other days,
And Nature, grown more rich and wise,

Yield to your prayers her mysteries.
Straight be your furrow, look not back,
Trust that the harvest shall not lack.

Build yet, the end is not ; build on,
Build for the ages, unafraid ;

The past is but a base whereon

These ashlars, well hewn, may be laid.

Lo, I declare I deem him blest

Whose foot, here pausing, findeth rest.

J. HARRISON MILLS.

G*3

A i XT ■, K

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

BY W. B . V I C K E R S ,

CHAPTER I.

RINGING UP THK CURTAIN.

LOOKING backward over the brief history of
the State of Colorado, the youngest and fair-
est of our bright sisterhood, is like turning the
leaves of some grand romance that has charmed

US in the past, and promises to renew the pleasure
when we shall address ourselves anew to its peru-
sal. To write of such a wonder-land can only
be a labor of love for those to whom its ran 1
beauties and eventful history have been revealed.
Colorado is a poem, a picture, an embodiment of
romance. No fairy tale was ever told in which
so many glad surprises entered as have marked like
milestones the development of the ( !entennial State;
but still the writer of its history must shrink dis-
comfited from the full performance of his duty.
discouraged by the incompetence of language to do
justice to the absorbing theme.

These may sound like grand words; and the his-
torian may be accused at the outset of a "gush-
ing" tendency, better fitted to the poet's corner of
a country newspaper than to such a work as this.
Colorado has the reputation already of having
inspired more "gush" than most of the older
States. Even New England's rockbound shores.
where the Pilgrim Fathers foregathered in the early
days, has suffered by comparison with the heart
and crown of the continent; and Pike's Peak is at
least as well known as Plymouth Rock, beside
being much more monumental. National pride

and national enthusiasm have combined to fire tin.
hearts and souls and tongues and pens of Colorado
pilgrims, until now the State is so well and favor-
ably known that its history may be written with
the comfortable assurance that it will find many
readers, and perhaps friendly critics, even though
its faults are thick as dust in vacant chambers.

It may be well enough, perhaps, to confess at
the outset that this sketch of the State is intended
to be discursive lather than dryly statistical, and.
although tacts and figures will enter into its com-
position, they are by no means likely to mar the
pleasure of those opposed to the Gradglind school
.if social economists. There is no lack, indeed, of
interesting historical data, and the material inter-
ests of the State deserve more recognition than they
;ire likely to receive here: but there is no room for
the long roll of pioneers more than there' is for the
almost endless list of paying mines. The most
that can be crowded into this contracted space will
be a skeleton history, filled out with pictures of

the physical, social and business aspects of the

State.

Chance reference to the pioneers of Colorado
carries us back to the clays of '.">!» and the strug-
gles and triumphs of the brave men and women
who. twenty years ago. sat down before the mount-
ain walls to build a State, under circumstances
the most discouraging. The Israelitish host who

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

were forced by their masters to the tusk of making
1 nicks without straw, had far mure to encourage
thrill than the early settlers of Colorado. The
real utility of straw in the brick business has
been doubtedj but there is no doubt that nine-
tenths of the men who saw Colorado in 1859, con-
sidered it nearly, if nut quite, unfit for human hab-
itation. The Great American Desert stretched
almost from the Missouri River to the Rocky Moun-
tains, a rainless, treeless waste, and the mountains
themselves, however rich in gold and silver, offered
small inducements for men to build themselves
hemes therein, much less populous and enterpris-
ing cities, such as we see there now on every hand.

The grand passion of our '59ers was to get
themselves rich, ami concurrently to get themselves
out of the country. Thousands of them thought
the tirst of less consequence than the second, ami
sn made themselves scarce without waiting for
fortune to shower her gifts upon them, preferring
the flesh-pots of "America," as the East tin- man)
years was called, to Colorado's sunny but unsym-
pathetic anil lenely skies. No thought had these
or. indeed, the others who remained, of the glori-
ous future in store for the incipient State. Beau-
tiful scenery, to he sure; but who could livi

scenery? A fine climate, too; but that onlyaggra-
vated appetite, when flour was worth Soil a sack.
Tie man who turned his oxen out to die in the
fill of '59, and surprised himself in the spring by
rounding them up in good condition, was probably
the tirst one who looked upon Colorado with a
view to permanent residence. He was the father
of the stock business, and his name ought to he
handed down to future generations of cattle-grow-
ers as their great original.

Although this expansive region was so new and
Strange and solitary to the settlers of twenty years
ago, and although its history may properly date
from the last decade hut one, historical accuracy
demands that mention be made of former races
and tribes of men, who lived out their little lives
within these very limits where our prosperous
State now stands. Colorado can show the mute

\ei eloquent records of a race of men, now and for
many long ages unknown to those who .succeeded
them. In the cliff-houses of the ltio Mancos in
Southwestern Colorado, there lived once a half-
civilized people, probably descended from the
ancient Aztec-, though possibly forerunners or
rivals of that romantic race. Later still came the
Mexicans, who once owned the country south of
the Arkansas River, and who are still counted an
important element about election times, some thou-
sands of them remaining in the southern counties
of the State, and as far north as Pueblo. Con-
temporaneous with the latter, and possibly with
the former, were the various tribes of American
Indians who roamed these then pathless wilds and
fought and hied and stole ponies with the same
untiring industry which marks their descendants,
and makes them the special pets and proteges of
the Indian Bureau of to-day. The annals of Old
Mexico are silent as to whether or not there was
a Mexican Indian Bureau in those days, hut it is
safe to assume, no doubt, that, if there was. the
Indian supplies were stolen long before they
reached these outposts of Spanish- American civili-
zation. The testimony of history, however, is
that the Indians and Mexicans cultivated the
Christian grace of dwelling together in harmony
and peace, and found the land broad enough for
both races.

Evidently, the heritage of the soil was consid-
ered of little worth by either the Indians or the
Mexicans, for the former sat up no harriers against
.Mexican invasion, and the latter thought so little
of the country that immense tracts of land were
given away to almost any one who would take
them. Old Mexican grants cover some of the best
land in Southern Colorado.

The Spanish occupation of this country dates
hack to 1540—12. when Yasipiez Coronado led an
expedition in this direction, and explored the land
thoroughly, as he thought, for gold, finding none.
If the grim Spaniard could only revisit Colorado
to-day, and view tile rich treasures of Leadville
and our mining districts generally; if he could

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

ride into Denver and stop at one of our leading
hotels a few days, long enough to mark the mar-
velous growth and activity of the city, whatwould
he think of himself as a prospector and explorer?

From Coronado to Captain Pike is a long leap;
but history lias not bridged the interval with any

aee it of intermediate explorations. Pike dates

back only to the opening of the present century,
1806, when Colorado was a part and parcel of the
Louisiana purchase. The Captain was sauntering
over the State — of Louisiana — in the fall of the
year, exploring the valleys of the Arkansas, when
liis attention was attracted by the famous mount-
ain which hears his name.

Pike appears to have been, if not an ignorant, at
least a superficial observer. He was the first white
American tourist who visited Manitou and its mag-
nificent surroundings, yet he never discovered the
famous springs or noted the monument rocks in
the Garden of the Gods. He did not even ascend
the peak which he took the liberty of christening.
In the account of his travels which he published
in 1810, hut which is now out of print, may he
found the story of his attempt to scale the peak,
an attempt which ended in ignominious failure.
Like many another tenderfoot, he took the wrong
direction, and emerged on a mountain fifteen or
more miles distant from the peak proper. The
latter, according to hi- story, was twice as high as
the point on which he stood, and he thought it
must he at least 18,500 feet above the level of Louis-
iana proper.

This exaggerated statement is. however, plainly
the result of ignorance and not of boasting. The
Captain was no braggart. He did not claim to be
the first explorer of " Western Louisiana," but mod-
estly transfers that honor to one .James Pursley. of
Mardstown. Ky.. whom he met at Santa Fe and
with whom he compared notes. But Pursley
must have been even more modest than Pike, for
it nowhere appears that he claimed any credit for
his discoveries, or named a mountain after himself

Long's expedition, commanded by Col. S. II.
Long, next visited Colorado, and Dr. E. James,

■ surgeon, hotanist and historian." of the party, was
the first white man who ascended the Peak. He
also discovered the famous springs at the foot of
the mountain.

Fremont, the Pathfinder, came this way in Is 13,
and it was the report of his explorations which first
awakened public interest in this territory. Although
Fremont bore witness to the mineral character of
the country, he reported no actual discovery of
precious metals, nor did Pike. Pursley. the Ken-
tuckian. told Pike there was gold here, but the
latter attached little importance to the statement.

Fremont's party passed on to California, but next
year returned by another route and explored North.
Middle and South Parks, and reported many inter-
esting observations. The mountains were full of
game and moderately full of Indians, though
none of these early explorers appear to have feci,
troubled by the aborigines, (ion. Fremont's reports
regarding the country seem to have attracted no
settlers hitherward save a few French and half-
breed fur-traders, who came West and settled down
iu grow up with the Indians. .Most of them mar-
ried one or more Indian wives, and became, as it
were, connecting links between barbarism and civili-
zation. The earliest settlers of Colorado found
many of these rough-handed but warm-hearted
people here on their arrival, and, indeed, many of
them remain to this day. though death is decimat-
ing their ranks very rapidly.

An g these notable men was a grandson of

one of the signers of the Declaration of Indepen-
dence — Elbridge Gerry, of Connecticut. The pio-
neer bore his grandfather's name, and never
dishonored it by a mean or ignoble act. He was
the soul of honor and hospitality. His door was
always open alike to friend or stranger, and he
never would accept money from any one for food
or lodging.

■Kit" Carson was still more noted than Gerry,
although all the early settlers knew the latter as
intimately as the former. Carson has now i 1879 '
been deail many years, but Gerry's death occurred
only a few \ears ago. Carson's only monument is

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

a lonely railway station on the Kansas Pacific

i 1. :e for a brief space a flourishing frontier

town, but now marly abandoned.

When civilization and fashion began to assert
their sway in Colorado, some of the white-shirt
aristocracy began to complain that certain white
men shocked their sensitive souls by continuing to
live with their Indian wives. Gerry was always
wounded by any reference to himself in this vein,
but refused to be moved by it from what he con-
sidered his duty to his family. Said he:

U I married my wife when there wasn't a white
woman within a thousand miles of me, and when
I never expected to see a white woman here. My
wife is as true and my children are a.s dear to me
as those of any man alive, and I will die a thou-
sand deaths before I will desert them."

From the day when Capt. John A. Sutter made
known the existence of gold in California, a steady
tide of travel set across the continent from east to
west, and soon certain portions of what is now
Colorado, notably the valley of the South Platte
and some of its tributaries, became not only well
known, but dotted by stations of the great over-
land stage company.

It was not, however, until after the "Pike's
Peak excitement of 1858—59, that attention was
directed to the natural advantages and mineral
wealth of Colorado, and the earliest discoveries of
gold here were almost as accidental as those of
California, only differing in the fact that fabulous
stories of mineral wealth in the Rocky Mountains
had prepared people to expect discoveries at any
and every point in the mighty chain of peaks.

It is believed, however, that the stories of min-
eral discoveries prior to 1858 are apocryphal,
although apparently well authenticated. There
was never a time after the acquisition of Southern
Colorado and New Mexico at the close of the
Mexican war. that this country was not inhabited
by intelligent and educated white men. retired
army officers and the like, who would have been !
quick to recognize the value and importance of
such discoveries, and to profit by them personally,

if they did not spread the news abroad. Lupton,
St. Yrain. Carson. Rent, Boone. Bead, Wooten
and others were domesticated in Colorado thirty
years or more ago, and those sharp-witted gentle-
men would have known when and where gold was
found, had it been found before Green Russell and
his party of Georgian.- -tumbled upon the shining
sand in the bed of Dry Creek in the summer of
1 S58.

Russell's party had looked in vain for gold dig-
gings up and down the country from Canon City
to the Cache la Pom Ire. and were returning home-
wan 1 when their patient search was rewarded.
Russell returned to the States, carrying the news
of his discovery, and also several hundred dollars'
worth of gold dust, which were the first fruits of
the now famous gold fields of Colorado.

Following closely upon the heels of the Russell
party, came a Kansas delegation, which followed
the Arkansas River route, and passed through

Puebl i or about the 4th of July. The place

was pretty well deserted at that time, though once
it had been a thriving trading-post. The T'tcs.
with characteristic meanness, had so persecuted
the white people then' that they were compelled to
leave; those, at least, who had escaped the worse
fate of being murdered. The gold-seekers found
the walls of the old fort standing, and some later
comer-, who established themselves there, built
their houses of the adobes which had been used
in the walls of the fort.

It does not appear that the early Puehlaiis
paid much attention to prospecting. The mount-
ains thereabout have never yielded any astonish-
ing results in the line of precious metals, and
probably the pioneers suffered themselves to
become discouraged early in their search for gold.
Although " Pike's Peak or bust " was the rallying
cry of the early prospectors, gold has never been
discovered in paying quantities in the vicinity of
the Peak, ami not until some years after the north-
ern mine- were yielding large returns was there
any bullion produced south of the Pike's Peak
ranee of mountains. The " Silver San Juan "

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

country, which is, perhaps, the richest mineral

regi if the State, not excepting Leadville, dates

back but a few years as a mining center.

Rut if prospecting and other industrial pursuits
were dull, Pueblo did nut lack life or activity in the
summer of L858. linn. Wilbur K. Stone, now
one of the Justices of the Supreme Court of the
State, and an able and versatile writer, some years
ago prepared an historical sketch of Pueblo County,
in which the incidents of those pioneer days are
graphically depicted. The quiet humor of the
sketch is quite irresistible, as is shown by the fol-
lowing extract:

■■ t lame was quite plenty in those early days, and
the settlers frequently indulged in it during the
winter, both for food and pastime. It consisted
chiefly of deer, antelope, jack rabbits, monte and
seven-up."

But while Pueblo was indulging in her ''game"
— a characteristic not wholly abandoned to this
day — the diggings up north were being developed
by parties of prospectors from Kansas. Missouri,
Nebraska and other convenient localities, though
the grand rush was postponed until the next
spring, it being late in the fall before Russell had
reached the States with his news and nuggets.
The emigrants of the fall of 1858 suffered severely
in crossing the plains, and, to make matters worse,
the Indians early became alarmed at the threatened
influx of white settlers, and began to "discourage"
immigration after their usual fashion, by theft,
rapine and murder — arts in which they were and
are adepts.

In those days a journey across the plains was far
from plain or pleasant sailing. There were but
few outposts of civilization, few personal comforts,
and. apart from an occasional overland mail or
returning California miner, no society worth speak-
ing of — not counting Indians or buffalo as society.
Now and then a Pike's Peak pilgrim, wending his
weary way hack to " America," met the advance
guard of tender feet and established the now time
honored custom of filling their ears with such sto-
ries as only Coloradoans can tell — the California

colloquist being merely an old-fashioned hand-
press as compared with the improved line machin-
ery propelling the parts of speech in a Colorado
pioneer. The returning pilgrims almost invariably
followed the Platte route, intersecting the overland
at what was then known as the California Crossing,
now Julesburg.

Few spots in Colorado are the center of mure
historic interest than this small hamlet in the
extreme northeastern corner of the State. From
the fall of 1858, when the first surge of emigra-
tion swept westward into Colorado, until the
Pacific Railroad passed by and left the place a
mere wreck of its former self, Julesburg was
widely known as the wickedest town in America,
a reputation fairly won ami well preserved, while
it remained a railway terminus. To-day, it is
one of the mildest and most quiet stations on
the line of the Union Pacific road, except for
two or three months of the late summer and
fall, when it is busy with the bustle and excite-
ment of shipping beef cattle from the surrounding
plains.

From the California Crossing to the Cherry
Creek Diggings was not many days' travel, and
when half the distance was accomplished the grand
mountains rose into view, affording one of the
finest spectacles in the world. Eveiy new traveler
writing about the approach to these mountains
went into greater ecstacy than the last, and all
vied with each other in complimenting this Amer-
ican Switzerland upon its surprising ami surpass-
ing beauty.

Of this mighty mountain view. Mr. Samuel
Bowles, the lamented editor of the Springfield
Republican, always a firm friend of Colorado,
wrote as follows :

■ All my many and various wanderings in the
European Switzerland, three summers ago. spread
before mv eyes no panorama of mountain beauty
surpassing, nay, none equaling that which burst
upon my sight at sunrise upon the Plains, when
fifty mile- away from Denver; one which rises
up before me now as I sit writing by the window

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

in this city. From far south to far north, stretch-
ing around in huge semicircle, rise the everlasting
hills, one after another, tortuous, presenting every
variety of form ami surface, every shade of cover
and color, up and on until we roach the broad,
snow-covered range that marks the highest sum-
mits, and till where Atlantic anil Pacific meet and
divide for their long journeys to their far distant
shores. To the north rises the King of the
Range, Long's Peak, whose top is 14,600 feet
high; to the south, giving source to the Arkansas
and Colorado, looms up its brother, Pike's Peak,
to the height of 13,400 feet. Those are the salient
features of the belt before us. but the intervening
and succeeding summits are scarcely less com-
manding, and not much lower in height."

Mr. Bowles erred in hi> estimate of the altitude
of both peaks, making the first too high and the
second too low, but this does not mar the beauty
of his glowing tribute to our Colorado mountains.

Bayard Taylor, whose world-wide experience of
mountain scenery made him an excellent judge of
such scenic effects, also admired our mountains
above measure, ami thought them incomparably
finer than the Alps. Said lie :

•• T know no external picture of the Alps that
can be placed beside it. [f you could take away
the valley of the Rhone, and unite the Alps of

Savoy with the Bernese Oberlaml. you might
obtain a tolerable idea of this view of the Rocky
.Mountains. Pike's Peak would then represent
the Jungfrau; a nameless snowy giant in front of
you. Monte Rosa, and Long's Peak. Mont Blanc.

To such scenes of surpassing beauty were theearly
settlers of Colorado invited, but, inasmuch as most
of them came for gold rather than mountain scen-
ery, more interest was felt in reaching the moun-
tains than in beholding them afar off. The "light
air" which was thenceforth to form one of the most
striking of many Colorado peculiarities, had already
given rise to numerous fictions touching its decep-
tive qualities. The story of the man who started
to walk from Denver to the mountains before
breakfast, was already old. in fact, it was founded
upon Capt Pike's fruitless effort to reach Pikes
Peak during the day on which he first sighted it.

Among the pleasant memories of the early days
was the abundance of game, as already noted in
the reference to ancient Pueblo. The Platte Val-
ley was even better provided in this respect than
the Arkansas, anil, at first, neither buffalo nor ante-
lope seemed to be much alarmed at the approach
of man. though the latter, more alert and intelli-
gent than their lumbering companions, soon found
that a distant acquaintance with mankind was
most profitable though yielding less information.

CHAPTER II.

EAELY DISCOVERIES (IE (JOED.

BUT we must not linger too long en route or the was no gold here, nor anything else worth living

impatientreaderwiUsympathizewiththeimpa- for. Others began mining operations, but, meet-

tient pilgrim, anxious to reach the "golden sands," ing with only partial or indifferent success, and

achieves fortune and retrace his steps, for few, if finding that hard work offered no more attrac-

any, pilgrims expected to remain in tin- new gold- tions in Colorado than elsewhere, concluded that

fields longer than was absolutely necessary. Events they would do their hard work back Past among

showed, however, that their ideas of necessity friends and relations. Others still persevered,

varied very widely, according to pluck and energy, despite all discouragements, and to these brave

Some of them started back inside of twenty-four men the country is indebted for its marvelous

hours, cursing the country and declaring that there outcome.

•?%.-*

liu

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

All honor to the pioneers. Whether they saw
the end from the beginning, or whether they
builded "better than they knew.'' their labor
involved the highest type of moral courage.

The discoveries of gold in 1858 were confined
to the plains entirely, and mainly to the tributaries
of the Platte in the vicinity of Denver.

In January, 1859, although the winter was
cold, the snow deep ami circumstances very dis-
couraging, the enterprising prospectors ventured
into the mountains, anil gold was discovered in
several localities, among them South Boulder
Creek, where the diggings were christened " Dead-
wood." The original Deadwood failed, however.
to create the excitement which has recently been
created by its namesake in the Black Hills of
Dakota.

Meanwhile, the politicians had not been idle.
Auraria, now known as West Denver, was laid out
early in November, and soon became the center of
population, though numerous towns and "cities"
sprang into existence about the same time. Of
course, these incipient cities looked first to some
form of government, and, as this whole country
was then within the dominion of Kansas, a now
county was constituted and called Arapahoe, after
the neighboring tribe of Indians. On the 6th of
November, the first election was held. It was a
double-barreled affair, a Delegate to Congress and
a Representative in the Kansas Legislature being
elected at the same time. II. J. Graham went to
Washington, and A. J. Smith to Topeka. Gra-
ham's instructions were to get "Pike's Peak" set
apart as an independent Territory, to be called
Jefferson. He was a man of great energy and
fair ability, but he must have been looked upon in
Washington as a wild sort of lunatic, for the coun-
try was then so new that nobody east of the Mis-
souri Uivi r attached any importance to the scheme
of its proposed permanent settlement. Those who
had faith in the country remained in it; those
who lacked faith went hack to the States
and denounced it as a miserable fraud. Graham
found himself without influence at the National

Capital, ami the only thing he gained by his trip,
besides the fleeting honor of being our first Repre-
sentative in Congress, was the privilege of paying
his own expenses.

Smith was slightly more successful at Topeka.
He was recognized to the extent of sanctioning
the new county organization, and so Colorado was
launched into political existence as Arapahoe
County. Kansas.

The year 1859 was one of great moment to Col-
orado. Though in effect but a repetition of 1S5S,
it was on a scale so much larger as to eclipse the
latter, and to assume for itself all the importance
of the date of actual discovery and settlement, so
that, in the minds of most people, Colorado dates
from 1859, rather than from the preceding year.

It has already been stated that discoveries of
gold were made in the mountains as early as Jan-
uary of this year, hut the great excitement of the
season did not begin until .May, when Gregory
Gulch was first prospected by the famous John II.
Gregory, whose name it bears. Gregory does not
appear to have 1 been a Pike's Peak pilgrim. It is
said that he left Georgia for the far-away gold
mines of British Columbia, and that he passed by
Colorado during the excitement of 1858, going as
iar north as Fort Laramie, where chance or acci-
dent induced him to spend the winter. Instead
of continuing his northwest journey in the spring,
he turned hack and inspected the Colorado dig-
gings critically, and, without any unbounded faith
in their paying qualities. He reached Golden, a
mere hamlet then, and. still dissatisfied, pushed on
through the now famous Clear Creek Canon to
where the town of Black Hawk now stands. lie
was alone, and nearly perished in a severe snow-
storm which came on and found him without
shelter.

Painfully, he fought his way back to the valley,
and laid in a fresh stock of provisions and warmer
clothing, and again set out for the Clear Creek
country, convinced, from his previous observations,
that it was a treasure-house of precious metals.
His enthusiasm enlisted the services of one man to

-£

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

accompany him — Wilkes Defrees, of South Bond,
Ind.

Of their toilsome journey, and of the discover-
ies they made, it is perhaps best to speak in the
light of results, compared with which their first
prospecting seems tame and commonplace. For
more than twenty years already, and giving prom-
ise of twenty times twenty years to come, Gregory
Gulch and the surrounding country has yielded its
rich treasures of gold and silver, and to-day it is
increasing in wealth and importance as a mining

(•enter. Where ] r Gregory so nearly perished

in the snow, stands three populous eities and hun-
dreds of valuable mines; the smoke of smelters'
and reduction works hang over them day and
night continually, and active mining operations
and kindred industries make of the narrow valley
a very bee-hive, not only of action but of accumu-
lation.

Within the narrow limits of this review, there
is not room for the chronological succession of
events which effected this wonderful transforma-
tion, but a hasty resume of the history of Gregory
Gulch will In' useful as showing how our mining
industries struggled through the earlier years of
their existence. A not inapt comparison might
be found in the induction of an infant into the
means and mysteries of human life.

It has already been stated that the discoveries of
gold in Colorado were made by men ignorant of
scientific mining, ignorant, too, of the laws of
nature which might have shed some light, at. least,
on the possibilities of these discoveries. Geolo-
gists could have foretold many things which these
men learned by the hardest experience, and often
at. the sacrifice of their fortunes. Even gulch aud
placer mining, the simplest study of mineralogy,
was almost a sealed book to the pioneers, and of
the reduction of ores they were profoundly igno-
rant. As depth was gained on their lode claims,
the increasing richness of the ore was. under the
circumstances, more than neutralized by its refract-
ory nature. Rude appliances for treating ore.
such as had served the early miners while their

work lay near the surface, and while the quartz
was partially decomposed, utterly failed as depth
was gained, and, for a time, the mining industries
of Colorado came almpst to a stand-still.

It seems singular, now that mining has been
reduced to an exact science in Colorado, as well as
in older countries, that so long a time should have
elapsed, and so many grave errors should have
been committed, before this most reasonable and
certain result was attained. Nevertheless, it is
undoubtedly true that at one time, and at a very
important period of her history as a mining center,
Colorado swallowed tip more Eastern capital than
tic sum of her annual bullion product. Rich
ores were treated only to be ruined. The precious
metals could not be extracted and separated from
t]ie mass of worthless material. The tailings and
refuse of the mills were more valuable than what
was saved from them. Mining companies were
formed in the East, which sent out agents and
operators taken from all walks of life except the
one business of which they should have been mas-
ters. The monuments of this folly are still visible
everywhere in our mountains, in the shape of
abandoned buildings, wasting water-powers, and
many other easy and expeditious methods of get-
ling rid of the '■company's" money. Fitz-John
Porter's " Folly, at Black Hawk, now figures as a
railway depot, an immense stone structure, costing
thousands of dollars, but never utilized by its pro-
jectors. Other '-Folly" buildings, costing other
thousands, have never been utilized at all.

But though results were thus unsatisfactory, the
same could not truthfully be said of business. It
was flush times in Colorado. Money and work
wile plenty, and thousands found employment at
remunerative wages. The placers were yielding
up their rich treasures, and little or no skill was
required to find and save the gold thus deposited.

True to the instincts of their kind, the pros-
pectors spread over the whole country in their
search for gold. The Indians became alarmed at
the encroachments of the miners, and many
detached parties of the latter were killed during

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

1860-61. The first party which penetrated into
Middle Park was decimated by the hostile savages,
but this did not prevent others from following in
their footsteps, and very important discoveries of
placer mines were made, not only along the bed of
the Platte and its tributaries, but also across the
Mosquito Range, in the Arkansas Valley. Among
the latter was the celebrated find near the present
site of Leadville, in California Grulch, of which

more will be written in another chapter devoted to
the history of Leadville.

Though thousands of pilgrims crossed the plains
in 1859, few, comparatively, of their number win-
tered in the country, fearing the severity of the
weather and a possible scarcity of provisions. By
chance, neither fear was well founded. The win-
ter was very mild, and trains loaded with goods of
all kinds came through safely in midwinter.

CHAPTER III.

JOURNALISM IN COLORADO.

VERY early in the season of 1859, the printing-
press took root in Rocky Mountain soil, where
it has flourished since second to scarcely any other
industry. What Colorado owes to her live, enter-
prising and intelligent newspaper press, no one can
tell; hut, if the State is debtor to the press, the
obligation is mutual, for never were newspapers so
liberally patronized as those of Denver and the
State at large

By universal consent, Bon. William X. Byers,
founder, and for a long time editor 'if the Rocky
Mountain News, has been called tin' pioneer and
father of Colorado's journalism, though in a late
address to the Colorado State Press Association,
he modestly disclaimed part of this honor in favor
of an erratic but large-hearted printer named Jack
Merrick. It seems that Merrick started for Pike s
Peak with a newspaper outfit, in advance of the
Byers party, which consisted of Thomas llibson,
then and now of Omaha, and Dr. George C.
Monell, of the same place. Merrick reached
Denver first, ami to that extent was the pioneer
publisher, but the superior energy of the Byers
party enabled them to get out the first paper ever
published in the Rocky Mountains. It hears date
April 22. 1850. Merrick issued a paper on the
.-.line day, but later. Both were rather rude spec-
imens of typography, especially as compared with
the elegantly printed sheets now circulating in the

State, and the Cherry Creek Pioneer — the name
by which Merrick's journal was heralded — was
unique in that it was the one lone, solitary issue
from his press. Before Jack could collect himself
together sufficiently to get out another number,
Gibson, of the Xews, had bargained for his sorry
little outfit and consolidated it with that of the
News. The latter paper was published with tolerable
regularity all that summer, though sometimes
under the must discouraging circumstances, and
more than once upon brown paper or half-sheets of
regular print. The nearest post office was at Fort
Laramie. 22o miles distant, and the mails arrived
there at very irregular intervals. The News, how-
ever, was never dependent on its exchanges for
original matter, and got along very well without
telegraphic dispatches. It was devoted to build-
ing up the country, and it gave nearly all its space
to reports of mining matters, new strikes, and
pictures of the glowing future of Colorado. For
all these utterances, and especially for the latter, it
was cursed by returning disheartened pilgrims,
who pinned their own stories into the willing ears
of Eastern editors, and soon earned for the Rocky
Mountain News the reputation of being edited by
one of the most capable and dangerous liar- in the
country.

Looking hack over his twenty years of labor
for Colorado in the face ot everj possible

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

discouragement, the veteran editor can afford to
smile at these ancient assaults upon his veracity
as a scribe. Mure than he predicted of the coun-
try has been verified.

The second newspaper venture in Colorado was
at Mountain City, a mining camp, situated just
above the present town of Black Hawk, but not
quite as far up the gulch as where Central stands.
This was the Gold Reporter, ami was published by
Thomas Gibson, who had sold his interest in the
News to John I,. Dailey, now Treasurer of Arapa-
hoe County, Gibson published the Reporter only
during the summer of 1859. In November, the
material was removed to Golden, and a very credit-
able newspaper, railed the Mountaineer, was
printed by the Boston Company which started the
town. The idea, at that time, was that Golden
should supersede Denver as the metropolis of the
mountains, and this newspaper venture was in pur-
suance of that sacredly cherished purpose. The
lamented A. I». Richardson was one of the earlier
editors of the Mountaineer, and Col. Thomas W.
Knox, almost as widely known as a successful
journalist, was another, ('apt. George West, the
veteran editor of the Golden Transcript, which
succeeded the Mountaineer, was also connected
with the latter publication until the war broke out.
when he enlisted.

The winter of 1859—60 was a hard one upon
the journals of the Territory, on account of the
stampede back to the 'settlements" at the opening
of the winter, hut the spring brought many of the
stampeders back, ami not a few •• tenderfoot," as
new-comers wen already called by those who had
wintered in the country. Anion- tin 1 returning
prodigals was Gibson, who brought in another
newspaper outfit, and, early in May, issued the
Daily Herald, the first daily ever printed in
Denver.

.Meantime the proprietors of the Sews hail not
been idle. and. very soon after the Daily Herald
was started, the Daily Netrs made its appearance.

The rivalry between these sheets is one of the
liveliest traditions of 1860. The fierce competi-

tion between our great dailies of to-day sinks into
insignificance when compared to the News and
Herald war of that date. Singh' copies of each
paper sold readily for "two hits, which was the
standard price also for cigars, drinks, and many
other necessaries of life in the Far West. Both
papers circulated in all the mountain mining
camps, being distributed by carriers mounted on
the fleet •■bronchos" of the plains, whose tireless
train]) and sure feet fitted them exactly for the
work. as. in these latter days, the same character-
istics fit them equally for chasing wild cattle over
the plains or carrying tourists to the very summits
of mountain peaks.

A year later the telegraph reached Fort Kearney,
and journalism took another forward step. The
dailies began to furnish telegraphic news from the
Kast, then eagerly sought for on account of the
great civil war raging throughout the South.

Curiously enough, although Gregory Gulch
was, from the first discovery of gold there, a large
center of population, particularly during the sum-
mer months, no newspaper was permanently estab-
lished there until 1862. It was the same Register
which still survives, and which has been for many
years one of the most important and influential
mining and political journals of the State. The
Black Hawk Journal, now extinct, hut which
existed for many years, was established by Capt.
frank Hall and ( ). -J. llollister, in the same year.
Both these gentlemen made their mark in journal-
ism, and the former is still an honored and exc I-

ingly popular citizen of Colorado. To the latter.
Colorado is indebted for the best historical sketch
of the State ever published, but the number of
years which have elapsed since its appearance, and
the wonderful transformation of the country which
has marked these lateryears, have almost destroyed
the value of " Hollister's Colorado." except as a

1 k of reference, in which respect it has been of

most invaluable service to the compiler of these
pages.

It would be interesting, if it were practicable, to
follow the fortunes of these and other enterprising

••

:•'%£

dfrewvfc. Ft ' ,u£u4#+t /T

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

newspapers through succeeding years, but the
vicissitudes of journalism in Colorado would make
a book in itself. Perhaps a fitting conclusion to
this brief review would be the following extract
from the address of Mr. Byers before the Colorado
Press Association, already referred to elsewhere:

"1862, '63 and '64 were trying years for the
two daily newspapers that remained in Denver.
Messrs. Rounds & liliss retired from the News in
L863. The Herald underwent a number of
changes in name and management. A harassing
Indian war on the Plains prostrated business, cut
off the mails and interrupted all commerce. Trains
laden with merchandise were robbed nr burned,
teams driven off and men killed. During the
summer of 1864, when the trouble culminated,
Denver and the immediate vicinity lust about fifty
citizens, who were murdered by the Indians.
Must of them were killed while en route in or
from the States. The daily mail route along the
Platte was broken up and nearly all the stations
burned. As misfortunes never come singly, that
season was exceptional for its disasters. On the
20th of May occurred the celebrated Cherry
Creek flood, known by that name only because it
occasioned more destruction of property and loss
of life at Denver than in any other locality. It
was no less terrible and proportionately more
destructive along Plum Creek, the Fontaine ijni
Bouille and other streams, than along Cherry
Creek. By it Denver lost a large amount of
property. The News office and its contents were
destroyed, leaving not a vestige. Three or four
weeks after, its proprietors bought the Herald
office and resumed the publication of the News.
The Indian war thickened, until practically Colo-
rado was cut off from the Eastern States. For
weeks at a time, there were no mails, and finally
they were sent around by Panama and San Fran-
cisco, reaching Denver in from seven to ten weeks.
Of course newspapers suffered with everybody and
everything else. All supplies were used up.
Wrapping paper, tissue paper and even writing
paper were used to keep up the daily issues of the

News, now the only paper remaining in Denver, if
not in the Territory. In August, martial law was
proclaimed, and the Third Regiment of Colorado
Volunteers raised in less than a week in order to
chastise the Indian- The regiment was equipped
and provisioned by the people, but was subse-
quently accepted and mustered into the United
States Service for one hundred days. The Sand
Creek campaign followed. The New* office fur-
nished fourteen recruits for that regiment, and
thereafter, for a time, the paper was printed by a
detail of soldiers. It was very small, and con-
tained little besides military orders and notices.
The campaign lasted about ninety days, and then
followed peace. For two or three years, the
News had the Held in Denver almost entirely
alone, and then new enterprises were started, and
the number of newspapers has since multiplied rap-
idly, Mime to become permanent, as the Tribune,
Herald, Times and others, and many others to
flourish for a brief period and then die. The
same has been the case all over the Territory. now-
State. Newspapers have been among the first
enterprises in all new towns of any importance.

It would be unjust to a generous and noble
class of men to dismiss this subject without pay-
ing a compliment to those who have carried the
printing press up and down the mountains and
valleys of this broad State, whenever and wherever
there was a posssible opportunity to develop some
new resources and found some new settlement.

There has never 1 n a call for a new newspaper

in Colorado to which some one has not responded.
Start a new town anywhere in the mountains, and
the moment its success is assured — often much
sooner — some enterprising publisher puts in tin
appearance, and a creditable newspaper i- launched
in le>s time than it would take an Eastern commu-
nity to make up it> mind that a newspaper was a
necessity. Who would think in the Mast, or in
the [Mississippi Valley, of starting a newspaper
in a town of two or three hundred inhabitants?
Yet Colorado can boast of many such, and,
what is stranger still, many of them are financially

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

successful. Should the new settlement prosper,
thi' newspaper always shares its prosperity ; should
the town fail, the publisher, a little downcast, per-
haps, but not at all disheartened, picks up his office

and himself and tries another loeation. As a
matter of present as well as future interest, the
following list of periodical publications in the
State, at the close of 1879, is hereto appended:

NAME.

PROPRIETORS.

News, weekly

Independent, weekly

Southwest, weekly

Post, weekly

News and Courier, weekly

Banner, weekly

Record, weekly

News Letter, weekly

Gazette, daily and weekly

Mountaineer, daily :iu<l weekly

Deaf-Mute Index, monthly

Prospector, weekly

News, daily and weekly

Tribune, daily and weekly

Republican, daily and weekly...

Times, daily and weekly

Colorado Farmer, weekly

Financial Era, weekly

Colorado Journal, weekly

Colorado Post, weekly

Hern Id, weekly

Presbyterian, monthly

Journal, weekly

Express, weekly

Courier, weekly

Flume, weekly

Miner, weekly

Courier, weekly

Transcript, weekly

Globe, weekly

Sun, weekly

Tribune, weekly ..

Silver W.nM, weekly

Chronicle, daily and weekly

Eclipse, daily and weekly

Herald, daily and weekly

Reveille, daily and weekly

Colorado Grange, monthly

Press, weekly

Ledger, weekly

Mentor, weekly

Times, weekly

Solid Muldoon

Chieftain, daily and weekly \ Pueblo

Democrat, daily and weekly

Index, weekly

Banner, weekly

( Ihronicle, weekly

Miner, weekly

Prospector, daily

Miner, daily and weekly

Enterprise, daily and weekly

News, daily and weekly

Leader, weekly

Alamosa

Animas City

Black Hawk

Boulder

Canon City

Castle Rock

Central City

< Jolorado Springs-
Colorado Springs..
Colorado Springs..

Del Norte

Denver

I lonvor

Denver

Evans

Fort Collins

Fairplay

I leorgetown

Georgetown

Golden

Greeley

Lake City

Leadville

Longmont

Lone nl

Longmont

Monument

Ouray

Pueblo

Rosita

South Pueblo

Saguache

Silverton

Silver Cliff

Trinidad

\\ esl Las Animas

M. Custers ,

Hamm & Finley

Engley & Reid

J. R. Oliver ,

Shedd & Wilder

Wangelin & Tilney

11. T. Blake ".

C. E. Parkinson

Laird ,\ Marlow

Gazette Publishing < !o

Mountaineer Printing Co.

II. M. Harl.ert

I 'oeliran Pros

News Printing Co

II. Peekurts

Republican I !o

R, W. Woodbury

.1. S. Stanger

F. C. Messenger & Co

W. Witteborg

New s Printing Co

0. J. Goldrick

Rev. S. Jackson

.lames Ton-ens

.1. S. McClelland

Watrous & Pelton

Patterson & Bellamy...

.1. S. Randall

George West

W. (1. Smith

H. A. French

E. J. Carver

II. C. Olney

< Ihronicle t o

G. F. Wanless

Herald Printing I !o

P. S. Allen

W. E. Palior

E. F. P.cckwitli

Ledger Co

A. T. Blachley

Ripley Pros

Muldoon Publishing Co

.1. .1. Lambert

Pull Bros

A. .1. Patrick

W. B. Felton

John P. Curry

McKinney & Lacy.

W. L. Stevens

.1. M. Rice

Henry Slurgis

C. W. Bowman

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

The preceding shows fifteen daily and fifty weekly
newspapers. Denver has four large dailies; Leadville,
three fair dailies; Pueblo, two; Colorado Springs,

Silver Cliff and Trinidad, two each, and Central, one.
The Denver dailies challenge the admiration ol
every one who appreciates pluck and perseverance.

CHAPTER IV.

EARLY POLITICS AND ORGANIZATION OF THE TERRITORY.

BRIEF allusion has been made already to the
political movements of the pioneers; their early
effort to organize a Territorial Government, and
also to extend the jurisdiction of Kansas over this
unorganized community. The pioneers were good
citizens, but they foresaw the lawless element
which would fall upon them presently, and earn-
estly endeavored to provide themselves with prop-
er laws and peace officers. But the work of
organizing a Territory is at best a tedious process,
and, in this case, it was hindered by conflicting
interests and opinions. Some wanted to organize
a State at once, claiming in their enthusiasm, that
the requisite population could be shown by the
time a vote would be taken on the question.
Some opposed alike the State and Territorial move-
nt ii , and wanted to remain a dependence of Kan-
sas, ami the roughs were opposed to any and all
forms of government — not very strange, in view
of the fact that most of them were fugitives from
justice, in one or another of the older States or
Territories.

After the formal establishment of the new
county under Kansas administration, the next im-
portant step was the State movement. A public
meeting, held in Auraria (West Denver), April
11, 1859, had resolved in favor of a State organ-
ization, and the scheme advanced so far dur-
ing the summer that a Constitution was pre-
pared, and submitted to a vote of the people
in September. The convention which framed
the Constitution, wisely provided that, in case
of its rejection, a delegate to Congress, to be
voted for on the same day, should proceed to
Washington, and again endeavor to have the

-old region set off from Kansas, as a new Terri-
tory, to be known as Jefferson. The Constitution
was rejected by a large majority, the vote in its
favor being but 049 to 2,007against it.

B. D. Williams was elected Delegate over seven
competitors. The election was a very exciting
affair. Even at that early day, there were charges
and counter-charges of fraud, some of them, prob-
ably, well founded. The Returning Board came
in for its share of obloquy, too, but, as no "emi-
nent citizens," or Congressional Committee, in-
quired into the matter, it failed to achieve a
national reputation.

Thus ended the first effort of the people of Col-
orado for admission into the I'niou. It. was
renewed on several occasions prior to the final suc-
cessful movement in 1875—76. On one occasion,
it was so far successful that, in 1864, Congress
passed an enabling art under which a Constitution
was framed, adopted, and all the machinery of
State stood ready to move at. a moment's notice,
when President Andrew Johnson vetoed every-
thing by refusing to ratify the < !onstitution, on tin-
ground that it contained an unconstitutional pro-
vision restricting suffrage to white inhabitants.
This was a terrible blow not only to the people of
the State generally, but to the unfledged State
officials and Congressional delegation. Hon. J. B.
Chaffee and ex-Gov. John Evans had been chosen
Senators; Hon. George M. Chilcott, Representative
in Congress; William Oilpin, Governor; George
A. Hinsdale, Lieutenant Governor; J. II Gest,
Secretary of State, and W, R. Gorsline, Allen A.
Bradford and J. Bright Smith, Justices of the
Supreme Court.

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

Upon the failure of the first effort in 1859, the
Provisional Government of the Territory of Jeffer-
son was organized, by the election of B. W. Steele,
as Governor; Lucien W. Bliss, Secretary; C. E.
Bissell, Auditor; G. W. Cook, Treasurer; Samuel
McLean, Attorney General, and a full ticket, which
was voted at twenty-seven precincts, and for which
some two thousand one hundred votes were cast, pro
and con. But in order to be on the safe side, still
another election was held on the same day, at which
a full set of county officers were chosen, under
Kansas rule, and, so the early pilgrims sailed
along under triple laws for a time, the Miner's
court having been organized to mete out justice
after its crude and vigorous but very healthy
fashion.

Say what, we may of the miners' laws and their
summary method of dealing with litigants and
all offenders against law and order, the fact
remains that during those troublous times, the
Miners' courts were about the only ones which
were thoroughly respected and implicitly obeyed.
As to the latter point, indeed, there was no alter-
native. When the miners ordered a man out of
camp, for example, he stood not at all upon the
onler of his going, but went at once. Similarly.
if the miners decided between two parties contend-
ing over a disputed claim, the side which secured
a verdict also secured possession, and that without
any delay whatever.

The " Provisional Government," as the Territorial
party was called, elected a Legislature, which met
in November, and transacted considerable business.
The city of Denver was first chartered by this
body. Nine counties were represented in the
Legislature, and Gov. Steele set out to officer them
by appointing Probate Judges and ordering county
elections in January, 1860. There was little or no
objection to the office-holding part of the pro-
gramme, but a poll-tax of SI per capita, levied by
the Provisional Government, was the occasion el'
much vigorous "kicking," and went farther toward
breaking down (ban sustaining < rov. Steele's admin-
istration.

Meantime, Capt. Richard Sopris, now an hon-
ored citizen and Slayer of Denver, represented
"Arapahoe County'' in the Kansas Legislature,
and a complete list of Kansas county officers bad
been chosen in the valleys, while the mountain
counties stood by their Miners' courts, and as much
of the Provisional Government as suited them. If
an honest miner failed to secure his rights in one
court, he incontinently rushed into another; if he
feared to go to trial in one, he took a change
of venue to the other. Sometimes eases were
tried in both courts, and as the fine- art of taxing
fees had early penetrated into the country, liti-
gants often found themselves as poor after a case
was won as they were before.

Tn January, 1860, the Provisional Legislature
met again and made some more laws, which were
as inoperative as their pn decessi irs. Their failure,
however, was due rather to the passivity than
resistance of the people. The country was, in
fact, peaceable and law-abiding, with the exception
of that dangerous class common to the border,
to which all laws were alike objectionable, and
these roughs were kept in check by the fear of
summary punishment. Miners' courts in the
mountains had been supplemented by people's
courts in the valleys. The proceedings of the lat-
ter were -as open and orderly as those of the for-
mer; indeed, they approached the dignity of a
regularly constituted tribunal.

They were always presided over by a magistrate,
either a Probate Judge or a Justice of the Peace.
The prisoner had counsel and could call witnesses,
if the latter were within reach.

So passed the year 1860, marked by some very
exciting criminal history, of which more anon, and,
early in December, upon the re-assembling of
Congress, the claims of Colorado to Territorial
recognition were persistently pressed, not only by
her own delegates, but by many members who bad
near relatives or friends in flu.' Pike's Peak country.
After a little delay, caused by a press of political
business in both Houses, Congress finally took up
and passed the Colorado bill, which became a law

HISTORY OP COLORADO.

February 26, 1861. President Lincoln immedi-
appointed Federal officers for the new Terri-
tory. William Gilpin was the Governor; Lewis
Ledyard Weld, Secretary; IJ. F. Hall, Chief Jus-
; S. Newton Pettis and Charles Lee Armour,
Associate Justin-, Copeland Townsend, United
States Marshal; William L. Stoughton, Atti rn ;.
General, and Gen. Fran, is M. Case, Surveyor
i reneral.

Gov. Gilpin reached Denver May -'.K following
his appointment. A census of the Territory,
taken by him soon after his arrival, showed a pop-
ulation of 25,329, divided as follows: White
males over age, 18,136; white males under age,
2,622; females, 4,484; negroes, 89.

The new Territory was carved out of the public
domain lying between the 102d and 109th meri-
dians of longitude and the 37th and 41st parallels
of latitude, thus forming a compact and nearly
square tract, its length, east and west, being 370
miles and its width 28(1. It comprises an area of
104,500 square miles, au Empire in itself and the
third largest State in the Union. Texas being the
first and California second. But, according to the
maps and Ilaydcn's Survey, fully one-third of Col-
orado is covered by the Rocky Mountain Range
and its spurs, the latter standing out from the
former in every direction. The main range or con
tinental divide enters the State from the north, a
little west of the center, ranges eastward and south-
ward until Long's Peak is reached, bears almcft
due south through Boulder County, swings west-
ward around Gilpin and Clear Creek, thence leads
southwest through many devious turns and wind-
ings until it penetrates the very heart of the San
Juan silver region, whence it returns eastward
by south, and leaves the Slat, nearly due south
of the point where it entered.

Across this mighty mountain range the Slate
sit-, as Mr. Hollister says, like a man on horse-
back, a homely but apt comparison. It would be
more expressive still if the plains of the western
slope corresponded with those of the east, which
they do not.

The eastern plains occupy more than one-third
of the entire State. Though largely arid anil
apparently unproductive, they are the source of
immense wealth, and it is even questioned now
whether their reclamation would add to the actual

production of the State. To drive the cattle trade
and stock interests generally from the State would be
to deprive Colorado of its most profitable industry,
whereas the production of crops by artificial irri-
gation is attended with great expense ami not a
little risk, and it is doubtful whether Colorado
could ever compete with Kansas and Nebraska as
an agricultural region.

The third grand division of the State is the
Park country, and to this may very properly be
added the great valleys over the range, which ale
really parks, inasmuch as the mountains rise round
about them, though not always in circular or .semi-
circular form. Of the parks proper, there are too
many to be enumerated in detail, but the principal
ones are North, Middle, South and San Luis, the
latter being in fact the Valley of the Rio Grande.

The park lauds are pastoral rather than agri-
cultural, but some farming is conducted in South
Park, and still more in San Luis. All are well
watered, mountain streams flowing through them
from the mountains above to the valleys below.
They were once alive with game — the happy hunt-
ing grounds of the Ctes and Arapahoes — and not
infrequently the scene of severe conflicts between
the rival tribes, although mainly held by the Ctes,
while the Arapahoes held the plains country.
Game, however, has almost entirely disappeared
from South and San Luis Parks, and is seldom
s 'en in .Middle Park, except in the winter season.
when heavy falls of snow on the range drives the
game into the Park and adjacent valleys. North
Park, however, is still stocked with game. It is
almost uninhabited, seldom visited sa\e by hunt-
ers, and is more a terra incognita than almost any
part of Colorado, outside of the Indian Reserva-
tion. This is accounted for by its lack of attract-
ive features, ami the fact that the country is
comparatively valueless either for agriculture or

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

stock-raising. It is said to be the poorest part of
the State, and so little is thought of it that even
now it is in doubt which contiguous county shall
exert jurisdiction over the Park.

Hunters, however, fiud themselves richly repaid
for the trouble and expense of reaching the Park.
The usual route is from Laramie, on the Union
Pacific Railway, though the Park is easily accessi-
ble from Denver and all points in Northern Colo-
rado. Bear, black-tailed deer, bison, mountain
sheep, antelope, mountain lions, etc., are found
there. Grouse abound, and the streams are full of
trout. The bison referred to above is not the
"buffalo" of the plains, but a distant cousin, of a
type essentially different, dwelling only in the
mountains. Bruin is found in two species — the
black and grizzly, the latter being most dangerous
when he shows light, which he is not slow to do if
attacked or molested.

The amount of game in North Park may be
greatly exaggerated, but there is certainly plenty
of it upon occasion, and hunters have even found
more than they wanted. A few years ago, some

friends of the writer were crossing the Poudre
range into North Park, when they suddenly came in
sight of seven bears nearly in front of them. A coun-
cil of war was held, and an attack was resolved on-
The party were to creep forward in single file and as
noiselessly as possible to within rifle range, and
then fire all together at a signal from the leader.
One of the party had no gun. but insisted on
bearing the rest company. When the leader
turned to give the signal for firing, the gunless
individual was the only biped in sight. The rest
of the erstwhile brave battalion hail turned back
to camp. This example was soon followed by the
others, and the bears never knew how narrowly
they had cseaped-slaughter.

Doubtless, some sanguinary reader will have
been terribly disappointed at the tame termination
of this story, but long observation on the frontier
has shown that bear hunts are usually bloodless.
The i ild settlers seldom bother themselves about
Bruin, so long as he leaves them alone, and
never attack one without being exceptionally well
armed.

CHAPTER V.

LO! THE POOR INDIAN.

WESTERN COLORADO, though, undoubt-
edly, the finest part of the State, is practi-
cally unproductive, owing to Indian occupation.
The Indian Reservation is an immense body of

nearly three times as large as the State of Massa-
chusetts. It is watered by large streams and
rivers, and contains many rich valleys, and a large
number of fertile plains. The climate is milder

fine mineral, pastoral, and agricultural land, larger j than in most localities of the same altitude on the
than the State of Massachusetts twice over — nearly Atlantic Slope. Grasses grow there in great lux-
three times as large, in fact. It is nominally occu- uriance, and nearly every kind of grain and vege-
pied by about 3,000 Ute Indians. Of this land, tables can be raised without difficultv. This tract
and those Indians, Gov. Frederick W. Pitkin wrote, contains nearly one-third of the arable kind of
in bis message to the Legislature of 1879, as Colorado, and no portion of the State is better
follows: adapted for agricultural and grazing purposes than
■■ Aliuig tlie western borders of the State, and many portions of this reservation. Within its
mi the Pacific Slope, lies a vast tract occupied by limits arc large mountains, from most of which
the tribe of I'te Indians, as their reservation. It explorers have been excluded by the Indians,
contains about twelve millions of acres, and is Prospectors, however, have explored some portions

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

of the country, and found valuable lode and placer
claims, and there is reason to believe that it eon-
tains great mineral wealth. The number of In-
dians who occupy this reservation is about three
thousand. It' the land was divided up between
individual members of the tribe, it would give
every man, woman, and child a homestead of
between three and four thousand acres. It has
been claimed that the entire tribe have had in cul-
tivation about fifty acres of land, and, from some
personal knowledge of the subject, I believe that
one able-bodied white settler would cultivate more
land than the whole tribe of Utes. These Indians
are fed by the Government, are allowed ponies
without number, and, except when engaged in an
occasional hunt, their most serious employment is
horse-racing. If this reservation could be extin-
guished, and the land thrown open to settlers, it
will furnish homes to thousands of the people of
the State who desire homes."

The picture is not overdrawn. Though not
particularly quarrelsome or dangerous, the Utes are
exceedingly disagreeable neighbors. Even if they
would be content to live on their princely reserva-
tion, it would not be so bad, but they have a dis-
gusting habit of ranging all over the State, steal-
ing horses, killing oft' the game, anil carelessly
firing forests in the dry. summer season, whereby
thousands of acres of fine timber are totally
ruined.

The Utes are actual, practical Communists, and
the Government should be ashamed to foster and
encourage them in their idleness ami wanton waste
of property. Living oft' the bounty of a paternal
but idiotic Indian Bureau, they actually become
too lazy to draw their rations in the regular way,
but in ist mi taking what they want wherever
they find it. Rut for the fact that they are
arrant cowards, as well as arrant knaves, the west-
ern slo] f Colorado would be untenanted by the

white race. Almost every year they threaten
some of the white settlers with certain death if
they do not leave the country, and, in some
instances, they have tried to drive away white cit-

izens, but the latter pay little attention to their
vaporings.

It is related of Barney Day, a well-known .Mid-
dle Park pioneer, that when a party of Utes vis-
ited him at his cabin, and gave him fifteen min-
utes to leave the country, he answered not a word,
but solemnly kicked them out of doors and oft' his
premises. The) not only offered no resistance to
the indignity, but, from that time forth, treated
Mr. Day with great consideration. It is not every
man, though, who has the nerve to act as lie did
in such an emergency.

The degeneration of the Utes has been very
rapid ever since the first settlement of the coun-
try. Formerly, the) win- a warlike tribe, and
held their own with the fierce Arapahoes of the
east and the savage Cheycnnes of tin- north,
whether upon the mountains or the plains. As
civilization advanced, the plains Indians retreated
before it, and after the Sand Creek fight, in 1864,
the plains were almost deserted by the wild hordes
which, until then, hail been the terror of all trav-
elers to and from Pike's Peak and California.
The Utes also retreated to the mountains, making
occasional forays to hunt buffalo on the plains, but
maintaining a wholesome respect for the old Colo-
rado Cavalry, which kept them from annoying
travelers. They would occasionally stampede a
stock train and run off the animals, but they grad-
ually abandoned the scalp trade, and devoted all
their talents and energies to begging and stealing.
They were the original 'tramps'' of the country,
and soon developed all the meanness and utter
worthlessness of their white prototypes. As Theo-
dore Winthrop wrote of the border savages he met
iii his journey ■' ( )u Horseback into < >regon," " with
on band they hung to all the vices of barbarism,
and with the other they clutched at all the vices
of civilization. " The Government might, with
almost, if not quite equal propriety, plant a colon)
of Communists upon the public domain, maintain-
ing them in idleness at public expense, as to leave
the Colorado Utes in possession of their present
heritage and present privileges.

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

The continuous and ever-increasing intercourse
between Colorado and the East has long since di
pelled the ancient idea that Denver was situated
in the heart of the Indian country, but the pres-
et) ■ of Indians in the State still constitutes an
obstacle to the advancement of Colorado, for even
those who do not fear the Dtes dislike tli m, and
would be glad to see them banished to some more
appropriate retreat than the garden of our growing
State.

To this end. Congress and the Interior Depart-
ment have been, and are continually! besieged to
provide for the extinguishment of Indian title
to the reservation lands, and in this movement
the military commanders on our frontier are earn-
estly interested. Gen. Pope, commanding tin-
department, is particularly anxious to have the
rites massed at a more convenient point. At
present they have three agencies on their reservation.
Both the White River and Uncompahgre agencies
are remote from railways and supplies, as well as
from the military posts, which are so necessary to
keep the savages in check. Removed to the
Indian Territory, the Utes could be fed and
clothed for about one-half what it now costs the
Government.

Philanthropists down East and abroad may
mourn over the decadence of this once powerful
tribe of Indians, but even a philanthropist would
fail to find any occasion for regret if he came to
Colorado and made a study of Ute character and
habits. Though better in some high (and low)
respects than the Digger Indians of Arizona, or
the Piutes of Nevada, the Colorado Utes have
nothing in common with the Indians of history
and romance, whose "wrongs" have been so tear-
fully portrayed by half-baked authors. The
Strongest prejudices of Eastern people in favor of
the Indians give way before the strong disgust
inspired by a closer acquaintance.

Hon. N. C. Meeker, the well-known Superin-
tendent of the White River Agency, was formerly
a fast friend and ardent admirer of the Indians.
He went to the agency firm in the belief that he

could manage the Indians successfully by kind
treatment, patient precept and good example.
With rare fidelity, he labored long and hard to

make "g 1 Indians" out of his wards, but utter

failure marked his efforts, and at last he reluctantly
accepted and acknowledged the truth of the border
truism that the only truly good Indians arc dead
ones. To those who know Mr. Meeker's kindness
of heart and gentle disposition, his conversion to
the doctrine of gunpowder treatment will be suf-
fii ient testimony to the utter worthlessness of the
pestiferous tribe which inhabits the best portion of
Colorado, to the exclusion of enterprising white

settlers, in whose hands the wilderness would s i

blossom as the rose, while richer mines than the
richest previous discoveries might soon be devel-
oped in Colorado's Utopia " over the range

The history of the San Juan silver country,
which will be found set forth in detail elsewhere,
slmws the long and hard struggle of our people to
have that wonder-land thrown open to settlement
and development. Very early in the history of
Colorado, the San Juan mountains were found to
be rich in mineral, but whoever penetrated them
t 10k his life in his hands, and generally laid it
down before he cann 1 back. So many went ami so
lew returned, that even the boldest pioneers pres-
. ntly abandoned the idea of prospecting south of
the Arkansas River. As time Went on, however,
ami as the country beca ue more settled and better
protected, the advance in that direction was
renewed, and rewarded by the discovery of some
of the richest mines in the whole range of mount-
ains. Tempted by cupidity, the Utes finally con-
sented to sell a slice of their abundant territory.
It was long ere the transfer was made, and, when
completed, it included only a narrow strip project-
ing into the heart of the Indian country, a por-
tion of which could only lie reached by crossing
a corner of the reservation.

Happily, no bad effects have yet resulted from
this arrangement ; but it is easy to see that in the

* Since the above was written, Mr. Meeker has heen cruelly
murdered by the Indians.

ta'h'*f//c/iicfj oi(c///7i f/i

frTTT

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

event of an Indian war or any trouble whatever
with the tribe, this road would be blockaded and
the settlers beyond cut off, unless they could escape
across an almost impassable mountain range. While
there is little or no danger to be apprehended from
this source, the fact remains that no' such advantage
should have been conceded to the Indians against
the white settlers of the new country.

The same perplexing questions which attended
and obstructed the acquisition of the San Juan
country are again present' d in connection with the
Gunnison region. This new mining center, lying
southwest and not very distant from Leadville, has
been opened to the 107th Meridian, the eastern
limit of the Indian reservation; and the pros-
pectors are clamoring for the right to follow their
fortunes across the line.

Some rich discoveries of both mineral ami coal
have been made within the reservation. Of eourse,
no title to property can In' acquired there until the
Indian title is extinguished. The new district lias
been named after Gov. Frederick W. Pitkin, and
that gentleman, as well as the Colorado delegation
in Congress, is besieged with applications to have
the Indians removed out of the way of ever-
advancing civilization.

'I']i«' I tes must go. Uncle Sam can feed them
as well and much cheaper elsewhere, and the
income lie would derive from their Colorado estate
would support them in affluence. Indeed, it is
asserted even now that the T'tes could be boarded
at a first-class hotel in Chicago or New York,
cheaper than at the present cost of their subsist-
ence.

Ouray, Chief of the Colorado Utes, resides at
the Los l'inos Agency. lie is a man possessed of
some ability and native shrewdness, but his power
over the tribe is far from omnipotent. Few of his
followers dispute his authority, but his rule is tol-
erant rather than vigilant, and. when out of his
sight, his people are prone and pretty apt to do
as they please. Occasionally, he goes a-gunning
for some reea lei t rant member of his tribe, and shoots
the offender on sight, but this is of rare occur-

rence. Generally, he remains at home, where he

lives in good style on an alleged farm, consisting of
a few acres of arable land and tin immense pony
pas', ure, well stocked. The farm is mostly tilled
by Mexican cheap labor. Ourayis said to be rich,
having absorbed the lion's share of Uncle Sam's
liberal contributions to the Ute treasury from time
to time. This seems all the more probable from
the fact that Ute despotism vests the administra-
tion of government entirely in his hands, and dis-
penses with both single and double entry book-
keeping in the matter of public finances. The
" central despotism " and "one-man power'' about
which we hear so much of late years, is here beau-
tifully exemplified.

Let it not be understood, however, that the Col-
orado Utes, useless as they arc, are without their
uses. They educate Eastern people who come
West to a fine abhorrence of Indian character,
which must soon put a. quietus on sentimental
mourning over the decay of the ill-fated race.
They also tan buffalo hides in better style than the
utmost ingenuity of white men can compass. An
Indian-tanned robe is the ne plus ultra of the
furrier's art. The secret of their process, if there
be a secret, is well kept from the eyes and ears of
rival operators, but it is generally believed on the
border that there is no secret worth knowing, and
that the superiority of their robes is due almost
entirely to the patient labor of the gentle but
unlovely squaw. She it is who bends her uncom-
plaining back over the buffalo skins, day after day
for weeks, scrubbing and rubbing them into that soft
ami pliable condition which is their peculiar char-
acteristic, and which appertains to them through
all exposure to the elements.

Another of their uses is to afford entertainment
to strangers from afar, to whom the sight of a
lousy Indian is an interesting study. Wandering
bands of Utes may be seen, at or near Denver,
very frequently during the latter part of each sum-
mer, "swapping" surplus ponies or the proceedsof
their hunt, for supplies, such as they hanker "after,
generally provisions or clothing, the sale of firearms

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

ami fire-water to Indians being prohibited. An
Indian family out shopping is a disgusting picture of
connubial infelicity. The \ r squaw carries every-
thing that is bought, and is usually burdened with
two or three children besides. She rides the sor-
riest sore-backed pony of the pair that carries the
outfit, and, when the purchases are deftly packed
upon the pony's back, she climbs up to her giddy
perch atop of the pyramid, pulls up her offspring
and distributes them around to balance the cargo,
gathers up the reins and sets sail after her lord

and master, who rides gaily ahead, carrying naught
except it be his gun or a plug of tobacco.

Even this poor show is seen less frequently of
late years than of yore, and will soon disappear
forever from the streets of Colorado's capital. The
buffalo have almost deserted the plains between
the South Platte and the Arkansas, with all
other kinds of game, and the Indians will prob-
ably hunt no more in this direction, even if they
should remain longer in the State, which is
doubtful.

CHAPTER VI.

THE MOUNTAINS OF COLORADO.

THE chief charm of Colorado being her magni-
ficent mountain scenery, it seems proper to
describe, with more particularity, the prominent
features of this American Switzerland, though
language would fail to give any definite idea of its
sublime grandeur.

We have already traced the general course of
the Sierra Madre Range, through Colorado, from
north to south. Its total length is nearly five
hundred miles within the limits of the Stale, and
diverging ranges reach a grand total almost as
large, making nearly 1.000 miles of "Snowy
Range," so called in Colorado. In point of fact,
however, there is no snowy range proper in the
State, and all the magniloqui nt utterances touch-
ing '-eternal snow" on our mountains is figurative,
except that patches of snow are visible here and
there throughout the year. These, however, occur
only in sheltered spots where neither sun nor
wind attack them vigorously, else they, too, would
disappear during the summer months, as does the
snow- from any exposed position.

The snow line, in this latitude, would probably
be six or seven thousand feet above the line of
timber, which averages about 11,800 feet above
the sea. The highest peaks in Colorado are less

than ll.UIIO feet above timber lino, and lion,, of

their summits are enveloped in eternal snow.
though often enough "snowed under'' in midsum-
mer. In the whole course of his considerable ex-
perience in peak-climbing, the writer has never yet
ascended an Alpine peak in Colorado, without en-
countering a snow-storm of greater or less violence,
even in July ami August. But the snow which
falls in summer is quite ephemeral, often disap-
pearing in a day. and never lingering long in
exposed positions. The wind, more than the sun.
is the author of it- destruction. At this great
distance from the sea, or any considerable bodies
of water, the air is almost destitute of moisture,
anil every wind that blows Seems as thirsty as a
caravan crossing the Desert of Sahara.

Snow that has successfully defied the direct
rays of the sun. often disappears, as if bj magic,
when a gentle wind blows over it for a few hours,
leaving the ground beneath perfectly dry.

The Rocky Mountains, as their name implies,
are extremely rugged and broken. From the very
verge of the spreading plains, where centuries or,
perhaps, eons ago, the waves of a mighty sea broke
in ceaseless rise and fall, up to the very dome and
crown of the mighty peaks which mark the height
of our continent, gigantic and fantastic rocks rise
higher and higher, wilder and more wild, in every

■

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

direction, save here and there where they sud-
denly give place to peaceful parks, whose car-
pet of velvet grass is unbroken by the tiniest
pebble.

Let us imagine ourselves entering the moun-
tains for the first time fmm the eastward-lying
plains. As we approach the rocky walls which,
at a distance, appear smooth to the eye as the
plain itself, we find the foot-hills, for the most part,
covered with disintegrated rock, through which a
scanty vegetation rises. The grasses have a lean
and hungry look, strangely belying their nutritious
qualities, ami the dwarfed piiion pines grow scrag-
gily here and there, or cease entirely, leaving the
hillsides bleak and bare. We follow the windings
and turnings of Mime stream, for mountain roads
must accommodate themselves to the canons
through which mountain streams seek the valley,
as affording about the only means of ingress and
egress to and from the heights before us.

If the stream be a small one and the road little
developed, they cross and recross each other every
few rods — indeed, the road often lies in the bed of
the stream itself, where the latter rounds some
rocky point in a narrow gorge, where bolder and
more precipitous rocks rise on cither hand. As
we go on, the rocks and hills greaten rapidly; new
and grander scenes are revealed at every turning;
the timber itself, sheltered from sun and storm,
stands out more boldly in pristine beauty, and
soon we think ourselves at least fairly within the
far-famed Rocky Mountains. It is ah idle thought,
for these are the foot-hills still. Beyond each
rocky ridge rises a higher, nobler elevation. " Alps
on Alps arise," and we go onward and upward
still.

Ever and anon the hills open to the right and
left, and we pass through a pleasant valley, where
the grass grows green and tall, and a cabin stands
beside the stream, which here glides gently along.
in striking contrast to its wild, impatient haste.
where it roars and rattles over its rocky bed above
and below. Again we climb up a steep ascent,
and, looking backward down the valley, see the

spreading plains opening out behind us, like a
summer sea, all smooth and placid. Hut for tin-
murmuring waters, the silence would be oppress-
ive. Animal life in the mountains is the excep-
tion rather than the rule. Some chattering mag-
pies herald our approach with characteristic gar-
rulity, and pretty little chipmunks scurry away
over the rocks, uttering their shrill but feeble
cries, and that is all, except on rare occasions,
or in remoter regions "over the range," where
beasts and birds abound in many localities.

Still ascending, the quiet beauty of the scene
changes to wilder grandeur, and the view widens
and greateus in every sense. The mountains rise
higher and still higher on each band, and the val-
leys open right and left like great grooves wrought
out of the mountain sides by centuries id' slow
attrition. Vegetation, which had attained its
greatest luxuriance at an elevation of eight or nine
thousand 1'eet above the sea, shrinks again; the
stately pines, with trunks "fit for the mast of some
great admiral." give way to dwarfed and stunted
trunks, strangely resembling an old fruit orchard
in the decline of life. Only the flowers in-
crease and multiply — the Alpine flowers which
lend to Colorado peaks their wildest, sweetest
charm.

No language can express the beauty of the
flowers which bloom all along the way, lifting
their bright faces to the foot of the traveler at
almost every step, nestling among the rocks
wherever a handful of soil is found, and uplifting
their tender petals beside the snow itself. Priui-
roses, buttercups, violets, anemones, daisies, colum-
bines and many other rare and beautiful flowers
are found in the mountains, and the lakes are
often almost entirelj covered with pond-lilies of
regal splendor. One lake on the Long's Peak
trail above Kstes Park, is (or was a few years
ago i completely hidden under a mass of lily-pads
and blossoms, and is known far and wide as l.ih
Lake.

Above timber line, these flowers begin to
dwarf and shrink closer to the earth, until they

** «-

-10

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

barely lift themselves above the stunted grass
which carpets the patches of earth like a close-
shaven lawn. But their beauty is enhanced
thereby, and no sense of their insignificance is
felt.

Another peculiarity of the mountains is that
everywhere away from the streams or springs the
peculiar aridity of the plains manifests itself.
The same stunted pass grows high up the mount-
ain-side, and, after brief exposure to the summer
sun. it loses its freshness and assumes the gray,
cold color of the rocks themselves. When the
gnarled and twisted trees have left nff clinging to
the rocks, and the bare, bald mountains rise
around you on every hand, the wide sweep of
vision seems t<> take in nothing but desolation
itself. All is one color, and that color is almost
colorless. While the sun illuminates the scene,
there is some warmth of light and shade about it,
but when the eold gray of the mountains is sup-
plemented by the cold gray of the sky, no scene
can be less inspiriting, especially to those unaccus-
tomed tn the overpowering solitude.

Few ever forget their advent into such a scene.
As if it were yesterday, tin: writer remembers his
firsl experience in peak-climbing. It was mid-
summer, but the air was intensely eold at timber
line, and above that point it was almost arctic
winter. The solitude was so intense that like cer-
tain degrees of darkness, of which we read, it could
be felt. Nay, it was felt by at least one of the
party, who could hardly dismiss the distressing idea
that he was out of the world, and likely to meet
another class of mortals at any moment. The very
light was unlike anything he had seen before, unless
it might have been the wild weird twilight (if a
total eelipse of the sun, a light that was neither
that df day or night, but a curious commingling of
both. It seemed impossible tn say whether the
peak before us was near or far — it might have been
both for aught we could say to the contrary.
Looking downward, into the awful chasms that
yawned below, brought to mind nothing but the
" abomination of desolation " mentioned in Holy

Writ, and it was hard to wrest out of the somber
surroundings a thought of the sublime beauty
which marks most mountain scenery for those who
first look upon its grandeur. In later days and
under differ ml circumstances the same scenes were
revisited and enjoyed, but the memory of that
first impression remains unchang id.

Perhaps the grandest of all mountain scenery is
a near view of the snowy range in winter, when
the sun shines fair and bright over the unsullied
snow, whose dazzling whiteness challenges the bril-
liancy ef the diamond itself. A million sparkles
meet the eye at every turn, and above timber line
there is no relief from the oppressive glare, which
often produces " snow blindness," unless the eyes
are in some way protected.

The mountain view from Denver has been pro-
nounced unequaled by many travelers, but to the
older residents of Colorado it presents no special
attraction above many other views to be had from
other points. So much sentiment has been
expended in describing it that description has
grown a trifle stale. The thousand and one news-
paper correspondents who "do" Denver every
season, always speak of the range extending " from
Long's Peak on the north to Pike's Peak on the
south," after which one always knows what is
coming — the story of the Englishman who started
to walk from Denver to the mountains before
breakfast.

There is a particularly fine view of the mount-
ains from Longmont, another from Colorado
Springs, still another from Walsenburg in the
south, and any number of them from interior
points, the finest of which, perhaps, is that from
the gateway to Fstcs Park. The view from Lead-
ville is scarcely surpassed. It seems very appro-
priate that the finest mining camp in the world
should have also one of the finest mountain views,
though no doubt men would flock there from
everywhere regardless of the view.

Following is a list of the principal Alpine peaks
in the State, with their approximate altitudes and
their elevation above sea level. Average summit

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

of range, 11,000 feet; avera
feel

MOUNTAIN PEARS OF COLORADO.
feet,

Blanca 14,404

Harvard 14,383

Massive 14,368

Gray's 14,341

Rosalie 14,840

Torrey 14,:!40

timber line, 11,800

Elbert 14,326

La Plata 14,302

Lincoln 14,297

Buckskin 14,296

Wilson 14. '.'SO

Long's 1 4 . "J 7 1

Quandary.... 14,L'7'.(

Antero .'. 14,245

Shavano 14,239

Uncompahgre 14,235

i Irestones 14. '_''"!

Princeton 14,1'.i'J

Mt Bross 14,185

Holy Cross 14,170

Baldy 14.170

Sneffles 14,158

Pike's 14,147

Castle 14,106

Vale 14.1(11

San Luis 14,100

Feet.

Red Cloud 14,092

Wetterhorn 1 1,069

Simpson 14,055

Mo his 14,054

Ouray 14,(14?,

Stewart 14,032

Maroon 14,000

Cameron 14,000

Handie 13,997

Capitol 13,992

Horseshoe ...13,988

Snowmass 13,961

Grizzly 13,956

Pigeon 13,928

Blaine 13,905

Frustrum 13,893

Pyramid 13,885

White Rock 13.847

Hague 13,832

R. (J. Pyramid 13,773

Silver Heels 13,766

Hunchback 13, 7 55

Rowter 1 3,750

Homestake 13,687

Ojo 13,640

Spanish 13,620-12,720

Feet. I Feet.

Guyot 13,565 i Bufl'alo 13,541

Trinchara 13,546 Arapahoe 13,520

Kendall 1.'!, "»42 | Dunn 13,502

Seventy-five peaks, between 13,500 and 1 1,300
feet in height, are unnamed, and not in this list.

ALTITUDES OF 1

Alamosa

Alma

Black Hawk..

Boulder

Breckenridge

Canon City

Caribou.

Central

( Ibeyenne

Chicago Lakes

Colorado Springs...

Del Norte

Denver

Divide

Estes Park

Fairplay

Garland

Georgetown

Golden

Gold Hill

Greeley

KOJ1INE
Feet.
7.(1(1(1

11,044
7. '.17.".
5,536
9,674
5,260
9,905
8,300
0,(141

11,500
5,023
7,750
5,224
7, -Jin
8,000
9,964
8,146
8,400
5,729
8,463
4,770

NT TOWNS IN COLORADO

Feet

J Green Lake 10,000

Hot Sulphur Spr'gs 7 715

| Idaho Springs 7,">(IO

[ Lake City 8,550

Leadville 10,205

j Magnolia 6,500

Manitou 0,297

Montezuma 10,295

Morrison 5,922

I Nederland 8,263

Oro City 10,247

Ouray... 7. (Wo

Pueblo 4,679

8,500
7,745
9,405
7,(i(iii
6,005
9,357
9,339

Rosita

Saguache

Silverton

Sunshine ,

Trinidad .

Twin Lakes....
Veta Pass

CHAPTER VII.

COLORADO DURING THE REBELLION— TERRITORIAL OFFICIALS

THE early history of Colorado was probably com- either the flag or the house must come down, and

pletely changed by the war of the rebellion, they didn't care which.

which broke out very soon after the new Territory ! Joined to these difficulties were the discourage-

was organized, and. indeed, before Gov. Gilpin had i ment of miners arising out of refractory ores and

taken hold of the helm of government. This dis- failing placers, for already the flush days of placer

tracted the attention of the Hast so much that mining in Colorado seemed, at least, to have passed

Colorado, though not forgotten, was comparatively by. The Char Creek placers were abandoned or

ignored during the first years of the war. More- worked casually, as any claims are worked which

over, the people of the Territory were divided on .yield only bare wages without promise of a richer

the issues of the war themselves, and a considera- harvest. It must bo borne in mind. too. that not

ble secession element manifested itself in the utter- only during these years, but until several years

ance of disloyal sentiments and by the hoisting of later, no search was made for silver-bearing ores,

a ecession flag on Larimer street, almost directly by which means the scope of mining development

opposite the present executive offices. The flag, was greatly limited, for Colorado stands pre-emi-

however. was soon hauled down, by order of a com- nent as a silver-producing State, and her output of

mittee of very determined citizens, who said that gold is light indeed compared to that of silver.

HISTORY OP COLORADO.

Thousands came and thousands left during
1861-62-63. California Gulch, over which
almost if not quite the greatest furor of these
years was raised, was soon deserted by all save a
few faithful souls like Lieut. Gov. Tabor, the fame
of whose riches has gone abroad far and wide, but
who labored long and hard before reaping the
reward lie so richly merited. It is a curious fact,
noted elsewhere but worth duplicating, that the
very same sand carbonates which have made so
many poor men rich in these latter days, were
formerly one of the chief obstacles to success in
gulch-mining. They were so heavy that they
blocked the sluiceways, and bad to lie shoveled
out with painful care, that the gold might be
gathered.

Tin' Indians, too, were troublesome during the
early years of the war. Taking advantage of the
withdrawal of the troops from most of the frontier
posts, they raided the Plains, anil were a continual
terror to travelers between the mountains and the
.Missouri River. Many lives were lost. men.
women and children sharing the same fate at the
hands of the murderous crew. Then came the
celebrated Sand Creek tight between the Colorado
Cavalry and a large force of hostile Cheyenne
Indians: — an event which has evoked a great deal
of hostile criticism, but which Coloradoans have no
cause to blush for. It is undoubtedly true that
Indian women ami even children were killed upon
that occasion, but the former were bearing arms
and fighting with the utmost ferocity, leaving
their offspring to chance the fortunes of war as
best they might.

Sand Creek has been called a massacre. If so,
it was a massacre of assassins, for fresh scalps of
white men, women and children were found in the
Indian camp after the battle. In fact, however.
Sand Creek was not a massacre, lint simply a light
after the most approved Indian fashion, and the
Indians themselves never complained of the drub-
bing they got on that memorable occasion It
exemplified very clearly the oft-repeated assertion
of frontiersmen that, if left alone, they could "set-

tle the Indian question" very soon, and " without
costing the Government a cent."

The Sand Creek fight occurred November 2!),
18G4, the Coloradoans being commanded by Col.
J. M. Cliivington, a Methodist minister and first
Presiding Elder of the Colorado Conference.
Cliivington was essentially a Western man. equally
ready to pray or fight, and at home everywhere,
even in the most incongruous associations. Prof.
< ). -J. Goldrick, the well-known pioneer teacher
and editor, relates that Chivington attended a
grand banquet given by Ford & McClintock on
the oeeasion of the opening of their gambling-
rooms, up-stairs over the corner of F and McGaa
streets, now known as Fifteenth and llolladay.
The writer knows nothing of Cliivington's sport-
ing proclivities, but that he was a good and suc-
cessful fighter the Sand Creek business can attest.
He was then military commander of the district,
but the troops at bis command were only a hand-
ful, when word came from Fort Lyon, on the
Arkansas River, that the Cheyennes were
encamped near there in force, and were inter-
cepting every train and every wagon that passed
in either direction, so that travel was virtually
stopped. Cliivington called for volunteers, and
led them himself, by forced marches, to the
Arkansas, where be and his men fell upon the
Indian camp on Sand Creek, before the red devils
knew that danger was near. For this, Cliivington
was severely censured by his superior officers,
though warmly applauded by the people.

'flic Government more than once complained of
the plucky, enterprising Coloradoans for taking
care of themselves without waiting for an '-official "
order to do so. It is not generally known in the
Fast that an attempt was made by tb' South, very
early in the war of the rebellion, to capture Colo-
rado, but it is an actual fait, and the failure of the
enterprise was due to the pluck and energy of the
Coloradoans themselves.

This Stirling episode in the history of the State
occurred in March and April of 1802, when
Grant was making his first memorable advances

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

4:!

u] tlic enemy. A military organization, which

had been started in the fall of 1860, was revived
on the breaking-out « >4" the rebellion and became
the First Colorado Cavalry. Col. John P. Slough,
afterward Chief Justice of New Mexico, was its
commander, and the boys humorously called them-
selves Gov. Gilpin's "Pet Lambs." Gov. Gilpin
had some trouble in getting them mustered into'
Uncle Sam's service, owing to their remoteness
from the "front" and the difficulty of commu-
nicating with headquarters, but the delay was a
happy accident, after all. While the " Pet
Lambs" were waiting for their marching orders,
reports came that a force of 3,000 Texans had
left San Antonio for Colorado, and were making
a clean sweep of the country through which thej
passed. They had already entered New Mexico
and were entirely beyond the reach of the Union
armies when the "Lambs" heard of their coming.
No time was to be lost, and, without waiting for
orders from Washington. Col. Slough ordered an
advance.

The history of this short, sharp and decisive
campaign appears elsewhere at length, hut space
will only admit of a review in this connection,
'flic Texans were encountered just north of Santa
Fe. They were more than a match for the Colo-
radi ians in number, hut in strategy the latter showed
their superiority. While a considerable body of
'■ Lambs" engaged the lean and hungry Texans in
front, the rest made a flank movement on the camp
and commissary stores of the enemy, and destroyed
everything they could not carry away. The result
was that the Texans had to fall back in search of
something toeat,and, having no '-base of supplies,"
were forced to abandon the campaign. Bull Run,
in the East, was hardly a circumstance compared to
Baylor's retreat from New Mexico, and the
"Lambs" returned home, covered with glory.
Their success earned for them the recognition of
the War Department, but Gov. Gilpin received no
credit, for his efforts. On the contrary, be was
soon afterward superseded by Dr. John Evans, of
Evanston, 111., one of the best Governors Colo-

rado ever had. and still an honored citizen of the

State. Secretary Weld, for whom Weld County
«as named, was also removed, ami succeeded b\

Samuel II. Elbert, afterward Gover ■ himself,

ami now an Associate Justice of the Supreme
Court of the State. Gen. Sam E. Browne was
about this time appointed Attorney General, and
Cen. .John Pierce succeeded Gen. Case as Sur-
veyor ( teneral.

This was the; beginning of the numerous changes
in official positions which marked Colorado's Ter-
ritorial vassalage. Her list of Governors ran as
follows, from isiil to 18*76: William Gilpin
qualified July 8, 1861 ; John Evans, April 1 1.
1862; A. Cummings, October 19, 1865; A. C.
Hunt, May 27, 1867; Ed. M. MeCook, June 15,
1869; Samuel II. Elbert, April 5, L873; Ed
M. MeCook (again 1, June 26, 1874, and John L.
Routt about May 1, 1ST."). Routt held until the
admission of the State, in isyii, and was the first
State Governor, holding the latter office from
November, 1876, until January, 1879, when he
was succeded by Frederick \V. Pitkin, present in-
cumbent.

During the same period, an almost equal num-
ber of changes were made in tl ther officers nf

the Territory, except that Hon. Frank Hall served
several terms as Secretary under Govs. Hunt.
MeCook and Elbert. The Secretarial succession

was as follows: Lewis Ledyard Weld, qualified

July 8, 1861, with Gilpin; San 1 II. Elbert,

April 19, 1862, with Evans; Frank Hall, May
24, 1866, first with Cummings and later with
Hunt; Frank Hall again, June 15, 1869, with
MeCook, ami still again with Elbert, April 17.
1 •''■'■, holding the office honorably for sex 1 n years
To him succeeded John W.Jenkins, March II.
1874, and John Taffe, who came with Routt and
remained until the organization of the Stat.'.
William M. Clark was the first Secretary of State.
X. II. Meldrum is the present incumbent.

These constant changes of officials, at such
irregular intervals, served to keep the Territon in
a state of political excitement not unlike that

— -

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

engendered by the more practical and sanguinary
"revolutions" of Old Mexico. They also served
to beget a feeling of hostility toward the central
Government at Washington. Andrew Johnson,
po ir man, was must cordially hated throughout
the length and breadth of Colorado. Besides
vetoing the bill for Colorado's admission as a
State, he sent out one of the most unsatisfactory
Governors she over had, in the person of Cum-
niings, whose brief reign was eminently unsatis-
factory. Grant, too, was unpopular until the
admission of the Si .to. since when, he has been a
sort of idol with the Republican element, notwith-
standing their former enmity. McCook, one of
the fighting family of that name, was sent out as
Governor by Grant. He was a gallant soldier but
a poor diplomatist, and soon found himself very
unpopular with some of the most [powerfully influ-
ential men in the Territory. Feeling ran high on
both sides, and finally resulted in the overthrow of
McCook in the spring of 1873. Elbert was
appointed Governor, and it was announced that
henceforth the offices of the Territory would be
intrusted to its citizens; that carpet-bag rule was
at an end forever.

This announcement was received with great
satisfaction. Whether justly or not, it had come

to be underst 1 that the Territories generally, and

Colorado Territory particularly, were asylums for
misfit politicians, who could not be "worked in"
anywhere else, but who had to he disposed of
somehow and somewhere. That the position was
not well taken, is shown by the fact that no less
than five of Colorado's seven Territorial Govern-
ors are to-day highly honored citizens of the State.
The names of Gilpin, Evans, Hunt. Elbert and
Routt are household words in Colorado. Better
men for the position tiny held it would have been
hard to find, ami yet the people chafed under
their rule, for the simple reason that tiny were
not called hut sent. There i- something in
the genius of our institutions strangely averse to
rulers other than those chosen by the people
themselves.

Although Gov. Elbert's regime opened so flat-
teringly, it was marked by some of the most
stormy incidents id' Colorado's political history.
It is not necessary to recapitulate the events of the
McCook-Elbert war, which terminated in the
removal of the latter and the re-instatement of the
former, hut the sensation it created at the time
will not soon be forgotten by those who partici-
pated in it. President Grant was visited with the
severest censure for his action in the matter, ami
especially for his wholesale removal of Federal
officials in Colorado at or about the same time.
The immediate result was a total demoralization id'
the Republican party in the Territory and a Dem-
cratic victory in 1874, which showed very conclus-
ively that '-some one had blundered." With
characteristic manliness, President Grant corrected
his mistake by again removing McCook and
appointing a Governor who was acci ptable to both
factions and all parties.

This was the last act in the Territorial political
drama. Colorado was admitted to the Union in
1876, just in time to pull President Hayes through
the Electoral Commission into the WhiteHouse,
and just in time. too. to earn the taking title of the
Centennial State.

The passage of the enabling act was largely due
to the efforts of Hon. J. B. Chaffee, and he was
very properly rewarded by an election as Senator
of the United States by the first State Legislature.
His colleague was Henry M. Teller, a man of com-
manding ability, who enjoyed the distinction of
never having held an office until he was chosen
Senator. He was also lucky enough to secure the
long term, and will serve until 18S3. Senator
Chaffee's voluntary retirement from politics at the
close of his Senatorial term gave Hon. X. ]'. Hill
an opportunity to grasp the succession, which he
did. defeating half a dozen opponents.

Curiously enough, although Colorado made such
an effort to break into Congress at an early day,
she was not effectually represented there until
1SG3, when lion. II. P. Bennett went to Washing-
ton, arm d with undoubted credentials, attested 1>\

.'■'A

<lA1aM

diW^J-L

HISTORY OP COLORADO.

the "broad seal of the sovereign Territory," as chance elect! f Hon. Thomas M. Patters

waggish attorneys used to say. Bennett was
succeeded by Judge Allen A. Bradford, who
served a second term in 1869-70. Hon. George
M. Chilcott served a term between the first
and last of Bradford, and Hun. J. ]?. Chaffee
was elected in 1870, and again in 1872. In
1874, the McCook-Elbert war resulted in the

-n||.

who served until the admission of the State into
the Union.

Mr. Patterson also served term as Representa-
tive in Congress after admission, alt] gh his seat

was unsuccessfully contested by Hem. .lames I!.
Belford, the present Representative, who defeated
Patterson in 1878 by a large majority.

CHAPTE

PROGRESS OF

P\URING all these years, the country had been
■*—S prosperous, more or less, according to cir-
cumstances, and the miners had been steadily grow-
ing in numbers and increasing their annual produc-
tion. New processes of treating ores were intro-
duced, which proved more profitable than the old,
and the operation of smelting was found particularly
adapted to the refractory ores of Gilpin County,
where it was first introduced. Denver had been
tried both by fire and flood, but her indomitable
citizens never faltered in their forward course, and
the town grew apace, as did the whole country.
It is true that the miners left one locality for
another pretty often, leaving large and populous
cities almost desolate and without inhabitant, but
the people turned up in another part of the State,
very soon, and soon had another city under way.
Though mining was always the principal industry
of Colorado, agriculture and stock-growing kept
pace with mineral development, as will be seen 1>\
the succeeding chapters specially devoted to these
indus! ries.

It was not, however, until after the close of the
war and the disbandment of both armies, that the
State entered upon its greatest era of prosperity.
Large numbers of old soldiers emigrated at once
to the new gold-fields, which had grown famous
while they had been serving in the army, and
others followed a few years later. Ex-Gov. John
Evans, whose faith in the bright future in st< r •

i: viii.

THE COUNTRY.

for Colorado was second to that of no man.
not even that of his predecessor. Gov. Gilpin,
had no sooner laid down his office in 1865, than
lie began to agitate the question of railway con
neetioii between Denver and the world outside.

The Union Pacific Railroad was working its way
westward, and the Kansas Pacific was aiming at
the mark which the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe

road has since hit, but neither enterprise the i

foot looked to Denver either as a terminus or way
station. Seeing that the mountain would not i i me
to Mahomet, Mahomet got i< j i ;u\<\ went to the
mountain. The Denver Pacific road Was built to
a connection with the Union Pacific at Cheyenne,
Hlii miles due north, and in due time a railwaj
route was completed from Denver to each ocean.
Then the Kansas Pacific suddenly changed its
course from southwest to northwest, and made
Denver its western terminus, giving the metropolis
of the Rocky Mountains competing lines to the
Missouri River, instead of the patient mule and
the steadfast OX.

It was a grand and glorious transformation
scene. Tin' city and State at once sprang forward
with a mighty bound. Local lines of railway
were soon projected from Denver in other direc-
tions, and the foundations of Colorado's present
very extensive railway system was laid wit
three years following the completion of the Union
Pacific. Development was a little retarded, hut

HISTOKY OF COLORADO.

not checked by the panic of 1873, and the grass-
hoppers of 1875, but there has never been a year
since 1st! I — the year of the Indian war — in
which Colorado has not made progress in some
direction, if not in all.

The panic of 1873 has been mentioned as hav-
ing retarded the development of Colorado tempo-
rarily, but it is still an open question whether the
country was not in the end a gainer by the panic,
paradoxical as the proposition may appear. In
point of fact, the panic did not extern! to Colo-
rado. There were no failures in the State worth
speaking of. Tire hanks stood firm. A consid-
erable shrinkage in real estate was about the only
effect of the panic upon the population of Colo-
rado, but that only pinched a few luckless opera-
tors, who bought high and had to sell low. It is
true that a few men. who thought themselves mill-
ionaires, found that they were only worth half a
million, yet their sufferings were more imaginary
than nal. On the other hand, the panic drove
many active business nun from the East to Colo-
rado, in the hope of rebuilding lost fortunes, and
many of these new-comers in 1874—75 are now
among the most enterprising and successful opera-
tors in the State.

Following fast upon these accessions to popula-
tion came admission to the Union, which served to
attract attention and invite further immigration.
It was, in effect, a substantial and important

recognition of the status of Colorado, and an
invitation to capital to come in and develop the
undoubted resources of the new State. The result
has exceeded the most sanguine expectations of
the friends of Colorado, at home and abroad.

Within the three years which have elapsed
since statehood became an established fact, Colo-
rado has doubled in wealth and population, and
she is still advancing with even more rapid strides.
The future of the State is full of golden possibili-
ties. Leadville, the present wonder of the world,
is but a page in the history of mineral develop-
ment. That Colorado is destined to be the first
mining State in the Union seems well assured.

It is the habit of some travelers to assert that
Colorado cannot sustain a huge population, because
her agricultural resources are limited. The force
of this argument is hard to discover. Mining dis-
tricts rarely embrace agricultural advantages too,
and, in the East, it is not expected that a mining
population shall supply itself with the necessaries
of life. So long as Colorado can draw easily and
cheaply upon Kansas and Nebraska for her lack
of grain and other agricultural products, there is
no reason why she may not support a population
equal to the New England average. Her gold
and silver will buy anything and everything the
East has for sale, and she would still be a great
and prosperous State, if she did not raise half
enough wheat to feed her population.

CHAPTER IX.

THE CLIMATE (IF COLORADO.

THE history of Colorado as a sanitarium dates
hack only to the advent of railways in the
State, or about ten years ago. Before that time,
overland trips across the Plains were occasionally
recommended for the purpose of building up
shattered physical systems, but such hemic treat-
ment was usually laughed to scorn, and a sea-
voyage substituted. The latter was more easily

and cheaply accomplished, and the dangers of the
deep were less considered than the danger of los-
ing one's life, or scalp, or both, at the hands of the
Indians. Yet every one who returned from Colo-
rado concurred in the statement that it was a
healthy country, and the first reports concerning
the rigors of its climate in winter were soon modi-
tied.

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

It was many years, however, ere Colorado began
to oiler inducements to invalids, such as those for
which it is now famous. The first settlers felt
themselves banished, as it were, not only from
their friends and Former homes, but also from
many of the necessaries and nearly all the com-
forts of life. As time went, on, and the country
grew apaee, these conditions changed rapidly for
the better. Denver, and some of the other cities,
became comfortable places of residence. The cost
of living was high, but a steady reduction followed
the opening of railway communication and the
develpment of agriculture. In a short time, the
trip to Colorado became a pleasure excursion, in-
stead of a painful journey, and then the invalid
tourist appeared above the horizon, and began his
career of usefulness in the State.

No record of the resources of Colorado would
be complete which did not include the invalid
tourist, but, to the credit of the State, it must be
said, that she has paid cent per cent, in sound
health, for the thousands of dollars which invalids
have poured into her extended palm. Not in
every ease, of course, nor iii ninety and nine per
i :nt of them, but in enough of them to make a
very satisfactory showing.

Hundreds and. perhaps, thousands of people are
enjoying good health in Colorado to-day who came
lure confirmed invalids. Many more, coming too
late, have died here, but, if the fair warning given
by such deaths had been heeded in the East, the
number would not have increased so rapidly of
late years. No one in Colorado, physician or lay-
man, pretends to say that consumption, in its last,
stages, can be arrested, in this climate or in any
other climate. The contrary is true. It would
be a miracle, indeed, if three-quarters or half a
lung could expand in this rarified atmosphere
sufficiently to support life in a man or woman,
with one foot already in the grave, and the other
trembling on the brink. And not only the dry
and rarified air contends against nature, in such
instances, but elemental disturbances tend to snap
the rotten thread of lib'.

Colorado has not an Italian climate, and the
absurd claims to that effect have brought much
contempt on those who make them. She has
extremes of heat and cold. The winters arc
marked by occasional storms of great severity.
Dust is a nuisance to diseased lungs at all seasons.
The summer sun would be intolerably hot if not.
neutralized by the refreshing shade. And yet the
average of the climate is all that could be desired
or expected.

The climatic conditions of Colorado are, per-
haps, due entirely to the limited rainfall, though
altitude has a separate bearing upon the problem.
Without entering upon any scientific, or even
technical, consideration of the question, it. is
enough to say that the limited rainfall leaves the
sky free of clouds about three hundred days out of
every year, and throughout these three hundred
days, in winter and in summer, the sun shines
bright, and warm. With so much sunshine, of
course the evaporation of moisture is perfect. The
earth ami air is dry. Malaria and the diseases
incident thereto are practically unknown, save at
rare intervals, as the result of defective artificial
drainage. The air is not only dry, but full of
ozone and electricity, and the altitude reduces its
pressure. In healthy lungs, it is invigorating and
restorative, but the contrary effect, is manifested in
lungs too weak to accommodate themselves to the
increased demand upon their capacity, the volume
of air inhaled in Colorado being considerably
greater than at lower altitudes cast or west.

The influence of altitude upon health has been
noted, not only by every medical man, but also by
every intelligent observer. According to the
highest authorities of Colorado, the members of
tlie Stale Medical Society, the sensations attending
a first entrance into this State air always pleasant
to persons in good health. "The dryness of the
atmosphere," says Dr. Edmondson, of Central,
"together with the electricity therein contained,
combined with perhaps other peculiarities of cli-
mate, excite the nervous system to a remark-
able degree of tension. The physical functions

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

which, it may be for years past, have 1 > « ■ « - 1 1
accomplished in a sluggish, inefficient manner,
;it once assume a vigor et' action to which the
system has heretofore been a stranger. The appe-
tite is keen, the digestion vigorous, and the sleep
is sound and refreshing. The result of these
manifold innovations on the established routine of
the vital economy is, that all those lurking ail-
ments tu which the civilized man is more subject
than he ought to be are swept at once away,
and whatever there is in each individual of capacity
to enjoy is called into the fullest action. He
revels in what might be called an intoxication of
good health."

The latter comparison is not inapt. Nothing is
more common than fur people to say that the air
of Colorado invigorates them like new wine.

In the very admirable essay from which the
foregoing i< quoted, Dr. Edmondson goes mi tu say :

"An unclouded mind partakes of the elasticity
of a healthy body, anil the unwonted vigor of man s
intellect is manifested by a newly aroused desire for
activity and bj an increased capability tu accom-
plish." Every brain-worker will attest the truth
of this assertion, and nowhere in the whole
country are the professions and all manner of busi-
ness pursuits prosecuted with so much vigor and
success.

It has been often said that men are improved
mentally and socially as well as physically by com-
ing to Colorado. There can he no doubt of this
fact. Invalidism always affects mental conditions,
and a dyspeptic person or a sufferer from any
chronic ailment, however inconsequential, cannot
help but lose a little good temper. With restored
health comes not only renewed energy but a
brighter view of life. The world seems a better
place than it was. Companionship becomes pleas-
ant, and Colorado is, of all countries in the world,

the plaee where a hearty g I will is most manifest

in all classes and conditions of men.

This is a cuiious study, and one which has never
yet been pursued with care by scientists. It would
be interesting to note the effect of this climate upon

mental as well as physical conditions, but this task
must, be left to some one more capable of elucidat-
ing it.

The early settlers found the seasons in Colorado
at considerable variance with those in the same
latitude toward the east. A warm sun in winter
was the first peculiarity noted. Earth and air
were dry, and the direct rays of the sun were a
reminder of summer. It was found, however,
that however hot the sun shone in midwinter, even
when men went about out-door work in their shirt-
sleeves, snow seldom melted in the sunshine, but
a soft wind moving across the country would soon
carry away on its invisible wings a heavy fall of
snow in a few hours, leaving the ground not only
bare but dry. Hence the winters were generally
plea-ant, the exceptions to this rule being occa-
sions when the wind blew cold or a northwest
snow-storm swept down upon the plains. The
snow-fall in Denver has never been excessive since
tin- settlement of the town, but it has been severe
at times, generally between the middle of Decem-
ber and the first of February. The latter month
and the first half of March are usually pleasant.
March and November are accounted the worst
months in the calendar of the Atlantic and Missis-
sippi Valley States, but. outside of the mountains
in Colorado, they are very favorable, even to inva-
lids. Early in April, the spring snows fill, some-
times to a great depth, and doing more damage to
the stock interests than any other elemental dis-
turbance. When these snows disappear, usually a
few days after their fall, grass and grain spring up
and summer is at hand, except that foliage is
often delayed a month or more longer. With the
foliage come the rains, varying greatly in different
seasons, but not increasing every year, as some
ignorantly assert.

The " rainy season " in Colorado is a figure of
speech merely, being used only to distinguish it
from the season when no rain falls. The two are
about equal. Itaius fall from about May 1 to
November 1, but only enough to purify the air
and keep the prairie grass alive and green. It is

»\

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

no inconvenience whatever to invalids, who have
all the sunshine thej want even in wet weather.
It is this unlimited sunshine that builds up many
debilitated systems, which seem to need n<i other

medicine. The average number of cloudy days l'< n-
each year since 1S72. when the Signal Service was
first established in Denver, is but a fraction over

sixty-three; the days on which rain fell, consider
ably loss, and those on which snow tell, only forty.

As to the range of the thermometer, that
erratic instrument should not be ((noted officially
in Colorado, until corrected for altitude and new
climatic conditions. Its apparent range is very
broad, and its record would seem to show that
Coloradoans freeze up in winter, only to thaw out
in summer, when, in fact, the extremes of heat
and cold are much more apparent than real.
Neither zero weather nor ninety-nine in the shade
counts for much in Colorado. When the mer-
cury falls ten or fifteen degrees below zero, which
it often docs, people put on their wraps as they
go about their business, but nobody ever heard of
a sunstroke in Colorado, when the thermometer
was boiling over at the top. Invalids, of course,
do not invite exhaustion by much exercise at such
times, but, in tin' delightfully cool mornings and
evenings of midsummer, they can net all the air
and exercise necessary for them.

In the fall of 1873, two well-known gentlemen
of Denver— Mr. P. J. B. Crane and Mr. B. F.
Woodward — both of whom had been great suffer-
ers from asthma in the East, were discussing the
best means of making known to their suffering
fellow-mortals of other States the wonderfully
curative effects of the Colorado climate upon this
disorder. The question of giving information
through the newspapers and magazines was dis-
cussed, but while, by such means, a large number
of readers might be reached.il was thought that
the message would not have such a convincing and
authoritative influence as an authentic statement
from a large number of persons. The result of
this incidental discussion was the calling of a meet-
ing of asthmatics at Denver in October, 1873.

The meeting was held. A large number of
gentlemen and ladies attended, all of whom

reported themselves either entirely cured or vastly

benefited by their residence in Colorado. It was

then decided to extend the scope of inquiry to the
whole State, and, in accordance with that purpose,
the newspapers of the State circulated a call for
an asthmatic convention, and also for statements
from persons unable to attend the meeting.

This novel convention assembled at Denver
December 18, lS7o. The chairman. Mr. Crane,
presented over one hundred reports from persons
residing in all parts of Colorado, many of them
lengthy and quite interesting, giving individual
experiences, means of cure and experiments. which
had been previously tried without effect, and gen-
erally stating that a complete and permanent cure
hail otdy been found upon the parties removing to
Colorado.

A large number of these statements were from
gentlemen of means, who had traveled in nearly
all parts of the world without deriving material
benefit elsewhere than in Colorado.

In the spring of 1X74. a pamphlet was printed
for gratuitous distribution, containing a condensed
record of over two hundred and fifty eases cured
by Colorado air alone, no other remedy being used.
All the walks of life were represented in this list;
merchants, physicians, lawyers, clergymen, mechan-
ics, laboring men, etc., clearly establishing the
important fact that " Colorado cures asthma."
Five years of additional experience and observa-
tion have only confirmed and strengthened the tes-
timony that in the relief or cure of asthma anil
kindred diseases, the climate of Colorado is un-
equaled by any portion of the known world; also,
that there is no recurrence of the disease while the
person remains in this climate, though no guaran-
tee can be given that a return to a lower altitude
will not be followed by a return of the old trouble.

So much for asthma. As for other diseases of
like character, the same is substantially true. In
all cases where the physical and mental systems are
worn down by overwork or genera] debility, the

r r

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

recovery is marked and rapid. The marked excep-
tions tci this rule are rheumatism and all purely
nervous ailments, none of which are benefited by
the climate of Colorado, but are rather aggravated
instead. In the mountains of Colorado, pneumonia
and kindred diseases are common at certain sea-
sons, and often fatal. A form of pneumonia known
as mountain fever, is well known throughout the
State, but happily it is less dangerous than pneu-
monia proper.

Taken all in all, with all the other drawbacks
properly belonging to it, the climate of Colorado
can claim the highest rank as a restorer of health
to poor, suffering humanity. The number of in-
valids who annually seek relief in the State is con-
stantly increasing, and so are the resorts which
invite their patronage. Formerly, the mineral
springs at Manitou were the only attraction of the
kind in the State. Only a few years ago, a rude
cabin, on the banks of the famous Fountain qui
Boille, close by the great soda spring, was all there
was of Manitou. The writer well remembers a
visit there, in the fall of 1871, when the solitude
of the spot was overpowering. To-day. there are
half-a-dozen hotels there, three of them magnifi-
cent structures, and yet, during the season, it is
almost impossible to secure quarters in any of them.
Idaho Springs, witli ^ts fine hotels and famous
swimming baths, is scarcely less popular or less
crowded. The Hot Sulphur Springs, in Middle
Park, are also well patronized, though less access-
ible. The hunting and fishing thereaway draws
many who would scorn the luxuries of more preten-
tious watering-places. Reside these three principal
points of attraction, are at least a dozen mineral
springs, of greater or less renown, scattered broad-
cast over the State, no section being without one
or more. The Pagosa Hot Springs, in Southwest-
ern Colorado. :ire pronounced among the finest in
the world. The Steamboat Springs, in the North-
west, are truly w Icrt'ul as a natural curiosity, as

well as valuable for their medicinal qualities.
They take their name from a peculiar noise emit
t>'d from one of the largest springs of the group,

which gives forth a steady, soughing sound, like a
steamboat just starting upon its voyage.

The inquisitive may want to know what are the
medical properties of these numerous springs. It
would take a small volume to describe them.
They range over the whole gamut of medical lexi-
cography, and include, as the miners say, about all
the known "stinks." There is something less
than a thousand of them in the State, and the
invalid who cannot be suited somewhere in Colo-
rado need not look anywhere else for what he
wants. With very few exceptions, the surround-
ings of jthese mineral springs are delightfully
romantic. The charms of Manitou cannot be
enumerated — a whole season is short enough to
study its surroundings. It must be confessed,
however, that Coloradoans themselves seldom pay
much attention to the "healing waters" of these
fountains of health, but visit them indiscriminately
for pleasure, ami often go away without tasting the
water more than once, or perhaps twice. The ready
excuse of the "native" is that he does not need the
water, and does not wish to cultivate a taste for
the fluid. Now and then a rheumatic miner tries
bathing in a hot sulphur spring to take the stiff-
ness out of his joints, and since Leadville was
unearthed, an occasional victim of lead poisoning
puts in at Cottonwood Springs, on the Arkansas
River, below the carbonate metropolis, to get the
lead out of his system, but, generally, the Colora-
doan looks upon mineral springs merely as a good
advertisement of the country, and is proud of
them merely because they confirm his strong belief
that his is the most wonderful country in the world.

The chance mention of lead-poisoning above
firings to mind this new disease — new to Colorado,
at least, t hoii Lib com mon enough in lead mines all over
the world. The mineral deposits af Leadville, as the
name of the camp indicates, carry a large propor-
tion of lead, and workmen in the mines and
smelters are alike subject to lead-poisoning. It
would seem that nature had provided a remedy for
the disease near at hand, in the mineral springs of
Cottonwood Canon, which are a specific in almost

HISTORY OF COLOEADO.

any stage of the complaint. All the patient has
to do is to " lay off" a few days or weeks, at Cot-
tonwood, bathe and drink freely of the waters, and
go back to his work rejuvenated.

Much has been said about the unhealthiness of
Leadville, because a good many people have died
there from intemperance, exposure, etc., as well as
from natural causes. Under right conditions,

Leadville would he a healthy city, but the verdict

of the Coroner's jury — "too much whisky and too
little blanket" — tells the storj of man} a death
The altitude is too great for over-indulgence and

reckless neglect. Care and cleanliness have hern
too much neglected in this magic city, and she pays
the penalty by an undeserved reputation for
unhealthiness.

CHAPTER X.

AGRICULTURAL RESOURCES OF THE STATE.

AGRICULTURE, although of secondary-
importance among the industries of Colo-
rado, has always been more or less prominent.
This fact is first due to the magnificent yield and
excellent quality of both cereals and vegetables,
and, finally, to the high prices usually received by
the farmers, or "ranchmen," as they arc invariably
designated, tor every product of the soil.

In the early years of the country, when scarcely
anybody expected to stay here more than the few i
weeks or months necessary to obtain a fortune i
from the mines, agriculture was something not
dreamt of in their philosophy, and no attempt was
made to cultivate the soil. As time went on, and
one or two "hard winters" came, bringing exorbi-
tant prices for produce or cutting off the supply
entirely, the idea of raising corn for horse-feed,
alter the Mexican fashion, was originated by some
one, and soon put into practical operation.

A few rude and imperfect irrigating ditches
were constructed, under which a few acres were
planted, corn being the principal crop, alternating
with an occasional potato patch. The potatoes
were truly a happy thought, for, while the corn
hardly paid for its cultivation, the potatoes yielded
largely, and proved to be of superior quality.
Such was the small beginning of agriculture in
Colorado, and it has advanced wonderfully since
that time, especially in view of the difficulties it
has bad to meet and overcome.

A great point had been gained, however, by the
discovery that vegetables flourished in the soil of
the plains and mountains. The first potato crop
paiil an enormous profit, and next year many per-
sons engaged in the business, some of them only
to meet with failure, though others succeeded be-
yond their wildest hope. Experiments were made
with other vegetables, and the era of big pump-
kins and giant squashes dates from that da} - .
Another year established the fact that Colorado
was within the limits of the great wheat-belt of
the continent, and. from that time till now. wheat
has been and is the staple crop of Colorado
farmers.

It must not be understood, though, that because
Colorado raises the finest wheat, the best potatoes
and the biggest squashes and pumpkins in the
world, that her agriculturists are clothed in pur-
ple and tine linen, and fare sumptuously every
day. ( )n the contrary, they work harder and arc'
less repaid proportionately than fanners anywhere
else in the country.

In the first place, the acquisition of agricultural
land in Colorado has for many years involved a

considerable outlay of money, and a ] r man has

had small show to engage in farming. While
there are millions of acres of arable land in the
State, or land that would be arable if irrigated,
there is not an unlimited supply of water for irri-
gation, and it is not a question of land, but of

IIl.sTnitY or COLORADO.

water, with the farmer. To secure the latter, he
must expend more or less money, either in build-
ing a ditch, or buying a water-right from a ditch
already constructed. In either case, his water
costs him what would be considered in the East a
fair rental for the land.

Having secured both land and water, he pro-
ceeds tu make a crop. Wheat is sown very early
in the spring, often in February, which is usually
a pleasant month in the Colorado climate; if not,
March rarely fails to bring planting weather. In
April, there is always more or less light and warm
snow, which melts rapidly and -wets down" the
new-sown wheat, so that irrigation is unnecessary
at that season. May brings spring rains in greater
or less abundance, with warm, sunny days, that
start the young wheal and early vegetables fairly
on their way, and also begin to melt the snow on
the mountains, by which the streams are fed, the
latter being low or entirely dry during the winter
and early spring. By the time the streams are run-
ning lull of water, the work of irrigation must
begin, and be kept up till the crops are harvested.
The amount of irrigation required depends largely
upon the fall of rain for the summer season, and
somewhat also upon the character of the soil, but
it is sale to say that during the irrigation season
the fanner will he called upon to work at least all
day, ami perhaps far into the night.

Added to all this toil is a tolerable certainty
that, at the height of the season, when everybody
wants water, the supply will fall short of the
demand. To see one's crops perishing for want of
water involves a mental anxiety scarcely less terri-
ble than the most intense physical struggle, and
this hut line of the many drawbacks incidental to
the farming operations in Colorado, as developed
from year to year in the history of the country.

Another serious matter is the plague of grass-
hoppers, or locusts, which has several times en-
tirely devastated the agricultural sections of the
State, and to which the attention of the world has
been directed. Experience seems to demonstrate
that these visitations occur every tenth year, but

this may be a coincidence merely, the only proof
substantiating the theory being the fact that the
latest visitations followed the first iu about that

order, the beginning and ending having 1 n

marked by a curious correspondence of dates, as
well as of characteristics.

The grasshopper problem has perplexed the
wisest savans of two continents, and the Colorado
ranchman only knows that they come in countless
numbers and depart, leaving his fields as brown
and hare as though they had never been planted.
Nothing could well he more disheartening, or pro-
vocative of profanity in the man of sin. Never-
theless, the accounts of their ravages, and the
description of their insatiate appetites, arc often
overdrawn. It is not true that they eat fences,
wagons and agricultural implements, if the latter
are left out of doors. They chew tobacco, appar-
ently, judging from the exudations of their mas-
ticatory organs, but proof is wanting that they
either smoke or swear. Jesting aside, they are a
dreaded scourge, but, under certain conditions, the
Colorado fanners can aud do successfully contend
against them, and of late years, with their im-
proved appliances of defense, the ranchmen laugh
the young hoppers to scorn, no matter bow numer-
ously they are hatched out in and around their
fields. It. is only when swarms of hungry hop-
pers alight iu the midst of the growing crops for
a hasty lunch that the heart of the ranchman
sinks within his bosom, for then be knows that
nothing he can do will save his fields from destruc-
tion.

It is now four years, however, since the locusts
last invaded Colorado, to the damage of the hus-
bandmen, and strong hopes are entertained that
their visitations have ceased. No particular rea-
son can be assigned for this belief, but it is
strong in the minds of those most deeply inter-
ested and those most naturally inclined to appre-
hend further danger from this source. Perhaps
prudence Would suggest thai allowance should be
made for grasshopper visitations at least once in ten
years, but it is certain that the farmers of ( lolorado

-?~'

- / 36L^e??^u

THE

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

have lost much of their former fears that they
would be driven into other pursuits, and are
plowing and planting more vigorously than ever
before.

Said one of the must experienced husbandmen
of the State to the writer, recently :

"Nobody can tell anything about the grasshop-
pers in Colorado or anyw bere else. Tiny have been
here and may be bere again, savans to the contrary
notwithstanding. 1 may lose my crop by them
next year, but while I am sure of water for irriga-
tion, 1 can stand the grasshoppers and raise bushel
for bushel with the Eastern farmers. They have to
contend with drouth on the one hand and exces-
sive rains on the other, each alike disastrous, while
I can regulate my supply of moisture regardless of
the rainfall, and with a positive certainty that the
latter will never be excessive, even during harvest,
when the most damage is usually done. Irrigation
is an expense, but it is likewise a protection. It
is a heavy insurance, but it saves my crops and
insures a uniform yield of which Eastern farmers
are entirely ignorant. They may have half a dozen
poor crops in succession, and then almost a total fail-
ure, while I have half a dozen good crops and then
a grasshopper year, for which T ought to be pre-
pared."

The best farming lands of the .State are found
to lie along the eastern base of the mountains from
north tu south, and the best of these, perhaps, as
far as development has gone, lie between the
Platte and the Cache la l'miilre Rivers. Superi-
ority of soil is not claimed for this belt, though its
proximity to the mountains may have developed
certain characteristics not possessed by localities
mure remote. Abundance of water has given it
prominence and importance as a center of agricul-
tural industry.

The valley of the Platte River is. of course, the
largest single body of agricultural land in the
State, extending from Platte Canon, twenty miles
southwest of Denver, to Julesburg, in the extreme
northeastern corner of the State. Thousands of
acres of fertile lands line both sides of the river for

this entire distance. A.bove Denver, and below
that city for a distance of fifty or sixty miles.
there are line funis; below the junction of the
Platte and the l'miilre ami the Stale line, there
are occasional farms ami frequent meadows, hut no
considerable agricultural settlements. Two causes
operate to retard agricultural progress in the lower
Platte Valley: first, the absence of railroad facili-
ties, and, finally, the character of the river itself,
which runs for its entire length, across the plains,
over a lied of treacherous, shifting sand, in and
through which the channel winds and turns and
divides ami changes so continually, that it is
almost impossible to utilize the waters of the
stream for irrigation at certain points, and
extremely difficult anywhere. If the current sets
into the "head" of an irrigating canal, it carries
with it enough sand to soon choke up the canal,
hut. oftcner a more serious trouble results from the
channel changing to the opposite side of the
stream, leaving the mouth of the irrigating canal
as dry as the plains themselves.

The smaller streams, particularly those which
run over rocky or pebbly beds, arc the best reli-
ance of the farmers of Colorado, even though their
volume of water may be restricted. ( If this class.
the Cache la Poudre is the principal, and its valley
is perhaps the best illustration of what may be
accomplished by irrigation in Colorado.

From La Porte, where it leaves the mountains,
to its confluence with the Platte, four miles belovi
Evans and Greeley, the "Poudre," as it is univer-
sally called in Colorado, is lined with improved
farms, manv of which are models of successful
enterprise.

At Fort Collins, near the head of this rich val-
ley, is located the Agricultural College of the
State, a lifting location for such an institution.
surrounded, as it is. by some of the finest farms
and hot fanning hind in the State

The early history of this part of the Slate.
apart from its agricultural features, is full of inter-
est. The overland route to California led this
way, and La Porte, which is now one of the most

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

peaceful hamlets in all Colorado, was then a min-
iature Julesburg, full of life and activity. Fort
Collins, near by, was then a military post, though
no fort was ever built there, and few soldiers
guarded the post. There were Indians in those
days, and some of the pioneer ranchmen met with
many startling adventures in guarding against or
resisting their depredations. To-day, however,
and for many years, the valley has been singularly
peaceful, bearing, in many respects, the aspect of
an Eastern community. It is entirely agricultural,
and the handsome towns of Fort Collins and Gree-
ley, which nestle at either extremity, are as orderly
as any New England village.

Both of these towns, as well as Longmont,
which lies a little south and west of them, the
three constituting apexes of a triangle, are notable
instances of the success of "colony" enterprises in
Colorado. The Greeley colony was the best adver-
tised, and has been most successful, but in less
degree tin' others show the benefits of co-opera-
tion.

The history of the Greeley colony, although it
deserves a separate chapter, has been written so
well ami so often by the leading newspapers of
the whole country, Fast and West, that a brief
review will lie sufficient for the purpose of this
volume. Established in 1870, at the suggestion
of the' lamented Horace ( irecley. whose honored
name it bears, and whose principles it largely per-
petuates, it started with a fund of $150,(1(1(1,
which it invested in lands, irrigating canals, a mill
power and a " colony fence " inclosing the entire
tract covered by the purchase, thus providing
against the necessity of interior fences. A town
was laid off' at the point where the Denver Pacific
Railroad crosses the " Poudre," and the land was
appropriately subdivided, so that each colonist
received a tract of laud and a town lot. if desired,
or an equivalent in either lands or lots, at his
option.

All this property has advanced in value very

largely, 1 farm property i> particularly valuable

under the Greeley canals. Some of'the fanners

were seriously embarrassed at first by the consider-
able expense of "making a start " in a new coun-
try under new conditions, and even with all the
advantages of co-operation, a few failures resulted.
It is not the purpose of the writer to conceal the
truth in regard to farming operations in Colorado,
and it must be admitted that not every Eastern
fanner can and will succeed in this State, espe-
cially if he is hampered by lack of means to enable
him to prosecute his work to the best advantage.
But the failures at Greeley were generally ac-
counted for by some radical defect in the system
pursued, and experience, even when dearly bought,
was turned to good advantage by all concerned.

Wheat, of course, has been the great staple, and
its yield has often been enormous. Thirty, forty,
or even fifty bushels per acre have been harvested
from large fields, and sold at from 90 cents to
81.50 per bushel. Fotatoes and all kinds of veg-
etables came next in importance. Corn has not
been a prolific crop, though profitable. The soil
is well adapted to corn, but the nights are too
cold for its rapid growth and full development.

Of late years, the ( ireele\ colonists have turned
their attention to raising small fruits, with very
gratifying success. Their strawberries are simply
magnificent, and the yield eipial to that of any
part of the country. California not excepted. The
crop never fails, and. despite the large production,
prices have been maintained at high figures
throughout the entire season. Berries are shipped
to Denver and Cheyenne by rail, and these mar-
kets, within fifty miles of Greeley, take the entire
crop, and almost quarrel over it.

The social features of Greeley life are still char-
acterized by temperance and intellectual develop-
ment. There is not now. and never has been, a
saloon in tin: town of 2,000 inhabitants, and its
schools are the best in the land. The schoolhouse
is by far the best building in town, though the
churches are numerous and not inconspicuous
architecturally. More newspapers are taken and
read at Greeley than at any place of its size in the
country, The town itself supports two weekly

Jk!

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

r,7

papers, and a third, published at Evans, a few
miles distant, is liberally patronized.

Magnificent as has been the development of the
Poudre Valley since 1870, the next few years
promises to eclipse the last decade. An immense
irrigating canal, capable of watering 10(1. (111(1 acres
of land, is being built north of the already com-
pleted canals on the north side, and thousands of
acres of good farming land will soon be brought
under cultivation thereby. This canal heads in
the mountains, and the country it waters is tribu-
tary to Fort Collins as well as Greeley — indeed,
the former place, from its proximity to the moun-
tains, where the water-supply is more abundant
and stable, probably will reap a larger benefit from
the new enterprise than its rival down the
valley.

This important enterprise demands special men-
tion as the first effort to water a vast body of land
with a single canal, and because its promoters are,
for the most part, non-residents instead of Colo-
rado citizens. The Colorado Mortgage and Invest-
ment Company,of London, of which Mr. James Duff,
of Denver, is resilient manager, owns most of the
stock in this canal, and much of the land to be
watered thereby. The English Company, as it is
commonly called, has done and is still doing much
for the development of Colorado and Denver, first
by loaning capital at lower rates of interest than
formerly prevailed, and finally, by its own judicious
investments, like the new hotel in Denver, which
the Company is building at a cost of nearly half a
million, and which will be by far the finest hotel
in the West when completed. Another enterprise
of great pith and moment to Denver is the pro-
posed high-line canal, to water an immense area
above the city, which the English Company is
about to undertake as a sure and profitable invest-
ment. Colorado has derived great benefit already
from this influx of English capital, and Mr. Duff
seems determined to show his faith in the Centen-
nial State by further investments of like character.

Fort Collins has achieved it> greatesf develop-
ment since 1S77, when the Colorado Central

Railroad was extended past that place to a conn. -ct ion
with the Union Pacific at Cheyenne. The follow-
ing very truthful sketch of the place is copied from
the prospectus of the Agricultural College located
at that point, and opened September 1, 1879 :

'• Fort Collins is located on the southern bank
of the Cache la Poudre, about six miles east of the
foot-hills of the snowy range and thirty-five miles
south of the State line ; it is surrounded by a fer-
tile and well watered region, including some of the
best agricultural lands in the State.

" Its elevation of 5,100 feet above the sen level
gives it a pure, dry atmosphere, while its proximity
to the mountains brings it within the limit of occa-
sional rains, thus rendering the climate pleasant
and salubrious, and adapting the soil to the culti-
vation of the cereals. This region, comprising the
counties of Larimer, Weld, Boulder, and parts of
Arapahoe and Jefferson, is rendered accessible from
the north and south by the Colorado Central Rail-
road, which passes directly through Fort Collins,
and by the Denver Pacific Railway, both of which
roads connect with the Union Pacific at Cheyenne
ami with the Kansas Pacific at Denver. The
streams draining this region, the Cache la Poudre,
Big Thompson, and other tributaries of the South
Platte, furnish an inexhaustible supply of water
fin- purposes of irrigation. It is estimated that the
great irrigating canal now in process of construc-
tion and supplied from the Cache la Poudre, will

bring at least 100,000 acres of unproductive land
under cultivation. The College has been most
judiciously located with reference to this large
extent of fanning land, in the midst of communi-
ties refined and progressive and very fast surround-
ing themselves with all the comforts of the most
advanced localities in the West."

South of the Poudre, along the base of the
mountains, are a number of valleys devoted to ag-
riculture, among which the Big and Little Thomp-
son, the St. Vrain, Left Hand Boulder and Ralston
Creek are chief. Longinont, settled by a Chicago
colony about 1870, is located on the St. Vrain. in
the midst of a very rich forming country. The

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

St. \ rain is one of the most beautiful of Colorado
rivers. It vises at the base of Long's Peak, and,
though boasting of no grandly romantic canon like
Boulder, Clear Creek and the Platte or Arkansas,
it flows through scenes of sylvan beauty strangely
enchanting to the eye and the aesthetic tastes.

Boulder Creek waters a fertile valley on its way
across the plains, dotted by handsome farms; but
its greatest charm is in the mountains. Its canon
has been pronouneed the finest in the State, and
its falls are famous everywhere. At the point of
its departure from the range is located the town of
Boulder, an interesting city of considerable conse-
quence as an agricultural and mining center. The
farmers of Boidder Valley find a market for their
crops in the mining camps of their own county,
and their county capital reaps the benefit of the
exchange. Boulder is also the seat of the State
University.

The valley of Clear Creek, though limited in
extent, is a veritable garden. Lying between Den-
ver and Golden, and equally accessible to each
(either by rail or private conveyance), it may be
called the market garden of those cities. The
, Bear Creek Valley, a few miles farther south, is
: .similarly situated, and a good farm in either of
them may be counted a treasure to its fortunate
owner.

South of the divide, between the waters of the
Platte and the Arkansas, agriculture has not yet
i advanced to the position it occupies in Northern
Colorado, though the conditions are all favorable.
In time, mi doubt, the arable lands of this district
will lie developed as well as those of the western
slope, which in seme respects are superior to these
of the Atlantic side.

The agricultural future of Colorado is enshrouded
in much present uncertainty, and opinions differ
very widely concerning it. Some profess to believe
that at no distant day the vast plains will become
a grand garden ; that monster canals will distribute
water for irrigation through a series of lakes or
reservoirs from the mountains to the eastern limit
of the State, and from Wyoming to New Mexico.

Congress has been continually memorialized to aid
the State ill this matter by grants of arid land
under some act similar to the "swamp-land bill."
by which so many States have profited throughout
the West.

It is argued with great force that instead of
ditches for drainage, the arid lands of Colorado
only need ditches fi>r irrigation to make them
valuable, and it is claimed that the General Gov-
ernment, now deriving little or no income or bene-
fit from these lands, would be the gainer vastly by
their reclamation, while the State, with a mining
population constantly increasing, would be enabled

to feed its own ] pie without recourse on Kansas

for supplies. No doubt there is force in this argu-
ment, and the interest of the people in the ques-
tion has been repeatedly evinced, not alone by
memorials to Congress, but by conventions to con-
sider extensive systems of irrigation.

In 1S7.",, an irrigation convention was held in
Denver which was attended by the Governors of
several Western States and Territories, and by the
leading agriculturists of the State as well as dele-
gates from Utah, where the same system prevails.
Beyond an interchange of views and the inevitable
memorial to Congress, nothing came of this con-
vention, but the address of Hon. S. II. Elbert,
then Territorial Governor of Colorado, and now
one of the Justices of the Supreme Court, was a
compact, logical and in every way admirable state-
ment of the ease under discussion, which should
have had more weight in Washington than was
accorded to it. or to the memorial of the conven-
tion.

There are those, however, and the writer is
among them, who have grave doubts whether the
benefits to be derived from any system of irrigation
under the auspices of the State or General Govern-
ment would inure to the benefit of each or either.
Tic nigh the arid lands of Colorado find no sale at
Government prices, and, perhaps, would not bring
more than 111 cents per acre at auction, they
are all productive in one sense, and the State,
reaps a large benefit therefrom every year, in its

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

r>9

production of beef, mutton ami wool. The stock
interests would surely suffer if the plains were
"reclaimed," but whether fanning, with the added
expense of costly irrigation, could successfully
compete with Kansas cheap production, is not
equally certain.

Kansas, which lies right at the door of Colo-
rado, is undoubtedly the finest agricultural State
in the Union, and is growing rapidly in our direc-
tion, 'fhe corn and wheat of Kansas are already
suld in our markets at prices which tend to dis-
courage our own fanners, though, happily, the
latter still have a home market tin' their crops
which affords them protection against Kansas

- c

competition. The home demand is enlarged by
the stock interest, which produces nothing but

beef. Reduce the home demand by excluding the
hull; (if the stuck men, and at tlh' same time
double the agricultural production, and we may
have a state of affairs which neither the farmers
nor the State will appreciate as a public blessing.

These objections, however, may he more than
met by (he rapid increase of our mining population
in the next five years, creating a home market
which the present agricultural resources of the
State will be entirely unable to supply. In that
case, more farms and more fanners will be among
the actual necessities of the country.

CHAPTER XI.

ENOUGH has already been said in this work
to indicate that the pastoral resources of
Colorado are second only to the industry of mining
in point of profit if not of production. The net
profit of stock-growing exceeds that of agriculture
every year. Probably during the decade preceding
the eventful year when the mines of Leadville
began to yield up their hidden treasures, the net
profit of mining over and above the expense
incurred in its prosecution, was not much greater
than the net profit of the stock business.

This is a startling statement, and, unfortunately,
or fortunately, as the case may lie, the figures arc

I not at hand whereby it can be supported. It is
equally impossible to say how much money was
swallowed up in unlucky mining enterprises, and
how much was made by raising stock while the
business was comparatively new and the range not
overcrowded as it is now in many directions. Win n
cattle could be brought to maturity and market at
a cost of about $5 per head, and sold at $30, $ 10,
or even $50, it requires no arithmetician or "light-
ning calculator," or even Col. Sellers, to see that

! there were ■■ millions in it."

STOCK RAISING IN COLORADO.

On the plains of Colorado and Western Kansas,

cattle succeeded the buffalo as naturally as while
men succeeded the Indians. It could not have been
any secret to the early settlers that stock would
live and fatten on the nutritious grasses of the
plains and mountains all tic year round, for they
saw buffalo, antelope, deer, elk and other gram-
niverous animals depending entirely for their sus-
tenance upon the same, but in spite of this " ocular
proof," it appears to be a fact, as already stated
elsewhere, that the father of tic stock business in
Colorado turned his cattle out in the fall expecting
them to die during the winter, and was surprised
to find them fat and flourishing in the spring.
Even at this late day, with thousands of cattle
roaming the plains on every hand, winter and sum-
mer, some stranger is always found willing to swear
that they must, inevitably starve to death in the
winter. These doubting Thomases, impressed with
ancient heroics regarding the Great American
Desert, are alike incapable of realizing that cattle
can live ii our grasses the year round and that the
finest wdieat and vegetables in the world can he
produced from our soil.

liL

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

However lightly Coloradoans may esteem the
intelligence of these people, they do not much care
tn combat their erroneous ideas by argument, and
cattle-growers arc especially indifferent on the sub-
ject. ( hi i he contrary, they do not care bow many
people arc deterred from entering the business by
fears of losing their investments. Wide as the
range is, the supply of water is limited in dry sea-
sons, ami they do not want to be crowded by new-
comers out of their chosen localities. Though the
"range" is free to all, the water front is usually
taken up by the home ranches of cattle anil sheep
growers, who own the land adjacent thereto and
thereby control tic range hack of their respective
claims. Encroachments upon these vested rights
arc rare, hut if the country should become more
,crowded by a decided increase in the number of
cattle-growers, trouble might ensue or the interests
of the parties might he endangered in other
respects.

Prior to the advent of railroads in Colorado, the
stock business was limited by the borne demand
and such (government contracts as could he secured
for tin- supply of beef to interior and neigh-
boring military posts. The railroads, however,
gave a great impetus to each of these demands
and also opened up a new trade, which has of late
years exceeded the aggregate of both the others
combined. .More Colorado beef is shipped East
every year than is used by the people of the State
and by the Government, too, within the limits of
( lolorado.

The magnitude of this business under the new
development is something astonishing. Next to
Texas. Colorado probably produces more beef than
any other Stale in the Union, and, probably, more
sheep and wool than any other State except New
Mexico. The business is not confined to any one
section of the State, but extends every where, even
into the Indian Reservation. Some years ago, the
Indian Bureau, in a lucid interval seldom duplicated,
drove a hand of cattle to the White River Agency
for the purpose of supplying beef to the Utes,
using only the increase of the herd for that

purpose. The Indians have been supplied with fresh
beef regularly since that time, and the herd has
increased despite this constant drain upon it, till
even the Government is likely to have "beef to
sell," besides what the Indians use. These cattle
arc said to yield excellent beef the year round,
though knowing no feed except the rich grass of
the White River Valley. Denver's best beef, not
excepting the corn-fed article, comes from the
Snake River country in Northwestern Colorado,
ami this Snake River beef is often mi the market
when the Plains cattle are too poor to kill.

Nor is Southwestern Colorado one whit behind
the North in this particular. The Animas ami
other valleys of the San Juan country produce the

finest 1 f as well as the best vegetables ami other

crops. There seems to be no doubt that the entire
western slope of the State is a good stock country.

It is with the east, however, particularly the
great plains, that the pastoral interests of Colo-
rado are principally identified. On these almost
boundless prairies, thousands upon thousands of
horses, cattle and sheep range throughout the
year, and maintain themselves in generally good
condition without any food save that prepared for
them by the bountiful hand of nature.

There are numerous methods of engaging in the
stock business, of course, hut they all resolve them-
selves at last into one general system, which cen-
ters around a home ranche or camp, and extends
pretty nearly oyer the entire surrounding country.
Haying secured a ranche and suitable outbuildings,
including a large corral, with a strong solid wall
seven or eight feet high, the next step is to buy
cattle. This may be done occasionally "on the
range," from some party who finds himself over-
stocked or who wants to quit the business, hut gen-
erally it is best to buy from the Texas stock driven
up from the Smith every summer, which comes
cheaper ami answers admirably for breeding pur-
poses when crossed with high grade American
bulls. All stock must be branded when bought,
and all calves must be branded before they leave
their mother's side.

.£.

IIISTOIiY OF ('()I.()i;.\l)().

The camp should be located near a permanent
water-supply, and it isiwell to pureha.sc or enter
l(i(> acres or inure and inclose it with a stock-fence
as a kind of gigantic barnyard. Horses kept tor
use should not be allowed to run loose on the
prairie, and to keep them stabled or picketed is
troublesome and unsatisfactory. A camp outfit
must, include wagon and harness suitable for hea\ \
work, tough draft horses and a number of native
ponies or bronchos for saddle use. ( )f the latter,
there can hardly be too many. It costs little or
nothing to keep them, and, during the entire sum-
mer, to say the least, and often in winter, there is
enough hard riding to be done to require at least
three horses for every herder employed. Leading-
stockmen almost invariably raise and train their
own ponies, finding it profitable as well as con-
venient to do so. Their value ranges from $1'.") to
S50, and the trouble of raising them is but slightly
greater than that of raising a steer. The "band"
must be looked after a good deal, of course, and
carefully "corralled" every night; but, by con-
stant handling, they become thoroughly domesti-
cated, and seldom or never stray fir away from
camp, unless stampeded.

The use of the word "band" above brings to
mind some of the peculiarities of stock nomencla-
ture in Colorado. A collection of horses is always
a "band." The cattle owned by one man or firm
are, collectively, a "herd," but any number of
them less than the whole is a '! bunch." A "flock"
of sheep, however, may be all or only a part of the
number owned by a firm or an individual. To
speak of a "herd" of horses or sheep is to betray
the tender-foot at once.

Given, then, the home ranche, with its stables,
corrals, etc., its band of ponies, its foreman and
assistants, and all the machinery of a cattle camp
is complete. The outfit may cost anywhere from
$500 to SI. 0110, but rarely more than the latter
sum, no allowance being made for display and not
much for home comfort. Few cattle ranches on a
large scale are enlivened by the presence of the
gentler sex, and the men crowd together, generally.

in a small cabin or -sod' house of two rooms —
one for stores and cookery, ami the other for sleep-
ing and lounging, whenever opportunity oilers. For

an ordinary camp, the working force includes al t

si\ men. Strict discipline is enforced by the fore-
man, who is an autocrat in his way, and who
issues his orders with the air and brevity of a drill
sergeant.

Another important personage is the cook, who is
also a sort of "keeper" of the camp and stores, and
is likewise charged with numberless little duties,
such as mending bridles and harness, doctoring
siik horses, going to the post office, and the like.
He must be ready to serve a meal at a moment's
notice, and at times his position Ls very trying; but
when the foreman and herders are away on the
round-ups or are shipping 1 f, he is often left en-
tirely alone for weeks, witli nothing whatever to do
but to guard the camp, cook his own meals, and
occasionally turn up a little "grub" for a passing
acquaintance or stranger, the ranche being open
alike to such without money and without price.
Stockmen are the very soul of hospitality, and
there exists among them a subtle sort of free-
masonry by which they make themselves at home
wherever they go among each other, whether on
business or for pleasure.

After the cook comes the herders, to the num-
ber of three or four or more, as the case maybe.
A herd of three or four thousand cattle can be
looked after by half a dozen men, with a little as-
sistance during the round-up and branding season.
The herder of cattle is essentially different from the
sheep-herder. The latter must live with his flock,
nor trust it out of his sight, but the former exer-
cises only a general supervision over his herd,
never undertaking to limit its wanderings, and
content if he only knows, in a general way, its
whereabouts. The range is wide, but cattle sel-
dom stray far from home, save at times when no
number of herdsmen could restrain them. Should
any or all of them " stampede " from any cause,
nothing can be done but to follow them leisurely,
and drive them back when lbund.

HISTORY OF COI.OKADO.

The life of a cattle-herder is wild, roving, ad-
venturous. His headquarters, and hindquarters,
too, are always in the saddle, and he soon learns to
ride like a Centaur. No finer sight of the kind
can be seen anywhere, than a "cow-boy" mounted
on his fleet but sure-footed pony, giving chase to a
young and lively Colorado steer, as full of dash and
undaunted im -t 1 1>> as the man himself. Away they
fly across the prairie, at lightning speed, then, sud-
denly, as quick as thought, the bovine turns and
doubles on his course, while the pony and rider
follow suit with equal celerity. Again and again
they turn, the pony following every movement ol
the animal it is pursuing, and none but a skilled
and well-trained rider run keep his seat in the sad-
dle throughout the chase. Accidents arc not
infrequent, even among these champion riders, but
in almost every instance they result from an unex-
pected stumble of the pony over a hole in the ap-
parent dead level of the prairie.

The wages paid to these men are not high,
ranging from $25 to $50 per month, but, as they
include board and lodging and most of the necessa-
ries of life, and, as clothing costs them little, they
manage to save something every month, and -mum
find themselves, if they are careful and economical,
ahead of the world and in a fair way to become
proprietors on a small scale. They are usually
allowed to invest their savings in cattle, which are
"turned in with their employers herd, and cost
nothing for their keeping, while the herder is em-
ployed on the ranch. When lie accumulates t w . >
or three hundred head, lie is ready to begin busi-
ness himself, generallytaking a second small bunch
of cattle to herd "nil shares," his share being one-
half of the increase. Colorado affords few better
openings for young men of economical habits than
cattle-ranching, but the reckless and improvident
spend all their money as fast as it is earned, and

not only fail t 'cumulate anything for themselves,

but find that tin \ will not be misled with the care
of stock tor other owni i -

Much has I' ■ a written about the ' cattle kings "
of Colorado, their countless herd- and tin- princely

domain over which they wander. A good deal of
this is nonsense, but the operations of .some men,
now or hitherto engaged in this trade, have been
very ureal. The late John W. Iliff, of Denver,
was the most successful cattle man of his time.
His stock ranged over the entire eastern portion of
the Stale, and his ranches were scattered up and
down the Platte, from Julesburg to near Greeley,
but the stories told about his princely domain were
true only in part, lie did not control the entire
range where his cattle roamed, but shared it in
common with the smaller operators. It was true,
however, that he could travel over the country for
a week ami always cat and sleep at one of his own
ranches. His income was princely, too, and his
wealth was immense. He died in 1878, and his
business has been gradually closed out since that
time, though it will take some years to. set tie up bis
estate, ll is said that $250,000 worth of beef
was sold by his executors last year, without making
much inroad upon liis immense herds.

Mr. Iliff did Dot commence business a poor man,
as is often slated, but his capital was limited, and,
in his early days, he devoted himself to Govern-
ment contracts and to supplying dressed beef to
butcher-, al wholesale. At one time, he supplied
dressed beef to all the military posts along the line
of the Union Pacific Railroad. He was a shrewd,
hard-working, thorough man of business, looking
closely alter every detail and often following the
round-ups with his men, eating out of their camp-ket-
tles and keeping as sharp a watch for the " L. F."
brand as his own foremen. Other cattle kings
grew indolent as wealth increased, but Iliff
seemed to grow more active and industrious until
death slopped in and ended his busy lift' in its
very prime. lHad he lived long enough to carry
out the grand schemes which inspired him, no one
knows to what gigantic proportions his business
would have grown.

Many other men and linns in Colorado have
i rested colossal fortunes in stock-raising or arc now
in a fair way to become millionaires, but the business
is less profitable of laic, particularly to new investors.

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

The range is getting crowded about the water-
fronts, and sheep-men arc driving cattle-growers
back from their old ranches intn new quarters,
Dorth and cast. Along the base of the mountains,
agriculture is encroaching rapidly upon the former
domains of stockmen, almost to the exclusion of
the latter, who are moving their herds to a distance.
In almost every locality, however, the problem
of space is partially solved by the introduction of
a better class of stock, a smaller number of which
will produce more money than a larger herd of the
old ■long-horn" variety. Texas cows are kept for
breeding purposes, but high-grade American bulls
arc almost invariably found on every ranche and
with every herd. The cross is known as " Colorado
natives" in the market reports, and makes excel-
lent beef, while its Texas blood enables it to stand
the rigor's of Colorado's '-Italian climate without
too much risk. Blooded stock and thorough
American cattle thrive excellently well in Colorado,
hut they must be cared for in winter, and the
expense of handling them is very much greater
than that of "native" cattle.

Sheep in Colorado are singularly free from the
diseases so common to them elsewhere, and there
is much profit as well as much labor in handling
them. The losses are sometimes large during heavy
storms in winter, and many lambs fall victims to
the ravages of the prairie wolves and coyotes lean
and hungry midnight marauders, whose stealthy
steps never betray their presence. With proper
food and shelter, however, sheep endure the winter
storms very well, and their four-footed enemies are
last disappearing.

. The breeding of a better class of horses is begin- !
ning to attract much attention throughout the
State. The ordinary " broncho is at best a rather
valueless investment, save for herding stock, and
seldom brings more than $50. while a good Ameri-
can horse seldom falls below double that amount.
and it costs but a trifle more to raise the latter.
But if the bronchos cash value is less, he is more
reliable tor hard and rough riding, whether on the
mountain or plain. His sinews are steel, and his

tireless gallop is a marvel of endurance. Yet, in-
breeding develops the same characteristics in other
horses, ami some of the best long-distance racers in
the West have been developed among the thorough-
breds of Colorado.

Thorough-breeding is still in its infancy in Colo-
rado, however, and n ic can surely say what the

"coming horse " of Colorado will be. or whether
he will lii' able to hold his own with Eastern
stables'. Thus tiir, but few Eastern horses have
been able to compete with Colorado-bred stock in
trials of speed mi our own turf, but this is accounted
tiir on the very natural and reasonable theory that
( lolorado air is " too thin for equine lungs unac-
customed thereto, while home-bred horses, on the
Contrary, arc thereby inspired to greater exertions.
The reverse would be equally true, no doubt, and
Colorado-bred horses would probably fare hard in
the air of lower altitudes.

Returning to the main question — the breeding
of beef cattle for home and Eastern markets — it
would be interesting, if it were possible, to give
statistics of the enormous trade in Colorado alone,
not to mention New Mexico and Wyoming, which,
for breeding purposes, arc practically parts of Colo-
rado itself. A few months ago, an intelligent cor-
respondent of the New York Commercial Bulletin,
writing from Colorado, gave the following:

" At the East, we have but an imperfect concep-
tion of its value and rapid growth. But the simple
fact that the exports from Colorado alone, during
the past five years, have exceeded in value the ship-
ments of bullion, and the further fact that what is
known as the great cattle-raising belt is estimated
to-daj to contain over fifteen million head, worth
upward of $300,000,000, tire calculated to very
materially expand those conceptions. The corre-
spondent states that there are many reasons point-
ing to the ultimate absorption of the business on
the plains in the hands of the large owners, whose
competition wipes out the profits of the small
ranchers. Already tin- Diffs, the Bosters, Dorsey,
Waddiiighani. Craig. Hall Brothers, and others,
have each nearly as many cattle as existed in either

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

of the territories a year ago, ami together, have
more than existed in New Mexico, Colorado and
Nebraska combined. -hist now there is great
alarm on account of the fear that the pleuro-pneu-
monia will bankrupt the stockmen of the plains.
If it gains a fast hold here, it may be impossible
in slop it. There will he strong pressure for such
legislation at the next session of Congress as will
keep it at a distance. The Western members
nearly all favor stringent measures, whatever these
may he, and hence it is generally certain that some-
thing will he done.

The "alarm " of which the correspondent writes
was mure imaginary than real, and yet any fatal
disease would work incalculable injury to the
industry. The fear of future consolidation is
something more tangible. As the big fish invari-
ably swallow the little ones, so the large herds
must swallow or drive out the smaller ones.
The Huerfano Valley, in Southern Colorado, near
Pueblo, is almost monopolized by the Colorado
Cattle Company, a wealthy corporation which
bought the famous Craig ranche and other claims
in that locality, and have from 20.0(10 to 30,000
head of cattle ranging over that country, to the
exclusion ol' small operators.

Should the time ever come when Congress,
anxious to "realize" on the pasture-lands of Colo-
rado, offers them in large tracts at low figures, the
bone and sinew would be knocked entirely out of
the stock business in this State It is claimed
that, under the present arrangement, the cattle
range produces no revenue to the General Govern-
ment, being free to all comers, and no one being
willing or able to pay the Government price of
•SI. 25 per acre for land worth in open market not
more than one-tilth of that sum. The cattle kings,
however, are willing to buy it in tracts of five or
ten thousand aires at its cash value, and Congress
is tempted to make that disposition of it, rather
than let it lie waste. The arguments in favor of
this plan are specious, and well calculated to de-
ceive the average Congressman. No doubt the
General Government would realize something from

the sale of these lands in the manner anil on the
terms proposed, hut it would be at the expense of
thousands of poor but honest stockmen, who would
be "squeezed" out of the business thereby.

Nor is it altogether certain that the "kings"
themselves would be benefited by the working of
the plan proposed, although they could protect
themselves against its disadvantages better than
men with less capital at their command. The
weight of opinion among experienced stockmen
tends to the theory that the range should remain
open rather than be closed. An inclosure of even
50,000 acres would hardly be large enough for a
herd of 10.0011 cattle, and there are many such
herds in Colorado, not to mention many larger
ones. The winter storms, which are so fatal to
stock interests in this locality, are usually local.
On the open range, cattle can drift away from bad
weather, and often, by traveling from twenty to
fifty miles, they find an open country, with plenty
of grass and water for their needs, when their home
range is covered with snow. If they were confined
within an inclosure, or even stopped by a fence in
their stampede before a storm, many of them would
perish who might otherwise escape. Of course,
the stampeding and consequent scattering of stock
during the winter involves considerable trouble and
expense, connected with the annual '■ round-up "
and separation of the intermingled brands, but the
very convenient arrangement fi>r rounding up the
cattle of the whole State, under the operation of
the stock law, reduces this business to an exact
science, and leaves little more to lie desired.

To the stranger in Colorado, nothing connected
with the cattle business can be more interesting
than a general round-up on the plains, where the
cattle are abundant. It is not unusual to sec 10,-
110(1 head gathered together in a compact but mov-
ing, animated mass — a forest of horns and heads,
tossing up and down like the troubled waves
of a sea. Circling around the outside of the
immense herd are the well-mounted "cowboys,"
holding the cattle in check and position while the
process of "cutting out" goes on. To "cutout"

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

stock means to ride into the herd a little way, sin-
gle out an animal bearing your brand, separate it
from the herd and head it toward and into your
own particular "bunch" on the prairie a short dis-
tance away. The process appears simple enough,
but it is easier described than accomplished. The
instinct of the beast leads it to circle back toward
the main herd, and it must be headed off at every
turn and tack. Even this is not sufficient; at
every turn and tack it must lie edged a little nearer
to the group where it belongs. When finally it is
joined to its fellows, there is no more trouble, for it
will never think of leaving the small herd fur the
larger one, and it may he driven away with the
rest in perfect peace and serenity. When an
owner has separated his cattle from the main herd,
it i< no trouble at all to drive them hack to his
home range, unless something happens to stampede
them en route.

Very curious are the conditions under which
Plains cattle are stampeded. Thorough Texans are

the most timid, the Colorado stock being somewhat

domesticated by more handling as they grow up.
W hole herds of Texas steers have been stampeded
by a rider dismounting from his pony near them.
They are accustomed to the sight of men on
horseback, ami seem to consider man and horse a
soil of compound animal, but when the two sepa-
rate themselves from each other the average Texas
steer don't know what to make of the spectacle.

Eastern readers may wonder why a chapter on
stock interests should not include some mention of
pork, hut in point of fact, hogs are not a Colorado
staple. Some few are produced in the agricultural
sections, and with profit, too, but the number is
limited to the capacity of the farm for producing
suitable feed. They get little corn, and are mostly
raised on what they can pick up around house and
barn, with an occasional meal of vegetables. Only
the best varieties are raised, principally Berkshires,
whose capacity for rooting a living out of the
ground fits them for Colorado peculiarly.

CHAPTER XII.

LEADVILLE AND CALIFORNIA GULCH.

A WRITER, referring more particularly to
mining in Park County in the early days,
said that " Colorado lias always been afflicted with
periodic silver excitements, but has not yet been
able to realize anything from her undoubted silver
deposits." If he could but retrace the ground he
traveled over then and he a witness to the opening
up of the vast section of carbonates that to-day,
at Leadville and vicinity, challenge the admiration
and awaken the enthusiasm of the people of the
entire continent, he would say that the day he pre-
dicted had arrived and the silver deposits revealed.
The history of California Gulch began as early as
1860, when a hand of miners from Central crossed
over the Park Range of mountains and entered the
gulch that was destined to enjoy a brief season of
notoriety as a gold-producing region, and then lapse

back for many years into obscurity, only to awaken
to a newer history, whose pages are to gleam and
glow for ages.

The gulch was full of prospectors before the
summer was over, and a prosperous camp betokened
that the precious metal was there. But the lim-
ited water-supply was a great drawback to the
development of claims, and the working season
was short by reason of the great altitude. For
several years, the most available ground was worked
over and with returns that were generally satisfac-
tory. Up to the close of 1865, it wa.s thought
that over three millions were taken out. From
that year, miners began gradually to abandon the
country, and. in 1869, production had dropped to
$60,000, and to $20,000 in 187(5. It was the old
story, so familiar in mining history, told once more.

liL

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

In 1860-61, placer ruining in the gulch formed
the great attraction for the major number of
adventurers flocking into the country. The towns
of Buckskin, Hamilton, Montgomery and Fairjilay
rose like mushrooms in the night and instantly
became centers for that erratic life so peculiar to
new mining countries, and so significant, of the
inborn passion of human kind for greed of gold.
In such a population as was thus gathered, the ele-
ments of permanency were not to be found. But
the gold-seeker is intent upon one object only, and
all else must remain in abeyance. The restlessness
of his nature concentrates on one thing only; and
if the grains of glittering gold lie seeks are not in
such quantities as take the fancy of the moment,
it is but the work of another moment for him to
pack up his traps and seek newer pastures. The
history of California in the matter of stampedes
lias been repeated in Colorado, with results that
have been fully as ruinous to the stability of towns
and the permanent prosperity of the State. Few
tarried long in one place. Were men making one
ounce ])cr day? Shortly came tidings of places
where two ounces were being obtained, and straight-
way the beehive life of the spot relapsed into the
silence of obscurity. Shortly, most of the mining
camps in this district met. the fate of their kin-
dred camps in other parts of the country, and only
two or three settled down into any degree of per-
manency.

And yet. all the while that California Gulch had
been worked over for gold, the miners daily threw
aside as worthless, a very Ophir of exhaustless
treasure. During all the time that gulch mining

O DO

was going on, the miners suffered much inconve-
nience from heavy bowlders that they were obliged
to move out. of their way. The character of the
rock they had no suspicion of, and did not stop to
investigate. It. was not until 1876, that attention
began to be drawn to (be peculiar formations now
so universally known as carbonates. It. is uncer-
tain who were the original discoverers or loeaters.
Messrs. Stevens and Wood, a Mr. Durham and
Maurice Hayes & Bro., seem to have been quietly

pursuing an examination of the deposits. Each

made carbonate of lead locations, and firmly
believed in the mineral wealth then so little under-
stood. In 1877, miners began to drift in from the
camps in the northern counties of the State, and,
in June, the first building on the original town site
of Leadville was put up.

In 1877, the district began to assume impor-
tance as a mining center, and, perhaps a thousand
men, by the fall of that year, were scattered over
the hills that surround the town. Some shafts
were sunk, but not much paying mineral was
mined. Only four or five mines were paving for
the working.

In March, 1878, the first sale of mining property
that suddenly aroused the attention of the outside
world, was made when four claims, owned by poor,
hardworking men, were sold to a company for a
round quarter of a million dollars.

From this time the finger of destiny pointed to
Leadville, and is still lifted. The tide of immigra-
tion since that time has been on the flood, and
there seems to be no possibility of its ebbing back,
leaving a barren waste behind. Men came and
looked and wondered. Capital poured in, but those
who handled it, put to themselves the question of
the permanency of the mines, and, for a long time,
hesitated. But while the many waited, here and
there a more adventurous one — having faith in the
Star of Silver shining so splendidly among the hills
— invested thousands and reaped millions, and then
those who had hung behind pressed eagerly
forward. New mines were opened daily, and pur-
chasers for "holes in the ground" that merely
gave promise of reaching mineral were readily
found. The beggar of one day became the million-
aire of the next. The "tenderfoot," fresh from
the States, was as likely to be successful, nay, if
anything, more so, than the experienced miner,
who for years had trudged over the hills, uncon-
sciously kicking fortune, like a football, from
beneath his feet.

Meanwhile, as a natural consequence, the town
grew. From a few small slab cabins in 1876, the

HISTORY OF OOI.oliAHo.

year 1879 sees it a well ami substantially built
city, having brick blocks, well-laid-out Btreets,
water-works, gas-works, opera-houses, daily news-
papers, banks, ami all the adjuncts that make up
great ami prosperous cities. The question of the
future is no longer discussed, save only that of the
extent to which it will grow. Its voting popula-
tion already outnumbers that of Denver. It has
one more daily paper already. No week passes
but the discovery of new mines adds to its impor-
tance, and if their durability and extent has, to a
certain degree, become assured, the next few years
will work wonders that will make even the expe-
rience of the last two years fall into the shade.

The town of Leadville is beautifully located on
the western slope of Ball Mountain, one of the
most elevated peaks of the Mosquito Range, about
two miles from the Arkansas River, and directly
opposite Mount Massive, one of the most majestic
peaks in the main range, known as the Continental
Divide. West of this chain, the rivers discharge
their waters into the Pacific Ocean

The town is well laid out, with the streets crossing
at right angles. It was abundantly supplied, in
its earlier days, with water from the Arkansas
River, brought many miles in ditches, as well as
from the small mountain streams which flow along
on either side of the city. But the growth of the
town was so great that, in the fall of 1878, a svs-
tem of water-works began, which was completed
early in 1870, by which the city now has an inex-
haustible supply of pure water for all purposes, and
there is hut little need of fear from fire.

The elevation is 10,500 feet above the level of
the sea, or-nearly two miles directly up in the air
above the capital. It cannot he said of the town
that it is the healthiest in the world. Many stig-
matize it as the unhealthiest une in the country.
It is unquestionably true that a great deal of sick-
ness prevails there. But few find that they can
remain and breathe the rarefied air year in ami
year out. The winter months are unusually severe.
Pneumonia, erysipelas and heart disease are the
prevailing complaints, and death seems to come

more suddenly there than elsewhere ; that is to Say,
there are. no lingering weeks of sickness. The
work of the Destroying Angel, when once begun,

is rapid.

On the 1st day of July, 1870, there were prob-
ably twenty thousand people in the town. Neces-
sarily, buildings sprang up by magic. Business
houses, hotels, banks, churches, dwellings, all were
boosted up as fast as workmen could push them,
ami the sound of the. hammer of the artisan
scarcely ceased from one month's end to the other,
night and day. Points that were covered with the
pines of the forest one month, the next became
streets of traffic with cabins and frame dwellings
in all stages of erection, many of them occupied
before being finished. < )ne hundred arrivals per day
is a low average estimate of the people who came
flocking to the new El Dorado from all parts of the
Union; from Maine as well as Texas, from Ore-
gun and from Florida. The town was early incor-
porated into a city, with a Mayor and Board of
Aldermen, an active police department put in
order, an efficient fire department organized.
Everything in the city grew in proportion to the
development of the mines ; as these in 1M77 would
pass from hand to hand for a i'vvr thousands, and
in 1879 command millions, so town lots that
brought but $25 in the spring of 1878, brought
$5,000 in the summer of 1S70, and many real-
estate operators were made rich thereby.

The principal business streets, at the present
writing, we name in the order of their importance:
Harrison avenue, Chestnut, State, Main and Pine
streets, Lafayette. Carbonate, Jefferson and Lincoln
avenues. The hanks, principal public buildings
and hotels are located on Harrison avenue and
Chestnut street.

That Leadville is a lively town may well he
imagined ; hut one can hardly realize it who has
not stood within its borders ami witnessed the
mighty flood of humanity that, day and night, in
a never-ceasing tide, singes through tin 1 principal
thoroughfares. Its great wealth, its increasing
prosperity, naturally make it tin' point to which

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

cni i wine all the • elements of social aud business
activity, and all classes are represented, from the
Mexican greaser to the sun of an ex-President.
The man of prominence in public life who has not
si'cn Leadville will soon be set down as being
behind the age, and if a United States Senator
cannot say to his comrades that he has been impor-
tuned to buy (in a quiet way i a gold brick that the
owner is compelled to part with because of circum-
stances beyond his control, etc., etc., why, he is
looked upon as having missed an experience that
might have proved valuable to him.

Leadville by daylight is a sight to behold. The
streets are full of teams of all kinds, the sidewalks
of men, mostly, also, of all kinds. Harrison ave-
nue aud Chesnut street are the main channels
through which the tides of humanity flow.
Oftentimes, at the banks, men stand in rows
long lengthened out, awaiting an opportunity to
deposit, rolls of greenbacks or their slips of checks
that indicate figures well upinto the thousands. The
resonant voice of the auctioneer sounds out upon
the air every hour of the day, importuning this
one or that one, or the other, to buy at a tre-
mendous sacrifice, some article that he has no use
for. Tinier the windows of the hotels, around the
corner against the sunny side of the wall, in num-
berless other places, can be seen groups of men
whose talk of mines is like the chatter of a parrot
ceaselessly repeating the one cry it has learned.
The changes on the word ''assay" are numberless,
even as are the webs that are woven by the mining
spider for the tenderfooted fly who, in speculative

m 1, is invited to enter and — be made happy,

perhaps, by the purchase of a twenty-million-dollar
mine for twenty hundred dollars, because the owner.
my dear sir, lacks the money to develop it. If
there ever is a point when the thoughtful-minded
might stand for hours and find the study of human-
ity a fascinating one. it is at the post office at Lead-
ville, in watching the countenances of those who
come and go, come and go, in one unceasing stream,
a living tide, the bubbles of whose feelings seem to
float upon their faces as ripples float outward when

a pebble drops into a stream. Eager anticipation
on arrival gives way to blank, utter despondency
on departure, with some. Others hurry in, with
box-key in hand, and soon emerge with a handful
of correspondence not half so highly prized as is
the one dirty brown envelope in which you can see
the crooked scrawl of some hand of loved one far
away at home in the States, that is all unused to
frequent correspondence. This, in the hand of the
man in the brown garb of the miner, is often worth
more to him than a letter would be to another con-
taining drafts to an untold amount, for it has come
to him from home, that word more blessed than
any other word to the wanderer among the hills.

But if Leadville by daylight is a sigbt to be-
hold, Leadville by gaslight is still more wonderful
and far more suggestive. The teams are absent
from the streets, safely housed in corral and stall;
but the men — and a few women — are around, and
the streets are fairly alive with excitement. The
teamsters are out for '-a lark." and the miners are
swarming in to ■■ take in the sights." The thea-
ters and variety-shows, whose handbills have been
scattered over the town during the day, now have
their bands out, helping to drum up an audience.
The saloons — but who can describe these? — are
full, and painted-faced women are running to and
fro from the bar to the different groups at the
tables, with their salver, on which rests foaming
beer and the more insidious liquors. It is not sur-
prising to know that $500 is often taken in one
saloon of an evening. Then, the gambling-houses
are in full blast, and the old adage of " Easy come,
easy gone," is nightly illustrated in these dens of
infamy and hot-beds of crime. " Life in Leadville,"
one writer has observed, "tends to prodigality, be-
cause those who come on business or pleasure, or
to stay, are all bent on seeing what there is to see,
regardless of expense, and with as little delay as
possible." But life in such a town tends to profli-
gacy as well.

It is not to be understood that the level of soci-
ety in Leadville is wholly low. By no means ; but
the lower levels undoubtedly predominate. As

IIISTOTCY OF COLORADO.

time goes by, and a greater stability is given to the
institutions, and permanence to the homes, the ele-
ments that go tn make up the higher social life
will increase and have their due effect. But great
lawlessness and vice are prevalent throughout the
carbonate camp, and when, after nightfall, one can
hardly ride out three miles from the center of the
town without running the risk of a bullet, if the
demand, " Hands up! "is not complied with ; or
if passing along the sidewalk, one is luck) - it' a
stray shot, intended for some one else, does not
crash through the windows of a low grog-shop, and
reach him, it cannot be said that Leadville has,
as yet, settled down to that security of life, limb
and property, which prevails elsewhere throughout
the State."

The liest tirades of society are beginning to clus-
ter in Leadville. But at present, money-making is
the one idea, and all the energies of the individual
are bent in that direction. Church and school
i'aeilities are not equal to the demand, and tem-
perance organizations do not thrive, as yet, in the
carbonate camp. But time, that sets all things
even, will eventually remedy the evils that at pres-
ent exist, and Leadville will become the home of
the wealthy, the cultivated and the refined.

A sketch of Leadville can hardly be said to be
complete without a brief description, or at least an
enumeration, of the mines from whose depths such
wonderful mineral wealth has been taken.

The first mines discovered, which have since
proved to be anion"; the richest of the district, were
the Iron Mine (better known as the Stevens and
Leiter Mine), the Gallagher (now known as the
Camp Bird), the Carbonate (formerly called the
Halloek and Cooper), and the Little Pittsburgh;
These are still among the richest mines in the
whole carbonate belt, and have yielded immense
sums of money to their fortunate owners.

Although the first-named mines were known
many months before the discovery of the Little
Pittsburgh, it was not until the opening of this

Since the above was written, the moral atmosphere of Leadville

has improved materially, thanks to Judge Lynch.

famous lode that public attention was fairly directed

toward Leadville.

The best mines are located within a radius of
four miles from the heart of the city, are easy of
access and but a short distance from the reduction
works, where all the ore is reduced to bullion.

Fryer Hill, so named in honor of the man who
discovered one of the most valuable mines about

the camp, the New Discovery, is one of the lowest
ranges of hills surrounding the city and lies about
one mile to the northeast of the center of the
town. Upon this hill are to be found the mines
which have made the name of Leadville famous.
Among those well known and best developed, are
the Little Pittsburgh. New Discovery, Winnemuc,
Dives, Little Chief Vulture, Chrysolite, Carbon-
iferous, Little Eva, Robert E. Lee, Climax, Dun-
can and Matchless, all well-known, producing
mines. Besides these, there are many others.

Directly to the south of Fryer Hill, and separ-
ated therefrom by a small creek, known as Stray
Horse, lies Carbonate Hill, upon which are found the
Carbonate, Morning Star, Crescent, Pendery, Little
(riant. Shamrock. .Etna, Walden. Forsaken. Monto
Cristo, Agassi/,, Maid of Erin and others.

East of Carbonate Hill is to be found Iron Hill,
so called because of the famous iron mine, the old-
est and best-known mine in the district. Here also
are the Bull's Eye, Silver Wave, Law, Camp Bird,
Adelaide, Pine, Silver Cord, Jones, Lime. Star
of the West and Smuggler, all near California
Gulch.

Northeast of Iron Hill, and about one mile dis-
tant, is Breece Hill, upon which are found the
celebrated Breece Iron Mines, consisting of the
William Penn, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia and
Gen. Cadwallader. Also the justly famed High-
land Chief, Colorado Prince, Black Prince. Minn
Boy, Lowland Chief. Robert Burns, Gilderry,
Highland Mary, Fanny Rawlings, Eliza, Daisy,
Denver, Idaho and Nevada, ajl overlooking Evans
Creek. Scarcely half a mile distant from the last-
named mines, lie the Little Ella, Iz/.anl. Virginius,
New Veal's, Trade Dollar and Grand View.

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

Directly south from this last-named hill, is Long
and Deny Hill, upon which are found the rich
mines known as the J. P. Dana, Porphyry and
Faint Hope, the property of the two men in whose
honor the hill was earned.

The names of the mines thus far given com-
prise only those that are liest known, not by any
means all of the producing mini's in and about
Leadville. Scores more could be added were it
necessary.

A late authority on these mines says, -'The pre-
dictions that the mines will soon be exhausted, and
the prosperity of the camp short-lived, are made
only by those wdio have not considered all sides of
the situation. There is no reason why a body of
ore inclining slightly below the horizontal should
not be as continuous as a vertical vein. The ease
and rapidity with which the ore is mined is so
much in favor of the mines, for every one is desir-
ous of making money in the shortest possible
time. Better than all this, continual anil rapid
enlargement of the ore-producing areas by number-
less discoveries, make up many times over for any
exhaustion of ground in the older locations. Bet-
ter still are the seemingly endless layers or strata
of ore, one below another." Another writer, dis-
cussing the nature of lead veins generally, says,
''The most important features of lead veins, lodes
or heds in all of the rich lead-fields known, are
that they are horizontal like coal veins or beds and
run one under another, the same as coal veins, and
always extend downward to the very bottom of the
lead-bearing rock or stratum or strata, as the case
may be. Such is held to be the nature of the
carbonate veins of Leadville. And if it be true
that these beds extend to the bottom of the lead-
bearing rock, bow deep does such strata extend?
Upon a careful examination, for several months, of
this mining region, I find it running from nearly
the top of the highest mountains to the bottom of
the deepest, gulches. It is a general rule that
metallic veins grow richer and larger as they go
deeper in the earth. I have no doubt at all that
the richest veins or deposits here will be found

below the bottom of the gulch, and that the time
will soon come when millions of tons will be raised
from below the beds of our deepest gulches."

If this writer should prove a true prophet, what
a future lies in store for the great carbonate
camp, whose present output of ore averages one
thousand tons per day, of an average value of 800
per ton. Not infrequently ore is found which
runs many hundreds.

Leadville is well supplied with smelters or
reduction works, where ore is reduced to bullion.
These works are kept running night and day, the
fires in the furnaces never being extinguished
except for repairs. These smelters give employ-
ment to about one thousand men.

In one respect in particular, Leadville has dif-
fered from almost every other mining center
known. While these have had their periods of
great lawlessness and disorder, when the turbulent
element in society, which always seeks frontier
towns, ran riot and refused to recognize the
restraints imposed by the law until the strong
hand of the vigilantes brought them into subjection,
Leadville has been comparatively free from any
organized system of outlawry or disorder. Crimes
abound, but they are the result of individual raids,
and not of organized and well disciplined ruffian-
ism. The authorities are active in their efforts to
redeem the name of the town from the odium that
attaches even to these cases, that almost daily oc-
cur. Lives are lost, property destroyed, valuables
stolen, but the general peace has been maintained
and order generally enforced.

Of course, all kinds of business pursued in the
older cities of the West are carried on in the new
city. The business houses are now commodious,
sonic of them even imposing, while the amount of
business transacted would do no discredit to cities
of double the number of inhabitants and scores of
years of existence.

The denominations that have built churches are I
the Methodist, Baptist. Presbyterian and Catholic.
These places are well attended every Sabbath. |
There are, of course, thousands of people in the

. , .

I^CLUjCjuv^

HISTORY (IK COLoliADO.

city who prefer what is called the sacred concert in
tin; saloons to the sacred music of the choir in the
church, and who never are seen inside a place of
worship. But this may be said of other cities.
The floating class of population in the town is one
great reason why this is so in Leadville. If the
permanent population is only taken into considera-
tion, Leadville, in this particular, probably does
not differ much from the older and longer estab-
lished cities of the country.

The public schools are of but recent growth,
but they are well conducted, with teachers able
and competent, and the public interest in their suc-
cess is increasing.

There are four banks, tour theaters, one hos-
pital, a number of hotels, and an opera house, the
finest between St. Louis and San Francisco.

During the summer months, from June to Sep-
tember, the nights are very rare when blankets will
not be found a necessity. Warm woolen clothing-
is worn at all seasons of the year. The average
daily temperature of summer is G0°, while that of
winter is 2(i°. The rainy season is from June to
August, when showers may be expected nearly
every day. The clear, cold days of winter, when
the thermometer marks zero, or even below that
point, are not so disagreeable and cold as on the
Atlantic Coast or in the Mississippi Valley, with J
the thermometer at freezing-point.

Snow frequently falls to the depth of many feet
in a single night. During the winter months, it is
no uncommon event to have a snow-storm every

day. The air is dry, very thin and rarefied ; so
mush so that persons unaccustomed to such high

altitudes feel a sense of oppression about the chest.
and experience much difficulty in breathing.
Those afflicted with weak lungs or heart disease
cannot endure the altitude of Leadville. The nil-
being so much thinner than at the sea level, the
pressure is removed, the heart beats faster, and the
blood, rushing through the lungs much more rap-
idly than usual, causes the delicate air-cells to
become severed and hemorrhage is the inevitable
result. The heart being diseased, it is unable to
perform the functions demanded of it, and it sud-
denly ceases to beat. Persons of temperate habit
and of strong constitution, taking proper care of
themselves, will probably live as long in Leadville
as in cities and towns nearer the level of the
sea.

As a mining town, probably Leadville has no
superior on the civilized globe. It has grown from
a few miners' cabins in 1S77 to a thriving, pros-
perous city, with thousands of inhabitants, and its
future seems still bright with abundant promise,
The Denver & South Park Railroad is now com-
pleted and in operation to a point within thirty
miles of the carbonate metropolis, and is going-
ahead with a prospect of reaching Leadville early
in the spring. Work on the railroad up the
Arkansas Valley has been suspended by litigation,
but. it is expected that it, too, will be completed next
summer. With two lines of railway, Leadville
will take a new lease of prosperity.

CHAPTER XIII.

HISTORY OF Till-: FIRST COLORADO REGIMENT.

THE question, Is Colorado for the Union, or Southern element was strong in society. Greor-

will it. declare for secession ? was early forced gians hail first discovered ".old in the country, and

upon the consideration of the people, far removed this had led to the influx of a large Southern popu-

though they seemed to be from the scei f active lation. In the latter part of August, 1861, the

operations. But the war no sooner broke out than it news of the battle of Bull Bun reached Denver,

was evident that the emergency was arising. The This resulted in the secession element boldly avowing

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

hostility to the Union, raising secession flags,
buying up arms, ami in other ways making prepar-
ations to declare for the Confederacy. But Gov.
< « il|>in was a stanch Union man. and surrounded
himself at once with men who weir prominent in
public life and alive to the emergency. But a
short time elapsed before the first Colorado regi-
ment was organized, with the following officers :

Colonel, J. P. Slough; Lieutenant Colonel. S. F.
Tappan ; Major, J. M. Chivington.

Captains — Company A, E. W. Wynkoop ; Com-
pany I!, S. M. Logan ; Company C, Richard Sopris ;
Company D, Jacob Downing; Company K, S. .).
Anthony; Company F, S. II. Cook: CompanyG,
J. W. Hambleton ; Company H, George L. San-
born; Company- L Charles Mailie; Company K,
C. P. Marion.'

Recruiting offices were opened at various points,
and, in two months, the necessary complement of
men wen' secured and they were in barracks on the
Platte, about two miles from Denver. The camp
was called Camp Weld, in honor of the then
Secretary of the Territory. No definite authority
had been given the Governor, as yet, to raise troops,
hut his drafts on the United States Treasury to
defray the expense of clothing and sustaining the
force were duly honored, and his action thus
indorsed by the Government.

To this judicious and prompt action of Gov.
Gilpin is no doubt due the fact that Colorado
escaped the civil convulsions that desolated other
portions of the Union. An armed force of a
thousand men was well calculated to '■preserve tin-
peace," even in so isolated a part of the country
and among such a scattered population.

I!ut months of idleness in such a rough camp
naturally brought about a great deal of dissension
and many desertions. It was difficult to keep in
perfect discipline such a motley set of volunteer.-,
while the doubts as to their acceptance into the
service of the Government had its natural ten-
dency to cause disaffection.

In the first days of the year 1863, an express
arrived from the South witli the news of the

advance on New Mexico of three or four thousand
Texans under Brig. Gen. H. H. Sibley, and a call
for assistance. If the regiment had promptly
started, it would probably have prevented the Tex-
ans from entering the Territory. Put the troops,
having been mustered into the service, could only
be moved out of Colorado by orders from head-
quarters. Application was made to Gen. Hunter
for authority to send the regiment to the aid of
New Mexico, and when the desired orders reached
Denver, the regiment received the word to march
with a great deal of satisfaction, for idleness, that
mother of mischief, had been very busy of late in
sowingthe seeds of dissension in the camp. Noth-
ing to do had become intolerable to these men,
accustomed to rough, stirring work ; and the news
from New Mexico, of Texan invasion, had become
as a beacon star of their existence. On the 22d
of February — a day hailed as a good omen for the
cause in which they were engaged — the regiment
left Denver.

Companies Hand F reached Fort Wise — now
Fort Lyon — where an order met them from Gen.
Hunter, assigning them tit the support of Col.
Canby in New Mexico, with New Orleans as the
ultimate point of destination, the balance of the
regiment meeting them at the foot of the Raton
Mountains on the 7th of March. The march to
Fort Union, which was a hasty one, caused by
rumors that the Texans were threatening the fort,
brought them there on the L3th. Here was found
some four hundred regulars, who welcomed the
arrival of the volunteers with cheers, as it was evi-
dent that the Texan forces were triumphantly
sweeping the country about them, and the troops
at the Fort totally inadequate to check their prog-
ress.

On the 14th, news from (Jen. Canby announced
his capture of a large train coming from the Smith
with an escort of one hundred and fifty men.
lien Sibley was reported at Santa Fe. with recruits
rapidly coming in.

On the 22d, the regiment, accompanied by two
light batteries. Capts. Ritter and Claflin. ('apt.

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

Ford's company of volunteers and two companies
of the Fifth Infantry, Col. Slough in command, his
force numbering about thirteen hundred, left Camp
Union for Santa Fe. When within twenty miles
of this point, information was received of the
approach of a force of eight hundred Texans. On
the night of the 24th, Lieut. Nelson, with twenty
men, met and captured a picket guard of the enemy
and sent them back to the reserve.

The battle of Apache Canon occurred on the 26th.
( This point hail already been made historical in the
annals of warfare by the stand made by the Mexi-
can General, Armijo, during the Mexican war.)
About four hundred men, equally divided into
infantry and cavalry, under command of Chiving-
ton, here met a force of fully double their number.
This force was encountered about six miles inside
the canon at about 2 P. M.. and were met by the
troops ami driven, after three dim-rent stands had
been made, out of the canon. The loss was five
killed, thirteen wounded and three missing. The
rebels lost, as near as could be learned, forty killed,
seventy-five wounded and one hundred and eight
prisoners, including seven commissioned officers.

On the 27th. Col. Slough arrived with the re-
serve and camped upon the battle-ground. On the
morning of the 28th, Companies A, B, E and H, of
the First Colorado, Ford's company, and A and G of
the Fifth Infantry Regulars, were detached from
the command and sent to the left to cross the
mountains to get in the rear of the enemy. The
balance of the command, numbering about six
hundred, moved toward toward Santa Fe. When
in the canon of Pigeon's Ranche, the pickets were
driven in. The enemy was approaching. The
men, not being aware of their close proximity, wire
engaged in filling their canteens with water, with
their arms stacked in the road. They were called
to attention, and ('apt. Raster, of Company I, was
ordered to advance on the right ; Capt. Downing
with Company D, on the left of a narrow canon,
and met the enemy as they approached, in order
that the balance of the command could form and
give them a warm reception. Capts. Ritter and

Claflin, of the Regulars, moved their battery in the
canon, advancing and firing, the balance of the
command being used as supports. The battle
lasted about nine hours, victory finally resting with
the Union forces, but with a loss of a large num-
ber i 134 ) of killed and wounded. But the enemy's
loss was much greater, as taken from their own

Surg is books; two hundred and fifty-one being

killed, two hundred wounded, and over one hundred
prisoners, out of a force of eighteen hundred. On
the evening after the battle, the detachment under
Maj. Chivington. that had been sent over the
mountains, rejoined the command. lie had left
camp in the morning, crossed the mountains with
no regard to obstacles, routes or aught else save
direction, and succeeded in gaining the rear of the
enemy. Scattering their rearguard to the winds,
he blew up and destroyed their supply-train of
seventy wagons, containing all the ammunition,
provisions, clothing and other supplies of war that
they had in the Territory, spiked one six-pounder
with a ramrod and tumbled it down the mountain,
and then regained the camp. This was no doubt
the irreparable blow that compelled the Texans to
evacuate the Territory, and its audacity was one of
the main causes of its success.

It was the intention to renew the battle the next
morning, but daylight dawned upon a retreating-
foe, and on the 2d of April, the regiment entered
Fort Union. An absence of eleven days of
travel, in which two battles, redounding to their
credit, had been fought, had given the troops a
right, to the rest that seemed to be before them.
But this rest was of short duration. Hardly had
two days elapsed before orders reached camp to
break up. Gen. Canby had left Fort Craig, and
the regiment was ordered south to divert the
enemy's attention or aid in driving him out of the
country. About one hundred of the prisoners at
Fort Union, released on parole, accompanied them,
returning to their own party.

On the Kith, the troops reached a little town
called Galisteo, about twenty miles from Santa Fe.
Here information was received of Gen. Canb\ >

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

whereabouts. He had come up from Fort Craig,
and, making a feint of attacking the enemy, who
had fallen back on Albuquerque, had reached a
small town at the head of Carnuel Pass, about forty
miles ilistant. The Texanswere reported as 2. ihhi
strong, and, apparently satisfied with the experi-
ence of Apache Canon and Pigeon's Ranche, were
not very eager for the fray. About this time,
Col. Slough resigned his command and left for
Gen. Canhy's camp. Upright and honorable, of
unquestioned ability and undoubted integrity, he
seemed to lack in the elements that attract popu-
larity. The movements succeeding the battle of
Pigeon's Ranche, when, with troops flushed with
victory and ready to complete the destruction of
the enemy, orders were received to stop fighting,
were dictated by an authority higher than his own.
and lie had only to obey orders. This he did, but
resigned his commission shortly after, and the fact
that the President at once nominated him for
Brigadier General goes to prove that his services
were appreciated, at least at headquarters.

On the 13th, the regiment joined Gen. Canby
in the densely timbered hills of Carnuel Pass. where
he was camped, with four pieces of artillery and
1,200 men. Here. April 14, Map Chivington
was promoted over the head of Lieut. Col.Tappan,
to the colonelcy of the regiment, subject to the ap-
proval of < rov. ( rilpin.

The battle of Peralta, occurring April 15, be-
tween the troops under Canby and the force of
Gen. Sibley, was almost a bloodless one. The rec-
ords show that it would have been apparently easj
for the Colorado troops to have attacked and
routed the enemy; but, for some unexplained rea-
son, they were allowed to withdraw their forces,
without any special hindrance from Gen. Canby.
Col. Chivington offered to do battle with his regi-
ment alone, but the offer was declined. A few
artillery shots were fired, the army drawn up in
line of battle for six hours, and then finallv or-
dered back, while the enemy took advantage of this
to cross and make good their escape, going down
one side of the stream while the Union army

marched along the other. The foe was constantly
in sight for twenty-four hours before they finally
disappeared. A few days afterward, while still on
the march, word was brought that the Texans had
buried all their artillery, burned their wagons, and
were marching through the mountains toward
Mesilla. The active campaign was evidently over.

For two months or more, the regiment camped
at Val Verde, awaiting supplies, which had to
come from Fort Union, 300 miles distant.

On the 4th of July. Col. Howe. Third U. S.
Cavalry, arrived with a squad of officers from the
States, and took command of the Southern Depart-
ment, relieving Col. Chivington. who immediately
proceeded to Santa Fe and procured an order from
< ten. Canby for the First to march to Fort Union
as soon as practicable. Thence, via Denver, he
proceeded to Washington to get the regiment
transferred, if possible, to a more active field of
service, or, if be could not succeed in this, to have the
men mounted ; with what success will be noted later.

Shortly afterward, preparations were made for
the march of the regiment, in detachments, by
different routes to Fort Union.

Companies A. F and G left the camp cm the
16th of August, arriving at Union on the 4th of
September. Here Company F remained while A
and G moved on to Fort Lyon. Companies C and
F started up the river in July, passed by Fort
Union, crossed the Raton Mountains and camped
for a time on the Purgatoire, where they made
some efforts to smoke out the guerrilla Madi-
son, which were unsuccessful. They then pro-
ceeded to Cimmaron to quell some disturbances
among the Indians assembled thereto receive their
annuities, and finally marched to Fort Lamed.

About this time, news of the following Special
Order arrived :

EXTBACT.

Headquarters Department of the Missouri, I
St. Lot i-. Mo., Nov. 1. 1862. |

Special Order ]S*o. 36.

Pursuant to orders from the Secretary of War and
the election of Gov. Evans of Colorado Territory, the
First Regiment Colorado Volunteers, commanded by

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

Col. Chivington, will be converted into a cavalry regi-
ment, in be denominated the First Cavalry of Colorado.
The Quartermaster and Ordnance Departments will
furnish and change equipments to suit the change of

:ii: us. The regiment will rendezvous

in Colorado Territory ; headquarters at Denver.
By command of Maj. Gen. Curtis.

V I', ('hitman, Colonel and Chief of Staff.

The welcome news soon traveled east and south
to Lamed and Union. In consequence, the com-
panies at the former posts received instructions to
report at Colorado City to witness the change from
a regiment of volunteers to that, of cavalry. Col.
Clark, id' the Ninth Kansas, refusing to recognize
the order, Col. Tappan proceeded to Leavenworth
and had the news confirmed by Gen. Blunt.
December 1!!, the company left. Lamed and, travel-
ing about four hundred miles, reached Colorado
City about the end of December. D and G had
also been ordered to Larned in the latter part of
September. They tramped back over that weary
interval in midwinter, destitute of fuel and with
but scant transportation'. Their horses met them
on the Arkansas, and on the 1st of Januarys— a
welcome New Year s present — were issued to them.
II, K and B came up the Rio Grande to Santa Fe ;
thence the first two went on to Fort Garland,
remained a short time and then marched to Colo-
rado City. B repaired to Fort Union. D and I
were the last to leave the lower country. They
also came up the Grand Valley, halted at Union a
day or two and then proceeded to Fort Lyon. F

was. in connection with B, assigned to garrison
duty at Fort Union.

Gen. Canby was relieved, early in October, by
Gen. Carlton of the California Volunteers, who
established a new post on the Pecos, about one
hundred miles southeast of Santa Fe, and Compan-
ies B, I' 1 and L were assigned to that locality; but
while the preparations for the advance of the expe-
dition were progressing, the news came that the
regiment was to concentrate at Fort Scott, Kan.,
to be mounted. On the 13th of November,
they bade final adieu to Fort Union, crossed the
Raton flange, made the Arkansas, and in due
time arrived at Colorado City instead of Fort Scott.

Early in January, 1863, all the companies had
reached the point of concentration, whence they
marched to Denver, reaching the city on the
Kith, into which they were very handsomely
escorted by the Third Regiment of Volunteers ami
a large concourse of citizens. Service had some-
what thinned their ranks; they had undergone
many hardships, had borne patiently with the con-
tumely generally heaped upon volunteers by the
regulars, had born their share of the brunt of
battles bravely won anil now were welcomed back
by die admiring populace in the principal city of
the State of whose early history they had made
for themselves an imperishable part.

In 1865, the regiment, after doing scout duty
and looking after the Indians, who were occasion-
ally troublesome, was disbanded.

CHAPTER XIV.
HISTORY <>F THE SECOND COLORADO REGIMENT.
"T seems proper, in giving a full history of the doings of the First Colorado, with the intention of

-L Second Colorado Regiment, to prefix it with a
concise sketch of the raising and services of the two
companies that finned the nucleus of the regiment
and did such excellent work in New Mexico before
the other ones were raised. These companies
were incidentally mentioned in our account of the

doing them more complete justice in their proper
place, which we now proceed to do.

These two gallant companies were recruited
under the order of Gov. Gilpin, principally in
Park, Lake, Summit and Fremont Counties, one
by ('apt. Hendrew, with T. H. Dodd as First

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

Lieutenant and J. C. W. Hall as Second Lieuten-
ant, ami the other by ('apt. -lames H. Ford, with
Lieuts. De Forest and Clark, in the fall of
Hill, and all rendezvoused at Canon City about
December 1st.

Hendrew, with his company, marched first to
Fort Garland, suffering all the fatigue and hard-
ships of a winter's march over the Sangre de
Christo Range, whore Maj. Whiting, of the regular
army, waited to muster them into the service.
Some indiscretions committed by Capt. Hendrew
made the Major refuse to muster him in. and. as
the men had been chiefly enlisted by Hendrew,
they wore allowed to choose between remaining
under another Captain or returning to their homos.
Eighty-four out of eighty-seven had come to slay,
however, which speaks volumes for their patriotism
and pluck. They were accordingly mustered into
service on the 22d of December, with Dodd ;i~
Captain and Hall and Piatt as Lieutenants, and
designated as < lompany B.

About this time, Capt. Ford arrived with his
men. and Company A was thus mustered into
service.

It was supposed that arms, aceouterments, cloth-
ing, camp ami garrison equipage awaited them
lere. But in this they were mistaken, and, illy
prepared as they were for further marching, two
days after arrival at the fort. Company H was
ordered to Santa Fe. Capt Dodd started at
once with six men from Company A to act as
teamsters fir the scanty ox transportation furnished
him. They crossed the range, experiencing fearful
hardships, and reached Santa Fe, a distance of
ISO miles, on the 1st of January, 1862.

Arms, uniforms, etc., were issued here, and the
men drilled for active duty for a few days, when
orders were received for all the available troops to
proceed by forced marches to the relief of Gen.
Canby, who was being menaced at Fort Craig by
the secessionists under Gen. Sibley. Company B
was attached to the regular troops for this cam-
paign, and in two days the command reached

Albuquerque. From there, the march to Fort

Craig was rapidly continued, and soon reached
Gen. Canby. On the 15th of February, Gen.
Sibley appeared in force. On the 20th, some
fighting took place, in which private Hugh Brown
was killed

The battle of Val Verde occurred on the 21st,
in which the boys of Company B participated ami
gallantly acquitted themselves. During the battle.
Capt. Dodd encountered a well-equipped and dis-
ciplined battalion of Texan Lancers, under Maj.
Lang, whom the company kept fighting long after
the bugle had sounded a recall. Seventy-two of
the lancers were killed, while Capt. Dodd lost only
four killed and thirty-eight wounded, the most of
whom ultimately recovered from their wounds.
Una- the battle, Gen. Canby found himself without
men enough to warrant him in following up the
Texans. lie remained cooped up at Fort Craig
for several weeks, his supplies all cut oft', and him-
self and troops suffering severely for want of them.

Company A. meanwhile, started from Canon
City, reached Fort Garland, and thence took up
the line of march for Santa Fe. with ox trans-
portation. From Santa Fe they pushed on to Fort
Union, enduring the usual amount of hardships.
Here the First Colorado, under Col. Slough, joined
them, and shortly after occurred the battles of
Apache Canon and Pigeon's Ranche, of which an
account has already been given Company A was
with Maj. Chivington in his successful raid on the
enemy s transportation, which he burned and
utterly destroyed, with all its stores. Afterward,
the command marched to Albuquerque, where a
union was effected with Gen. Canby. At the run-
ning tight at Peralta, Companies A and B both
participated, it being the first time they had met
since the parting at Fort Garland. They partici-
pated in the pursuit of Sibley to the vicinity of
Mosilla. during which there was some skirmishing.
but no regular battles. After the enemy had dis-
persed ami made his escape in scattered bands to
the Texan frontier. Companies A and I! returned by
easy marches via Santa Fe to Fort Union. They
remained on duty in Gen. Canby 's department

HISTORY <)F COLORADO.

until the spring of 1868, when they united with
the balanee of the regiment at it.s rendezvous
at Fort Lyon. The officers and men had already
made for themselves a glorious record, redounding
as well to the honor of Colorado. It was a brill-
iant prelude to the future enviable history of the
regiment. Tt need not be added that they were
received with open arms by their comrades, whose
laurels were yet unwon. Henceforth the history
of Companies A and B is that of the regiment
itself.

On the 17th of February, L862, the Secretary
id' War authorized Col. J. EL Leavenworth to raise
six companies of volunteer infantry in Colorado.
which, with four other companies already in service
there, were to form the Second Regiment of Col-
orado Volunteers, of which lie was appointed
Colonel. Reporting to Maj. Gen. Halleck, at St.
Louis, then commanding the department of which
Colorado formed a part, he was assigned at once to
active duty in this department, without being per-
mitted to proceed at once on his mission of recruit-
ing and completing the organization of his
regiment, and it was not until .Mav. 1862, that he
reached Denver to perform this duty.

In June, the following appointments were made :
Lieut. Col. T. EL Dodd. Captains — Company E,
J. Nelson Smith; Company F. L. D. Rowel! :
Company G, Reuben Howard; Company H,
George West; Company I, E. D. Boyd ; Company
K, S. W. Wagner.

Often, before a company was half enlisted, they
would be ordered off on some detached service,
which the critical situation of affairs at Colorado
at this time urgently demanded. We find, from
an examination of a journal kept during the sum-
mer by Lieut. Bun-ell, such entries as the following

"Jan. 16. — Expedition sent to assist authorities
in enforcing civil process in Vraie Run district.

"July 7. — Gov. Evans orders another expedi-
tion against Little Owl and Arapahoes, at Cache a
la Poudre.

"July 18. — Capt. Wagoner started to-day on
another Indian expedition, by direction of Gov.

Evans, taking the Bradford road. Destination,
.Middle Park.

"Aug. 3. — ('apt. West, with Lieuts Howard
and Roe, and detachments of Companies G
and II. arrived at Fort Cjnion, bringing in lost
horses

Under circumstances like these, the recruits were
detached and scattered before being fully organ-
ized, even into companies, much less into a regi-
ment, and then properly drilled for service. The
Indian element upon Colorado's frontier, and. indeed,
within her entire domain, was at that time in
sympathy, to a great extent, with tribes within the
boundaries of Texas. Utah and other Territories,
who were under the influence of rebel emissaries.
and encouraged to believe that the plundering of
Government trains and the stealing of private or

public stock and property was alike free 1 tv for

them as for rebels

There were at this time, at Camp Weld, the
recruiting station of the regiment, four mountain
howitzers belonging to the Government, which
Gen. Canby, commanding the department of New
Mexico had. at the request of Gen. Blunt, at the
time in command of the District of Colorado and
Western Kansas, placed in charge of Col. Leaven-
worth, for the protection of the Territory. These
were entirely useless without artillerymen, and, in
accordance with his instructions, he deemed it
right and proper to enlist a company of men, under
promise that, when they should be mustered in. it
should be either as cavalry or a battery, having no
doubt that his course would be approved by the
proper authorities. How this was done will appear
further on.

In the latter part of August, orders were received
for the removal of the headquarters of the regi-
ment to Fort Lyon, and, on the 22d. they were en
route, reaching the fort in seven .lavs, a distance of
240 miles.

From this time forward until October. Lieut.
Brownell's journal is full of memoranda relating to
orders and the movements of the regiment in
detachments, showing much escort and scouting

HISTORY OF COLORADO

service, while all the time the enlistment of men
was going forward.

Orders came, under date of October 11, from
the War Department, ordering either the First or
Second Regiment to be mounted, the selection to
be left with the Governor, who chose the First.
Colorados. This selection did not weigh so heavily
upon the men of the regiment as the news that
their regiment was to be crippled by the takiug-
away of the company funned for cavalry service,
and for doing which Col. Leavenworth seemed
likely to suffer.

The regiment remained at Fort Lyon until April |
(i, L863, when Lieut. Col. Dodd,with six companies,
marched to Fort Leavenworth, where they were
shortly afterward joined by the Colonel and his
staff. June 8, Col. Leavenworth, under orders
from Gen. Blunt, assumed command of all the
troops mi the Santa Fe mad. with headquarters at
Fort Lamed.

About this time, military affairs on the frontier
between New Mexico, Colorado and Texas, were
becoming decidedly interesting. Texan troops
with disloyal Indians were again concentrating to
push their successes, if possible, through into Col-
orado.

Companies A. H. K. G, II and I, in connection
with other troops, under command of Lieut. Col.
Dodd, were detached and ordered out to meet the
enemy, and. on the 2d of July, 1863, occurred the
battle of Cabin Creek, in which some forty of the
enemy were killed and wounded, with the loss of
but one killed and twenty wounded on the side of
the ( Jolorado troops.

Shortly after, the command went on duty at
Fort Gibson until the arrival of Gen. Blunt from
the north, when preparations were at once made
for an advance movement. On the 16th. the little
army, numbering about one thousand four hundred,
rank and tile, crossed the Arkansas near the mouth
of Grand River, and. on the following day. met at
Honey Springs the Confederate forces, numbering
about six thousand men, under command of Gen.
Cooper. Gen. Blunt attacked him at once, and.

after a hard-fought battle i lasting some two hours),
succeeded in routing him. with a loss of -till) killed,
wounded and missing, according to his own accounts,
he having been so closely pressed as to compel him
tn abandon his dead and wounded and to burn
all his stores to prevent them from falling into
Gen. Blunts hands. Total loss on the Union side
14 killed, and 30 wounded. The gallant Colorado
Second bore a prominent part in this engage-
ment, being opposed by a rebel battery that was
] ii airing its deadly missiles into its ranks, when
they charged and succeeded in capturing one of
the guns, and dispersing the Texans after a hard
fight, in which four men were killed, and the same
number wounded.

Gen. Blunt, considering his force insufficient for
pursuit, fell back to Fort Gibson. In August,
having been re-enforced, he started south to drive
the rebels from the country, and retake Fort Smith,
which he succeeded in doing, with but little loss on
his side.

Returning to Col. Leavenworth's record, we find
him in command at Fort Larned, in July. L863,
protecting, under Gen. Blunts orders, the Santa
Fe mad and it- approaches from the enemy, fre-
quently sending i nit scouting parties to reconnoiter,
sometimes leading the scmits himself, and endeavor-
in.: tu keep the various tribes of Indians in that
section from joining the rebels.

Thus, we tind him and the troops under him
engaged, when, mi the 19th of October, Special
Order No. 431 of the Adjutant General's Office,
of September 26, 1863, by which his connection
with the service was terminated, reached him at
Port Larned. lie immediately resigned his com-
mand of the post to ('apt. James W. I'annefer.
and retired from service. Subsequently, on a re-
view of the facts on which his dismissal from the
service were based, by Judge Advocate Holt, this
unjust order was recalled, and he was honorably
discharged from the service of the United States.
'■ such recall." using the words of Judge Advocate
General Holt, "of the previous order, and honor-
able discharge, will operate to clear his record as

IKS

Tf '?* 0Lc**l6 v Y'i,2.

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

an officer, and will remove any impediment which
may otherwise have existed to his receiving a new
appointment in the military and civil service."
This recall was formally approved by President
Lincoln, he also adding the wish that, as soon as
consistent, Col. Leavenworth be restored to mili-
tary service.

Lieut. Col. Dodd succeeded to the command of
tin 1 regiment.

The succeeding history of the regiment we now
give in the language of ('apt. E. L. Berthoud, as
prepared by him for a reunion of the regiment that
occurred in Golden in 1ST" :

"October 11, 1863, a special order, No. 278,
from the headquarters of the Department of the
Missouri. Gen. J. M. Schofield commanding, or-
dered the consolidation of the Second and Third
Regiments of Colorado Infantry into one cavalry
regiment, to be known as the Second Colorado
Volunteer Cavalry.

"That portion of the Second Colorado Infantry
now in the District of the Frontier, the Indian Na-
tion, etc., was ordered to Springfield, -Mo., from
that point they proceeded to Holla, and thence to
Benton Barracks, at St. Louis.

"All detachments of men, officers ami recruits,
in the District of Colorado, were ordered to
Kansas City, Mo., and there receive further
orders.

-In November and December, 1863, these
orders were executed, and. excepting the headquar- I
ters of the regiment, 150 recruits from Colorado,
and Company F, with Capt. Rouell — already
mounted and stationed at Hickman's Mill, Mo. — were
rendezvoused at Benton Barracks. Col. James II.
Ford, the .Major of the Second Colorado Volun-
teer Infantry, having been promoted in November,
1863, to the command of the Second Colorado
Cavalry, with Theo. H. Dodd for Lieutenant Col-
onel. Smith. Pritchard and Curtis, Majors of the
First. Second and Third Battalions respectively,
Lieut. Baldy, Adjutant, Lieut. Bun-ell, Commis-
sary. Lieut. J. S. Cook, Quartermaster, Bollock,
Surgeon, and Hamilton. Chaplain.

"After remaining a certain time at Denton Dai'
racks to recruit, re-organize and rest, the Second
Colorado Cavalry from Benton Barracks proceeded
to Dresden. Mo., and finally, in .January. 1864,
reached Kansas City, there to lie mounted ami
equipped, and thoroughly broken in the new
drill.

"In February, 1864, Col. .1. II. Ford was ap-
pointed to take command of Subdistrict No. 4,
District of Central Missouri, with the Second Colo-
rado Volunteer Cavalry, its enrolled Missouri
Militia and a regiment of infantry in his command,
to garrison all the smaller posts in his district. In
March, 1834, the Ninth Minnesota was forwarded
to the district, ami formed the effective infantry of
his command.

"In January. 1834, 15(1 recruits having ar-
rived from Colorado, they were distributed among
the twelve companies of the regiment, which then
mustered 1,2411 effective men.

"In taking command of the Fourth Subdistrict,
embracing the most unmanageable ami most ex-
posed counties lit' Missouri. Col. Ford appointed
his District Staff, consisting of Acting Assistant
Adjutant General, Lieut. Berthoud; Provost Mar-
shal, Capt. S. C. W. Hall; Commissary, Lieut.
James Burrell ; with Capt. Theodore Case, District
Quartermaster, headquarters at Kansas City, and
Company B, Provost Guard, at Kansas City.

"By March, 1S(!4, several squadrons were de-
tailed to occupy the Fourth Subdistrict, in detach-
ments varying from a half-squadron to two squad-
rons each, and a thorough system of scouting inau-
gurated over the whole district, to prevent the pas-
sage and the devastation of the border counties by
predatory hands of Todd's. Quantrell's and Hick-
man's guerrillas. Capt. Green was stationed at

Westport, Capt. West at Independence; Map
Smith, with one company, the Ninth Minnesota,
was stationed also at Independence, while Maj.
Pritchard. at Ilarrisonvillc and Lieut. Col. Dodd,

at Pleasant Hill, with ('apt Moses in the w led

portion of Jackson County, kept vigilant watch
over the Sny Hills. Capt. Rouell, at Hickman's

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

Mill, patrolling the Kansas boundary, with Capt.
Norton at Pleasant Gap, and Lieut. Rizer near the
Osage River. Thus arranged, our forces could
watch and patrol the whole region thoroughlyfrom
the Osage to the Missouri River, as Widow Bar-
row's or Papinsville Crossing was a favorite point
for crossing for guerrilla bands from Arkansas to
the Indian Nation.

■■ Notification of the progress northward of a
small band of guerrillas was received in March.
This band was first struck near Pleasant Hill and
one or two were killed. The rest were dispersed,
our In" being two men wounded, our slightly, and
the other. Freestone, was dangerously shot. This
opened the spring campaign, and when, in April
and May, the foliage covered the trees and the rich
grass clothed the prairie, hardly a day passed but
that, from Pleasant Hill to Independence, skir-
mishes ami conflicts raged between the guerrillas,
who continually pushed northward from Arkansas,
and our scouting parties of cavalry.

'■ In April, .May and June, the system of patrols
on horseback was also aided in the wooded por-
tions of Jackson and ('ass Counties by a system of
foot-scouts, who. taking with them a little sugar,
salt, coffee and bread, would disappear in the brush
and laboriously following up the trail of any scout-
ing detachment of guerrillas, would actually bush-
whack the bushwhackers themselves. This system
was a terror to them, and contributed more to com-
pel the guerrillas to remain in larger bodies, but
helped yen materially to rid the mads of all indi-
vidual and isolated efforts at marauding and mur-
der.

" With this system of detachments, who had
each their allotted districts to patrol, and police,
with their permanent headquarters in the different
towns and villages of the border counties, was also
a system of mounted military expresses, who every
two days reported to headquarters by daily reports
from every post under control of the district com-
mander. These reports not only "aye the force of
every post in efficient men. horses and guns, bul
also information of all scouts performed, the result.

the number of enemy killed and captured, and our
losses. These reports, with also the telegraph, gave
full opportunity to keep the whole force of the dis-
trict well in hand, hut also facilitated concentration
at any point with certainty and celerity.

'■ Casualties were numerous also, and we lost
several valuable men, such as Sergt. Russel, Corp.
Harrington, Private Ford, and others who died
fighting gallantly.

'• In July, 18G4, Lieut. Berthoud, Capts. Boyd
and Holloway, with Privates Higley, Whittall,
King, Kellogg and Williams, were ordered on duty
at headquarters of the district at Warrensburg,
Mo.

" Soon thereafter Capt Wagoner, then at Inde-
pendence, went out from that town eastward on a
scout with forty picked men of his company.
Crossing the Blue, they ascended a hollow graded
mad in the timber and scrub of the hills near the
Blue River, were ambushed and surrounded by a
largely superior force of Todd's and Quantrell's
guerrillas. Gallant ('apt Wagoner and nine good
men were killed, the rest, after superhuman efforts
and undoubted courage, succeeded in escaping, but
almost dismounted and in a wretched plight. The
survivors related afterward that one of the wounded
men in the retreat, while closely pressed by the
guerrillas, was concealed in a hole and covered with
flat stones. From this situation, when the enemy
left, he was rescued and brought to Independence.
Todd's guerrillas had oyer twenty men killed and
several wagon loads of wounded.

■■ Capt. Wagoner, who so gallantly defended him-
self while lite remained, was an early resident of
Colorado. He was appointed Probate Judge of
Arapahoe County when it then formed a part of
Kansas. He said to me, some three weeks previ-
ous to his death, that he would he shot from the
brush yet. and he expected he would be buried in
some out-of-the-way corner, and a tombstone
marked "Wagoner" would he placed over him,
and such was glory. Poor fellow, he met his fate
manfully. Did not his coming fate throw its
shadow on him then? Nor must we forget gallant

'.iu

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

Corp. BaiT and eight privates who died, selling
their lives dearly ; not one surrendering or asking
for quarter, as none was given or received in the
guerrilla warfare of the border counties.

" The death of Capt. Wagoner and his men
occurred on the 4th of July. Shortly after, defi-
nite information was received of a large number of
recruits for the Confederate service that were being
gathered in Platte, Clay and Ray Counties, under
Col. Conn Thornton, preparatory to making their
way smith to the Confederate lines. A dash upon
them was determined upon by Col. Ford, although
the rendezvous was outside of his district, and with
his available companies the Colonel embarked upon
boats at Kansas City on the 13th of July, and
|.n needed up the river to Weston, where he was
joined by Col. Jennison, of the Fifteenth Kansas.
Our scouts had brought the information that
Thornton was at Camden Point, ami the command
moved forward rapidly. About half a mile west
of town, Thornton had posted a strong mounted
picket, while his main command — comprising some
iwo hundred and fifty men — were making their
final preparations for departure, having on that
da) been presented with a handsome flag by their
lady sympathizers of Platte City, and were having
a general good time.

•■The picket was struck by our advance, under
('apt. Moses ami Lieut. Wise, with 31 anil I»
squadrons. As the Confederate picket separated
to the right and left upon diverging roads, and
were followed by the two squadrons of the Second
Colorado; Capt. West with his squadron, F, was
sent forward on the direct road to town, ami
pounced upon Thornton just as his command had
mounted, and were moving out. entirely uncon-
scious of the proximity of the Federals. The fight
was 'short, sharp and decisive,' and all over be-
fore the main command came up. Thornton's
total loss was twenty-three killed, while Capt.
West lost but one man killed — private Charles K .
Flaunagan — and one wounded — Sergt. Luther K.
Crane — but had six or eight horses killed or so
badly wounded as to cause them to bo shot by his

order. The flag that had just been presented to
Thornton's boys was captured, and now graces
the office of Adjt. Gen. Roe.

"Col. Ford's command camped at Camden Point
for the night, and, on the following day, proceeded
to Liberty, from which point scouting was contin-
ued for several days.

'•Thornton's command was pursued and com-
pletely broken up. while another detachment under
Capts. .Moses and Rouell, scouting near Liberty.
were surrounded and attacked by a greatly supe-
rior force of Anderson's guerrillas, under Ander-
son himself. Being surrounded and overpowered,
Capts. .Moses and Rouell, with their men, took
refuge in the brush, and, with the loss of only
(hree or four men killed and wounded, were again
re-assembled, and, after scouting over the rest of
(he district, returned to Kansas City, while Ander-
son's band returned eastward to other scenes of
rapine and murder.

•• In this manner passed the months of July,
August and September — continued skirmishes,
pursuits, captures, deaths ami losses. The aggre-
gate for the summer was large. The individual
acts of gallantry, fortitude and desperate bravery
were so numerous and so continued that it is im-
possible to individualize acts, as all fought to the
death, surrender to guerrillas meaning death after
capture. Words cannot do justice to the horrors
of such warfare; nor can the tragedies which
cruelty, violence, rapine and the worst passions of
civil war evoked in partisan warfare ever be fully
known. The worst passions had their full un-
licensed range, and in the lawless career of the
leaders of guerrilla bands, such as Todd. Quantrell,
Anderson and Yaughan. pity and humanity were
unknown; slaughter, plunder, arson and murder
followed ever in their van.

"In the end of September, 1864, news reached
the border counties of Missouri that Gen. Price,
with a formidable force from Arkansas, had
reached the borders of Southeast Missouri, ami.
with renewed energy, was marching to capture St.
Louis, overrun the State of Missouri, and. by such

HISTORY OF COLORADO

a diversion, help the failing fortunes of the Confed-
eracy. At this time, the twelve squadrons of the

regiment were in the District of the Border, under
the command of Cols. Ford and Dodd and Majs.
Smith and Pritchard, while seventeen officers and
si mie forty picked men were on staff duty in the
Division of the Mississippi, scattered over from
Santa Fe to New Orleans in the Department of
the Gulf.

'• In October, 1KII4, Price, frustrated in his
attempt toward St. Louis by his disastrous victory
at Pilot Knob, struck off across the country to
capture Jefferson City, which he besieged and
attacked October 8 and 9. Thirteen officers and
men of the Second Colorado were present at this
attack, which being repulsed, and Gen. Price fear-
ing the approach of the overwhelming forces of
Rosecranz and Pleasanton, took the roads leading
west, and hurried on to capture and destroy the
forces in Western Missouri and Eastern Kansas,
reach St. Joseph, recruit his ranks, and, getting
the military stores of Fort Leavenworth, Kansas
City, Glasgow and St. Joseph, retreat again south
with his booty.

"His forces numbered cavalry, light artillery and
mounted infantry. With these he overran the
river counties, capturing Booneville, Glasgow ami
Sedalia, and drove Gen. Blunt out of Lexington.
Gen. Blunt, under whose orders Col. Ford, with
the Second Colorado Cavalry and First Colorado
Battery, was placed, had been absent some time
toward Lexington. Capt. West was sent to him
from Independence with dispatches from Gen.
Curtis, who bad meanwhile reached Independence
from Leavenworth, and assumed command of the
forces in the field. Capt. West, with bis squad-
ron, reached the environs of Lexington, on the
river mad, about dusk, and was pushing rapidly
forward in order to reach the town and deliver his
dispatches to Gen. Blunt before dark. lie was. of
course, entirely ignorant of the state of affairs at
Lexington, but would doubtless have found out in
a few moments but for a fortuitous circumstance.
When within a quarter of a mile of the outskirts

of the town, he was met by Capt. Jack Curtis, of
the Fifteenth Kansas Cavalry, who, with two
squadrons, had been eut off from his regiment
during the battle that had been raging all the
afternoon, and had gallantly cut his way out of the
enemy's lines, and was now rather anxiously look-
ing for his friends. Recognizing the commander
of the approaching squadron, he challenged him
with 'Hello, West, where are you going?' 'I'm
going to Lexington ! ' was the confident reply, but
his confidence was somewhat shaken by seeing
Jack go down into bis pocket in a business sort of
way, remarking, as he pulled out his wallet, ' I've
got a hundred-dollar note that says you ain't!'
Curtis' explanation of the situation probably saved
West from being taken in by Price bodily,
although he always claimed that Price was the one
to be thankful fiir the circumstance of his being
turned back! Most of his old comrades, however,
still persist in the belief that his 52 men would
not have been able to cope with Gen. Price and
bis 16,000 veterans successfully.

" Be that as it may. West didn't try it, but, fol-
lowing Curtis directions, struck Gen. Blunt's
retreating column about 'J o'clock, and delivered
bis dispatches. The night was rainy and extreme-
ly dark, but as s i as a bouse could be reached

on the line of retreat, Gen. Blunt read the dis-
patch of Gen. Curtis, prepared a hasty reply, and
ordered Capt. West to make all possible haste to
Gen. Curtis at Independence, which point he
reached at about 2 o'clock next morninu', having
ridden eighty miles with his squadron since 10
o'clock the day before, without getting out of the
saddle.

"The dispatch from Gen. Blunt informed (Jen.
Curtis that the rebels, in strong force, were swarm-
ing westward. Preparations to resist and impede
their march westward were immediately begun. The
Fifteenth and Eleventh Kansas Cavalry, and the
Second Colorado Cavalry, with the First Color-
ado Battery, were marched to a point near
Little Blue River, six miles east of Independence, and
took, under the command of Col. Ford, a position

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

on the brow of the wooded hillswestof Blue Mills
bridge.

•• This position, defective, intersected by mil fences,
and flanked on the north, cast and west, by thick
woods, was immediately occupied by the cavalry
brigade. Though Col. Ford obeyed the order to
do so from his superior officer with zeal and
alacrity, we have the testimony of Held aid-
de-camp, Lieut. Wise, of Col. Ford's staff, that
this position had in it no feature to recom-
mend itself, and from the first appearance of Gen.
Price's steady veterans, who on foot rushed through
the" woods on both their flanks, and, by their
superiority of fire and numbers, the point became
untenable, and all that could be done was to retreat
slowly and re-form to oppose the massed columns
of Price's men, who knew every inch of the ground
familiarly, and steadily forced the small brigade of
2,500 men to the outskirts of Independence. The
opening of the conflict was fierce, sanguinary and
desperate, Todd leading the Confederate cavalry,
and Smith leading the battalion of the Second Colo-
rado. Almost at the first fire, Maj. Smith fell, shot
through the heart, while Todd at the same time
also fell, killed outright. The firing', at short range,
was murderous and destructive, and, joined to the
shells of a battery that Price had planted near the
edge of the woods, caused a heavy loss to Ford's
command.. Here some men, with Maj. Smith,
left their bodies on the field, while the Woodson the
east were strewn with dead Confederates. Well
seconded by the First Colorado Battery, the brigade
disputed the ground, making a last desperate stand
near Independence. After a short contest, our
men were overpowered, retreated through Inde-
pendence, and fell back to the main body near Big
Blue River, leaving their wounded in Independ-
ence.

'■ Lively skirmishing was kept up all the following
day, with Price's advance, at, and near Big Blue,
until, on the second day. the advance of Gen.
l'leasanton with a heavy cavalry force, drove the
Confederates from Independence, by which several
hundred prisoners, with two pieces of cannon, were

captured by Col. Catherwood, of the Thirteenth .Mis-
souri Cavalry, the main force under Price having ilia I
day given up going to Kansas City to give battle
to ( lens. Curtis and Blunt, near West port. The
Second Colorado, with the regular Kansas Cavalry
and the First ( lolorado Battery, wen' placed near the
Westport and Brush Creek mail, the important
key of the whole position by which the easy
approach to Kansas City was disputed to (Jen.
Price's advance. The main brunt of the whole
battle was here during the hotly contested day ; the
whole of Brush Creek prairie was covered with
dense masses of cavalry, while close on the rear of
Price Gen. Pleasanton was driving them from Bry-
am's Ford.

"The road at Brush Creek, west of Col. Magee's
house, runs between parallel solid walls of stone.
Capt. Green's battalion, of the Second Colorado,
held the road, the men dismounted, the Confeder-
ates resolutely charged in the lane en masse; Green
charged them fiercely, broke their ranks, and
iliniejh losing \it\ heavily, routed the collected
mass densely crowded between the walls. Here
Col. Magee, of the Confederate forces, was
killed almost in sight of his home. The contest
continued with varying fortune until late on Sun-
day afternoon, when a final charge of the Second
Colorado and the rapid work of the First Colorado
Battery compelled the retreat of Price's men in a
southerly direction toward Little Santa Fe. The
Second Cavalry camped that night on Brush
Creek, wearied out. but the Confederates had been
thwarted in their attempt to enter Kansas. Noth-
ing remained to do but to pursue the demoralized
army of Price, now almost surrounded and rapidlj
retreating toward Arkansas.

The following day was spent in rearguard
skirmishes, which culminated with the rout of
Price at the Osage. Mine Creek and .Mound City.
At Fort Scott thi' troops rested a few hours, then
the Fifteenth and Tenth Kansas Cavalry, with the
Second Colorado Cavalry and first Colorado Bat-
tery kept mi the pursuit. Mile alter mile the race
continued, when finally, at Newtonia, Price made

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

his last stand. The small brigade iif eavalry, with
the First Colorado Battery, pitched in regardless of
numbers and of its cost. To and fro the battle
raged, but with varying- success. At one time, a
large portion of the Second Colorado was rut-
twenty minutes in line without carbine ammunition
the fire was kept up with revolvers, or else they
faced death powerless to act until boxes were filled
again. Late in the afternoon, the Confederates
prepared to make a final charge, and then swallow
up by sheer force of numbers the small brigade
opposed to them. McLean's Colorado Battery
hammered away and kept up a close, vigorous fire,
yet the odds were against us. At last, Gen. San-
born at the critical moment appeared with re-en-
forcements. One more charge and, the rebels
broken, the battle of Newtonia was won. Col.
Ford displayed rare energy in this contest, while
among the men individual instances' of great cour-
age proved the splendid material developed in this
lung arduous campaign. The Second Colorado
Cavalry lost here forty-two men besides the wounded.
The regiment joined in the pursuit, which finally
terminated by driving Price over the Arkansas
River.

"In December, 1S(>4, after the return from the
Trice campaign, the regiment was ordered imme-
diately to the District of the Arkansas to inaugu-
rate a campaign against the Cheyenne, Arapahoe,
Kiowa and Comanche Indians. The regiment was
ordered to concentrate at Fort Riley, Kansas, then to
be refitted and placed on an efficient footing to
inaugurate winter scouts on the Republican, Smoky
Hill and Salina Forks, and on the Arkansas
River; headquarters to be at Fort Riley, and the
Santa Fe road to be protected as far west as Fort
Lyon.

■■ In the spring. Col. Ford, being promoted to be
a Brigadier General by brevet, took command of
the district. In April, May and June, 1865,
heavy re-enforcements of cavalry and infantry were
sent to the District of the Arkansas, until in June I
the effective force of the district amounted to over
5,5(111 men and two batteries. This large force,

distributed at a multitude of posts and stations,
was fitted out for a summer campaign south of
the Arkansas River, the beginning of the cam-
paign to be July 6, 18G5. Three columns of
infantry and eavalry, with one battery of horse
artillery to each column, amounting to 1,800 men
in each column, were to meet in the neighborhood
of the Wichita Mountains. After scouring- the
whole country from the Little Arkansas to the
Cimarron crossing, one column from the Little
Arkansas moving west and southwest, one column
from above Fort Dodge from either Aubrey or
Cimarron, crossing to move south and southeast,
while the third column was to move from near
Lamed, and cross directly toward Buffalo Creek
and the Wichita Mountains.

Everything was prepared ; the troops assembled
at Larned, Zarah and Dodge, while large trains of
provisions and forage Were loaded and ready. On
llie 6th of July, orders came to Gen. Ford to sus-
pend indefinitely the proposed campaign.

"Irritated, disgusted and disheartened, Gen.
Ford left Fort Larned, went to Leavenworth, ten-
dered his resignation and left the service. The
command was turned over to Gen. Sanborn, who,
in August, satisfied that nothing except signal pun-
ishment would answer with the hostile Indians,
prepared again an expeditionary force to chastise
them. Again, on the eve of the military move-
ment contemplated, the Indian Department broke
up the campaign

"During all the spring and summer of 1865,
the Second Colorado Cavalry was kept incessantly
moving; but, except Capt. Kingsbury's company and
some small detachments of other squadrons, no
great amount of fighting was done with the treach-
erous skulking redskins. Seven men were killed
and sonic wounded, but except the privations inci-
dent to a summer campaign over the dry, waterless
prairies of the Arkansas, the troops faired gener-
ally Well

"The death of Corp. Douglass, of Company D,
Second Colorado Volunteer Cavalry, and three
enlisted men of the Thirteenth Missouri Cavalry,

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

murdered, cut to pieces and scalped near Running
Turkey Creek, was the cruelest tragedy of thai
summer's work. Douglass was sent as bearer of
military dispatches from Council Grove to all' the
military posts on the Santa Fe road as far as Fort
Docile. At Cottonwood, he took three men with
him for escort. Near Running Turkey Creek, they
were set upon by a band of Indians, and, within
two miles from the post, were run down, killed,
scalped, maimed and stripped.

'• In September, 1865, the glad order came that
the regiment, or, rather, what was left of it, should

proceed to Fort Leavenworth and be mustered out.
In October, 1865, the muster-oiil took plait — the
last farewell grasp of hand in soldierly companion-
ship was given. Three cheers for the Second Col-
orado Cavalry, the flags and guidons were furled,
six hundred and seventy-three men stepped out,
ami the strife was ended. For the dead, who
peacefully sleep at Honey Springs, farewell.
Apache Canon, Cabin Creek. Westport, Newtonia,
and on the Osage we can say:

" ' How glorious falls the radiant sword in hand,
In front uf battle for their native land.' "

CHAPTER XV.

SKETCH OF TIIH TH Hill COLORADO.

IX August, 1862, Gov. Evans was directed to raise
a regiment to be called the Third Colorado
Volunteer Infantry. On the 22d he appointed a
number of recruiting officers. Recruiting offices
were opened in Denver and elsewhere, but very
few enlisted until the mining season was over.
Headquarters ti>r a long while were on Larimer
street, where the First National Bank now stands,
and the camp named Camp Elbert, after Gov.
Evans' popular and efficient Secretary of the Terri-
tory. In December, headquarters was removed to
Camp Weld. Lieuts. Holloway and Norton opened
offices in Gilpin County, Lieut. Harbour in Sum-
mit, Lieut. Crocker in Lake, Lieut. Elmer in Park.
Lieuts. Moses and Post in Clear Creek, and Lieuts.
Wanlos and Castle in Denver, In the latter part
<d' ( let obi t, recruiting had become active. By the
1st of February, lSlil!, troops had been mustered
in and the First Battali rganized with commis-
sioned officers as follows:

Lieutenant Colonel, commanding, S. S. Curtis.
Company A, II. 1!. Harbour. Captain ; Company
IS. E. W. Kingsbury; Company C, E. P. Elmer;
Company D, G. W. Morton ; Company E, Thomas
Moses. Jr.

Company A came mainly from Summit County,
Company B from Arapahoe and Boulder, Com-
pany C from Park and Lake, Company I> from
Gilpin, and Company E from Clear Creek.

The announcement for Colonel and Major of the
regiment, when organized, was -lames II. Ford,
Colonel, and Jesse L Pritehard, Major.

Orders had been received from department
headquarters as early as January for the battalion
to march as soon as organized. Considerable delay
was caused by want of sufficient transportation,

and it was not till the 3d of March that the ti [is

left Camp Weld on the march fur the States b\
way of the South Platte Valley. The command
passed Fort Kearney April 1 . reaching Fort Leav-
enworth on the 23d, where it went into camp, near
the post. On the 26th, orders were received t..
go to St. Lmiis, and, having transportation by
steamboat and rail, were landed at Sulphur Springs,
a station on the Iron Mountain Railroad, twenty
miles below St. Louis, where the men went into
camp for instruction. On the 21st, the command
was ordered to Pilot Knob, where it formed pari
of the First Brigade, Second Division. Army of
the Frontier. (In the I'd of June, the infantn in

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

this command were ordered to Vicksburg, but just
as the Third Colorado was ready to march, orders
were received assigning them to post duty at Pilot
Knob, under Brig. Gen. Clinton B. Fisk. Here
the men were put to severe fatigue duty and
assisted very materially in the construction of Fort
Hamilton, a stronghold which the rebels, during
the Price raid, found impossible to carry by assault.
September 8, Companies C and E were ordered
alinig the lino of the railroad, while A, B and D
remained on post and provost duty at Pilot Knob.
In October, information reached the command
that the Second and Third Regiments were to be

consolidated and form the Second Colorado Cavalry,
and the First Battalion was ordered to proceed to
Rolla, Mo., without delay.

The command left Pilot Knob October 23,
marching across the country to Rolla, where it
arrived on the 28th and went into camp near Fort
Wyman. It remained here, performing post duty,
until December 7, when it was ordered to St. Louis,
arriving there on the evening of the 8th, and on
the 9th went into quarters at Benton Barracks
ami leased to exist as the Third Colorado Cavalry,
Companies A, B, 0, I) and \i becoming Companies
II. I, K, L and M of the Second Colorado Cavalry.

CHAPTER XVI.

THE GEOLOGY OF COLORADO.

GEOLOGY, as the science treating ofthe struct-
ure of the earth on which we live, is one of

man's most fascinating studies. The various changes
that have occurred during the vast expanse of
time that stretches into the infinite and dim dis-
tances of the past, attract some minds with mag-
netic influence, and a lifetime is all too short to
complete the study of the rocks wherein we find
traced the gradual but unde\ iaiing progress of the
earth from the Azoic Age to that of our own time.
The story, as told by the mighty mountain ranges
whose jagged edges present fire-forged surfaces to

the sun, or by the bowlders whose wonderful
smoothness indicates the powerful action of water
and ire, is an almost unending one. He who can
read it understandingly, can find something more
than a sermon in a stone ; he can trace from the
very infancy of the world's history — almost from
the time when it was " without form and void;"
when but the highest points ofthe Sierras were as
rocky islands in the midst of an mean, forward
through its successive stages as the earth's form
assumed a habitable shape, anil life, in its lowest
form, began to appear upon its surface, and sea,
land and air became full of activity, until he

beholds it in its present condition, yet still moving
forward tinder the mysterious laws of nature, that
so slowly and yet so surely evolve changes, trans-
forming barren wastes into cultivated fields, build-
ing up islands in mid-ocean, lowering the levels of
continents on one side of the globe, and uplifting
vast, reaches of mainland on the other. It is a
study in which the mind can find an unlimited
range of facts, illustrating the creative force exist-
ing about us, though one we are hardly able
to grasp in all its infinite variety and illimita-
ble power. He who runs may read a few of the
wonders that are visible upon the face of nature ;
but he who stays and ponders, with his hammer
in his hand, unfolds rock-pages one by one. whose
story becomes legible at once, and remains forever

open to the eyes of man. It has I. n aptly said

that "the structure ofthe earth has been of inter-
est to man from the earliest times, not merely on
account of the useful materials he obtained from
its rocky formations, but also fur the curiosity
awakened by the strange objects presented to his
notice." Earthquakes have changed the position
of sea and land ; volcanoes have added layers of
molten rock to mud and sand filled with the shells

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* *!»»> "

•

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(D*aX>j> ^dx<

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

of inland seas ; the hills present strata abounding
in evidences of marine life now far removed from
the sea-border. "These phenomena could not
escape the attention of the philosophers among the
ancient Egyptian and Indian races, and their influ-
ence is perceived in the strange mixtures of cor-
rect observations and extravagant conceits which
make up their cosmogonies or universal theories oi
the creation."

And of all countries in the world, Colorado
presents within its area of mountain ranges a field
so drop and wide as to seem almost inexhaustible
for all coming ages. Its system of parks alom —
once vast inland seas — as they become hotter known
and their resources made plain to the material eye
— is attracting the attention of scientists more and
more every year. " In this new world, which is
the old." one stands within the inner temple of
the world's history. We note the weird working
of the wind in the fantastic shapes that stand upon
the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountain range,
while here 1 and there we sec evidences of volcanic
action; hut on the western slope lies a vast volcanic
region, stretching for three hundred miles and
expanding in some places to one hundred miles in
width, revealing a naked plain, giving indubitable
evidence of the fiery forces that once were in full
play r , hut have now died out, leaving their story
written in letters of lava over the entire surface.
From the highest peaks to the lowest valleys, the
hieroglyphics of antiquity are far plainer in the
world of nature than are those engraven on obelisk
and wall in the ruined cities, that tell of bygone skill
in the arts and sciences in the cities of the eastern
world. But lien.' Geology opens her wonderful
book and we pause to linger, look and finally long in
know more of that strange, mysterious past, those
ages long gone by, those eons enveloped in mystery
— save as strata after strata are exposed, evoking the
panorama of progress startling in its insignificancy,
stoutly enunciating the truths of science and adding
new force to that expressive sentence of Holy Writ,
that a thousand years are hul as a day in His eyes,
who is maker and ruler of the world.

It is hut natural that the opinion should prevail
that our State is ton young to have much of a his-
tory. Yet it has one, it will lie seen, older than
that of the race which inhabits the globe. It
stretches out through the ages, from the very incip-
iency of the creation of the globe, of which it
firms so uplifted a portion, and is impressed on the
rocks which compose it as with an indelible pen of
fire.

The ranges of Colorado are unquestionably as
old as the Silurian period and doubtless even reach-
ing to the Azoic era. It is not, however, to be
taken for granted that they were as high or
as broad as they are at present. The bar-
ren pinnacles — save where crowned with the eternal
snow —of the mighty peaks resting upon the ridges
forming the backbone of the continent, were indi-
cated but did not present the bold front they now
do. The elevation of the mountain chains was
gradual, and the snow-crowned summits and rocky
buttresses give evidence of far-apart geologic ages.
The cooling of the globe and the shrinkage of its
crust had much to do with their formation, and
immense periods of time must have been consumed
in the task of lifting these stately peaks to their
present position upon the surface of the globe.
The general outline was, no doubt, similar to that
we see to-day, but with features marked by lines
giving clear hints of what they were to be, each
bare, ragged ridge of quartz and granite a mere
indication — as the child is of the man — of the
lordly mountain, now towering into upper space
and forming a part of the crest of a mighty conti-
nent.

As early as the period known as tin' Silurian,
these mountains consisted of separate chain-, and
inland seas marked the spots where the great parks
now are. The ocean swept over what is now the
valley of the Rio Grande, passing up to the head
of the San Luis Valley, then much wider than it
is now. at the same time laving both eastern and
western slopes, ami probably communicating with
the inland seas between the two ranees. It will
be thus seen that the Rocky .Mountains were long,

.±

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

rocky islands, wearing down continually by the
flow nt' a thousand streams, caused by incessant
rains. With the ocean on every side, evaporation,
owing tn the thinness of the earth's crust, proceed-
ing much more rapidly than it does now, the rains
must have been constant and violent.

The conglomerates in the Middle Park and San
Luis Valley attributed to the Silurian age. consist
of large pebbles and bowlders, principally of gran-
ite, gneiss and quartz. They are indicative of the
force with which water swept down from some old
mountain chain occupying a position at one side of
that held by the present mountains, and carried
them into the ocean : their fragments constituting
a large portion of their successors. A process of
upheaval and degradation must have been carried
on simultaneously for many millions of years.
Just as in a forest the individual trees die and fall,
and from their dust arise new trees and the forest
Continues for ages, so has il been with our broad
Sierra ranges, pulled down, on the one hand, by
torrents sweeping over them with resistless force,
and. on the other hand, continually upheaved by
contraction of the earth's crust. And as it has
been, so it will probably continue to be, though the
process will necessarily be a slower one in the
future.

During the succeeding period — that of the
Devonian — it would seem as though the earth's
surface was treated with less violence: smaller peb-
bles are found contained in the conglomerates,
while the limestones and shales indicate seas that
were peaceful in motion and quiescent in action
To this a more abundant life therein gives indis-
putable evidence. Lueoidal impressions abound in
a water-line of this age

Tie mountains were steadilj growing, princi-
pally in an easterly and westerly direction. Slowly
the great parks lifted their broad, expansive bosoms
to the sunlight; the wat r drained off. swamps
were exposed where only the deep, deep seas had
been, until, in the Carboniferous period that fol-
lowed, au abundant vegetation sprang up, whose
accumulated remains, buried by the inflowings of

the ocean, formed, in the course of time, vast beds
of carboniferous coal.

During the Permean and Oolitic periods, but
little is as yet known of the history of the mount-
ainous portion of Colorado. But eastward of the
mountains, the sea covered the country, depositing
limestones of great thickness, abounding with char-
acteristic shells.

Of the Cretaceous period we can write more
fully. The ocean waves swept up and down both
sides of the mountain,-, laving their rugged sides.
The ranges were evidently several miles narrower
than they are at present, for rocks formed at the
sea bottom during this period can be found occupy-
ing summits two and three thousand feet above the
level of the plain. Inland seas once again swept
over the surface of the great junks, for the eleva-
tion of the higher mountains doe- in.t seem to
have been by steady uplift; they appear to have
been followed by subsidences many times repeated,
before the ranges settled into permanence. The
Middle Park probably communicated with the
western ocean " through Gore Pass, then a .-trait
similar to the Strait of Babehnandel, between the
Red Sea and the Indian Ocean. Three-fourths of
Colorado was covered by the wave- of ocean, in
which abounded fishes and -lulls of many specie-;
the wonderful profusion of their remains along the
base of the mountains, stretching southward from
Colorado Springs to the Spanish Peaks, abundantly
testify of the life that swarmed in the warm and
shallow waters. The plains to the south and south-
east of Colorado Springs, are strewn for an hun-
dred miles with fossil shells of the Cretaceous period,
especially baculites, better known as fossil fishes by
persons unacquainted with their nature. Near the
Sangre de Christo Pa.—, thin beds of calciferous
or limy sandstone alternate with the limestones and
contain immense numbers of bones and teeth of
fishes. Weathered slabs may be seen at the foot
of the Sierra Mohada or Wet Mountains, on which
a hundred perfect teeth could be counted, many of
them Hat and folded teeth, which formed a pave-
ment fur the jaw-, enabling their possessors to

.£.

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

crush the shells and crustaceas mi which they fed.
The sea which occupied the Middle Park and
communicated with the great Western Ocean, con-
tained many baculitea and some eonchifers. To-
ward the latter part of the Cretaceous period, the
parks seem to have been again elevated and the
communication with the exterior ocean cut off,
never to be resumed; brackish lakes, abounding
with fish, took the place of the previous interior
seas, subsequently becoming fresh-water lakes.

During the Tertiary period, where now stand
Denver and Golden, a large swamp existed, extend-
ing for hundreds of miles, north into British
Columbia and south into New Mexico. In this
swamp, a rank vegetation flourished tor a long
period, vegetation of a much more modern char-
acter than that of the coal measures, consisting
largely of coniferous trees. In the course of time,
as can well be imagined, an immense mass of vege-
table matter accumulated, eventually to be covered
with the clay, sand and pebbles that were swept
down from the neighboring mountains. Thus was
produced the Tertiary coal formations, which may
be ,-cen at Golden, Coal Creek, and other places in
the vicinity, with their coal beds, under-clays and
iron i ires, bearing a great resemblance to the car-
boniferous coal measures. Here an- revealed the
largest development of the Tertiary coal-bearing
strata west of the Mississippi.

On the western side of the mountains a similar
condition of things seems to have existed, and coal
beds were formed resembling those on the eastern
slope, but changes of level seem to have caused
the formation of a greater number of coal beds < > t
less thickness. Alter the deposition of the coal
measures, lakes of fresh or brackish water covered
must of the western and central parts of Colorado,
as well as the valley tit the foot of the eastern
range. At this time, the higher grounds were
adorned with palms and tnes indigenous to
a tropical country, many of them resinous and
of a strange aspect, while sonic were of more
modern appearance, especially those on the moun-
tains.

The quiet of the Cretaceous and of the early
Tertiary periods must have continued for ages.
But there came a change at last. The rocks of
this age show strongly and distinctly the evidence
of a stormy time, in which fire and water united to
leave an indelible impression upon the laud. ( line
mure the mountains were elevated, carrying with
them the beds made tit the sea bottom during the
preceding age. Earthquakes rent the mountains
in twain, and volcanoes poured out molten streams
of tire. A greater part of Middle I'ark was a sea
of fire. During this time were formed the traps
whose frowning battlements are visible near the
Hot Sulphur springs, and that cover so large a por-
tion of the park.

Previous to this, but during the same period,
west of the western range successive beds of lava
were poured out over a large area, some under
water, until their aggregate thickness amounted to
thousands of feet. Largely swept off by denuding
agencies, these beds lie exposed, presenting an
enormous wall, having a height of at least three
thousand feet above the valley and a length of
more than twenty miles. These beds also extend
westward, forming the Gore Range. It would be
interesting to know where the volcanoes, are from
which flowed the lava that formed these immense
beds.

Along the base of the eastern range similar
Streams were poured out ; but these have been
denuded to a still greater extent. A portion of
what must have been tin immense bed can be seen
near Golden, forming a small mesa or table-land,
known as Table Mountain. The lava here i> 250
feet thick. Similar beds must have extended over
the country between Pike's Peak and the Spanish
Peaks, though all have utterly disappeared since
that time, stive one outlying mass in the vallej of
the Huerfano, which is a striking object for a
radius of many miles, looking, as it does, like an
immense pillar erected in the valley. It has given
the name of Huerfano ( which is the Spanish name
for orphan) to the stream that elides so quietly
h\ it, to the lovely park in which the stream

'T.

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

rises, and to the pleasant valley through which it
runs.

Connected with these volcanic disturbances were
numerous hot springs, the water of which, con-
taining silica in solution, traversed the ground
everywhere, and petrified the wood that was buried
in its vicinity. To this source are we indebted for
the beautiful specimens of petrified wood so com-
mon throughout Colorado, and for the solid trees
silicified to the heart.

A large lake cnvereil Western Colorado, extend-
ing into Utah, during the middle part of the Ter-
tiary period. Into it flowed numerous streams.
carrying fine mud, and at one time immense quan-
tities of petroleum issuing probably from numerous
and powerful springs. Trees, bearing great resem-
blance to oak. maple, willow and other modern
trees, together with a lam' number that are now
extinct, covered the surface of the land. Hosts of
in- :cts filled the air about the margin of this vast
expanse of water, while in it swam turtles anil
aquatic pachyderms, somewhat resembling the
tapir in appearance, lived in the rivers that sup-
plied it, and ted upon the plants that grew in
great abundance on the margins. The water of
tic lake was. in all probability, brackish in its
character, containing but few mollusks, but abound-
ing in turtles possessing thick, bony shells, Beds
from two to three thousand feet in thickness were
formed at the bottom, so great was the amount of
sediment that was continually being carried into it.
This must have been brought about by the grad-
ual sinkiug of the lake bottom, giving room for
such enormous deposits, which sinking probably
coincided with the elevation of the mountain
ranges upon the east and west of it.

The Glacial or Drift period till lowed in due
course of time, the Tertiary period. But there are
little, if any. evidences of drift action upon the
plains proper, and it is rare that unequivocal evi-
dences are met with even along the base of the
mountains, on the eastern side. It i- when we
find ourselves far up among the majestic gorges
that we begin to perceive abundant proofs all about

us of '• glacial action." On the Fontain qui
Bouitte, eight miles above Colorado Springs,' and
at the foot of Pike's Peak, tit what is now known
all over the country as Manitou, are immense
granite bowlders, lying near soda, sulphur and iron
springs, whose healing qualities attract thousands
to them every year. Below there are to be found
some lateral moraines, principally composed of
large bowlders, left, by some glaciers that once
passed down a small valley and joined, near that
point, a larger one which traversed the valley of
the Fontain <jni Bouille. In this latitude, the
highest peaks of the Rocky Mountains are barren
of snow during the months of July and August.

There are bowlder-beds of large extent, and from
thirty to forty feet high, in a beautiful park on
South Boulder ('reek, in the northern part of the
State. They lie about six miles below the snowy
peaks, cut through and exposed on each side of the
stream which takes its name from them. The bed
is full of them, running quite down into the val-
ley. On South Clear Creek, not many miles above
the city of Georgetown, many rocks were exposed
at the time the road over the Berthoud Pass was
being constructed. On the surfaces of some of
these, glacial striae tire distinctly visible ; this is
the only place in the State east of the snowy range
where they have been seen, and their genera] ab-
sence is remarkable. Evidences of glacial action
increases as one ascends to the higher altitudes.
No longer are the valleys bordered by rocks that
are rough and craggy, as they are in the lower
portions; but they tire nearly as rounded and
smooth in their outlines as are the chalk downs of
England or the glacier-planed hills of the old Bay
State.

West of the Middle Park, on the flat summit of
the Gore Range, can be found rocks planed and
plowed into deep furrows with a due westerly
direction. These can be found continuing down
the mountain-side until they reach the valley of
the White River, wherein are to be found numer-
ous terminal moraines, brought by contributary
glaciers proceeding from the highlands on both

iiL

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

sides, but principally on the south. These moraines
are also abundantly visible at the mouths of the
various small streams that flow into White River,
for a distance of nearly one hundred miles from the
top of the range.

It would seem to be a fact established beyond
question that, during the Drift period, the vast ex-
panse of the Rocky Mountains was not only cov-
ered with snow on its highest summits, but that
the valleys were filled with iee and snow which
did not melt, hut kept continually pressing down
the mountain gorges toward the plain. These
were thickest and must glacial in their character as
they neared the mountains and upon the western
slopes; they became thinner and occupied but the
bottoms of the valleys as the glaciers descended,
melting, at last, into numerous streams laden with
debris that finally found a resting-place upon the
plains below.

lint since that icy era, wonderful changes have
been evoked. The climate has been remarkably
modified, especially on the western range has it
changed. Once possessing a most rigorous climate,
now jiines grow on it two thousand feet higher up
than they do upon the eastern side. The glaciers
are gone from the valleys and only the snowy
patches upon the highest points remain in witness
of the immense ice-fields of the far-away ages of
the past.

Passing now from the geological history of the
State to its more positive geology, we begin with
the Granitic formation, which is the oldest forma-
tion of all, resulting from the cooling of the primi-
tive mass of fiery liquid composing the globe.
This formation may be seen upon and beyond the
snowy range of the Rocky Mountains in various
parts of the State, but more abundantly upon the
western slope than upon the eastern. In masses
of true granite, syenite, or porphyry it makes its
appearance, notably on McClellan Mountain, in
the Argentine Silver District, where it is seen
to have been thrust through younger formations
to the prominent position that it now occupies ; it
is found aNo on (he west side of Boulder Pass,

where massive granitic ranges form the buttresses
of the snowy Sierra, as we descend to the Middle
Park, and also on the western side of the park,
where it forms the grand mountain that encom-
passes it.

( )f metamorphic rocks, gneiss is by far the
most abundant, and most of the gold-bearing veins
are formed in gneissoid rocks, though among the
mining people they are generally termed granite.
Fine exposures are to be seen near Black Hawk,
the lines of stratification marking the mountain-
side as stripes mark the body of a zebra.

Resting upon the granite in the Middle Park,
on the banks of the Grand River, are exposures of
conglomerate, probably of Silurian age. overlaid
by sandstones and limestones, probably of Devonian
age, and above this are found the coal measures of
the carboniferous formation. Near the Sangre de
Christo l'ass, the granite is overlaid by slates and
limestones, probably of Silurian age, tin' lime-
stones containing erinoidal fragments, but too small
for the identification of the species. Farther to
the north are to be found mountains composed of
conglomerates, formed of pebbles, bowlders, and
large masses of gneiss, granite, mica-schist ami
hornblend-schist, with gneissoid rock.-, slate and
limestone, on their flanks. Rocks of the Permean
age have been discovered on the plains in
the eastern part of Colorado, consisting principally
of limestones, some of which abound with the
characteristic fossils of this period.

The Cretaceous formation is well represented,
especially along the base of the mountains on the
eastern side. The shells of the inoceramus are
found in a limestone at Boulder, baeiilites of large
size ami great abundance on the Platte, a few miles
from Denver, while the limestones lying between
Colorado Springs and Pueblo contain the inoeera*
mus. scaphites, baculites, ammonites and other
characteristic cretaceous fossils. These beds extend
fir a considerable distance to the eastward, and in
wearing down under the action of atmospheric
agencies, masses have been left in conical hills,
looking like gigantic ant-hills; on these fossils can

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

be picked up in great abundance. Between Pueblo
and the Sangre de Christo Pass, the teeth,
spines and bones of fishes, principally of the
genera Ptychodus and Lamna, so common in tbe
cretaceous beds of England, are found in remark-
able profusion. There is a ranche on the Green-
horn River where is contained tbe finest deposit
of fossils of this description that has yet been dis-
covered.

The Cretaceous formation is well represented in
the Middle Park by baculite beds and sandstone,
abounding with the scales of fishes, and the posi-
tion of these beds as they occur on one of the
streams in Middle Park, shows as follows: First.
Two hundred feet of lava, containing agates and
chalcedony. Second. Pour hundred feet of white
sandstone ami quartzose conglomerate, in which
air in he found fossil woods in fragments, with
some bimes of mammals and birds. Third. Four
hundred feet of shaly sandstones full of the scales
of cycloidal fishes. Fourth. Twenty feet of blue
limestone. Fifth. Five hundred feet of shales,
mails ami sandstones, containing fish teeth, bac-
uliies. conchifers and tucoids. Of these numbers,
three, four and five arc probably cretaceous; the
rest tertiary. From the disintegration of the lava
conic tin 1 agates ami chalcedonies of the park.
Where the lava mingles with the sandstone and
other material of the second, agates and fossil lie
mixed together mi the surface. The slabs of shaly
sandstones are covered with the scales of cycloidal
fishes, that is, of fishes resembling those of the
salmon and the trout. The baculite beds arc so
denominated because of the great number and
large size of the baculites found in them.

The Tertiary formation may be said to have a
remarkable development in Colorado. It shows a
thickness of over ten thousand feet on the western
side of the Rocky Mountains, from the Gore Mange,
which is composed ,,f tertiary lavas, to the Junc-
tion of White and Green Rivers. Here are to he
found the coal measures, containing many thin
veins of coal, beds of gypsum, thin beds of lime-
Stone, and, above these, petroleum shales of at

least a thousand feet in thickness, abounding in
fossil leaves and insects, the shales containing them
oceurring at points sixty miles apart, and, above
them, brown sandstone and conglomerates having
a thickness of from twelve hundred to fifteen hun-
dred feet, and containing silicified wood, turtles,
and bones and teeth of large mammals. They lie
in the following order in the valley of tbe White
River: About two thousand feet of red and white
sandstone, followed by twelve hundred feet of
brown sandstones, alternating with blue shales and
beds of conglomerate; in these arc found bones of
mammals and turtles, while, particularly noticeable
in the lower shales, deciduous leaves and insects
are found. There are also seen perpendicular veins
of petroleum. Next succeeds a thousand feet of
petroleum shales, varying in color from cream to
black, one bed, twenty feet thick, resembling can-
nel coal. Here, also, are found insects and the
leaves of deciduous trees. The next in the scries
is eight hundred feet of white and light-brown
sandstones, white shales on which an- to he found
ripple marks, brown shales and shaly sandstones.
To these succeed a thousand feet of thick, white
sandstones, and brown shales, and thick, brown

sandst S weathered into cavities. Then follow

the coal measures, fully twenty-seven hundred feet,
to wit: Sandstone, limestone containing conchs
and small gasteropods, blue, black and brown
dialer under-clays, beds of coal or lignite; brown
sandstones and shales, very soft ; coal in vari-
ous beds, with under-clays ; white sandstones,
with alternating blue shales. To the soft shales,
we arc indebted for the two wide expansions
in the White River Valley. Seventh in the order
follows fourteen hundred feet of compact red sand-
stones, white sandstones, red sandstones shaly and
micaceous, with thin, fetid limestones containing
fragments of shells. To these succeed three hun-
dred feet of Soft, yellow sandstone, and. finally, about
two hundred feet of gypsum, li is to be under-
stood that the foregoing are only estimated thick-
nesses, they having in no case been measured by
the one who examined them. The upper beds are

37"

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

!)7

formed near t lie junction of the White and Green
Rivers in Utah; the lower ones near the Gore
range, where they are covered by immense lietls of
lava, in smiie places, especially on the eastern side
of the range, alternating with beds of white and
friable sandstone lying in a perfectly horizontal
position and rising to a height on the top of the
Range of about thirteen thousand feet. The
groups nf gypsum, soft, yellow standstone, and thin
fetid limestone make their appearance in valleys
upon the eastern side of the range, the lava having
been poured out, apparently, during the period of
the lower tertiary coal measure.

Mr. Samuel II. Scudder, an eminent member of
the Boston Society of Natural History, who lias
made the study of fossil inserts a specialty, had
submitted to him a number of specimens taken
from the petroleum shales ; the report he returned
was as follows :

"This is the lilili discovery of fossil insects in
this country, it' some tracks and an apparent larva
in the Triassic rocks of the Connecticut Valley
bo correctly referred to insects; but it is the
first time that they have been found in the
tertiary beds of America. These were obtained
by Prof. Denton while on a trip of exploration
west of the Rocky Mountain range, not far from
the junction of White and Green Rivers in Colo-
rado.

" The specimens were brought from two local-
ities, called by Prof. Denton Fossil Canon and
Chagrin Valley, lying about sixty miles apart.
The rocks in both cases are the same; above are
beds of red sandstone, passing occasionally into
conglomerate and thin beds of bluish and cream-
colored shale alternating with the sandstone, all
dipping to the west at an angle of about twenty
degrees. These contain fossil wood of deciduous
trees, fragments of large 1m. lies, most of which are
solid, and turtles, some of which are two feet in
length and perfect. Prof. Denton considers this
sandstone as probably of Miocene age. Beneath
these links are beds of petroleum shale a thousand
feet in thickness, varying in color from a light

cream to inky blackness; these shales are Idled
with innumerable leaves of deciduous trees, and
throughout their extent the remains of insects

abound. The specimens brought home are al I

fifty in number, many of the little slabs contain-
ing several different species of insects upon them,
'file number of species amounts to about, fifty also,
although some of the specimens are so fragmentary
or imperfectly preserved as to be difficult and often
impossible of identification.

''The most abundant forms are Diptera, and
they comprise, indeed, two-thirds of the whole
number, either in the larval or perfect state; the
others are mostly very minute Coleoptera, and
besides these are several Homoptera, an ant be-
longing to the genus Myrmica, a night-flying
moth, and a larva apparently allied to the slug-
caterpillars or Limacod( s.

" The most perfect insects among the Diptera
are mostly small species of MycetopJiilidm, a fam-
ily wdiose larvae live mostly in fungoid vegetation,
and Tipvlidse, whose larvae generally live in stag-
nant water. There are, besides, some forms not
yet determined, of which some are apparently
Muscidse, a family to which the common house-fly
belongs. The larvae of Diptera belong to the
Muscidse, and to another family, the latter of
which live during this stage in water only. None
of the larvae, however, belong to the species of
which the perfect insects are represented as these
stones. The Homoptera belong to genera allied to
Issus Gypena, Deephax and some of the Tettigo-
niil;v.

" A comparison of the specimens from the two
localities shows some differences. They both have

Mycetophilidse, but Fossil Canon has a propor-
tionately greater abundance and variety of them.
Fossil Canon has other flies also in greater num-
ber, though there are some in both ; but Myrmica,
tin; very minute Dipt,, -a and the minute Coleopte-
ra, are restricted to Fossil Canon. < >n the other

hand, all the larv.-e. both the Diptera and thai
which appears to be a Limacodes, were brought
only from ( lhagrin Valley.

IIISTOliY OF COLORADO.

"Of course, the number of specimens is too
small to say that the fauna of these two Idealities
are distinct, although the same species has not been
found to occur in both, and the strata being 1,000
feet in thickness, there is opportunity fin- some dif-
ference in geological age, for new collections may
entirely reverse the present apparent distinction.
Neither is it sufficient to base any satisfactory —
that is, at all precise — conclusions concerning their
age Enough is before us. however, to enable us
to assert with some confidence that they cannot be
older than the tertiaries. They do not agree in

the aggregati if species with any of the insect

beds of Europe, or with the insects of the Amber
fauna, and, since they have lieen found in Europe
in considerable numbers only at rather wide inter-
vals in the geological record, we should need more
tacts than are at our command by the known
remains of fossil insects to establish any synchro-
nism of deposits between Europe and America.
.Much more satisfactory results could probably be
reached by a comparison of the remains of leaves,
etc. Anything more than a very general state-
ment is, therefore, at present quite out of the
question."

The country in which these are found is a very
remarkable one. Standing upon the summit of a
high ridge on the east, one sees stretched out
before him and distinctly visible, a tract of country
covering five or six hundred square miles. Over
this whole surface one sees nothing but rock, bare
rock. Cut up into weird and wild ravines, mys-
terious canons, deep, dark and dangerous gorges,
and quiet little valleys, leaving in magnificent relief
terrace upon terrace, pyramid beyond pyramid,
rising to mountain heights, presenting to the aston-
ished beholder amphitheaters that would hold a
million spectators, with stately walls and pillars,
towers and castles on every hand. An abode fit
lui tin- gods of the ancient world, who might well
have held solemn conclave in such a temple, stand-
ing now bare, blasted and desolate, but still inex-
pressibly sublime in its grandeur. Originally — far
back in tin ages of the past — it was an elevated

country, composed of a number of soft beds of
sandstone of varying thickness and softness, under-
laid by immense beds of shale. But the run-
ning rill and the flowing stream and the meandering
creek have worn it down and cut it out, until it
has become a strange, weird country, to be the won-
der of all generations.

In this region is found a deposit of petroleum
coal, scarcely to be distinguished in any way from
the Albertite of New Brunswick. In luster, fracture
and smell, it appears to he identical, and would
yield as much oil as this famous oil-producing coal.
It is in a perpendicular vein, three feet wide, and
was traced from the bottom of Fossil ('anon, near
Curtis (trove on White River, to the summit level
of the country a thousand feetin height and nearlj
five miles in length, diminishing in width toward
the ends of the vein. An analysis and description
of this has been given by Dr. Hayes, of Boston,
and we herewith append it :

"Black, with high luster like Albertite, which
it resembles physically; specific gravity 1.055 to
1.075. Electric on friction; breaks easily and eon-
tains .33 of one per cent moisture. It affords
39. G7 per cent of soluble bitumen when treated
with coal naphtha, and, after combustion of all its
parts, 1.20 per cent of ash remains; 100 parts dis-
tilled afforded bituminous matter. 77.07; carbon
or coke, 20.80; ash left. 1.20; moisture, .33;
total, 100. It expands to five or six times its
volume, and leaves a porous cake, which burns
easily."

The vein is in an enormous lied of sandstone
with smooth walls; beneath the sandstone are the
petroleum shales, one bed of which, varying from
ten to twenty feet in thickness, resembles cannel-
lite, and would, it is thought, yield from fifty to
sixty gallons to the ton. This bed was traced for
twenty-five miles in one direction anil was seen at
points sixty miles apart in another, and it no doubt
extends over the entire distance. If so, in that
single bed are twenty million million barrels of oil,
or over five hundred times as much as America
has produced since petroleum was discovered in

'":■:■
■

U44A*4^

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

101

Pennsylvania. There arc few beds of coal that can
compare with tlii.s in the amount of bituminous
matter which it contains, or in the great value that
it possesses as an article of fuel. The tertiary beds
of Colorado are rich in fuel ami gas-making
material, though it is more than probable that the
petroleum now in the shales ami petroleum coals
came originally from the oil-bearing coral beds of
some much older formations.

On the eastern side of the mountains, mainly,
lie the tertiary coal measures, containing beds

of coal and of ir re of excellent quality.

These coal-bearing lands embrace many thousand
square mile-; of the State's area. The bulk of these
thus far located extend along the plains, east of the
foot dulls, the entire length of the State. Those
opened and worked lie principally in the counties
of Boulder, Weld and Jefferson. These mines
have probably yielded nearly two hundred thousand
tons this season. In Fremont and Las Animas
Counties, in the southern part of the State,
the mines are being developed. The Trinidad
coals, in the latter county, coke equal to any in
the coking districts of Pennsylvania, and this
interest is steadily growing in importance, two
companies having each .me hundred ovens in
active operation.

These companies are named the Southern Colo-
rado Coal Company and Riffenburg Coal Company.
To show what an advance has been made in the
growth of this industry, we have but to state that,
four years ago, six ovens, producing ten tons per
day, were capable of supplying the market of Utah
and Colorado. Now, Utah consumes about fifteen
hundred tons per month ; Northern Colorado, five
hundred, while Leadville calls for three thousand,
and is likely to demand a constantly increasing num-
ber. Prof. Ilavden. in his report, of 1875, relative
to thecal deposits in the neighborhood of Trinidad,
calls these coals a binding bituminous coal, not
considering the term "lignite," as generally used,
strictly applicable, from the standpoint of a miner-
alogist. The thickness of the seams vary from
nine to thirteen feet, nearly horizontal, and are

easily worked by tunneling. An assay of the
Riffenburg coal, which lies close 1 to that of the
other company, gave the following result :

Loss at 110° ('. (water) 0.26 per cent.

Carbon, fixed 65.76 per cent.

Volatile combustible matter... 29.66 per cent.

Asli 4.;'."J per cent.

Total ion. oo per cent.

" Its specific gravity varies from 1.28 I" 1.53."

The coke made has a bright, silvery color; is
hard and strong, and suitable for all smelting pur-
poses.

Above these coal beds are beds of sandstone and
conglomerate, abounding in f.ssil palms, firs and
various kinds of resinous and gum-bearing trees.
together with modern exogens. Trunks of trees
of large size have been found lying far nut on the
plains, where they have been left when the disin-
tegrating rock loosened them from their captiv-
ity. Between Denver and Golden, many very fine
specimens have 1 n found; still more on a low-
range of sand-hills about twenty miles south id'
Denver, while some very line specimens have been
brought from Si. nth Park.

In the .Middle Park, west of the Grand River,
is also a .-..arse sandstone passing int.. conglomer-
ate, and containing silicified w 1 Above it are

beds of trap; and where ibis has disintegrated.
chalcedonies ami agates are found ; principally
moss agates, as they are called, but which are, in
reality, chalcedonies containing oxide of manga-
nese in a deudritic form. The rock originally
holding them was a lava poured out of some long
extinct volcano; this was full of vesicles or hollow
places produced by gas or vapor, and. in process of
lime, these were filled with extremely thin par-
ticles of silica, separated from the surrounding
rock, forming the ordinary chalcedonies. In some
cases, a small quantity id' oxide of manganese has
been carried in with the silica, and this, crystalliz-
ing in an arborescent or tree-like fiirm. has pro-
duced the appearance of moss in the chalcedony,
and thus have been formed the beautiful moss
a^ues which al ml throughout Colorado.

102

HISTORY OF COLORADO

We can see in the lava beds of the plains, run-
ning northward from Golden, and also to he found
in other localities, the witness to terrible volcanic
eruptions, that at no very distant period, geologi-
cally speaking, devastated the country. These
lava beds seem to be the most recent tertiary
deposits in Colorado. There are also other wit-
nesses tu this stormy time in the hut springs that
abound at various points. Some of the principal
of these may be named as follows: Hot Sulphur
Springs, in Middle Park, with a temperature of
121° F.; Hot Springs at Idaho, 11(1° F.; at
Canon City, 102° F.; Arkansas Hot Springs, 140°
F.; at Wagon Wheel Gap, 148° F.; Pagosa
Springs, Ion F. This last ranks among the
greatest mineral springs of the country.

The Drift period has left its unquestionable rec-
ord in the immense accumulation of bowlders and
-ravel in the valleys of almost every mountain
stream, although the ice dors not seem to have
produced as much effect during that period as the
height of the mountains and their latitude would
naturally lead us to expect.

The above description of the geology of Colo-
rado is necessarily very disconnected and incom-
plete. It would be impossible to gather within
the scope of a work like tins, a thorough and
comprehensive analysis of the various formations.
We have only endeavored to give to the general
reader an idea of the field, so vast in extent, of
geological research within the limits of the State,
and refer the student, who enters it as a s] ecial
tield of investigation, to the various reports, uota-
lilv those of Clarence King and Professor Hayden,
made of late years, to the Government of the
United States.

The mineral resources of the soil are so closelj
connected with its geological features that a list of
these is a proper addition to our chapter on geol-
ogy. This list is compiled from the most authentic
sources. The catalogue is not a complete one,
some of the minor minerals being left out lor want
ol' room, but is well adapted to the needs of the
general reader.

METALS AND MINERALS.

Agate. — A mineral familiar to the Greeks and
Romans, who found it near Achates, a river in
Sicily, now known as the Dorillo. Fine speci-
mens lined with amethyst have been found on the
Summit of the range, east of the Animas, In
the lower trachytic formations of the Uncom-
pahgre group, a cloudy variety is found, of white
and gray color; at the Los Pinos Agency in
various forms, cloudy, banded, laminated and
variegated ; in the South Park in the drift, in the
lower Arkansas Valley, all through Middle Park
and in the Gunnison country.

Actinolite. — Found in radiated form, of light
green and bluish green color, on Mount Ouray, on
Buffalo and Sopris' Peaks ; in crystallized shapes
in the Bergen district near Bear Creek, and on
Boulder Peak.

Alabaster. — This is found in small quantities
near Mount Vernon. Is of brownish color, lack-
ing that pure snowy whiteness and fine texture so
necessary when cut into ornaments.

Albite. — Occurs sparingly in Quartz Hill near
Central City, and in Gold Hill in Boulder County.

Altaite. — Occurs in various mines in the Sun-
shine district. Minute crystals obtained from the
lied Cloud mine at Gold Hill, when analyzed, gave
the following result : Quartz, 0.19; gold, 0.19;
silver. 0.(12; copper, 0.06; lead, 60.22; zinc,
0.15; iron, o,ls ; tellurium, :!7.90.

Alum. — Found native on the foot-hills near
Mount Vernon.

Amalgamite. — Occurring in connection with
coloradoite in the Keystone mine, Boulder County.

Amazon Stone. — A green variety of feld-spar ;
when pure and of a clear, bluish-green color, very
much resembles turquoise. Derives its name from
the female warriors near the head-waters of the
Amazon River, where it was found in their pos-
sesion as a charm, many of them engraved with
the symbols of Aztec worship. Abundant in New
Mexico; found in Colorado on Elk Creek, with
orthoclase, smoky quartz, aventurine, micaceous
iron and anhydrite.

:£

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

103

Amber. — Found near the head of Cherry Creek ;
not clearly defined ; may 1 nlyone of the numer-
ous resins occurring in lignitic coal,

Amethyst. — Pound in small crystals at Nevada
and neighboring localities; on Hock Creek, in
Char Creek County; on the summit of the range
east of the Animas; a bluish-violet variety of
quartz crystal, of great beauty, whose color is due
to a trace of the oxide of manganese.

Amphibolite. — Occurs at numerous localities in
the dikes traversing granite. Small ocicular crys-
tals can he obtained from the porphyritic and San-
idinitic trachytes. Good crystals are exceedingly
rare. Found on Buffalo Peaks ; Montgomery ; in
volcanic breccia at the head of Ohio Creek; in
trachytes on the Gunnison.

Anglesite. — In crystals at the Horse-Shoe Lead
Mine in South Park; Freeland Mine on Trail
Creek; Clifton Lode at Central City ; Prospector
Lode, in Aim- ra Gulch, n ar Silverton.

Anhydrite. — Crystallized at the Salt Works in
South Park. Found of a very beautiful wine-red
color, and very transparent, near (he head of Elk
( 'reck.

Anthracite. — This anthracite coal is of lower and
upper cretaceous age ; found in Anthracite Creek,
l; 0, Be Joyful" Creek, in the Elk Mountains, in
Uneoinpahgre canon, lis greater age has proba-
bly given it its character. Dr. Peale, in his report
of (he United States < reographieal Survey of 1874,
says of it: "The eruption of the trachyte found
near the coal first mentioned, probably so treated
it as to deprive it of the bituminous matter. An
average taken from seven analyses of the Elk Moun-
tain anthracite furnishes the following: Water,
2.757; fixed carbon, 77.360 ; volatile combustible
matter, 13.620; ash, 6.291 ; specific gravity, 1.740.

Antimony. — Associated with the sulphurets of
copper, iron, lead, zinc,' etc., in gold and silver mines.

Argonite. — < (ccurring in the form usually termed
flos ferri, in Marshall's Tunnel, George town ; on
Table Mountain ; in the trachytes near Del Norte ;
on the Rio Grande, above Fir (.'reck ; Idaho
Springs.

Arvedsonite. — Occurs in quartz in Fl Paso
County.

Argentite. — Usually in small, irregular particles
or seams, rarely crystallized. Decomposition results
in the formation of native silver. Found in the
Colorado Centra] Mine, Terrible and other mines
near Georgetown ; in the No Name and Caribou,
at Caribou ; in some of the silver lodes at Nevada ;
in the Senator lode of the Hardscrabble district;
in many of the lodes of the San Juan mining
region associated with fahlerz and pyrargyrite ; at
the Silver Star, Moore and other mines in the
neighborhood of Fair Play.

Arsenopyrite. — Crystallized and massive in the
Bobtail and Grinnell mines; intimately associated
with pyrite and chalcopyrite there ; generally aurif-
erous; together with silver and copper at the Park
lode, Bergen's ranche ; occurs also in the Priest,
mine, near Fair Play ; with Franklinite on Rio
Dolores, in Nevada District, Gilpin County.

Asbestos. — Occurs in small quantities, partly
radiated, on the snowy range, between Boulder and
Berthoud Passes.

Asphalt. — Found in the White River country.
It occurs in veins; is very compact and brittle;
Found in springs near the summit of the Rook
cliffs; also at Canon City. Several of the petrole-
oid products of Colorado have been termed asphalt.

Astraphyllite. — Occurs in quartz on Cheyenne
Mountain and at other points in El Paso County.

Aventurine. — Found in Elk Creek. Sometimes
called gold-Stone; specim ais show white scales in-
stead iif yellow, which is the usual color.

Azurite. — Generally, the azurite is regarded as
"blossom ruck" by miners. If resulting from the
decomposition of fahlerz, it usually indicates sil-
ver-bearing ore. Small, but very brilliant crystals
have been found on Kendall Mountain near How-
ardsville. Found in the X" Nam/, together with
malachite, the result of decomposition of fahlerz,
at Caribou ; in the Rosita mines of the Hardscrab-
ble district; around Fair Play and Idaho; on Trail
Cre k ; Crater Mountain; in the mines of the Elk
Mountain District, Malachite Lode, Dear Creek,

■£

104

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

Gendhemas Lode, Tucker's Gulch. No crystals of
any size, however, have been found, the largest
scarcely measuring 0.5 millimeter.

Barite. — In clear, yellow, tabular crystals in the
Tenth Legion Mine at Empire ; colorless crystals
in the Terrible at Georgetown, while near Canon
City, transparent crystals are found in the arena-
ceous shales of that region. Crystals occur in the
limestones near Fair Play, and are found with fine
terminations on the Apishapa River.

Basanite. — Is found, together with flint, in
some of the trachytes, east of the salt works on
South Park.

lit ri/l. — A crystal of a pale, yellowish-green
variety, colored by the oxide of iron. Found on
Bear Creek, in Jefferson County.

Blot lie. — Found on Buffalo Peak. When de-
composed, it becomes splendent, brown ; otherwise,
it is very dark green, brown or black. Several of
the trachytes, more particularly the porphyritie,
contain .small crystals of biotite. It is also found
in some of the basalt.

His, until. — Like arsenic and antimony, occurs in
many of the mines, but has never been found
native.

Bloodstone. — Found sparingly, and very inferior
specimens, in Middle Park. A deep green variety
of jasper, slightly translucent, containing spots of
red, caused by iron.

Calaverite. — Good crystals have been obtained
from the Sunshine District. Found in the. Key-
stone and .Mountain Lion Mine, Boulder County.
Associated with other tellurides in the Red Cloud,

Cairngorm, Stone. — A smoky, tinted quartz
crystal, formerly used by the ancient Scots as a
jewel. Found at the head of Elk Creek.

Calcite. — In small crystals, sealenohedra, at the
Monte Cristo mine, Central. Rhombohedral crys-
tals mi Cheyenne Mountain, in the limestones of
the South Park, in the carboniferous limestones
near the Arkansas River; sealenohedra in the Elk
Mountain District; fibrous in Trout Creek Park,
mi Frying Pan Creek; brown, rose-colored, yellow
and white on Table Mountain at Golden; sealeno-

hedra and combinations of rhombohedra in quartz
geodes near Ouray.

Caolinite. — The product of decomposed oligo-
clase. The white, chalk-like bluff's mi Chalk Creek,
near Mount Princeton, owe their appearance to the
presence of caoliniic.

Cornelian. — White and very fine in the South
Park. Red and somewhat rare in Middle Park.
A very common stone in many other localities in
the country.

Cerargyrite. — Small, compact quantities in the
Wade Hampton mine, Argentine, Caribou. Small
specimens have been obtained from the Red Cloud
mine. Gold Hill. It is also found in the Rosita
mines and in the Upper Animas region.

( 'erussite. — In very small crystals at Central.
In the Horse Shoe mines, it occurs earthy, and is
found throughout the Elk Mountain District, at
Canon City, and in the Prospector hide. Arastra
G*ulch, near Silverton.

Chalcedony. — South Park furnishes specimens
in the mammillary, botryoidal and stalaetitic form.
Frequently met with, of a flesh-red color, lining
cavities in some of the deep mines. Is frequently
found in drill accumulations. At the following
places is met with: Chalk Hills, lying south of
Cheyenne; Lis Pinos Agency ; on the bluffs near
Wagon Wheel Gap; along the Upper Rio Grande
Valley; in Middle and South Parks, Buffalo Park,
Fair Play and in the Gunnison country.

( 'halcopyrite. — Found in every paying mine in
Gilpin County. It also occurs in the Terrible,
Pelican, Cold Stream and other mines near George-
town, as well as of those at Caribou. It is aurif-
erous in the mines around Central ; is found in the
Trinidad gold mining district, in the gold and sil-
ver mines nf Fair Play and the Elk Mountain Dis-
trict, and mi the Dolores, near Mount Wilson.

Chlorite. — At most localities, chlorite replaces
the mica either in granite or schists. The mineral
generally occurs in very thin flakes only, without
crystalline faces. Foliated and radiated varieties
are found on Trail Creek, on Mount Princeton, and
on Supers Peak.

3v-

HISTORY OP COLORADO.

105

Coal. — (See Anthracite). Coal occurs and is
worked at a number of localities in the State.
Two horizons, mainly of coal beds, can be distin-
guished — the cretaceous and the post-cretaceous.
With the exception id' the anthracitic coal of the
Elk .Mountains and adjacent regions, the Colorado
coal is mostly a coking or binding bituminous coal.
Som i of the banks, however, furnish coal that can-
not he utilized tin' coking purposes. All of this is
the kind to which the term "lignite" has been
applied. Cretaceous coal is found on the divide
between the Uncompahgre and Cebolla, Elk
Mountains, on the lower Animas, the Florida, and
on the La Plata. Post-cretaceous coal occurs
along the Front Range, near Boulder, at. Golden,
Colorado Springs, Canon, near Pueblo and Trini-
dad, and westward from that town. In the region
of the White River, a number of coal veins have
also been found, belonging to this group. A total
average prepared from thirty-four analyses of Col-
orado bituminous coal, furnishes a good idea as to
its position in mineralogieal classification : Water,
G.43C ; fixed carbon, 52.017 ; volatile combustible
matter, 34.096; ash, (i.835. Specific gravity,
1.825.

t'"/>/>rr. — Native; arborescent in the Gregory
lode and on Jones' .Mountain; in almond-shaped
nuggets in placers of Rio San Miguel.

Dolomite. — Occurs as rock in a number of the
formations of the State. Very rarely crystallized.
Small geodes in middle cretaceous shales arc some-
times lined with dolomite crystals.

Epidote. — Crystals associated with garnet on
Gunnel! Hill, Central ; throughout the metamor-
phics of the Front Range in minute crystals. A
large number of the hornblendic dikes contain
massive epidote together with quartz. Found on
the summit of .Mount I! ross, in Lake Creek Canon,
on Elk Mountain Range, and on Trail Creek.

Fahlerz. Argentiferous, mostly antimonial,
sometimes arsenical, in the silver mines of the San
Juan region. Crystals are very rare

Fluorite. — Light green tubes in the Terrible
mine at Georgetown; in small crystals and massive,

of violet color, on Mount McClellan and Gray's
Peak.

Galenite. — Throughout the San Juan mines,
galenite is one of the principal ores. Invariably
argentiferous, though the quantity of silver it con
tains changes greatly. In small, scattering quanti-
ties, it is found almost throughout the State. At the
Coldstream mine, very fine crystals are found.
combinations of cube and octahedron, rarely
rhombic dodecahedron. In the mines near George-
town, it occurs in large quantities.

Garnet. — Once found in quantities in the sluice-
Iiiims of tin' gulch mines in the South Park, and
also west of the range, about. Breckenridge and
other places. Ferruginous garnets occur in great
abundance at Trail Creek, in Bergen district, head
of Russell Gulch, and other places, associated with
epidote, white quartz, calc spar and copper pyrites.
It is met with in various colors. The deep clear
red variety is called Almandine ; the deep brown
is called aplome; two varieties of black are termed
melanite and pyrenaite ; a light cinnamon yellow
is denominated essonite, and contains from 30 to
40 per cent of lime; an emerald green variety is
called ouvarovite, and another of a paler color,
grossularite.

Gold. — Native gold, in small, distinct crystals,
in the Bobtail, Gunnell, Kansas, and on Quartz
Hill near Central; in the gold gulches of Gilpin
County; on Clear Creek; placer diggings near
Fair Play, in imperfect crystals and laminse ; in
Washington Gulch; in the placers of Union Park,
and many other localities ; in the Elk Mountains,
on San Miguel, on the Mancosand La Plata; near
Parmtt City; in the Little Giant mine near Silver-
ton, associated with ripidolite. Occurring a- the
result of decomposition of the tellurides in the lied
( 'loud. Cold Spring, and other lodes on Gold Hill,
in the Ward and Sugar Loaf district; in the Sun-
shine district; impregnated in volcanic rock in the
Summit district, where it is very finely distributed,
and contained in pyrite. which, upon decomposi-
tion, sets the gold free; at Oro City, in rhyolite ;
in some of the South Park mines, in Potsdam

10G

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

sandstone ; at the Nevada lode, in azurite. The
Gunnell, near Central, yielded gold in fine, small
crystals ; they are bright, on black sphalerite, and
show combinations of cube, octahedron and rhom-
bic dodecahedron. Mixtures of gold and silver
are found as the result of decomposition of tellu-
rides containing both metals.

Gypsum. — Occurs in various localities.

Halite. — Found at the various salt licks through
the State, and especially at the salt works in South
Park. Found also in springs along some parts of
the Platte River.

Hematite. — Specular, micaceous and fibrous.

Hi nryite. — Found first at the Red Cloud and
Cold Spring mines. Later, in all the telluride
districts of the State. Fine crystals are very rare.

Hessite. — Gold Hill, Boulder County; on the
divide between the Uncompahgre and Animas
Rivers; in the vicinity of Parrott City, on the La
Plata.

Li ml. — Native at Hall's Gulch and at Brecken-
ridge. Occurs in many of the gold and silver
bearing lodes. Finely crystallized specimens come
from the Calhoun lode. Leavenworth Gulch, from
the Running lode, Black Hawk and Gardner, at
Quartz Hill. Rich specimens of the tine granular
variety come from Spanish Bar; also, mixed with
copper and iron pyrites, from the Freeland at Trail
Bun.

MagnetiU . — In loose nodules, near Central; in the
granites of various localities; in the dolorite rocks
generally ; in octahedral crystals on Quartz Hill.
On Grape Creek, near Canon City, is an extensive
deposit of magnetite, which is mined as iron ore.

Malachite. — Is found as the result of decompo-
sition of fahlerz anil other minerals, in numerous
mines near Central, Caribou. Georgetown, Fair
Play and Elk Mountain district.

Mini. — Abundantly distributed throughout the
mountains. A mine not far from Canon City is
producing large quantities.

Onyx. — Found in .Middle Park, on the west
side of Grand River and Willow Creek, associated
with jasper, chalcedonj and fortification agates.

Opal. — Occurs in narrow seams in the granite
at Idaho Spring's. Is mostly brownish, milk-white
at Colorado Springs. Semi-opal found with the
chalcedonies at the Los Pinos Agency, and in
trachyte north of Saguache Creek. Wood opal is
found on Cherry Creek, near Florissant, South
Park. Nyalite in the trachytes near Los Pinos
Agency, at the hot sulphur springs in Middle
Park, and sometimes occurs in very tine specimens
in the trachorheites of the Uncompahgre groups.

Orihocla&e. — Occurs in very fine, though small
crystals in mines near Central; is found in very
large pieces in some of the coarse-grained granites.
Large tablets of flesh-colored orthoclase can be
found near Ouray. Crystals of large size, simple
and in twins, occur in the porpbyritic dikes at
Gold Hill, Boulder County; at the head of Chalk
Creek, interlaminated with oligoelase in the por-
phyritic protoginyte; crystallized in Jefferson
County; greenish in South Park, west of Pike's
Peak; reddish on Elk Creek; brown and gray at
various localities near Central City. Beautiful
green crystals of orthoclase are found on Hear
Creek, near Pike's Peak, associated with smoky
quartz. An analysis of specimens from this local-
ity furnishes the following result: Silicic acid,
tiT.tll ; alumina, HI. 1)4; protoxide of iron. 0.89;
soda, 3.15; potassa, 8.84. Total, 99.83. There
were also traces of lime and magnesia. To the
small percentage of protoxide of iron is due the
coloring of this orthoclase, though another author-
ity regards the coloring matter of this green
orthoclase as dependent upon a ferric compound,
probably an "organic salt."

Pegmatite. — At several localities in the vicinity
of Georgetown, Bear Creek, and Gold Hill, in
Boulder County.

Petroleum. — In Oil Creek Canon, to the east of
Canon City, and on Smoky Creek, ten miles south
of Golden, also near Pueblo.

Petzite. — In the gold mines of Gold Hill,
occurring in narrow seams and veins; also in other
telluride districts. An analysis gives the following
result : Quartz, 0.62; gold,24.10; silver, 40.73;

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

107

bismuth, 0.41 ; copper, a trace ; lead, 0.26 ; zinc, ' Park, Lake, Chaffee, and the counties of the Gun-

0.05; iron, 0.78; tellurium, 83.40. Total, 100.44.

Picki riiiyite. — Found crystallized in thin nee-
dles, near Mdrittment Park.

Pyrafjjyrife. — Associated with galenite, fahlerz
and .sphalerite, in the mines of Georgetown. Fine
crystals occur in Mount Shfeffels district, San Juan.

nison country, a belt, showing but slight interrup-
iSdns, has been traced. The San Juan Mountains,
forming the continental divide in the south, are
peculiarly rich in silver veins. The bills and
valleys of the Sarigre d'e Christo" Range are full of
deposits. Silver is the predominating metal in the

Pi/rite. — One bf the must widely distributed ; Sawatcb Range. The Park Range is enormously
minerals of the State. It is mostly auriferous, I productive. The carbonate deposits 6Y vein's of
and associated with chalcopyrite. Found both Leadville are world renowned as beinu innneasura-
massive and crystallized. Large bodies of it aji- bly rich,
pear in the lodes near Central. Sphalerite— "Occurs in almost every mine, but

Pyroxene. — In a number of localities in younger more abundant in lead-silver mines than in gold
volcanic and metamorphic rocks. Crystals in the mines. Varies in color from greenish-yellow to
basalts of southern San Luis Valley. ' brown and black.

Porphyry. — Found in the agate patches of Mid- Sulphur. — In small crystals on galenite from

die and South Park, and on the Arkansas River,
above Cache Creek.

Quartz. — This very common and abundant
mineral is found in all our mines. Very many
beautiful groups of crystal, with cubes of iron

the mines near Central. Found in Middle Park,
and near Pagosa Springs. Sometimes in narrow
seams in galenite. the result of decomposition of
the latter.

Sylvanite — Occurring in foliated masses and

pyrites, have been taken from them. Many of thread-like veins in the mines at Gold Hill. In
the quartz veins are almost or totally devoid of crystals and crystalline masses in the Sunshine dis-
■e, in which case, the quartz is generally milk- ; trict. An i lysis shows its composition as fol-
lows: Quartz, 0.32; gold, 24.83; silver. 13.05;
copper, 0.23; zinc, 0.45 ; iron, 3.2K; tellurium,
56.31; sulphur, 1.82. with a trace of selenium.
Total, 100.29.

Title. — Occurs to a greater or less extent in
nearly all our mines. In fine scales among the
gangue-rock of the mines near Central; in light
pink scales in the Ilardscrabble district; in Mosco
Pass; of a fine dark green color, very hard, and
having crystals of sulphurel of iron disseminated
through them, at Montgomery.

Tellurium. — Native tellurium at the lied ('loud
mine, Cold Hill, in crystalline masses, belong-
ing to the hexagonal system. A specimen from
this mine, on examination, was found to contain
across the entire State, billowing the general 90.85 per cent, with small quantities of selenium,
course of the mountains, but appearing in the iron and bismuth, with traces of gold and silver.

white and pure.

Quicksilver. — Associated with mercury-tellu-
ride in the Sunshine district, Boulder County.

Roscolite. — A greenish mineral, intimately asso-
ciated with quartz, found at some of the mines in
Boulder County.

Sanidite. — Occurs throughout the trachor-
heites, sometimes in very handsome crystals.
Whereever the trachytes have been reheated, the
sanidite is adularizing.

Sardonyx. -Found in Middle Park, near Col-
den and Mount Vernon.

Satin Spar. —Associated with alabaster and
arrow-head crystals of gypsum, near Mount Vernon.

Silver.— A silver mineral belt extends almost

flanking ranges and outlying foot-hills east and
west of the great divide. From North Park
southward through Gilpin, Clear Creek. Summit.

Tetrahedite. — Crystals in Buckskin Gulch;
near Central City; in the San Juan district, where
it also occurs massive in a number of mines.

108

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

Tourmaline. — Black or dark brown in color
Found in quartz near' Central, and on the Arkansas.

Uraninite. — Occurs in large quantities near
Nevada district. An analysis furnishes the
following result: Uranoso-uranic acid. 11.37;
sulphides of iron and copper, 45.8] ; langen,
42.82.

Whirl, titi. — A resin, related tn amber. Occurs
in the coal of Colorado. An analysis furnishes
carbon, 73.07 per cent; hydrogen, 7.95; oxygen.
IS. !IS.

Wollastonite. — Occurs in small quantities in
some of the limestones in the Fair Play district.

Zinc. — Occurs more or less in nearly all our
gold-bearing veins. Sometimes found associated
with chalcedony, and resembling moss agate. Fine
specimens have been found in the mines about
Black Hawk and Central City.

Zircon. — Crystals of zircon have been found in
the feldspar of I'ike's Peak ; in small crystals on
Bear River; in Middle Park, and in quartz in El
Paso County.

CHAPTER XVII.

PEAK CLIMBING IN THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS.

MUCH fine writing has been indulged in by
delighted tourists after ascending some
one of the thousand Alpine peaks of Colorado,
but the following, from the pen of Maj. W. D.
Bickham, the well-known editor of the Dayton
(Ohio) Journal, descriptive of an ascent of Pike's
Peak in 1879, is. perhaps, the most lucid recital in
the language, and no apology will be required for
inserting it entire. The Major is too old and true
a journalist to spoil the "rat story" by even inti-
mating that the lonely grave on the lonely peak is
a fraud upon unsuspecting travelers — Norah
O'Keefe and her baby and the rats being alike
supposititious and non-existent personages and
rod&nts. Passing over his description of the slow
and toilsome ascent, which is well written but not
particularly pertinent in this connection, we come
to the " supreme moment" when the writer finds
himself upon the summit, surveying the wonderful
panorama which lies spread around him:
•■ • Those who would sec the lovely and the wild
Mingled in harmony on Nature's face,
Ascend our Rocky Mountains. Let thy foot
Fail tot with weariness, for on their tups
The beauty and the majesty of earth
Spread wide beneath shall make thee to forget
The steep and toilsome way.'

'■Standing on the desolate, echoless peak, the
swift-glancing vision is abject servant of all it sur-
veys. A gold-hunter in my careless youth, tramp-
ing in reckless happiness over the stately peaks of
gold-ribbed California, dallying in gay and hopeful
fancy with an imaginary sweetheart, or dreaming
of the evanescent vision of nights on summits that
coquetted with Orion, seeking wild adventure and
the most savage haunts of Nature for its own
delights, ami camping under the moon, courting
companionship with the wildest solitudes. I had
not even imagined a wilderness of loneliness com-
parable with the absolute desolation of this awful
summit. T stood for the moment oppressed with
the majesty that enveloped me. And even when
self-possession slowly returned with the compara-
tive restoration of convulsed physical nature, the
stupendous realism of the wondrous scene rivaled
the tumult of super-stimulated fancy. For a
little period before your wandering faculties are
remoralized, while staring with dazed eyes upon
the glaring sky and confused maze of mountains
all around, and plains which spread out below in
misty vagueness, chaos seems to have come again.
Even the dreary realism of the dismal prospect
of the desolate peak itself scarcely dissipates the

i}~jU- t/(%a^U

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

10!)

gloomy spell, for you stand in a hopeless confusion
of dull stones piled upon each other in somber
ugliness, without one softening influence, as if
Nature, irritated with her labor, had flung her con-
tusion here in utter desperation.

" But soon again your sensitive nerves, which
vibrate fiercely as with a fever, your palpitating
heart, which thumps like a bounding bowlder
down the unseen declivity, your throbbing pulse,
that leaps impetuously, suddenly restore you to
consciousness and admonish you of the little time
you Lave to waste in delirious dreams. A sudden
dizziness confuses your brain, whose nerves ache
with painful tension, and miserable nausea meanly
reminds you that you are mortal. Nevertheless,
the eye escaping constantly from its local fetters,
soars away to the bright canopy above, and then to

•• ■ * * * The hills.
Rock-ribbed and ancient as the sun; the vale,
Stretching, in quiet pensiveness, between;
The venerable woods; rivers, that move
In majesty, and the complaining brooks,
That make the meadows green.'

"You contemplate the mighty scene with admi-
ration and amazement. No human pen or tongue
can word or voice the wondrous spectacle. Mount-
ains rise upon mountains, like heaving billows,
and o'ertop each other far as eye can scan, and
broad plains spread out below like a shoreless sea.
Yonder in the blue distance, Long's lofty peak, in
snowy grandeur, leaps, and, in the illusive haze,
Grey's sky-piercing summit, clad in eternal white,
glistens in the neighboring sun. Beneath your
feet, a wild rabble of broken rocks, that seem
tumbling downward, noiselessly, forever, into an
unseen abyss, and a mystery of somber forests
through which the untamed winds revel in ribald
harmony. And now. far away, in the mingled
shadows and dazzling sunshine, in a secluded
basin, inclosed with cliffs and fringed with ever-
greens, a cluster of little lakes — the 'Seven
Lakes' — that glisten like mirrors and reflect the
shadows which make them beautiful. Led granite
and gray sandstone, bare cones and glittering

pyramids anil verdant valleys everywhere, fill up
the unmeasured amphitheater of nature.

"Long, sinuous lines of green, (hat describe'
the course id' wandering streams, far off, with lit-
tle villages and a city on the sea-like plains that
frame an artistic horizon for Colorado Springs, a
new metropolis, lie prettily away below, and
seem to swell from a basin to a line of the sky,
which the imprisoned eyes indistinctly define.
And then, down precipitately, far down below,
into unseen depths, the crater of the mountain:

" ' .Steep in the eastern side, shaggy and wild,

with pinnacles of Hint.
And many a hanging crag.'

" Into it you heave a bowlder, that bounds nois-
lessly into space, and sinks, with scarce a sound,
to where it lands.

" Where we stand, g 1 reader, our eyes com-
mand the mysteries of the continent. Far south-
ward, a soft line of verdure describes the valley
of the Arkansas; northward, the Platte chases
through the plains a thousand miles, flows into
the turbid Missouri, rushes, in wild volume, down
through the Mississippi and kisses waters at the
mouth of the Arkansas, which it left, long ago.
at the continental divide in the table-lands of Col-
orado, under the shadow of this mighty peak.
Southerly, again, the vision sweeps the course of
the Rio Grande, which winds, in crooked current,
into the waters of the ' Bay of the Holy Spirit '
— Gulf of .Mexico — and then, at last, the Colo-
rado, which drains the southwestern water-shed
into the Pacific (bean. Kansas is within your
ken. Nebraska too, Utah anil New .Mexico. A
thousand miles of mountains break the vast sur-
face west of you. and fifteen hundred north and
south. And eastward, ranging north and south,
the spreading plains. There is no more splendid
masterpiece in nature.

"The surface of the Peak is indescribably rude.
Tt embraces a rugged though regular area of per-
haps fifty aires, of serrated oval form, on its foe.
sinking southward into a narrow, rocky ridge,
when it skips off skyward. The rocks are

110

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

comparatively regularly formed bowlders of porphy-
ritio granite, of somber, reddish hue, with soil
enough in the crevices between them to nourish
exquisite little mountain mosses, which arc the
only relief to the utter sterility of the summit.
A drift of perpetual snow, like a silver helmet,
which the eye catches in the glitter of the sun-
shine miles upon miles away, Upon the distant
plains, lies in a glittering mass Upon the very apex
of the mighty pile. While skipping about from
bowlder to bowlder, drinking in the mighty pano-
rama with unappeasable appetite, stopping now
and then to gather the pretty moss that blossomed
under the very eyes of the snow heap, a chance
companion, one Isaac Rothimer, of Chicago, picked
off the snowitselfa livinghumhlebei . I took it in my
bauds and examined it carefully, ruminating upon
the Democratic ridicule which enlivened the poli-
ticians during the Presidential campaign of (he
•■ Pathfinder;" for many of you who remember that-
stirring summer will, perhaps, not forget with what
eagerness the Democratic organs and orators ridi-
culed the report of Fremont recording the fact
that he hid found a living bumblebee upon a
snow-capped peak of the Rocky Mountains.
Kothiin r's bumblebee was in a semi-torpid state ;
nevertheless, it crawled, and being apprehensive
that its business end might be warmed into ani-
mation by too much familiarity, I tenderly depos-
ited it upon the soft side of a bowlder, ami left it
to gather what honey it might from the shining
granite. Rothimer was careful to give me his
name, that it might be perpetuated as the emula-
tor of the " Pathfinder. It was a pleasing inci-
d nt in contrast with <mr gloomy surroundings,
fir hard by is a solitary little cross, marking the
grave of an infant, the child of Sergt. O'Keefe,
which was destroyed by mountain rat.-, in the
Signal Station, while iis mother was occupied with
her domestic duties.

■•'i'li.' United State- Signal Station, a stone
tenement of three little apartments, is at once the
capitol and metropolis of the Peak. Alexander
Selkirk, in his solitude, was beset with company,

compared with the utter loneliness of this desolate
habitation. Two signal officers, wdio relieve each
other at intervals of thirty days, wrestle with the
elements in this dreary eyrie through the dismal
cycle of the months, and profess themselves con-
tented. Telegraphic connection with the (sub)-
terrestrial world keeps them in instantaneous
communication with their fellows, and daily chat
over the wires with operators at Colorado Springs,
relieves the wearisome tedium. They live chiefly
upon canned food, and Substitute tobacco smoke
for the pure ether of the Peak. This reminds me,
by the way, that, although an inveterate smoker
and enjoying perfect general health, cigars were
utterly distasteful to me on the summit, and for
an hour or two after I fled precipitately to the
caverns below. My fumigating companions re-
ported a similar experience, and those who par-
took of luncheon in the station represented that
good bread and butter tasted like dry chips. One
editor, who took a square drink of whisky to re-
lieve nausea, paid an almost instant penalty. From
his experience and that of others. T infer that
spirits are uncongenial to the human stomach in
sublimated atmospheres.

"A strong wind whistles over the Peak perpet-
ually. It is cooling, but not penetrating, in sum-
mer, excepting upon occasion. I was clad in
ordinary winter garments, without an overcoat,
and felt no cold, excepting a benumbing sensation
in my ungloved bridle-hand when approaching the
summit. The atmosphere resembles the chilliness
of a March wind blowing over a surface of snow
in the Miami Valley. Immediately after reaching
the IVak. the majority of persons become con-
scious of dizziness, light-headedness, and presently
confusing headache, with accompanying nausea
strange!) resembling sea-sickness. To some i( be-
comes utterly unendurable, and they fly from the
the summit a- rapidly as they dare. l!ut few care
to linger long. Without exception, those who
made the ascent this day returned with strangely
pallid faces, and several of them halted bv the'
wayside and wretchedly paid tribute to the

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

Ill

Olympian Peak. The violent action of the blood
in this high altitude was indicated by the pulsa-
tion of stromr men running as high as 125 beats
to the minute, and some even higher. One of the
young ladies naively confessed that hers beat as
high as 140, but it was observed that an ardent
widower kept time for her. Some of our party
bled freely at the nose.

" When near the Peak, ascending, a sudden
cloud lifted above it and powdered us with a
flurry of snow, but in a few moments all was clear
again. A half-hour later, while peering over the
cliff into the abyss, we were sharply startled by a
glittering flash of lightning and a mutter of thun-
der far below. A little later, the cloud bad grown
black, and streaks of liirhtning vivified the dark-
ncss, and the deep diapason of thunder seemed to
shake the summit. Heeding the advice of the
signal officer, who discovered an approaching ijn>t,
tin; party hurried from the Peak, the tardy catch-
ing a dash of rain and hail mingled with flecks of
snow, as they carefully stepped over the edge of
the Peak and laboriously climbed down the de-
clivity to their horses. By this time, the mount-
ain was shrouded in the blackness of darkness,
i lie lurid lightning disported with the clouds dan-
gerously near us, and the rolling thunder savored
of the majesty of Sinai.

"And now we go down, down, down, painfully
but more rapidly than we ascended, through the
rabble of bowlders. The splendid scenery grows
upon the dilating vision, for in the descent the
forms of nature magnify, or rather resume their
true relations to the plane of vision. The cliffs
grow more rugged and higher, and stand out more
boldly, the mountains swell into grander outlines,
and scenes which before had excited only passing

admiration in an endless gallery of wonders now
expand into surpassing pageants. And now, too,
you become suddenly surprised at the unimagined
activity of your faithful horse. An improving
atmosphere proves a hippotonic, perhaps, but you
are apt to suspect that he knows that his head is
turned homeward. Unlike a man, too, he prefers
descending to climbing. Perhaps, it is because he
has a load to carry. Anyhow, he ambles along
gaily when the narrow trail is not perilous, nor
thinks of halting for a breathing spell until you
reach the Lake House, when he stops to let you
spend a quarter for a wretched cup of coffee. You
take time to ponder, too, upon the unconscious
perils of the morning, but you trust your horse
and fear no danger. He warns you, even, if a
bear or a badger lurks in the fastnesses, for he
snuffles and snorts, shies, and then halts if there
is necessity. At length, you return to the head
of the grand canon, one of the noblest in all Col-
orado, and you descend it rapidly, with increasing
admiration, to the terminus of the toilsome jour- '
ney. It opens and keeps enlarging like a mam-
moth telescope, continuing to display to your
admiring vision a panoramic pageant of wondrous
beauty — stupendous cliffs, tall turrets and graceful
pinnacles; bastions and battlements; noble castles
and solemn cathedrals, whose steeples prop the
clouds; human forms on the crags, and mysteri-
ous images on mighty pedestals, and far beyond
the undulating plains, like a lilac-colored sea
sweeping off in one mighty billow, until earth,
and air. and sky blend together in dreamy har-
mony.

■ Halting at the Iron Spring once more, we
quaffed again to Olympian Jove, and felt like
boasting as him who taketh his armor off."

112

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

CHAPTER XVIII.
SKETCH OF THE SAN JUAN COUNTRY AND DOLORES DISTRICT.

DOWN in the southwestern portion of Colorado
lies the country known as San Juan. It pon-
(ains within its boundaries the present counties of
Hinsdale, Rio (irande.San Juan, La Plata, Conejos
and Ouray. San Luis Park and the counties of
Sagauche and Costilla are also commonly included
in the district. Within the last few years and up
to the time of the advent of the carbonates upon
the scene of mining activity, San Juan was a syn-
onym for the Silver Country, and though for
two or three years it lias been retarded in its
progress, yet the gradual approach of railroads to
its immediate vicinity is a sign of promise to the
future not easily to be overlooked.

The early history of this country is but little
known. The Spanish expedition that visited it
in thr sixteenth century found it inhabited by
savages. In its valleys, however, are the indica-
tions that they were inhabited long before the
appearance of the Indians, by a people that under-
stood something of the arts of civilization, but
whose history is wrapped up in the unknown
[>ast. The ruins of cities are found scattered over
a large section of country. Large rooms are
often found cut out of the solid rock, and the
locations were evidently selected and arranged for
the purpose of successful defense. Pottery and
other useful implements are found in great per-
fection. The work and style of manufacture
indicate a civilization equal to that which pre-
vailed among the ancients, or in Peru or Mexico
ai tlic time of the discovery of the American
Continent. It may be that these are the ruins of
the Aztec race, that was supplanted by the savage
Indians who swept down upon them from the
north. It maybe that they are tin- ruins of a
race as civilized as the people of the (Mil World,
and who had a history, if it were known, as long
and wonderful as that of Greece or Rome.

This vast region of many thousand square
miles is abrupt and broken, with an average ele-
vation of 13,000 feet above the sea, with some of
their peaks reaching the altitude of 14,500 feet.
The scenery of such a section must necessarily
verge nearer to the sublime than any known in
the world. Nature must have been in wild riot
to have produced such a "wreck of matter" as is
here found. If the ruins of ancient cities impress
the beholder with wonder and amazement, what
must be the emotions in viewing what one mighl
easily imagine to be an exploded world, with its
sharp broken fragments piled, in strange confusion.
14,000 feet high? The molten peaks are tinged
with a red and sulphurous hue, which tells of a
period at which the chemical properties of the
earth were made to gild each crest with rare,
enduring colors. It presents a scene of aban-
doned nature, with garbs of living green east
recklessly below, into the parks and valleys, two
miles away, that her charms might lie the sub-
ject of man's conquests to gain her golden treas-
ure.

The center of the great volcanic upheaval seems
to have been between the present cities of Silver-
ton and Ouray, in tin- western center of the San
Juan country proper. In La Plata County, the
ruins of this extinct race of which we have
written are found, scattered at intervals over an
area of over 6,000 square miles. W. II. Holmes,
in the llayden Government Survey reports,
classes these under heads of lowland or agricultu-
ral settlements, cave dwellings and cliff houses,
the latter Used, probably, as places of refuge and
defense in time of war and invasion.

It is in this locality that the mountains reach
their greatest height, and here is the land of eter-
nal snow* that supplies the water for the five
gri 'at rivers and their tributaries that have their

HISTORY OF COLOI.WIH)

113

source in this immediate vicinity. The* Rio
Grande del Norte runs east, to the Gulf of Mex-
ico; the Umcompahgre, north ; Rio San Miguel,
west; Gunnison, northeast, and Rio Animas,
south — these last flowing into the Colorado and
Gulf of California.

Up to the year 1860, the Indians held undis-
puted possession of this country. Then Capt.
Baker, with a few prospectors as adventurous as
himself, made his appearance on the San Juan
River. Working their way up the Animas, they
came to what is now called Baker's Park. These
men were gulch miners, who knew little and cared
less for silver lodes. They were disappointed in
rinding gold in any great quantity, though they
pursued their search diligently until the approach
of winter. Then the hand broke up, but those
who undertook to leave for lower latitudes and
civilization were compelled to succumb to the
rigors of an early winter; while those who
remained had, in addition, to fight the Indians,
who warned them out of the country. For many
years after, the San Juan country was left to soli-
tude and the savages.

In LS6S, the treaty was made, giving the
[ndians the reservation known as t ho Ute Reser-
vation, embracing 30,000 square miles.

In 1870, however, a party of .six prospectors
came up the Rio Grande into the Animas Valley
and located several lodes. Late in the fall, they
returned to the States with accounts of (heir rich
discoveries, and the result was, that in the spring
of 1871, a large number of adventurous spirits
had found their way into the country. The many
rich discoveries of (hi- season increased the excite-
ment to fever-heat, and San Juan became a name
familiar upon the lips of thousands. But this
inroad upon their reservation was looked upon
with great, disfavor by the Indians, and it was
feared that trouble would follow. Troops were
Si nt into tic country in 1872, tg keep out the
miner. This course of the General Government
hut added fuel to the lire id' excitement already
burning in the breasts of the people, hut the

matter was partly settled lo the salisfacti if all

parlies concerned, by the adoption of the Brunot
Treaty, whereby the Indians relinquished their
til le lo 5,600 square miles.

Then the great army of treasure-seekers sought
the solitudes of the San Juan, and silence no
longer reigned. These early settlers were men of
energy, who had listened to the accounts of rich
ores obtained from Southern Colorado. They
were lawyers, ministers, doctors, engineers, mer-
chants and miners from all parts. Some of them
were men who had made the trip from the Mis-
souri River to the Pacific Slope in 1K4!>, and the
later years of that remarkable exodus. They had
seen and known of the stampede lo (odd Bluff
and lo Frazer River; to the Caribou mines in
Briiish America, Washoe, the Comstock, Reese
River, White Pine, Eureka, Cottonwood, and now
to San Juan.

These waited until the land was given up to
them by treaty, and then they came to prospect,
(tlhers, who had no knowledge of mining, were
early to ford the rivers and brave (he crossing of
dangerous ranges that, in many places, were almost
perpendicular. From all (lasses id' society, the
adventurous and energetic wended their wav to
the new discovery, and there, met with the usual
fortune of miners in hard fare and many discom-
forts. But the ■■ prospects" were there, and they
were found. A rich country was opened to the
world, and the yield of precious minerals vastly
increased.

From this time until 1S7S. when Leadville
became the great center of attraction, the San
Juan mining fever burned in the veins of thou-
sands. .More than ten thousand silver mines were
located during this period, and yet it can hardly
he said that the country has begun to be pros-
pected. As will be seen by our account later on.
a large number of mines are now being worked
with good returns. What portion of (his large
number would have been Successfully opened up
in addition to the newer discoveries (hat would
have been made had not the star of Leadville risen

114

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

on the horizon of the prospector, it is difficult to
estimate; but at least one-fourth of those located
would have become paying property. To some,
this might seem an extravagant estimate; but
here it must be taken into consideration that
no blind leads are prospected, mineral being
found in nearly every instanee at or near the sur-
face.

The San .Juan mining region is divided into
districts, of which the Animas district, lying in
what was formerly La Plata, but is now San Juan
County, is one of the oldest named, and lies along
the Animas River and its tributaries. The lodes,
with a few exceptions, occupy positions from
11,000 to 12,000 feet above the sea. The veins
nearly all take the usual course, northeast and
southwest, and the greater part of the ore is argen-
tiferous galena, highly impregnated with gray
copper. The veins are large anil well defined in
almost every instance. Outcropping and large
deposits of iron ore are found in Baker's Park,
and blue carbonate of lime on Sultan Mountain.
The first mine worked to any extent was the Lit-
tle Giant, discovered in 1870, located in Aras-
tra Gulch. The smelter run of the ores treated
IVi mi mines in this district, in 1ST", varied from
$1 50 to $2,000 per tun. We mention a lew of
thi' first-class, paving leads in the neighborhood:
The Highland .Mary. Mountaineer, North Star,
Tiger, Thatcher, Chepauqua, Comstock, Pride of
the West, Philadelphia. Susquehanna, Pelican
Gray Eagle. Shenandoah, Bull of the Woods. Lit-
tle Giant (gold), Prospector, McGregor, Aspen
Seymour. Letter G, Empire. Sultana. Hawkeye,
Ajax. Mollie Darling, Silver Cord, Althea, Last of
the Line, Boss Boy, Crystal, King Hiram Abiff
-eM . Ulysses, Lucky. Eliza Jane, Silver Wing
and Jennie Parker.

Poughkeepsie Gulch, in this district, is a famous
mining locality. It contains 250 lodes, on which
assessment work is done each year; a number are
being steadily worked, while a few are paying
handsome profits. Among these may be noted
the Alaska, Bonanza, Alabama, Acapulco, Red

linger, Saxon, St. Joseph, Poughkeepsie, Gypsy
King and Kentucky Giant.

Silverton is the principal town in the district.
From this point, most of the miners from the La
Plata and the Uneompahgre districts obtain their
supplies. It lies in Baker's Park, one of the love-
liest bits of nature, hidden away in the mountains,
and is destined to be a town of no small impor-
tance in the near future.

The Eureka district joins the Animas on the
north, 'flic character of the ores does not differ
materially from those in the Animas district, gran-
ite being the prevailing character of the rock
formations in each. It takes in all the territory
on the east side of the mountains that divide the
waters of the Animas from those of the (iiiiini-
son and the Uneompahgre. The town of Eureka
is nine miles from Silverton. No larger bodies of
ere are found anywhere than in this district.
Among the principal mines may be mentioned the
McKinnie, Tidal Wave, Boomerang, Crispin, Sun-
nyside, Yellow Jacket, Golden Fleece. Venus,
Emma Dean. American. North Pole, Jackson.
Grand Central, Big Giant, Little Abbie, Belcher
and Chieftain.

The Uneompahgre district has " no end to the
number of rich mines." Nearly all the water-
courses in the northern portion of San Juan have
their source within the limits of the Uneompahgre
district, or in that immediate neighborhood. There
is a nest of mines on the summit of these mount-
ains, perhaps included in one and one and a half
miles square, whose best grade of ores will run
from 8500 to $1,000 to the ton at the smelter.
Among the notable mines in this district may be
named the Mother ('line. Fisherman, Silver Coin.
Adelphi. Scottish Chief. Lizzie, Royal Albert.
Micky Breen, Gypsy Queen and Little Minnie.
The ores of this district are said to carry less
galena and more of the sulphurets of silver than
in any other district named.

The Lake district, in Hinsdale County, of which
Lake City is the chief town, is the most accessible.
by good roadways, of any of the silver-bearing

*■

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

115

some six hundred and fifty mines located in it,
and it possesses the only tellurium lodes of any

note in that secti f country. Two sacks of ore

from one lode the Hotchkiss, weight 150 pounds,
brought at the rate of $40,000 per ton in San
Francisco. The celebrated concentration work of
Crookes Brothers are located at Lake City; the
Ute and Ule mines were bought by these parties
and are extensively worked. This region is laboring
under other disadvantages, at present, than the car-
bonate excitement that drew its mining population
away from it two years ago. It is made up of
almost inaccessible mountain ranges, and is so
remote from railways as not to be an inviting field
for capitalists. But a year or two will work won-
derful changes, when the advent of a railroad ( the
Denver k South Park, probably) will bring the
ore within easy distance of a market, and the rich
mineral veins that now lie idle will be better know u
to the world at large.

We give the names of some of the leading
lodes in this district and county, as follows :

Accidental, in the Galena district, yielding an
average of 300 ounces. American, same district,
LOO to 600 ounces. Belle of the East. Belle of
the West. Big Casino. Croesus, Dolly Varden.
Cray Copper, in the Lake district, 200 ounce-.
Hidden Treasure. Hotchkiss, 400 ounces silver.

miles In- 1 by some seventy long, and. doubtless

running as far north as the Gunnison River.
This region began to be developed in 1875, at
which time the attention of miners was drawn
thereto by successful discoveries of rich placer
diggings, creating a lively excitement. All along
the San Miguel River and its forks and tributaries
are extensive gravel deposits, rich in cold. These
are being worked, some by companies on a large

scale. One company has 1 n putting in all the

newest discovered machinery for economic work-
ing of gravel, by which 2,000 cubic yards are
manipulated in one day. Some claims contain
several million yards of gravel, estimated, from
tesK to average Si per yard. A late authority
on this subject says: "Some idea of the value and
extent of these grand deposits of an ancient river-
bed, from fifty to one hundred and fifty feet above
the present bed of the river, can be obtained from
tlie fact that it costs from $25,000 to $100,000 to
bring water upon them and to construct ditches
and flumes. These immense deposits, like those
of California, have been attracting the attention of
capitalists, and it is safe to say that in a few years
the yield of gold-dust will be enormous."

But it is in the adjoining mountains, seamed
with silver veins, where the immense treasure-vaults
lie, scarcely concealed from common gazi — a silver

Melrose, in the Galena district, 400 ounces. Ocean belt of from twenty to forty miles wide and per-
Wave and extension. Plutarch. Lie. Ute and haps eighty long, in which lie an hundred thou-
sand silver veins, many of huge size and of sur-

Wave of the Ocean

Ouray County contains within its borders some
of the most rugged and almost, perpendicular
mountains and deeply cut ravines and river-gorgi s
known. Its inaccessibility has, of course, retarded
its rapid growth; but the unusual value of the
mineral in this section lias enabled its miners to

passing richness. Take the silver-ribbed King
Solomon Mountain, for instance, rearing its mass-
ive front high in air. between Animas River and
Cunningham Gulch, in San Juan County. Here
you can trace the veins upon its very face, the
mother lode averaging forty feet in width. ' This

dispose of their products. Some of the districts enormous liens of crevice matter is composed of

in this county —notably the Mount Sneffels — have n larly vertical streaks of decomposed ferruginous

no superiors among the silver-bearing sections, and quartz in contact with great seams of argentiferous

are gradually growing in importance as their great mineral. It can be seen for a distance of two miles."

mineral wealth is demonstrated. In this county We give the names of some of the leading lodes

lies the San Miguel gold district, occupying the , in this county, beginning with the Begole, known

districts in the San Juan country. There ari' mountains and streams of a tract of country forty

S-

<£ W-

11G

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

as the Mineral Farm. It might be called one of
the latest wonders of the world, even in view of
the deposits being revealed in the camps of the
carbonates. The locations cover over forty acres
of ground; the actual amount covered by the de-
posit is twelve acres. Fourteen different openings
all showed mineral. This property was located in
1875, and sold in the fall of 1S7* to a company
who had built reduction works at Ouray. One
lodo on this claim has " a very rich gray copper
vin in a gangue of quartzite, often milling from
8400 to $700 per ton." Another has "a streak
of bright galena, with heavy spar, carrying over a
hundred ounces of silver, with 40 per cent of
lead.'' It will thus be seen that this can be made
a very productive " farm."

Belle of the West, on Yellow Mountain, yields
150 ounces: Byron, on Engineer Mountain, 260
ounces; Chief Deposit and Caribou, on Buckeye
Mountain, with a vein of from three to eight feet,
200 to 1,500 ounces ; Circassian. Denver, Eclipse,
500 ounces; Fidelity, 400 ounces: Free Cold.
Geneva, Cold Queen, Mineral Farm, Norma,
.Mountain Ram, Imogene, on Buckeye Mountain,
yielding from 5G to 1,370 ounces; San Juan,
Silver King, Staatsburg, Virginius and Yankee
Boy, on Mount Sneffels, yielding each from 200
to 40ti ounces.

It would be simply impossible to make any-
thing like a close estimate of the wealth that lies
imbedded in these mountains, where constant de-
velopments show that only the beginning of it has
been found. When the time comes that trans-
portation can be offered, these mountains will
again tempt the hopeful prospector and the hardy
min. a-, and they will go to stay. The production
from these districts is considerable, and is grad-
ually growing. A few years from now will shon
as remarkable a change from the present status of
affairs in the San Juan Valley as the year 1*70
showed in comparison with that of 1S7I). The
inhabitants of this section of Colorado need have
no fears. Those whose faith in the future of the
San Juan mining country has led them to invest

their all there will yet see their most sanguine ex-
pectations realized. Messrs. Keyes and Roberts,
two celebrated mining experts from California,
visited the San Juan country last summer with
Gov. Pitkin, and stated publicly that it was the
richest mining country they ever saw. Said Mr.
Keyes: "If this country was located anywhere
in California, §100,000,000 would be invested in
it immediately by our capitalists.''

Rich and extensive as the early discoveries in
this country have proven to he, it is possible that
a recent development there will eventually out-
strip all former ones. Reference is had, of course,
to the late carbonate find on the Dolores River, in
the western part of Ouray County. These car-
bonates are pronounced identical with the Lead-
ville deposits, possessing every peculiarity of the
latter, even down to the facility with which they
yield to treatment by smelting

The rush to the Dolores country has continued
pretty much all summer, and a new town, named
Rico, has been organized in the wilderness, with a
newspaper and other adjuncts of civilized life.
Rico means " rich," ami undoubtedly the town is
rightly named, for the camp is far in advance of
what Leadville was at the same age. Of course,
nobody knows what an undeveloped mining town
will amount to one. two or three years hence ; but
at present the Dolores country is looking up, and
its promise is all that could be desired. It is still
comparatively inaccessible except by the rough
mountain roads of the southwest : hut there will
eventually be a railroad in that direction, and

earl ate ores, especially the higher grades, can

be treated on the ground.

Among the mining experts who visited Rico last
summer was Senator Jones, and the fact that he
invest eil in several claims during his sojourn shows
that his faith in the future of the Dolores mines
amounted to a tolerable certainty.

The new mines arc reached via Ouray, Silver-
ton or Animas City: but neither route is over a
prairie road, by any means. Better roads will lie
among the first results of development in the

Jhft*^ i

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

119

mines, and by next summer it may be confidently i carbonates there is not doubted, and ii is thought
expected that arrangements will be made not only they are rich enough to pay fur working them

to accommodate the large travel which will set

Bven at that distance from a railroad. If so, this

toward the mines, hut also to take iii supplies and , country has justly earned its title of "The Silver
smelting machinery. That there are genuine lead San Juan."

CHAPTER XIX.
THE UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO.

A FTEll two years of hard work, the Univer-
-^— *- sity of Colorado, at Boulder, has been placed
on a footing with the largest and best educational
institutions in the country. When Prof. Joseph
A. Sewall, M. P., LL. D., first took the Presi-
dent's chair, the University existed merely in
11 Hue. To he sine, the building was there, but
lli re was little else. Nothing had been dune to
improve the grounds, and the interior of the
building was ham n and desolate .Many pre-
dicted that the undertaking would he a failure,
and spoke disparagingly of it. But, notwith-
standing these discouraging surroundings, Prof.
Sewall started in earnest, and the beautiful
grounds and the standing of the school are the
result of his energetic labors. For two years he
and his accomplished wife have labored assidu-
ously, and their efforts have been bountifully
rewarded.

The University is beautifully situated upon the
high grounds on the south side of Boulder (.'reek,
and overlooks the city of Boulder. Standing, as
it does, alone, a view of the scenery of the sur-
rounding country can he obtained from cither side
of the building. To the west are the boldest and
highest foot-hills of the range, and, far away, the
ever snow-capped summit of Arapahoe Peak. On
the north and east, as far as the eye can. reach,
extend the fertile plains, dotted with lakes, while
on the smith rise the beautiful mesas or table-
lands. Two years ago. the grounds immediateh,
surrounding the institution were entirely barren
and covered almost completely with rocks, of all

sizes. Now these rocks have been removed, and,
in their place, has been cultivated a beautiful lawn
on the west side, irrigated by two small paved
ditches; while in front of the building is a beau-
tifully arranged flower-garden, handsomely orna-
mented, with .stone walls surrounding the different
plats. This spot alone is the result of much toil
ami perseverance, for every stone in the winding
walks had to be laid by hand. Last spring there
were just 219 plants set out, and, owing to the
watchful care of the President's wife, only one of
that number has succumbed to the enervating
influence of the weather, while the remaining 218
are in a flourishing condition. Among these
plants, which at present are in full bloom, is a
cinnamon geranium nearly five feet high, having
grown to its present dimensions in two years, from
a slip of hut a few inches. Verbenas, lobelias,
geraniums and hosts of other choice plants have
been beautifully arranged in plats, and the com-
binations of their rich colors tend to greatly
enhance the beautiful scenery around, while the
air is redolent with their sweet perfume. A sprig
of clematis has been planted, and is now entwin-
ing its branches around the jagged edges of the
stone walls of the foundation, and next summer
will cover the wall of the building. The water
used to irrigate the ground is supplied by a ditch
company, in which the University is interested to
the extent of ten shares of stock.

The building is a large square structure, three
stories in height. 1 mill of brick and surmounted
by a tower and observatory. There are over

120

IIISToliV (>F COLORADO

seventy windows in the house, and thus all the
apartments arc well lighted and are always cheer-
ful. There are two entrances, one from the
north and the other from the smith side, by
means of double doors, reached by eight steps of
stone. Exclusive of the basement, there are
twenty-four rooms, and a large hall to the upper
storj

()n the first floor there are seven spacious
rooms, four of which are occupied by the Presi-
dent and his family. The left-hand side of the
hall, entering from the mirth side, is devoted to
school purposes. Immediately in front is the
teachers' dressing-room, in which are neatly
arranged a stationary wash-stand, clothes-racks
ami everything necessary to the comfort of the
instructors upon arriving at the institution on a
wet er disagreeable 'lay. Adjoining this is the
Normal school room, seating forty pupils. Next
conies the chapel, which is also to lie used as a
general assembly room, where the scholars will
congregate every morning to attend devotional
exercises, prior to entering upon the duties of the
day. It is a large room, its measurement being
t0x60 feet and 32 feet in height. At present,
the room does not present a very prepossessing
appearance, hut when the alterations are com-
pleted it will he one of the most attractive depart-
ments in the institution. A new floor of ash-w 1

is to replace the old one, the walls and ceiling are
to lie frescoed and there are to lie inside blinds to
the windows. ('hairs will he used, and ample
accommodations will he provided lor all the schol-
ars, 'flic building is all piped, and it is expected
before long there will lie a small gas generator put
in operation, for lighting purposes.

From the first floor there are two broad stair-
ways, heavily balustraded, one of which leads to
the third floor and the other terminates at the
second. The former is used exclusively by the
male scholars, while the girls hold possession of
the latter one. The members of the Sophomore
Class have a classroom in the northeast corner of
the second story. This is furnished somewhat

differently from the regular style of schoolrooms;
in the place of the ordinary desks are four walnut
tallies, covered with tine billiard cloth, around
which sixteen students can sit with ease.

Comfortable chairs are provided and a neat car-
pet covers the floor, while around the walls are
arranged blackboards, for illustrating purposes.
This is one of the most cheerful and bright rooms
in the establishment, ami from the windows one
can look down on the beautiful garden, and also
view the surrounding country for miles.

Next to this is the classroom of the pupils in
the third year of the preparatory course, which
will accommodate thirty scholars at its desks. ( In
the opposite side of the hall an apartment has
been provided for the girls, to he used by them as
a dressing and hath room. This is a large, com-
modious place, and has been supplied with all the
modern conveniences.

Next conies the classroom for pupils in the sec-
ond year of the preparatory department, furnished
with a Centennial desk, which is considered the
finest and lust manufactured. From this room a
door leads out into a side hall, in which is another
flight of stairs, in the middle of the building on
the west side. Opposite the stairs is the room
occupied by the first year preparatory scholars,
with thirty desks in it and cheerfully lighted by
two large windows. A ten-foot room separates it
from the library, in the southwest corner of the
building.

Too high praise cannot he bestowed upon the
library department of the University, for, without
exception, it is the finest and best-selected west of
the Mississippi River. There are ahmit fifteen
hundred hooks, neatly arranged in three cases, and
among their number there cannot lie found a sin-
gle volume which does not tend to cultivate the
mind and impart instruction. Among the works
of history are twelve volumes of "Grote's History
of Greece," Mommsen's, Gibbon's and Merivale's
Eistoriesof Rome, "Knight's History ofEngland,"
"Guizot's History of France." " Bancroft's History
of the United States," the Netherlands and Dutch

«? er
T

■&

IIISTOKY OF COLORADO.

121

Republic by Motley, as well as all of liis other
wmks. Among others arc Johnson's, the Brit-
ish, and the new American Encyclopedias. There

is also a complete line of reference and classical
works, and the nocts are represented by Shaks-
peare, Scott, Byron, Shelley, Tennyson and Long-
fellow, with Schiller and Goethe in the original,
in six volumes each. The entire International
series also occupies a place. Scientific works
abound in large numbers, and among others are
"Mitchell's Manual of Practical Assaying,"
"Crooke's and Bohrig's Practical Treatise on
Metallurgy," and the two volumes of "Musprat's
Chemistry as Applied to Art." The library is a
regular subscriber to all the leading magazines,
both of this country and Europe, and includes
works printed in English, French and German.

This department is elegantly furnished through
the kindness and interest of the scholars. The
girls provided the lambrequins and curtains for the
four large windows; a fine bordered Brussels car-
pet was presented by a gentleman of Boulder.
There are three walnut writing-tables, and a
number of substantial walnut chairs; also, a com-
fortable, large easy-chair. The library hall is
fitted up for a reading-room, and is open through-
out the day for study, reading and consultation
of authorities. One of the attractive features
is th" elegant style in which all the books arc
bound, and this adds greatly to the richness of the
room.

Ascending another flight of stairs, the third
story is reached, and here is the chemical labora-
tory. In the northwest corner is a small but
remarkably bright room, in which the scales are to
be placed and used as a weighing-room, and
adjoining it will be the chemical storeroom. The
laboratory is forty by fifty-two feet, in the center

of which is placed the working-table, so arranged
as to accommodate twenty-four students at once.
There is a rack running the entire length and in
tln> middle of the table, placed in position to hold
the re-agents. Each scholar will also have a
drawer and closets for the apparatus. Standing
off by itself is an assaying and cupelling furnace,
designed by and built under the personal super-
vision of Prof. Sewall. He considers it a furnace
of very superior order. As there are always
obnoxious uasi's arising from a department of this
character, provision has been made by which they
will be immediately carried off, and thus be pre-
vented from generating through the building. A
double trap-door has been ingeniously constructed,
to open in the ceiling. This creates a draft, and
the fumes are drawn into the north tower of the
building, which is only protected from the outside
elements by means of open blinds, and through
these the gases will readily find an exit. This is
one of the great advantages of having the labora-
tory in the top of the house. About $.">, (Hill worth
of apparatus has been ordered from New York and
Germany for this department, and some of it is
expected to arrive by the first of next month, and,
by the first of the year, everything will be in
working order. This includes a complete outfit
of a working laboratory; also, an Urtling assay
balance ami Backer's analytical balance.

Several of the rooms have had to be changed
in order to meet the requirements of the Univer-
sity, and, to forward the business of the institution,
the Legislature at its last session appropriated the
sum of $7,000. Of this amount, the State Board
retained $3,000, anil allowed the remainder to be
used for the purposes above specified. Nearly all
of that amount has been well invested, for now
the school is in excellent working order.

122

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

POSTSCRIPT.

CHAPTER I.

THE UTE REBELLION.

SINCE the preceding pages were written, Col-
orado has been convulsed by a sudden,
unexpected and causeless uprising of the Utes.
Strictly speaking, only a portion of the tribe par-
ticipated in the outbreak ; but the confederated
bands of Colorado are so intermingled by marriage
and bound together by so many ties of consan-
guinity and interest that it would be hard to dis-
sociate the innocent from the guilty, and a war
upon the White River Utes, the baud directly
responsible for the outbreak, would almost inev-
itably result in drawing the whole tribe into the
conflict, sooner or later.

The story of the outbreak has been so graphic-
ally told in the journals of the day throughout the
country that there seems to be no present demand
lor an authentic history; but, on the other hand,
now is the time to summarize the whole wretched
business for the enlightenment of future genera-
tions. The bloody incidents of the campaign and
the fatal blunders of the "powers that be" in
dealing with the red-handed murderers are all
fresh in the minds of our people, and it is not im-
possible that a calm review of the matter may aid
the public in arriving at some correct conclusions
on the vexed question of Indian management, at
least as far as the Colorado Utes are concerned.

It was stated at the outset that the rebellion
was causeless. In some sense, the accusation is
well founded; but away back in the past history
of the Utes may be found some shadowy excuses
for their ingratitude and treachery to Agent
Meeker ami the Agency employes, to say nothing
of the Thornburg massacre, which, no doubt,
seemed a proper thing for Captain Jack and his

warriors. As between the Utes and the Indian
Bureau, the people of Colorado think there is not
much room to choose.

A few years ago, the writer was conducting a
daily newspaper in Denver, the policy of which
was by no means friendly to the Utes ; but, for a
time, its columns were devoted to the unpleasant
task of showing how Indian affairs were misman-
aged in Colorado. It was no secret then that our

] pie feared the worst results from the state of

affairs at the Northern Agency. They could not
have been much worse. All the supplies for the
White River Indians were at Rawlings, ware-
housed at Government expense, awaiting trans-
portation. Nothing had been done toward getting
the supplies from the railway to the Agency, and
nothing was done for many months. The Indians
were simply destitute. They had neither pro-
visions nor clothing. In their despair, they went
to Rawlings, where a train load of clothing, pro-
visions and annuity goods were stored, and which
should have been distributed long before ; but the
meshes of "red tape" entangled them, and not a
pound of flour nor an article of clothing could be
issued at that point.

Rev. B. F. Crary, Presiding Elder of the
.Methodist Conference for Northern Colorado and
Wyoming, made a thorough investigation of the
matter, and wrote some stinging articles upon the
subject, which were printed in the newspapers of
the day: but the goods still rotted in the ware-
house, and the Indians went hungry and naked.
For a wonder, however, they did not murder the
Agent and go upon the war path. Indian nature
is an anomaly.

:>>

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

123

While the White River Utes were suffering
from the neglect and general incompetency of the
Indian Bureau, the Southern or Uncompahgre
Indians were being treated to a mild manifestation
of financial repudiation on the part of the parental
Government at Washington. By the Brunot
Treaty, the Southern Utes surrendered the San
Juan country for a valuable consideration, the
money to be invested for their benefit and the
interest to be paid for their use. There was never
any reason why this interest should not have been
paid. There was every reason why it might to
have been paid. Nevertheless, it was not paid.
The Indians grumbled a good deal, of course, as
they had a right to do; but Chief Ouray's clear
head and guiding hand prevented serious trouble.
Colorado owes so much to this Indian statesman
that the debt bids fair to remain uncanceled.

But an Indian never forgets or forgives an
injury, and all these slights and injustices were
treasured up against a day of reckoning with the
whites. All whites are the same to all- Indians. |
If a horse-thief steals an Indian pony, the Indian
gets even with the first white man whose stock is
attainable. If the Indian Bureau fails to furnish
supplies, the Indian forages on the white settlers.
begging what he can and stealing the rest. An
Indian with a grievance is worse than a bear with
a sore head. He is never quite satisfied with any
aton iment, vicarious or direct. Indeed, his griev-
ance grows by what it feeds on of that character,
and the more he is placated the more implacable
he. becomes, That was Father Meeker's error,
perhaps.

Still, in the main, the Government was good to
the 1 tes. They gut cattle and sheep and ponies,
and these multiplied amazingly, until now the
tribe is rich in flocks and herds, ami their princi-
pal occupation, as well as their favorite amuse-
ment, is horse-racing. As befits the " true lords
of the soil." they toil not. neither do tiny spin,
nor labor with aught but their jaws. Latterly,
too. they have been well led and well clothed.
Their Agents have been scrupulously careful to

give them no just cause for complaint, having
good reason to fear an outbreak if they did so,
for the Utes have been growing more and more
dissatisfied of late, and more imperious and unjust
in their demands. Vet, while they were well-
treated no one looked for a rebellion, and the
massacre at Milk Creek and White River was as
great a surprise to the people of Colorado as it
was to the Indian Bureau itself.

Mr. Meeker had been in charge of White
River Agency since early in 1878. He found
matters in bad shape when he reached his post of
duty; but, by determined effort and untiring
industry, he soon brought order out of chaos, and
made the Indians more comfortable than they had
been for years. Mr. Meeker was eminently a man
of affairs, highly educated, intelligent, thoroughly
honest and conscientious withal, so that his treat-
ment of the savages would have been strictly just,
even if he had not been a lifelong devoted friend
of the Indian. As it was, he was enthusiastic in
his devotion to the Indians, and did everything in
his power to promote their interests. Bred in the
humanitarian school of Horace Greeley, whose
colleague he had been on the New York Tribune,
and iu the Greeley Colony, of Colorado, Mr.
.Meeker — or Father Meeker, as he was almost uni-
versally known — was the last man who would or
could have been suspected of imposing upon the
wards of tin' Government, in any particular. Yet
it appeared during the spring of 1879 that Father
Meeker was making j r headway with his Indi-
ans, ami, later on, it became evident that he had
lost all control over them. They wandered away
from the Agency, making mischief as they went ;
and on being remonstrated with and threatened
with the Agent's displeasure., they paid no atten-
tion to threats or remonstrances.

During tin 1 summer months, numerous depreda-
tions were reported as having been committed by
the White River Utes. while off their reservation.
Forest fires were started by them in every direc-
tion, burning away millions of acres of timber
anil frightening the game out of the country.

124

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

Property was stolen or destroyed, and at least
two houses, on Bear River, were burned by rene-
gade Utes from Mr. Meeker's Agency. Mr.
Meeker did what he could to keep his Indians at.
home, and appealed to the Government and mili-
tary to restrain the depredating Indians. Noth-
ing came of his appeals. When a white man
accidentally crosses the line of an Indian reserva-
tion, he may expect to find a cordon of United
States bayonets surrounding him and soldiery
enough to escort him back ; but marauding Indi-
ans, off their reservation, burning hay and houses
and forests, find nothing in the way of their enjoy-
ment, unless the long-suffering settlers rise to pro-
tect their rights.

Immediately following the outbreak at White
River, came the customary cry in the Eastern
humanitarian press that the Dtes were fighting to
protect themselves against the aggressions of white
settlers; that the latter were overrunning the
reservation against the will of the Indians, and
the latter were forced to fight or fly. Xo baser
calumny was ever printed against any people. The
reverse was true. The white settlers were forced
to flee from Routt and Grand Counties because
they could not live near the reservation. The
insolent Utes were master of the whole northwest-
ern country, far outside of their reservation.

In the mean time, a curious thing happened, or,
at least, a thing that would have seemed curious
hail it related to any other people than the noble
red men of the mountains. At the very moment
when these Utes were almost in open rebellion,
they began to find fault with Agent Meeker and
to ask his removal, not because he was incompe-
tent or dishonest ; not because he was trying to
make them behave themselves; not for any of the
many stock reasons the Indians have lor becoming
dissatisfied with their agents, but only because he
was carrying out the humanitarian idea of treating
the Indians well and instructing them in letters

and the art- of peace.

Mn this point, there can be no doubt, whatever,
for the testimony of the Utes themselves is

conclusive upon the question. About two months
before the massacre, Gov. Pitkin was visited at
Denver by four chiefs from White River — Capt.
Jack, Sahwitz, Musisco and Unkumgood — who
came on a mission in behalf of the tribe, said
mission being to secure the removal of Agent
Meeker through the influence of Gov. Pitkin.
The Governor gave them two audiences, each
lasting two or three hours, and listened to all their
complaints. Press reporters were also present and
noted carefully what was said on both sides. Capt.
Jack, who afterward led the attack on Maj. Thorn-
burg, was the spokesman of the Utes, his command
of the English language being sufficient to make
him easily understood. He talked a good deal
about one thing and another, but at no time did
he ever intimate that the Indians were not well
clothed, well fed and well cared for, or that the
whites were making encroachments on the reser-
vation. Neither did he complain about the non-
payment of interest due, or any other neglect to
deal justly with the Indians. The burden of his
complaint was humanitarianism. He had a holy
Indian horror of hard work, and the strongest
possible prejudice against education. TheAgent"was
teaching school and plowing land — two unpardona-
ble sins, according to Jack's decalogue. Jack also
had some fault to find with minor details of man-
agement at the Agency, none of which in the
least affected the condition of his tribe; and he
was also very severe on Chief Ouray, whose
authority he openly denied and defi id. When
asked if he and his associates would consent to let
the white men dig gold on the reservation, his
refusal was prompt and vigorous, and gave un-
doubted evidence that the prospector who set foot
across the line would almost certainly find it a
veritable dead-line. At that time, however, no
one supposed that the hostility of the Indians to
Agent Meeker would lead them to murder him
and his associates, and little attention was paid to
the trivial complaints of the White River delega-
tion, though their visit was duly reported to the
proper authorities at Washington and elsewhere.

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

1215

CHATTER II.

AFFAIRS AT WHITE RIVER AGENCY.

THAT the Indians meant mischief seemed to
In' no secret to anybody except the high and
mighty officials of the Indian Bureau at Washing-
ton. During the summer, Gov. Pitkin more than
once protested against the outrageous conduct of
the White River Utes; but no attention was paid
to his telegrams further than to acknowledge their
receipt and offer some gossamer excuse for the
Indians. Agent Meeker wrote to the Governor
that the Indians could not be controlled or kept
on their reservation without the aid of troops, and
the army would not act without orders from the
Indian Bureau, which never came. Mr. Meeker
begged (Jov. Pitkin to use his good offices to have
troops sent to the Agency to carry out the orders
and instructions of the Bureau, but the Governor
was only partially successful. (Jen. Pope ordered
a troop of colored cavalry from Fort Garland to
scout through Middle and North Park for the
protection of settlers, but of course the Imli.ui>
merely avoided the troops, and went on with the
burning of forests and the destruction of property.
Finally, a new move was made by the State
authorities. Maj. J. B. Thompson, whose house
had been burned by Indians, on Bear River, swore
out warrants for the arrest of two ringleaders,
named Bennett and Chinaman. These warrants
were issued by Judge Beck, out of the District
Court for the First Judicial District, in which the
crime was committed, and placed in the hands of
Sheriff Bessey, of Grand County, for service.
Sheriff Bessey made an unsuccessful effort to ar-
rest the criminals, but was informed by Chief
Douglass that no Indian could be arrested liv
civil process in the reservation, whatever crimes
he may have been guilty of outside that charmed
circle. Strange to say, this view of the case seems
to be sustained by as high authority as the Indian
Bureau.

Mr. R. D. Coxe, a very intelligent gentleman,
who spent the summer in Middle Park, was a
member of the posse which accompanied Sheriff
Bessey to White River Agency. His account of
the trip is so interesting that no apology is neces-
sary for transferring it to these pages. It shows
the state of affairs at the Agency more than a
month previous to the massacre :

"The Sheriff of Grand County. Mr. Marshall
Bessey. with a po>se of four men, left Hot Sul-
phur Springs at 1 o'clock P. M , August 22, and
after a four-days journey, through the rugged
country that comprises the northern part of Mid-
dle and Egeria Parks, and over the well-timbered
Bear River bottom, the Sheriff camped at Pike's
Agency (Windsor), twenty-five miles from the
line of the reservation. The party were enter-
tained at Windsor by some accounts of Indian
deviltry, as well as by the information that Colo-
row, with his hand, was camped a mile below.
The Indians so near the Agency pay little attention
to the amenities. Mrs. Peck, wife of the Agent, a
timid woman, had been scared into a sick-bed bythe
red devils. It is no uncommon pastime for them,
reaching a house from which the men are away,
to command the women to cook them a meal. An
Indian never lacks an appetite, and, with the
knowledge of the terror his hideous visage and
apparel strikes to the women, he manages to get
many a square meal by turning [ Big (very big)
Injun. ' One of them went to the house of a
ranchman named Lithgow, close to Windsor, after
a meal, but the sandy little woman declined to i'm\
him. Tie began his -Big Injun tactics and drew a
knife on her. She struck him a smart blow en the
face with a teacup, laying the fli sh opi n, 'and the
subsequent proceedings interested him no more.'

"Peck is. apparently, a clever, business-like
man. lie has a tremendous stock of goods — a

120

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

genera] stock, of which the magazine and arsenal
are a large part. This stock is to sell to the Iudi-
ans. There is no law to prevent this, but the
many widows and orphans whom this outbreak
will make can thank Perk and such as he for put-
ting the Indians in fighting trim. 1 went into
Mrs. Peek's kitchen, to heat sunn water, and. per-
ceiving a staek of arms, remarked that she was
well prepared for the Indians. She said they
were Colorow's guns, which he had left there the
day before. When she mentioned his name she
shuddered, and she talked with bated breath when
she spoke of Indians. Her life is a constant fear,
and I could not help hut estimate the profits of
the business \ should have to be in to keep a wife
and children in such a country. I could nut hold
enough ciphers in mind to name the figure.

■■ Mr. Bessey had a warrant tin- two Indians, by
supposed name ' Chinaman ' and 'Bennett.' We
took some pains to inquire of the white people at
Windsor about these Indians, hut could learn
nothing. The dead, Sabbath calm of gossip,
which is so noticeable among the Utes, extended
even this far, and they were very ignorant of any
crimes that might be alleged against the Indians.

" Before we were ready to start for the Agency,
which we did just at noon on the 27th of August,
an Indian rode up to Peek's and dismounted. I
was sitting, with a companion, at the door of the
store, when he left his horse and came toward the
store. My companion, Dr. Chamberlain, said, as
he approached us:

'•■Why. that's Washington.'

'And it was; hut what an opposite to his
namesake — the man who never told a lie!

' [ think that Washington is about as ugly a
hijicil as we have at present on the continent, and
what homeliness of face he lacked he had at-
tempted to supply by dress. I am not a g 1

hand at description of dies,-, hut I shall endeavor
to tell yon how Washington was attired. His
head was surmounted by a soft hat, turn-down
rim, which was ornamented by a hand of cal-
ico. He had on a red flannel shirt, soiled and

torn, and about as poor a pair of pantaloons as
the law allows. But the leggings — the one arti-
cle of the dress of equestrians which the Indians
make better than the whites — were handsome.
An old and ragged pair of boots protected his
feet. As lie came up, I saw he was cross-eyed,
ami that the 'whites' of his eyes had become
' browns,' as well as bloodshot. He muttered
somethiug which I did not understand, as he
reached us, and picked up my gun, which was
standing at my side. He looked it over care-
fully, sighted at a hillside 5111) yards off, and then
coming to a parade rest, said, 'Good gun ! ' Con-
sidering this a challenge to converse, I replied,
and got the benefit of what I should term the
'aphorisms of Washington' (who never told a
lie). I could not repeat his full conversation,
because I lost much of it by not understanding
Indian-English. I had come to look upon the
Indian as one that seldom talks and never smiles.
But this old Indian overturned that belief. He
talked like a machine ami chuckled constantly.
He was especially merry over a 'tear' that he
and six comrades hail been on in Denver. His
descriptions were unique, thus: 'We come to
man. Man have whisky. Utes drink um. Come
to man — two — two man. Man have whisky.
Utes drink um.' And so on, till Utes had plenty
of whisky, and the police took them in. He said
the Utes were 'heap seared. His 'heap scared'
was a favorite expression. They were locked up
during the night, ' heap scared.' They came
before the Judge next morning, 'heap scared.'
But they came out all right. The Judge saw
that they were Utes, and, according to this vera-
cious historian, he said as much, and remanded
them to the reservation. Then he drew a map
in the sand, explaining as he drew. He first
made a very large dot, to indicate Denver City ;
two inches off he drew another, for Georgetown ;
two inches more, and Hot Sulphur Springs (the
name of which he did not seem to know well, and
preferred to say 'heap water — drink water'); two
inches more, and the Agency — ' Utes heap glad.'

MM.

■Jw

^ <& /£h**fy£*C

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

127

He then explained about how dreadfully he had
hurt his arm, a long time ago, and this was inter-
esting talk to us. for we remembered that just one
year before, a band of ten intrepid men, under
command of William N. Byers, of Denver, had
pme to the Agency to capture the murderer of
Mr. Elliott, of Middle Park, and to get some
stolen stuck. The stuck they got, and they sent.
a surgeon who was with them to see whether a
wounded Indian had stowed away a ball, or had
really been hurt by the fall. This Indian was
Washington — the surgeon was my companion;
and nothing would have saved Washington from
their vengeance if he had had a gun-shot wound.
" He soon passed on to polities, and, as politics
go (or should go) in the Ute Nation, I should
class him as an independent liberal kicker. He
did not like Meeker. ' Meeker heap fool. Me no
Iike'm work. Make Washington heap tired. But

me si t'm blacktail,' etc. Then he told us about

Ouray, whom, he assured us, was no Ute, but
an Apache papoose. He told us how Ouray
had sold Uncompahgre Park and pocketed the
$10, (too received for it. After blackguarding
Ouray for .some time, he came to Douglass, whom
he seemed to have no faith in. I think, if he had
understood the beautiful slang of the street, he
would have pronounced Douglass a fraud. He
claimed that if Douglass 'went on' (at what I
know not ), the Utes would soon have no ground,
no agency, no agent, no nothing. But this lie,
who had no good word for any in authority, soon
came to speak of one whom he seemed to like. It
was no less a personage than Washington, lie
was a good lie liked the white man, never
troubled the whites, wouldn't lie or steal, anil so
on. After an eulogy on his virtues, he took care-
fully from his vest pocket a soiled envelope, from
which he took a piece of legal-cap paper, which he
handed to us with much satisfaction of manner.
\\ e read it. It was a 'character,' and read about
as follows: -The bearer, George Washington, is
a good Ute. lie will not steal the white man's
horses, nor anything else from the white man.'

The signature was a scrawl, which meant nothing.
When we returned the paper to him, he put it
away as carefully tis if it had been his last dollar-
bill, and he a thousand miles from home. We
soon left him, and saw him no more. The unan-
imous opinion among those who know the Indian
is that he is the meanest Indian in the mountains
— meaner than that monument of meanness.
Colorow, his friend and co-chief. We camped, on
the 2"th, some fifteen miles toward the Agency
from Windsor, and early the next morning started
on.

" We soon crossed the east line of the reserva-
tion, hut traveled fully ten miles into the reserva-
tion before meeting an Indian. As we reached
the top of a divide the trail led through a natural
gateway of rocks, and from this point we saw in
tln> distance Indians coming toward us. As they
came nearer, we saw there were hut three, and
soon that they were a brave, a squaw and a girl.
As we met, the brave extended his hand, with the
customary salute, ' How?' I had learned enough
Injun to answer him in his own language, and
found no hesitancy in telling him how! The
brave was a jolly-looking fellow, easy to smile. He
won! a straw hat (quite the thing among the
Utes), and his locks were oiled and plaited. He
was, evidently, dressed for a holiday, and so,
indeed, it was for him, for he was taking his
'outfit' (his home, his family and all his posses-
sions, I judge ) to the store, where the hides packed
on his ponies were to be disposed of. and he was
to get ammunition, possibly a gun for himself, and
gewgaws for the squaw and children, for there was
a papoose at the mother's knee, swinging to the
saddle in one of those contrivances which take,
with the Indians, the place of cradles.

" We saw quite a number of Indians after pass-
ing this family, one of whom realized, to some ex-
tent, the ideal Lo. lie was standing on the
mountain-side, with only a shirt on, his long hair
flowing down his hack, and his brown limbs ex-
posed. He appeared to have struck wash-day. and
he was at it with might and main. We passed

-?]£"

128

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

about a quarter of a mile from him, but his pony
took a Eking to us and attempted to follow as.
Then the savage within him roused, and he talked
Dte tn the horse like a father.

" As we neared White River, we saw fleeting
forms mi horseback, and, as long as we had a view
of the road, they were noticeable. Indians dislike
to walk a horse, and even the girls and boys of the
tribe keep their ponies in a lope. We inquired
the distance to the Agency of an Indian girl, and
she told us a mile. It was three, but anything
short of live miles is a mile to an Indian.

" Larue camps lined the river-bank. The camps
were mostly composed of tepees ; but once in a
while was a tent, sometimes a log cabin, or shed
with a brush roof.

" All the Indians we met had on paint, a red
smear over their faces; but we met one that was
got up for pretty. His face was painted a drab
color, from forehead to chin; from ear to ear, his
chin bad a pink wash, ami his eyelids were a
bright Vermillion. His hair was closely gathered
back, and lie might have trained for a Huniptv-
Dumpty in a theatrical community. He was very
quiet — said nothing to us at all. 1 asked him if
an\ urn- was dead, but he did not reply.

•The Agency had been moved since any of the
party had been there, and. as we came in sight of
it. it presented a pretty picture to our eyes. The
White River Valley at the Agency is some half or
three-quarters of a mile in width, and i^. splendidly
adapted to agriculture, as well by the ease with
which it can be irrigated as by the natural qual-
ities of the soil. Facing the Agency buildings,
under fence, was a field of fifty acres, in which was
growing corn and garden truck, and from which a
good crop lit' wheat had been harvested. Around
wan- the signs of a practical fanner, and under the
sheds nf the Asjency were the latest improvements
in agricultural implements. Here, thought I. is
the model ; another gen ration will find our dusky
neighbors tilling their ranches and pursuing the
peaceful avocations of civilization, and the blessing

will rest upon the head of N. C. MeekiT. lillt a

herd of horses skirted the fenced field, and it
seemed to me they looked with jealous eye upon
the growing crops. On the hills, upon the other
side of the river, were large herds of cattle, and
everything looked pastoral and quiet.

"It needed no introduction to tell us that the
tall, angular, gray-headed man who welcomed us
to the Agency was ' Father' Meeker. To look at
him was to see the plows and harrows and fence-
wire. Tie told us to unsaddle at the corral, and,
after an eight hours' ride over a rough trail, we
were not unwilling to do so. As we approached
the corral, a figure came toward us from the direc-
tion of the river, that I gazed at with increasing
interest as it approached. Dressed in what 1
should rail the fall attire of a workman in the
States, I set myself to solve the problem of what
nationality. White, red or black? Once it was
a sunburned white man, then a 'nigger,' but when
it reached us the inevitable red smear betrayed it.
It was an Indian, and, moreover, an Indian who
spoke respectable English. There was something
I should describe as a reserved force in his man-
ner unit matter) of speaking. Our conversation
was trivial. I had put my estimate on him, and
it was that he had grown civilized enough to doff
the blanket (emblem of the aborigine) anil to
become generally no account. Imagine my sur-
prise when tin- Sheriff turned to me and told me
our visitor was Douglass. I had expected to find
the great chief in a mud palace, exacting the
reverence and homage of all comers. Instead,
he is an Indian who would be taken for a respecta-
ble negro church-sexton in Kentucky, and he
keeps up thr likeness by his grave reticence and
respectful curiosity as to what our mission is.

■ A word as to Douglass. I do not put the esti-
mate on him that the dispatches would warrant.
I do not believe that he led the charge on .Milk
Creek, mounted mi a fiery, untamed pony. He is
the father of a divided house, if those acquainted
with the affairs of the White River T'tes know
whereof they speak. Douglass is a chief of ten
years' standing, and, from intercourse with the

J ,

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

129

whites, as well as weight of years, has grown con-
servative and pliable. None ean know better than
he the futility of war with the whites. Since his
chieftainship, the tribe has grown tip. The boys
that used to fight the Arapahoes are middle-aged,
and among them is an aquiline-featured stalwart
ealled ('apt. Jack. I am told that Capt. Jack,
while nominally second chief, really commands the
suffrage and good-will of far the larger portion of
tin- tribe.

" Douglass is about five feet seven inches in
height, medium stature and outrageously bow-
legged. The most noticeable thing about him is
that he shaves, but manages to escape an iron-gray
growth of moustache on the sides of his mouth in
that operation. In his dress, lie made no pre-
tence to the gaudy — was satisfied with the sub-
stantial. While I was yet eyeing him, eager to
hear some words of wisdom from this patriarch,
the Agent came out and told him he wanted to
talk to him. Douglass followed him into the
house, as did the Sheriff.

■ Mr. Bessey had already acquainted Mr.
Meeker with the object of our visit, and Mr.
Meeker had promised to do what he could to
bring the criminal Utes to account. In the house,
Mr. Bessey again went over the business and
showed his warrant. Douglass said the Utes were
not on the reservation, and that therefore he could
uot give them up. Mr. Meeker said they could
not be far away. Douglass did not know about
that. Mr. Meeker then told Douglass that it was
his duty to send Utes with the Sheriff to identify
the Indians specified in the warrant. For some
time, Douglass made no reply to this, but with a
reed which be bad made figures on the floor.

Finally, he looked up. 1 a thunder-cloud was on

his brow. He told the Agent decidedly and
emphatically that he would not doit. This ended
the council, and Douglass soon departed for his
cabin, loeated near the old A gency, and, therefore.
fifteen miles from the new Agency buildings.

" During this time. Miss Josie Meeker and Mrs.
Price had been preparing dinner for us. and to

this we were now invited. We had had our break-
fast at ti A. M., and it was a very slim breakfast
we had. It was now nearly 4 I*. M.. and the din-
ner was fit. for an epicure. It was the unanimous
verdict of the party that the dinner was worth
810.

" Miss Meeker was a very intelligent young
lady, but she showed marks of the fearful care
and anxiety that had weighed upon her spirits for
months. Besides Mrs. and .Miss Meeker. Mrs.
Price was the only lady I saw at the Agency; and
surrounded by Indians, with not even a stockade
for defense, their protectors were a little band of
seven or eight men.

''From Miss Meeker I learned something of
the condition of things at the Agency. Mr.
Meeker's life had been threatened by one John-
son. Inquiry led to the information that Johnson
lived in the new cabin half a mile below the
Agency; that he was a medicine man; that he
owned the large herd of horses, and that he had a
tame bear. We took Dr. Johnson to be a very
high-toned Ute. If ill has befallen Father Meeker.
Dr. Johnson is his murderer. Miss Meeker had
established a school. She had two pupils from the
multitude of little devils who spend their days in
practicing with bow and arrow or riding ponies
I >in ■ was a girl, the other a hoy. stepson to Doug-
lass, whose American name was the same as that
of the Marshal of the District of Columbia,
Frederick Douglass. As soon as the girl had
learned a few words of English, she had been
taken away by her parents. Frederick Douglas-
still held the tort, and was a bright, though shy
boy of ten.

"I believe that if Meeker's safety rested with
Douglass, he was not killed. But with Jack and
his crowd howling for Meeker's blood. Douglass
would not have dared resist, but would have stayed
at home and kept his crown, while Meeker, his
aged wife and accomplished daughter were offered
up as bleeding sacrifices to the magnificent policy
of the Government — the policy which tied- and
keeps from year to year the red murderers, and

130

HISTORY OF COLORADO

commands its soldiers not to shoot the first shut.
The Government should be instructed that soldiers
mean war. and its grim old General has said.
' War is cruelty, and you cannot refine it.'

■• For the argument, it matters not whether
Meeker and his family have been butchered. He
has told his situation to every one in authority for
1 v than a month. Had Gov. Fitkin had juris-
diction, he would have had a host of frontiersmen
at the Agency three weeks ago. He must first
have the consent of the General Government.
But tlie General Government has a gang of negro
minstrels in Middle Park, 200 miles from the
Agency. They are ordered to march to the
Agency very cautiously, ami before they get a
guild start, the other Government soldiers are
cleaned out.

"Our business at the Agency was complete.
We saddled up for a return, bade farewell to the
Meekers and started through the villages of tepees
homeward bound. We found great commotion in
every band. At every camp, we were interviewed.
Antelope's band was camped nearest the Agency,
and his brother Powitz and his squaw Jane hailed
us with the customary - How?' Our reply of
'How?' led them to ask 'What yer come fer?'
We told them we came to see Meeker. Douglass
told them we had come for two Utes, Chinaman
and another I whom they did not seem to recognize
by the name of Bennett). We did not affirm or
deny, but passed on. This conversation was repeated
eight or ten times in the three miles our road
bordered the river. It was late when we struck
the trail, and we saw no more Indians till we
reached Feck's. There we met ('apt. Jack and a
companion on their return from their visit to
Denver — the visit they made to have Meeker
removed.

".Jack is an extraordinary Indian. He was
very friendly, and spoke English well. lie reiter-
ated the statement that the Meekers had made,
that the Utes would lie glad to have white men
take up ranches on the reservation. He said the
whites and Utes ought to be friends now The

whites had killed a Ute, the Utes had killed a
white man. Good. Heap friends.

"The fires and burned forests extended from
the Springs to the Agency. At nightfall, on the
day we left the Agency, we saw a large fire started
not ten miles from the Agency. We constantly
saw the smoke of tires, and many times they were
quite close to our road. A large fire was sweeping
the forests on Gore Range. The atmosphere was
blue with smoke, and on every hand we heard
complaints of the fires started by the Utes."

As will be seen, this interesting statement was
indited while doubt still remained as to the fate
of Mr. Meeker and his associates, and before the
colored cavalry made that splendid dash to the
rescue of Payne's command which so effectually
redeemed the 'negro minstrels' from the charge of
cowardice implied in the foregoing.

Mr. Coxe's visit to the Agency was in August.
A month later, Col. John W. Steele, a mail
contractor, of Wallace, Kan., also paid a visit to
White River, and found the state of affairs at the
Agency alarming indeed. Col. Steele has also
written an account of his visit, which throws
additional light upon the direct causes of the out-
break, and is given below as furnishing a faithful
and very lucid account of Mr. Meeker's manifold
difficulties in dealing with the Indians. No apol-
ogv is made tor including, also, Col. Steele's strict-
ures on Indian mismanagement, and his powerful
argument in favor of transferring the Indians from
the Interior to the War Department — a change
that is favored by 200,000 citizens of Colorado:

■ Early in July last, I was called to Rawlins.
Colo., to look after the mail route from that point
to White River Agency. I remained at Dixon,
on Snake River, several days. While there, Indi-
ans belonging to the Ute chief Colorow's outfit,
frequently came to Dixon to trade buckskin and
furs for Winchester rifles, ammunition ami other
supplies. I learned that they were camped on
Snake River, Fortification Creek and Bear River,
from fifty to one hundred miles from their reser-
vation.

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

131

"The Indians seemed to be quiet, but the set-
tlers complained that the Indians were burning
the grass and timber, and occasionally killing their
cattle and doing much damage to the country, i
also heard much complaint from the mining dis-
trict near Halm's Peak and Middle Park; that
the Indians were burning the timber, and bad
burned the bouses of several settlers and killed
one man. Smoke was at that time plainly visible
from large fires on the head-waters of the Snake
anil Pear Rivers. On completing my business on
the mail route, I returned to Washington. The
first week in September, I was called (by disturb-
ances on this mail route) to visit it again. Arriv-
ing at Rawlins, Mr. Bennett, tint sub-contractor
for the route, told me that be bad attempted I"
establish bis line of mail-carriers on the route .
that he had gone as far south as Fortification
( 'reek, where he was met by Utes belonging to
Colorow and Ute Jack's band ; that three Indi-
ans stopped him and told him that he must go
back ; that he parleyed with them, and finally
went on as far as Bear River, where he was met
by mine Indians of the same tribe, and. though
lie fully explained his business to them, he was
so violently threatened that he returned to Raw-
lins without establishing the mail route- Bennett
has freighted Indian supplies to the Ute reserva-
tion for several years, anil knows many of the
Indians. He was accompanied by a man who has
lived among the Utes for years, and with whom
they have heretofore been friendly. Both advised
that it would be dangerous to attempt to go to
the Agency.

"On the night of September 4, I arrived at
Snake River, and on the 5th, went to Bear River,
meeting no Indians on the way, but finding the
grass and timber destroyed by fire all the way
along the route. I remained at Bear River sev-
eral days, endeavoring to find parties to carry the
mail to tie- Agency. Many of the settlers were
alarmed by the hostile action of the Utes. Others
anticipated no trouble, but all. complained of the
burning of the grass and the timber. On the

morning of September .10, I started, with two
mail-carriers, for the Agency. We rode over the
route followed by Maj. Thornburgh's command,
and at noon rested at the mouth of the eafion
where the battle has since taken place. Here, at
a tent occupied by an Indian trader, and two
miles from the reservation, we met a number of
Utes, one of whom asked where I was going. I
told him to the Agency. After a short talk with
"t her Indians, he told me we must go back. I
made no reply, but, leaving one of the carriers at
the tent, I proceeded up the canon in which the
Indians laid the ambuscade for Maj. Thornburgh's
command, toward the Agency. The Indians fol-
lowed us to the Agency. 1 afterward learned
that they belonged to lie .lack's party.

" We arrived at White River Agency about ti
o'clock P. M.. and found a number of Indians
there, Mime of whom seemed greatly excited. I
soon learned that, the Agent, Mr. Meeker, had, a
short time before my arrival, been violently as-
saulted by a Ute chief named Johnson, and
severely, if not dangerously, injured. The white
laborers told me that they had been tired upon
while plowing in the field, and driven to the
Agency buildings, but that they were not. much
scared, as they thought the Indians only wanted
to prevent the work, and fired to frighten them
Finding Mr. W. H. Post, the Agent's chief clerk
and Postmaster at White River, in his office, I
proceeded to transact my business with him.
While engaged at this, the Indians began to con-
gregate in the building. Mr. Post introduced me
to chiefs Ute Jack, Washington, Antelope and
others.

"Ute Jack seemed to be the leader, and asked
me my name and business. I told him. He
inquired if I came from Fort Steele, and if the
soldiers were coming. I replied that I knew
untiling of the soldiers. Jack said, ' No 'fraid of
soldiers. Fort Steele soldiers no fight. Utes
heap light.' He again asked my name and when
I was going away. I replied, 'In the morning.'
Jack said, 'Better go pretty quick.' I offered

132

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

liim a cigar, and repeated that I would go in the
morning. He then inquired for Mr. Meeker, and
said tn Post, 'Utes heap talk to ine. Utes say
Agent plow mi more. Utes say Meeker must go
way. Meeker say Utes work. Work! work!
Utes no like work. Ute no work. Ute no
school. No like school ' — and much more of the
same sort. Jack asked Mr. Post when the
Indian goods would !«• issued. Post replied, ' In
twn moons.' Jack said the goods were issued at
the Unconipahgre Agency; that four Indians had
come from there and told him. Post replied,
'Guess nut.' Mr. Pnst said to me, ' Every tall
there is more or less discontent among the Indi-
ans, which finally dies out. This year there is
mure than usual. Jaek's band got mad last week
because I would nut issue rations to some Uinta
Utes who had euiue here, and all the bucks
refused to draw their supplies. The squaws drew
fur themselves ami children.' I asked if the min-
ers were not making trouble with the Indians.
Post replied lie had not heard any complaint from
the Indians about miners or settlers; that they
were kept off the reservation and made no trouble.
The whole complaint of the Indians had been
about plowing the land, and being made to work,
and requiring the children to go to .school, and
that very recently they had shown gnat anxiety
to have the Indian goods distributed, and com-
plained about that ; that he could not distribute
the goods, as they had not all arrived at the
Agency.

■■ Mr. Meeker came in for a short time while we
were talking. About 8 o'clock, I went to his
quarters and found him propped up in his arm-
chair with pillows, evidently suffering severely
from injuries received from the assault of Chief
Johnson. After a short talk, we discovered that
we had formerly been fellow-townsmen, which
opened the way for a free conversation about
mutual acquaintances. After which, Mr. Meeker
said: ' I came to this Agency in the full belief
that I could civilize these Utes ; that I could
teach them to work and become self-supporting.

I thought that I could establish schools, and in-
terest both Indians and their children in learning.
1 have given my best efforts to this end, always
treating them kindly, but firmly. They have
eaten at my table, and received continued kind-
ness from my wife and daughter and all the em-
ployes about the Agency. Their complaints have
been heard patiently and all reasonable requests
have been granted them ; and now, the man for
whom I have done the most, for whom I have
built the only Indian house on the reservation, and
who has frequently eaten at my table, has turned
on me without the slightest provocation, and
would have killed me but for the white laborers
who got me away. No Indian raised his hand to
prevent tin- outrage, and those who had received
continued kindness from«nryself and family stood
around and laughed at the brutal assault. They
are aii unreliable and treacherous race. 1 Mr.
.Meeker further said that, previous to this assault
on him. he had expected to see the discontent

die out as soon as the annuity g Is arrived; but

he was now somewhat anxious about the matter.
In reply to an inquiry, he said that the whole
complaint of the Indians was against plowing the
laud, against work and the school.

" I told him I thought there was great danger of
an outbreak, and I thought that he should
abandon the Agency at once. To this he made
no reply. Shortly after. Ute Jack came into the
room where we were sitting, and proceeded to
catechize me nearly as before. lie then turned to
Mr. .Meeker and repeated the talk about work ;
then asked the Agent if he had sent for soldiers.
Mr. Meeker told him he had not. .lack then said :
• Utes have heap more talk.' and left us.

" During the conversation, Mr. Meeker said that
Chief Douglass was head chief at that Agency, but
that he had no followers and little influence. That
Douglass and his party had remained on the
reservation all the .summer, and bad been friendly
to the whites; that Colorow, Ute Jack, Johnson
and their followers, paid no attention to his orders,
and had been off the reservation most of the

-£+

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

133

.summer. That Chief Ouray was head chief,
but had lost his influence with and control of the
Northern Utes.

"I again urged on him the danger of remaining
al the Agency, when he told me he would send
for troops for protection. During this conversa-
tion, the Indians had remained around the Agency
buildings, making much noise. About 10 o'clock,
I went to the quarters assigned for me for the
night in the storehouse office. Sunn after this,
the Indians began shouting and dancing in one of
the Agency buildings and around the Agent's
quarters. About midnight, Mr. Meeker attempted
to quiet them, but was only partially successful,
and the red devils made ii exceedingly uncomfort-
able for me most, of the night. I was told in the
morning that the Indians had hail a war-dance.
Those who saw and could have described the scene
are all dead now. At daylight, the bucks had all
disappeared. After breakfast, I called on Mr.
.Meeker in his room to hid him good-by. He told
me he had written for troops, and requested me to
telegraph tor relief as soon as I reached Rawlins.
Aftjr bidding all good-by, 1 mounted my horse
and. not without many misgivings, started for
Rear River. This was the last I saw of Father
Meeker. A man of the Puritan stamp, an en-
thusiast in whatever work he undertook, he had
given his whole soul to the work of civilizing the
Utes. It is a waste of words to say that he was
honest ami honorable in all his dealings with
them, for his life has been public and his character
beyond reproach.

"Mrs. Meeker is one of the gentlest and most
motherly women I have ever met; with a heart
large enough to embrace all humanity. Her
kindly disposition and gentle manner should have
protected her from the assault of the veriest brute.
Miss Josie seemed to me to have inherited much
of the force and enthusiasm of her father. She
appeared to have overcome the feeling of dis^uM
which savages must inspire in any lady, and to
have entered on her duty of teaching with the
highest missionary spirit. Around this family

were gathered, as help, people peculiarly genial
and calculated to win by kindness the regard of
the Utes. Those who seek palliation for this
bloody massacre must look elsewhere than in
the family or among the employes of Father
Meeker.

■ On the return trip to Bear River, I met many
Indians going t,, tin* Agency lor the issue of
rations. Several of the bucks hailed me. but I
hadn'1 time to stop. At the trader's in the canon.
1 found several Indians purchasing supplies. At
the crossing of Howard's Fork, thirty miles from
the Agency, I met three Indians, two of whom I
saw at the Agency the night before. They
stopped me and inquired for ammunition for Win-
chester rifles. I replied, 'No sabe. Alter de-
taining me for nearly one-half hour. I persuaded
them to let me pass, and reached Rawlins without
further incident worthy of mention, and immedi-
ately telegraphed and wrote Gen. Sheridan the
condition of affairs at While River, and received
his reply that aid would he sent at once.

" Eastern papers, the Secretary of the Interior
and Brooks, are seeking some provocation for this
outbreak. It was not the encroachment of miners,
for there an' none nearer than Halm's Peak, 1110
miles away.

"It was not settlers, for there are none nearer
than Bear River, fifty miles from the Agency ;
they were few and scattered, and their only safety
for life ami property has been in retaining the
friendship of the Utes. On the other hand, these
Utes have, since early .summer, been off their
reservation from fifty to two hundred miles, have,
destroyed all the timber and grass they could, have
destroyed the property of miners near Halm's
Peak, and burned the bouses and bay of settlers
on Bear River ; tiny have killed cattle belonging
to settlers on Bear and Snake Rivers, and terror-
ized that, whole region.

"They complained only that Father Meeker
urged on them the benefits of civilization.

■• It is about time that our humanitarians recog-
nized the fact that these Indians are savages, and,

134

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

instead of needing provocation to massacre, require
constant and powerful oversight to prevent it.

" Finally, our army has all the blame cast on it.
Called to rescue the Agency from danger brought
upon it by an idiotic Indian policy, the command
of Maj. Thornburg went to White River seeking
a peaceful solution of the difficulties there. I had
the pleasure of meeting Maj. Thornburg soon
after he had received his orders, and gave him
full particulars of the situation at the Agency,
advising that, if he went with a small force, lie
might expeet to be wiped out. I thought his
force sufficient, but am free to confess that I was
mistaken.

■■ I knew that these Indians meant war. Karly
in the summer, they occupied the territory over
which troops must pass to reach them. Slowly
they retreated toward the Agency, burning the
grass to render it difficult for cavalry to operate
against them. They purchased arms and ammu-
nition of the most approved pattern and in large
quantities. Within six weeks of the outbreak, one
trader sold them three eases of Winchesters ami a
large amount of ammunition, and the last Utes 1
met inquired of me for more. They gathered
disaffected bucks from the -Uncompahgre and
Uinta Agencies, and got mad because the Agent
at White River would not feed them. When
everything was ready, they assaulted Agent
Meeker and shot at his employes to provoke an
attack by the troops, and when the troops ap-
proached, with peaceful intent, to adjust the diffi-
culty and right the wrongs of all parties, they laid
an ambuscade ami prepared to annihilate the
whole command.

" The attack on Maj. Thornburg was not war;
it was unprovoked murder, and to the last Indian,
the Utes engaged in it should answer for it with
their lives.

"During the past week, I have been in the
valley of the Sappa, in Decatur County, Kan. To
this country our Government had invited settlers,
offering them homesteads and 'protection. Driven
by the stress of times in the Eastern States, some

twenty-five families had located in these valleys
and erected for themselves homes. They had just
finished at the forks of the Sappa, at the little
village of Oberlin, their first schoolhouse. They
were not boors, but the peers of any like number
of citizens of the country. One short year ago,
on September MO, 1878, the savage Cheyennes,
after receiving from the Government their annui-
ties, unannounced and unprovoked, entered these
valleys and massacred seventeen of the fathers
and brothers of this settlement, and perpetrated
on their corpses the most barbarous indignities.
They inflicted on the mothers and sisters outrages
worse than death. On the evening of the 30th
of September, the bodies of thirteen of the victims
of this bloody massacre were brought to the little
schoolhouse, and there, in that building, erected
by the highest inspiration of civilization, lay in
death and barbarous mutilation the fruits of unpro-
voked and unrestrained savagery.

"Some time next month, some of these mur-
derers will he tried, if their case is not continued.
Had that crime been promptly and properly pun-
ished, the people would not now be mourning fur
the dead at White River.

" Our denominational humanitarians have had
their day. Their Congregational Cheyennes.
Methodist Modocs and Unitarian Utes have each
baptized their newly-acquired sectarian virtues in
the blood of a cruel massacre.

•' The Indian policy of the Department of the
Interior has been a humiliating failure. Let the
Indian be turned over to the War Department,
and let the Government, hereafter, use its iron
hand to prevent outrage rather than to punish it."

Thus it will be seen that for three months prior
to the massacre, Mr. Meeker had been powerless
to control his Indians ; that they had been roam-
ing at will off their reservation, devastating the
country and imposing upon the settlers, and that
the combined appeals of Agent Meeker and Gov.
Pitkin were virtually disregarded by the Indian
Bureau. Aid was promised, indeed, but it did not
reach the Agency in time to prevent the massacre.

ItePBl

^fyZ^CjL4 ■/ t •

\ ■ ' ,< ' <■< - J

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

137

Finally, however, affairs became so bad that an
order was issued for the advance of troops, under
Maj. Thornburg, from Fort Fred Steele, to the
Agency — not to punish any Indian, but to inquire
into the causes of trouble there and to restrain the
Indians from further insubordination. Maj.

Thornburg advanced as far as Milk River, near
the north line of the reservation, where he was
attacked by a force of several hundred Indian
warriors, while, at the same time, another force
attacked and murdered Father Meeker and all the
male employes at the Agency:

CHAPTER III,

THE NEWS IN DENVER.

THE first intelligence of the outbreak was
received in Denver about noon on Wednes-
day, October 1, in the shape of the following dis-
patch:

Laramie City, October 1, 1879.
7'<. Gov. Pitkin, Denver:

The White River t'tes have met Col. Thornburg's
command, sent to quell disturbances at the Agencj .
killing Thornburg himself and killing ami wounding
many of his officers, men ami horses, whereby tin-
safety of the whole command is imperiled. I shall
warn our people in the North Park, and trust that you
will take such prompt action as will protect your peo-
ple, and result in giving the War Department control of
the savages, in order to protect the settlers from mas-
sacres, provoked by the present temporizing policy of
the Government, with reference to Indian affairs, in all

time to come. „

Stephen \\ . Downey.

This telegram was followed within fifteen niin-
Ut( s by the following :

RaWLI ss. I tctober 1 .

Tt the Governor of Colorado:

Messengers from Thornburg's command arrived
during the night. I'tes attacked the command at .Milk
Crock, twenty-five an Irs this side of the Agency. Maj.
Thornburg killed, and all of his officers but one
wounded. Stock nearly all killed. Settlers in great
danger. About one-third of command wounded. Set-
tlers should have immediate protection.

.1. B. Adams.

There was no hesitation in the action of Gov.
Pitkin. Aware for weeks that such an outbreak
« is liable to occur at any moment, his course had,
it might be said, been anticipated, and he sent

the following dispatch to the Secretary of War,
at Washington :

Denver, October 1, 1879
Geo. W. McCrary, Secretary of War, Washington, D. C:

Dispatches just received from Laramie City ami
Rawlins inform me that White River Utes attacked
Col. Thornburg's command twenty-five miles from
Agency. Col. Thornburg was killed, and all his offi-
eers but one killed or wounded, besides many of his
linn and most of the burses. Dispatches state that
the whole command is imperiled.

The State of Colorado will furnish yen, immediately,
all the men you require to settle permanently this
Indian trouble.

I have seal couriers t<» warn settlers.

Frederick VV. Pitkin,

Governor of Colorado.

It is a difficult matter to describe the excite-
ment which followed the spreading of the tidings
over the city. Denver discusses event and calam-
ity, ordinarily, with serenity and coolness; but
the news of the ambush and the danger which
awaited the whites in and about the Agency at
White River startled the entire community, and
expressions of sadness would be swept fn in the
face by those of anger and determination. The
Governor's office was besieged dining the after-
noon and evening, not by the idly curious, but by
strong men — sturdy old pioneers and hot-blooded
young men, who offered their services to the State
in defense of hi r people and in exterminating' the
savage horde. At least fifty volunteers made bold to
see the Governor, while everywhere on the streets
men gathered together, and pledged themselves to

'.£.

138

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

jnin any volunteer movement to protect the frontier

and drive the Utes from Colorado soil or into it.
Meanwhile, the Governor had been taking im-
mediate steps for the protection of .settlers on the
Indian frontier, first, by sending out couriers to
warn them of their probable danger, and, finally,
by calling the militia of the State to hold them-
selves in readiness for service at the shortest possi-
ble notice. For convenience, the frontier was
divided into three military districts — the north-
west under command of < Jen. W. A. Hamill, of
Georgetown; the center in charge of Gen. J. C.
Wilson, of Leadville. ami the southwest, or San
Juan country, to be commanded by Capt. George
J. Richards, of Lake City. Dispatches were sent
to each of these gentlemen, instructing them to
notify all exposed settlements of the outbreak, and
to organize companies of minute-men for defense
in case of Indian attack.

These instructions were carried out without loss
of time, and very effectually. It happened, how-
ever, that the Indians made no demonstrations
against the settlers, and the only effect of all this
" military activity" was to awaken a sense of inse-
curity which could not be allayed for some weeks.
There was a frantic demand for arms and ammuni-
tion, which Gov. Pitkin was unable to supply, the
State being almost destitute of military supplies.

Meanwhile, an almost feverish anxiety prevailed
as to the probable course of the Southern or Un-
comiiahure [ T tes, under Ouray and [gnacio.
Would they join their White River brethren and
fight, or would Ouray, the known friend of the
whites, succeed iii keeping them quiet and peace-
ful? As the telegraph line in that direction was
only extended to Del Norte, at that time, it was
not until Sunday morning, October 5, that news
came from that quarter, and then it was in the
shape of the following startling dispatch :

Lake City, October 3, via
Del Norte, October 5.
Gov. F. W. Pitkin, Denver :

Indian Chief Ouray has notified the whites to protect
themselves; that he is powerless, and can afford no
protection. Capt. Richards, of the Lake City Guards,

has gone to Indian Creek to seize the ammunition
destined for the Agency, now en route. George M.
Darley has just reached here from Ouray City. He
left there this morning. It is reported that Ignacio is
on the war-path in the South. The town of Ouray is
under arms. The country is all on fire. We will do
all we can, but want arms. We must have protection
of some kind. Answer. \j R Gerry,

Fred. C. 1'eck,

and others.

Of course, such a statement, signed by the most
respectable citizens of Lake City, could not fail to
produce a decided sensation, aud the Executive
office was more thoroughly aroused that morning
than when the first news of the outbreak came in.
Immediate steps were taken to forward arms and
ammunition to Lake City and Ouray, and the
regular train for the South having left Denver, a
special train was sent out, carrying Gen. D. J.
Conk, of the State Militia, ami a quantity of arms
and ammunition. Other dispatches and personal
intelligence received later seemed to confirm the
impression that trouble was imminent in the San
Juan country. It was stated that Ignacio and his
band were on the war-path in La Plata County,
and grave fears were entertained for the safety of
the exposed settlers on that frontier, though reg-
ular troops were being moved in that direction
under command ef Gen. Hatch.

All these fears were happily groundless. Gen.
Cook reached Lake City in due time, and found
the scare already subsiding, Chief Ouray having
asserted his control over the tribe, and Ignacio,
instead of being on the war-path, was disposed to
treat the matter lightly, having no particular love
for the White River Utes. Before it was definitely
known that no danger need be apprehended from
that source, Gov. Pitkin, in answer to a telegram
from Silverton, sent the celebrated dispatch which
has since caused so much comment and con-
troversy in the press .d' Colorado ami the East,
and, to the end that the message in question may
be fully understood and not misquoted, the entire
correspondence is given below. Mr. A. W.
Hudson, who signs the first dispatch, is a leading

'k+

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

139

lawyer and a most reputable citizen of the town of

Silverton :

_ „ „ „. „.,, . Silverton, October 5.

To Gov. F. n . Pitkin :

Your dispatch received at Animas City. Bands of
Indians out setting tires on the line between La Plata
and San Juan. They say they will burn the entire
country over. Chief Ouray, from the ("ncompahgre
band, has sent out a courier warning settlers that his
young men are on the war-path, and that he cannot
control them. The Indians setting out those fires, being
oil' their reservation, cannot the people of these two
counties drive them back? We don't want to wait till
they have killed a few families, and if they understand
we arc prepared, there may be no outbreak.

A. W. Hudson.

The following answer was returned :

A. W. Hudson, Silverton:

Denver, October 8.

Indians oft their reservation, seeking to destroy your
settlements by tire, are game to bo hiuite 1 and des-
troyed like will beasts. Send this word to the settle-
ments. Gen. Dave Cook is at Lake City in command of
State forces. (Jen. Hatch rushing in regulars to San
Juan. Frederick W. Pitkin, Governor.

Gov. Pitkin's dispatch lias I n misquoted and

misinterpreted us meaning that the [ndians should

lio hunted as wild Leasts, under any anil all
circumstances, and In- has been censured for the
alleged inhumanity of the executive order. Those
who read the whole correspondence will see that
the order was entirely proper under the circum-
stances, and as it was originally transmitted. In-
stead of referring to Indians in general, it related
only to marauders off their reservation seeking the
destruction of white settlements by tire, and if
such Indians ought not to lie hunted like wild
beasts, they certainly deserve no Letter fate.

Meanwhile, although Gen. Merritt, with a lame
force, had been sent promptly to the relief of the
remnant of Thornburg's command, no tidings hail
been received from that direction, either from the
Agency or the Indians. It was almost certain
that the Agency people were killed, and it seemed
natural to expect an incursion of hostile savages
upon some portion of the Indian border. Just

where the blow would fall, no one could possibly
foresee, and each mining-camp in the mountains
felt itself in instant clanger of attack. It was a

trying time. Although, in point of fact, the hos-
tiles were engaged in watching the movement of
the regular soldiers, and made no advance in the
direction of the white settlements, it could not be
known that such was the case, and the general
alarm could not he condemned as causeless. The
couriers and scouts did not bring in any news of
Indians, but rumors were thick and fast, and no
sooner was one scare over titan another broke out.
Of these successive sensations, however, it is use-
less to write in detail at this late day. Suffice it
to say that, by prompt action and a judicious dis-
tribution of arms and ammunition along the
border. Gov. Pitkin was presently enabled to sat-
isfy the people that they had little to fear from the
Utes, and soon public sentiment perversely set in
the opposite direction. Instead of tearing the
Indians would come, the miners and prospectors
leaned Lack on their guns and prayed for Indians
to come and be shot. When news of the Agency
massacre was received, the indignation of the citi-
zens of Colorado was so great that it was with
much difficulty that Gov. Pitkin prevented the
State militia and minute-men from making an
advance upon the reservation and the hostile
Indians. The Governor foresaw, however, that
such an advance would be the death-signal of the
captive women and children from the Agency
who were in the hands of the hostiles, and
humanity prompted an effort to secure their re-
lease before any steps were taken toward punishing
the assassins and murderers.

The release of the captives could only be effected
through Ouray, who was known to be heartily in
favor of their surrender as soon as possible. The
chief had already sent Indian runners from his
camp to that of the hostiles, commanding the
latter to cease lighting. A young man named
Joseph Brady, an attache of the Uncompahgre
Agency, had accompanied Ouray's runners, and
had gone with a flag of truce into Gen. Merritt's

140

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

camp to notify him of Ouray's order. Brady was
not permitted to see the captives, but carried back
assurances that they were alive and well.

Ouray having expressed a willingness to send
another party out to bring in the women and
children, Gen. Charles Adams, special agent of the

Post-Office Department for Colorado, and a former
Agent both, at Los Piuos and at White River, was
detailed by the Interior Department to accompany
the Indians and bring in the prisoners. A detailed
account of this thrilling expedition will be found
in a subsequent chapter.

CHAPTER IV.

ADVANCE UPON THE AGENCY.

AFTER the report had gone out that one of
the attaches of the Agency, while plowing
the land near the new White River Agency, had
been shot at by ambushed Indians, on application
of the Colorado authorities. Agent Meeker and
others, the War Department at Washington
ordered Gen. Sheridan to send troops to the
Agency, for the protection of the Agency and the
vindication of Uncle Sam's rights.

Maj. T. T. Thornburg, commanding officer of
the Fourth United States Infantry, and, for the
past year, in command of Fort Fred Steele, on
the Union Pacific Railroad, in Wyoming, was
placed in charge of the expedition, which con-
sisted of two companies, D and F, of the Fifth
Cavalry, Company E of the Third Cavalry and
Company E of the Fourth Infantry, the officers
included in his command being Capts. Payne
and Lawson, of the Fifth Cavalry, Lieut. Pad-
dock, of the Third Cavalry, and Lieuts. Price and
Wooley, of the Fourth Infantry, with Dr. Grimes
accompanying the command as Surgeon, and a
supply train of thirty-three wagons. The com-
mand left Rawlins on the 14th ult.

When the command reached the place known
as Old Fortification Camp, Company E, of the
the Fourth Infantry, with Lieut. Price in com-
mand, was dropped from the command, the design
of this step being to afford protection to passing
supply-trains, and to act as a reserve in case there
was demand for it.

Maj. Thornburg turned his force toward the
Indian country in deep earnest with the balance
of his command, consisting of the three cavalry
companies, numbering about one hundred and
sixty men.

Having been directed to use all dispatch in
reaching the Agency, the Major marched forward
with as great rapidity as possible. The roads
are not well traveled and are mountainous,
and, of course, they did not proceed so rapidly
as they might have done on more familiar high-
ways.

Nothing was seen or heard from the Indians
until Bear River, which runs north of the reser-
vation and almost parallel with the northern line,
was reached. At the crossing of this stream,
about sixty-five miles from White River Agency,
ten Indians made their appearance. They were
closely questioned, but professed great friendliness
for the whites and would betray none of the
secrets of their tribe. They declared that they
were merely out on a hunt, and repeated that they
were friends of the white man and of the Great
Father's Government, and especially of the Great
Father's soldiers.

After this, nothing more was seen of the Indi-
ans, though a close watch by keen-eyed scouts
was kept up for them, until William's Fork, a
small tributary of Bear River, was reached,
when the same ten Indians again quite suddenly
and very mysteriously re-appeared. They again

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

141

renewed i heir protestations of friendship, while they
carefully eyed the proportions of the command.
They made a proposition to the commander that
' he take an escort of five soldiers and accompany
them to the Agency. A hal< was called, and
Maj. Thornburg summoned his staff to consulta-
tion. After carefully discussing the matter with
a due regard for the importance, the advantage
and disadvantage of the step, they came to the
conclusion that it was not wise to accept this
proffer on the part of the Indians, as it might
lead to another Modoc trap, and to Thornburgh's
becoming another Canby. His scout, Mr. Joseph
Rankin, was especially strong in opposition to the
request of the Indians.

Maj. Thornburg then concluded to march his
column within hailing distance of the Agency,
where he would accept the proposition of the
Indians. But he was never allowed to carry out
hia designs. Here it became apparent how thin
the disguise of friendship had been, and Thorn-
burgh was soon convinced how fatal would have
been the attempt for him, accompanied by only
five men, to treat with them.

The command had reached the point where the
road crosses Milk Creek, another tributary of the
Bear, inside the reservation and in the limits of
Summit County, Colorado, about twenty-five miles
north of the Agency, when they were attacked
by the hostiles, numbering, it is believed, between
two hundred and fifty and three hundred warriors,
who had been lying in ambush.

But the command under the guidance of Scout
Rankin, left the road just above where the Indi-
ans were in ambush, and thus avoided another
event which would have been, in all respects, equal
to the Custer massacre. The command took a
trail after leaving the load, and unexpectedly met
the foe.

Maj. Thornburg at once threw his command
into position, and the Indians came up in line of
battle to within about three hundred yards and
halted, putting a bold face on the matter and
showing a decided determination to fiirlit.

Maj. Thornburg's orders were not to make the
first fire on the Indians, but to await an attack
from them. After two lines had thus faced each
other for about ten minutes, Mr. Rankin, the scout,
who is an old Indian fighter, seeing the danger in
which the command was placed, hurried direct to
Maj. Thornburg's side and requested him to open
fire on the enemy, saying at the same time that
that was their only hope.

Maj. Thornburg replied : " My God ! I dare
not; my orders are positive, and if I violate them
and survive, a court-martial and ignominious dis-
missal may follow. I feel as though myself and
men were to be murdered."

By this time, the Indians had flanked the sold-
iers, and giving the war-whoop, opened fire. The
wagon-train was corraled about three-fourths of a
mile to the rear of the command, and the Indians
got between the wagon-train and the command.
The cavalry was dismounted and fighting on foot
and slowly retreating.

Maj. Thornburg, seeing the danger which
threatened his command from the position of the
Indians, at once mounted about twenty men, and
at the head of them be dashed forward with a
valor unsurpassed by Napoleon at the Bridge of
of Lodi, made a charge on the savages between
the command ami the train.

Maj. Thornburg and thirteen men were killed
in this charge.

The balance of the command, then in retreat,
succeeded in reaching the corraled train, which
was by this time surrounded by Indians. The
command then, with much haste, made breast-
works with wagons and held their position. In
the engagement there were twelve killed and forty-
two wounded. Every officer in the command was
shot with the exception of Lieut. Cherry, of the
Fifth Cavalry. The Indians also killed from one
hundred and fifty to two hundred head of mules
belonging to the Government.

The scene of the attack was peculiarly fitted for
the Indian method of warfare, and showed plainly
that it had been chosen by the chiefs in command

S -

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

for the identical purpose to which it was devoted
When Thornhurg's command entered the canon
they found themselves between two rocky bluffs,
about thirteen hundred yards apart and from one
to two hundred feet high. These bluffs were held
by the Indians in force, and some broken ground,
reaching down nearly to the creek, was also occupied
by the savages, sip that an advance through the
canon was impossible, and, by cutting off retreat, the
Indians could effectually '-bottle up" the com-
mand in the canon. In effect, that was accom-
plished, though the bravery of the troops in
entrenching themselves defeated the undoubted
purpose of the Indians to annihilate them.

Capt. Payne, then in command, at once set
about having the wounded horses shot for breast-
works, dismantling the wagons of boxes, bundles
of the bedding, corn and flour sacks, which were
quickly piled up for fortifications. The picks and
shovels wriv used vigorously for digging entrench-
ments. Meanwhile, a galling fire was concen-
trated upon the command from all the surrounding
bluffs which commanded the position. Not an
Indian could be seen, but tin- incessant crack of
their Sharp's and Winchester rifles dealt fearful
destruction among the horses and men. The
groans of the 'lying and agonizing cries of the
wounded told what fearful havoc was being made
among the determined and desperate command.
Every man was bound to sell his life as dearly as
possible.

About this time, a great danger was approach-
ing at a frightfully rapid pace. The red devils, at
the beginning of the fight, had set fire to the dry
grass and sage brush to the windward, and it now
came sweeping down toward the troops, the flames
leaping high into the air. and dense volumes of
smoke rolling on to engulf them. It was a sight
to make the stoutest heart quail, and the fiends
were waiting ready to give a volley as soon as the
soldiers were driven from their shelter. It soon
reached the flanks, and blankets, blouses and
empty sacks were freely used to extinguish the
flames. Some of the wagons were set on fire,

which required till the force possible to smother it.
No water could be obtained, and the smoke was
suffocating; but the fire passed, finally, away.

About sundown, the savages charged the works,
but were repulsed, and retired to their positions
on the bluffs, whence firing was resumed early
on the following morning. The men in the
trenches were pretty well protected by that time,
but the horses and mules were constantly foiling
at the crack of the sharp-shooters" rifles.

During the early part of the first night of the
siege, the scout, Rankin, who had warned Thorn-
burg of his great danger on the previous clay,
made his way out of the beleaguered camp and,
mounted on a strange horse, his own having been
shot in the fight, started to carry the bloody news
over the 160 miles that stretched between him
and Rawlins. Rankin's ride bids fair to pass into
history with that of Sheridan, immortalized by
Buchanan's famous poem. It was a daring
venture at best, and its danger was not the only
feature which marked it as extraordinary. The
way was rough, as well as wild and lonely, and,
ordinarily, the the distance would hardly be cov-
ered in two days; yet Rankin rode it in twenty-
eight hours, leaving the battle-field at 10 o'clock
Monday night ami reaching Rawlins Wednesday
morning about '■> o'clock.

Other couriers were sent out from the camp on
succeeding evenings, through one of whom word
was sent to ('apt. Dodge's company of colored cav-
alry, then approaching from the direction of Mid-
dle Park, informing them of the outbreak and
cautioning them to be on their guard. Capt.
Dodge's command only mustered about forty men,
and was encumbered with a wagon train; but,
with almost unexampled bravery, they determined
to advance and succor the beleaguered garrison of
the rifle-pits on Milk River. At the Rawlins
Crossing of the Rear, the wagon train was de-
tached and sent north to Fortification Creek, while
('apt. Dodge and his intrepid followers galloped
into the Indian country, not knowing whether one
of them would ever return alive. All honor to

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

143

the "colored troops" who rode and fought bo
nobly for the defeuse of their white brethren.

Luck went with them. They escaped, for a
wonder, the watchful eyes of the Indians en
route, and even when they approached the canon
where Payne's command was entrenched. The
history of the whole war, thus far, furnishes no
fait more curious than the escape of the colored
troops from destruction, for it is well known that
the Indians hate them tenfold more intensely than
they do white soldiers, and if Dodge's approach
had been discovered, the whole fighting force of
the Utes, if necessary, would have been detached to
annihilate his command. As it was, he ap-
proached within hailing distance of the rifle-pits
without detection; but then arose a new difficult}'
and a new danger. Payne's sentinels would cer-
tainly discover them if they approached nearer,
and how could they escape being fired upon as
enemies in the guise of friends?

In fact, an alarm was sounded in tile trenches
at their approach, and the men sprang to arms
to defend themselves, as they supposed, from a
new attack by the Indians. Dodge halted his
command and sent out his two guides. ( rordon and
Mellon, to communicate with Payne. They
called out to the pickets that it was a company of
cavalry, come to the rescue, but the statemi nt was
regarded as a ruse of the Indians. Finally, Gor-
don's voice was recognized by some one in the
trenches, and all doubts were at once dispelled.
Capt. Podge then headed his men for the final
dash necessary in order to reach the shelter of
the trenches.

The' distance was (KM) yards, and the ride was
made in a rain of rifle-balls from the surrounding
blufi's, the Indians having been made aware at
the last moment of Dodge's approach. His luck
did not desert him. however, anil not a man was
hit. They were not much scared, apparently, for
hardly had they reached the pits and dismounted
than they announced their readiness to storm the
bluffs. As this would have been certain death
they were not allowed to attempt it. Hardly had

they dismounted when the Indians began to pick
off their horses, or, rather, one Indian, evidently
a dead shot, began the work of destruction.
With every crack of his Winchester a horse fell
dead or mortally wounded, and in a short time
forty fine cavalry horses, worth in the aggregate
at least $4,00(1, lay dead or dying, The paternal
Government which cares so kindly for the Indi-
an is apparently blind to the fact that he is hor-
ridly expensive in peace and much more so in
war. This red devil who cost the Government
$4,000 in half an hour has probably been clothed
and fed out of the public crib ever since he was
born, and will continue to draw his rations regu-
larly hereafter, when the cruel war is over.

Dodge reached Payne on the third day of the
siege. His coining was the occasion of much
joy, but he brought no actual relief. The siege
continued, and the Indians only seemed more
alert and watchful. Nothing escaped their obser-
vation. A hat raised on a stick out of the
trenches was sure to have a bullet-hole in it in a
moment. The spring from which water was ob-
tained was at some distance from the trenches,
and the men were forced to sally out occasionally
for water, usually at night. They seldom escaped
without being tired at, and several were wounded.
Morever the stench of dead animals became almost
intolerable toward the last, and they were compelled
to work at night hauling off the dead horses or
covering them up where they lay. Happily, the
Indians were too careful or too cowardly to come
out much al night, and the siege was thus robbed
of some of its terrors, although enough remained
to make them pray most fervently for the coming of
Gen. Merritt, who was hastening to their relief.

It was (heir great confidence in (Jen. Merritt
which inspired them with a strong determination
to •■ hold the fort " at all hazards. Tin' soldiers
said that "Old Wesley" — Merritt's army sobri-
quet — would "come with a whirl." and so he did
come. IP- inarched continuously Saturday night,
not halting for a single moment, making seventy
miles in twenty-four hours. The command left

144

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

Rawlins at 10:30 A. M. on Thursday, October 2.
They marched forty miles that day. The second
day they marched fifty miles. The nun en-
dured the march splendidly. They realized that
a few nf their comrades in anus wire surrounded
and that their safety depended upon the quick
movement nf this command. Consequently, there
were no complaints. Several horses were so worn
out that they had to l>e abandoned, and died on
the roadside.

Thr command arrived at the scene of action at
5:30 A. M., Sunday, October 5, after marching
seventy miles the day previous. When Merritt's
advance guard reached Payne's pickets, they were
commanded by the guards to halt, and Gen.
Merritt then ordered the guards to inform Capt.
Payne that it was the relief column that was
approaching. He caused his trumpeter to sound
the officer's call, which is the night-signal of
the Fifth Cavalry, and seldom, if ever, did that
signal fall more pleasantly upon listening ears than
it did upon those of the rescued garrison.

The following account of the arrival of Merritt
and the situation of affairs he found awaiting him
i~ from the pen of one of his staff:

" We arrived with Gen. Merritt's command
Sunday morning, the 5th inst., at 5:30. after a
march of seventy-five miles yesterday, stopping to
rest only half an hour. Oh! What a happy
crowd Payne's command was when Merritt
reached them in relief They had been en-
trenched for six days. ('apt. Payne still com-
mands. Lieut. Paddock is wounded in the side,
(.'apt, Payne is wounded in the arm. Lieut.
Wolf ol' thr Fourth Infantry, is lure. Lieut.
Cherry, the salvator of the command, is unhurt.
Capt. Dodge, with Company F, of thr Ninth Cav-
alry, arrived here on Thursday. He fought his
way in. Lieut. Hughes is with him. There is a
horrible stench all around. The wounded nun
are hobbling in every direction. One hundred
and fifty dead horses lying thirty feet from the
entrenchments present a horrible spectacle. Poor
Paddock is bright, and will lie out. in a day or

two. I found him, with three others, lying in a
deep hole. The middle of the entrenchment was
used as a hospital. They have been fired on every
day sinee Monday, particularly last night. No
more fear is had, as A and M, companies of the
Fifth Cavalry, have reached here. The battle
commenced by the troops charging our dreaded
and commanding point on our light, and I and M,
companies of the Fifth Cavalry, immediately took
charge of a prominence on the left. The appear-
ance of the Fifth Cavalry entering under Gen.
Merritt and Col. Compton was a grand sight.

"The poor fellows in the entrenchment at first
probably thought we were Indians. We were
challenged by a sentinel, and, in reply, answered
that we were friends. Gen. Merritt caused the
trumpeter to sound the officer's call, and at its end
three big cheers rent the air. They were relieved
at last. The sight was one of the most affecting I
have ever seen, and brave men shed tears. The
hospital wagon has just arrived, and P>rs. Grimes

and Kimnirl are hard at work, doing g 1 service.

Our march from Rawlins under Merritt was a
grand military effort."

Gen. Merritt was moved to tears at the sight of
so much suffering and the peril from which the
garrison had been rescued. Capt. Payne em-
braced his superior officer as a child would em-
brace its father. These brave soldiers, who are
familiar with Indian character, knew that it was
almost a miracle that every man of Thornburg's
command was not massacred; but the Interior
Department has already forgiven thr savages en-
gaged in the Thornburg fight, on the ground that
it was an accidental engagement, and the poor
Indians were " not to blame.'' Every brave man
should resent this insult to the memory of Thorn-
burg anil the brave soldiers who died with him on
that bloody field.

The Indians soon disappeared from thr scene
after Merritt's arrival, and, after a short stop to
arrange matters mi the battle-field and to send the
wounded under guard to Rawlins, the march was
continued toward the Agency. Maj. Thornburg's

Cl^

HISTORY OP COLORADO.

145

body was found by Lieut. Hughes, still lying on
the battle-field, stripped, and mutilated by wounds
and scalping. The remains were forwarded to
Rawlins, and theme to Omaha for interment.

Maj. Thomas T. Thornburg, whose tragii death
at the hands of the Utes is above noted, was burn
in Tennessee, and first saw military duly during
the late civil war. In September, 1861, he enlisted
us a private in the Sixth Tennessee Regiment of
Volunteers. He was in the service from that
time until August, 1863. During this term, lie
served for the first five monthsasa private, for two
months as Sergeant Major, and for the remainder
of his term in the service as Lieutenant and Adju-
tant. He took part in the battle of Mill Spring,
was with our army when Gen. Morgan made his
celebrated retreat from Cumberland Gap to the
Ohio River, and participated in the battle of Stone
River, September 1. He was entered at the T nited
States Military Academy of West Point, and was
one of the Class of '60, graduates from there June
17, ISC". He was promoted to lie Second Lieu-
tenant in the Second Artillery, going then upon
leave of absence till January 1, 1868. He was
first stationed at Presidio, San Francisco, remain-
ing there until February 20, 1S6S ; from there, he
went to Fortress Monroe for artillery practice,
being stationed there from April 13, 1808, to

.May, 1869; then, at Alcatraz, from June to No-
vember 10, 1871, excepting a short while when be
was detached and sent to Sitka, Alaska — Augusl
23 to November 17, 1809. From December (i.
1869, till April, 1870, he was Professor of Mili-
tary Science at, San Diego, Cal. From April 21,
187(1, until he became a Second Lieutenant of
Artillery, hi' was stationed in his native Slate, at the
East Tennessee University, as Professor of Military
Tactics. From November 27, 1871, till June 21),
1873 (for two years), he was in the garrison at
Fort Foote, Md. Being ordered away from there
mi April 27, 1875, he was then promoted to be
Major of Staff, and July 12, of the same year,
became Paymaster at San Antonio, Texas, being
transferred from there on the 13th of August
following to Fort Brown, in that State, and ordered
away from there January 20, 187(1. He next was
stationed at the barracks at Omaha for fifteen
months, being ordered to the frontier from that
post on May 23, 1878. He became Major of the
Fourth Infantry at Fort Steele, Wyoming, holding
this commission to June 29, of last year. Since
that time, he has done scouting duty, his knowl-
edge of the country, which he has scouted and
hunted over, making him especially fitted for this
duty. He was a. brother of ex-Congressman Thorn-
hurt;', of Tennessee.

A It K IV Ah

CHAPT

AT Af.ENC

DURING all this time, the fate of Father
Meeker and the Agency employes was
unknown to the public. It was almost certain that
he had been murdered, as it seemed incredible that
the Indians would fight Thornburg and spare
Meeker, who was blamed by them for bringing in
the soldiers ; still, nothing had been heard to con-
firm the strong suspicions of all frontiersmen as to
the fate of the people at the Agency. Even when
Merritt relieved Payne and marched on the Agency,

ER V.

Y— THE MASSACRE.

he could learn nothing definite touching the trans-
actions there.

(hi the 9th, however, news reached Denver via
the Uncompahgre Agency, through the medium
of Chief Ouray, that Father Meeker and the male
employes of the Agency had been killed on the
day of the Thornburg fight (Monday, September
29), but that the women and children were sate
and were being cared for by Douglass at his house.
This latter statement turned out to be false, but as

146

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

Douglass had not then been proved to be the dirty
liar t hat he is, credence was given to the story, and
Douglass was lauded as a "good Indian," along
with Ouray, Capt. Billy, etc. A few doubting
Thomases did remark that it seemed strange that
Douglass should be such a good Indian while his
wicked partners were so bad ; also, that if he was
the big chief of the tribe, his devotion to the
wdiites might have been emphasized by protecting
them from murder and assassination. In fact, he
had led the Agency massacre, and the women and
children were the prisoners of himself and his
gang of cowardly cutthroats, instead of being
under his protection.

On Monday, October 13, just two weeks after
the first battle, two couriers arrived at Rawlins
from what had been the White River Agency, and
reported that Gen. Merritt had reached the
Agency on the 11th. On bis way, he found
many dead bodies. Among others, he found the
body of Carl Goldstein, an Israelite, who left
Rawlins with Government supplies for the Utes
at White River Agency. He was found in a gulch
six mill's north of the Agency. He was shot
twice through the shoulder, and was about two
miles from his wagons. A teamster named Julius
Mo,, re, formerly from Bainbridge, Mass., who was
with him when In; left Rawlins, was found about
one hundred yards from Goldstein with two bullet-
holes in his breast, and bis body hacked and muti-
lated with a knife or hatchet.

As the command advanced through the canon,
they came to an old coal-mine, and in it was found
the dead body of an Agency employ named Flank
Dresser. He had evidently been wounded, and
crawled in the mine to die. His coat was folded
up and placed under his head for a pillow. Beside
him lay a Winchester rifle containing eight cart-
tridges, and marked " J. Max Clark." Young
Dresser had succeeded in escaping from the Agency

massacre badly wounded, but could not reach the

troops,

E. W. Eskridge was found about two miles
north of the Agency. Tie was stripped to an

entire state of nudity, and had his head mashed as
though he had been struck with some heavy ap-
pliance. He was formerly in the banking business
at Marshalltown, Iowa. He was a lawyer by pro-
fession, and had only been at the Agency a short
time, having been sent there by Hon. William N.
Byers, of Denver, in response to a request from
Father Meeker for a clerk.

In one of his pockets, a letter was found, which
read as follows :

White River, September 29,
Maj. Thornbury : 1 o'clock P. M.

I will come with Chief Douglass and another chief
and meet you to-morrow. Everything is quiet here,
and Douglass is flying the United States flag. We have
been on guard three nights, and will lie to-night — not
that we expect any trouble, but because there might
be. Did you have any trouble coming through the
canon ". N. ('. Meekek,

United Slates Indian Ayent.

This note Father Meeker had sent out but a
few minutes before the massacre commenced. Two
Indians accompanied Mr. Eskridge, and, doubtless,
were his murderers. One of them was Chief
Antelope, a worthless rascal.

On entering the Agency, a scene of quiet deso-
lation presented itself. All the buildings, except
one, were burned to the ground, and there was n,,l
a living thing in sight, except the command. The
Indians had taken everything except flour, and
decamped. The women and children were missing,
and nothing whatever could be found to indicate
what had become of them. They had either been
murdered and buried or else taken away as hostages.

The Indian Agent, N. C. Meeker, was found
lying dead about two hundred yards'from his head
quarters, with one side of his head mashed. An
iron chain, the size of which is commonly known
as a log-chain, was found encircled about his neck,
and a piece of a flour-barrel stave had been driven
through bis mouth. When found, his body was
in an entire state of nudity-.

The dead body of Mr. W. II. Post, Father
Meeker's assistant, was found between the build-
ings and (he river, a bullet-hole through the left

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

147

ear and one under the oar. He, as well as Father
.Meeker, was stripped entirely naked.

Another employe, named Eaton, was found
dead. He was stripped naked, and had a bundle
of paper bags in his arms. His faee was badly
eaten by wolves. There was a bullet-hole in his
left breast.

Harry Dresser, a brother to the one found in the
coal mine, was found badly burned. He had,
without doubt, been killed instantly, as a bullet
had passed through his heart.

Mr. Price, the Agency blacksmith, was found
dead, with two bullet-holes through his left breast.
The Indians hail taken all his clothing, and he was
found naked.

The bodies were all buried near the Agency, but
will be taken up in the spring and re-interred at
Greeley, where a. monument will be raised in their
honor.

The complete list of the killed is as follows:
Agent Meeker, Assistant W. II. Post, Frank and
Harry Dresser, E. AY. Eskridge, E. Price, Fred
Shepard, George Eaton, W. II. Thompson, E. L.
Mansfield. Another employe and sole survivor of
the males at the Agency was absent at the time,
having left a day or two before.

With the exception of Eskridge, all the em-
ployes were from Greeley, and were members of
the very best families of that excellent community.
The young men had been particularly generous and
just to the Indians, and the latter professed such
friendship for them that, in a letter written by an
employe to his relatives in Greeley only the night
before the massacre, the writer expressed his

confidence in the friendship of the savages by stating
that he felt himself as safe as if he were at home
in Greeley. Whatever complaints the Indians
made against Father Meeker — and they were too
trivial for serious consideration — there was no out-
ward appearance of enmity on their part toward
the employes, and the murder of the latter only
serves to establish the fact that Indian friendship
for the white race amounts to nothing inure than a
cloak for treachery.

The desolated Agency and the haggard corpses
scattered around the ruins gave nothing but a
ghastly suggestion of how the massacre was ac-
complished, and it was not until some time after-
ward that the wretched story was told by the
rescued captives. It appears that the attack had
been made shortly after noon on Monday, perhaps
half an hour after Mr. Eskridge and his Indian
escort left the Agency with Father Meeker's letter
tn Maj. Thornburg. The Agency employes were
at work upon a building when the savages sud-
denly opened fire upon them. The terror-stricken
women and children hid themselves while the
massacre was in progress, and, consequently, saw
little or nothing of its horrid details. Frank
Dresser hid himself with the women after being
slightly wounded, and, later in the day, made his
escape to the brush, but was afterward found dead
in the coal mine, as already stated. The women
and children attempted tu escape at the same time,
but were captured almost immediately after leav-
ing their place of hiding. An account of their
experience while in captivity will be found in a
subsequent chapter.

148

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

CHAPTER VI.

CESSATION OF HOSTILITI ES— RESCUE OF THE PRISONERS.

WE come now to the most remarkable feature
of the Ute campaign — the sudden cessa-
tion of hostilities at the very moment when the
power of administering punishment to the Meeker
and Thornburg murderers was in the hands of
Gen. Merritt in the north, and Gen. Hatch in the
south. Nearly, if not quite, three thousand Fed-
eral troops had been rushed into Colorado with
wonderful celerity, and were now distributed within
striking distance of the foe. Officers and men
were alike burning to inflict severe and (summary
punishment upon the cut-throat assassins who had
not only made war upon the Government, but had
characterized their revolt by inhuman atrocities
upon non-combatants at the Agency. Colorado, as
with one voice, demanded that the war which had
been boinin by the Fies themselves should be con-
tinued until they cried "Enough!" Although
Ouray protested that his Indians were not impli-
cated, it did not seem necessary, for that reason,
to spare those really ami truly guilty. -'Let
the troops advance," said Gov. l'itkin, "and it
will be easy to determine who are the hostile
Indians. Those who get in the way of the troops
and show fight are the ones who ought to be
punished."

But the high and mighty Moguls of the Interior
Department evolved another scheme and put it
into execution. They said, in effect:

"The troops must not advance upon the
Indians. If they do, some good Indian who did
not fight at Milk River, nor assist in the Agency
massacre, may he killed or wounded. The war is
over anyhow, since Ouray ordered the Utes to stop
fighting. Ouray sa}s be will surrender the insur-
gents, and a trial by a civil tribunal will cost much
less than an Indian war. It is a pity that Meeker
and Thornburg were killed, but if we can find
out who killed them, through Ouray, we will do

something terrible with the murderers — perhaps
send them to prison."

Economically considered, perhaps, this was
sound doctrine, but it grated terribly on the
nerves of Coloradoans and the army. Gen. Sher-
idan gave expression to his disgust in very vigor-
ous English. Gov. Pitkin sent the following
ringing telegram to Secretary Schurz :

State of Colorado, Executive Department.
Denver, October 22, 1879.
lion. Carl Schurz, Secretary of Ike Interior :

Information from Southwestern Colorado satisfies me
that many of Ouray's warriors were in the Thornburg
fight. To surrender the criminals, Ouray must surren-
der his tribe, which lie is powerless to do. They
adhere to him for protection only, ami will not submit
to punishment. Neither will they surrender White
River Ctes, who are bound to them by the closest ties,
ami are no more guilty than themselves. They whipped
Thornburg's command, and now Merritt retires. It
cannot be disguised that the fighting men of the tribe
are hostile and flushed with victory. They are sav-
ages. They lake no prisoners, except women. Their
trophies are not banners, lint scalps.

If the policy of military inactivity continues, our
frontier settlements are liable to become scenes of mas-
sacre. Unless the troops move against the Indians,
the Indians will move against the settlers. Must 300
miles of border settlements be subjected to this peril?
The General Government is doing nothing i" protect or
hi, ml our settlements. The State cannot defend all
this border except by attacking the enemy.

In behalf of our people, I represent the danger to
vim, ami urge ilia! the Government recognize that a
war with barbarians now exists which involves the
lives .if numerous exposed mining settlements. It can
be terminated only by the most vigorous and uninter-
rupted warfare.

(Signed) Frederick \V Pitkin, Governor.

The only effect of these and other remonstrances
was to secure the retention of troops in the State,
whereby the Indians were held in check and the

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

149

people of Colorado were preserved from the terrors
of Indian raids. Merritt's command remained
posted at White River, and Hatch's troops in the
smith were disposed at various points, as military
prudence suggested. The hostile Indians kept a
close watch cm Merritt's forces, and Lieut. Wier,
ef the Ordnance Department . was murdered by
them while out hunting a short distance from the
Agency. A scout named Ilumme, who accompa-
nied Lieut. Wier as a guide, was also killed. Sub-
sequently, the Utes stole the Government herd of

1 fat White River, besides committing numerous

depredations on ranchmen of the reservation ; but
these little eccentricities were kindly overlooked by
the " Peace Commissioners" who were solving the
problem by diplomacy and conciliation — two parts
of the latter to one of the former. It is but fair
to say, however, that the Commissioners were only
acting under directions from the Interior Depart-
ment.

Rut to go back a little. There was just one

g 1 result of the; cessation of hostilities for which

the powers that be in Washington ought to receive
credit, and that was the rescue of the Women and
children prisoners, from the clutches of the Indi-
ans. These prisoners were not held for safe-keep-
ing and delivery to their friends, but as hostages,
and it was with great difficulty that they were
rescued.

Gen. Charles Adams, a well-known Coloradoan,
was entrusted with this delicate mission. lie bad
been an Indian Agent, and was well acquainted
with the Utes, besides being a personal friend of
Chief Ouray. It was, in fact, entirely through
the influence of the latter that Gen. Adams met
with his unexpected success in his negotiations.
Ouray is a veritable red Richelieu. Diplomacy is
his delight. Fighting has few charms for him,
though he is brave enough upon occasion. But
his diplomacy has saved his tribe on more 1 than one
occasion, when fighting would have been of no
avail. In the matter of the captive women and
children, Ouray was quick to see that, while any
cruel treatment at the hands of their captors

would inflame the country against the Utes, the
release of the prisoners, unharmed, would be the
strongest card the Indians could possibly play, and
so he bent the whole force of his energies to
accomplish their release and delivery to their
friends.

It has been quite the custom to accord the
Indians great credit for surrendering the captives.
When the true history of their captivity comes to
be understood, as revealed by the official examina-
tion, it will be known that the original purpose of
the red rascals was not to surrender their prison-
ers at all, and that they were only talked into it by
the persuasive eloquence of Ouray's emissaries,
who, doubtless, expatiated largely upon the advan-
tages which would accrue from their surrender.

(Jen. Adams, on the other hand, was not author-
ized to offer any terms for their surrender, and it is
entirely safe to say that he could have accomplished
nothing without Ouray's assistance, and Ouray
could have accomplished nothing without profuse
promises of immunity from punishment, which,
unhappily, bid too fair to be realized at this writing.

The instructions to (Jen. Adams from the Inte-
rior Department reached him at Denver on the
evening of October 14. Their purport was to the
effect that, as the Indians had ceased fighting, in
obedience to Chief Ouray's orders, and as Ouray
was ready and willing to co-operate with the Gov-
ernment in settling the difficulty, Gen. Adams
should put himself in communication with Ouray,
and together they should proceed to secure, first,
the release of the captives, and secondly, the sur-
render of the guilty Indians. Later, Adams, Ouray
and Gen. Hatch were constituted a commission to
investigate the White River and Thornbura nias-
sacres, but, for the time being. Adams was merely
appointed a special commissioner of the Interior
Department to rescue the white women and children.

Adams left Denver October 1."). for the South-
ern Agency, and arrived at Ouray's camp on the
night of the 18th, where he and Chief Ouray fully
discussed the course to be pursued. The hostile
camj) was then located on Grand River, nearly one

^L 1-

150

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

hundred miles to the north, but Ouray was in con-
stant communication with the hostiles by means of
Imlian runners, who, indeed, had been going and
coining continually. All necessary arrangements
were made, including a strong Indian escort, and
Adams started on the morning of the Llth of
October.

The escort consisted of Sapovanero Shavano,
the young Chief Colorow — not the celebrated
chieftain of that name — and ten Indians. Count
Yon Doenhoff, an attache of the German Legation
at Washington; Capt. Cline, the well-known
frontiersman, and one of the Agency employes,
accompanied Adams. The party was under the
surveillance of Imlian runners from the time of
leaving the Agency until its return. These were
sent out by Ouray, and reported to him from day
to day the progress of events. Ouray was not en-
tirely confidi nt of the success of the mission, as it
appeared, and if it failed, he wanted to know ex-
actly who was responsible for the failure. He had
sent out the expedition himself, and felt responsi-
ble, at least, fir the safety of its members.

Not counting the German Count, the commis-
sion was admirably organized. Gen. Adams was
known to all the Indians of the tribe, and to many
of them he was endeared by many acts of gen-
erosity and kindness which had won for him
among them the appellation of ''Washington."
Capt. ('line was even more highly esteemed by the
Indians. For years, he had been the only white
man living on the reservation. In another place,
it was staled that the wagon road leading to Ouray
City crossed sixty or seventy miles of the reserva-
tion, and, of course, a stage-station and stopping-
place for trams was necessary on that part of the
road lying within the reservation. This station
was kept by Capt. Cline, by permission of the
"lords of the soil," and they even went so far as
to mark out a considerable scope of country which
('apt. ('line should have for his own use and bi n-
efit. " Mother Cline," as the Captain's wife was
universally known, was also greatly respected by
the Indians, and tie' worthy couple enjoyed, in tie'

fullest degree, the esteem and confidence of the
whole tribe of Utes.

The expedition followed the old Mormon road
as far as it was practicable, about forty miles be-
yond the Gunnison River. The wagons were then
left behind, and the party struck out on horse-
back. Their first camp was at the Gunnison,
whence Sapovanero sent out two runners to inform
the hostiles of their coming. The second night's
camp was on Grand River, twenty miles distant
from the hostile camp, which was reached at 10
o'clock of the third day. At Grand River, they
w re met by two envoys from the hostile camp —
Henry Jim, the White River interpreter, ami
Cojoe, an Uncompahgre Indian. It is a curious
fact that the first hostile Indian who met Gen.
Adams en route, and the first Indian he saw in
the camp of the hostiles, were Uncompahgres,
though it has been long ami loudly denied that,
the Uncompahgre Utes had anything to do with
the outbreak.

Just before reaching the hostile camp, the com-
mission was met by two other Indians, who in-
formed Adams that he had been graciously
permitted to enter. Nothing was seen, however,
of the captives at first, ami it was sunn ascertained
that they were in another camp, on Plateau Creek.
Without waiting for "permission" to proceed
further, Gen. Adams and his party rode on to
Plateau Creek, and accidentally discovered Miss
Josie Meeker, in spite of efforts to secrete her.
The other captives had been hidden away, and
were not produced until some hours later.

These hours were consumed in a " medicine
talk," which lasted five or six hours, and was very
stormy. The young bucks wanted to kill the com-
missioners, but were overruled by their elders.
This part of the powwow being conducted in
classical Ute, without interpretation, Gen. Adams
never knew, until some time afterward, of the
danger which menaced him. It was finally re-
solved that the commission should be suffered to
depart, but without the white women and chil-
dren.

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

151

This aroused the ire of Sapovanero, who had
been instructed by Ouray in bring back the cap-
tives without fail, and who felt the importance of
his mission. He made a lengthy speech, in which
he threated the stubborn chief with Ouray's sov-
ereign displeasure if the}" did not obey his com-
mands. Although this speech made a decided
impression, it was not immediately conclusive.
Chief Douglass desired that Adams should go to
White River and have the troops removed from
there, promising to surrender the captives on his
return if he was successful. To this Adams de-
murred, but promised, if the prisoners were at
once surrendered and started south, that he
would go on to White River and use his influ-
ence with Merritt to prevent any advance — an
easy compromise, as Merritt had no orders to
advance.

This arrangement was eventually agreed to, and
shortly the captives were unconditionally surren-
di red, though with evident reluctance.

The joy of the poor prisoners knew no bounds
when assured that they were in the hands of their
friends once more— friends indeed, although entire
strangers as tar as previous acquaintance was con-
cerned. They had lieen captives twenty-two days,
and had almost despaired of succor. Miss Meeker
and Mrs. Price had borne up wonderfully well
under their privations and sufferings, but poor

Mrs. Meeker was nearly wnrn out by anxiety, suf-
fering and exposure. The two children ot Mrs.
Price had fared better than the elders, and were
enjoying tolerably vigorous health.

Gen. Adams at once departed, with an Indian
escort, tin- Gen. Merritt's headquarters, communi-
cated to him the facts above recited, and returned
to the Southern Agency, via the hostile camp, and
over the same mail he had followed when going
in. reachiug the camp of Ouray on the 29th, and
Denver a few days later.

The women and children, in charge of ('apt.
Cline, had proceeded directly south, reaching
Ouray's house on the evening of the second day,
where they received a warm welcome from the

veter liplomatist, who was greatly elated over

thesuccessof his scheme. Thence they traveled,
by easy stages, to Denver, everywhere being
greeted with demonstrations of joy over their
escape, and at Denver they had quite an ovation.
Their arrival in Greeley, however, was the most
affecting incident of the latter portion of their
trip. There they met their old friends, neighbors
and relatives, whom they had little thought ever
to meet again under such circumstances and sur-
roundings. It was as if the dead had been re-
Stored to life, and no language can fitly portray the
feelings of the rescued prisoners, or their friends
who welcomed them " Home again."

CHAPTER VII.

SAD STORY OF Till': CAPTIVES.

FROM the moment of their release until long-
weeks afterward, the story of the captives
was on every tongue. It filled columns of every
newspaper in the country, and crowds flocked to
hear it from the lips of the heroine of the Agency,
.Miss .Tosie Meeker, who yielded to the solicita-
tions of the public and appeared a lew times upon
the rostrum, not to lecture, but to tell the plain,
unvarnished story of the Agency massacre and

the experience of the captives during the time they
remained in the hands of the hostiles.

Not even Miss Meeker herself could give an
adequate idea of their intense and overwhelming
sufferings, not alone from brutal treatment, although
that of itself was bad enough, but from the an-
guish of their hearts over the recent horrid death
of their dear ones, and from anxiety lest they
should share the same or a worse fate by the same

v ■

152

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

( rue] hands which killed and mutilated their
friends.

Consider the circumstances: Mrs. Meeker was
an aged and infirm woman, whose husband, the
companion of many years, had been bloodily
butchered, almost before her eyes — indeed, after
her capture she had been driven past the eold and
lifeless body of her husband, lying stark and stiff',
in the embrace of death, upon the ground, yet she
had in it been permitted to even touch the remains,
much less tn bid them the farewell affection
prompted. Mrs. Price, too, bad lost her husband
in the same cruel manner, and her two helpless
little ones were not only fatherless but prisoners,
like her, with savages, who were far more likely
to kill them than treat them kindly. Miss Meeker
a young lady of education and culture, the pet
and pride of her dead father, whom she loved
beyond measure, was in such distress of body and
mind that she might have been expected to break
down entirely, instead of keeping up her courage
with undaunted spirit and compelling the admira-
tion of her inhuman captors. While there is life
there is hope, of course ; but in this case it did
not seem that their chances of escape were worth
hoping for. One advantage they had, however,
and that was their intimate knowledge of Indian
nature, acquired during their residence at the
Agency, and to this and Miss Meeker's courage
they probably owe their lives to-day.

I In emerging from their captivity, they were met
at Chief Ouray's house by Mr. Ralph Meeker,
Mrs. Meeker's only son. who is an attache of the
Xew York Herald, but whose visit to Colorado
was in the capacity of special agent of the Interior
Department to assist in the rescue of the prisoners.
Mr. I tali ill Meeker arrived out too late to accom-
pany Gen. Adams, anil was forced to remain at the
Los Pinos Agency until his mother and sister
reached there in charge of Capt. ('line, as already
stated. During their journey from the Agencj to
the railway at Alamosa, little was talked of other
than the experiences of the eventful days of their
captivity and sufferings, and, at the suggestion of

her brother, .Miss Meeker dictated a letter to the
Herald, detailing the leading features of events at
the Agency before, during and after the massacre,
with an account of her wandering in the wilder-
ness and final rescue by Gen. Adams' party. The
narrative is too interesting to be abridged, and no
apology need be made for inserting it entire :

MISS JOSEPHINE MEEKElt's STORY.

"The first I heard of any trouble with the
Indians at my father's Agency was the firing at
Mr. Price while he was plowing. The Indians
said that as soon as the land was plowed it would
.ease to be Ute's land. Two or three councils
were held. The Indian woman Jane, wife of
Pauvitts, caused the whole trouble. Tt was finally
settled by the Agent's moving her corral, building
her a house, putting up a stove and digging her a
well. Rut Johnson, who was not at the council,
got angry with the Agent anil the Indians when
he found the plowing resumed. He assaulted
father and forced him from his house.

" Father wrote the Government that if its policy
was to be carried out, he must have protection. The
response was that the Agent would be sustained.
Gov. Pitkin wrote that troops had been sent, and
we heard no more until the runners earn \ and all
the Indians were greatly excited. They said there
were soldiers on Rear River, sixty miles north of
the Agency. The next day, the Indians held a
council, and asked father to write to Thornburg to
send five officers to come and compromise and
keep the soldiers off the reservation. Tie Agent
sent a statement of the situation of the Indians,
and said Thornburg should do as he thought best.
The Indians who accompanied the courier returned
Sunday to breakfast. A council was held at
Douglass' camp, and also at the Agency.

• l Meanwhile, the American flag was flying over
Douglass' camp, yet all the women and tents were
moved luck, and the Indians were greatly excited.

"Monday noon. Mr. Eskridgo, who took the
Ageni s message to Thornburg, returned, saying that
the troops were making day and night marches, and

■ ■ <

t . V'*j i

JF :

Jfe*

/a^tc^o*^

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

155

it must be kept secret, but Thornburg wanted it
given out to the [ndians that he would meet five
Utes at Milk Creek, fifteen miles away from the
Agency, on Monday night. He desired an imme-
diate answer. Thornburg expected to reach the
Agency Tuesday noon with the tinujis. The Indians,

win) at first were angry, brightened up, and Doug-
lass sent two [ndians with one white man, Fsk-
ridge, to meet Thornburg. But, secretly, the Utes
were preparing for the massacre, for, just before
Eskridge left with the Indians, a runner was seen
rushing up to Douglass with news of what I since
learned was soldiers fighting.

•• Half an hour later, twenty armed Indians
came up to the Agency from Douglass camp and
began tiring. I was in the kitchen washing dishes.
It. was after dinner. I looked out of the window
and saw the I'tes shooting at the hoys working on
the new building. Mrs. Price was at the door,
washing clothes. She rushed in and took .Johnny,
the baby, to fly from them. .lust then, Frank
Dresser, an employe, staggered in, shot through the
leg. I said, ' Here, Frank, is Mr. Price's gun.'
It lay on the bed. He took it. and just as we were
fleeing out the door the windows were smashed in and
halt' a dozen shots fired into the room. Frank
Dresser fired and killed Johnson's brother. We
ran into the milk-room, which had only one small
window, locked the door and hid under a shell'.
We heard firing for several hours. At intervals
there was no shouting and no noise, hut frequent
firing. While waiting, Dresser said he hail gone
to (he employes' room, where all the guns were
stored, hut found them stolen. In the intervals of
shooting. Dresser would exclaim, ' There goes one
of the Government guns.' Their sound was quite
different from the sound of the Indian guns.

" We stayed in the milk-room until it began to
lill with smoke. The sun was halt' an hour high.
I took May Price, three years old. and we all ran
to father's room. It was not disturbed. The
papers and hooks were just as he left them.
" Pepy's Diary" lay open on the table. We knew
that the building would be burned, and ran across

Douglas avenue for a Meld of sage brush, beyond
the plowed ground. The Utes were so busy stealing
annuity goods that they did not at first see us.
About thirty of them, loaded with blankets, Were
carrying them toward Douglass' camp, near the
river. We had gone Hilt yards when the Utes
saw us. They threw down the blankets and came
running and tiring. The bullets whizzed as thick
as grasshoppers around us. I don't think it was
their intention to kill us. only to frighten us, but
they ti'ied to shoot Frank Dresser, who had almost
reached the sage brush. Mother was hit by a
bullet, whieh went through her clothing and made
a flesh-wound three inches long in her leg. As
the Indians came nearer, they shouted. ' We no
shoot; come to us.' I had the little girl. The
Indian Persune said for me to go with him. lie
and another Ute Seized me by the arms and started
toward the river. An Uucoinpahgro Indian took
Mrs. Price and her baby, and mother was taken
to Douglass' headquarters. We came to a wide
irrigating canal which father persuaded the Indians
to build. I said I could not cross it. The Indi-
ans answered by pushing me through the water.
I had only moccasins on. and the mud and water
were deep. The baby waded, too, and both of us
came out wet to the skin. As we were walking
on. Chief Douglass came and pushed Persune away,
and, in great anger, told him to give me up. I
understood some of the language. Persune re-
fused to surrender me and hot words followed, and
I feared the men would fight. For a. moment, I
thought I would ask Douglass to take me, but, as
both were drunk. I kept silent, and I was after-
ward glad I did not go. Douglass finally wenf
away, and we walked on toward the river. Before
reaching the stream, not more than two hundred
yards away, both my conductors pulled out bottles
and drank twice. No whisky was sold at the
Agency. Their bottles were not Agency bottles.
The Indian Persune took me to where his ponies
were standing, by the river, and seated me on a
pile of blankets, while he went for more. Indians
were on all sides. I could not escape. Persune

106

HISTOliY OF COLORADO.

packed his effects, all stolen from the Agency, on a
Government mule, which was taller than a tall man.
Tic had two mules ; In; stole them from the Agency.
It was now sundown. The packing was finished
al dark, and we started for the wilderness to the
s inth. I rode a horse with a saddle but no bri-
dle. The halter-strap was so short that it dropped
continually. The child was lashed In-hind me.
Persune and his assistant rode each side of me,
driving the pack-mules ahead. About twenty
other Indians were in the party.

"Mother came later, riding bareback behind
Douglass, both on one horse. She was sixty-four
years old, feeble in health, not having recovered
from a broken thigh caused by a fall two years
ago. Chief Douglass gave her neither horse, sad-
dle nor blankets. We forded the river, and, on
the other side, Persune brought me his hat full of
water to drink. We trotted along until !( o'clock,
when we halted half an hour. All the Indians
dismounted, and blankets were spread on the
ground, and I lay down to rest, with mother lying
not far from me. Chief Douglass was considera-
bly excited, and made a speech to me with many
gestures and great emphasis. lie recited his
grievances and explained why the massacre began.
He said Thornburg told the Indians that he was
going to arrest the head chiefs, take them to Port
Steele and put them in the calaboose, and perhaps
hang them. He said my father had written all the
letters to the Denver papers, and circulated wild
reports about what the Indians would do, as set
forth by the Western press, anil that he was
responsible for all the hostility against the Indians
among the whites in the West. He said that the
pictures of tin- Agent and all his family, women
ami children, had been found on Thornburg s body
ju>t before the attack on the Agency, and the
pictures were covered with blood and showed
marks of knives on different parts of the bodies.
The throats were cut. and the Agent had bullet-
holes in bis head. I was represented by the pict-
ure as shot through the breast, and Douglass said
father had made these pictures, representing the

prospective fate of his family, and sent them to
Washington to be used to influence the soldiers
and hurry troops forward to fight the Indians.

" This remarkable statement, strange as it may
seem, was afterward told me by a dozen other dif-
ferent Indians, and the particulars were always the
same. While Douglass was telling me this, he
stood in front of me with bis gun, and bis anger
was dreadful. Then be shouldered his gun and
walked up and down before me in the moonlight,
and said that the employes had kept guard at the
Agency for three nights before the massacre, and
he mocked thetn and sneered and laughed at them,
and said be was 'a heap big soldier.' He sang
English songs, which be had heard the boys sing
in their rooms at the Agency. He sang the negro
melody, 'Swing low. sweet chariot.' and asked me
if 1 understood it. I told him I did. for be had
the words and tune perfectly committed

" He said father bad always been writing to
Washington. He always saw him writing when
he came to the Agency. He said it was 'write,
write, write,' all day. Then he swore a fearful
oath in English. He said if the soldiers had not
come and threatened the Indians with Fort Steele
and the calaboose and threatened to kill all the
other Indians at White River, the Agent would
not have been massacred. Then brave Chief
Douglass, who had eaten at our table that very
day, walked off a few feet and turned and placed his
loaded gun to my forehead three times, and asked
me if I was scared. He asked if I was going to
run away. I told him that I was not afraid of
him and should not run away.

■ When he found his repeated threats could not
frighten me. all the (41101' Indians turned on him
and laughed at him, and made so much fun of
him that he sneaked off and went over to frighten
my mother. I heard her cry ' Oh ! ' and I sup-
pose she thought some terrible fate had befallen
me. I shouted to her that I was not hurt, that
she need not be afraid, that they were only trying
to scare her. The night was still, but I heard no
response. The Indians looked at each other. All

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

157

hands took a drink around my bed, then they sad-
dled their horses, and Persune led my horse to me
and knelt down on his hands and knees for me to
mount ni} - horse from his back. He always did this,
and when he was absent his wife did it. I saw Per-
sune do the same gallant aet once for his squaw,
but it was only once, and Done of the other
Indians did it at all.

•■ We urged our horses forward and journeyed
in the moonlight through the grand mountains,
with the dusky Indians talking in low, weird tones
among themselves. The little three-year-old, May
Price, who was fastened behind me, cried a few
times, for she was cold and had had no supper,
and her mother was away in Jack's camp; but the
child was generally quiet. It was after midnight
when we made the second halt, in a deep and
sombre canon, with tremendous mountains tower-
ering on every side. Mother was not allowed to
come. Douglass kept her with him half a mile
further down the canon. Persune hail plenty of
blankets, which were stolen from the Agency. He
spread some for my bed and rolled up one for my
pillow, and told me to retire. Then the squaws
came and laughed and grinned and gibbered in
their grim way. We had reached Douglass' camp
of the women who had been sent to the canon pre-
vious to the massacre. Jack's camp, where Mrs.
Price was kept, was fiye or six miles away in an-
other canon. When I had laid down on my newly
made bed, two squaws, one old and one young,
came to the bed and sang and danced fantastically
and joyfully at my feet. The other Indians stood
around, and when the women reached a certain
point of their recital, they all broke into laughter.
Toward the end of their song, my captor Persune,
gave each of them a newly stolen Government
blanket, which they took, and then went away.
The strangeness and wild novelty of my position
kept me awake until morning, when I fell into a
doze and did not open my eyes until the sun was
shining over the mountains. The next, day, Per-
sune went to fight the soldiers, and placed me in
charge of his wife, with her three children. That

same day, mother came up to see us, in company
witli a little Indian. On Wednesday, the next
day, Johnson went over to Jack's camp and
lirought back Mrs. Price and baby to live in his
camp. He said he had made it all right with the
other T T tes. We did not do anything but lie
around the various camps and listen to the talk of
the squaws whose husbands were away fighting
the soldiers. On Wednesday, and on other days,
one of Sufansesixits' three squaws put her hand on
my shoulder and said : ' Poor little girl, I feel so
sorry, for you have not your father, and you are
away off' with the Utes so far from home.' She
cried all the time, and said her own little child
had just died, and her heart was sore. When
Mrs. Price came into camp, another squaw took
her baby, Johnny, into her arms, and said, in Ute,
that she felt very sorry for the captives. Next
day, the squaws and the few Indians who were
there packed up and moved the camp ten or twelve
miles into an exceedingly beautiful valley, with
high mountains all around it. The grass was two
feet high, and a stream of pure, soft water ran
through the valley. The water was so cold I could
hardly drink it. Every night, the Indians, some
of whom had come back from the soldiers, held
councils. Mr. Brady had just come up from the
[Jncompahgre Agency with a message from Chief
Ouray for the Indians to stop fighting the soldiers.
lie had delivered the message, and this was why
so many had come back. On Sunday, most of
them were in camp, They said they had the
soldiers hemmed in in a canon, and were merely
guarding them. Persune came back wearing a
pair of blue soldier pantaloons, with yellow stripes
on the legs. He took them off and gave them to
me for a pillow. His legs were well protected with
leggings, and he did not need them. I asked the
Indians, before Brady came, where the soldiers
were. They replied that they were still in 'that
cellar,' meaning the canon, and the Indians were
killing their ponies when they went for water in
the night. They said: 'Indians stay on the
mountains and see white soldiers. White soldiers

158

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

no we Indians. White soldiers not know how to
fight.' One of their favorite amusements was to
put on a negro soldier's cap, a short coat and blue
pants, and imitate the negroes in speech aud walk.
I could not help laughing, because they were so
accurate in their personations.

"On Sunday, they made a pile of sage brush as
large as a washstand, and put soldier's clothes and
a hat on the pile. Then they danced a war dance
aud sang as they waltzed around it. They were in
their best clothes, with plumes and fur dancing-
caps made of skunk-skins and grizzly-bearskins,
with ornaments of eagle-feathers. Two or three
began (he dance; others joined until a ring as
large as a house was firmed. There were some
squaws, and all had knives. They charged upon
the pile of coats with their knives, and pretended
that they would burn the brush. They became
almost insane with frenzy and excitement. The
dance lasted from 2 o'clock until sundown.
Then they took the coats and all went home. On
Sunday night, Jack came and made a big speech;
also Johnson. They said more troops were com-
ing, and they recited what Brady had brought
from Chief Ouray. They were in great commo-
tion, and did not know what to do. They talked
all night, and next morning they struck half their
tents and then put them up again. Part were for
going away, part for staying. Jack's men were all
day coming into camp. They left on Tuesday for
Grand River, and we had a long ride. The caval-
cade was fully two miles long. The wind blew a
hurricane, and the dust was so thick we could not
see ten feet back in the line, and I could write my
name on my race in the dust. Most of the
Indians had no breakfast, and we traveled all day
without dinner or water. Mother had neither sad-
dle nor stirrups — merely a few thicknesses of can-
vas strapped on the horse's back, while the young
chiefs pranced around on good saddles. She did
not reach Grand River until alter dark, aud the
ride, for an invalid and aged woman, was long and
distressing. The cam]) that night was in the sage
brush.

" On the morning of Wednesday, we moved five
miles down the river. A part of the Agency herd
was driven along with the procession, and a beef
was killed this day. As I was requested to cook
most of the time, and make the bread, I did not
suffer from the filth of ordinary Indian fare.
While at this camp, Persune absented himself
three or four days, and brought in three fine
horses and a lot of lead, which he made into bul-
lets. Johnson also had a sack of powder. The
chief amusement of the Indians was running bul-
lets. No whites are admitted to the tents while
the Utes sing their medicine songs over the sick,
but I, being considered one of the family, was
allowed to remain. When their child was sick
they asked me to sing, which I did. The medi-
cine-man kneels close to the sufferer, with his back
to the spectators, while he sings in a series of
high-keyed grunts, gradually reaching a lower and
more solemn tone. The family join, and at inter-
vals he howls so loudly that one can hear him a
mile; then his voice dies away and only a gur-
gling sound is heard, as if his throat were full of
water. The child lies nearly stripped. The doc-
tor presses his lips against the breast of the sufferer
and repeats the gurgling sound. He sings a few
minutes more and then all turn around and smoke
and laugh and talk. Sometimes the ceremony is
repeated all night. I assisted at two of these
medicine festivals. Mrs. Price's children became
expert at singing Ute songs, and sang to each
other on the journey home. The sick-bed cere-
monies were strange and weird, and more interest-
ing than anything I saw in all my captivity of
twenty-three days.

" We stayed on Grand River until Saturday.
The mountains were very high, and the Indians
were on the peaks with glasses watching the sol-
diers. They said they could look down upon the
site of the Agency. Saturday morning, the pro-
gramme was lor twenty Utes to go back to White
River, scout around in the mountains and watch
the soldiers; but just as they were about to depart,
there was a terrible commotion, for some of the

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

159

smuts on the mountains had discovered the troops
ten or fifteen miles south of the Agency, advancing
toward our camp. The Indians ran in every direc-
tion. The horses became excited, and, for a time,
hardly a pony could be approached. Johnson flies
into a passion when there is danger. This time,
his horses kicked and confusion was supreme. Mr.
Johnsi n siezed a whip and laid it over the .shoul-
ders of his youngest squaw, named Coose. He
pulled her hair and renewed the lash. Then he
returned to assist his other wife pack, and the
colts ran and kicked. While Mrs. Price and my-
self were watching the scene, a young buck came
up with a gun and threatened to shoot us. We
told him to shoot away. Mrs. Price requested
him to shoot her in the forehead. He said we
were no good squaws, because we would not scare.
We did not move until noon. We traveled till
nightfall, and camped on the Grand River in a
nice, grassy place, under the trees by the water.
The next day was Sunday, anil we moved twenty-
five miles south, hut mother and Mrs. Price did
not come up for three or four days again. We
camped on the Grand River, under trees. Rain
set in ami continued two da} - s and three nights. I
did not suffer, fur I was in camp ; hut mother and
Mrs. Price, wdio were kept on the mad, got snaked
each day. Johnson, who had Mrs. Price, went
beyond us, and all the other Indians behind camped
with Johnsi hi

"Friday, Johnson talked with Douglass. He
took mother to his tent. Johnson's oldest wife is
a sister of Chief Ouray, and he was kinder than
the others, while his wife cried over the captives
and made the children slmes. Cnhae heat his wife
with a club and pulled her hair. I departed, leav-
ing her to pack up. lie was an Uncompahgre Ute,
and Ouray will not let him return to hisband. The
Indians said they would stay at this camp, and, if
the soldiers advanced, they would get them in a
canon and kill them all. Tiny said that neither
the soldiers nor the horses understood the country.

■•The Utes were now nearly to the Uncom-
pahgre district, and could not retreat much further.

Colorow made a big speech, and advised the Indi-
ans to go no further south. We were then removed
one day's ride to Plateau Creek, a cattle stream
running south out of Grand River. Eight miles
more travel on two other days brought us to the
camping-ground where Gen. Adams found us. It
was near to Plateau Creek, hut high up and not
far from the snowy range.

" On Monday night, an Uncompahgre Ute came
and said that the next day Gen. Adams, whom
they called Washingtou, was coming after the cap-
tives. I felt very glad and told the Indian that I
was ready to go. Next day, about 11 o'clock,
while I was sewing in Persune's tent, his boy,
about twelve, came in, picked up a buffalo robe
and wanted me to go to bed. I told him I was
not sleepy. Then a squaw came and hung a blan-
ket before the door, and spread both hands to
keep the blanket down so I could not push it
away ; but I looked over the top and saw Gen.
Adams and party outside, on horses. Thesquaw's
movements attracted their attention and they came
u] i close. I pushed the squaw aside and walked
nut to meet them. They asked my name and dis-
mounted, and said they had come to take us back.
I showed them the tent where mother and Mrs.
Price were stopping, and the General went down,
but they were not in, for, meanwhile, Johnson had
gone to where they were washing, on Plateau
Creek, and told them that a council was to be held
and that they must not come up till it was over.
Pinner was sent to the ladies and they were or-
dered to stay there. About 1 o'clock, when the
council ended, Gen. Adams ordered them to be
brought to him, which was done, and once more
we were together in the hands of friends.

"Gen. Adams started at once fur White River,
and we went to Chief Johnson's and stayed all
night,

" The next morning we left I'm- Uncompahgre.
in charge of Capt. ('line and Mr. Sherman. The
Captain had served as a scout on the Potomac, and
Mr. Sherman is chief clerk at Los Pinos Agency.
To these gentlemen we were indebted for a safe

1G0

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

and rapid journey to Chief Ouray's house, mi
Uncompahgre River, near Los Pinos. We rode
on ponies, forty miles the first day, and reached
Capt. Chile's wagon, on a small tributary of the
Grand. Here we took the buckboard wagon.
Traveled next day to the Gunnison River, and the
nest and last day of tear we traveled forty miles,
and reached the house of good Chief Ouray about
sundown. Here Inspector Pollock and my brother
Ralph met me, and I was happy enough. Chief
Ouray and his noble wife did everything possible
to make us comfortable. We found carpets on the
floor and curtains on the windows, lamps on the
tables and stoves in the rooms, with fires burning.
We were given a whole house, and after supper
Ave went to bed and slept without much fear,
though mother was still haunted by the terrors
she had passed through. Mrs. Ouray shed tears
over us as she bade us good-bye. Then we took
the mail wagons and stages for home. Three
days and one night of constant travel over two
ranges of snowy mountains, where the road was
11,000 feet above the sea, brought us to the beau-
tiful park of San Luis. We crossed the Rio
Grande River at daylight, for the last time, and, a
moment later, the stage and its four horses dashed
up a street and we stopped before a hotel with
green blinds, and the driver shouted ' Alamosa.'

"The moon was shining brightly, and Mt.
Blanca, the highest peak in Colorado, stood out
grandly from the four great ranges that sur-
rounded the park. Mother could hardly stand.
She had to be lilted from the coach; but when
she caught sight of the cars of the Rio Grande
Railroad, and when she saw the telegraph poles,
her eyes brightened, and she exclaimed, ' Now T
feel safe.'"

Mrs. Meeker and Mrs. Price also published state-
ments of their individual experiences, but, in the
main, they corresponded with the foregoing, except
that both bore testimony to the coolnessand unflinch-
ing Courage of Miss Meeker in the presence of
every danger, even in the awful ordeal through
which they passed at the Agency on the day of the

massacre, and subsequently when the ''brave"
Chief Douglass pointed his gun at her head and
flourished his scalping-knife in her face. Douglass
had sent a magniloquent message to Chief Ouray
that the women and children were "safe" under
his protection, also that the papers and money of
Mr. Meeker had been turned over to Mrs. Meeker.
When the truth became known, it appeared that
Douglass was not only guilty of persecuting the
prisoners but actually had stolen Mrs. Meeker's
little store of money ! Wily old Ouray knew that
such petty meanness would be quoted against his
tribe, and demanded that the money be returned,
but it was not handed over until some time after-
ward. It is generally believed that Ouray, failing
to recover the money from Douglass, paid it out of
his own pocket and represented that it came from
Douglass.

When Miss Meeker told the story of her cap-
tivity to the people of Denver, she introduced
siime facts and incidents not noted in her New
Fork I frin/,/ narrative. She was particularly
happy in her description of Indian habits and cus-
toms, upon which topic she enlarged considerably.
She also gave an interesting account of a visit paid
to her in secret by a Uintah Ute, whom she de-
scribed as being a remarkably bright and intelligent
savage, and almost gentlemanly in his demeanor —
quite a romantic savage, indeed. He did not,how-
ever, make any effort or promise to secure her
release, further than that he volunteered to carry,
and did carry, a message from her to the Agent of
the Uintahs. He asked her many questions about
the outbreak, the massacre, her captivity, her treat-
ment by the Indians, and, with the skill of a first-
class criminal lawyer, elicited all the information
she had upon these various subjects. He was law-
yer-like, too, in his own reticence and non-commit-
talism. He simply listened. After hearing her
story, he went off, agreeing to return in the morn-
ing fur the letter which he was to carry to the
Agency. '

Miss Meeker was nut supplied with writing mate-
rials, and the suspicious Indians refused to let her

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

101

have such as they happened to possess, which were,
in fact, rather infinitesimal. Finally, Susan, wife
of Chief Johnson and sister of Ouray, afterward
to become famous under her new sobriquet of
"God bless Susan," whose kindness to the captives
was a bright oasis in the desert of their misery, |
managed to secure the stub of an old lead pencil |
for Miss Meeker, and the latter found a scrap of
paper, upon which she wrote the following message:

Grand River (forty to fifty miles from Agency),

October 10, 1870.
To the Uintah Agent :

I semi this by one of your Indians. If you get it, do
all in your power to liberate us as soon as possible. I
do ii"i think they will let us go of their own accord.
You will do me a great service to inform Mary Meeker,
at Greeley, Colorado, that we are well, and may get |
home some time. Yours, etc.

Josephine Meeker,
U. S. Indian Agent' s daughter.

The gentle Douglass proved to be an angel of
very variable temper. When drunk, be was vapor-
ous and insulting; but after a debauch, be was a
whining and insipid savage. At such times, he

would bemoan his unhappy fate, and blame Father
Meeker for bringing on the Agency troubles. The
loss of his Agency supplies seemed lo weigh upon
him heavily, and frequently he would repeat :
<; Douglass heap poor Indian now.

Brady, the white messenger sen! by Ouray with
orders to the White River Utes to stop fighting,
was not permitted to see the captives at all. or to
communicate with them. Miss .Meeker beard of
his arrival, and asked to see him, but was told that
be was "heap too much hurry" to make any calls
of state or ceremony.

Taken altogether, the captivity of the Meckel's
and Mrs. Price has no redeeming feature, save (lie
fact that they were ultimately released, and their
release, as already shown, was not the willing act
of their captors, but a sort of military necessity,
whereby it was hoped not only to check the ad-
vance of the troops, but also to pave the way for a
peaceable solution of the pending difficulty. The
horrors of their captivity were dreadful enough,
even without the crowning horror which they so
narrowly escaped.

CHAPTER VIII.

UTE ATROCITIES IN COLORADO.

IN the early days of Colorado's history, the Utes
were not particularly troublesome. It is re-
lated that a small force of United States soldiers,
under command of Maj. Ornisby, once had an
engagement previous to 1 Still, with a band of Utes
u iar Pike's Peak, and that the soldiers were victo-
rious. Fort Garland, in Costilla County, was
built for the purpose of protecting the country
against any outbreak of the Utes. Quite a num-
ber of them went to war early in the sixties, but
old Kit Carson, being in command there, succeeded
in pacifying them without bloodshed. Since then,

the Utes have been l leratcly peaceable as a

whole, though they have always been more or less
troublesome, especially in small bands and as

individuals. In fact, there scarcely has been a time
since the first settlement of Colorado when they
have not been an annoyance. The greater share
of trouble has, however, been due to the southern
bands of the tribe, while the White River Utes
have been, upon the whole, peaceably inclined.
Colorow and Piab and their bauds have proven
exceptions, but they did not for years cause serious
trouble until in 1 878.

The Utes cannot make complaint against the
whites with the force usually brought to bear mi
the subject by the aborigines. They have not
been persecuted by settlers. In fact, the white

settlers have 1 n an actual protection to the Utes.

When the white people came into this country.

1G2

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

the Utes and the Plains Indians, the Cheyennes
and the Arapahoes, were deadly enemies, and the
Plains Indian-; were generally considered the supe-
riors of the Utes as Indian fighters. The whites
were compelled, for their own protection, to rid the
country of the Arapahoes and Cheyennes, and in
doing so they also relieved the Utes. Hence the
latter tribe owe the whites a real debt of gratitude.

The Utes have never made any attack upon
large parties of whites except once. It was in
1S72 that a party of eleven white men, under the
leadership of John Le Fevre, ventured into North
Park prospecting. One day, a majority of the
party went out to kill game enough to eat, and,
while out, very unexpectedly ran upon a band of
fifty Utes, under the leadership of the infamous
old renegade Colorow. The party were met face
to face by the Indians, who seemed to have
planned the meeting

"Here! dam! you shoot my antelope."

"Oh, no! Only one to eat."

" Yes, you do; you heap dam lie."

The whites insisted that they were not unneces-
sarily butchering the antelope. But Colorow said
that if the whites were not out of the park the
next day he would scalp all of them. There was
one sirk man with them. Colorow said he could
have twenty sleeps and then he must go. Le
Fevre and one man took the hint and left. None
of the others were seen again. But eight skele-
tons were found in the locality in which they had
been left, a few years afterward ; and some time
after this discovery another pile of bones accounted
forthe ninth. A note pinned on the door of the
cabin in which the sick man had been confined,
completed the story. He stated that Colorow had
been about a great (leal; that he bad threatened to
kill all hands, and that he, the writer, never ex-
pelled to see the land of the white man. There i-;
no doubt in the minds of any of the old inhabi-
tants of North or Middle Park but what Colorow
killed tbe nine men who were following the
legitimate pursuit of prospecting in a country near
the Ute country, but to which they bad no earthly

claim. Many other small parties have been
threatened just as this was, and doubtless would
have met with the same horrible fate had they not
concluded that prudence was the better part of
valor, and left at his command. There is no use
in disguising the fact, the Indians are a drawback
to the State, and people who venture out upon our
frontier, whether they cross the line or not, are in
danger. It has been but a little over two years
since, in La Plata County, the southern half of
the tribe were making demonstrations which, if the
culprits had been white men, would have entitled
them to a. term in the penitentiary, or to have their
bodies swinging in the air. It was nothing for a
lone white man to be stopped and threatened. In
1875, a man was killed in cold blood in South
Park.

There are few Colorado people that do not
remember the fate of poor Joe MeLane. Joe was
decoyed off and murdered by a band of Utes, near
Cheyenne Wells, over a hundred miles east of
Denver, anil three or four hundred miles from the
Ute reservation, showing that people are not safe in
any part of the State when those Indians are
about. This same band, under the leadership of
Shevenau, Washington, Piah and Colorow, fled to
Middle Park, where they continued their devilish
work by robbing and threatening, which was only
cut short whin one of the Indians had a bullet put
through his body. In their flight, they deliber-
erately stopped on the road and shot an inoffensive,
quiet old man named Elliott, who bad for years
lived a next-door neighbor to them, and wdio had
never done a single act to provoke them. The
whole State was alarmed, and the military was
called out. The result was great fear among the
frontier settlers, a fortnight's campaign in the
mountains, and heavy expenses. This occurred in
August, 1878 — one year ago.

The following meager outline of crimes recently
published, will bear repetition here:

Killing of three miners in North Park in lSt;i).

Murder of G. P. Marksberry near Florissant,
El Paso Co., Cob,., 1S74.

■J

& '

z^e^y-

<£*

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

163

Murder of " Old Man " Elliott on Grand River,
near Hot Sulphur Springs, 1878.

Burning of house and blacksmith-shop belong-
ing to W. N. Byers, at Hot Sulphur Springs,
Grand Co., Colo., 1875.

Burning of Frank Marshal's house, corral and
fence at " Marston Tourrs," Egeria Park, 1ST").

Burning of Richard Weber's house at foot of
Gore Range, 1875.

Burning of houses, eorral and Knee belonging
to John Jay and Asa L. Fly, on Bear River,
Colorado. 1875.

Burning of John Tow's house on Bear River,
is::,.

Burning of W. Springer's house, eorral and
fences on Bear River, 1875.

Burning of D. <!. Whiting's house, stable, eor-
ral, fences and hay, on Bear River, 1S76.

Burning of T. II. lies' hay, on Bear River,
1876.

Burning of 0. C. Smart's cabin on Bear River,
1879.

Burning of houses and hay belonging to A. H.
Smart and J. B. Thompson, on Bear River.
1879.

Destruction of pine timber in and about North,
Middle and Egeria Parks, 1879. Estimated
value, Sin. linn. lino.

Destruction of 1011,000 acres of grass in the
parks and on Bear and Snake Rivers.

Indiscriminate slaughter of elk, deer and ante-
lope out of season, and merely tor the hides.

But the Meeker massacre was the crowning in-
famy, and the most earnest desire of the people of
Colorado is that the assassins should be punished,
and that right speedily. So many crimes of the
Indians have been condoned, or only winked at by
the Government, which assumes the prerogative of
dialing with the Indians directly, instead of leav-
ing them in the hands of the courts, that Colorado
has had enough, and more than enough, of such
business. If any foreign power, however high and
mighty, had massacred Meeker alone, to say noth-
ing of his associates, the United States would have

demanded and exacted instant reparation, instead
of appointing peace commissioners to " investigate"
the affair, and, if possible, to "arrest" the mur-
derers. Father Meeker was dear to the people of
( lolorado, and his untimely and awful taking-off was
a terrible shock even to those long accustomed to
Indian duplicity, treachery and barbarity.

The following sketch of Mr. Meeker's life will
serve to show that he was no ordinary man, and it
will be found interesting. It was written before
the news of his death was received:

'• Nathan C. Meeker, the Agent at White River,
is about sixty-four years of age. He was born in
Euclid, Ohio, near Cleveland. The place is now
known as Callamer. At an early age, he began to
write poems and stories for the magazines. When
he was still in his boyhood, he traveled on foot
most of the way to New Orleans, where he arrived
without money or letters of recommendation. lie
succeeded in getting work on the local staff' of one
of the city papers, which barely gavehim a living.
In a year or two, he returned to Cleveland, and
taught school until he could earn enough to pay
his way to New York, whither he went with the
friendship of George D. Prentice, whom he had
met during his Southern travels. In New York,
he was encouraged by N. I'. Willis, and he con-
tributed poems and sketches regularly to the New
York Mirror, a literary journal edited by Willis,
ami which attracted considerable attention from
good writers of that day. The young man's style
was quaint and somewhat melancholy, and bis
poems were copied, but he could scarcely earn bread
to eat, and his sufferings were so great that he
abandoned poetry for the rest of his life. He man-
aged to raise money enough to enable him to pro-
coed on foot to Pennsylvania, where he taught
school and continued his literary studies. After-
ward, lie returned to Ohio, and, in 1844, when
about thirty years old, married the daughter of Mr.
Smith, a retired sea captain, at Claridon, and took
his bride to what was known as the Trumbull Pha-
lanx, which was just being organized at Braceville,
near Warren, Ohio. The society was a branch of

101

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

the Brook Farm and the North American Phalanx,
of which Hawthorne, Curtis and Greeley were
leading members. The Ohio Phalanx was com-
posed of young and ardent admirers of Fourier, the
socialist. There was no free love, but the members
lived in a village, dined at common tallies, dwelt in
separate cottages, and worked in the community
fields together and allowed the proceeds of all their
earnings to gp into a common fund. Manufactor-
ies were established, the soil was fertile, and pros-
perity would have followed had all the members
been honest ami the climate healthful. Fever and
ague ran riot with the weeds, and the most ignor-
ant and avaricious of the Arcadian hand began to
absorb what really belonged to the weaker ones, who
did most of the hard labor. Mr. Meeker, who was
one of the chief workers, was glad to get away alive
with his wife and two boys, the youngest of whom
was born shaking with the ague. Mr. Meeker was
the librarian and chief literary authority of the
community, but he lost most of his books, and
when he reached his Cleveland home he had but a
few dollars. In company with his brothers, he
opened a small store and began business on a
'worldly' basis; and hi' prospered so that he was
invited to join another community, the disciples
and followers of Alexander Campbell, a Scotch-
Irishman, the founder of the religious sect the
members of which arc sometimes called ' Camp-
b ■llites.' Cen. Garfield is a follower of this
faith, and he became a fellow-townsman of Mr.
Meeker. The 'disciples' were building a large
college at Hiram, Ohio, and Mr. Meeker moved
his store thither and received the patronage of the

school and church. While then', he wrote a 1 k

called -The Adventures of Captain Armstrong.'
"In 1856, when the great panic came, lie lost
nearly everything. Then he moved to Southern
Illinois, and, with the remnant of his goods, opened
a small store mar Dongola, in Union County. For
several years his boys 'ran' the store, while he
worked a small farm and devoted his spare hours
to literature. His correspondence with the Cleve-
land Plaindeahr attracted the attention of Arte.

mas Ward, and the result was a warm personal
friendship. When the war broke out, he wrote a
letter to the Tribune on the Southwestern political
leaders and the resources of the Mississippi Val-
ley. Horace Greeley telegraphed to A. D. Rich-
ardson, who was in charge of the Tribune at Cairo,
this dispatch :

" ' Meeker is the man we want.' Sidney How-
ard Gay engaged him, and, after serving as a war
correspondent at Fort Donelson and other places,
at the close of the war, Mr. Meeker was called to
New York to take charge of the agricultural de-
partment and do general editorial work on the
Tribune. He wrote a book entitled " Life in the
West," and his articles on the Oneida Community
were copied into leading German, French and
other European journals. In 1869, he was sent to
write up the Mormons; but finding the roads be-
yond Cheyenne blockaded with snow, he turned
southward and followed the Rocky Mountains
down to the foot of Pike's Peak, where he was so
charmed with the Garden of the Gods and the un-
surpassed scenery of that lovely region, where
birds were singing and grasses growing in the
mountains, that he said, if he could persuade a
dozen families to go thither, he would take his wife
and girls to live and die there. Mr. Greeley was
dining at the Delmonico when he heard of it.

" ' Tell Meeker," exclaimed he, ' to go ahead. I
will back him with the Tribune?

" A letter was printed, a meeting held, subscrip-
tions invited, and $96,000 Were forwarded to the
Treasurer immediately. Mr. Meeker was elected
President of the colony, and Horace Greeley made
Treasurer. So many applications were sent in
that it was thought a larger tract of land would bo
needed than seemed to be free from incumbrance
at Pike's Peak. Several miles square of land were
bought on the Cache-la-Poudre River, where the
town of Greeley now stands, and several hundred
families were established in what had been styled
'The Great American Desert.' Horace Greeley's
one exhortation was :

" ' Tell Meeker to have no fences nor rum.'

-£+

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

165

" On this hiisis the colony was founded. To-day,
Greeley has 3,000 population, 100 miles of irrigat-
ing eanals, a fine graded school, and is the capital
of a county 160 miles long.

" Mr. Meeker went to the White River Agency
with his wife and youngest daughter, Josephine,
who taught the young Indians, and was a general
favorite. Mr. William II. Post, of Youkers, was
his 'boss farmer' and general assistant. Mr. Post
had been a competent and very popular Secretary
of the Greeley Colony. He was at the Agency at
the time of the outbreak.

"Mr. Meeker's plan was to have the Indians
raise crops and support themselves in an improved
way. He encouraged them to live in log houses
and have some of the miscellaneous conveniences
of civilization. Mr. Meeker's family consists of
three daughters and one son. Two of the
daughters, Mary and Rose, are at the homestead
in Greeley, while Josephine, aged twenty-two, is
supposed to have shared the fate of the father
and mother, both of whom are of venerable
years."

All that could be said against Father Meeker
was, that his rugged honesty and almost Puritanic
devotion to principle, instead of " policy," unfitted
him for Indian management on the most successful
plan. He was inflexibly just, rather than preter-
naturally kind. He would not compromise with
wrong, or what he thought to be wrong. Perhaps
his idle, dissolute and vicious wards did find his
words bitter at times, but his heart was softer than
his tongue. He might rebuke them for their- mis-
deeds, but he would have shared his last crust
with them with equal pleasure.

It is a singular fact that the foregoing history of
1'te depredations ill Colorado includes but one sol-
itary instance in which the Indians suffered at the
hands of the whites. One Ute was shot in Middle
Park, in the summer of 1878, by a party of ranchmen,
who had banded together fir protection from the insi i-
lence of marauding Indians. The rest of the
gang suddenly departed from the Park, but as
they rode past Mr. Elliott's ranch they saw the
old gentleman standing peaceably in his doorway,
and shot him down as they would a deer or a dog.

CHAPTER IX.

THE "PEACE COMMISSION" FARCE.

THIS record closes in the last half of Decem-
ber. Nearly three months have elapsed

since the Thornburg fight and the Meeker mas-
sacre. The captives were released two months
ago. Merritt's magnificent army still waits at the
ruins of the White River Agency, and Gen.
Hatch's soldiers are still spoiling for a fight down
south. The hostile Indians are quiescent, but are
still resting on their arms and the laurels of their
late victories. Nothing is being done toward wip-
ing out the miserable murderers, but a " Peace
Commission" has been taking Indian testimony
at the Los Pinos Agency.

Of all tbi> dreary, disgusting farces ever played
in Colorado, this has been the worst, and the white

members ot the Commission have been nearly if
not quite as much disgusted with their work as
have the people of the State. Acting not only
under instructions but by daily direction of the
Interior Department, the Commissioners have had
neither choice nor discretion as to what they should
do or leave undone.

The Commission, as constituted by appointment
of Mr. Secretary Scburz, consisted of Gen. Hatch,
who was elected President of the Board; Gen.
Adams, nominal Secretary, and Chief Ouray, who
represented the Indians. Besides the Commis-
sioners, there was a sort of Judge Advocate Gen-
eral, in the person of Lieut. Yalois, of Gen.
Hatch's staff, and an official stenographer.

-<J @_

100

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

The Commission was created at the instance of
Chief Ouray, who assured Gen. Adams that, if
permitted an opportunity, he would ferret out
every [ndian concerned in the uprising, and turn
them all over to the Government for such punish-
ment as it saw tit to infliet upon them. This
apparently generous offer was well calculated to
satisfy the heads of the Indian Bureau, and was
accepted with a flourish of Schurz trumpets, as an
evidence that the Utes were "good Indians" at
heart, and deeply regretted the unfortunate occur-
rences at the Agency and Milk River.

The Commissioners received notice of their ap-
pointment immediately after the return of Gen.
Adams from his pilgrimage in search of the pris-
ers, and Ouray agreed to have the hostile Indians
in his camp within ten days. The ten days would
expire Saturday. November 8, and the first meet-
ing of the ( lommission was fixed for that day at the
Los Pinos Agency. Gen. Adams eame north in
the interim, and took the written and sworn testi-
mony of Mrs. and Miss Meeker and Mrs. Price,
at Greeley, soon after they had reached home from
their captivity.

Returning immediately south, Gen. Adams
reached Los Pinos about the time for the first
session of the peacemakers, but Gen. Hatch was
delained until the Wednesday following, and the
work of the Commission dates from November 12.

The first sessions of the Commission were not
marked by any wonderful revelations of fact by
the Indian witnesses, but, on the contrary, their
dense ignorance of what had happened up north
was something fearful to be contemplated. Before
testifying to anything, they required the dismissal
of Mr. McLane, who had accompanied Gen.
Hatch to the Agency. Their antipathy to McLane
resulted very Indianaturally from the fact that, last
sunnier, they had murdered his brother on the
plains, cast of Denver, and suspected that his
visit to the Agency boded no good to his brother's
murderers. It should be borne in mind, too, that
they did not know, except inferentially, what
McLane was there for, but they didn't want him

thereon general principles. Gen. Hatch held that
McLane was there as a witness, and had as much
right to remain as the Indian witnesses, but Adams
and Ouray said that Mr. McLane should go, to
please the Indians. He went. First blood for the
Utes.

After the solitary white witness had been
bounced, the Indians began testifying, the Com-
mission sitting with closed doors and most of the
witnesses with closed mouths. They were the
"squaw Indians," as those engaged in the Agency
massacre were designated to distinguish them from
the fighting men who, under Chief Jack, defeated
Thornburg. These squaw Indians were the fol-
lowers of Douglass and Johnson, principally. The
testimony of the late captives had directly impli-
cated most of them in the massacre, but when
they took the witness' stand and the I'te oath (the
latter with great solemnity, to all outside appear-
ances), most of them swore, with equal solemnity,
that they had never heard of the massacre and
didn't know Mr. Meeker was dead. The following
burlesque report of Johnson's examination is but a
trifling exaggeration of the actual facts:

THE PEACE COMMISSION.
Grapevine Telegram to Laramie Times :

Los Pinos, Colo., November 17, 1879.

Chief Johnson was again called to the stand this
morning, anil administered the following oath to
himself, in a solemn and awe-inspiring manner:

"By the Great Horn S] ns of the Paleface

and the Great Round-faced Moon, round as
the shield of my fathers; by the Great High
Muck-a-Muck of the Ute Nation; by the Beard
of the Prophet; by the Continental Congress and
tln> Sword of Bunker Hill, I dassent tell a lie ! "

When Johnson had repeated this solemn oath,
at the same time making the grand hailing sign of
the secret order known as the Thousand and ( hie,
there was not a dry eye or seat in the house. Even
Gen. Adams, who is accustomed to the most
ghastly, bloody forms of horrible death on the
gory battle-field, sobbed like a little half-fare child.

I>*

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

1(17

Question by Gen. Adams — What is your name,
and where Jo you reside ?

Answer — My name is Johnson — just plain
Johnson. The rest has been torn off. I am by
occupation a tanner. I am a horny-handed son of
toil, ami don't you forget it. I reside in Greeley,
Colo.

Q. — Did you or did you not hear of a massacre
at the White River Agency during the fall, and if
so, how much ?

Objected to by defendants' counsel, because it is
irrelevant, immaterial, unconstitutional and incon-
gruous. Most of the forenoon wasspent in arguing
the point before the court; but it was allowed to
go in, whereupon defendants' counsel asked to have
the exception noted on the court moments.

A. — I did not hear of the massacre until last
evening, when I happened to pick up an old paper
and read about it. It was a very sad affair. I
should think, from what the paper said.

Q. — Were you or were not present at the
massacre?

Objected to by defendants' counsel, on the
ground that the witness is not bound to answer a
question which would criminate himself. Objection
sustained, am! question withdrawn by prosecution.

Q. — Where were you on the night that this
massacre, is said to have occurred ?

.1. — What massacre?

Q. — The one at White River Agency.

A. — I was attending a series of protracted
meetings at Greeley, in this State.

Q. — Were Douglass, Colorow and other Ute
chiefs with you at Greeley?

A. — They were.

Court adjourned for dinner. Gen. Adams re-
marked to a reporter that he was getting down to
business now, and that he had no doubt that, in
the course of a few months, he would vindicate
Schurz's policy and convict all those T'tes of false-
hood in the first degree.

After dinner, court was called, with Johnson
still at the bat, Douglass on deck, Gen. Adams
| short-stop, and Ouray center field.

Q. — You say you were not present at the
massacre at White River; were you ever engaged
in any massacre?

Objected to, but objection afterward withdrawn.

A.— No.

Q— Never?

.1. — Never.

Q.— What! never?

A. — Well, dam seldom.

Great applause and cries of " Ugh ! "

Q. — Did you or did you not know a man named
N. C. Meeker, or Father Meeker?

A.— Yes.

Q. — Go on and state if you know where you
met him, and at what time.

A. — I met him at Greeley, t« r three years

ago. After that, I heard he got appointed Indian
Agent somewhere out West.

Q. — Did you ever bear anything of him after
that?

A. — Nothing whatever.

Q. — Did the account of the White River mas-
sacre which you read mention the death of Mr.
Meeker?

A.— No. Is he dead'.''

Gen. Adams. — Yes, he is dead.

At that announcement the witness gave a wild
whoop of pain and anguish, fell forward into the
arms of Gen. Adams and is still unconscious as
we go to press.

We do not wish to censure Gen. Adams. No
doubt lie is conducting the investigation to the
best of his ability; but he ought to break such
news to the Indians as gently as possible.

Ridiculous as this nonsense may sound, it was
almost duplicated a i'rw days later by the testimony
of Sowerwick, an Indian upon whom Gen. Adams
relied for 'reliable'' testimony. Sowerwick said
that he knew nothing and had beard nothing
about any trouble at the Agency; whereupon
Adams asked him how the women ami children
happened to be captives in the Indian camp. He
denied all knowledge of the captives, too. though
Adams had met him and talked with him when

168

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

the prisoners were recovered, and Sowerwiek had
taken an active part in the council which was held
before the prisoners were surrendered.

Said Adams, " Now, Sowerwiek, didn't I meet
you in the captive camp, on Plateau Creek, and
didn't I talk with you in your own tent about the
women and children? "

The innocent savage turned half around to look
Adams in the eye, and unblushingly answered,
"No."

It. was a monumental falseh 1. for Adams had

known Sowerwiek intimately for years, and could
nut possibly be mistaken. Moreover, the Indian
had not denied or attempted to conceal his iden-
tity at tin; time mentioned, but had met Adams as
an old friend whom he was glad to see. even under
circumstances which, ordinarily, might be embar-
rassing.

Of course nothing was gained by such testi-
mony, and finally Gen. Hatch refused to bear any
more of it. Ouray was also terribly disgusted,
but was powerless to compel the Indians to testify.
They were afraid to say anything, lest they should
give themselves away. They were terribly suspi-
cious of the Commission, and Ouray was com-
pelled to guard the white men at the Agency, to
save them from assassination. Richelieu was com-
pletely nonplused. He begged for time, which
was granted him, and which he used in haranguing
the Indians, but to no avail. The story of the
Agency massacre never passed their lips.

Tile testimony of the captives was read to
Ouray, ami objected to by him as " squaw-talk."
Hatch ami Adams, however, said the testimony
should stand unless disproved by the Indians im-
plicated. Another lease of time was asked and
granted by direction of Schurz.

Days dragged into weeks and weeks dragged
away. At last Ouray announced a grand coup.
Jack and Colorow were coming in. They came.
They mounted the witness stand. They acknowl-
edged their leader-hip in the attack on Thorn-
burg, and told the story of the 6ght — told it
straight, too, but of course laid all the blame on

poor dead and gone Thornburg. They didn't
want to fight ; oh no. They were driven into the
battle by a stress of unfortunate circumstances,
over which they had no control. If they had
been printers, no doubt they would have called it
a typographical error.

Finally, after exhausting the story of the Milk
River "accident," they were asked about the
Meeker massacre, and every ear was strained to
hear the first syllable of their re] ly. The first
syllable was "katch." It was also the last and
tin' middle and the whole answer. •'Katch" has
no English synonym ; it is too expressive for that.
It means, in a general way, that tin' speaker has
no information on the subject, and nothing to say.
Ami thus ignominiously was ended the hearing of
testimony by the Utc Peace Commission — testi-
mony as valueless as can be imagined.

There was great curiosity in Colorado to know
why Jack and Colorow came forward and testified so
freely about the Thornburg fight; but curiosity
was soon exchanged for disgust when it became
known that they testified under a guarantee of
immunity from punishment. It appeared that an
arrangement was effected between Schurz, Ouray
and Jack (a sort of tripartite alliance), by which
Jack and his band were to be whitewashed, pro-
vided they came forward and testified and consented
to the surrender of the "squaw Indians.'' Doug-
lass, Johnson, et al.. or. rather, the surrender of
twelve of them named by the captives as partici-
pants in the Agency massacre. But the crafty
savages, as usual, got the best of Mr. Schurz.
They only testified to what he knew already, and
to what everybody knew. They paused at the
very point where their testimony might have
proved valuable.

The next question was in relation to the surren-
der of the twelve assassins already spotted, and
more time was asked, as usual, and, as usual, was
given —by orders from Washington. The Indians
assembled at Ouray's bouse ami deliberated for
several days, varying the monotony by an occa-
sional war-dance, in which Ouray i although,

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

160

nominally, one of the "Peace" Commissioners)
joined, iii full war-paint and feathers.

Finally, the Commission was reconvened to hear
the verdict of the defendants. The Indians came
in heavily armed, and filled the council-room.
Ouray announced the ultimatum. The twelve
would be surrendered, provided they could be tried
at Washington. Colorado justice had no charms
for them. Colorado was all against the Utes.
The Commission was against them. Adams and
Hatch were their enemies. The poor Indians had
no friends this side of Washington. The twelve
must be tried there, and a delegation of chief's,
headed by Ouray, must go and see fair play, talk
with the President, and have a good time generally.

Adams withdrew in disgust, but that stern war-
rior, Gen. Hatch, opened out on the Indians with

undisguised bitterness. His remarks were inter-
rupted by Colorow drawing his knife and throwing
it down on the floor — the gauge of battle. Every
other Indian drew a knife or revolver, but as the
whites present made no answering demonstration,
no conflict resulted.

The conference broke up in disorder, and the
Indian demand was telegraphed to Washington,
whence the answer came back that the ignomini-
ous terms must he accepted. Further time
was then demanded for the surrender of the
twelve, and that, too, was granted. It has now
expired, however, and the surrender has not. been
made, though Ouray still promises that it shall
be done. Perhaps it will, as the twelve have
little to fear from the results of a trial — at Wash-
ington.

CHAPTER X.

DEEPLY disappointed, not only with the
results of the negotiations just noted, but
still more deeply at the failure of the Oovemment
to allow the troops an opportunity of settling with
the still hostile Utes, the eyes of the people turned
naturally to Congress, as a court of last resort,
where the foul wrongs which they had suffered
would lie atoned in some measure. They were pre-
pared, by the experiences of the past few weeks,
to see the Meeker and Thornburg assassins go un-
punished, hut they insisted that Colorado could no
lunger shelter the savages whose hands were still
steeped in blood.

Congress assembled on the 1st day of Beeem-
ber. Senators Teller and Hill and Representative
Belford were in attendance, and, early in the ses-
sion, introduced several separate measures for the
removal of the Utes from Colorado, claiming, in
general terms, that the Indians had forfeited their
rights under the Brunot treaty, by which they
bound themselves to live in peace with the whites.

THE UTE QUESTION IN CONGRESS.

Judge Bedford's bill for their removal did not sug-
gest any asylum for the assassins, but simply pro-

vided that they must depart, from Colorado. Sena-
tor Teller introduced a joint resolution to the same
effeat. Senator Hill's measure authorized the
President to treat with them, with a view to their
removal. It would have been better, perhaps, if the
three movements had been consolidated in a_ simple
demand for their removal, leaving all else out of
consideration.

The first opposition to the bill came from West-
ern and Southern members, wdio suspected that
the design was to remove the Utes to the Indian
Territory. This was met and silenced by a pro-
viso that the Indian Territory should not be
selected for their resilience.

Then the real opposition to their removal to any
point began to bo manifested in various forms.
The question was raised as to whether the South-
ern tribes had dime anything to demand their
removal from the State. Then somebody wanted

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

to know whether the outbreak hud not been the
natural result of "encroachments" on the reserva-
tion. Secretary Schurz and Commissioner Ilayt
were eaeh on record with statements that the
miners were crowding the poor Indians uncomfort-
ably on their 12,000,000 acres.

This was, of course, vigorously disputed, not
only liy the Colorado delegation hut by many
other members who knew, by personal observation,
how false it was. Many Congressmen had visited
Colorado during the summer, and each one of
them sided with our own members.

Senator Teller introduced a resolution requiring
the Commissioner of Indian Affairs to substantiate
his statement that miners were on the reservation
by detailed accounts of the " encroachments " to
which he had referred in his report to Congress.
The resolution directed him nut only to specify the
violations of the Brunot Treaty by white settlers,
but also tn state what steps, if any, the Indian
Bureau had taken to protect the reservation, as
required by the treaty " and such other informa-
tion as was in his possession," for the information
of the Senate.

To this resolution there has been no response, as
yet, and none is expected — for the sufficient reason
that the Commissioner of Indian Affairs cannot
point to one violation of the treaty by white men.
The 1 'tes li.n e looked mu I'm' I ha! themselves, li
has been death for a white man to violate the
treaty.

As a part of the history of Colorado Indian
troubles, and to show the temper of Congress on

the question, the following report of 01 f the

debates in the House of Representatives is repro-
duced :

"Washington, December in. — In the House
yesterday, the Chairman el' the Committee on In-
dian Affairs reported back the Senate bill author-
izing the Secretary of the Interior to negotiate
with the Ute Indians for the relinquishment of
their reservation in Colorado, and their removal
ami settlement, with amendments requiring the con-
sent of the Indians to the cession of any part of

their reservation, and providing that no agreement
shall be valid unless agreed to by three-fourths of
all adult males who have not forfeited their treaty
rights, and unless confirmed by Congress.

" Mr. Springer said the time had arrived when
civilization had reached the boundaries of the Ute
reservation, and all efforts to preserve peace there
would lie futile in the future. Congress must look,
then, at the question squarely, fairly and plainly,
and must decide it in the interest of justice. He
did nut believe in treating with the Indians as
equals; he believed in the policy of regarding the
whole of the lands within the limits of jurisdiction
as public domain, and Indians as citizens of the
United Stales, and of teaching them to obey the
law, and to understand that, when they killed inno-
cent persons, they were guilty of murder.

" .Air. Belford stated that the I'te reservation, in
Colorado, consisted of 12,000,000 acres, or 4,000
for every man, woman and child, in the I'te tribe.
lie was opposed to the committee amendments to
the Senate bill, and he predicted that if they were
adopted, that next year would witness a renewal of
the conflict which had recently attracted the atten-
tion of the country. He challenged Conger, or
any officer of the Interior Department, to point
his linger to a complaint ever made by the
lie Indians against the. people of Colorado. If
those amendments were adopted, as certain as God
reigned above, next spring the teeming thousands
which would pour into Colorado would cross the
line of that reservation, and would prospect the
mountains for mineral wealth, and the Government
would not have the power to arrest the progress of
the vast tribe. If the Government desired to pre-
vent war anil protect the people of Colorado, it
must provide some method that would secure the
removal of the Indians from the State. In com-
ing to Washington to take his seat, lie had passed
through large States, every acre of which has been
stolen from the Indians; and, the gentleman said.
• while our fathers robbed the Indians, we waul you

to belong to the g ly cla^s of people in the West.'

He called the attention of Conger to the fact that

■

z~ — ■ — ■

-4-

'-£+.

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

173

the report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs
for 1878, showed that mure frauds had been com-
mitted against the Indians in Michigan than in any
other State or Territory.

" Mr. Honker said that Belfordand Springer pro-
posed, in violati f the most solemn treaties, to

rob the Indians of the territory which had been
conceded to them -by the Government, [f they
were a powerful nation, with a great army at their
harks which could point cannon at their faces and
demand justice, these gentlemen would not dare to
take the position they do. He held the Govern-
ment was powerful enough to do what was right,
and to see that justice was done, even though the

people who demand it demand it in the nan f

law and mural right, and not because they have
physical power to compel it.

■Air. Belford said the tide of civilization — of
Anglo-Saxon civilization — is sweeping over the
country, and that the Indians must yield to it.

"Mr. Conger asked what sort of bill this was
which required lor its sanction and support a ref-
erence to all the world-renowned rascalities prac-
ticed on the Indians since the discovery of
America. This great nation had made a treaty
eleven years ago with a mountain tribe of Indians,
by which those Indians were permitted to go far
into unknown mountains, supposed to he uninhab-
itable by civilized i pie, and remain then'. They

had been driven away from all the land which it
was then thought the avarice and greed of white
men might desire. But now the enterprise and
avidity of tin' white man had discovered treasures

of silver and gold in the neighbor!) 1 of these

mountains, and one had been found within twenty-
five miles of the Ute reservation. In former
years, men hail waited until miners or agriculturists
had stepped over the lines of Indian reservations,
but now they were becoming holder, and now as
soon as they came in sight of the mountains — as
soon as they came in sight of the foot-hills, twenty-
five miles off, the Commissioners appointed to
protect the Indians in their rights, brought in a
bill to remove the Indians from their territory and

reservation. The whites had not yet passed into
their reservation.

" Mr. Haskell denied the last statement, and
said already the mountains to the east of Leadville
and in the Ute reservation were filled with miners,
and the conflict with those miners brought about
these difficulties.

"Mr. Conger asked why have the miners gone
on this reservation'.'' Why have the citizens of
tin: United States violated the treaty? Because
they have power to go there, and because they can
make a disturbance there and excite the Indians,
and can then rush to Congress and demand that
the Indians be driven from their reservation. The
history of the past and the history of the present
run on all fours.

■ Mr. Belford — I must emphatically deny that
the people of Colorado have given these Indians
any occasion fur the late outrages, and I challenge
the gentleman to point to anything of the kind.
The statement of the gentleman from Kansas,
Haskell, is nut correct.

" Mr. Conger — 1 thought it was not correct, hut
I did not dare to correct it myself. I was feeling
my way.

'■ Mr. Haskell — I re-assert what I asserted be-
fore, that the miners are on that reservation to-
day.

■■ Mr. Conger — I do not enter into the question
of veracity between these gentlemen. My friend
from Kansas may, possibly, be able to stand on the
plains of Kansas and know mure about what is
taking place nil the mountains of Colorado than the
gentleman from that State knows. (Laughter.)
If there be any trouble there, it has arisen from
the violation by the citizens of the United States of
the treaty made within eleven years, ami the gov-
ernment, it seems, has taken no pains whatever to
enforce the treaty, and to keep nut of this Indian

ervation those who have no right to go then'.
The very battle to which allusion has often been
made, the very light with our troops, was caused
by sending an armed force into the reservation
contrary to treaty stipulations, ami without notice.

174

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

"Mr. Belford — They were sent at the request
of the Agent.

■■ Mr. Conger — That may be ; it was because in-
dividual miners went over the bounds of the
reservation and violated the treaty, that all the
trouble had arisen. 1 venture to assert that fair
investigation will show that more than nineteen-
twentieths of our Indian troubles from the com-
mencement of the Government till now have been
caused by the violation of the treaty on the part of
our citizens. I assert that the provisions of this
hill are in violation of the treaty itself, which pro-
vides that there shall lie no concession of territory
except with the consent of three-fourths of the
male Indians. I condemn the bill because Con-
gress has no right to resolve that no agreement he
made to break a treaty made with any power; I
oppose the hill because it is unjust to the Indians ;
I oppose it because its very advocates say that the
Indians must Lie removed, because they are in the
way of the white men: 1 oppose it because it pro-
vides that these Indians shall lie located in some
other part of Colorado ; lopposeit because I think
it the duty of the United States, with the strong
arm of its power, to protect the Indians in their
reservation.

Mr. Conger represents a State (Micnigan)
which, more than any other in the Union, has. in
the past, defrauded the Indians of their rights;
but of course that does not matter if Colorado is
no nearer right than Michigan was when she drove
out the Indians, to possess herself of their inher-
itance.

It is not a question of comparison, but of fact.
If the Utes of Colorado have, as Mr. Belford
claims, forfeited their treaty rights by outlawry
anil resistance, why should the "strong arm of the
Government " reach out to •■ protect the Indians in
their reservation ?

The duty of the Government to protect the

Indians existed when the latter were living at
peace with the Government; and if there had
been, as there were not. any 'encroachments''
upon the reservation by white men, it was clearly

the duty of the Government to have removed the
usurpers. It was also the duty of the Govern-
ment to protect the people of Colorado from
Indian encroachments and outrages, by keeping
the latter on their reservation at the same time the
whites were kept oft' of it. But the Government
did neither.

It left the Indians free to roam over the entire
State at will, armed and equipped for robbery,
arson and murder, all of which crimes have been
committed from year to year, until the very daj
when Mr. Conger rose in his place and demanded
— what? Not that the murderous and trespass-
ing Utes should be restrained, but that they
should be '■ protected." Congress has no power,
says Mr. Conger, to break a treaty. Then the
Utes are more potent than Congress, for assuredly
they have broken the treaty of 1868, and haw
defied the " strong arm of the Government,'' by-
making war upon its army and massacreing its
Agents.

Apparently, however, there is no power on
earth which will convince the Jvist that Colorado
does not want the Utes removed, in order that she
may inherit after them. Even if this were as
true as it is false, there would be both reason and
justice in the demand. Their reservation is enor-
mously too large for their diminished numbers,
and its mineral wealth is of no value to them what-
ever. They ceded the rich San Juan country to
the United States for a consideration, and it has
more than repaid the outlay already, while the I'tes
themselves are no poorer, or would not be if the
Interior Department would pay them their just
dues. Now the Government might go down into
its pocket a little deeper and buy the rest of the
reservation, with equal or exceeding profit. Pay
the Indians as much or as little as may be neces-
sary for their land. Colorado does not demand
that they shall be robbed, even by the Indian
Bureau.

Congress cannot be expected, however, to rise
above the influences of the Interior Department in
this Ute business, and the people of Colorado

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

175

expect little from that quarter. A - < 1. 1 . ■•_: : 1 1 i < »i i "
of Indians is going on to Washington, and
tlie average Congressman is no matcli for the
guileless ehild of the forest when the latter has a
grievance. Ouray will have a larger, more sym-
pathetic and far more powerful audience at the
Capitol than Teller, Hill and Bedford combined.
Capt. Jack will be the hero of the day — the
Indian who whipped Thornburg in a " fair fight''
— so called by the Ute apologists, although the
brave men who died with Thornburg in that death-
canon of Milk River may have entertained a dif-
ferent idea as to the fairness of that foul attack.
Capt. Jack will claim that it was a fair fight, of
course. Congress will believe him, and the penny-
a-liners will dilate upon the " wrongs of the poor
Indian, ad nauseam. After settling the Ute
question to suit themselves, the Indians wilj come
back to Colorado and become ten times mure
intolerant and dangerous than before, feeling
that they have nothing to fear from the "strong
arm" of the paternal but, apparently, idiotic Gov-
ernment

The Ute war is not over, though a truce is called
for the moment. The inquiry now in progress at
Washington as to the merits of the matter is too
superficial and ex parti to result in anything but a
complete surrender to the Indians. Apparently.
there is no disposition to hear white testimony on

the question. The House Committee on Indian
Affairs was, some time since, notified that Gov.
Pitkin, of Colorado, was a material and competent
w itness for his people ; but, while a palace car load
of Utes are sent on, at Government expense, to
justify the murders committed by themselves and
their kinsmen, the Governor of the commonwealth
is not even asked to be present when they are
examined, nor is it known that a single white man,
other than Government agents, will be present
with them in Washington.

The result will be, no doubt, that Congress will
do nothing toward their removal or better manage-
ment, and, in the early spring, there will be more
and greater troubles between the hostile Utes and
the white settlers, but with this difference — the
whites will not get the worst of it in the next
encounters. The misfortune of this will lie that.
in addition to the inevitable casualties of these
conflicts, the people of the State will be accused
of waging a mercenary war upon the Utes. In
that ease, they must answer that the "strong arm"
of the Government was not raised for their pro-
tect ion, and it became a virtuous necessity to
defend themselves. The blood of the martyred
.Meeker cried from the ground in vain to the
Government in whose service he was assassinated,
but the brave men of Colorado are not deaf to its
demands.

176

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

CHAPT

THE PRESENT CONDITION

IN carrying out the farce known as the " Peace
Commission," appointed to ascertain the guilty
ours implicated in the Ute rebellion and the Meeker
massacre, and to perfect some plan of settlement,
the twelve guilty Indians were at last settled upon.
When this much had been dune, their work came
to a halt for several days, and seemed at one time
almost certain to prove fruitless of good. A de-
mand had been made for these guilty wretches, but
it was 1 only after extending the time, during which
thej were to deliver over as prisoners these parties,

two or three times, and after making all Sorts of

promises as to the fair treatment they should re-
ceive, and using all the persuasive means possible,
that at last a majority of those called for were
brought forth and delivered up. It was then pro-
vided by the Government that they should go to
Washington, accompanied by several other promi-
nent members of the tribe, and that the Commis-
sioners' duties be continued at that place. Accord-
ingly they were taken to Washington in high style,
fed on the fat of the land during the farther session
of the Commission, and finally all returned to the
reservation ind turned louse, with one exception,
in order that they might be again at liberty to
commit such other outrages as they felt disposed.
Chief Douglass, however, was imprisoned at Leav-
enworth, where he still " holds the fort," and thus
it is that the Government has punished the mur-
derers of Col. Thornburgh, Agent Meeker and their
companions. Even Douglass has not had his tiial,
but is kept in a royal manner by tie' Government,
without even the mention being madi of extending
to him that courtesy meted out by the laws of the
country to other murderers — an invitation to a
necktie festival, under the auspices of the civil
authoi it n s.

While in Washington, a basis of agreement, in
settlement of the Ute difficulties, was arranged be-

ER XL

OF THE UTE QUESTION.

i ween the Indians and the Secretary of the Interior.
This agreement was drafted in the shape of a bill
and placed before Congress for its adoption. Here
was another delaying barrier to the plan of settle-
ment which must be overcome. This bill dragged
before Congress for several months, but was finally
pushed through both branches of Congress, and
received the President's signature about the 10th
of. June. 1880. In all this course of handling, it
had received numerous amendments, and its lead-
ing features, as it passed over to the tribe for their
ratification, were as follow- :

It removed the White River band of Utes en-
tirely on- of Colorado, placing them on the Uintah
Reservation, in the Territory of Utah.

The I ucompahgre tribe were removed from
their present quarters to the lands in Colorado ad-
joining Utah, on tiie Grand River, which could be
utilized for agricu! oral purposes.

The Southern Utes are to be placed upon un-
occupied agricultural lauds on the La Plata Liver,
in Colorado, provided there is a sufficiency of such
lands on that river; otherwise, such other unoc-
cupied agricultural lands as might be found in its
vicinity within the State.

It turned over to the people nearly eleven mill-
ions of acres of the reservation, which constituted
about twelve million acres, all told, and this por-
tion turned over comprised the substance of all
the mineral land of the entire reservation, while
the best part of the agricultural land was retained
by the Indians.

One clause of the proposed treaty provided that
it should not become valid until rat Hied by three-
fourths of the male members of the Ute nation.
The treaty set forth that the unpaid annuity, due
from the Government, which had accrued under
the old treaty, and now amounting to something
over $60,000, should be settled immediately upon

>]£_*

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

177

the ratification of the agreement by the Ute nation.
It further provided that the old annuity should be
continued, amounting to $25,000 per annum, and
thai under the new treaty an additional sum of
850,000 should be paid to the tribes annually.

Dnder the stipulations of the Dew treaty, it set
forth that the head of each family should receive
one hundred and sixty acres of agricultural lands,
surveyed off by the Government, and a like quan-
tity of grazing lands, and for every other [ndian
eighty acres. The lands thus apportioned were to
become the property of each Indian, to be held
inalienable for twenty-five years.

Thus the treaty agreement passed Congress, and
a commission was appointed to carry it into effect.
This commission consisted of Col. Manypenny,
of Ohio, Chairman ; Hon. W. S. Stickney, of
Washington, Secretary ; Col. John Bowman, of
Kentucky; Hon. J. G. Russell, of Iowa: Otto
Mears, of Colorado. These gentlemen went imme-
diately to work, and by the middle of September,
1880, had obtained the signatures of over four-
fifths of the male members of the tribe, being more
than the number necessary to carry the agreement
into effect.

During the sessions of this commission occurred
the death of Ouray, head chief of the Ute nation.
He died on the 24th of August, 1880, of disease
of the kidneys. Some said, at the time, he was
probably poisoned by a jealous chief, who he'd a
position subordinate to Ouray. This is generally
considered incorrect. As soon as it was known
that he was dangerously sick, the best of medical
assistance was procured to save his life, but all in
vain. Ouray was the greatest diplomat in the
whole tribe, and his cunning and careful watchful-
ness after the interests of his people is often said
to have outgeneraled that of an ordinary Secre-
tary of the Interior. He was recognized as the
white man's friend, and has. in a large measure,
been the means of maintaining peaceful relations
between the Government and the lie- during
vears past. Ouray was a kind-hearted [ndian, oi
noble instincts, if ever there was such a one. In

point of intelligence his successor Sapavanaro,

who was chosen on tiie 26th of August, is far tie
inferior of Ouray, but is, nevertheless, at present
the recognized head of the Ute nation.

Ignacio, the head of the Southern Utes, had
never i'elt very kindly toward Ouray in late years,
and would not recognize him as his superior in au-
thority. It is related that when he learned of
Ouray's favoring the treaty, he firmly refused to
sign it. In this pretest he held out for several
days. About this time Conatche, an old ex-chief
of the Southern Utes, was struck by lightning and
killed. This, taken together with the impression
left in his mind by Ouray's death, is said to have
brought to the front his Indian superstition that
the Great Spirit was dispensed with his actions,
and he very suddenly changed his mind and signed
the treaty, and after him followed all the Southern
Utes.

In respect to the sums of money to lie paid the
Indians, and the selecting and surveying of their
lands, these portions of the treaty are now being
carried into effect. By those acquainted with the
lav of the country, it is said there will be difficulty
in procuring the requisite quantity of unoccupied
agricultural lands on La Plata River and vicinity,
to take care of the Southern Utes according to
the treaty agreement. But, in regard to the money
part "I' the agreement, Representative Bedford.
Senators Hill and Teller and Governor Pitk'n, of
Colorado, have all united in sending a request to
the Government headquarters that its promises
may be faithfrily kept this time, and thus any
further difficulty with the Utes may be prevented

for a term of years at least. It would have I n

latter fir the Government to remove the whole
JJte tribe from the State, while it was treat-
inn' the subject, yet the present agreement is a
gain for Colorado. But ia a tew years the new
settlers will again so encroach upon those remain-
ing in the State, and there will be such a demand
made Ibr the use of theiragri lultural land — whii h
il w \", be seen, they will not utilize — that the result
may be another Ute war, in years to come,

±1

178

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

the ultimate outcome of which is more than
likely to be the removal of the entire tribe beyond
the borders of the State. With these predictions,
the statement that the Ute nation is found to be
rapidly decreasing, having now only 2,600 Indians

in the entire tribe, ami the statement that all
troubles with the Utes may now be considered at
an end. the writer finds that he has set forth all
the important historical points upon the subject
treated up to this date.

•I 7-

■?•

PART II.

EAILEOAD INTEEESTS

CHAPTER I.

THE DENVER PACIFIC.

TIIK natural desire of a new community for
railroad communication was intensified in the
case of Colorado. The expense of freighting acn tss
the six hundred miles of arid land between the
mountains and civilization, and the impossibility of
utilizing thousands of tons of low-grade ores lying
neglected on the dumps, because the cost of the
transportation of means for their reduction was too
heavy to permit them to be wo'.ked at a profit,
rendered the coming of the railroad the most iin
portant factor in the development of the State.
Of course, so young and comparatively poor a com-
munity could not be expected to do much in the
way of railroad building, but it was willing to help,
and watched anxiously the western progress of the
rival trunk lines, ready to turn its hands in the
direction that gave the promise of the most speedy
connection with the great East. In 1865 came the
first glimmer of hope. The Union Pacific bad then
commenced the building of its line, and the faith
>f the people of Denver in the future greatness of
their city was so strong that they could not under-
stand how a great transcontinental line could afford
to pass Denver by on the other side, and so they
waited patiently while the northern trunk line
pressed steadily onward, every day coming nearer
and nearer Denver, and raising the hopes of her
citizens. In the latter part of 1866, it began to
be whispered that it was possible that the Union
Pacific would not touch Denver, but would pass a
hundred miles to the north of this city. This sus-
picion became a certainty in the early part of 1867,

and the people commenced looking for relief from
other sources. The Kansas Pacific was then away
down in Kansas, coming westward certainly, but
coming so slowly that it could not be foretold
when it would reach Denver; besides the managers
of the line were uncertain what to do — whether to
build mirth, connecting with the Union Pacific, in-
to build south to Pueblo. The latter town, even
at that early day, indulged in the hope of becoming
the capital of the future State, and held out strong
inducements to the Kansas Pacific, and between
the several projects then on foot, there seemed to
be but little hope of a railroad reaching Denver,
unless its own people took the bull by the horns
and compelled respect from the railway magnates,
who acted as if they held the destinies of Denver
in their hands.

The first loophole of escape from the threatened
danger to the commercial interests of the city was
afforded by a project to build the Colorado Central
from Mime point on the Union Pacific mad, the
intention being to extend the line to the mountain
towns; and it was then authoritatively stated that
if the, Colorado Central would grade the mad to
Cheyenne, the Union Pacific would complete the
construction of the line. On this proposition a
meeting was held at the Planters' House July 10,
1867. But lew of the leading citizens were pres-
enl at the meeting, and a public meeting was
called for the following evening. At this meeting
a resolution was adopted requesting the County
Commissioners to issue a proclamation calling an

180

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

election to vote 1200,000 in bonds, in aid of the
railroad. On the 13th of July, the Commission-
ers ordered the election for that purpose to take
place on August 6, attaching the condition to the

call that the road should be built from sonic point
on the Union Pacific road by the most direct route
to Denver. Before the day of voting on the prop-
osition, it became apparent that the managers of
the Colorado Central did not propose to build the
road as stipulated, but proposed building on the
north and west side of the Platte, and to make the
terminus of the road at Golden, sixteen miles west
of Denver. This resolution grew entirely out of
the attitude assumed by Golden toward Denver,
Golden also having aspirations toward becoming
the capital, and contending that its location was
the only point at which the railroad system of Col-
orado could properly center. In this claim it was
supported by the mountain towns, and thus, at the
very outset of her efforts to secure railroad con-
nection with the East, Denver found herself op-
posed by the most thriving of the outside com-
munities. On account of this suspicion, that the
interests of Denver would not be secured by a con-
nection with the Colorado Central, the Commis-
sioners of Arapahoe County so changed the order
of election that the issue of the bonds was made
conditional upon the construction of the road upon
the east bank of the Platte. The result of the
vote was 1,160 for and 157 against the issue of
the bonds.

In September, it became apparent that the Col-
orado Central Company would not accept the bonds
with the condition attached, and for the time the
hope of a connection with lie- Union Pacific died,
aud again the Kansas Pacific seemed to be the de-
pendence of Denver. On November 8, Mr. dames
Archer, of St. Louis, one of the Kansas Pacific
Directors, came to Denver and, at a meeting of the
principal business men. nave them to understand
that they could only hope to secure the building
of the Kansas Pacific to Denver by tin' contribu-
tion of two million dollars in county bonds. Much
as a railroad was desired such a contribution was

out of the question, and the only recourse was to
again seek a connection with the Union Pacific.
To facilitate the negotiations, a Board of Trade was
organized on November 13. On the following
day. George Francis Train arrived in Denver, and.
true to his instincts, desired to address the Hoard
of Trade. Accordingly, a meeting was called for
that evening, at which he spoke, and at which a
provisional Board of Directors for a railroad com-
pany was elected. On the 17th. another meeting
was held, at which estimates for the construction
of the road were [.resented. A committee was ap-
pointed to select incorporators, and another com-
mittee to learn what changes, if any, were neces-
sary to be made in the incorporation law. On the
1 >th, the committee reported the organization of a
railroad company, under the name of the " Denver
Pacific Railway and Telegraph Company." with a
capital stock of $2,000,000, and a Board of Direct-
ors. On the 19th, at another meeting, the Hoard of
Directors announced that they had elected Eon. B.
M. Hughes, President; Luther Kountze, Vice
President; D. II. Moffat, Jr., Treasurer ; W. T.
Johnson, Secretary; F. M. Case, Chief Engineer,
and John Pierce, Consulting Engineer. The or-
ganization of the company was now complete, and
the Committee on Subscriptions went out at once.
Before the following night they had secured sub-
scriptions of $225,000. By the 22d, the subscrip-
tions had swelled to $300,000.

An effort was then made to induce the Colorado
Central to fulfill the original arrangement, and ac-
cept the county bonds, but the offer was refused,
and nothing now remained but for the road to de-
pend on its own resources and the energy of the
gentlsmen having it in charge, (hi December 27,
the County Commissioners issued a call for a special
election, to lie held on January 20, 18G8, on the
question of giving $500,000 in county bonds, in
aid of the railroad, for which a like amount in the
stock of the company was to be received by the
county. On the following day, December 28,
L868, the company advertised for proposals for
furnishing tie — the first movemeni looking to the

*.**

.I'.-'

/r ■&

^^Y^d-^c^

-£+

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

181

actual commencement of operation.-. Before the
election took place, the Kansas Pacific made re-
peated efforts to induce the company to build to
meet them, but, as lines had been established, and

active support, of the Union Pacific bad been
promised, it was thought they had gone too far to
recede. At the election, the vote was 1,259 in
favor of, and 47 against, the bonds. Soon after-
ward, an arrangement was made with the Union
Pacific, that company agreeing to complete the
road as soon as it should be graded and tied.

On March 9, 1808, a bill was introduced in
Congress granting the road the right of way
through the public lands, and soon afterward Gov.
Evans and Gen. John Pierce, representing the
Denver Pacific, met the Union Pacific Directors
in New York City, and there the promises on the
part of the Union Pacific, which had heretofore
been merely verbal, were reduced to writing. In
this memorandum, which was signed by a majority
of the Union Pacific Directors, it. was agreed that
they should execute the contract when, 1st, the
road should be graded and tied; 2d, the Denver
Central and Georgetown Railroad Company should
be organized ; and, 3d, an application should be
made to Congress for a land grant to the Denver
Pacific. The contract for the construction of the
railroad was let in Cheyenne to Dr. Durant and
Sidney Dillon, of the Union Pacific, they stipulat-
ing to complete the road when the Denver parties
should have expended 8500,000 thereon.

A route was immediately laid out and submitted
to the Union Pacific Directory. They asked for a
change in the northern part of the proposed line,
which was made, but failed to formally approve of
the whole line. This delayed the mad sometime,
as the construction of the line before approval by
the Union Pacific would render void the contract
existing between the two companies. It was finally
resolved to commence work on the southern part
of the line, which had been accepted by the Union
Pacific, and accordingly ground was broken at the
Denver end of the line on May 18, 1868, several
thousand people assembling to witness the formal

commencement of a road that was inaugurated
solely by Denver enterprise and capital. The
southern half of the road was graded to Evans in
three months. Meantime, nothing was heard from
the Union Pacific in relation to the northern part
of the line, that company being absorbed in the
construction of its own line and being somewhat
embarrassed financially.

Earhj in the session of Congress for 1807-68,
a bill was introduced in the Senate for the usual
land grant to the Denver Pacific. Before action
on the bill was had, an agreement was made with
John D. Perry, then President of the Kansas Pa-
cific road, to transfer to the Denver Pacific the
land grant of the former company between Chey-
enne and Denver. The pending bill was amended
in such a manner as to grant a subsidy in bonds
to the Kansas Pacific as far as Cheyenne Wells,
and the bill, thus made satisfactory, passed the
Senate July 25.

In February, 1868, Gen. Hughes resigned the
Presidency, and Maj. W. P. Johnson was elected
his successor.

In September 1808. the company commenced
grading from Cheyenne, completing the grade along
the entire line during the fall. The Union Pacific
had so far done nothing toward the fulfillment of
its contract, and further progress was necessarily
delayed.

During the session of 1868-69, the Senate bill
was defeated in the House, owing to the popular
feeling against railroad subsidies of all kinds, but
another bill, containing all the important features
of the defeated act, was passed and approved March
3, 1809. and the road was ready to finish the work
which had been fought through, step by step, (lur-
ing nearly three years. The line was now graded.
and ties were ready.

December 14, 1808, the first annual meeting of
the company took place, at which W. P. Johnson
was elected President; Luther Kountze, Vice
President; D. H. Moffat, Jr., Treasurer, and R.
R. McCormick", Secretary. The death of Mr.
Johnson, March 5, 1869, caused a vacancy, which

182

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

was filled by the election of Gov. Evans, under
whose management the road was pushed through
to a successful issue, his associates remaining prac-
tically unchanged.

In the spring of 1869, the Union Pacific was
called on to fulfill its contract and iron the road to
Denver. The reply was made that Denver would
have to wait, as the Union Pacific was still embar-
rassed financially. The officers of the Denver Pa-
cific insisted that Denver could not wait, and Gov.
Evans proposed that if the Union Pacific would
cancel the contract and sell the iron to the Denver
Pacific, the company would complete the road
itself*. This proposition was agreed to, and an
agreement was at once entered into with the Kan-
sas Pacific, that company agreeing to build their
road into Denver, and complete the construction of
tlie Denver Pacific, taking a certain amount of
Denver Pacific stock. From this time, the diffi-
culties of construction appear to have been over-
come, and the building of the road progressed
steadily until the 22d day of June, 1870, when a
silver spike, contributed by the miners of George-

town, completed the first connecting link between
Denver and the outside world.

The road gave premise ..('great prosperity at the
period of compl rtion, a promise that has not, in all
respects, been fulfilled.

Since its completion, the road has passed through
the vicissitudes that so frequently assail Western
roads, has been the subject of legal contention be-
tween the different claimants, and is now in the
hands of a receiver. In 1877, the Union Pacific,
regretting its failure to make a connection with
Denver, made an effort to obtain a connection,
either by contract or purchase, through the Denver
Pacific, but failed, a circumstance that led to the
construction of a parallel line.

Bv a recent action of the stockholders, however,
a consolidation has been effected with the Union
Pacific and the Kansas Pacific, and the road now
forms a part of the great Union Pacific system
under the control of Jay Gould and his associates.
The road is now doing a fair business, with good
prospects for the future.

CHAP TEE II.

THE DENVER &

THIS line, which forms a most important factor
in the railway system of Colorado, enjoys the
distinction of being the pioneer narrow-gauge road
of this country, and the greatest interest was felt
in its -u.-cess by railroad men both East and West.
Although the Colorado Central had projected a
narrow-gauge line before the Rio Grande road was
begun, the latter made the first actual advance,
work having begun on the first division, between
Denver and Colorado Springs, in the summer of
1870. The " Baby Road," as it was then called,
has siine grown to be the biggest little road in the
United States.

In the beginning, this road was built almost en-
tirely l.\ Philadelphia capital, and its.. dicers were,
mainly, citizens of the Quaker City Gen. W. J.

RIO GRANDE.

Palmer, its first and last President, is a Philadel-
phia!!, aud many of his subordinates came out with
him to Colorado. Though Philadelphia has not
achieved much fame as a promoter of distant rail-
way enterprises, she deserves credit for having
given Colorado the first narrow-gauge road, and
for building it in the face of apparently insur-
mountable obstacles and discouragements.

Ten years ago. it required some nerve to launch
out southward from Denver, through a new
country, in which a railroad experiment had not
been tried, to develop a region, full of promise, in-
deed, but which might not realize half the bright
expectations of enthusiasts like Gov. Gilpin. Ten
years ago, there was no Colorado Springs, nor any
intermediate settlement along the seventy-five miles

>£*

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

183

between Denver and Pike's Peak. Ten years ago,
the silver San Juan was, to a considerable extent,
a terra incognita. Ten years ago, Pueblo and
Canon City, though important trading posts, were
not in any ravenous need of railway connections,
and the whole southern portion of the Territory
was a rough diamond, deeply incrusted with Mex-
ican semi-civilization. Behold how wondrous a
change a decade has wrought ! Gen. Palmer and |
his associates found no great engineering obstacles
in the way at the outset of their work. Their line
skirted the base of the mountains, and, though the
country was rough and broken about the divide
between the Platte and the Arkansas, a passage
was effected with little trouble, and, in 1871, the
road had reached the foot of Pike's Peak. The
configuration of the country was such as to prevent
the road from reaching in its course either Mani-
tou Springs or Colorado City, the old town a few
miles below the soda springs. A new town was
laid out on the east bank of Monument Creek,
just above its junction with the Fontaine qui
Boille.

The location was admirable, and events proved
the wisdom of those who projected the new ven-
ture. The Rio Grande Company showed their
faith by their works, and established the general
offices of the road at Colorado Springs, where the
accounting offices have since remained, the general
operating offices having been removed to Denver.
The town thus ushered into existence in 1S71 now
numbers 5,000 or 6,000 inhabitants, and is the
center of intellectual and social development — the
Athens of Colorado. It is the .seat of the State
Asylum for the Deaf and Blind and of Colorado
College, and the home of large numbers of wealthy
and cultivated people from all parts of the world,
whose tasty and beautiful homes, surrounded by
well-kept lawns and adorned by a profusion of
flowers, present a scene of cozy comfort unsur-
passed in any city East or West. The salubrious
climate, the magnificent scenery, the broad and
level avenues, lined on either side by double rows
of shade trees, at whose base streams of water of

limpid clearness constantly flow, all combine to
render Colorado Springs, as a place of residence.
one of the most delightful in the West.

At the time the road was finished to that point,
but one house marked the spot, and that was a low,
flat, mud-roofed log-cabin hotel, kept by Capt.
Richard Sopris, the present Mayor of Denver.
Stages arrived and departed in different direc-
tions, the principal travel being to the southward,
to Pueblo, Santa Fe, Canon City, etc.

Colorado City was a thinly populated village, and
Manitou was almost without inhabitants. A rude
frame building, elongated like a rope-walk, and
about as imposing in appearance as a bowling-alley,
was the only " hotel " on the spot. It was a poor
and small affair, but large enough to meet the de-
mands of travel at that time. To the chance
traveler from " down East," it seemed as if the
baby railroad had reached the end of everything,
and would not only stop there, but find it a lonely
stopping-place.

But the scream of the locomotive whistle was
the " open sesame " to the limitless possibilities of
Southern Colorado. The new town sprang into
life and action as if by magic, and Manitou took
on another phase of existence almost as suddenly.
Hotels and cottages were built and inhabited, and
the fame of the great watering-place went abroad
through all the earth. Elegant carriage roads were
built in all directions. Gen. Palmer built a sum-
mer residence in Glen Eyrie, near by. Photo-
graphs of the magnificent surrounding scenery
were distributed by tourists, and the Garden of the
(lods and its environs soon became household
words. The little railroad advertised itself by
photographing the scenery along its line, and busi-
ness began to pour in upon it. Its local trade in-
creased continually, and villages sprang up all along
the line.

Nor did it tarry long at Colorado Springs. Fol-
lowing down the valley of the Fountain about
forty-five miles, it reached Pueblo, and opened up
a new era of prosperity for the southern metropo-
lis. From Pueblo, a branch line was built to

184

HISTORY OP COLORADO.

Canon City, forty-one miles, while the main line
was pushed forward toward New Mexico.

At Cucharas Creek another separation was made,
one line leading south, toward Trinidad, and the
other west, toward the Spanish Peaks and the
Sangre de Christo range of mountains, which di-
vide the Arkansas slope from the valley of the Rio
Grande del Norte.

Thus far the energetic little road had passed
through a romantic hut not very difficult country.
Henceforward its path layover mountains, and the
real engineering difficulties of the route were to be
surmounted. A more beautiful country than that
upon which the road now entered.it would be hard
to find in ( lolorado.

The Spanish Peaks themselves are magnificent
beyond description. Unlike any other mountains
in Colorado, they stand alone, rising abruptly from
the plains, and lifting their heads above the timber
line, almost to the regions of perpetual snow.
They are visible from Pueblo, nearly a hundred
miles distant, and are the most notable land-marks
of the whole country around them. Passing
along the valley at the base of these twin peaks,
the road climbs onward and upward toward Veta
Pass.

Entering the Sangrede Christo Range, it follows
for miles a narrow, winding valley, rich in varie-
gated scenery, and enters upon the herculean task
of scaling the Rocky Mountains. Rounding the
Mule Shoe Curve, tie locomotive climbs on and on
and still upward over a grade of -\1 feet to the
mile, crawling slowly up the side of Dump Moun-
tain and still onward and upward, higher and still
higher, until Inspiration Point is reached, away
above the clouds — 9,339 fit above the sea. This
magnificent triumph of engineering skill was ac-
complished during the summer of 1877, and the
road descended the western slope of tin' Sangre
de Christo Range, into the vast and beautiful San
Luis Valley, ami sped across the level park to
the Kin Grande River, at Alamosa. At the
time, the branch from Cucharas was pushed for-
ward to LI Mure, a lew miles from Trinidad, when

the road found itself involved in varied complica-
tions with its broad-gauge rival, the Santa Fe
line. Transferring its forces into the Grand Canon
of the Arkansas, at Cafion City, the Rio Grande
be-aii work on its Leadville extension* The Santa
Pe following, there began the celebrated Grand
Canon controversy, out of which grew some of the
most important railway litigation known to Colo-
rado or the country, the history of which is fresh
in the minds of the public, and which it is unnec-
essary to recount here. The temporary suspension
of active operations thus enforced, only served to
infuse new life and energy into the " baby " road,
which, as soon as tin- restrictions which the long
and tedious litigation imposed wen' removed,
emerged a veritable "little giant" in its strength
ami resources. Work was at once resumed with
redoubled energy on both its Leadville and San
Juan extensions, and prosecuted with a vigor.and
rapidity which astonished even men accustomed to
the enterprising and energetic spirit of railroad
management in the new West. The Grand Cafion
through which the Leadville extension is built, is
the finest east of the continental divide, and the
entire line between Canon City and Leadville leads
through one of the most romantic portions of
Eastern Colorado. The Royal Gorge presents a
scene of stupendous grandeur unequaled by any
similar mountain defile yet penetrated by any rail-
road in the country. Granite precipices rise
abruptly on either band, to an immense height,
the chasm in many places being so narrow that
the track passes along balconies cut into tic face of
the cliff, while in one place an iron bridge of
immense weight is built to envy the road over a
point otherwise impassable. It is at this point the
huge walls of red granite reach their greatest height
— no less than twenty-five hundred feci of perpen-
dicular cliffs, between which dashes and loams the
turbulent Arkansas on its way to the great plains,
from its source amid the perpetual snows. Reach-
ing Leadville in July, 1880, it stopped not in its
course, but at once set out on two extensions, one
to the prosperous mining camps of Kokomo and

HISTORY OF COI.nl I \l>n.

185

Breckenridge, and the other through Tennessee

Pass to Red Cliff and the Eagle River country.

The following descriptive letter from the facile
pen of J. G. Dillenback, of the Denver Daily
Times, is such a vivid and faithful pen-picture of
the new and wonderful country traversed by the
San Juan extension of the Rio Grande road, that
we copy it entire :

" It is mi small matter to build a railroad from
the great plains over the Sangrede Christo Moun-
tains, scaling the awful heights of Veta Pass, and
descending into the vast basin called San Luis
Park. But, the Denver & Rio Grande Railway
having done that, and justified its name by run-
ning its trains to the Rio Grande Kiver. which Far,
far away to the south, on its way to the Mexican
Gulf, forms
" ' * * our southern bound, 'way down to Mexico.'

was not contented to rest in that most beautiful
of valleys.

"It hardly paused for a breathing spell at Ala-
mosa, which lies near the center of the park, ap-
parently at the foot of Sierra Blanca, though in
reality over twenty miles distant. And yet no
railroad could have a more beautiful goal. Around
it are hundreds of square miles of plain, as level
as a floor, and sparsely covered with sage brush
and greaseweed, with here and there a winding
thread of dark green verdure that mark- the course
of the Rio Grande or some of its affluents. To
the southwest, for a hundred miles, are ranged the
snow-clad peaks of the Sangre >\r Christo Moun-
tains, as rugged and fantastic as any that < r
delighted the eye of an artist. To the east, rising
sheer upward from the level park, without foot-
hills, are the sublime heights of Sierra Blanca,
the Mount Blanc of Colorado. To the northeast,
for another hundred miles, stretches the Sangre
de Christo Rang-, a long line of serrated peaks,
the other side of which is seen by the people of
Silver Cliff. To the north and northwest are the
Saguache and San Juan Mountains, and to the
west rises the main range. Southward the park
is broken by mesas, or high plateau-, that rise near

the ('oiiicr of the plain, and to the southwest is the
vast, isolated mountain of San Antonio, smooth
and regular in shape, like an inverted tea saucer.
The range of vision can best be understood by the
Statement that the extent of the park is almost
equal to the area of the State of Massachusetts.

" From Alamosa, the road was extended thirty-
seven miles, west and south, to the Mexican adobe
village of Conejos — just as a bit of excursion, ' to
keep its hand in,' as the saying is. But. the Den-
ver & Rio Grande is a romantic, ambitious, ad-
venturous road, and must he searching for new
fields and greater achievements. From Conejos,
or San Antonio, as the, new station, a mile from
Conejos, is called, the road runs southward down
the park into New Mexico. Some fifty miles
down, it reaches the picturesque Camanche Canon,
or will reach it, and beyond there is a world of
magnificent scenery. When- the terminus is to
be, is as uncertain as the Ultima Thule of the an-
cients. It is, apparently, a railway hopelessly-
gone astray, a sort of knight-errant railway in
quest of adventures, a new Columbus, with cars
instead of ships, in search of undiscovered realms.
Glancing along its rails, there comes to the mind
of the traveler visions of the stately capital of the
Montezumas, and the vast ocean beyond that
covers a third of the earth.

" But all this is only one episode in the adven-
tures of this wonderful railway. Far to the West,
across the main range of the Rocky Mountains,
lies a region untouched by railroads, in whose
mountains and streams are inexhaustible treasures
of silver aud gold — the great San Juan country.
The railway heard the tales of the prospectors aud
miners, and looked westward from Conejos toward
the new land of promise. The scene could not
have been more alluring. Low, smooth, gently
rising foot-hills, covered with grass, and timbered
with scattering pines aud groves of poplar, extend-
ed as far as the eye could reach, their gentle slopes
and flowery vales looking down upon the park, and
affording romantic views of the mountains beyond.
They seemed to promise a very Eden for tourists.

186

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

And the railway yielded to the seductive beauty of
tlie foot-hills, and the travelers' tales of the riches
of the San Juan, and set out again to the West.
For miles it curved among the hills, keeping sight
of the plains and catching frequent glimpses of the
village. Its innumerable windings along the
brows of the hills seemed in mere wantonness, as
loath to abandon so beautiful a region. Almost im-
perceptibly the foot-hills changed into mountains
and the valleys deepened into canons, and, winding
around the point of one of the mountains, it found
itself overlooking the picturesque valley or canon
of Los Pinos Creek. Eastward was the rounded
summit of the great mountain of San Antonio;
over the nearest height could be seen the top of
Sierra Blanea, canopied with perpetual clouds ; in
front were castellated crags, art-like monuments and
stupendous precipices. Having allured the railway
into their awful fastnesses, the mountains seemed
determined to baffle its' further progress. But it
was a strong-hearted railway, and, although a little
giddy a thousand feet above the stream, it cut i ; s
way through the crags and among the monuments,
and bore onward for miles up the valley. A pro-
jecting point, too high for a cut and too abrupt for
a curve, was overcome by a tunnel. The track-
layers are now busy at work laying down the steel
rail at a point a few miles beyond this tunnel. The
grade is nearly completed for many miles further.
From the present end of the track for the next
four or five miles along the grade, the scenery is
unsurpassed by any railroad scenery in North
America. Engineers who have traversed every
mile of mountain railroad in the Union, assert that
it is the finest they have seen. ! m the

dizzy mountain side, at an al i 9,500 feet

above the sea — greater ffiWd I eta Pass —

a thousand feel th battlemented

^rags rising five or sis hundred feet above, the be-
holder is enraptured with the view At one point
the canon narrows into an awful gi rgc. apparently
but p ew yards wide and neatly a thousand feet in
depth, between almost perpeidicular walls of gran-
ite. Here, a high point of granite has to be tun-

neled, and in this tunnel the rockmen are at work
drilling and blasting to complete the passage, which
is now open to pedestrians. The frequent explo-
sions of the blasts echo and re-echo among the
mountains until they die away in the distance.

"Looking down the valley from near the tunnel,
the scene is one never to be forgotten. The lofty
precipices, the distant heights, the fantastic monu-
ments, the contrast of the rugged crags and the
graceful curves of the silvery stream beneath them,
the dark green pines interspersed with poplar
groves, bright yellow in their autumn foliage, that
crown the neighboring summits — height, depth,
distance and color — combine to constitute a land-
scape that is destined to be painted by thousands
of artists, reproduced again and again by photog-
raphers, and to adorn the walls of innumerable
parlors and galleries of art.

"Beyond the tunnel for a mile or more the
scene is even more picturesque, though of less
extent. The traveler looks down into the gorge
and sees the stream plunging in a succession of
snow-white cascades through narrow cuts between
the perpendicular rocks.

Tin track is now laid to within about eighteen
miles of the Pinos-Chama summit. It follows the
Los Pinos Creek, and crosses the summit at an
altitude nf aboul 10,000 feet — 9,962 in exact
figures. From there it follows the waters of the
Chama for some distance, through what marvels
if scenery I hope to learn sunn after it is completed.
Twenty-five miles beyond the Pinos-Chama sum-
mit it crosses the continental divide, at an altitude
feet less than that of the former summit. If
the winter is not too inclement. Durango, a newly
platted town near Animas City, neatly 150 miles
beyond the present end <>f the track, will be the
next temporary terminus, before next spring, to
which the crowd of track followers will move their
warehouses, hotels and saloons, to build another
magic city."

From Animas City, which point the road is ex-
pected to i iach the coming spring, a branch will
be built north to Silverton, and, eventually, south-

HISTORY OF COLOEADO.

187

west into Arizona,as the development of the coun-
try will warrant. A branch is now in course of
construction from Canon City, up the beautiful
Grape Creek Canon, to Silver Cliff, and the pres-
ent autumn will undoubtedly see that thriving citj
— the second mining camp in Colorado — con-
nected by iron rails with the outside world, and
its wonderful mineral products adding to the al-
ready enormous receipts of the pioneer narrow-
gauge railway. Already a contract has been let
for the grading of a branch from South Arkansas
via the already famous health nsert of Poneha
Springs, through the Marshall Pass to Gunnison
City, thus competing with the Smith Park road foi
the rich productions of the vast and compara-
tively undeveloped region known as the " Gunni-
son Country."

An important movemenl has been the comple-
tion, during the past summer, of a branch from
Colorado Springs to Manitou, and five daily pas-
senger trains are now run between those points.
Lying, as it does, in a lovely little nook at the very
foot of Pike's Peak, whose snow-clad summit tow-
ers majestic above it at a height of over fourteen
thousand feet above the sea. Manitou is justly en-
titled to its pre-eminence as the queen of moun-
tain resorts.

Its climate is pure and salubrious : its air
dry ami invigorating; its scenery grand and in-
spiring, while its surrounding attractions are so
numerous ami diversified, presenting such entire
dissimilarity of seem . thai days, weeks and months
may he spent by tin- lover of nature in exploring
and admiring them lint two miles to the east-
ward lies the famous Garden of the Gods, filled
with its grotesque and fantastic grouping of rocks
and bowlders, and. a little further on. Glen Eyrie,
in which lovely retreat President Palmer has estab-

lished his .summer residence. Among its many
famous attractions are Williams and Red Rock
Canons, Ute Pass Falls and the Ridges, each
within easy walking distance, while Cheyenne
Falls and North Cheyenne Canon are but a little
further away. Monument Park, whose name im-
plies its character, is a beautiful spot but nine miles
away, and a trip of twenty-one miles through the
I te Pass brings one to Manitou Park, the most
delightful of them all.

Add to these climatic and scenic attractions the

famous mineral

•1."

lis with their health-giving

waters, whose medicinal properties have been fully
demonstrated, tic- elegant hotels, its accessibility in
hours fmin all points in the eastern part of
the State,and it is not at all surprising thai Mani-
tou is drawing to itself, with each succeeding
season, an increased number of tourists from all
parts of the world.

The importance of the Rio Grande Railway to
the commercial interests of Colorado, and of Den-
ver in particular, cannot be overestimated. 'W ith
its six hundred miles of road now completed, reach-
ing out its various branches to the south and west
rating the rich agricultural and pastoral re-
gions of Southern Colorado and New Mexico,
piercing the mountains and threading the gorgesof
the silver San Juan, connecting with iron rails
the capita] of the State with the greatest mining
camp of the world, just making its first bow to the
people of Silver Cliff, reaching over into the unde-
\ doped country of the Gunnison and Eagle Kivei'S
and bringing their combined treasures of gold and
silver and pouring them into the lap of the Queen
City of the Plains, the Rio Crande Railway has be-
fore it a futur whose greatness is hut dimly fore-
shadowed by the successful record of tie past.

■*}»-

188

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

CPIAPTER III.

THE DENVER, SOUTH PARK AND PACIFIC.

ONE of the most important roads to Denver and
one which presents some of the most remarka-
ble instances of the triumphs of engineering skill
over apparently insurmountable obstructions, is the
Denver, South Park & Pacific. Very soon after
the settlement of Colorado, when the marvelous
discoveries of California Gulch, the famous Printer
Boy vein. and other deposits uf metalliferous wealth,
filled the world with tbe fame of Golorado, the
theory was advanced by prospectors and others
who had made the formation of the mountain
ranges and spurs a study, that as yet the surface
had been only skimmed, and that only on the out-
side of the vast deposits. As early as 1864, the
prediction was made that Colorado would develop
one of the largest and richest deposits of precious
metals ever discovered od the globe. The predic-
tion had special reference to gold, for silver was
little thought ofthen, and many prospectors held that
the only discovery worth looking for was the source
of the -old found in California Gulch and many
other gulches, all heading in the same general lo-
cality. The result of this firm faith in the wealth
of the interior mountain ranges was to give birth
to the idea of a railroad traversing the three great
parks of the Colorado mountain system, and draw-
ing its support from the mines by which those
parks would be lined. Gov. Evans was one of the
first to recognize the practical value of the idea, if
he did not originate it. and for years urged the
formation of a companj to carry it into effect, in
such a manner that whatever benefit was to be de-
rived from it would accrue to Denver, instead of
some other locality favored by situation or circum-
stances. The Governor believed in the extension
of railroads for the development of the country,
and that the presence of a railroad in the hear; of
the mountain region would stimulate prospecting,

for, where a miner found a good lode, he would not
be compelled to expend all his profit in getting his
ore to market — the truth of which idea was re-
markably illustrated recently b} T the re-opening and
profitable working of mines which had been aban-
doned by their owners many years ago, because
the ore could not be taken to the market at a profit.
For several years the road through the Platte
Canon was urged by the Governor and those of
his business associates who had faith in the project,
but it was hard to convince people that it was pos-
sible to construct a railroad along a mountain
cafion in many parts of which a trail was impossi-
ble and the possibility of a wagon road a myth.
It was urged in opposition to the road, that for a
great part of the route the mountains would- have
to be tunneled at an enormous expense, and that,
where the track could be laid along the water-line,
the torrent that sweeps through the canon every
spring would toss away the embankments like so
many bundles of straw, and cause the entire re-
ceipts of the mad to be absorbed in repairs.
Others laughed at the idea of a road cvei becom-
ing profitable on a route a great part of which
would lie in sections where the snow lies on the
ground during seven months of the year; as to
the metalliferous wealth of the country proposed
to be traversed, opinions differed — only the few,
however, insisting upon the wealth of the mount-
ains. Another argument advanced was, that the
grades on any route likely to be selected in cross-
ing the high ranges surrounding the plateaus of
the Rocky Mountain system, would be, if not im-
practicable, at least so heavy as to be expensive
beyond all computation, and the treasury of any
company that might undertake the task would be
subject to a constant drain to meet expenses, and
with the most stringent economy would be unable

«e#m

f '4/

Ps%.

? 1 CZL^ 4 -^

EISTOET OP COLORADO.

191

to make both ends meet. The truth or fallacy of
these objections will be demonstrated as we proceed
in the history of this remarkable work.

Notwithstanding these drawbacks, which, to
must men, would seem insuperable, the few gen-
tlemen who had joined their faith to an inter-
mountain line of railroad, continued sanguine, and
with unremitting zeal pressed the idea upon the
public, and. continually gaining accessions to their
ranks until early in 187;!, it was thought the
time was ripe to put the project into execution.
On the 14th of June, 1873, a company was organ-
ized and articles of incorporation filed. Arapahoe
County became a subscriber, by voting $300,000 in
bonds, in exchange for a like amount of stock, and
individual subscriptions were secured to anamount
that warranted the commencement of active opera-
tions. Gov. Evans was the first President of the
company, and still holds that position, together
with Charles Wheeler, Secretary.

The projected route was from Denver, via the
Platte Canon, through Park County, through Trout
Creek Caiion to the Arkansas, at the mouth of
Trout Creek. This latter seemed to be the point
d' appui for further extensions through the entire
mountain region. From there an easy water-
grade led up the Arkansas to its head, numerous
passes afforded favorable routes to the then newly
discovered San Juan country, aud a practicable
route led westward to a connection with the Utah
system of railroads, aud through them to the Pa-
cific Coast. It was also decided to build a broad
road to the valuable quarries at Morrison, making
the entire road, as projected, one hundred and fifty
miles in length.

The building of the road was let to a construc-
tion company, consisting of prominent Denver
men, and ground was broken in the fall of 1873.
At the very outset, the company was met by the
most discouraging obstacle that had yet been en-
countered — the financial panic of 187o. Railroads
were the heaviest sufferers thereby, the ill-success
of many heavy railroad enterprises causing all
schemes of this character to be regarded with

doubt and suspicion. The depressed condition of
business and the want of faith of aggregated cap-
ita] iu all enterprises requiring heavy outlays of
money, very much retarded the progress of the
work ; and it was not until July 1, 1874, that the
first sixteen miles of the road — seven miles of the
main line, and nine miles of the .Morrison Branch
— were put in successful operation. Besides this,
the grading of that portion of the main line ex-
tending from Morrison Junction to the mouth of
Platte Canon had been completed, and the com-
pany was ready to commence work upon the
heaviest portion of the line — that extending
through the caiion and over the mountains into
the South Park. The financial crisis had, how-
ever, not yet been passed ; those who, in the fall
of 1873, had been willing to extend aid to the en-
terprise, refused to contribute further ; and those
who had declined to assist were as firm as adamant
in their refusal. In consequence el' this state of
affairs, the further prosecution of the work was
suspended.

During the next two years, nothing was done on
the extension of the road. The' Morrison Branch
was successfully operated, and the original pro-
jectors of the road labored hard and incessantly to
induce a renewal of confidence in their enterprise
ami its ultimate financial success. At last, in the
spring of 1876, the financial skies, which, for
nearly three years, had spread a pall-like blackness
over the entire country, began to lighten, and a
new, determined and united effort was made to se-
cure the renewal of active operations. The effort
was successful. A sufficient amount of money
was raised on subscriptions to the capital stock to
warrant the commencement of the extension, and
a bold move was made into the canon, which had
been pronounced impassable, not alone by non-
professionals, but by experienced civil engineers.

Few, except those who have seen the road, or
were on the ground during the progress of the
work, can form a reasonable idea of the physical
difficulties that presented themselves to the con-
structing engineers. In many places walls of per-

"5> "V

192

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

pendicular rock descended slieer to the water's
edge, presenting a smooth, unbroken surface, worn
by the action of the water until it was impossible
to obtain a foothold for the workmen. Other por-
tions of the route presented an equally difficult
problem — the confining of the torrent within nar-
rower limits, or the turning of the creek in order
to avoid an impassable curve, with all the attend-
ant risks of a freshet, which would sweep away
thousands of dollars' worth of labor at a single
dash. Men were hung over cliffs at a dizzy height to
drill the holes for blasting. Others were compelled
to stand waist-deep in water fresh from eternal
snows, and rushing past at the rate of sis miles an
hour, a pressure against which it was exceedingly
difficult for them to maintain their footing. At
some points, a shovelful of earth would be torn
away by the rushing stream almost as soon as it
was thrown into the spot it was intended to oc-
cupy, and all of the embankments built in the water
required nearly four times the amount of labor
that would be needed to do the same work on laud.

The heaviest part was. of course, that through
the canon, but when these difficulties had been
overcome, the Kenosha range of mountains, skirt-
ing the eastern edge of the South Park, had still
to be surmounted, and hen' again engineering esti-
mates were at fault. Even those who had wit-
oessed the successful operations for more than
three years of a similar piece of work atVeta Pass,
said that the thing could not be done — that no
safe road-bed could be constructed along the route
laid out on Kenosha Hill — that the first storm
would send the road-bed into the canon below.

Notwithstanding all of these objections, which
certainly seemed insurmountable to most men. the
road has never stopped an instant since the first
daj of resumption of active operations. In the early
spring of 1878, it had penetrated the lower canon
several miles ; at midsummer the road had passed
through the lower canon, and had arrived at
Bailej s Etanehe. In the spring of 1879, it had
reai hed the foot of Kenosha Hill, and since that
time it has scaled that immense height, crossed the

South Park, traversed the mountains which skirt
the western margin of the park, passed through
the Trout Creek Canon to Buena Vista, whence its
trains run over the track of the Denver & Rio
Grande to Lcadville. From Buena Vista, the line
extends down the Arkansas to the mouth of Chalk
Creek, and up that stream, being already completed
and running trains to Heywood Springs. A tun-
nel under the summit of the Arkansas Range is
now in process of construction, and during the
summer of 1881 it is expected that the road will
reach Gunnison City, thus furnishing a market for
the rich products of the extensive coal-fields and
valuable mines of the Gunnison country.

The discovery of the valuable carbonate deposits
of Leadville was almost providential for the road.
In 1876, upon the renewal of active operations,
Leadville was unheard of. and carbonates an un-
known quantity. The road was to be pushed for-
ward upon the general principle, steadfastly ad-
hered to by the original projectors, that there was
wealth iu the mountains, and that it would be
found. Almost before they had fairly got their
working forces drilled — certainly before they had
succeeded in building the road through the canon,
Leadville burst into prominence as a mining cen-
ter, amply justifying the anticipation of the com-
pany, and travel and freight for Leadville began to
crowd the road to its utmost capacity. The result
is. that not a dollar of the company's bonds was
placed mi the market, the receipts from business
that came of its own accord paying all the expenses
of construction. Day after day, the stream of
Leadville travel increased, and day after day the
company's platforms at the temporary terminus
were crowded with sacks of ore and pigs of base
bullion, that had to be left behind on account of
the lack of transportation facilities. Nothing in
the history of this wonderful discovery, rivaling in
the splendor of its settings and results the most
extravagant dreams of the hasheesh-eater, conveys
the idea of the reality of the wonderful richness of
Leadville and its outlying camps, more perfectly
than this brilliant achievement in railroading, pay-

Ll£*.

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

193

ing the expenses of constructing a mountain road
from the receipts occasioned by the never-ceasing
stream of travel and traffic resulting from the de-
velopment of the mines.

The road at its highest point is 10,139 feet
above sea level — the highest railroad point in
North America, and 800 feet higher than the
justly celebrated Veta Pass, in the southern por-
tion of this State. The heaviest grade is not
greater than 175 or 180 feet to the mile ; and, not-
withstanding that for two-thirds of its entire
length it runs in mountain canons, the maximum
curvature is twenty-six degrees — two facts which,
taken together, are evidence of the engineering
skill that has governed the construction of the road.

As will readily be gathered from tin foregoing.
the financial standing of the company is excellent ;
its bonds are still in its own possession, the money
for its construction was principally raised in Den-
ver, its stockholders are men who have accumu-
lated large fortunes in other branches of business,
and in every instance the company's obligations
have been met either before or at maturity.

The success of the South Park road is an exem-
plification of the resistless energy that has charac-
terized the successful business men of Colorado
from the first. None but those who had a personal
interest in the company thought it could be built,
or, if it could, that it would be built, or, if it ever
was built, that it could be made to pay. Those
who did believe, however, went to work, aDd the
result is a finished enterprise that is not only a
credit to the projectors, but has proved a positive
benefit to every portion of the country through
which it has passed, receiving contributions of
freight from almost every mile of its line, and
demonstrating the truth of the constantly reiterated
assertion of Gov. Evans, that the business along
the line would pay the running expenses.

By a recent action of the stockholders, the cap-
ital stock of the company has been increased to
815,000.000, and its charter so amended as to
allow the building of either a broad or narrow
gauge road to Pueblo, Silver Cliff and various
other points.

CHAPTER IV.

THE COLORADO CENTRAL RAILROAD.

OF Denver's six railway lines, not least in im- scenic beauty and natural grandeur. It connects
portance is the above-named road, and in Denver and other Colorado towns with the Union
some hi<*h respects it is the most noted and best Pacific at Cheyenne, and thus affords connection
known of all Denver roads. It was the first to with trains east and west on the great continental
penetrate the fastnesses of the mountains, and its thoroughfare. The Cheyenne Branch penetrates
sinuous trail in ami through Clear Creek Canon the very heart of Colorado's best agricultural re-
has made it famous on two continents. Although gion, giving the traveler a better idea of our farm-
other mountain roads now- vie with the Colorado ing resources than he can gain from any other rail-
Central in magnificent scenery, the prestige of the waytransit, and also connects at Boulder with stages
latter has not been diminished in any degree by for the mining camps of that county. Through
rivalry, and it is i-til! sought ouf by all strangers Jefferson, Boulder and Larimer Counties this branch
coming to Colorado. , is lined, for a great part of its length, with wheat-
Starting from Denver, this line traverses the fields, and passes the important towns of Golden,
entire northern portion of the State, taps the prin- Boulder, Longmont, Loveland and Fort Collins,
cipal mining center.- of this section, and carries But it is the mountain division of the road
travelers to some of the spots most tamed for which is the most famous for interesting scenery

194

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

mill unexpected physical development. The mount-
ain division is a narrow gauge, and the traveler
must needs change ears at Golden unless north-
ward bound. Taking liis seat in the narrow-gauge

train, lie is soon swallowed up, as it were, in the
cavernous depths of Clear Creek Canon, which is
entered at once after leaving Golden. For many
miles the road follows the course of Clear Creek,
often turning curves which seem beyond accom-
plishment, and climbing grades which would tax
the energy of an ox team, but which only serve to
slacken, not stay, the speed of the iron horse.

The scenery in this maud canon is unparalleled
save in the canons of the Colorado and Arkansas
Rivers. The rocky walls rise precipitously on
either hand to immense heights, almost shutting
out the sun, and yet there is nothing gloomy about
the scene to mar the pleasure of i he traveler. The
tourist rides leisurely and comfortably along on a
railway ear aud looks out upon scenery which, in
Switzerland, he would have to climb tediously on
foot to see. The wild waters of Clear Creek rush
along at a breakneck speed, foaming and roaring
among the rocks, giving a better idea of the
"down grade" of the read itself than the en-
gineers' figures, for seeing is believing. Great
granite walls, not hundreds, but thousands of feci
high, rise almost perpendicularly over the train,
and in one place a chamber has been cut through
the overhanging rock for the passage of the train,
there being no room elsewhere sufficient for that
purpose.

Anon the train glides swiftly across a little val-
ley dotted by miners' cabins or more pretentious
ram-he bouses, but for the. most part of the dis-
tance between Golden and Black Hawk, the canon
is so narrow as to leave no room for side-tracks,
aud these turn-outs are forced to occupy the
gulches which enter the cation almost at right
angles. The effect of this arrangement upon trav-
elers is often astonishing, as these sidings have the
appearance of branch lines leading nowhere. The
scenery is thus varied, in some places rough aud
wild, in others soft and beautiful, but, always and

under all circumstances, it is sublime and deeply
impressive.

Although the road is largely patronized by sum-
mer tourists and sightseers, it does not depend en-
tirely upon this class of traffic for support, as one
is speedily convinced upon visiting its mountain
termini. Von lake the Colorado Central for Golden,
an important industrial city ami the headquarters
of the Colorado Central Company ; for Black
Hawk, a large mining town and former location of
Hill's extensive smelting works; for Central, the
county seat of Gilpin County, until recently the
largest ore-producing county in Colorado; for
Idaho Springs, a famous watering-place as well as
an important mining center; for Georgetown, the
• Silver Queen " and the capital of Clear Creek
County; fir Boulder, county seat and principal
town of rich Boulder County, famous for its
mines and for its crops ; and for numbers of lesser
towns whose tribute of trade is the heritage of the
Colorado Central road, in most cases without com-

petition.

Middle Park, too, the great hunting-ground, and
location of the famous Hot Sulphur Springs, is
reached from Denver via the Colorado Central,
tourists leaving the cars at Empire or Georgetown,
at pleasure, and continuing their journey by stage
over Berthoud l'ass. one of the finest mountain
roads in the State. Since Lcadville has loomed up
so prominently, a new stage road has been built
from Georgetown to the carbonate camp, and much
Leadville travel follows that line. It is thought
that the Colorado Central will shortly be extended
over the same route, which is at once direct and
practicable.

The inception of this important enterprise dates
back to June, 1861, when the Overland Stage
Company was seeking a nearer outlet from Colo-
rado to Utah and California. Golden was just
then the most ambitious town in Colorado, and
joined with the Stage Company and some public-
spirited citizens of Gregory Gulch and Spanish
Bar in fitting out an expedition to explore and
survey a route for a wagon road from Golden to

3711

i\£+

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

195

Salt Lake. Capt. E. L. Berthoud, mow and for
many years t-iiuitnoi- of the Colorado Central road
headed the party, which was absent from June till
September, and explored some l.lnn miles of
country west of the starting-point. It was claimed
for this important survey, that it established two
important facts, viz. :

First, that the main difficulties of a good direct
wagon route were the first ten miles of the canon
of Clear Creek, and the main central range at the
Berthoud Pass, 10,914 feet above tin

Second, that the country traversed west of this
pass was fine valleys, and that excellent coal
abounded, while the total distance from Golden
tu Salt Lake was only 158 miles, thus shortening
the overland mute fully 200 miles.

Two years later, Eon. W. A. EL Loveland and
E. B. Smith, leading citizens of Golden, went he-
fore the Territorial Legislature and procured a
charter for a wagon road up Clear Creek Canon to
the mines. Some work was done on the line, but
it was subsequeutly abandoned as impracticable,
and the old wagon road from Golden Gate contin-
ued to be the great highway between the valley
and the mountains. Loveland never lost faith in
the, canon route, however, and his next scheme
was the building of a railroad where the wagon
road had failed.

In the year 1865, the Colorado Central Railroad
Company was chartered. II. M. Teller, John T.
Lynch, John A. Nye. William A. EL Loveland.
Thomas Mason. A. Gilbert, Milo Lee and E. K.
Baxter, of Colorado, with James Mills. George
Hoyt, John A. Dix. Ebenezer Cook, W. W.
Wright, Thomas Small, L. C. Pollard ami Will-
iam Bond, of New Y'ni'k . M. Laflin, of Chicago ;
A. McKinney, of Boston : Samuel Wheelwright,
George B. Satterlee, W. V. Ogden and Jonathan
Cox were incorporated to build a railroad from
Golden westward to Black Hawk, Central City,
and, by the South Fork, to Idaho and Empire
City: thence, over the Berthoud Pass, to the west
boundary of Colorado, in the direction of Provo
City, Utah, and easterly, by Denver, to the east

boundary of Colorado, and northeasterly, by the
coal-fields of Jefferson ami Boulder Counties, and
the valleysofSt. Vrain, Big Thompson and Cache

la Poudre, and thence to the northeast corner of
Colorado, where the Northern Branch of the Pa-
cific Railroad intersects said boundary.

At that lime, and tor some years thereafter, the
idea of building a railroad up Clear Creek Canon
was considered undiluted nonsense, and nobody
thought it would ever lie done, except Mr. Love-
land and a. few of his friends, who were inspired
li\ his strong faith in the ultimate success of his
scheme. He knew that the trade of the mines
would support a railway : the only question was
how it should he built. Before he could enlist,
active aid in his enterprise, it was necessary for him
to make a preliminary survey, which was done by
private subscription. Even then, when tic prac-
ticability of the proposed route was established by
the engineers' figures, nobody was ready to invest,
and the work waited. A mistake had been made
in providing for a broad-gauge road, which required
several tunnels and a large amount of expensi\o
rock work. Narrow-gauge roads were then almost
unknown, and their special fitness for mountain de-
files was still undemoustrated.

To Capt E. L. Berthoud belongs the honor of
first suggesting a narrow gauge for the mountain
division of the Colorado Central. The Captain
was then stationed at Port Sedgwick, and. at that
distance, could only present his views by corre-

sp lence. Mr. Loveland caught the idea at once

but his associates did not fully share his confidi
in the success of the new idea, and nothing was
done.

In 1866, when the Union Pacific Company was
surveying the passes of the Rocky Mountains, a
party of their engineers went over the old Berthoud
trail and pass, and reported a practicable route from
Golden westward. Everj effort was put forth to
induce tin- company to locate it> lino in this direc-
tion, hut without success. Then the engineering
difficulties were too great. Besides the work in
Clear Creek Cafiou. a tunnel over a mile long was

196

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

deemed necessary in crossing the range, and the
northern route was adopted and built upon.

After the termination of this survey, in lsiii;,
the subject rested until the spring of 1867, when
the Colorado Central Railroad Company, fully re-
organized, proceeded to inaugurate the construction
of its line. The first work was done between
Golden and Denver, in aid of which Jefferson
County voted $100,000 in bonds. A survey was
ordered between Golden and Cheyenne, to connect
with the Union Pacific, but this survey was aban-
doned. The line ran from Golden northeast to
Boulder Creek, down Boulder to the St. Vrain,
thence to Big Thompson and the Cache la Poudre,
crossing the Poudre a little west of the spot where
Greeley now stands, and from there to Cheyenne
direct, a total distance of 118 miles.

Work on the Golden and Denver line was nom-
inally begun in January, 1868, and actively en-
tered upon in May of that year, the design being
to reach Denver simultaneously with the Denver
Pacific from Cheyenne. The co-operation of Den-
ver was diverted, however, by the action of the
company in locating its line not to Denver direct,
but to a junction with the Kansas Pacific two
miles below the city, a mistake since corrected at
considerable expense to the company. The fourteen
miles of road were not finished the first year, nor
the second. - It was not until late in 1870 that the
line was opened for business, and then it was com-
pelled to run its trains into Denver over the track
of the Kansas Pacific Company In this, as well
as in other respects, the rivalry between Denver
and Golden has been maintained to the disadvan-
tage of each party.

Though latterly, by force of circumstances, the
Colorado Central has been made a part and parcel
of Denver's railway system, the original plan ig-
nored this system entirely. Denver did not figure
on the. first maps of the road, and the building of
tint first line was not so much to connect the two
towns as to separate them. It was intended that
the Kansas Pacific should be extended by the Col-
orado Central to Golden, making Denver merely a

way-station, and the Union Pacific connection was
planned to avoid Denver entirely. The plan was
admirable enough in conception, but there was a
fatal defect in it, in that it underestimated the
strength of the opposition. Denver built to a con-
nection with the Union Pacific at Cheyenne before
the Colorado Central was commenced, and, in a
short time thereafter, projected a line to the south
which at once made the capital of the Territory
also its railway center.

In 1870, the Boston managers of the Union Pa-
cific interested themselves in the promotion of the
Colorado Central scheme, with a view T to making
that road what it has since become, in a certain
sense, a " feeder " of the main line. At that time,
the Union Pacific had no Colorado connection, the
Denver Pacific having been absorbed by the Kan-
sas Pacific. Chief Engineer Sickles, of the Union
Pacific, became associated with Capt. Berthoud,
Engineer of the Colorado Central, and together
they surveyed and staked a narrow-gauge line
from Golden up the canon to Gilpin and Clear
Creek Counties, the main line dividing at the forks
of Clear Creek and extending up each branch of
the stream. At the same time, a survey was made
of a broad-gauge line down the Platte to Jules-
lung, and work was commenced upon each division
of the road. The narrow gauge was pushed up
the canon as rapidly as possible, but it was not
opened for traffic until 1872. Upon its comple-
tion, work was pushed upon the main line for some
time, but after the whole distance had been either
completely or partially graded, and the track had
been laid to the Boulder County line, a few miles
beyond Longmont ; work upon the Julesburg
branch was suspended for several years, but recent-
ly it has been resumed, track being now laid from
Julesburg to Greeley.

About this time another road, called the Golden
City & South Platte Railway and Telegraph Line,
from ( rolden to form a junction with the Rio < Irande
Railroad near Littleton, was projected, but after
grading eighteen miles of the line, to a point near
t he town of Acecjua, work was suspended for a time,

5 ^

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

197

but it having been recommenced, three miles of
the line are now in operation, with a fair prospect
of the entire work being completed. The delay of
these two enterprises was chiefly due to the panic
of 1S73, which proved peculiarly fatal to all new
railroad, enterprises.

The history of the Colorado Central for the next
three or four years was eventful, by reason of the
struggles of rival factious for its control. The
Union Pacific held a majority of the stock. In
the spring of 1875, a consolidation agreement was
entered-into between the Union Pacific and Kansas
Pacific, by which the Colorado Central was to In-
merged into the Kansas Pacific. The minority
stockholders, of whom Mr. Loveland was chief,
opposed the scheme, but were unable to prevent
its consummation, which occurred in December,
1875. Until the spring of 1876, the line was
operated as a part of the Kansas Pacific, but, in
May of that year, the Colorado stockholders met,
threw out a vote of 7,200 shares of Union Pacific
stock, and elected themselves Directors of the road.
A few days later, the officers elected by the new
board took possession of the road. These proceed-
ings, and certain subsequent acts of lawlessness in
holding possession, did not redound greatly to the
credit of Colorado railway management, and per-
haps the less said about them the better. It was
undoubtedly true, however, that the immediate
patrons of the line, particularly the counties which
had voted bonds to help build the road, were better
satisfied with the Colorado management than any

other, and public opinion sustained Mr. Loveland
in his possession.

After fighting for a whole year to get control of
the property, the Union Pacific people proposed a
compromise, which was finally effected, and which
resulted in several important extensions of the line.
The long-looked-for outlet to the Union Pacific
was finally completed via Fort Collins to Chey-
enne ; the Georgetown Branch of the Mountain
Division was extended from Floyd Hill to George-
town, and the Central Branch from Black Hawk
to Central. About the same time, the Denver line
was straightened from Clear Creek, crossing so as
to run into Denver direct, and depots and their
appurtenances were established at the capital.
From that time forward, the road did a profitable
business. Its traffic contract with the Union Pa-
cific has lately been changed into a long lease to
the latter company, which manages the road as a
part of its maiii line, and proposes to extend it to
Leadville in the near future.

Mention has already been made of the large and
constantly increasing traffic of this road, but until
one sees its crowded passenger trains and heavily
laden freight cars, no proper idea of its business
can be obtained. Georgetown and Central alone
would give the line profitable employment, and
they are growing every day in population and
commercial importance. The Colorado Central is
destined to be the most important liuk in Denver's
chain of railways.

KANSAS CITY— DF.NVKH ! Two of the
most active, enterprising and prosperous
young cities of America and of the world,
forming, with Chicago, a great triumvirate, whose
wonderful vitality, marvelous growth and in-
domitable enterprise have astonished the world
and outstripped the most visionary anticipa-

CHAPTER V.

THE KANSAS PACIFIC.

tions of their most confident and enthusiastic
promoters! The one, the metropolis of the

Missouri Valley, and the gateway to the rich
prairies and the plains beyond ; the other, the
Queen City of the Plains, and the threshold to the
vast mineral regions of the Rocky Mountains. The
one, less than half a century ago, a small trading-

rfja.

198

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

post on tlit- extreme western frontier, the ren-
dezvous iif a few couriers and voyageurs, trappers
and traders, who plied their trade in the most
primitive manner, between the Missouri River and
the mountains ; the other, a quarter of a cen-
tury later, totally unheard of and entirely a
thing of the future. The one, in 1881). a greal
and important city of sixty thousand inhabitants;
the other, six hundred miles distant and separated
from it by a dreary stretch of barren plain, spring-
ing, in a little more than two decades, from a
barren waste, the home of the buffalo and the In-
dian, to a beautiful, proud and wealthy city of
nearly forty thousand people.

To the Kansas Pacific Railway belongs the
honor of being the first to connect these two im-
portant points — the pioneer road between the Mis.
souri River and the Rocky Mountains, and it is
most appropriate that an enterprise of so great im-
portance to the State, and exerting so great an in-
fluence upon its prosperity, should receive more
than a passing notice in a history of Colorado.

With the whole vast territory west of Kansas
City lying undisputed before them; with no rivals
in the field ; with the full privilege of choosing
whatever route they would, the originators of the
Kansas Pacific Railway would have shown great
lack of wisdom had they failed to select the best
route, the shortest and most direct, the most easily
i n 'noted, and leading through the most fertile
portions of the State through which their course
must, in any event, lie. Nor did they fail. After
carefully and thoroughlj examining the various
lines, they selected the one running westward
through the central and richest part of Kansas,
through a. section of country which many of the
most eminent men have not hesitated to denomi-
nate the "Golden licit."

Tie Union Pacific Railroad bill was passed by
Congress in May, L862, ami in June the following
year, a contract was let to Messrs. Ross, Steele &
Co., to build 350 miles of the Kansas branch, ami
they soon afterward began work at Leavenworth.
Gen. John C. Fremont and Samuel Hallett, about

the same time, undertook the construct ion of the main
line of the Kansas branch, afterward known as the
Kansas Pacific Railway, and now denominated the
Kansas Pacific Division of the Union Pacific Rail-
way. They soon afterward bought out the fran-
chises under which Ross, Steele & Co. were at work
at Leavenworth ; and, beginning work at Kansas
City on the 7th of July, 1863, they completed
forty-three miles of the road-bed on the 18th of
the following November. Thus was begun a work
which has contributed more than any other enter-
prise to the rapid progress and permanent great-
ness of the Centennial State and its capital city,
on the 19th of December, 1864, the road was
opened to Lawrence, Kan., and in August, 1871,
was completed to Denver, which city has remained
the western terminus of the road.

The following is a condeused sketch of this great
thoroughfare over the 639 miles of its course from
tic .Missouri River to Denver:

Leaving Kansas City, it crosses the Kansas River
near its junction with the Missouri, after which its
course lies along the north bank of the Kansas,
traversing a country whose rich and varied scenery
of forest, field and stream, forms a most attractive
pani irama.

Thirty-five miles west of Kansas City and near
the city of Lawrence is the junction of the main
line with the Leavenworth branch, which extends
northeast thirty-four miles to Leavenworth. This
is a beautiful and growing city of over twenty-five
thousand people, the seat of Fort Leavenworth, one
of the most important military posts in the West.
Having important railway connections with exten-
sive coal mines in the vicinity. with its fine churches,
elegant public buildings and progressive people, its
future growth and prosperity is assured.

Continuing southwest from its junction with the
in. iin line, this branch extends to Carbondale,
thirty-two miles distant, and in the midst of the
extensive and exhaustlcss coal-fields of Osage
County. Near the junction of the two lines is
Bismarck Grove, which, during the past few years,
has become famous as the spot where have been

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THE >RK

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

199

held some of the largest and most important unt-
il. mm- meetings in the West.

In 1859, the principal gatherings in the grove
the Second Grand National Temperance
Camp-Meeting, presided over by Francis Murphy,
and the Quarter-Centennial Celebration of the settle-
ment of Kansas, participated in by such men as
John W. Forney, Edward Everett Hale and Walt
Whitman, the poet. At this grove was instituted,
during the same year, a church encampment mod-
eled after the celebrated Chautauqua Lake Religio-
Educational Encampment in New York,

The Grand National Temperance Camp-meet-
ing, from the 20th to the 30th of August, and
the first annual fair of the Western National
Fair Association from the 13th to the 18th
of September, were but two of the many im-
portant meetings held at Bismarck Grove during
the present year.

The most important city in the vicinity, educa-
tionally and historically, is Lawrence, the scene of
the initial struggle of the great conflict between
the friends of liberty on the one side and the bor-
der ruffians on the other, whose history is written
in letters of blood, and whose thrilling events
marked the period from 1855 to 1858. Lawrence
is a beautiful city, the view from College Hill,
where is situated the State University of Kansas,
being pronounced by Bayard Taylor, one of the
most magnificent he had ever seen ill all his ex-
tended travels. The site of Lawrence was fixed in
1854, and it now has a population of ten thou-
sand inhabitants.

From Lawrence to Topeka, the capital of the
State, the road passes through fertile fields.
cultivated farms and through smiling villages, the
homes of peace and plenty, for a distance of
twenty-one miles.

The writer recently asked a commercial traveler,
who had visited every part of the United State-.
what city he would choose as a permanent home,
and his answer was, " Topeka, Kan., or Denver,
Colo." Topeka is a beautiful city. "its streets
are broad, its houses well built, its churches nu-

merous and attractive, its society of a high order,
its newspapers enterprising, its business interests
flourishing, and its political prestige a source of
constant life and activity. Its educational in-
terests are cared for by Bethany College and
Washburne College and a finely managed body ol
public schools." From Topeka, west, the road
continues to follow the north bank of the Kansas
River, to Junction City, a distance of seventy-one
miles, passing through immense corn-fields, and a
number of flourishing towns. Says a visitor to
this section : " I shall not soon forget those amaz-
ing maize-fields — say about 200 miles long, and
width not measurable by vision, and with a soil rich,
strong and bottomless. 'They are diversified in a mo-
saic work of wheat, oats, barley and varied shades
of grasses — meadow, prairie grass and clover. The
valley is decorated with neat farmhouses and
pretty cities, and the most conspicuous features in
every settlement are the American emblems of pat-
riotic civilization, pretty little churches and com-
modious schoolhouses. I would defy stolidity it-
self to repress imagination or suppress enthusiasm
under the impulse of the magical pictures which
flit through the visual and mental kaleidoscope,
under the inspiration of the electrical atmosphere
and the enchanting picture of the prairie pageant."

At St. Mary's, one of the towns passed nu the
way to Junction City, is located the largest Catho-
lic' school in Kansas, while Manhattan, a town of
about two thousand inhabitants, is the seat of the
State Agricultural College. Junction City is so
called from the fact that the Republican and
Smoky Hill Rivers here unite to form the Kansas.
From this point, the Junction City and Fori
Kearney Branch extends northwest along the
Republican Valley, through several thriving towns
and a most beautiful and delightful section of
country, to Concordia, seventy miles away.

Returning to Junction City, the passenger over
the Kansas Pacific is hurried rapidly along the
north bank of the Smoky Hill River, through
prosperous villages to Salina, one hundred and
eighty-five miles west of Kansas City, and the

;rT

200

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

headquarters of the land department of the Kan-
sas Pacific Railway. Salina contains about four
thousand inhabitants, and, in all that goes to make
up a typical Western town, is full}' equal to any of
its size in the West. The Salina & Southwestern
Branch of the Kansas Pacific leaves the main line
here for McPherson, thirty-six miles to the south-
west.

From Salina, the tourist is whirled along
seventy-seven miles to Russell, the nest most im-
portant point west, and thence onward a hundred
and fifty-eight miles further, ascending all the way,
to Wallace, the last station of any note in Kansas.
Leaving Wallace, the State line between Kansas
and Colorado is soon passed, and the train rushes
on past a number of small stations to First View.

"If the day be clear, the tourist obtains, at this
point, the first view of the Rocky Mountains.
Towering against the Western sky. more than one
hundred and fifty miles away, is Pike's Peak,
standing out in this rarefied atmosphere with a
clearness which deludes the tourist, if it is his first
experience, into the belief that he is already in
close proximity to the mountains. Henceforth he

feels, in the presence of the mighty peaks which
disclose themselves one after another, that he has
entered another world — a land of unapproachable
beauty and grandeur."

The train moves on over the plain, past small
stations, the shipping-points for the immense cattle
trade of Eastern Colorado, and all the while " the
mountains have been unfolding themselves, as if
the wand of some fabled necromancer held them in
faithful obedience. Peak after peak appears. The
shadowy range takes more definite shape ; the
dark rifts in the canons become visible, and then,
in this transparent air, the whole range for two
hundred miles bursts full upon the view. Less
and less. heed is paid to objects close at hand as the
tourist moves along in sight of this entrancing
panorama. Deer Trail, Byers, Kiowa, Box Elder
and Schuyler pass almost unnoticed, for the moun-
tains aggrandize as they are approached, and hold
the gaze as the beacon-light enchains the mariner
at midnight. The train rolls on over the swelling-
bosom of the prairie, and soon makes its last stop,
at Denver, the unique and beautiful City of the
Plains.'

CHAPTER VI.

THE ATCHISOX. TOPEKA & SANTA FE.

KA.VSAS and Colorado were, originally, one,
the county of Arapahoe, then in the former
State, embracing nearly all the territory since in-
cluded in the State of Colorado.

But, although civil boundaries have been drawn
dividing this extended territory, and a new State
has been erected, no legislative enactment could,
if it would, separate or destroy that community of
interest which exists, and must ever continue to
exist, between the two States ; for this mutuality of
interests depends upon natural laws which' are
higher and more authoritative in their nature than
any parliamentary act or legislative decree. The
fertile fields of Kansas, producing annually their

millions of bushels of the great cereals of the
country, and the mountains of Colorado, sending
forth their treasures of gold and silver, form the
opposite poles of a natural magnet, mutually at-
tracting each other and producing a complete
commercial circuit, over which the products
of the two States must pass like the opposite cur
rents of electricity.

Great trunk lines of railway, forming commer-
cial highways, become, therefore, an absolute na-
tional necessity, which shrewd, far-seeing men
were not slow to recognize nor tardy in devising
means to meet. Without the two great railroads
which traverse the entire State of Kansas, and the

HISTORY OF COLORADO

201

vast plains of Eastern Colorado, this State would
fall far short of being the rich and prosperous com-
monwealth that it now is.

What the Kansas Pacific is to the Northern and
Central parts of the State, the Atchison. Topeka
& Santa Fe is to Southern Colorado and New
Mexico. It is fast transforming barren wastes into
fertile fields, and vast deserts into rich pastoral and
agricultural domains, the abode of a numerous and
prosperous people. It binds with " bands of iron
and ribs of steel " the rich mineral-producing re-
gions of our country to the great manufacturing
and agricultural sections of the East. It brings,
every year, thousands of emigrants to swell the
great, toiling army who annually find homes within
our borders. It transports immense quantities of
food for their sustenance, and machinery for
the extraction of the rich treasures which lie
imbedded in our mountains. It is penetrating
and opening up the vast pastoral and mineral
regions of the Southwest, and will soon form
the eastern portion of the great southern high-
way from the Missouri River to the Pacific
Ocean.

Leaving Kansas City, whose marvelous growth
has kept pace with the development of the country
to the west and southwest, thus demonstrating her
favorable location and the enterprise of her citi-
zens, the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe passes
along the valley of the Kansas River, through the
rich fields and past the fertile farms of Eastern
Kansas, till it reaches Topeka, the capital of the
State, where is located the main office of the land
department of the mad. to which is due, in a great
measure, the peopling of Southern Kansas with
sturdy and industrious men, who have converted
the old Santa Fe trail into a garden, and made
" the wilderness to blossom as the rose." Here
it unites with the Him- (nun Atchison, which fol-
lows the beautiful valley of the Grasshopper, in a
southwesterly direction, to the common central
point. From Topeka, the road continues south-
westerly through Emporia, until it strikes the
Arkansas River at Newton.

Between these points, numerous lines branch off
to important towns to the north and south of the
main line. From Newton, a branch line extends
smith to the young, flourishing and enterprising
city of Wichita, and continuing thence south, with
branches to Arkansas City, Caldwell and Anthony.

From the Rocky Maintain Tun rift we quote:
"At Newton we are at the end of the first division
of the road, and at the entrance or gateway, so to
speak, of the Arkansas Valley, the most glorious
domain of rich, fertile and well-watered land on the
Western Hemisphere. Beyond, step

by step, the landscape leads you over swelling plain,
to vast distance, which melts by imperceptible grada-
tions into the gracious sky, ami impresses the heart
with a conviction that just beyond your power of
sight is abetter, nobler clime — a lovely land where all
is beautiful. The first sensation of the prospect is
simply one of immensity. The sweep of the vast
spaces is bounded only by the haze of distance.
( tpening nut at Halstead, to a width of fully fifteen
miles, the valley glows with universal vegetable
profusion, the earth is carpeted with vernal
green, and the prodigality of vegetation reigns
supreme."

Extravagant and fanciful as this picture may
seem, the truth remains, that the Arkansas Valley,
at this point, and thence in its southeasterly course
to the Mississippi, as well as for some distance up
the river, presents a scene, which, for wealth of
vegetation, beauty of landscape and fertility of
soil, is excelled by no part of our Western domain.

Continuing westward, the road passes along
the northern bank of the Arkansas River, through
Hutchinson, Sterling, Larned, Kinsley and other
thriving young towns, to Dodge City, the cen-
ter of the cattle-shipping interests of Southwest
Kansas, Northern Texas and Eastern Colorado,
and thence on to the State line between Kansas
and Colorado, a short distance beyond which it
crosses to the southern, or, at this point, the south-
western shore, whence its course lies along the
south bank of the river until it nears Pueblo, when
it recrosses to the northern shore.

202

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

About midway between the State line and
Pueblo, it passes Fort Lyon, near the prosperous
and growing town of Las Animas.

At this point we copy again :

■'With Fort Lyon on our immediate right, and
Las Animas but a mile away, we catch, between
the two points, our first glimpse of the mountains,
the outlines of the Greenhorn Range being plainly
discernible, although fully ninety mOes distant.
On particularly clear days, and when the peaks
are snow-capped, with the rich evergreen foliage
densely covering the sides of the mountains, the
contrast is exquisitely effective ; and later in the
season, when the range is covered with snow, and
stands out bold against the soft, graded light be-
yond, one would scarcely believe the distance
twenty miles. At times, when the intervening
plains are hidden 'neath one of the wondrously
deceptive mirages characteristic of this elevation,
the mountains appear to double their height, the
hoary-headed old peaks extending so far heaven-
ward as to realize one's most enthusiastic dreams
of towering grandeur. As we pass on beyond Las
Animas, we strain our eyes forward, catching, for
a moment, faint outlines of higher mountain.-. SO
dark in the blue of the lessening distance as to
cause hesitation as to their being real substance or
mere formations of rapidly changing clouds. A
few moments, and we are satisfied of the fact that
the shadowy outlines are stationary, and we real-
ize one fond ambition, that of beholding Pike's
Peak, though it may be one hundred miles away.
A few miles more and the symmetrical pyramids
known as the Spanish Peaks, steal out from the
clouds entwining their snowy heads, and bid us
welcome to the confines of the Spanish Range, over
which they have, for unknown centuries stood
Faithful sentinels. Nearing Pueblo, the southern
hills, which will soon lie mountains, shift rapidly
their wavy outlines, and the thick forest growth
becomes more and more distinct. Stretching far
away to the left, perfectly outlined in its charac-
teristic smoky blue, appears the Greenhorn Range.
As we approach, the smoky whiteness of the en-

veloping haze is dissipated and gives place to a
more pronounced blue ; the billowy hills roll more
sharply clear to the eye; the irregular lines of
the foliage stand out distinct, and here and there
shaggy and disheveled pines cut the sky-line upon
the summit ridge.

" At Pueblo, we have merely reached the foot-
stool, as it were, of the greatness, the sublimity
and immensity of the rock-ribbed heights of Colo-
rado. By and by, when we shall go from
forests of luxuriant splendor to mountains of un-
utterable barrenness and grandeur, from still lake
to roaring cataract, from verdure and cultivation,
into galleries of nature's strangest fantasies, with-
out the slightest hint of what the next transition
may be, then we shall confess that each picture
has a hundred phases rivaling each other in beauty
and interest, and that all that is exquisitely per-
fect in mountain scenery, in lake, river and valley
scenery, is garnered here."

Pueblo, the present western terminus of the
Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad in Colo-
rado, and the point where that line connects north,
south and west with the Denver & Rio Grande,
making it a railroad center despite the fact that it-
has but two principal railways, is the commercial,
political and social metropolis of Southern Colorado.
Though not a handsome town, owing to the mixed
order of its architecture and the absence of shade
trees, except on the mesa of South Pueblo, it
atones for its lack of beauty by abundant enter-
prise, great hospitality, and true Western spirit.
The location of the town is commanding in a com-
mercial view T , holding the key to the trade of the
West and South. Its future is foreshadowed by
its past. It lias grown steadily since 1859, and
ha- never failed to advance with the prosperity of
the rest of the State. It was never in a better
position than it is to-day; Leadville has already
I. ecu. and Silver Cliff soon will be, connected with
Pueblo by iron rails, and, though Denver has a
strong lead to-day, it is not impossible that Pueblo
will some day proi e a successful rival.

From La Junta, near Las Animas, the Colo-

i£+

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

203

rado and New Mexico Division of the Atchison,
Topeka & Santa Pe Railroad passes in a south-
westerly direction up the Las Animas Valley to
Trinidad, the metropolis of the extreme southern
pari of tlic State. Bere it met the forces of the
Kin Grande Company, and a race for precedence
occurred, bol Ii roads making a simultaneous dash for
the possession of the pa* over the Raton Mount-
ains into New Mexico. In this, the Santa Pe was
victorious, and at once entered upon the stupen-
dous engineering task of climbing up through the
Raton Canon and surmounting the great natural
obstacles of the Raton Pass, nearly eight thousand
feet above the sea level, from which it descends the
southern slope, through Willow Canon, and out
upon the plains of New Mexico. From Trinidad
to the summit of the pass the distance is a little
over fifteen miles, and the grade, in sonic places,
one hundred and eighty-five feet to the mile. At
last, ai'ter surmounting the stupendous engineer-
ing difficulties in its cdurse, cutting its way
through the solid rock, building riprap to protect
embankments, throwing iron bridges across the
canon, the road readies the foot of the crest of the
divide, up whose steep sides no human machinery
can climb. Through this obstacle, it was decided
to run a tunnel two thousand feel to the opposite
side; but, in the meantime, a temporary means
must be devised, and, accordingly, a switch-back
was constructed. " By it, the cars leave what will
be the direct line, and are carried over a steep in-
clined track running diagonally up the hill;
thence, reversing their direction, they shoot up
another incline ; then, reversing again, they climb
to the summit, thus zigzaging up the steep, thej
cannot directly scale. Even by this indirect route,
the enormous grade of 316.8 feet per mile is

attained. Circling around the summit of the pass,
the road descends on the New Mexico side in a

similar manner, and reaches a point where the
direct line comes out of the tunnel, ai'ter having
achieved the two thousand feet of what will here-
after be the tunneled distances by Koine; uearlj
three miles around." The tunnel will soon be
completed, when the cost of hauling a train from
one side of the mountain to the other will be but
one-fourth what it now is. Beyond the Raton
Mountains, the engineering difficulties were
comparatively slight, and during the past
summer the road has been completed through
Las Vegas to Calisteo, whence a short "stub"
extends northward to the ancient city of Santa Pe,
the capital of New Mexico, the main line continu-
ing on through Albuquerque and Socorro to Fort
Thorn, whence two proposed branches extend, one
southeast down the Rio Grande River to El Paso
del Norte, in Mexico, and the other southwest to
Tucson, Arizona, where it will connect with the
Southern Pacific for California, continuing its own
line, however, directl) south through the Mexican
State of Sonora to Guaymas, on the Gulf of Cali-
fornia. From Albuquerque, the proposed line of
the Atlantic A Pacific Railroad extends westward
through Arizona and California to the Pacific
Ocean. From Pueblo, a branch is now building
to Silver Cliff, and will thus compete with the Rio
Grande for the trade of that important mining
camp.

From this brief sketch, it will lie seen that the
Atchison. Topeka & Santa Fe Railway is a most
important factor in the development of our coun-
try, and oue whose future prospects arc most flat-
terine.

204

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

CHAPTER VII.

THE DENVER & BOULDER VALLEY.

THE question of obtaining an adequate sup-
ply of fuel to meet the increasing de-
mands of a rapidly growing city like Denver,
situated in a treeless plain, 600 miles from the
Missouri River, and fourteen miles from the
nearest foot-hills, early assumed an importance
which led to a search for the immense deposits of
coal which were supposed to underlie a consider-
able portion of the eastern slope of the mountains
in the northern part of the Territory, and resulted
in the opening up of a number of coal mines in
Boulder County and the western par: of Weld.
This demand for fuel was still further increased by
the building of the Denver Pacific Railway, be-
tween Cheyenne ami Denver, and the completion,
soon afterward, of the Kansas Pacific across the
plains to the latter city. The Denver Pacific, it is
true, passed through the county of Weld on its way
to Cheyenne, but failed to take in, in its course, the
coal-fields of that county, which lay some distance
to the westward, while t lies.- of Boulder County
were still further away and near the base of the
Rocky Mountains.

Prior to 1 .s 7 u . all the coal consumed in Denver,
as well as the supply for the Denver Pacific Rail-
way, was hauled in wagons from the mines to the
yards in that city, or to the stations along the line
of the Denver Pacific, and cost in Denver about
$8 per ton in summer, while in winter it was not
unusual for the price to reach and even exceed
$15 per ton.

li was to inert this demand and reach the coal
deposits of Northern Colorado that a numbn el'
prominent citizens, embracing Gov. Evans, Walter
S. Cheesman, William E. Turner, William N.
IJyers, William Wagner, Joseph F. Humphrey
and Cyrus W. Fisher, met. and organized the Den-
ver & Boulder Valley Railroad Company, with

a capital stock, $825,000. The Trustees for the
first year were John Evans, J. B. Chaffee, Gran-
ville Berkley, Peter M. Housal, Walter S. Chees-
man, Edward C. Kattell and William J. Palmer;
the first officers being: J. B. Chaffee, President;
W. S. Cheesman, Vice President ; R. R. McCor-
mick, Secretary, and D. H. Moffat, Jr., Treasurer.
The design was to start from a point of connection
with the Denver Pacific Railway, and proceed by way
ut the coal-fields of Weld County up the valley of
Boulder Creek to Boulder City. The company
was incorporated October 1, 1870, and operations
were begun at once.

Starting from Hughes Station, now Brighton,
on the Denver Pacific Railroad, eighteen miles
north of Denver, the work proceeded without in-
terruption, and the road was completed during the
fall of 1870, or the succeeding winter, as far as the
Erie Coal mines. Beyond that point its path lav
along the beautiful and fertile Boulder Valley,
through an agricultural district unsurpassed any-
where in Colorado, past comfortable homesteads
and siiiiliii". farms, which had been opened up
years before, and whose rich products of grain
and vegetables were to furnish a considerable por-
tion of the revenue of the new road.

Work, however, progressed but slowly during
the next few years, and it was not until 1 S 7 .' > that
the road reached Boulder City, its present termi-
nus, from which point a short feeder, known as the
Golden, Boulder & Caribou, extends to the Mar-
shall coal-banks in the same county, a distance of
six miles. Since its construction, the road has
been operated under a lease, by the Denver Pacific
Company, until recently, when it was turned over
to Messrs. Gould and Sage, under a mortgage, and
now forms a part of the possessions of the great
railroad magnate in Colorado.

1311

■-

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■V ...

UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO.

BOULDER

ril i o fi n fi fi fi fi (i ft i, (i (i (Ton iiTiTi (i „ ii d n ii ii i a 1 1 11 i '■ i i ', i. n i j 1 6 5 (i t, 15 »„ a (i tlfLiLiui iLtes^ '» %)'

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PUBLIC SCHOOL BUI LD 1 NG, CENTRAL CITY.

PART III.

HISTORY OF GILPIN COUNTY.

BY JAMK8 BXJRRELL.

CHAPTER I.
GRAND OPENING OF THE GOLDEN GATE.

IF the early pioneers, wending their way
across the plains to Pike's Peak, as the

country was then called, could have lifted the
curtain and taken a peep at the Colorado of
to-da}', they would not have listened quite so
complacently as they did t<> the discouraging
tales of returning parties, sometimes outnum-
bering two to one their own " outfit."

The writer well remembers that while en-
camped for a night with the ox-train he was
with, on his way here, and near the same place
where some returning stampeders were also
encamped, of listening to their recital of the
discouraging circumstances that had met them
at the outset. They claimed to have seen the
"Elephant."' and were bound for " America."

They had evidently become too much im-
bued with the idea that "yellow dirt was the
objeel of their lives, and, not finding it in (lay-
ing quantities the first week or month, had
reversed their banners and guidons for "home,
sweet home."

-nine said. that, if they had only been a little
earlier at the place in the mountains where the
gold was found, they might have had some

finding evidence in the vicinity equal to the
first discoveries, concluded that they had come
too late.

They told us that at a place called Cherry
Creek we would be likely to hold up, and prob-
ably never get any nearer Pike's Peak, after
all.

These things, however, though discouraging,
were not considered by our party " fast col-
or-., and did not turn us back.

But. remembering now. as we look back to
those early times, the solicitude with which
those who had made the junction of Cherry
Creek with the Platte Rivera starting-point for
trade with the mountains, inquired of us when
in town, about our successes in the " Gregory
diggings.'' we can see that the settlers there
were pinning their faith upon the success of
mining industry in the mountains, rather than
upon the shifting sands of Cherry Creek, or
the barren plains, as they were then termed,
that surrounded them, fit only, as was believed,
to be the abode of Indians, buffalo and ante-
lope.

How these anxieties of the then denizens of

" show," but, as it was, others had camped there our present great metropolis fluctuated, in-
before them, driven their stakes, and com- Creased or diminished, according to the success
menced building their cabins, and. not then lor otherwise of the mines discovered, and

A-

206

HISTORY OF GILPIN COUNTY.

being discovered, in what is now known as Gil-
pin County, nia\ be inferred from the fact, that,
while many pitched their tents where Denver
now stands, others equally as enterprising, in-
telligenl and persevering, pushed on to the
Gregory diggings and engaged at once in min-
ing trade, or the various occupations and profes-
sions best suiting them, as opportunity offered.

Gilpin t'ou ii i \ has sometimes been facetiously
called the mother of Colorado statesmen, but,
whether the soft impeachment has been verified
b\ the assent of the Stale at large or not, no
other section lias denied her the honor of fur-
nishing more than her full quota in proportion
to her size of enterprising citizens of all classes,
occupations and professions, for distribution
and assistance in other sections as needed, or
fordoing duty in behalf of the Slate or country
at large 1 , as the necessity of the times demanded.

The year L857 had been a year of great
financial disturbance all over the country : men
of intelligence and careful business habits in
spite of industry and perseverance, had been
wrecked in the storm, and by the years I sr»!>.
1860, had regained the shore with such frag-
ments of the wreck as could he saved, and
well' ready for new homes, new enterprises or

new fortunes, if the tickle dame should open up
to them a prospect where she might be wooed
and wou.

One of the favorable results of all this was,
that, with the influx of the great tide of immi-
gration to Colorado in those early years, came
a better class of men for permanent citizenship
than the chronic rough and roving adventurer,
and Gilpin County got her full share of them.

But to the Golden Gate: Where the stage
road from Golden to Gilpin Comity enters the
mountains, at the mouth of Tucker Gulch, a
natural gateway, of quite limited dimensions,
surprises the traveler, even now, to find that
nowhere else, practically, can he gain access
within the heights on either side.

When we passed through there in the spring
of 1860, we were admonished by parties estab-
lishing a way-station there, that no Divinity
had ever passed its portal, that his Satanic
.Majesty had always held complete control
beyond, and would ever claim supremacy.

How this claim of the mythical old warrior
was afterward Contested, and is still held in
abeyance, in these grand old mountains whose
foot-hills we were just theu entering upon, will
appear further on.

CHAPTER II.

EARLY DISCOVERIES OF GOLD�� MINES— MINING AND MILLING, AND OTHER TREATMENT OF ORES.

WE are under great obligations, through
pel-mission of the authors, for much of
our subsequenl data, and many extracts relai
ing to the history of Gilpin County— its mines,
milling, etc. — to the able and reliable authorities
of Samuel Cushman and J. P. Waterman, in a
book published by them in 1876, relating exclu-
sively to Gilpin County, and also to the more
recent excellent work of Frank Kossett entitled
•Colorado, published the present year.

To discover gold in a region of country like
the county of Gilpin, where its creeks, gulches,

hill-sides, and apparently solid bed-rocks, are
everywhere permeated more or less with gold,
and where its mineral crevices and true fissure
veins crop out or underlie the debris on its
surface like the network of a trellis, would he
no marvel of skill, when once the practical miner
was on the ground prepared to thoroughly exam-
ine the situation. But the good judgment that
would guide, even the skilled prospector, to the
very best spot in the country, for the inexperi-
enced gold-hunters coming in, seemed to par-
take of more than ordinary human direction.

JVd.

^^^>

history OF GILPIN COUNTY.

'209

Wending his way up the sinuous course of
the Clear Creek Valley, in the spring of 1859,
John H.Gregory, a Georgian by birth, who had
had some mining experience in Ins native State
and in California, with only one companion,
William Kendall, might have been seen, the first
discoverer of the riches of Gilpin County.

He examined the various tributaries or
branches of Clear Creek, as he ascended the
stream, by testing the sands and gravel-beds,
with only the miners' common prospect-pan, and
l>\ thai process, determined upon which of two
branches of the stream, when he came to them, i
to continue the search for gold. No thought of
silver was in the minds of any of the early pio-
neers.

Indications favoring the branch we now call
North Clear Creek induced him to proceed up
its stream to the place where the town of Black
Hawk now stands.

There he held up to inspect the hillsides of
the gulch now known by his name, which made.
with its confluent branches above, a junction at
that point with North Clear Creek. Here the
indications of -that gulch, and its banks, even
among its "grass-roots," satisfied him that the
sources from which their golden sands had been
drifted, were near. and. if not in " massand posi-
tion," were at least in " rock in place " or posi-
tive environments.

With evidences of his discoveries in hand, and
an April snow-storm at his back, he returned
to the valley for more and better supplies to
further prosecute discoveries. He returned
soon after with a party consisting of Wilkes
Defrees and brother, Dr. Casto, James D.Wood.
II. P. A. Smith. C. II. Butler, James Hunter. C.
Dean, Capt, Bates and Charles Tascher, with
transportation for their supplies, consisting of
two yoke of oxen, a pair of forward wagon-
wheels and some pack animals. They entered
the mountains by a route northerly of Clear
Creek Canon, and another party, under the lead-
ership of Capt. Sopris, now Mayor of Denver,

came in and joined the Gregory party boob
after, at the same point. Gregory Gulch, bj the
w.'i\ of "Chicago Bar Diggin's," which were on
the South Fork of Clear Creek.

We give the discovery and first operations of
theGregory lode in the admirable language of
.Messrs. Cushman and Waterman in their work
above referred to :

"The discovery of Gregory Lode occurred
on the 6th of May. 1859, the day following the
arrival of the main party. The first panful
from the lode yielded about $4. Gregorj was
greatly excited, and his expressions on
iug the gold all over the bottom of the pan
would be pronounced very profane history
indeed, and not altogether delicate. No doubt
he comprehended the value and possibilities
of the discovery better than his associates.

"In the seventeen years since this discovery,
scores of wonderful lodes have been discovered
in this and other counties, and, while interested
parties may and will deny that this has nevei
had a successful rival, none will deny that, & n
sidering the inexperience, isolation and compar-
ative poverty of the pioneers, thi Gn \ Lode

was the most available spot to which they could
have been directed by the overruling Power.
The same may be truthfully said of this county
as compared with other counties. California
Gulch, and other tributaries of the Arkansas.
Blue. Swan and Snake Rivers, furnished exten-
sive and rich diggings, but were far less access-
ible.

" What could the pioneers have done with the
tellurides of Sunshine and Gold Hill, the sil-
ver ores of Georgetown and Caribou and
Park County, or even with the richesof the San
Juan country ? The large masses of decomposed
surface ore, carrying free gold, the rich placer
mines, the low altitude of about 8.000 feetabove
the level of the sea, and 2,000 feet above the
level of the plain, the short distance of twenty-
five miles from the fool of the mountains, and
the abundance of timber and water, conspired

■rr

^I't

210

HISTORY OF GILPIN COUNTY.

to make this the most available region yet known, j
Neither machinery nor capital nor experience j
were essential to success, and. as a result,
immigration commenced to roll in like a flood.

" Returning to details, we find it recorded
that the first forty pans of dirt from the Greg-
ory Lode yielded 640. Representatives of larger
parties returned to the valley for supplies, and
to inform their partners of the welcome facts,
and soon the entire movable population was en
route for Gregory diggings. Mr. E. W. Hen-
derson, now Receiver in the Land Office at
Central, and his party, had the honor of bring-
ing in the first wagon which was ever 'snubbed'
down the precipitous declivities of the old
' Gregory trail.' The toll-road of later times
was not open for travel until a month or two
later, ami the character of the first roads may
be inferred from the fact that twenty yoke of
oxen were required to haul in a small boiler.

'■The outcrop of the lodes being strong and
plain, new discoveries took place in rapid suc-
cession. The Rates Lode was found on the 15th,
the Smith on the 20th, the Dean and the Casto
on the 22d. the Gunnell. Kansas and Burroughs
on the 25th, etc., etc. Nearly all the since nota-
ble lodes, and many that have not become
famous, wiri' found and opened before the end
of June. The Bobtail had a less marked outcrop,
and was not discovered until June, when it was
uncovered by a .Mr. Cotton. The first pay-dirt
was hauled down to the gulch for sluicing, with
a bobtailed ox in harness, the quartz wagon
being a forked stick, with a rawhide stretched
upon it.

'This unique outfit suggested to the mind of i
Capt. Parks the euphonious cognomen of 'Bob-
tail.' and the name stuck and was so recorded.

"Notwithstanding the facilities with which
lodes were found, Gregory was in great demand
among the inexperienced prospectors, and was
often paid s2oo per day for his services.

" Sluicing from the Gregory commenced on
the lOth of May, with live men. and on the 23d

the}- cleaned up $972. Another run of five days,
by the same parties, yielded $942. Pages of
well-authenticated yields by sluicing might be
given, but it must suffice, for comparison with
other districts, to state, that, before the 1st of
July, there were not less than one hundred
sluices running in Gregory Gulch'and below, and
that the production was from $20 to $30 per
da}' to the baud. The yield of dirt from the
Kansas. Gunnell, Burroughs, Clay County and
many others, including some in Russell District,
was quite as large. It is well to note these facts
for comparison with the statements from new,
remote and altitudinous camps, which are her-
alded with all the force that striking head-lines,
with man}- marks of astonishment, can give.
We have no disposition to disparage any sec-
tion of our mining country ; neither should it
be forgotten that the mines of this county, in
all the elements that make mines profitable,
have not been equaled by any other discoveries
in Colorado."

We do not propose to undertake to write the
history of mines. Others may grapple with the
task, and, with praiseworthy efforts, some have
already done so. lint none assume to write them
up as we do Gilpin County, from reliable historic
data, from its earliest dates to the present time.

If a panorama of the infinite past could be
unrolled to our view, and we were able to com-
prehend it, or even so much of it as relates to
our little earth when it "was without form and
void, and darkness was upon the face of the
deep," we might, perhaps, understand more of
the primeval causes and laws that formed and
placed gold and silver and other metals, where
we find them. But, whether eliminated from
the ever-accumulating solids and fluids in na-
ture's grand laboratory, by sublimation through
her constantly contending elements — cold, grav-
ity and chemical affinity, with their results,' in-
cluding solar heat — or by the direct fiat of an
infinite and intelligent Power upholding all —
the\- seem to be placed here for us to discover,

~~* spy

.>.

HISTORY OF GILPIN COUNTY.

211

and as best we can, if we will, to find out the
process of their formation.

This would, indeed, be a history of mines and
of minerals that would not only be very inter-
esting and instructive, but would settle many a
controverted point in science and theology,

But we must leave to theological and scien-
tific pens to write up and settle these questions
if they can, while we proceed to the easier task
of referring to some of the lodes and mineral
deposits of our own county, and to the milling
and other treatment of their ores.

To enumerate all the well-known lodes in Oil-
pin County, especially if we were to give a par-
tial description of each, — its production and
management — would occupy more space, in a
work of which this county is only a part, than
the publishers could allow to be devoted to the
whole history of the county. We must, there-
fore, proceed in a more summary manner with
the subject of this chapter, especially its statis-
tics. They have been well written up by other
authors, whose purpose was more special to that
subject.

Our purpose is more forthe basis of a stand-
ard history that may be relied upon, not only
for our time, but for the generations to come,
and especially for the preservation, in perma-
nent form, of the earliest reliable data of this
portion of the Centennial State.

Again referring to Cushman and Waterman :
"Early in the fall of 1S59, several arastras were
put in operation below Black Hawk, working the
headings from the sluices and the quartz from
the lodes. These were quite successful in saving
the gold, but their speed is only suited to the
Mexican, to whom a day is as a thousand years,
and vice versa. Some unique contrivances for
quartz-crushing might have been seen in those
days. One Mr. Bed exhibited the quality of
his genius in atrip-hammer, pivoted on a stump,
the hammer-head pounding quartz in a wooden
trough. For obvious reasons, this was dubbed
the 'Woodpecker mill.' The first quartz-mill

was a home-made sis stamper, built by Charles
Giles, of Gallia County, Ohio, run by water-
power, and situated near the month of ChaSC
Gulch. The stamp stems - shod with iron — the
cam-shaft, cams, and mortar were of wood.
This rude concern netted the owner $0,000 that
summer and fall.

"The first imported mill was the little three-
Stamper of T. T. Prosser, which was set up in
Prosser Gulch, about the middle of September.
Coleman & Le Fevre brought in a six-stamp
mill, which was first set up just above the pres-
ent Briggs mill, and afterward removed to and
run with the Prosser mill. In November, this
mill was producing from Gunnell quartz from
$00 to $100 per ton, the gold being saved in
riffles supplied with quicksilver. It would lie
interesting to know what such quartz would
yield in a modern mill. Next, Mr. Bidgeway
got his six-stamp wooden mill into operation on
Clear Creek, below Black Hawk. Then, about
the 0th of December, came the Clark, Yande-
venter & Co., nine-stamp mill, built by Gates
& Co.. of Chicago, the first regular foundry-built
mill in the country. This was set up at the
junction of Eureka and Spring Gulches, in the
heart of the present city of Central. The suc-
cess of these first mills was sufficient to convince
every man that all he needed to acquire a for-
tune was a quartz-mill. Some notice of the
Placer Mines closes the record of 1859. Green
Russell, who made the discovery of the Montana
Diggings above Denver, in 1858, came in
from the States about June 1. 1859, with 170
followers. His party camped in Central, where
the Welch row now stands, and one fine morn-
ing they 'folded their tents like the Arabs and
silently stole away' over to Russell Gulch,
where they had found lit h diggings in the main
gulch and its tributaries. By the end of Sep-
tember, there were 000 men in that district.
and -all found profitable work. Here parties
produced as high as $35 per da\ to the hand ;
$5 per day was considered a fair average.

: r y

212

HISTORY OF GILPIN COUNTY.

This would indicate about $50,000 per week as
the maximum production. At the same time,
over 200 men were gulch-mining on the upper
tributaries of Gregory, with equal results. The
yield of the 100 claims in Gregory Gulch, the
four mills and half-dozen arastras, cannot be
guessed at so closely as the placer production.
There are no means of determining the yield of
the mines in those eight months of 1859, as
nearly all the gold was taken to the States by
private hands. No old settler will estimate the
production at less than $500,000, and si ime claim
that $1,000,000 is nearer the proper estimate.
We know that John Gregory captured $39,000,
and Green Russell about $25,000. Scores left
in the autumn with dust enough to purchase
and freight out a quartz-mill, and nearly every-
one made a 'good stake.'

"The necessity of a larger supply of water
than the gulches afforded, was apparent the first
summer. In July, three companies were organ-
ized for building ditches, and three ditches were
commenced, viz., the Metropolitan, the Russell
and the Nevada. The latter was built from
North Clear Creek to Nevada, and used until
1861 . when, after long difficulties with the Black
Hawk mill-owners, the use of the ditch was per-
manently stopped. The two former were con-
solidated and became the Consolidated Ditch.
which is said to have cost $100.(11111 in labor,
but which did not cost the owners half that sum,
as so much labor and material were donated.
After selling water ever since for $1 per inch
per twelve hours, the ditch is now for sale to
the county for $50,000. The County Commis-
sioners have offered $25,000, and rightly stand
firm upon their offer.

"The outlook for the year 1SG0 was full of
promise. Mining had been progressing to some
extent during the winter, well-constructed
quartz mills were coming in almost daily, and
the Consolidated Ditch, now about finished,
would supply the gulch-miners with all the
water needed. By the 1st of July, sixty mills

had been brought into the county, and the
immense influx of immigrants made labor cheap
and supplies reasonable. The mill men were
unacquainted with the use of amalgamated cop-
per-plates for gold-saving. There began to be
general complaint that the mills would not save
the gold. Pyrites of iron and copper were
reached in many of the older lodes, and because
little or no gold could be saved in the riffles from
the 'iron,' as it was called, it was believed to be
not only worthless, but a material foreign to the
vein matter, that had somehow displaced for a
time the gold-bearing quartz. A subscription
was made and work actually commenced on the
Gregory to sink through the pyrites to the
brown quartz! Nothing better illustrates the
universal ignorance of the whole business at that
time than t he facts above stated. Generally,
when the sulphurets were reached, work was
suspended. Still, 1860 was a prosperous year.
There was still plenty of surface quartz, and
the gulches, being more systematically worked,
with an abundant supply of water, yielded a
very large return. It was the great year of
immigration. Men and families came in, built
houses, shops and stores, until the entire length
of all the gulches was 'settled' upon. Thou-
sands came that found no work, and poured out
into new camps, or to find new mines in unpros-
pecteil districts.

"Notwithstanding the general backset before
the close of the year, on account of the failure
of the mills to save gold from the pyritous ore.
the remarkable sluice yields of the previous
year were supplemented with no less remarka-
ble mill-runs from the same and other lodes.
On Burroughs quartz, an eight-hours' run with
six stamps, produced $321.55; a twelve-hours'
run produced $400, and 150 tons of the same
produced $4,400. Fisk Lode quartz yielded $20
per ton, which may, perhaps, be taken as an
average, the range being from $7 to $90 per ton.
This, it should be remembered, was realized be-
fore the introduction of amalgamated copper-

(1
!

,' ' i Hi

HISTORY OF GILPIN COIWTY.

213

plates, or of uniformly fine screens. Will sonic
San Juan enthusiast try a few ions of Little
Annie quartz, in such a mill, by way of compar
ison?

" The most noteworthy event in the milling'
business of L861 was the use of amalgamated
sheet copper for gold-saving. Like many other
things well understood in mining countries, the
pioneers then first learned its value. So imme-
diately apparent was the advantage in its use,
I hat copper sold from $4 to $7 per pound for
this purpose. But a fair success was by no
means immediate. No one knew the business,
and the measure of success subsequently ob-
tained was the result of patient and persever-
ing experimenting, which cost in lost treasure
moie than was saved. There are no statistics
of yields extant from which the average of these
years can be calculated. We have it recorded.
however, that 180 tons of Gold Dirtore \ ielded
s:;i per ton; twenty tons of Bobtail ore, sMt
per ton ; five tons of same. $260 per ton. and
one ton, selected and run upon a wager, over
$600 per ton. The average yield, however, was
probably below $15 per ton. Only a few mills
were doing good work even lor that time, and
many were so badly constructed that good work
was impossible.

"Then came another backset. The deeper
mines -went into cap.' This term was applied
indiscriminately to cases where the vein matter
became too lean for profitable working, and
where the vein became - pinched ' below a prof-
itable working width. Hundreds gave up all
effort against such a sea of difficulties, and
scattered out to avail themselves of surfer
workings in newer fields. Other hundreds at-
tempted to ' sink through cap' with too short
a purse, and failed. Some who hail husbanded
their profits, were able to continue until their
veins 'opened out' or -struck pay' again.

"Theguleh mines were not yet exhausted,
and. with the improved methods, were much
more prosperous as a rule than lode mines.

"The year 1802 brought a « hopeful

feeling among the lode miners. Several prom
inent mines passed through the cap, and were
now producing better than ever. The mines

were from [00 to 200 feel deep, and no one

questioned their permanence. Probably twenty

mines could lie selected, the ores from which
yielded from $20 to $30 per ton ; the others
from slu to $20. The premium on gold rising
more rapidly than prices of labor and supplies.
further stimulated activity. The mill process
was now generally understood, and the gulch
mines still gave employment to hundreds of
men.

"On the other hand, there were ores shown
to be rich by assay, from which the stamp pre iC
ess would extract lait little gold. The increas-
ing depths of the mines made steam power
indispensable. The water was increasing In
skillful timbering must be renewed, and shafts
must be straightened for permanent work.
These things did not diminish faith in mining,
but began to be talked of as evidence that
'poor men had no business to pursue mining.'

The year 1863 was a fairly prosperous one.
Lode mining was on the increase, and gulch
mining profitable, though of limited amount.
Cold still advanced more rapidly than prices of
supplies, reaching 172, and averaging 14.">
through the year.

"To avoid repetition, it may lie remarked
here thai the general characteristics of all the
lodes are the same. The country rock, chiefly
granite, with some gneissic varieties; course,
east and west, or from 10' t" 1 •"> north of east
and south of west ; dip nearly vertical, rarely
reaching an angle' of l.V. possessing all the
characteristics of true fissure veins, and nota-
bly free from faults.

"The productive portion of the veins com-
monly carries a vein of solid pyrites inclosed
in or upon the side of the quartzose and felds-
pathic mixture, having pyrites more or less
disseminated through it. The distribution of

s~~

_* 2>

214

HISTORY OF GILPIN COUNTY.

ore, both horizontally and vertically, is not uni-
form, sometimes pinching to a mere seam and
again opening to twenty feet. The existence
of pay chutes or courses of ore, sometimes
nearly vertical, in some localities dipping east
and in others west, is denied by those only
who have failed to make careful observations.

" All the gold-bearing ores contain more or
less silver. The percentage of silver in the
smelting ores, as compared with the total of
gold and silver, is indicated by the following :

" In G88 tons of Bobtail ore, of the total
assay value in gold and silver, 6 per cent was
silver ; in 428 tons of Burroughs ore, 9£ per !
cent ; in 424 tons of California ore, 28 per
cent, and in 95 tons Prize ore, 44 per cent.
From the statement of the Boston & Colorado
Smelting Company, it appears that of the assay
value of the Gilpin County ores purchased, 20
per cent was silver ; but this doubtless includes
some lots of strictly silver ore.

" Prices of labor and supplies of all kinds
had by that time readied a price corresponding
with the highest price of gold, and, owing to
the distance from the base of supplies, did not
fluctuate and fall with gold. Laborers in all
departments were in great demand, on account
of the immense amount of new work commenc-
ing, and readily commanded, as an average
price, $5 per day, while their desire to earn
their wages was in the inverse ratio. The
prices of supplies were enormous. Mules and
horses sold for $400@$500 each ; wood, $12
per cord ; hay, $120@S250 per ton; corn, 12
(o>,20 cents per pound ; flour, $25@$30 per hun-
dred pounds ; candles $16@$30 per box of 40
pounds; steel 60@75 cents per pound ; pow-
der, $12@$15 per keg; fuse, $4 per 100 feet ;
iron. 30@35 cents per pound ; lumber. $60 per
M. and all other supplies in proportion. It
should be observed that the high prices of 1864
and 1866 were not wholly chargeable to the
war. but were enhanced by the difficulties of
wagon transportation through (100 miles of hos- |

tile Indian country, the main road through
which was in the sole possession of the Indians
for two months in 1864.

" If, then, war prices, a distant pm'chase
market, Indian war, processes, hard winters,
wet summers, ignorance of the business, and
last though not least, ' conducting the war from
Vienna.' were sufficient to break the well-organ-
ized, solid companies, what could be expected
of the ■ kiting ' class ? What could be expected
of a company which paid $60,000 for sixty
wildcat claims on as man} - different lodes ?
or what of that numerous class of company's
agents, the 'jolly dogs ' — usually nephew of the
president, or son of the head director — excel-
lent masters of the billiard cue, with uncom-
mon pride in high boots and spurs, whose
champagne bills were charged to ' candles,' and
whose costly incense to Venus appeared on the
books as ' cash paid for mercuiy ' ? It was a
charming farce to witness a Gen. Fitz John
and staff of assistants, all finely mounted, re-
viewing the corps of masons on the stone
' folly.' or riding to and from the mine ; but
was it business ? Anil those spectacled ' profes-
sors,' with their heads in the clouds and the
most honest intentions in their hearts — what
good did their costly experiments ever do,
but to show ' how not to do it ' ? But whether
agents worked faithfully or played at doing
business, all plans seemed to end in compar-
ative failure, if not disaster. Company after
company retired from the field disgusted, until
at one time, five or six years after the stock
mania, but one foreign mining corporation was
doing business in Gilpin County. That, the
Bobtail Gold Mining Company, Mr. A. X. Bog-
ers, Manager, never suspended, and is to-day
one of the most prosperous concerns in the
county.

" The capital stock of the mining companies
in this county aggregated about §100.000,000.
A large number of the companies never made
a move toward business. Another large per-

HISTORY OF GILPIN COUNTY.

215

centage did business with great spirit, chiefly
in the mill-building line, till the managers un-
loaded their shares. The percentage that tried
honestly and in a business-like way to make a
success was small.

" Another cause of failure was the absence
of smelting works, or any other reduction
works, for the suitable treatment of the richest
portion of the ore. This brought upon us a
horde of process men. Indeed, the. plague
began in 18(33, and lasted as long as there was
money to be wasted. Pans of every name and
pattern were in use in the mills, were piled
around them and garnished the wayside. Keith
desulphurizers loomed up here and there ; Cros-
by & Thompson roasting cylinders, thirty sets
in all, infested every district ; Bertola's minia-
ture pans and processes delighted ladies and
children ; and the Monnier — but why finish the
list ? Were they not all devourers of green-
backs, giving little or no gold in return ?

'• Lyon's smelting works, upon which the
hopes of the people were wrecked, were built
in 18(55, and continued in a state of intermit-
tent operation and change till the end of 1 8(3(3.
when they were closed permanently, and the
property passed into the hands of the Consoli-
dated Gregory Company. From all these fail-
ures we gladly turn to what has been properly
called a general revival of the mining business,
which had its beginning in 18G8. There were
hundreds of miners and workmen of all kinds.
and scores of agents, thrown upon their own
resources. The mines were considerably opened
and provided with machinery. The mills were
idle. Every one saw that it was a country of
great possibilities, and realized the effect of
completed railroads and successful smelting
works. All had learned something from the
failures of the past. As the work of compa-
nies on their own account gradually ceased, the
system of leasing mines came in vogue. The
agents or owners leased the mines or parts of
them tn the miners, principally Cornishmen,

for a percentage of the proceeds. Properties
that had steadily absorbed the product, in- more,
now began to yield a small revenue to the own-
ers. It was soon discovered, however, that the
short leases worked a damage to the mines.
There was no incentive to open new ground, to
do permanent timbering or even to conserve
the property. Gradually from that time to the
present, one mine after another has been re-
opened under leases, running from one to live
years, all the time tending to longer leases.
Many of the superintendents and owners who
at first lacked the necessary experience, are
now very successful lessees and are working on
a large scale. It is believed that one-half or
more of the present bullion product of the
county is from the work of lessees.

" Consolidation of adjoining properties upon
the same lode has been another fruitful source
of the increased and increasing prosperity of
the business. The Bobtail Gold Mining Com-
pany, which at first owned but 433A. feet, have
absorbed by consolidation and purchase, other
properties on the same lode, till now they own
900 feet. The Briggs Brothers, by purchase
of the Black Hawk Gregory and lease of the
Consolidated Gregory, now control and work
1,040 feet of that great lode, and 4(K) feet of a
smaller vein. The Buell mine, consisting of
3.0(10 linear feet of lode property adjoining and
contiguous, is an example of consolidation by
purchase. Six hundred feet of the Burroughs
lode, belonging to two different companies, are
under a thirty-two years' lease to Sullivan &
Company, a good example of consolidation by
leasing. The relocation of abandoned property
under the act of Congress of 1872 and Territo-
rial legislation in conformity thereto, has re-
sulted iu numerous consolidations of detached
claims. Several such properties are now pro-
ducing liberally."

The building of two railroads to Denver in
1870. and of the Colorado Central into Gilpin
County in 1873, were indispensable to success

"♦ ■4 i v

jHi

216

HISTORY OF GILPIN COUNTY.

in mining. The reduction in wages, in prices of
mine and mill supplies,and in the cost of living,
due directly to cheaper transportation, will be
seen by an examination of the following table
comparing the prices in 1866 (the last year of
freighting by wagon the whole distance from
the Missouri River) with prices at the present
time. In 1866. gold, as compared with green-
backs, was about 140 •

Labor, [in' day

Lumber, per tl yand ... .

Flour, per sack of 100 pounds

Corn, per pound

Fuse, per thousand feet .
Sheet copper, per pound...

Nails, per pound

Iron, ppr pound

Sheet, iron per pound

Quicksilver, pel pound

Wood, per cord

Coal oil, per gallon

Lard oil, per gallon

Shovels, each

Bellows, thirty -six inch...

Anvils, per pound

Rope, per pound

Milling ore, poi rd

Carpenters' wages

Masons 1

Head masons 1

Miners'

Mine fore n's

Hay, per ton

Candles, per box

Powder, per keg

00 to S 5 0(1
60 00

00 to
13 to
no to
80 to
20 t>>

J"> to

65 to

no to
75 to
75 to

24 mi

40 on

1 00
25
30
35

2 00
00

3 on
3 00
2 75

50 Oil

611

00 to 50 00

(in to no

t 2 50 to

23 00 to

3 25 to

2 to

33 to

mi to
mi to
no to
00 to

7 (in 1
12 on

7 00

00 to Kin nn
(III to 20 i M
llOto 12 nii

6
48

33
35

15 00
3 00
3 60

2 00

3 00
25 00

6 mi

S :s no
25 nn
:-: 7:.

-' .
7 30

514

5
7
50
r, 00
35
411

1 40
25 00

20 00

3 50

4 00

5 00

2 50

3 50
30 00

6 50
3 90

Another important cause of the improvement
in mining affairs in Gilpin County, has been
that home markets have been established for
the direct sale of her ores to purchasers within
her own limits.

It was found that such ores as were known
by assay to be very valuable, but which under
stamp-mills yielded but small profit, could by
smelting (though a more expensive mode of
treatment) be made to yield a larger profit to
the miner. This opened competitive sampling
works for the purchase of ores. All galeiioiis
ores especially were compelled to seek such
markets.

And the improvements made in stamp-mills
has been another cause of success which has
placed the county in the very front ranks of
the gold producing sections of the country, and,
it may be said, of the world.

The segregation of mining from milling, unless
under very favorable circumstances for the com-
bination of both, has been found to be another
move in the right direction for the successful
management and improvement of each branch.

The incentives for each in competition with
its class have led, and are constantly leading,
to greater excellence and improvement in each
division of mining industry.

Frank Fossett, in his " Colorado " of 1880,
second edition, from which we are permitted to
make well-written and reliable extracts, says in
regard to the mines of Gilpin County and its
mining and milling industdy, that, "Rising
abruptly from the dividing ravines and city
streets, are a number of lofty hills, among
which the mines are located. From Black
Hawk westward to Nevadaville are Bates, Bob-
tail, Gregory, Mammoth. Central City, Casto,
Gunnell and Quartz Hills, which, with their
intervening gulches, are intersected by num-
berless metalliferous veins or lodes, the sources
of the golden millions of the past ami present.
From these lodes, that are traced along the
surface for distances of a few hundred feet to
one or two miles, gold was washed by the rains
and floods of former ages into the recently
profitably mined creeks and gulches. The
lodes are divided among many owners, each of
whom has more or less extensive underground
working's that go to make up a mine.

" The main rock or formation of Gilpin
County is a gneissic one, but granite occupies
most of the territory where the mineral veins
are found. Some veins lie between granite and
gneiss. Hornblende occurs in dikes, and there
are occasional patches of porphyry There are
two main systems of lodes in the gold belt. —
those having an east-ami west direction, which
are much the most numerous, and those ex-
tending almost northeast and southwest. Of
the former class are the Bobtail. Kansas, Gard-
ner, California, and of the latter, the Gregory,
Bates, Leavitt or Buell, and Fisk.

Jfe

cy-^ytA^y^}

'ORK

HISTORY OF GILPIN COUNTY.

•J 17

"Some veins are nearly or quite perpendicu-
lar, ami others incline ten, twenty, and even
forty, degrees therefrom. Some dip to the
northward several hundred feet and then
change their course to the opposite direction.
The veins termed gold-bearing are composed of
copper-iron pyrites, or sulphurets of iron and
copper, carrying gold and a less value in silver.
The gangue includes quartz, feldspar, crystals
and other matter. .Many veins contain galena,
and some of them in large quantities. The
vein matter is usually decomposed near the
surface and down to a depth of seventy or
eighty feet. This is called surface quartz. The
gold contained therein is more freely extracted
and more frequently visible than in the vein
material of greater depths. Many silver veins
north of Black Hawk have a south-of-east
strike. This is also the case with many of the
gold lode.-. Copper is present to a greater or
less extent in nearly all Gilpin County hides.
Two or three per cent, of some ores are copper.
and more rarely 5, 10 and 15 per cent. Gray
copper and ruby silver are found in the richer
ores of the new silver district, and a great deal
of lead in those between Black Hawk and
Clear Creek County.

■The main portion of the gold-bearing veins
is located in an area less than four miles long
liv one wide, and in the midst of this is the
almost continuous city known under the names
of Black Hawk. Central and Nevadaville ; but
many valuable gold lodes and all of the silver
district are situated outside of this. This gold
hell continues northerly into and nearly through
Boulder County, and southwesterly into Clear
Creek a- far as and beyond the Freeland mine,
on Trail Creek. Of the precious metals con-
tained in the ori'. the proportion of gold is
larger as compared with silver in the veins
near Gold Dirt and Black Hawk, and smaller in
those on Quartz Hill, and toward and beyond
South Clear Creek. Thus, on the western end
of Quartz Hill, lodes contain more silver than

they do one mile farther east. There are ex-
ceptions to this, however. This is shown in
assays, in smelting returns, ami in the differ
ence in value psr ounce of stamp-mill retort.

Near Idaho Springs ami Trail Run lodesonthe

same belt carry nearly as much silver as gold,
and some have increased their silver yield as
depth was gained. It has been ascertained

thai the retort gold as it comes from 'he mills

runs pretty much as follows in fineness: Bates,
.746 in gold, .I'll silver; Bobtail, .849 to .866^
-old. .128 to .140 silver; Briggs, .803^ to .816
gold. .171' to .180 silver; Buell. .sun to .860
-old. .12(1 to .1 pi silver ; Burroughs, .820 to
>:;;:: gold, .158 to .166 silver; Illinois. ,78] \
gold. .211 silver, and Kansas and Kent Countj
ahoiit the same. The value of Bates retort is

30 ; of Bobtail, sl7 to sis . Briggs, §16.30
to S17 ; Buell. sic. 70 to $18; Burroughs
$16.50 to SIC. '.mi : Illinois, $15.90; Kansas, sir,
lo $16 ; Kent County. sl4..M» to $15; Gold
Dirt, Ophir and Perrigo, $17 50 to sis ; Dallas.
$14 to $14.50. Continued tests show that the
average of all the Gilpin County gold mill
retort or bullion handled contains about 7s7
parts of gold. 198 silver and 15 copper.

" What is termed the new silver belt of Gil-
pin County extends to the northwest of Black
Hawk, across North Clear Creek and other
hills, from York Gulch, Chase Gulch and Wide
Awake to Dura Hill. The tirst silver discover
ies of that locality were made late in May and
in June and .Inly. 1878. Prospecting has con
tinned since, and hundreds of lodes have been
located, some of them of proved value. One
or two already appear to rank with first-class
silver veins of Georgetown and San Juan dis
triets. Silver lodes were worked with profit in
Silver Gulch, near the smelting works of Black
Hawk, from nine to eleven years ago. ami more
recently in Willis Gulch and Virginia Mountain.

"Mining in Gilpin County fairly began in the
summer of 1860, with the completion of the
Consolidated Hitch and Ike introduction of

tt:

218

HISTORY OF GILPIN COUNTY.

many stamp-mills. Before that, work had been
done by sluicing, racking and panning, and b} r
means of arastas. In a year or two, the more
productive gulches had been worked over, the
decomposed vein matter in the leading lodes
had been exhausted, and the mill men were at
a loss to know how to get gold in paying quan-
tites from the solid ore. or • iron; as it was
termed. At one time, nearly all of these mills
were idle, but afterward the ore was handled
with less difficulty. In 1S62-63. many rich
' strikes ' were made on claims that had shown
nothing but barren rock after the surface pock-
ets were exhausted. The Gregory, Bobtail,
Bates, Kansas, Burroughs, Gunnell, Gold Dirt
and Perrigo were paying enormously for much
of the time up to 1803. when the Eastern com-
panies began operations. The gold product
continued to be large until 1866, when many
companies had discarded the old stamps and
were spending their money in putting up and
testing process mills. On returning to stamp-
mill crushing in 1867-68, business revived.

- At this time, the district possessed a popu-
lation such as has rarely been gathered to-
gether in so small a compass, and remarkable
for enterprise, intelligence and sterling quali-
ties. Operations were carried on by numerous
companies, whether they paid expenses or not,
and lessees and owners of mines were making
money at intervals, all over the hills.

" There was Eastern money as well as West-
ern gold to help matters. A large number of
mills and stamps were in operation in 1868.
and, in the summer of 1869, nearly seven
hundred stamps were operated, but not contin-
uously. In November, 1869, when several water
mills had closed down, there were still twenty-
nine mills and six hundred and twenty-foul
stamps at work. Outside of the companies,
the California and Union Pacific Railroad lodes,
worked by Gilpin miners, were paying largely.
The companies on the Gregory, Bobtail. Bates.
Hunter. Burroughs and other lodes, were sus-

pending operations in 1869, 1870, 1871, and
their employes began to lease some of the
same company properties, aud to start up other
mines, new and old, that had been idle. Quartz
Hill and Nevadaville were the most active
localities in 1870-71, when nearly all the mines
or claims on the Kansas, Burroughs. Califor-
nia. Gardner, Flack, Prize. Suderberg, Jones,
Roderick Dhu, Illinois, and some other lodes
were in full blast. From 1871 to 1875, the
Buell mine was the leading producer of the
lower part of the county.

"In these years, large numbers of the
miners left for the new silver districts of
Georgetown, Caribou and of Park County,
which some of their own number had been
discovering. Gilpin Count}' has furnished ex-
plorers, settlers and colonists for every new
mining camp that has been started, thereby
earning the title of ' the mother of Colorado
mining camps.'

" Those who remained at Central and Nevada-
ville finally exhausted the pockets and ore
bodies of many leased mines, and left them to
fill with water, and in bad condition for suc-
ceeding operations, as they were poorly tim-
bered, and many of them ' in cap.'

"The entire district had a dull appearance
in 1873-74. but the previous record and known
value of the lodes caused several Central men
to resume work on their own or leased properties.
The success which rewarded their nerve and
enterprise, caused others to do likewise. Time
and money were required to remove water and
sink or drift into new ore bodies, but a few
years 1 nought about a great increase in pro-
duction and prosperity. When many of these
re-opened mines got fairly to producing, in
1876. the county's gold yield was larger than at
any former period. Since then, every month
sees great improvement and progress. These
results are largely due to the enterprise of
such Colorado men as Briggs, Fagan, Sullivan,
Buell, Fullertou. Kimber, Mackay, Young,

-A

SPV

*^L_

HISTORY OF GILPIN COUNTY.

219

Standley, Thatcher, Holman and others, whose
faith in the mines has been proved to have
been well founded.

"Many old properties are now worked under
one management. Some lessees have made
enough money to buy the mines of the owners,
the companies or their successors, and others
have retired in one, two or three years, with a
fortune. These were the mines that the compa-
nies could not make pay. If these company
s'ocks had been made assessable, as in Califor-
nia and Nevada, the mines would probably
have been worked steadily, and, eventually,
have paid a profit, where the agents were good
for anything. Non-assessable stocks permit of
the dog-in-the-manger policy, for some stock-
holders will not advance money when it is
needed for exploration, development or machin-
ery, while sure to come in for their share of the
dividends if any money is made."

" All that is left for these stockholders who
are anxious to have work progress is to pay
for it, and take all the chances on loss, and
only a part of those on gain, or else let the
mine lie idle. The latter has been the course
generally adopted.

" In Nevada, men who will not pay their
assessments are sold out, to give room for those
who will. Had this not been the case, the great
bonanzas of the Comstock, (whose yield and
profits for five years were the grainiest in the
history of mining), would never have been
found.

"The best way for these old companies to do
(that are not working their properties), is to
sell out for any price, for their claims are usu-
ally too small to work successfully by them-
selves. The only other sensible move would
be to buy up adjoining claims, and so procure
territory enough to pay for deep mining. It
should be remembered that it takes just as
much machinery and steam-power to work loo
ori'OO feet of the vein to a depth of 1,000
feet, as it would to work 1.000 feet of territory

to the same depth. The only companies thai
have operated since their formation, in 1864,
with hardly an interruption, arc the Consoli-
dated Bobtail, and New York and Colorado.
and the reason is largely due to the fact thai
they had more than the usual quota of con-
tiguous property on one vein, and have subse-
quently increased it by purchase.

"As to the stocks in the old defunct compa-
nies, they may be considered utterly worthless.
Any mining company organized in 1864-65, in
Gilpin County, which is not now at work, is
never likely to make any money. Stockholders
should consider their stock worthless.

"The permanent and healthy character of
the revival in mining in this district, is shown
by the large number of mines supplied with
steam-hoisting works. Steam machinery indi-
cates deep mining, extensive operations, proba-
bly extensive production, and, at all events, a
high estimation of the value of the property.
No heavy mining work can be carried on without
steam-power. There are now forty-four differ-
ent mines in the district operated in this wa} r .
Some of them have engines of from forty to
one hundred horse-power each. One engine
answers for a long stretch of territory, and for
what was once several separate properties. Out
of these forty-four mines, the Consolidated B< >l i
tail, the Briggs-Gregory and the New York and
Colorado-Gregory, the Gunnel] and Monmouth-
Kansas are each supplied with one, or several
hoisting engines of great capacity, besides addi-
tional ones for the great pumps with which they
are supplied. In place of three or four active
steam-hoisting works on Quartz Hill, as in most
previous years, there are now twenty, most of
them put up during the past twenty months on
mines that had been idle lor years.

"For twenty years Gilpin County has been
the leading gold district of Colorado. In that
time it has probably turned out more bullion
than any one gold mining locality in America.
So uninterrupted has been this outflow of the

220

HISTORY OF GILPIN COUNTY.

precious metals, that the county has justly
earned the title so often applied to it of the
< M<1 Reliable.' This production has been going
on ever since the arrival of the pioneers in
Gregory Gulch, in 1859, and is much larger
now than at any former period. Then' arc
more valuable lodes in the immediate vicinity
(if Central, Black Hawk and Nevadaville, than
in any section "f equal size in the known world,
and there are more mill stamps in operation
than anywhere else. Various causes have pre-
vented all of the profitable or valuable mines
from being operated at any one time, but the
closing of one was usually followed by the
re-opening or discovery of another. No sus-
pensions are reported of late ; but more than a.
score of mines have lately resumed. Parts, or
all, of every valuable lode (with a few ex-
ceptions), are now in active operation, and the
time is not distant when every mine on these
lodes will Vie worked separately, or with con-
solidated properties. The unfailing 3haracter
of so many hundred veins, and their combined
and continuous production long ago caused
this, the smallest of Colorado's counties, to be
considered the richest district of the State.

" Gilpin County ores are treated either by
the stamp-mill or by the smelting process.
Most of them contain too little value to stand
any other treatment than that of stamp-milling.
I hie smelting process saves very nearly all
of the gold, silver and copper, and another
nearly all of the gold, silver and lead.

"Since the last reduction in smelting charges,
gold ores are bought at a price allowing for a
charge of sl'.'i per ton, and HI per cent deduc-
tion from the assay for waste, etc.

( in ores containing $120 in gold. $30 in sil-
ver and $10 in copper or lead, the miner would
receive $110 for his ton of ore. The same ore
treated by amalgamation in stamp-mills, would
return but $70 or $80, allowing for a saving of
60 or 70 per cent of the gold, and very little of
the silver or copper. But most of the ore

mined contains but $15 or $20 of all the metals
per ton, and the stamp mills that handle it for
'$2 or $3 per ton, comprise the only means of
profitably extracting the gold. The ore of a
mine is now divided into separate lots, a few
tons of very rich mineral being sent to the
smelter, to ten, twenty or thirty times as much
crushed in the stamp-mill. By this means as
much money is made in gold mining as on
smaller but richer silver lodes.

"The stamp-mills crushed about 21,000 cords.
or 108,000 tons, of ore in 1875, of an average
yield of $9.70. The average yield of 1876 was
a little over $10, and that of 1878 was $9.12.
This decrease was not due to growing poverty
of ore, but to closer assorting, and sending a
larger proportion of the rich ores to the smelters.

■■ Prom seventeen to nineteen quartz-mills were
at work in 1878, with from 550 to 630 stamps.
The average number of stamps at work inlS76
was 560, and in 1878 it was about 590 ; yield
nearly $1,300,000.

"The total number of available quartz-mill
stamps in Gilpin County is 936, besides those
in two concent rating-mills.

" The stamp-mills handled about 140,000 tons
of ore in 1879, and the smelting works 7,000 or
8,000, besides as large a tonnage of mill tail-
ings.

" The removal of ore leaves extensive cavi-
ties. There are mines where this worked-out
ground extends (for the few feet in width be-
tween the walls of the vein) hundreds of feet
vertically and horizontally. There are seven
or eight shafts on the Kansas lode over 300
lei t deep, two of them about 600, and onel.ooo
feet deep The Burroughs and California Gard-
ner are opened in a similar manner, and so
are the Gunnell, Gregi >ry and Bobtail.

"About fifteen hundred men have usually
been employed in and about the mines, mills
and works of Gilpin County, and the result of
their labors is a product of over two and a
quarter million dollars in bullion per annum.

HISTORY OF GILl'IN COUNTY.

This, if equally divided, would give $1,520 to
each person directly engaged in obtaining it;
or allowing an expenditure of half a million for
machinery, mining and milling supplies and
other outlays ami there would still be $1,166
to each employe, or nearly $300 for each man.
woman and child in the district. As the opera-
tions in many mines, for a year or two, have
been mainly of a preparatory character prior to
the heavy production now setting iu. the results
hereafter are likely to be 20 per cent
better than those given above. The three
banks of Central have very nearly three-quar
ters of a million of deposits from the miners of
the district, which is a very large sum wheu
the fact is considered, that so much is continu-
ally expended hi opening mines, in expensive
buildings and machinery, and in permanent
town improvements, besides money sent out of
the State to friends and relatives.

"Every year there are nearly or ipiite one
hundred and thirty or forty thousand dollars
sent awaj in the shape of ironey orders through
the posl office of Central, and nearly or quite

as much at Black Hawk and N'evadaville. All

of these tacts indicate how profitable and en-
during the mines of these mountains are. No
Easterntown or county can show average re-
turns to the whole population anywhere nearly
so large as are known in all leading Colorado
mining' camps.

"The Gregory lode stands pre-eminent as the
first found, and the most productive, of Colo-
rado mineral veins. While not yieldingas much
at present as some of the later discoveries, its
total on i put from first to last still surpasses that
of any American lodes excepting the Comstock
and two or three others on the Pacific Slope. It
has been located and claimed for nearly a mile,
including extensions, but the productive and de-
veloped portion is embraced in 2,440 contiguous
feet of ground. This extends from the sum-
mit of Gregory Hill, northeasterly across Greg-
ory Gulch, into Bates Hill, and embraces what

are now known as the Narragansett, Consoli-
dated Gregory, Briggsand New York and Colo
rado properties.

The Gregory vein material has maintained a

width and continuity far above the average,
and has, consequently, yielded immensely. The
width between walls has usually been several
feet, and sometimes teu or twelve,and even
twenty.

" The distribution of the ore is variable occur
ring in seams of from a few inches to two or

more feet, with intervening hands of i r rock.

aud sometimes for short distances it has
pinched out or given place to vein matter of
barren quartz and feldspar. There have been
huge bodies of ore extending for hundreds of
feet in length and depth, and very broad in

places. The walls are not regular, being si

times smooth and well defined, and again rug-
ged and uneven.

"The inclosing rock is granitic gneiss, show-
ing much mica in some places and little in
others. The retort gold from the Gregory is of
higher value than the average of the county,
indicating that the proportion of silver is small.
Seams and pockets of ore of surpassing richness
have occasionally been found in both upperand
lower workings, and a large amount of nuggel
and wire gold. On the northeastern slope of
Gregory Hill is a parallel ami branch vein of
the Gregory, called the foot ami Simmons,
which is evidently the same as that known fur-
ther east, by the name of Briggs. This is sep-
arated from the Gregory by a granite wall from
a few feet to seventy in width.

■Tin' lode, like others in the early times, was
staked off in claims lOOfeel long. After a time,
the surface dirt was exhausted aud the owners
were disconcerted at the appearance of the
solid iron pyrites or barren cap n.ck. All diffi-
culties were to sonic extent sooner or later
overcome, and some portions of the lode would
return to • pay ' as others grew poor and un-
productive.

•v

222

HISTORY OF GILPIK COUNTY.

" The following will show how productive and
profitable were the Briggs and Black Hawk
claims at one time, notwithstanding it was in
the era of high prices and heavy expenses. In
1867, the Black Hawk Company obtained
12.193f ounces of gold, worth, in currency,
$279,647.76, from about 12,000 tons of ore,
showing an average yield of $23.30 per ton,
with an outlay of $11)1,425.63, or a total aver-
age expense of $11.43 per ton, or over double
the cost at the present time. Gold was $1.37.
The pump then broke down, and the water pre-
vented further mining operations until a new
and powerful pump was placed in the shaft.
During the year ending July 1, 1S69, when the
compaivy closed business, the yield was $154,-
135.76 ; the outlay. $02,381.78, and the profits,
$61,753.08. In four years and six months pre-
vious to 1869, the Black Hawk, 300 feet, pro-
duced $1,358,149. In four years and eleven
months the Briggs, 240 feet, yielded $534. (i 15.
During these years gold ranged from $1.33 to
$1.50 in currency. The axpenses in the Black
Hawk property in 1867, in coin value, were
$8.17 for mining, $2.48 for milling, and $1.05
for teaming; this makes a total of $11.50, or
$1(1.45 without teaming. In 1869 the cost was
$11. It is now $4.50.

" Tlie Briggs mine comprises 249 feet, known
as the Briggs claims, and 300 feet formerly
owned by the Black Hawk Company, and in-
cludes the diverging but nearly parallel Gregory
and Briggs veins. Over the Briggs claims and
shafts is a line brick mill building, containing
powerful hoisting works, pumps, and fifty
stamps, with double issue batteries throughout,
one-half furnished with automatic ore feeders.
Here is the main shaft, 925 feet deep, driven a
portion of the way. forty feet long and ten wide.
From this shaft levels are being driven at inter-
vals through the entire 1,040 feet, includingthe
500 feet of leased ground, called the Consolida-
ted Gregory. The amount of ore in reserve
between these levels, ready to be broken, is im-

mense. Very little stoping has been done in
the lower 450 feet of the Briggs property, and
in the lower 600 feet of the Consolidated Greg-
ory.

" There is ore enough to keep fifty or seventy-
five stamps at work for five years without sink-
ing the shaft deeper. The machinery and ap-
pliances are first-class, and embrace many im-
provements not yet introduced in many mines.
Among the pumps is one which was put in by
the old Black Hawk Company, that is fifteen
inches in diameter. The mine usually makes
149 gallons of water per minute. There are
several shafts between 500 and 600 feet deep.
Both the Briggs and Gregory veins are worked,
and are connected here and there by cross-cuts.

" The Briggs Brothers conduct operations at a
less cost per ton of ore mined than any other
firm or miner in the State. The yield of the
mine for the last year or two has ranged from
$11,000 to $16,000 monthly, and the profits are
said to average over $6,000 per month for the
entire year. When the expenses reach $9,000
per month, about $5,500 go for labor, $2,300 for
supplies, $1.0(10 for coal, $390 for powder, and
$ 1 75 for candles. The working force, including
both mine and mill, approaches 100 men. A
few men work on tribute, that is, pay a certain
royalty or percentage on ore taken out from a
piece of ground worked by them. Expenses are
very low, the average cost per ton. of mining,
being $1.90, of hoisting, 40 cents, and of milling,
$1.7<l. or $4 altogether. The hoisting and
pumping machinery of the Briggs mine is of
the most efficient character, and embraces great
engines and boilers of 100-horse power or less,
one of which furnishes power for the fifty-stamp
mill.

"The mines on the Gregory lode yielded'
si'i'.V.Clt in 1S75. and $222,495 in 1876. The
monthly bullion shipments of the Briggs por-
tion of the lode have since increased. Its yield
was about $134,000 in each of the years 1875
and 1876. and $150,000 in 1S77.

HISTORY OF GILPIN COUNTY.

223

■' It is reporter! that the Briggs mine yielded
$31,500 in the months of May and June, 1878,
combined, with $18,000 profit, and thai I lie yield
of August and September together was s:: I 500.
The sales of smelting ore ran from $6,000 to
$8,00(1 per month nearly all of the year. and. as
the mill ore generally paid expenses, these fig-
ures may be supposed to represent the clear
profit of the mine. Last year rich pockets and
fine gold specimens were found. Three lots
sold at one time returned as follows : 100 pounds
yielded $32 per pound, or at the rati' of $64,000
per ton ; a few hundred pounds sold at the rate
of $4.(10(1 and $1,200 respectively. Other small
lots have gone at the rate of $7.(i(i9 per ton,
$1,541, and $408 ; 156 pounds yielded $1,496,
and $2,350 worth of gold was panned out of
only ninety-two pounds of ore. Such returns
help along the profits, but the thousands of tons
of mill ore yielding less than $8 a ton. with a
profit of $3.50 per ton. and the hundreds of
tons of ore that the smelter buys for $100, or
so, per ton, are the reliances of the mine. As
the mill is directly over the mini 1 , and no haul-
ing is required, nearly or quite all of the crevice
matter is fed into the stamps. This and close
sorting for the smelter, are causes of the low
grade of the mill ore. Of the two veins, the
Gregory averages the largest.

" The Xew York & Colorado Company own
some 1.200 feet on the two veins northeast of
the Briggs mine. This company absorbed the
Smith & Parmelee Company, and took in its
property; 800 feet of the veins are developed
by long levels, extending from a shaft that is
nearly 800 feet deep, aud gradually getting
deeper. Over this shaft is a building contain-
ing a forty-stamp mill and tine hoisting works,
propelled by an eighty-horse power engine,
which also furnishes power for the Cornish
pump. The yield of this mine was $76,310.75
in 1S75. with a small margin of profit, and mat-
ters have continued in about the same way ever
since. The ore is generally of low grade, but

there is a great deal of it. The company's
workings extend from Gregory Gulch, under
Bates Hill. These lower Levels can be carried
forward as far to the northeast as the veins
extend.

•■The Briggs mine, which includes the old
Black Hawk mine ami the adjoining Consol-
idated Gregory, now worked by the Briggs firm.
embrace the 1,040 feet in the central part of the
lode. From the best data at hand, it would
seem that the yield from this 1,040 feet, from
discovery to July. 1870, was not far from
$4,205,000, coin value, or $5,500,000, reckoning
the currency values in which the gold was sold.
This property is now said to have as much ore
above the line of the deepest workings, as has
already been mined and milled by the upper
excavations.

'■The Narragansett Company, of Xew York,
own 400 feet, of the Gregory lode, adjoining
the Consolidated Gregory property on the
southwest; and their buildings, on Claims 11
and 12, are on or near the crest of Gregory
Hill. This mine has been operated only at
intervals, and has never yielded as well as
those described above. Last fall some prac-
tical miners obtained a two years' lease, and
have since been sinking and drifting with fair
results. The deep shaft is down over 530 U-vL

••The Bobtail is one of the great lodes of
Colorado, ranking next to the Gregory in past
production. Its ore has been of a higher grade
than that of its great neighbor, but until
recently a smaller amount of ground has been
worked, owing to unproductiveness near the
surface. This is why the aggregate yield has
been less than that of the Gregory. Yet the
total foots up over $4,500,000. Much produc-
tion was prevented by the closing down of the
company claims with which the lode was too
much subdivided.

-The intersection of the vein by tunnel, the
consolidation of differenl properties, and the
re-opening of them by deeper shafts and levels,

r y

224

HISTORY OF GILFIX COUNTY.

have enabled the Consolidated Bobtail Company
to work to great advantage and profit. From
1875 to the time when the Little Pittsburg mine
began to produce so heavily, the Bobtail was
the most productive of Colorado mines. It
still continues to increase its product, and, now
that it has paid oft' the purchase price of nu-
merous claims, and of a seventy-five (now
125) stamp mill, besides rebuilding the latter
and furnishing the mine with new shafts and
splendid machinery, it will undoubtedly pay
dividends much more frequently than hereto-
fore.

"In 1864. Eastern companies purchased most
of the best-developed parts of the lode, in very
small claims, excepting the Bobtail Gold Com-
pany. It survived and prospered when the
others failed at depths of four or five hundred
feet, because it had as many feet of territory on
the lodeas all of them combined. In the two
years ending September 1,1868, the Sensen-
derfer, 128 feet, produced $197,155, which was
mined and milled at a cost of $77,935, leaving
a net profit of $119,220, or of over 60 per
cent. Ten dividends of over 810.000 each were
paiil previous to November, 1 SG7. At that
time, mining, milling and other expenses footed
up an average expense of $13.50 per ton. coin
value, as against sli at the present time. The
Bobtail, Field and itlier claims also paid
largely. In 1 872, when most of the mines were
idle, the shaft-houses were burned, and the shall
timber work rendered useless and unsafe. The
I !■ '1 'tail tunnel was afterward driven to intersect
the lode, and afford drainage and an outlet for
the product of the mine. The Fisk lode was
penetrated .")71 feet and the Bobtail 1,110 feet
from the mouth of the tunnel. This was in 1 873.
Superintendent A. N. Rogers, who had charge
of affairs from 1N04. then induced the company
to re-open the mine on a large scale, and to pur-
chase the adjoining company properties, and
the great Black Hawk mill. This required time
and expense, but the present yield, the thou-

sands of cords of broken ore on hand, and the
immense ore reserves in sight, show the wisdom
of these movements in place of suspending
work or operating on a small scale. The Bob-
tail Company owned 433£ feet on the vein
originally, and, after many years, bought the
Sensenderfer, 128 feet, separated from the Black
Hawk Company's 72 feet, the Barstow, 66-£
feet, the Teller, 110 feet, and the Sterling, 66|
feet. In the course of several years, these were
all purchased, making 900 feet of territory,
less 33£ feet owned by J. F. Field, besides the
Branch lode and other claims.

"A large excavation in the solid rock at the
head of the tunnel and 471 feet below the sur-
face of the hill, contains huge engines and
boilers for propelling the hoisting machinery
and great pumps. A brick and iron smoke-
stack extends up an old shaft to daylight. A
splendid perpendicular shaft has been sunk 400
feet below the tunnel level, 8x16 feet in the clear,
divided into four compartments, one for sink-
ing, one for pump and ladder way, and two for
cage-ways, up and down which ascend the great
iron cars loaded with quartz, men or supplies.
The cars, each loaded with two tons of ore, are
run from the iron tracks of the various levels of
the mine directly into these cages. They are
then hoisted to the tunnel level, and run out on
another track to the ore-building and daylight.
Here, the ore is damped on to a floor below the
track, by the two halves of the car parting at
the bottom. The hoisting machinery for the
cage is as substantial as wood and iron can
make it. The two drums are seven feet in diam-
eter. Upon these are wound the flat steel wire
ropes, of English manufacture, three inches in
width and half an inch in thickness, with break-
ing strain of fifty tons, which are attached to
the cages. These drums are driven by spur-
gear, twelve feet in diameter and twelve-inch

face.

" The engine driving this makes direct con-
nection, and has reversible link motion. This

'" #3%

i I

HISTORY OF GILPIN COUNTY.

227

mine drains othe2 - lodes, and makes more water
than several of its neighbors combined. It
compares, in this respect, with some of the
Comstock mines. Drainage is one of the big
items of expense, costing in 1879, 836,659.84.
Powerful Worthington pumps have been pur-
chased, and set at work at an outlay of $10,000,
which discharge from the mine 500 gallons of
water per minute, or 720,000 gallons every
twenty-four hours. The main working shaft of
the Bobtail is driven perpendicularly from the
tunnel level and off of the vein. Several hun-
dred feet below, cross-cuts, from seventy to
ninety feet long, are required to reach the vein.
As the lode has once changed its dip, it may do
so again, and be found at greater depths on the
line of the shaft. The lower workings are over
900 feet below the surface. The company lately
sold its twenty-stamp mill, and added fifty
stamps to its seventy-five stamper.

" This mill is a model of its kind, and no
other in the State, and few out of it, are as
large. Early in May, the entire 125 stamps
were at work, crushing nearly 100 tons of ore
daily. With the additional capacity, the mine's
output should approach $400,000 per annum,
and now that mining and milling and pumping
demands have been complied with, a large mar-
gin will be afforded for dividends. The mills.
(ire-buildings, shops, compressors, machine-
drills, hoisting and pumping machinery are
known as permanent improvements, will last for
years, and must have cost, with adjoining min-
ing claims purchased, over $275,000, all paid
for by the mine in five years, besides$] 17.781.90
in dividends. This sum of $147,781.90 has
been paid in four dividends — on November 1,
1877, November 11, 1878, in September, 1879,
and March 30, 1SS0. The company will be able
to pay two dividends per annum hereafter, each
amounting to 15 cents a share, or $34,098.90,
and more if the mine improves. There are over
2,000 tons of quartz broken in the mine ready
for the mill, and vast reserves of unbroken ore

at depths of from 250 to 425 feet below the tun-
nel level.

"The company employs over 200 miners, mill
men, teamsters and shop men. This includes
those working on contract, who generally make
about $2.25 'per day, or about the same as those
receive who work for wages. The paj roll loots
up nearly or quite si:;. (Mil e\erv moiilh for
labor, exclusive of Superintendent and assist-
ants. Five steam-engines, combining 200-horse-
power, are employed at the mills, including one
used for the air-compressor of the machine drills.
There are five engines, combining about 225-
horse-power, in the mine. Two machine drills
have generally been operated in the under-
ground workings. The expenses for the
1876, including $156,555.87 for mining,
154.21 for milling. $14,358.46 for draining and
superintendence, taxes and other expenses.
$9,181.45. Of the mining expenses, mining
tracts took $51,386.95 ; day labor, $49,052.98;
candles, powder and fuse, $13,165.71 ; fuel,
$4,853.77; timber and lumber, $3,165.94 ; and
hardware, foundry work and machinery, $12
In the mills, fuel cost $9,878.09 ; hauling ore.
$8,734.51; and chemicals, and oil, $1,052.29.
Something like seven-tenths of a ton of coal is
burned for every cord, or seven and a half tons
of ore milled, and the coal consumption of the

mine and mill together probably exceed 3,1

tons per annum

" The Consolidated Bobtail Go'd Mining I m
pany has a capital stock of $1,136 630, in 227,-
326 $5-shares. The trustees and officer
George \. Hoyt, President; John Stanton Jr.,
Secretary and Treasurer; and E. C. Litchfield,
Jerome B. Chaffee, L. H. Brigham, E. II. Litch-
field, John Ewen, R. J. Hubbard and Walton
Ferguson.

■• Careful and oft repeated tests and assays in
1878 show that the quartz-mills of the Con.
solidated Bobtail Company made the remarka-
ble savings of 75.8 per cent of the gold con-
tained in the ore, with the stamp- and tables,

228

HISTORY OF GILPIN COUNTY.

and 87.96 per cent of the gold, and 6 per cent
of the silver, including both the product of the
batteries and tallies and of the huddled tailings.
A higher per cent of the gold contents of ores
can be saved when they are of low or average
grade like the Bobtail than when they are very
rich.

■■The Bobtail Tunnel Company is distinct
from the Consolidated Bobtail, but embraces
some of the same members. Its tunnel is the
outlet of the mine. Ore transportation brought
it $22,079 in 1879. It helps drainage and ven-
tilation.

" In 1S79, the Consolidated Bobtail Company
mined and milled 3.365 cords of ore, returning
$231,07435. It sold 434.09 tons of smelting
ore for $51,786.70; 1,753.849 tons of tailings
for $12,943.85; and received from tributors
(who milled sixty-two cords of ore and sold 1 In
tons) $1,868.74. The actual returns to the
tributors was $11,736.03. which should be
counted to get the mine's true receipts, viz.,
$310,562.17. The expenses were $248,471.25,
besides $13,340 for addition to mill, pump con-
nections, etc. The mine or mining cost $155,-
469.50. drainage. $36,659.84 ; milling, $47,287.-
82 : and salaries, taxes, etc., $9,027.09. Aver-
agi yield of mill ore per cord, including tailings,
$72.76, or about $10 a ton. The entire Bob-
tail Lode yielded in five years up to 1880, $1,-
888,837.23, which, added to the lode's estimated
previous yield of $3,250,000, gives a total to
1880 of $5,138,837.23.

"Among the expenses of the Consolidated
Bobtail in 1879 are. transportation through the
tunnel, cost $22,079; mining contracts, $46,-
585.59; daj labor, including mechanics, etc.,
| i7 355 SO : powder, candles, etc., $14,065.22 ;
fuel, $14,0S0.99 ; timber and lumber. $3,164.80 ;
hardware and foundry work. $5,570.39.

•• The East Bobtail is the name applied to
the mine .hi this vein adjoining the consolidated
company property on the east. Little work
was done there until recent years, because no

ore could be found near the surface. A shaft
was finally sunk, and the vein discovered 400
feet down. Below that a fine ore body has con-
tinued to the bottom of the shaft, 850 feet deep,
and beneath and east of present workings. The
mill ore is often very rich, and the amount of
smelting ore is remarkable, averaging a foot wide
in some localities. The entire vein averages
over two and one-half feet, but has opened in
places to five, eight and ten feet. The mine
has shown a remarkably large profit in propor-
tion to the total yield. In 1879 from fifteen
tn twenty tons of ore were milled daily, yield-
ing from $50 to $150 a cord, or from s7 to over
$20 a ton. and about one ton of smelting ore
was sold daily, at prices varying from $00 to
over $180 per ton.

"West of the Consolidated mine are the
Lake and Whipple Claims, which with others
may lie called the West Bobtail. The Whipple
property lies at the point where the Fisk crosses
the Bobtail. Each vein has been employing
about fifteen mill stamps. These claims were
idle for years previous to 1878, when Messrs.
Potter, Pearce and Wolcott leased them. The
ore is of a very good grade.

"Beyond the East Bobtail is the Denmark,
1,425 feet, whose surface ore is said to have
been rich. Not long ago J. W. Holman started
up work on this with the requisite hoisting
machinery. It is expected that extensive ex-
ploration will make this a valuable and produc-
tive property. The Colorado Central Railway
crosses the patented ground of this claim.

''THE BLACK HAWK SILVER DISTRICT.

" This includes Silver Hill and the sections

at and near Hughesville. Wide Awake District,
Bald Mountain, and the Harper Ranche. The
first discoveries were made on Silver Hill, near
the close of May, and in June. 1878, by Prof.
S. W. Tyler, assayer and engineer, and E. A.
I^ynn, an old-time prospector. During the sum-
mer and tall, while lodes were being opened all

liL

HISTORY OF G1LFIN COUNTY.

220

around them, they worked their mines, and
continued to make an occasional discover}
They located the Cyclops and Faunv at the
beginning. The St. James was also one of the
earliest veins recorded.

"Iii August, the Hard Money, at Hughes'
ranche, a mile and a half from the Cyclops, was
discovered; likewise the Boss Lode, on the
Harper ranche. All of the above have since
produced regularly, and have paid well ; at the
same time they have attracted many prospect-
ers and miners to their districts, resulting in
new discoveries. There are now over 100 men
at work and some 500 locations have been made.
Among these veins the galena ores seem to be
the most valuable, but some ruby silver and
gray copper are found. The best ore yields
from 400 to over 1,000 ounces of silver per ton.
Most of the silver discoveries are among the
hills and mountains to the east and north of
North Clear Creek. South and west of that
stream is the great gold belt. The Cyclops
was discovered May 29, 1878, and is owned
under the affix of numbers one and two, by
Tyler and Lynn. The first ore was sold July
1. Ten shafts have been opened to depths of
from twenty to one hundred feet Six of these,
at intervals of 100 feet, have yielded ore, and
three of them are not\ paying handsomely. The
ore vein varies in width from a few inches up
to three feet, and generally carries from 100 to
900 ounces of silver per ton.

'• Some of it shows .streaks of ruby silver min-
eral of unusual size and value. Up to May 31,
1879, the Cyclops had yielded over 20,000
ounces of silver. Good profits have been di-
vided, besides developing the property into its
present productive condition. The Cyclops
has besides rich vein matter, gangue of quartz
and feldspar, or quartz hornstone and calcspar,
the latter with true silver minerals. The min-
erals or ores proper, are galena, zinc-blende
and iron pyrites, and considerable proportion
of ruby and brittle silver, occurring in solid

streaks from one to eight inches thick, or scat-
tered throughout a fool or more of quartz, in
the latter class making up the second rate ores.
•The character of the ores of some of the
best and richesl of these silver veins is exem
plified in returns of the Fanny Node. In the
latter part of .May. 1879, S. W. Tyler sold nine
tons and 358 pounds of ore for $1,832.93, and
in the first week of June.' four and three -fourths
tons for $1,212.65. Average receipts per Ion,
$218 : average yield per ton, $260. The four

richest lots gave 608 ounces. 605 ounces, 490

ounces and 170 ounces of silver per ton. The
three poorest lots gave Tl ounces, 87 ounces,
and 88 ounces per ton. Total receipts of sales
for less than four weeks, $3,045.58 Expenses
less than $1,000."

The output and workings of the Cyclops and
Fanny .Mines, up to September 30, 1880, is as
follows :

Fanny. — The Fanny is just below the Cy-
clops, and is owned by Tyler. Lynn. Gray and
Pease. The width of the vein is shown by the
development to be from two to six feet, with a
pay streak of from two inches to three feet in

thickness. Working shaft. 190 feet deep; I In
foot level. 80 feel in length : 180-foot level just
started. Total fathom- removed in mine, 131 :
value gross silver product, $28,726; net re-
turns, $19,894.95 ; profit divided, $9,100 ; gross
product, per fathom. $219; net receipts per
fathom. $151 : profits, per fathom $70. No
ground sloped below 1 1 0-foot le\ el.

Cyclops. Deepest shaft now, 235 feet; 120
foot' level is 320 feci iii length 200 foot level
is 225 feet iii length. A large amount of
ground is still standing above the 120-foot
level, in which stoping is now going on. But
little stoping has yet been done below the 120-
foot level. Value gross silver product, $58,616 ;
net returns, $38,345. Most of the development

work on the Cyclops has been done by lessi

pa\ ing 25 per cent roj altj Four < panies

i'[' lessees or tributors are now working in dif-

230

HIS'foliY OF ClU'lN Col NTY.

ferent portions of the mine, employing fifteen
men, and producing about twenty-two tons of
ore per month, for which the net receipts run
from $1,600 to $2,000 per month.

The gross product of the Silver Hill group
of mines, since discovery, would be about as
follows :

•SSwSTJi ' ° re ' } f Cyclops $58,616

$87,342.00 gross; i/ & * ffl 72fl

58,239.9o net J ( '

St. James 8,000

Mary Graham 4,000

Others 1,000

$100,342

Again referring to Fossett's " Colorado:"
" The Silent Friend, Humboldt, Mary Gra-
ham and Joe Reynolds, on this same Silver
Hill, are promising veins, but have not been
opened extensively. The Mary Graham has a
good run of paying ore, which is producing well.
Between Silver Hill and the Hard Money Lode
are many locations, of which the Toronto, Wel-
lington, New York and Emerald are the prin-
cipal ones. The two first named have turned
out much ore, yielding from 80 to 300 ounces
per ton. The Wellington, main shaft, is 50 feet
deep. This lode is of the unusual size of nine
feet, and what are considered average samples
of the crevice assay from 20 to ."ill ounces of
silver. Tons of assorted mineral have been
sold, carrying from 200 to 1.000 ounces pier ton.
■The Hard Money is owned by Hunderman
& Locke. Its size, great value and profits are
muking it famous. Its product, mainly ob-
tained after October, and from then to July, is
said to have been over $40,000. One report
makes it 50,000 ounces of silver ; another 55,000.
The deepest shaft is 128 feet. The Philadelphia
is nearly parallel with the Hard Money. The
Rough and Ready appears to be nearly on a
line with the Hard .Money and Boss Lodes.
Time may prove all three to be parts of one
continuous vein. The Bonanza, a more recent
discovery, bids fair to be a first-class vein.
Many locations were made, and some good

lodes found all through this section too late in
the year to admit of prospecting, or continuous
work. This summer will enable their value to
be tested. The Boss Lode, owned by Sayer &
< (wens, pays handsomely. Steam hoisting works
have lately been put on. Smith E. Stevens is
driving the Silver Flag tunnel, from North
Clear Creek toward the silver belt, and veins of
the mountains above and beyond. Many veins
will be crossed at great depth. The Queen
Emma is a valuable lode.

"The Lough and Ready Lode has probably
shown the richest ore in the district, specimens
have assayed from 14,000 to 21,000 ounces,
and small mill runs which yielded at the rate
of several thousand dollars a ton. The Forrester
and Fremont Lodes, on Bald Mountain, have
shown rich ore. There are more than fifty of
these silver-bearing lodes discovered within a
year, that are yielding more or less money.

" The district will add considerably to Gilpin
County's bullion product, and bids fair to rival
most other Colorado silver camps in import-
ance. The number and value of veins dis-
covered in so short a time is remarkable.

Tunnels. — There arc a number of tunnels in
Gilpin County that are being driven to intersect
lodes, and t<> work the same. Some of these
have been pushed forward steadily by the labor
and money of business men and miners for
many years. The Bobtail Tunnel at the Bobtail
Lode has already been noticed. There are sev-
eral that have not been extended for some
time, and others, such as the Centennial, Black
Hawk. German, Quartz Hill and Central City,
arc pushed more or less energetically. The La
Crosse Tunnel, owned by the Company of the
same name, passes into Quartz Hill something
like a thousand feet, one hundred and fifty of
which was driven last year. It is only from
one hundred and eighty to two hundred feet
below the surface above, and consequently can
lie of no great benefit in working mines. The
Central City Tunnel was started by D. G. Wil-

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>rWPpWW'

HISTORY OF GILPIN COUNTY.

831

son, who organized :i company on the enter-
prise. It enters Quartz Hill just above the
Quartz Hill Tunnel and the limits of Central,
and is headed in the direction of such main
lodes as the Burroughs, Missouri, Illinois and
Roderick Dim, which it will intersect some live
hundred feel beneath the surface of the ground.
Steam drills and air compressors are used, and
are thought to do cheaper and better execution
than hand drills. The eastern portion of the
Kansas Lode has been intersected, and the For-
tune and Corydou, Lewis and Columbia, are
some distance ahead. The tunnel had pene-
trated the hill about five hundred feet at last
accounts. The enterprise is a promising one.
as old lodes can be explored, and several blind
lodes may be discovered. For drainage pur-
poses, this tunnel should be of great service.
The German tunnel is a home enterprise of
Central business men, which has been driven
nearly seven hundred feet into Mammoth
Hill. There are many valuable lodes crossing
the territory ahead of it, which will be inter-
sected hundreds of feet in depth. Several
veins have already been reached. The outlook
is good for dividends when the Mammoth and
Other lodes have been opened.

-The Centennial Tunnel is in Mammoth Hill,
is about four hundred feet long, and has crossed
several blind l>»les that have yielded large
amounts of ore. The enterprise has paid well
at times. The breast of the tunnel must be
near the Tierney Lode.

■■ Snu /tiii : / WorJes. — The smelting works of
Argo are the successors of the Boston & Colo
rado Company's long-established operations in
the mountains. Prof. N. P. Hill was the
founder, and lias ever been the managing di-
rector of that company's smelting establish-
ments. He began work at Black Hawk, in
January, 1868, with one calciner and one smelt-
ing furnace. All around him were wrecks of
preceding attempts at ore reduction, but, while
encountering many difficulties in the earlier

years, there lias never been an interruption of
work, general progress or success.

••As tin' ore-supplying mining districts be-
came more numerous and extensh e, the furnaces
and working forces were increased, and. in time,

a corps of assistants had been secured Such as is
seldom me! with, and whom it would almost be
an impossibility to replace. The rare business
and executive qualifications of the general

manager have been ably seconded by those

whom he has called to responsible positions

while the State has shown its appreciation of

services rendered its main industry bj award-
ing him a seat in the United States Senate.

•This copper-matte method of smelting, old
and tried in other lands, has required many
adaptations to the numerous and varied ores it
has had to deal with, and, as now conducted at
this establishment, can be termed the Colorado
more appropriately than the Swansea, process.
When Prof. Richard Pearce took charge of the
metallurgical department, away back in 1873
the production of the first absolutely pure sil-
ver bullion in the West began. Before that, the
valuable metals had been sent from Black
Hawk across the ocean to Swansea, in the form
of copper-matte, where they were purchased,
separated and refined. Since 1875, the gold

has also been parted and ivliucd in Colorado,
and by a method of Mr. Pearce s own invention.
"In 1st:;, branch works were started at
Alma, among the Park County silver mines,
and. in 1876, an ore-buying agencj was estab-
lished at Boulder. In 1877-78, the capacity
of the Black Hawk works was over fifty tons
Of ore daily, instead of ten 01 as at the

beginning. The working force had increased

to a hundred men, the annual production of
bullion from a coin value of $193. 190 in 1868,
to over one of $2,000,000, and the average
stock of ores on hand represented a value ■>{'
three-quarters of a million. Ores were coming

in steadily from almost all parts of the Mate

and began to arrive from Montana, even, a

r r

2;j2

HISTORY OF GILPIN COUNTY.

thousand miles away. But the question of
fuel was becoming a serious one, a more cen-
tral and generally accessible locality was desir-
able, and, as it was necessary to again enlarge
the works, it was deemed best to build entirely
anew, and near the coal measures, and the rail-
way center of the plains.

"A location was selected two miles from Den-
ver, to which the very appropriate name of
Argo was applied, after the good ship in which a
hero of Grecian mythology is reputed to
have set sail in search of the Golden Fleece.
The new works were so far completed in
December, 1878, that several furnaces were
tired up, and soon after all business, except
roasting ores on hand, and sampling, purchas-
ing and shipping, was discontinued at the old
place at Black Hawk/'

We regret that the space in this history, to
which Gilpin County is equitably entitled, will
not permit us to go into detail in regard to
other prominent and well-managed mines and
operations in the county, showing, as we have
in those alluded to. something of their produc-
tion and management. But. as we have sug-
gested elsewhere in this chapter, our purpose
is more for the basis of a standard history,

covered as far as practicable, by the earliest
reliable data touching matters and things in
genera] in this portion of our Centennial State.

Such mines, and their management and
workings, as the following, might well fill a vol-
ume, aud be quite as interesting as the ones
we have referred to at length — the Kansas,
Hidden Treasure, Gunnell, Gardner, Bates,
California, Burroughs, American Flag. Illinois,
Kent County. Prize. Indiana, Gold Dirt, Ophir,
Perrigo, Winnebago, Foot & Simmons, Gilpin,
Pewabic, Williams, Grand Army, Whiting,
Cashier, Mammoth, Maryland, Boss, White
Cloud, Mountain City, Kip & Buell, New
Boston, Homer, Fisk, Hubert, Iiish Flag, Rod-
erick Dim, Rolls County, Flack, Alps-Mackie,
Saratoga, Grand View and St. Louis.

We have selected the lodes and managing
proprietors that have been noticed with sonie-
thing of detail, more because of their priority
in time, in the division to which they relate,
than for any invidious discrimination ; and
because that somewhere herein, there should
appear some of the leading principles and
working details <>f the plans and management,
that especially make mining a successful un-
dertaking.

CHAPTER III.

JOURNALISM IN (ilLPIN COUNTY.

AS in the discovery of gold, Denver preceded
- Gilpin County only a very short period, so
in the introduction oft he Press -the next might-
iest engine of a State — she was not far ahead.
To lion. William N. Byers is due the credit
of establishing the first paper in Denver or Col-
orado. It was published under the name of the
Rocky Mountain News, April 22, 1859, and is
still a leading paper there and bears the same
name

And to Thomas Gibson belongs the honor of
publishing the first paper in Gilpin County. It

was called the Rocky Mountain Gold Reporter
am/ Mountain City Herald, but flourished only
during the summer of 1859. It was located at
Gregory Point.

In the early part of the summer of 18G2, Al-
lied Thompson brought out from Glenwood,
Iowa, to Central City, a Washington hand-press
and type, and on the 26th day of July, 1862,
he issued the first number of the Mini rs' Regis-
/, r, as a tri-weekly paper, which to this day,
under different names and management, has
been the leading paper of the county.

L£_

HISTORY OF GILPIN COUNTY.

233

A few days later, the accidental absence of
the proprietor, introdu* ed David C. Collier, then
engaged in the practice of law, as an editorial
writer. His acquaintance with the local and
national politics of the time, seemed to make
1 tit 11 not only a necessity during the heated po-
litical canvass then in progress, bul evoked from
his pen many a spirited personal appeal to the
loyalty of his fellow-citizens in. the dangerous
situation in which Colorado was finding herself
placed in regard to secession.

His services were therefore continued to the
end of the campaign, and his name then pla< ed
permanently in the head lines of the editorial
columns.

Another chance in the ownership and man-
agement of the Register took place April 9,
1863. Mr. Collier, in company with Hugh Glenn
and George A. Wells, two of the employes of
the concern, bought Mr. Thompson out, and the
firm became Collier. Glenn & Co.

Mr. Collier took charge of the editorial depart-
ment and inside management; Mr. Wells of the
mechanical department, and Mr. Glenn of the
circulation.

On the 30th of the following month, and as
s< h m as the necessary materials could be ob-
tained, they enlarged it to a twenty-four column
sheet. August 10, 1863, it first appeared as a
morning daily. The issue of September 29,
1 863, announced the sale by Hugh Glenn of his
interest to his partners, and the firm then be-
came Collier & Wells. November 7, 1863. the
paper appeared in an entirely new dress, and
assumed a metropolitan appearance, and in its
next issue commenced the regular pul lication
of telegraphic news, the telegraph having been
just completed.

The civil war was then the chief matter of
interest, and extras were issued as often as im-
portanl news arrived, day or night. When the
carriers appeared with them on the streets, a
shout was raised and people gathered in groups
to read and listen.

As soon as the carrier put in his appearance
at a quartz mill, the engineer would blow the
whistle, and presently the mills of the entire
county would take up the refrain, and thus the
early pioneers of Gilpin County would learn and
discuss the latest news.

October 17, 1865, Mr. Wells sold his interest
in the Register to frank Hall, afterward Secre-
tary of the Territory, and the firm became Col-
lier & Mall.

July 26, 1868, the name of the paper was
changed to Central City Register.

Excessive mental labor, resulting in broken
health, at Length compelled Mr. Collier to seek
such repose as retiring from journalism would
afford, and, June 12. 1ST:;, he sold out his in
terest to W. W. Whipple, and the firm became.
Hall & Whipple, Hall taking sole charge of the
editorial department, and Whipple of the me-
chanical.

This partnership was afterward dissolved,
and Mr. Hall became sole proprietor and editor
until June 1, 1S77, when the establishment
went into the hands of James A. Smith and
Den Marlow. The} - continued to conduct it
until February 1, 1S78, when H. M. Rhodes
bought in and conducted the editorial and busi-
ness departments for a short time.

Meanwhile, in February, 1878, another paper
had been started in Central and christened The
Ev( ning I'ull, under t lie cat ml and management
of Messrs. G. M. Laird and Den Marlow.

But this continued only until May of the
same year, when Laird & .Marlow purchased
the Register establishment and consolidated the
Call with it. They gave '" the new publication
the name of the Register-Call, publishing a
daily and weekly edit ion. with ('"I. John S.
Dormer in charge of the editorial department,
and J. P. Waterman, mining reporter.

This paper has been and still is Republican
in its politics.

The Colorado Miner was the name of a
weekly paper started in Black Hawk in 1863,

234

HISTORY OF GILPIN COUNTY.

by W. Train Muyr. After several changes
this became, during the same year, the Black
Hawk Daily Journal,with Hollister & Blakesley,
and afterward Hollister & Hall, as publishers.
A compan urchased the establishment iu
1866, and moved it to Central City, where it
was known as the Times. Henry Garbanati and
0. J. Goldrick were the editors, and the politics
of the paper was Democratic. At the beginning
of 18G8, Thomas J. Campbell bought the
property and changed the name to the Colo-
rado 11 raid, published daily and weekly. Late
in 1S70, Campbell was succeeded by Frank

Fossett. who continued to publish the Herald
for nearly three years, or until the publication
ceased.

September 4, 1876, a new weekly paper
named the Post was started in Black Hawk by
William .McLaughlin and W. W. Sullivan. Mr.
Sullivan sold out his interest soon after to
Col. James R. Oliver. Mr. McLaughlin soon
after deceased, and the establishment passed
into the hands of Col. Oliver as editor and
proprietor. It is now published by Oliver &
Brandgeest, and has always been Democratic
in its politics.

CHAPTER IV.

EARLY ORGANIZATION OF MINING DISTRICTS— THEIR LAWS, RULES AND CUSTOMS-

OF SAME BY CONGRESS.

■RECOGNITION

THE first organization of a mining district
in the county, and probably in the coun-
try, is graphically described by Cushman and
Waterman as follows :

'• The first organization of Gregory District
took place on the 16th of May, 1859, when
there were but sixteen men in the camp.
Wilkes Defrees was chosen President of the
district. No records are extant, but it is
known that the number and size of lode, gulch
and building claims were then agreed upon, as
they were afterward established by popular
vote. By June 1, the camp had increased to
eight hundred or a thousand men. The late
arrivals set up a clamor that the first-comers
had 'gobbled up' all the good lodes. They
demanded a re-distribution of lode property.
giving each one twenty-five linear feet on the
vein. About the 15th of June, a mass meeting
was held to determine the question. By this
time, the malcontents outnumbered those inter-
ested in maintaining 100 feet as the length of a
lode claim as ten to one. Among the early
pioneers, however, were many old political
wire-workers, men accustomed to lead mass

meeting's and manipulate conventions. This
handful of men succeeded in obtaining control
of the meeting by the election of Wilkes
Defrees. Chairman, and James D. Wood, Secre-
tary. The ' twenty-five-foot ' men demanded
that the lodes should be re-staked by those who
could reach them first, and, in anticipation of
an easy victory, members of every party or
firm in their number went out in advance with
an ax and stakes in hand, ready to drive them
upon the best ground the moment they got the
signal from their friends that the measure was
carried ! But the race was not to the swift.
The adroit and cool-headed pioneers succeeded
in carrying a vote to have a committee of
twelve on resolutions appointed, and a majority
of their own number were assigned to that
committee. Casto, Greg' >ry. Slaughter, Allen, So-
pris. Barker, Bates, Henderson, Russell and three
others were the committee chosen. Of course,
this committee reported resolutions confirming
all the rights they had previously claimed.
The discussion that ensued was, to speak
mildly, a spirited one. Before the vote on
each resolution was taken, the managers took

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-* — * iL

HISTORY OF GILPIN COUNTY.

pains to raise side issues, getting their oppo-
nents separated and squabbling among them-
selves, when the resolution would be pronounced
'carried, 1 with greal force ami dignity. Out-
generaled and angry, the crowd was a turbu-
lent one. Every man had his six-shooter with
him in those days, and no less pluck and
determination were shown in maintaining the
action of the meeting than there had been of
cunning and adroitness in securing the result.
But the occasion passed without a fight, and
soon the malcontents became owners of claims
of their own finding, and were no longer agra-
rians. The segregation of lodes into claims of
100 feet has since been found to be a great
mistake, and the law has been changed; but
those who bemoan the early division as disas-
trous to prosperity will see that it was the best
that could be done.

■■ On the 9th of July, another mass meeting
was held, at which were elected by ballot a
President (Capt. Richard Sopris) ; a Recorder
of Claims (Dr. C. A. Roberts), and a Sheriff
(Charles Peck), to serve one year. A commit-
tee was appointed to codify the laws, which
had now obtained general consent, and were
adopted without opposition. This code formed
the model of the laws of the several districts
which, during the fall, were set off from ( tregi iry
District, viz.. Eureka. Nevada. Central City.
Lake and Quartz Valley. These -local laws'
were subsequently confirmed by the first Ter-
ritorial Legislature, and were recognized by
Congressional enactment when not in conflict
with existing statutes.

It should be remarked here, however, that
Congress reserved the right — when, in its first
enactment of July 26, IStiG, upon the subject

of the ■•mineral lands of the public domain,"
thej were formally opened " to exploration and
occupation" — to primarily dispose of the soil,
and to hold all occupants thereupon " subject
to such regulations as may I" prescribed by
law." :is well as "the local customs or rules of
miners then in force and nol " in conflict with
the laws of the United States."

No right was ever granted to municipal .
bodies to interfere with the primary disposal of
the soil as against individual interest, however
public and beneficent the object might lie.

The Territorial Legislature of Colorado un-
dertook the very laudable purpose, by Statu-
tory enactment, approved August 15, 1862,"to
create a fund for the benefit of schools by
setting apart from each lode thereafter discov-
ered one hundred lineal feet in perpetuity for
that purpose, and also February '.». 1866, the
same additional amount ''for the use and bene-
fit of the .Miners' Relief and Territorial Poor
Fund." But in each instance its action was
not only not recognized by Congress, but posi-
tively rejected by the Department of the Inte-
rior when the better right of the individual
came up for patent

These mining districts and subsequent ones
wer«' generally bounded by natural divisions of
the country, dividing ridges called •• divides,"
and creeks and gulches. Later, Congress re-
quired that applicants for patents to mines and
mining property should designate in theii ap-
plications the particular mining district as well
as county in which the claim was located

These districts could not. therefore, be well
consolidated distinctively into the subsequent
divisions or precincts of the county made for
general election and county purposes.

i« r-

236

HISTORY OF GILPIN COUNTY.

CHAPTER V.

PUBLIC SCHOOLS AND SABBATH SCHOOLS.

PUBLIC SCHOOLS.

\ \7"E find no data extant that any private
* ' secular schools were being taught ami >ng
the earliest settlers of what was afterward Gilpin
County. It is probable that there were not chil-
dren enough coming in with the settlers until
18G2, to make the undertaking of public schools
desirable. But October 11, 1862, we find that I
Daniel C. Collier, Esq., had been elected Super-
intendent of Public Schools for the county of
Gilpin, and that October 13, 18G2, he divided
the county into districts and published a notice '
thereof.

Shortly after, meetings were called in the
several districts to organize and establish pub-
lic schools.

( '< ut ml. — At the first school meeting in Cen-
tral City, being School District No. 1, Mr. Coll-
ier, Hiram A. Johnson and A. Jacobs were pres-
ent. A tax of $800 was then levied upon the
citizens by a vote of the meeting in "support of
public schools.

We find that during the winter of 1862-63, a
school of 166 pupils was being taught in Law-
rence Hall, by Thomas J. Campbell, assisted by
Miss Ellen F. Kendall. The next teacher was
James C. Scott, with the same assistant.

In the year 1SG4, the names of Mr. and
Mrs. M. A. Arnold, and W. F. Richardson and
John L. Schellenger, appear as teachers in
Central.

In April, 1807. an election for city officers
having been held, there arose a contest respect-
ing fraudulent votes having been cast in some
of the wards, and consequent disqualification of
some members of the Council, claiming seats
therein. The contest came up in Council, and
was for a long time in the courts before final

adjudication was had. and some of the questions
involved are said to be still pending, on appeal,
in the Supreme Court, though the main question
at issue — fraudulent votes — was decided and
proven against the Council first organized,
known as the " Teats Council," and their pro-
ceedings declared illegal, before the expiration
of their fiscal year. Their warrants were also
declared and adjudged invalid.

There seems to have been no contest in re-
gard to the election of Mayor — Hon. Robert
Teats — but contestants for seats in his Council
drew off and organized another city govern-
ment. Mayor Teats refusing to act with them,
they elected a Mayor pro tem. This state of
things interfered very materially, not only with
the harmonious action of the city officials gener-
ally, but especially with school matters.

A stranger, looking on. might have supposed
that the country was growing so fast that these
double-headed arrangements had become a ne-
cessity ; or that money was so plenty, and so
easily obtained, that the community did not
know how otherwise to dispose of it. There
being, practically, two separate and distinct
city governments, two school boards were ap-
pointed, and a second public school established
in opposition to the one already running, of
which John L. Schellenger was the Principal.
The new school was opened in the spring of
1868, in the old bowling-alley which stood
where the Teller House now stands, with H. M.
Hale as Principal, and Mrs. James Burrell, as-
sistant. Previous to the organization of this
school, the colored children had been taught in
■a separate school. Now they were admitted to
the general school. The suspension of the old
school after running a few mouths, caused such

HISTORY OF GILPIN COUNTY.

237

an increase of attendance at the new. that it
became necessary to provide greater accommo-
dations, and steps were taken toward the erec-
tion of a permanent schoolhouse. At the elec-
tion held April 5, 18G9, bonds to the amount of
$15,000 were voted by the district for the pur-
pose of building' ; and work was immediately
begun on the first public schoolhouse, worthy of
the name, erected in Colorado.

By September, 1870, the house was ready for
occupancy. The total cost of site, building and
furniture, being about. $20,000. Mr. Hale con-
tinued principal of the school, with the excep-
tion of one term taught by N. M. Ambrose, until
the close of the school year L873, when he was
called to the office of Territorial Superintendent
of Public Instruction. John L. Jerome was
Principal during the following two years. He
was succeeded by a Mr. Brown, who remained
one year, when Isaac C. Dennett was elected
ami entered upon his duties in September, 1870.
He was Principal until the close of the year
1877. H. M. Hale was then again elected Prin-
cipal, and took charge in January. 1878, which
position he occupies at this date.

Nevadaville. — Public schools were com-
menced in Nevada District, being School District
No. 2, in 1862. At the first school meetingatax
was levied for their support, ami the following-
named Directors chosen: J. II. (Jest. Presi-
dent; J. W. Ratlin", Treasurer, and John Bird,
Secretary. A school building was purchased of
David Ettien for $1,000, and the lower part
rented for a store. In IsTi'. they sold it to the
Good Templars for $1,500, ami erected their
present house, arranged tor three departments
— grammar, intermediate and primary.

The school now has an average attendance
of one hundred and twenty-live scholars, and
is taught ten months in each year.

/:/•>,/.■ Hawk. — The earliest record that we
find of proceedings lor public schools in Black
Hawk — School District No. :; - were had at a
meeting called to organize a school board.

The meeting was held at the law office of

liciniiic & Marsh, November 7, 1862, ami the

following named persons were then elected as a

board of officers: 11. P. Cowenhouen, Presi-
ded : A. Marsh, Secretary, and I. ('. Bruce,
Treasurer. The following electors were pres-
ent : II. I'. Cowenhouen, S. W. Bradley, I. C.
Bruce, A. Marsh, G. Germain, Joseph E. Bale-.
W. Kitzpatriek, Albert Selak, W. Graham, G.
B. Bachtts and John Maroney. They also by
vote authorized the board to provide for, estab-
lish and open at once a public school, to con-
tinue as a term until May 1, 1863.

At an adjourned meeting November 11, 18G2,
the Secretary reported the value of the taxable
property in the district to be $250,000. The
meeting thereupon levied a tax of one mill on
the dollar, for a teacher's fund.

We have not been able to obtain the names
of the first and successive teachers of all the
schools of this county, nor of this district, ex-
ec] it that, some time in 1863, John L. Schellen-
ger taught a school in Black Hawk of 120 schol-
ars, assisted by Miss Amanda Batchelor, now
.Airs. Butler, of (J old Hill, Colo.

The school census, as taken the present year
(1SS0), iii the various districts of the county, is
as follows : District No. 1,694; District No. 2,
233 : District No. :;. 464; District No. I. I I ;
District No'. 5, 83 ; District No. ti, 13; total,
1,531.

SABBATH SCHOOLS.

Although there seems to be no record extant
of the earliest Sabbath school in Gilpin Count \ .
yet it is well remembered by the old sett has.
that, with the organization of the "Union
Church" in 1859, by Rev. Lewis Hamilton, a
Sabbath school, composed mainly of adults, was
commenced. At that time, but very few fam-
ilies had ventured to cross " the great Ameri-
can desert," and. when there appeared { ting

up into the "Gregory Diggins," in a "prairie
schooner," indication of a family — a woman
and children — three rousing cheers for " calico"

238

HISTORY OF GILPIX COUNTY.

made the welkin ring and echo along the hill-
sides.

Atone time in those early days, "right in
meeting." a lady, it is said, started to leave.
apparently very much distressed because she
could not keep her baby from crying: when
some one in the audience called out. "Let the
baby cry; it reminds us of home." She then
sat down again somewhat comforted, whether
the baby was or not !

But October 27, 1861, the Central City Union
Sabbath School commenced a regular organiza-
tion. January .">. 1862. a constitution and by-
laws had been printed for them by the Rocky
Mount"*!' News, and was then formally adopted,
of which the following is the

PREAMBLE :

Whereas, We. citizens of Central City (and vicin-
ity), Gilpin County, Colorado Territory, firmly believ-
ing that, to establish upon a permanent basis, and
sustain in a prosperous condition, a union Sabbath
school, to which candid Bible students, of whatever
creed, craft or profession, are admitted with an equal
and cordial welcome, is one of the best means of pro-
moting the public good; and further, believing tbaf
such a school can, and ought to be, established and sus-
tained in this place, and that, to secure the correct and
harmonious action of its official members, a system of
rules and regulations for its government are required ;
therefore, we, a body of teachers, adopt the following
constitution and bv-laws :

The following officers were then chosen :

Rev L Hamilton, Superintendent ; Mr. Lee,
Assistant Superintendent : P. G Niles, Secre-
tary ; F. B. Smith, Treasurer : A. B. Davis,
Librarian ; I). S Green, Assistant Librarian.

On the 30th of November. 1862, Superin-
tendent Hamilton, having been appointed
Chaplain of the Second Regiment of Colorado
Volunteers, resigned, and. bidding the Union
bath School and Union Church good-bye
and God-speed, joined the regiment then at
Fort Lyon, taking with him the record of the

Union Church. F. G. Niles was elected to fill
the vacancy, and Luther H. Wolcott to be
Assistant Superintendent. A new library and
Sunday school papers had just been procured
ii\ Samuel Cushman, of Denver.

The school at that time numbered about one
hundred members, and it was no unusual thing
that the number of verses committed to
memory from the Bible, and recited at a session
of the school, would be over five hundred.

At a picnic of the schoolJuly 2, 1863. held at
:i I lower well fitted up and prepared for the oc-
casion, in Quartz Valley, near Central, over
two hundred children and as many adults were
present to enjoy themselves generally, and par-
take of refreshments upon the well-spread
tallies, and to listen to addresses from Bevs.
Messrs. Warner and Crawford and others pres-
seiit

Later. Mr. Warner had returned to the East
and the school had appointed Rev. William
Crawford its Superintendent.

Later still, the school had been merged into
the different religious denominations that had
been organized in and about Central City.

We have been thus particular in the history
of this Union Sabbath School, and in its con-
nection with the early "Union Church corn-
posed of the members of the various evangel-
ical denominations." first organized in Gilpin
County, that others may compare, if they will,
the present with the past usefulness of both
churches and Sabbath schools in their Master's
kingdom here, especially in view of the expense
and labor required in sustaining them.

We do not expect to maintain the old maxim
that in '■ union there is strength," as against
the sophistry of theologians, that in diversity
of effort in the moral as in the physical world,
there is more of strength, because the latter
seems to be a foregone conclusion.

2 k^

HISTORY OF OII.HX COCXTY.

239

f HATTER VI.
RELIGIOUS SOCIETIES IND CHURCH ORGANIZATIONS.

E\ II LY in the summer of 1859, while others
were wonderfully excited in their discover
iesof gold in and aboul the " Gregory Diggins,"
the Rev.Lewis Hamilton commenced preaching
on the Sabbath in the open air. or wherever op
portnnii\ offered ii. the same vicinity.

These labors resulted in the organization by
him. in June, 1859, of a '-Union Church, com
posed of the members of the various evangel-
ical denominations" in what is now Gilpin
County. He also organized,in connection there
■with, the • Union Sabbath School." to which
reference has already been had in Chapter V
of this history .

In June. 1861, these meetings, both of the
church and Sabbath school, were transferred
from II ad ley Hall to Gregory Point, where they
had been previously held, to the hall over the
posl office in Central City, and were carried on
there under the united or sometimes separate
management of Revs. Hamilton, George \V
Warner and William Crawford, until the close
of the year 1863

It is to be regretted thai the record of this
early Union Church cannot be found E. W
Henderson, Esq now Receiver of the United
States Land Office in Central City, who not
only assisted in its organization, but was its
Secretary, is our authority that when, on No-
vember 30, 1862, Mr Hamilton left Gilpin
County to join the regimenl of which he had
been appointed Chaplain, he took the record
■with him— that when the war was over, and
Mr. Hamilton was residing in Denver, he ad-
mitted to him that he still hail the record and
promised to send it to him, he being a- Sei re
tary its proper custodian — but that it had never
reached him.

St. James .'/. /-.'. Church, Central- Although

there seem to be no records e\*anl of the ear-
liest organization of .Methodist Churches in
Gilpin County, still, it is well authenticated bj
soi in' of i h,' earliest settlers of thai persuasion,
that, as early as the spring or summer of 1 859
the Rev. G. W. Fisher, a local preacher of that

del lination, from Missouri, preached in the

open air where their church now stands, and
that in 1860, under the supervision of Rev.
Adriatice. of the Kansas Conference, an organ
ization took place, with twenty-seven church
members, whose' meetings were held in the house
of Aunt Clara Brown, the colored pioneer, on
Lawrence street, and that some time during the
year 1862, services were regularly held in Law-
e Hall, then recently erected for general
public services. The following named persons,
members of Quarterly Conference, were mem
bers of this organization : John Rowen. Rob
ert Fra/.ier. William Shepherd, W. M. I!. Sarrell.
John Feed. I). S. Green, Charles Fish. Clara
Ili-own. W. T. Caruthers and John C
In 1862, the lot upon which their church now
stands was purchased and graded, plans were
■ I upon for building, and some preparation

made for the work. Bui their tings f

still held in Lawrence Hall until 1865 after
which their services were held in the court-
room, and continued there until the basement
of the church was completed and the, occu
pied it.

Mr Adriance was the firsl settled Pastor of
the church, then Rev. W. II. Fisher, then Rev.
B. I\ Vincent, of Rock River < lonference. In

1867. Rev. G. II Vdams was sent lure fi

the Illinois Conference, and assisted materially
in promoting the interests of the church, and

-U-

240

HISTORY OF GILPIN COUNTY.

in completing their house of worship. His has
been a continuous work of love and devotion
up to the present time.

In 18(i!.i. the main audience-room was fin-
ished, and dedicated by Bishop Calvin Kings-
ley. In 1870. Rev. AY. D. Chase, from New
York, was placed over the church, and re-
mained its Pastor three years. Next, Rev. C.
W. Blodgett. from Dcs Moines Conference. Iowa.
succeeded him, and. in 1874, Rev. R. S. Harford,

D. D., was Pastor ; Rev. L. J. Hall in 1873. and
Rev. J. Edmundson in 1877.

Rev. Matthew Evans, present Pastor, was
transferred from the Wisconsin Conference, in
1S7!». to Colorado Conference, and stationed at
Central City. During his pastorate, the church
building has been thoroughly improved and
painted, the walls and ceilings frescoed, the
floors carpeted, etc.. David S. Green, Esq.. a
member of the church, contributing largely to
this outlay, which has made it. at present, the
most commodious and elegant place of worship
in the city. They have a line organ and an
excellent choir of singers. The total cost of
the building ami furnishings must have ex-
ceeded $20,000. They have a church member-
ship of 17*. and a Sabbath school numbering
335 members.

TFIE METHODIST CHURCH OF BLACK HAWK.
This church was set off from the Central M.

E. Church in September, 1862. under the di-
rection or supervision of Rev. I! 0. Dennis,
Presiding Elder, and its first settled Pastor was
Rev. D. II. Petifish. There were twenty-two
members in its firsl organization, and among
their number were Rev. Wm. Shepherd. Harrison
Daily, A. C. Strack and David Jones. ASabbath
school was also organized at the same time

Services have been kept up with a good de-
gree of regularity to the present time. They
have a church building worth about $1,200,
which being af present out of repair, their serv-
ices are held in the Presbyterian Church.

Rev. Cyrus A. Brooks is the present Pastor.
They number forty members in the church, and
150 children in the Sabbath school.

METHODIST CHURCH, NEYADAVII.LE.

The first Quarterly Conference for Nevada
Station was held August 24, 1872. Rev. G. H.
Adams in the chair.

The following-named persons were present:
II. Xankervis, J. Sowell, M. Roberts. James
Jones. David Ayers and II. Dennis. The Pas-
tor's salary was fixed at 870(1.

At this time this point was connected with
others, and formed part of the Circuit including
Idaho Springs.

From other reliable information we find there
had been stated preaching here of the Method-
Ms much earlier, and the following-named
ministers are mentioned as preaching there,
but without dates : Mr. Swift. George Wallace,
II. Xankervis. McXutt, Sears, Smith, J. H.
Beardsley, H. L. Beardsley, J. P. Treloar, J.
( 'oilman. B. B. Dundass and the present Pastor.
A. X. Fields. The society have a church
building free from debt, and a parsonage but
slightly encumbered. Seventy members are
enrolled upon their books.

[Ill-: BAPTIST CHURCH.

This church was organized April 3. 1864,
under the supervision of Rev. Almond Barrelle,
a missionary sent out for that purpose under
the auspices of the " American Baptist Home
Mission Society." and was organized under the
name of the " First Baptist Church of Central
City."

The following named persons participated in
ils organization, and entered into church re-
lationship with each other. Rev. Almond Bar-
relle. J. C. Royle, Jane Blackwood, Absalom
Van Camp. Ira Elliott. L. Merchant, Priscilla
Merchant. Allen B. C. Whipple, < '. M. Williams,
(I race Williams, Lucy E. Adamson. Cynthia
Buck. Harriet Kelsey. Matilda Kelsey, James

HISTORY OF GILPIN COUNTY.

241

Holmes, Jane E. Sinclair, Thompson B. Moore
and F. A. Moore.

May 27, 1866, Rev. Mr. Barrelle's resignation
■was accepted, and Rev. Ira D. Clark, on the
10th of June following, was called, and accept* d
the invitation to become their Pastor for one
year. Rev. S. D. Bowker, M. D., was next
appointed by the 'Home Mission," to begin
his labors in Central City, .March 1, 1871. He
succeeded in " renovating the old church house
owned by the Home Mission Board."

On or about the month of .March, 1874, I>r.
Bowker had resigned as Pastor of the church,
and the Trustees were negotiating with the
mission board for another.

June 26, 1S75, Rev. Harvey Linsley, of Buck-
field, Maine, became Pastor of the church. In
the early part of the year 1878, Mr. Linsley had
retired from the Pastorate, and Rev. Ross Ward,
of Boulder, Colo., was occupying the pulpit.
On the 5th of April, 1879, Rev. Lawrence Ever-
ett, under the auspices of the Home Mission
Society, had been regularly ordained and in-
stalled as Pastor. On the 31st of August fol-
lowing, he was called away to the bedside of
his father lying dangerously ill. and who died
soon after. Since that time there has been no
regular service in the church. The Sabbath
school has been merged with the schools of
other churches, and the basement of their church
edifice is rented and occupied as a residence
and store.

THE CATHOLIC CHCRCH.

Among the early comers were many Catho-
lics. The first lady to arrive in the new mining
district was a Catholic — Miss Mary York, of
New York, who later became (he wife of Mr.
William Z. Cozzens. She arrived on the 1st of
June. 1859. Services were first held in the
summer of I860, in the hall of the Sons of
Malta, on Main street, by Rev. J. P. Machebeuf,
now Catholic Bishop of Colorado. The con-
gregation then numbered about 260 active
members.

Shortly afterward, Hadley's building, in
Mountain City, was engaged, and for two years
services were held there by Rev. J. P. Mache-
beuf or Rev. J. B. Raverdy, who came up from
Denver once a month for that purpose. In 1862,
the Catholics bought a large two-story building
on Pine street, and fitted it up as a church.
Services were held in this house once a month
until September, 1863, when Rev. Thomas A.
Smith was appointed resident Pastor.

Under Rev. Smith's administration the church
was enlarged, and preparations were begun
for laying the foundation of a larger and more
substantial church, which, however, was not
actually begun until some years later.

Rev. S. A. Smith was succeeded in 1866, by
Rev. J. B. Raverdy. who remained in charge of
the whole of Gilpin County until July. 1871,
when he was transferred to Denver, and a few
weeks later Rev. II. Bourion, of Marquette,
Mich., succeeded him. Rev. Bourion pushed on
the work for the new church, and on the 30tb
<>f August, 1872. the corner-stone was laid by
Bishop Machebeuf, of Denver. The church was
to be of stone, to have a seating capacity of
about 800, with basement, and flanked by two
towers surmounted by two spires 150 feet high.

Want of funds caused the work to be sus-
pended in 1874, after only the basement had
been completed

In this same year the Academy on Ounnell
Hill was built, and a nourishing school opened
by the Sisters, which still continues to prosper.

The great lire of 1874 destroyed the old
church, and the basement of the new church
was then inclosed anil fitted up. and has since
been Used for services.

In September, 1 s 7 7 . Rev. Bourion was Mir
ceeded by Bev. J. M. Pinotti, who remained un-
til his death. January 111. 1879.

The pastorate of the Catholic Church was
then tilled temporarily by Rev. A. Montenar-
ello, from Pueblo, until April, when Rev. Will-
iam J. Howlett, the present incumbent, was ap-

243

HISTORY OF GILPIN COUNTY.

pointed. During the short time Rev. Howlett
has been in charge, the church lias been en-
larged to nearly double its seating capacity. A
parochial residence has been built, and the
congregation, now numbering about 500 souls,
are preparing to continue the building of the
new church, which, when completed, will be
the must imposing edifice in the city.

THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF CENTRAL CITY.

On the 26th of January. 18(12, the first or-
ganization of this church took place at Central
City, under the direction of Rev. Lewis Hamil-
ton, a clergyman from the East, who hail
already established, and then had in the same
place in a very prosperous condition, a union
church and a union Sabbath school, composed
of members of the various evangelical denomi-
nations of the country.

'I'll.' organization was effected by him through
the co-operation of the following-named persons,
who then enrolled their names as members and
adopted the prescribed articles of faith and
covenant of the church: William L. Lee, E.
W. Wells, F. G. Niles, Mr. -Miner. Mary E.
Moore, .Mrs. Hobbs and Clara Brown, and
Messrs. Lee and Wells were elected Elders, and
inducted into office.

The organization assumed the name of the
"First Presbyterian Church of Central City "
It does not appear of record by what authority
this organization was effected, but the proceed-
ings are attested to by -Ceo. W. Warner. Mis-
sionary." November 30, 1862, Mr. Hamilton,
having been appointed Chaplain of the Second
Regiment of Colorado Volunteers, resigned all
his relations to churches and Sabbath schools
and entered upon his duty to the country at large.

From that time to near the end of 1S(;:',,
Rev. Mr. Warner filled his place. lie then
returned East, leaving to Rev. William Craw-
ford, who hail been sent here by the American
Home Missionary Society, the charge of church
and Sabbath school affairs.

During the following summer, the Rev The-
odore 1>. Marsh arrived from the Presbyterian
Roan I, East, and took charge of the church
until the close of the year 1865, when he re-
turned East. He was. during his stay in the
country, more especially located over the Firsl
Presbyterian Church of Black Hawk as their
regularly installed Pastor.

November ]!». 1871, Rev. Sheldon Jackson,
sent out as Superintendent of Presbyterian
Missions for the Territory, recommenced Pres-
byterian services in Good Templars' Hall, Cen-
tral City, and with Rev. William E. Hamilton.
then settled over the Black Hawk Church, sus-
tained the services in Central until January 28 (

1872, when Rev. J. G. Lowrie was regularly
installed Pastor. He resigned in September.

1873. During that year, a new church build-
ing had been erected, and was dedicated by
Rev. Mr. Jackson October 13, 1S73. Rev. H.
B. Cage was installed September 12. 1873.
His connection continued fill February, 1876,
when Rev. J. T. Egbert took his place, filling it
only about one month. From June, 1ST*;, Rev
W. L. Ledwith filled the pulpit for two or three
months. From February 1, 1S77, Rev. R. M.
Brown occupied the pulpit until October of that
year, when Rev. J. W. Johnstone was installed,
and remained its Pastor until August 1. 1879.

In November, 187!i. Rev. J. II. Bourns was
placed in charge. It does nut appear of record
when Mr. Bourns retired, but. March 28, 1880,
a call was extended to Rev. Otto M. Schultz.
who served as Pastor for a few weeks and then
retired. There is at present no regular service
In Id in the house, except that the Sabbath
school is kept up.

THE PRESBYTERIAN CntTRCH OF BLACK HAWK.

On the 15th day of February. 1863, this
church was organized at Black Hawk, under
flu supervision of Rev. George W. Warner, a
missionary of the General Assembly of the
Presbyterian Church.

-■iM'*

HISTORY OF GILPIN COUNTY.

245

The following-named persons co-operating at
that time, enrolled their names, and adopted the
prescribed articles of faith and covenant : E.
W. Wells, Jv W. Henderson, Sarah Henderson,
Harriet J. Judd, Alfred Sawyer, Mary F. Saw-
yer, John II. Kinney, Arminta J. Kinney, Mylo
Lee and Walter Lull.

The name and style assumed by the organ-
izers was, " The First Presbyterian Church of
Black Hawk."

August 29, 1863, an elegant church edifice,
costing $7,500, had been erected and paid for,
and was that day dedicated. November 2S,
1863, the Pastor. Rev. George W. Warner, re-
signed his charge, and May 29, 1864, Rev. T.
H. Marsh, sent out by the Presbyterian Board,
was officiating in his place. In June of that
year, Rev. Dr. Kendal, of New York, Secretary
of the Home Missionary Committee of Presby-
terian Churches, visited the churches of Central
City and Black Hawk.

July 3, Rev. A. M. Keizer, from New York,
commenced supplying the pulpit, but on Sep-
tember 11, following, preached his farewell ser-
mon. February 26, 1865, Rev. T. D. Marsh com-
menced preaching alternately for this church
and the Central City Presbyterian Church. On
February 4, 1866, he was regularly installed
over this church. In June, 1868, he resigned,
and Rev. Albert F. Lyle next took charge, and
remained till July 4, 1S69. March 7, ISTO. i;,-».
G. S. Adams was called to accept the pastorate,
but, on account of ill health, resigned in Sep-
tember of that year. In December of the same
year. Rev. W. E. Hamilton took charge of the
church, and remained its Pastor until April,
1872. After that the Sabbath school was main-
tained until IST'J, and then merged into other
Sabbath schools. The church edifice is now
rented to the Methodists.

EPISCOPAL CHURCHES.

There are two organizations of this denom-
ination in G ilpin County, one in Central City,

the other in Nevadaville. Both have good
houses of worship, but are at present without
pastors, though their Sabbath schools are still
kept up.

They were established quite early in the set-
tlement of the county, but, not being able to
obtain access to their records, or to reliable
data from individual members, we cannot write
them up as they should be.

THE CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH.

The first distinctive services of this church,
of which we have any reliable data, "began to
I ie held in Central City and Nevada, June 28,
1S63, by Rev. William Crawford, a missionary
of tin' Home Missionary Society." These serv-
ices commenced soon after other religious so-
cieties, considering themselves strong enough
to labor independently, had withdrawn from the
earlier'- Union Church," composed of members
of all evangelical denomination.;.

August 23, 1863, an organization took place
under the supervision of Mr. Crawford, called
the " First Congregational Church of Colorado."
It was so called, not only because it was the
first Congregational Church in the then embryo
State of Colorado, but that it might be con-
sidered a church "under which Christians
from all the neighboring villages might unite
on equal footing," and "to give the church
liberty of working wherever its labors might be
needed."

The following-named persons then entered
into church relations with each other: E. K.
Baxter, Amos Bixby, Sumner Bixby, Strong
Burnell, D. C. Collier, Samuel Cushmau. Jr.,
< i eo rge Davis, Samuel P. Davis, John I. Day.
Josiah H. Jenney, Seymour Piatt, Charles II.
Sweetser, George Walker, H. F. Hobbs. Luther
H. Wolcott, Sarah H. Bixby, Augusta H. Bixby,
J. P. D. Burnell, A. M. W. Collier, Mary A.
Sweetser and Austa Wolcott.

October 5, 1866, the church and society were
incorporated under the laws of Colorado Terri-

246

HISTORY OF GILPIN COUNTY.

tory, and the name changed to " The First Con-
gregational Church of Central City."

Its first Trustees were Enos K. Baxter, Sam-
uel Cushman and Luther Wolcott.

In October. 1864, the church became self-
supporting, and Anted a salary to Mr. Crawford,
their Pastor, of $2,000. They also, in 1866. set
about building a suitable house of worship,
which was completed and formally dedicated
February 17, 1S67. Its total costwas $11,700.
December 8. 1867, Rev. Mr. Crawford resigned
the pastorate of the church, and Rev. E. P.
Tenney, of Manchester. Mass.. having signified
his willingness to labor with the church for one
year, was invited to come, at a salary of $2,50(1,
and entered upon his duties January 18, 1868.
On the 25th of January. 1869, Mr. Tenney re-
signed his position as Pastor, and from that
time until June, 1870, only occasional supplies
of the pulpit were had. From June, 1870, to
June, 1871. Rev. S. F. Dickinson was Pastor.
The next Pastor was the Rev. H. C. Dickinson,
of Appleton. Wis., called and settled in the
early part of the year 1872. He was paid
the same salary, but, his health failing, his

resignation was accepted two months before his
year expired, and his full salary paid him.
In the early part of the year 1873, the Rev.
Theodore C. Jerome, late of New Bedford,
Mass., was invited, and accepted the invitation,
to fill the pulpit for one year at the same
salary. His successor, and the last to be for-
mally called to become Pastor of the church,
was Rev. Samuel R. Ditnock, of Lincoln, Neb.
He was called July 18, 1875, and, on account of
failing health, was compelled to resign his
charge November 1, 1876.

From that time to the present, no regular
services have been held in the church. Its Sab-
bath school and library were discontinued, and
merged into other schools, and the basement of
the house, which had been fitted up at consid-
erable expense by Mr. Dimock as a residence
for himself and family, is now only occupied
for a similar purpose.

The peculiarities and proclivities of a mining
community are so variable and changing that
no dependence can be put upon its religious, or
even its predominant national, character, for
any considerable length of time in advance.

GILPIN County is bounded on the north by
Boulder County, on the east by Jefferson
County, on the south by Clear Creek County,
and on the west by Grand County. Its south-
east corner lies at the junction of North and
South Clear Creeks, and its southwest corner
on the summit of James Peak. Its area is
only 158 square miles, the smallest in the
State. Population about 7,000, according to
United States census of 1880.

The organic act of Congress creating the
Territory of Colorado was approved February
28, 1861, and the first act of the Legislative
Assembly establishing county boundaries

CHAPTER VII.
COUNTY, CITY AND PRECINCT ORGANIZATION.

throughout the Territory was approved by

Gov. Gilpin November 1, 1861.

The county has since been subdivided into
ten precincts for general election and county
purposes. Their names are known as Central,
Black [lawk, Nevada. Russell, Lake. Quartz
Valley, Bay State. Mountain House, Missouri
Gulch and Rollinsville Precincts.

Central < 'ity. — By act of the Territorial Leg-
islature, approved November 1, 1861, the
county seat of Gilpin County was located at
Central City. When afterward the county was
divided into precincts for general election and
county purposes, Central City Precinct was

HISTORY OF GILPIN COUNTY.

247

subdivided, for municipal purposes and city
elections, into four wards, each controlling the
choice of local officers within itself, and having a
voice in the Common Council of the city, over
which a Mayor, chosen by the qualified electors
in all the wards, presides.

A city survey of streets, lots, alleys, etc.,
was made under the direction of the city au-
thorities, by George H. Hill, in 18G6, but, when
application to the Government was made for
town site patent, considerable more land was
included within its boundaries than had ever
been surveyed for such purpose.

The town site act of Congress had author-
ized 1,280 acres to be located and patented for
such purpose, where there were 1,000 or more
inhabitants. Central, therefore, being entitled,
applied for 629-j^y acres, and received patent
for 629-j^ acres, less 51 J^ acres already pat-
ented to mines.

The question of superior rights, as between
mine owners and town-lot owners, came up
very early in the history of the city, and was
not definitely settled until August 7. 1871. At
that time the claim of Theodore H. Becker vs.
Citizens of Central had been in contest in the
Land Office Department for nearly two years.
He claimed fifty feet in width of surface ground
with his lode through the heart of the city,
and, because his claim ante-dated on the rec-
ords, the town lots, in some instances, expected
to obtain patent for the surface ground, as well
as his mine.

This, however, the .Secretary of the Interior
decided ought not to lie granted unless the
courts so adjudicated. And here the matter
rested until on the application of the city for its
town site patent May 27, 1874, when Mr.
Becker, probably to still further test, and, if pos-
sible, settle the question, objected to its being
granted without a reservation in favor of the
mines to hold the surface.

The Honorable Commissioner of the General
Land Office. S. S. Burdett, however, under date

December 23, 1875, granted and issued the
patent to the city, in trust, for the owners of
city property, but with a proviso in the follow-
ing form :

Provided, That no title shall be hereby acquired to
any mine of gob], silver, cinnabar or copper, or to any
valid mining claim or possession, held under existing
laws.

Mining claims within town sites were then
being patented with the following excepting
clause, which is still being inserted in all simi-
lar patents : '• Excepting and excluding, how-
ever, from these presents all town property
rights upon the surface, and they are hereby
expressly excepted and excluded from the
same, all houses, buildings, structures, lots,
blocks, streets, alleys or other municipal im-
provements on the surface of the above-de-
scribed premises, not belonging to the grantee
herein, and all rights necessary or proper to
the occupation, possession and enjoyment of
the same.''

This settlement of these questions, which
afterward assumed the dignity of law. was but
in accordance with the policy and custom of
the first settlers. They afterward embodied
these mutual concessions into their " Miners'
Laws," and their " Miners' Courts" recognized
their binding force, and so afterward did t h e
Territorial Legislature and Congress.

The most important portion of the land. upoL
which Central City now stands, was, b\ the first
coiners, turned topsy-turvy, staked off, and re-
corded as " gulch claims " and " lode claims,"
while, at the same time, building lots for houses
and stores were also being recorded and occu-
pied upon the same ground, and the miner's
laws provided, that, where such was the case,
each should be protected in their particular
rights and purposes, without regard to priority
of record ; but. that the miner, while mining
out his gulch or lode claim, should keep all
buildings well propped up and secured, under
which he was excavating.

248

HISTOKT OF GILPIN COUNTY.

COUNT'S RECORDS AND ABSTRACT OFFICE.

By an act of the First Legislative Assembly
of Colorado Territory, approved November 7,
1861 it was enacted.

" That a copy of all the records, laws and
proceedings of each mining district, so far as
they relate to lode claims, shall be filed in the
office of the County Clerk of the county in
which the district is situated, within the bound-
aries of the district attached to the same.
which shall be taken as evidence in any court
having jurisdiction in the matters concerned in
such record or proceeding."

Many of the old miners' records, therefore,
are still extant in the County Clerk's office, and
kept there with the same care for their preser-
vation a- other county records.

From these records, as tar as practicable, and
from all subsequent records, Messrs Sayr &

Parmelee opened abstract books, in which to
embody and preserve, in compact form, the
titles acquired and to be acquired to property
throughout the county.

They are in the habit of daily taking from
the county records, notes for their abstract
books, of such conveyances and transactions
recorded, as may furnish, in convenient form,
eoneet chains of title to property within the
county.

This abstract business, in connection with the
county records of a mining community, where
there is so much liability to conflicting interests
upon, and even under, the surface, would have
been better for the legal rights of all con-
cerned if the responsibility of it had been in
some way connected with that of the county
officials.

CHAPTER VIII.

MISCELLANEOUS ORGANIZATIONS— MASONIC ORDER, ODD FELLOWS, GOOD TEMPLARS, KNIGHTS

OF HONOR, KNIGHTS OF PYTHIAS. KNIGHTS OF THE NEW WORLD, PLACES OF

AMUSEMENT, FIRE DEPARTMENT, MILITARY COMPANIES,

MINERS' AND MECHANICS INSTITUTE.

John M. Van Deren was appointed Treasurer,
and Asa L. Miller. Secretary. Among those

masons.

Nevada Lodge, No. .,'. A., F. & A. J/.— The
dispensation for this lodge was granted by the
Grand Lodgei f the State of Kansas, December
22, 1860.

Its charter members were Andrew Mason,
Ira II. Morton, James Dyke, A. J. Van Deren.
John M. Van Deren, J. II. Gest, L. W. Chase.
Willie T. Potter. Asa L. Miller, Wm.L. Sawtell,
Joel Newton. W D. Perkins. S. L. Angel. T. S.
Peck, G. A. Smith, S. M. Hall. E. W. Hen-
derson, John Oster, Charles S. Abbott, N. ft.
Do-well. A. D. Gamble and Charles A. Clark.

The lodge was formally opened for business
January 12. 1861, with Andrew Mason as
Worshipful Master, Ira II. Morton as Senior
Warden, and James Dyke as Junior Warden:

who first received degrees were J. W. Ratliff,
Edward Sheldon. P. L. Fairchilds. Joseph W.
Bowles, Chase Withrow, John C. Russell,
Leopold B. Weil. Jesse L. Pritchard, Thomas
Newlin, Addi Vincent. J. C. Bradley and
David Dick, who all received their degrees in
the spring and summer of 1861, and were peti-
tioners for the charter which was granted by
the Grand Lodge of Kansas, in September or
October of 1861.

This lodge was opened and its meetings held
in the upper room of the building of Ira H.
Morton, on the lot where F. J. Bartle's store-
room now stands, and were continued there
until the burning; of the town of Nevada. Nov-

mil

— *•

HISTORY OF GILPIN COUNTY.

249

ember 4, 1861, after which the lodge built the
present old lodge-room, over the store of John
C. Russell, and subsequently purchased the
whole property, with the right of aboul eighty
feet front on Main street, including the land on
which both the old and new lodge-rooms,
dwelling-house and barn now stand. Among
those who assisted and contributed largely to
the building of the present old lodge-room in
1861. were J. M. and A. J. Van Deren, J. C.
Russell, Willie T. Potter, J. W. Ratliff, Chase
Withrow, Jesse L. Pritchard, and Aaron M.
Jones, who was at the time a visiting mem-
ber.

Nevada Lodge was the first lodge organized
in Colorado, having been organized in January,
1861, under authority of a writ from Kansas,
but later in the year. John M. Chivington, then
Presiding Elder of the Methodist Episcopal
Church, was appointed by the Grand Master
of Nebraska, ami supplied with blank warrants
to institute lodges, and instituted Golden, No.
1, at Golden City ; Rocky Mountain. No. 2, at
Gold Hill, Boulder County : and Park. No. 3. at
Parkville, Summit County, upon which heealled
a convention at Golden City. Augusl '■'■. 1861,
to organize a Grand Lodge. Nevada Lodge,
holding that the action of the Grand Master
of Nebraska, in instituting lodges in Colorado,
was an infringement on the Grand Lodge of
Kansas, under whose jurisdiction it thought the
Territory of Colorado rightfully belonged,
refused (upon an invitation by the other lodges)
to join in the convention for organizing a Grand
Lodge, and returned its warrant to the Grand
Lodge ofKansis. ami received its charter from
that body in September or October, 1SG1 ; but
prior to'the adjourned meeting of the Grand
Lodge of Colorado, at Denver in December,
1861, the Grand Lodge, of Colorado, was rec-
ognized by the Grand Lodge of Kansas, and
Nevada Lodge surrendered its Kansas charter
to the Grand Lodge of Colorado, and received
its charter as No. 4, and Andrew Mason, its

Worshipful Master, elected Deputy Grand
Master and J. W. Ratlin' appointed Grand
Tiler. Since that time, from I he membership
of Nevada Lodge, the following have held
elective offices in the Grand Lodge of Colorado,
viz., Andrew Mason, A. J. Van Deren and
Chase Withrow as Grand Masters ; .1. M. Van
Deren and Aaron M. Jones as Senior Grand
Wardens, the latter two years. Among those
who were members at the time of receiving the
charter in 1801, only the following still hold
their membership in this lodge, viz.. A. J. Van
Deren, J. W. Ratliff Thomas Xewlin. Nevada
Lodge, being the oldest lodge in the Rocky
Mountain region as well as in the State, has
lost its membership largely by the instituting of
new lodges, not only in Colorado but in Wyo-
ming and Montana. The following have been
elected and served as Worshipful Masters of the
lodge in the following order: Andrew Mason,
J. M. Van Deren, A. J. Van Deren, Chase
Withrow. Aaron M. Jones, two years ; J. W.
Ratliff, J. F. Philips, Thomas II. Craven. D.
A. Ilamor, I. N. Henry. William S. Haswell.
William M. Finley. [saac M Parsons, William
J. Lewis and P. A. Klein.

The lodge has recently erected a fine two-
story building of stone, with iron and brick
front, fifty-five feet on Main street by 10(1 feel
in depth at a COSl of about $7,000. _ The first

storj is rented for store-rooms, and in a part
of the second story the lodge have their hall.
22x45 feet, where they hold their meetings.
The balance of the second story is used for
offices and sleeping apartments. The building
is a credit to the contractor, Mr. M. S. Burhans,
of Black Hawk, and to the lodge, and an orna
ment to the town. The present officers of the
lodge are A. M. Jones. W. M. ; I. M. Parsons.
S. W. : W. C. Fullerton. J. W. ; D. A. Ilamor.
Treasurer: J. W. Ratliff. Secretary; W. J.
Lewis, S. D. ; J. G.Steele, J. D. ; A.W.Tucker
and Thomas T. Warren, Stewards ; and Thomas
Xewlin. Tiler.

?U — F

;t:

250

HISTORY OF GILPIN COUNTY.

Chivington bodge, No. 6, A., F. & A. M., of
Centra] City, was chartered by the Grand Lodge
of Colorado December 11, 1861. The first offi-
cers were Allvn Weston. W. M. ; Thomas J.
Brower, S. W.. and Henry M. Teller, J. W. In
1866j the Grand Lodge changed the name to
Centra] Lodge No. G. The first meetings were
held in the hall in the second story of the Ex-
press Company's building, at the head of Main
street. In the year 1864, the present hall was
built at a cost of over $10,000. The lodge is
now nearly out of debt, with a membership of
eighty two. Its meetings are held on the
second and fourth Wednesdays of each
month.

Central City Chapter, No. 1. Royal ArcTi 'Ma-
sons, received its charter from the Grand Royal
Arch Chapter of the United States. September
9, L865. Its first officers were A. J. Van Deren,
11. 1'. ; James T. White, K., and Aaron M. Jones.
S. The present membership is sixty-five. Reg-
ular meetings the second and fourth Mondays in
each month.

Central City Council, No. ■'>'■. Royal <iu<l Se-
lect Masters, was chartered by the Grand Coun-
cil of Illinois, October 23, 1872. Its first officers
were, James V. Dexter, Th. S. G. M. ; A. J.
Van Deren. Dep. S. G. M., and I!. W. Wisehart,
P. C. of W.

Central City Commandery, No. .'. Knights
Templar, was instituted November 8, 1866, and
received its charter from the Grand Eneamp-
ment of Knights Templar of the United States,
Oct,, her 24, 1868, with Sir Henry M. 'feller.
Eminent Commander. Present membership,
forty-one ; regular meetings, third Thursday in
each month.

Black Hawk Lodge, No. 11. A.. F. & .1. .1/.,
was instituted February 17, 1866, under dis-
pensation from the Grand Lodge of Colorado.
Its charter members were Chase Withrow, W.
M : Harper M. Orahood, S. W.. and J. W. Ne-
smilh. -I \V There have been additions by initi-
ations and demits, to the number of 146, and it

now numbers sixty-eight members in good
standing, and is in a flourishing condition.

ODD FELLOWS.

Rocky Mountain Lodge, No. 2, I. 0. 0. F., of
Black Hawk, was instituted June 14. 1865.
Its charter members were A. C. Marvin, Barnett
Dodd, John W. Ratlifi". and Herman II. Hei/.er.
Their receipts for the first term were $1,700.
The officers for the first term were : N. &., David
Ettien; V. G., A. C. Marvin; Secretary, Her-
man II. Heizer ; Treasurer, John W. RatlifF.
Their hall was burned in January, 1873, on
which there was a debt of $2,700. The lodge is
now fi from debt, anil has $1,800 in its treas-
ury for its various benevolent purposes, and
ninety-three members in good standing. It has
furnished the Grand Lodge with the following
elective officers : Grand Master, Alonzo Fernald ;
Grand Treasurers, H. 11. Heizer, George Wirth,
Columbus Nuckolls and Julius Marx.

Colorado Encampment, No. 1, I. 0. 0. F., was
instituted May 22, 1867. Its charter members
were L. L. Bedell. J. W. Ratlin", Columbus
Nuckolls. John L. Schellenger. William T Ellis,
John Hay ami David M. Richards. It nownum-
bers thirty members in good standing. It has fur-
nished the Grand Encampment with the follow-
ing elective officers: Grand Patriarch. J. M.
fowler: (i. High Priest, Alonzo Fernald; G
Junior Warden. BartRobbins. The first officers
of the above Lodge Encampment were : C. P.,
L. L. Bedell ; II. I'.. W. T Ellis ; S.W.. J. W.
Ratliff; J. W.. J. L. Schellenger ; Treasurer, D.
M. Richards; Scribe, C. Nuckolls.

Colorado Lodge, No. S, I. 0. 0. F, of Black
Hawk, was instituted May 16, 1866. Its char-
ter members were Herman II. Hei/.er. Charles
Leitzman, James Mills, Henry B. Snyder and
John S. Adelman. It now numbers eighty-six
members in good standing. It, has furnished
the Sovereign Grand Lodge the following offi-
cers: (Irand Master and Grand Representative,
Judge S. H. Bradley, and Deputy Grand .Master,

Lit

HISTORY OF GILPIN COUNTY.

251

Captain Rufus Batchelder. It has about $3,000
in its treasury for the relief of its members.

Nevada Lodge, No. 6, 1. 0. 0. F, was insti-
tuted September 23, 1808, by Henry E. Hyatt,
Deputy Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of
Colorado. Its charter members were Henry B.
Hyatt, James M. Fowler. J. W. Ratlin'. S. T.
Hale and Frederick Stoermer. The lodge held
its first meetings in a rented hall, for which
they paid $25 per month. Now they own a fine
brick building, free from debt, in the second
story of which they hold their meetings, and
rent the first story for a store. Since the or-
ganization of Nevada Lodge, !No. 6, this lodge
has furnished to the R. W. Grand Lodge of this
jurisdiction, the following officers: two Grand
Masters, Henry E. Hyatt and James M. Fowler ;
two Grand Secretaries, John W. Ratliff and
Henry E. Hyatt. The Encampment branch has
supplied to the Grand Encampment two Grand
Scribes, J. W. Ratliff and Henry E. Hyatt.

AW,/ Mountain Encampment, X". 3, 1. 0. 0. F..
was instituted at Nevada, March IS, 1871, by
J. W. Ratliff, Special D. D. Grand Sire of the
Grand Lodge of the United States. Its charter
members were Henry E. Hyatt, J. W. Ratliff,
W. W. Sherick, D. C. Grant, George Wirth and
George W. Brunk. Patriarchal degrees have
been conferred upon the following named mem-
bers : Rev. R*J. Van Valkenburg, Charles An-
derson, James Beveridge, Thomas Williams and
William E. Musgrove. Bald Mountain En-
campment, No. 3. lias furnished one Grand
Patriarch, R.J. VanValkenburg, and twoGrand
Representatives to the Sovereign Grand Lodge.
Rev. R. J. VanValkenburg and J. W. Ratliff.

GOOD TEMPLARS.

In the month of August, 1860, a Good Tem-
plars' Lodge was instituted at Nevada by A. G.
Gill, who was commissioned by the Grand
Lodge of Kansas. He was assisted by W M.
B. Sarell. The following were some of the
charter members : Mrs. Sarah Stanton, Mrs.

Maxwell, Dr. Alexander Phhmey, Mr. Robin-
son and W. M. B. Sarell.

In the fall of this year, the principal pail of
the business portion of the town was destroyed
i>\ lire, including the lodge-room, with its char-
ter, books and regalia. W. M. R. Sarell, who
was the W. C. T. at this time, called the mem-
bers together at Central City. He found them
disheartened on account of the loss they had
sustained, ami for some time the lodge was
unable to work. On the 21st of January,
1861, the Lodge was re-organized at Central
under the name of Central City Lodge, No. 23,
of Kansas. It continued to work regularly
until the great fire of May 21, 1871, destroyed
Central, when the lodge again suffered great
loss in the destruction of its furniture, a very
fine organ, valuable oil paintings, etc.

M. H. Root, Esq., and his noble wife, who
had been members of this lodge since June,
1864, and who had always contributed very
liberally to sustain the cause of temperance,
came to the front at this time and rallied again
the little baud of Templars. They were ably
supported by the Rev. C. W. Blodgett and -Mr.
Sarell. They met in the basement of the M.
E. Church, the only available and suitable
place then left from the devouring flames in
Central. After addresses by the above and
others, anil mutual consultations by those pres-
ent, the following resolution was adopted :

Resolved, That, although we have lost by the late tire
all properly belonging to our lodge, still our principles
are indestructible and immutable, and we will individ-
ually and collectively do all in our power to retain our
position as a lodge in this place.

The lodge has met from that time to the
present in one of the rooms of the M. E.
Church. There are but few lodges in the juris-
diction of Colorado. Wyoming or New Mexico
but are honored with a member of Central City
Lodge, No. 1.

The first Grand Lodge of this order was in-
stituted March 17. 1868, in Washington Hall, in

252

HISTORY OF GILPIN COUNTY.

Central. M. H. Root, Esq., was unanimously
chosen Chairman, and J. E. Wharton, of Silver
Star Lodge No. 65, Secretary, for the tempo-
rary organization. After the credentials were
acted upon, Mr. Root resigned the chair to G.
S. True. Esq., the G. W. C. T. of the Grand
Lodge of Kansas. At this session, fifty-one
members received the G. L. degrees, and the
following officers were duly elected : Rev.
Joseph Casto, G. W. C. T.; R J. Frazier, G.
W. ('.; E. M. Southworth, G. W. V. T.; A.
Loomis, G. W. S.; Mrs. Lucinda Root. G. W.
T.: Miss Libbie Cree mow Mrs. Curtis, of
Georgetown). G. W. Chap.

The number of members was 788; number
of lodges. 11. John W. Ratliff and W. M. B.
Sarell have attended every session of the
Grand Lodge since its organization but one.
This Grand Lodge is the largest in the world in
territory. The present G. W. C. T., W. M. B.
Sarell, has traveled during the past year nearly
four thousand miles in visiting the lodges of
his jurisdiction, which number thirty-six. and
contain in the aggregate over one thousand
members.

2Vi vada Lodgt No. 3, I. 0. G. T.. was insti-
tuted in April. 1866, by the Grand Lodge of
Kansas, and aamed "Nevada Lodge, X". 52 ;"
lint, owing to the partial destruction of its first
records and original charter, but little of its
earliest history can now lie given. The following
names, however, arc legible in its damaged rec-
ords, as charter members : J. A. and P. G. Shan-
strom, Rev. J. F. Coffman, Nellie Cotfman (now
Mrs. W. W. Secor of Longmont Colo.) 0.
F. Rogers. William R. Wren. A. Rierdon, Sol
Enfield. J. Tucker. Thomas Bird. Sarah A. Stan-
ton and D. L. Harley.

In March. 1SGS, when the Grand Lodge of
( !oloradi i had been instituted, it applied for and
received a new charter, and took the name of
Nevada Lodge. No. :;. They purchased, in 1872,
a two-story building of the school district for
§1,500, which is all paid, and the lodge (besides

the hall above for their own use) rent the lower
part for about $300 per year. It numbers at
present about fifty members in good standing.

KNIGHTS OF HONOR.
Excelsior Lodge, No. 1202, of Central City. —
This Lodge was installed September 19, 1-T-.
Its charter members were Mitchell Dawes, II. M.
Hale, R. A. Campbell. P. G.Sh'anstrom, William
M. Brown, B. E.Seymour, Alex. McLeod, Alex.
W. McMorran. E. II. Teats, I. J. Sprague, E. II.
Lindsay. 31. B. Hyndman, J. W. Smith, J. R.
Morgan, James Davidson, A. F. Parker, J. B.
Elrod and G. F. Elrod. The dispensation was
granted by the Supreme Lodge of the Knights of
Honor, J. A. Cummins being at the time Supreme
Dictator, and J. C. Plumer Supreme Reporter.
They have three degrees in their order, in the
highest of which the designated beneficiaries of
a member receive $2,000 at his death.

KNIGHTS OF PYTHIAS.

Gilpin Lodge, No. 5, of Central City. — This
Lodge was organized under a dispensation
granted April 5. 1875, by S. S. Davis, Grand
Chancellor Commander, attested by Joseph
Dowdall, Grand Keeper of Records and Seal.
Tin 1 charter members were L. Alexander, Ed-
ward Tippett, John Rice, Philip Edwards,
.lames H. Thompson, William Mitchell. Levi
Etochofsky, James Hambly, John 0. Williams,
John Trothen, Henry Attwater, William Lehm-
kuhl and Daniel Haas.

The order consists of three degrees and an
endowment rank, wherein designated beneficia-
ries receive on the death of a member $2,000,
and members receive during sickness or disabil-
ity, sin per week.

GRAND CAMP OF THE KNIGHTS OF THE NEW
WORLD.

Warren Camp No. ,'. — It was installed June
20. 1876, by Past Grand Chiefs of the order.
William It. Crocket. F. C. P. W. Buchta, Ben-

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• <%

&h AJ

JLj&^l£>

IIIsToKY OF GILPIN COUNTY.

253

edict Howard, John Gontrum of P., Richard
Coleman, M. W. 0. Chief; James II. Merrick,
R. W. D. 0. Chief; Benedict Howard 11. W. G.
Scribe ; George A. Atwell R. W. G. Treasurer ;
James Severe R. W. G. S. at T. The charter
members were J. J. Sprague, John Kruse,
Joseph Earnst, Clans Schlopskohl, Christopher
Uric, William M. Jones, Joseph S. Beaman,
George Lutz, J. B. Elrod, Jacob C. Franks, Eu-
gene Tranpel, George Hunsacker. Hugh Bailey,
August C. Cabel and Edward Lindsey.

In addition to the above lodges and organiza-
tions, there are several others of considerable
note in the county, hut we have not been able
lo obtain any reliable data respecting them.
Among them are the Scandinavian Society, the
order of the Foresters. Bed .Men and perhaps
others.

PLACES OF AMUSEMENT.

Central City is no exception to other commu-
nities ingeneral, or to mining communities in
particular in regard to requiring' and sustaining
places of amusement.

The fact that an inordinate desire for amuse-
ment is sometimes, perhaps often, created by
them to the neglect of positive duties by some
persons, is a matter that we will not here dis-
cuss. It is sufficient as a matter of history to
say, that places of amusement have not been
wanting nor backward in presenting themselves
to the public here in Central. The better por-
tion of her people will patronize (if they do any)
only the places where the company, the occa-
sion and the performance and actors are unex-
ceptionable in their reputation and character, or
at least are so considered. Others, again, are
indifferent as to whether everything is chaste
and reputable or not. so long as they a re amused
or interested at a small expense.

Sometime in the latter part of the year 1859,
Hadlev Hall wasbuill at what is now the junction
of Lawrence and Gregory streets, then Mountain.
City. It was a large log building one and-a-
half stories high, and is still standing there,

though with additions and improvements since
made.

The lower part was constructed for and used
as a grocery store, and the upper part finished
off roughly as a place for meetings, theatricals,
etc. Here the first theatrical performance of the
county, and probably of the mountains, was
opened before the close of that year. The com-
pany was called the "Mile. Haidee Troupe " con
sisting mainly of a family known as the - Wake-
lev Family."

Next in succession came John S. Langrishe
and Michael Dougherty with their company, and
opened what was then named the " Peop
Theater.'' situated on the westerly side of Main
street, in Central City. This was in 1860, and
is believed to have been the first well-ordered
and respectable place of theatrical entertainment
in the county. During all these early years,
the miners were flush with money. They made
it fast, if not easy, and spent it freely.

Langrishe's troupe was always of the better
caste, for, aside from his own and Mr. Dough-
erty's natural choice of such associates on the
boards, their estimable wives could never de-
scend to be associated there in any way with
actors of low reputation.

But, when a successful season would be on the
wane, Mr. Langrishe. like other managers of
his profession, would pack up and move on to
■ fresher fields and pastures new." His orches-
tra consisted principally of Allen W. [lead,
leader, Pc Witt Waugh, Edward Oilman and
David Smith.

In 1861, while Mr. Langrishe with his com-
pany were off and on at the People's Theater,
George Harrison was building and preparing
for better theatrical accommodations at the
head of Main street. He completed and named
it the " National Theater." It was under his
management until, in a quarrel with Charlie
Snietz, the proprietor of a variety theater near
D3 r , he shot and killed him. The result of this
real tragedy was that Harrison was tried for

254

HISTORY OF GTLPIN COUNTY.

murder and acquitted — a man l>y the name of
Benson being on the jury, and the theater soon
after passing into his and his brothers' hands—
a firm known as Benson Brothers, who changed
its name to that of the " Montana Theater." In
1864, the Benson Brothers sold it to Eb Smith,
who, in 1SG5, sold it to Langrishe, Barnes &
Jones.

With but few changes, if any, in its owner-
ship, and managed principally by Mr. Lan-
grishe. it remained the best place for theatrical
performances in Central, until the great fire of
1874 destroyed it.

Tin (_)j,rrii IJiiiihi:. — Tn 1877, the citizens of
Central determined upon building an opera
house that should not only surpass anything of
the kind in Colorado, but that should be a place
of resort for amusement or entertainment of
the highest order. And most completely and
successfully were their wishes and plans carried
out in 1878.

The building is of stone, 55x115 feet, with a
stage 43x52. The dress circle and parquette
are furnished with patent opera-chairs, and will
seat about 500 persons. The gallery will seat
about 250 persons, and is furnished very com
fortably. It is heated with furnaces and hot-
air pipes. Its beautiful fresco work, done by
Mr. Mossman. of San Francisco, is brought out
in bold relief by the scintillations of 100 gas
jets. Its scenic work, drop-curtain, etc., are
admired by all. Its entire cost was about
$25,000.

FIRE DEPARTMENT.

The earliest record that we find of organiza-
tion for protection against fire was that of a
meeting called by citizens of Central, assembled
at the .Miners & Mechanics' Institute, Novem-
ber 22, 1869. Hugh Butler was Chairman, and
James Burrell Secretary. After several ad-
journed meetings and considerable discussion,
an organization was effected December 6, 1809,
and named the Central City Fire Company, No.
1. Its first officers were: M. II. Koot. Fore-

man ; P. Layden. First Assistant Foreman ;
Robert S. Wilson, Second Assistant Foreman ;
James Mills, Treasurer ; and Foster Nichols,
Secretary. The roll of membership at that
time numbered seventy-eight.

There was not, at this time, any good supply
of water for extinguishing fires. The company
were but poorly supplied with buckets, hooks
and ladders and implements for tearing down
buildings. Their dependence for water, in ease
of fire, was upon wells, cisterns and stop-gates
in the gulch-flume running through the city,
so that the water running though it might be
obtained with buckets, though generally in very
limited quantities. Many citizens kept at their
own expense what were called the '' Babcock
Fire Extinguishers," a portable machine charged
(if kept in readiness) with carbonic acid gas,
that was quite effective if used immediately on
an incipient flame. Andeverybody kept spare
buckets on their premises, for all predicted that
it was only a question of time when the whole
town would go up in flame if the greatest pre-
cautions possible were not used. The city also
furnished to the lire company twelve similar
portable machines of the Gardner Patent. The
city also permit ted two machines of larger
dimensions, on wheels, of the Gardner-Lithgow
Patent, to be sent out on trial from Louisville,
Ky. When in perfect order and readiness,
they did good service, but not otherwise, and
the city did not buy them.

As an indication of some of the difficulties
attending their use, we find this action of the
company on the record of January 6, 1873. A
committee was appointed " to confer with the
City Council in regard to making the fire room
suitable for the engines, and a place safe anil
warm enough to keep the Fire Extinguishers
from freezing."

October 8, 1874. after the burning of Cen-
tral, a re-organization of the fire department
occurred at the Teller House. The first com-
pany formed was named the " Rescue Fire and

HISTORY OF GILPIN COUNTY.

255

Hose Company, No. 1," with N. H. McCall,
]•'( ireman ; Hemy Goetze, First Assistant Fore-
man ; Robert Campbell. Second Assistant Fore-
man , James Thatcher, Treasurer, and Edward
L. Salisbury, Secretary. William II. Bush was
nominated and afterward appointed by the
City Council, Chief Engineer. Thomas Mullen
succeeded Engineer Bush as Chief Engineer,
and, October 10, 1876, N II. Met 'all resigning
as Foreman of Rescue Company, was after-
wind appointed as Chief Engineer.

In April, 1879, W. 0. McFarlane had been
appointed Chief Engineer.

At the present time, Alexander Carstens is
Foreman of the Rescues; Chris Trie, First
Assistant Foreman; John Cameron. Second
Assistant Foreman; J. P. Sherry, Secretary,
and J. M. Thatcher, Treasurer.

Roughand Ready Hook and Ladder Compa-
ny, No. 1. — Central — This company was organ-
ized March 30, 1875. M. II. Root was elected
Foreman ; A. A. McFarlane, First Assistant
Foreman ; James A. Ladd, Second Assistant
Foreman : Sylvester Nichols, Treasurer, and
Harvey M. Burrell, Secretary. The following
are the officers of the company at present :
Thomas Hooper. Foreman ; W. A. Richmond,
First Assistant Foreman; B. F. Pease, Second
Assistant Foreman : W. 0. McFarlane. Treas-
urer ; S. W. Tyler, Secretary, and Foster Nich-
ols. Auditing I lommittee.

Ah rt Fire and Hose Company, No. 2, of Cen-
tral. — This company was temporarily organized
January -. 1878. A meeting of the citizens of
the Fourth Ward had been called, and forty-
four citizens then enrolled their names as mem-
bers.

They elected as temporary officers : Richard
Harvey, Foreman ; John Truan, First Assist-
ant Foreman; Detliff Martens, Second Assist-
ant Foreman ; Julius Strehlke, Secretary. Per-
manent officers were elected February 11. 1878,
as follows : Thomas Hambly, Foreman ; John
Bunney, First Assistant Foreman ; Stephen

Hoskin, Second Assistant Foreman ; Roberl
Bunney, Treasurer, and Richard Harvey, Secre-
tary. The present officers are Stephen Hoskin,
Foreman ; Stephen Higgs, First Assistant Fore-
man ; William Short. Second Assistant Fore-
man ; John Truan, Treasurer, and Richard
Harvey, Secretary.

Black- Hawk Fire and Hose Company, No.
1. — This company was organized May 1, 1879.
Their first officers wereW. 0. Logue, Foreman ;
Thomas Avey, First Assistant Foreman ; E. F.
Hichings, Second Assistant Foreman; B. S.
Greathouse, Treasurer; W. S. Swain. Secretary.

W. 0. Logue was soon after appointed Chief
Engineer, and A. F. Gritmaker, Assistant Chief.

The present officers are B. S. Greathouse,
Foreman ; Ed M. Case. First Assistant Fore-
man ; John Tomlinson. Second Assistant Fore-
man ; R. S. Haight, Treasurer ; Wallace Calk-
ins, Secretary.

The hose of all these companies are adjust-
able for connection, each with every other, for
co-operative work. The whole fire department
of the county is now in very efficient working
order, with hydrants at convenient distance,
connected by pipes with reservoirs of water on
high elevations, creating a force sufficient to
throw streams over the highest buildings in
town.

MILITARY COMPANIES.

In November, lsT.A Adjt. Gen. Robert S.
Roe. mustered into service as Colorado Militia,
Company A, Emmet Guards, of Gilpin County :
James Noonan was commissioned Captain.
James Delahantey, First Lieutenant, and T. F.
Welch, Second Lieutenant. Their present offi-
cers are John S. Dormer. Captain : Robert
Tallon. First Lieutenant, and John King, Sec-
ond Lieutenant.

miners' and mechanics' institute of gilpin

COUNT V. COLOR M'o
The preliminary meeting of this association
was held in the Baptist Chapel, on Lawrence

256

HISTORY OF GILPIN COUNTY.

street, December 13, 186G. It was in response
to a published call of fifty-seven citizens, to es-
tablish a "public library."

At subsequent preliminary meetings, it was
decided to extend the purposes of the associa-
tion; and to apply to the Territorial Legislature
for a charter. The following-named persons
signed the application for the charter: Will-
iam Crawford, George T. Clark, W. A. Hamill,
H. B. Morse, Samuel Cushman, Henry Garban-
ati, S. H. Wilder, J. A. Thatcher, P." M. Rich-
ards, L. C. Tolles. A. J. Van Deren, W. II.
Thomas. M. B. Hayes, George W. Buchanan,
K. K. Morrison, N. A. Cole, J. L. Schellenger,
M. A. Arnold. E. Humphrey, F. H. Messenger,
Frank Fulton, E. 1). Fiske and Frank C. Young.

The charter was granted and approved by
Alexander Cummins. Governor, January 11,
1867, :ind the purposes expressed in it. read as

follows

( 1 1 The cultivation of its members in liter-
ature, science and art.

'• (2) The institution of a system of scientific
lectures, debates and essays.

"(3) The establishment of a library and
reading-room.

i I) The collection and preservation of a cab-
inet of minerals, natural curiosities, and speci-
mens in the various departments of science;
and historical matter relating to the history of
this Territory, a in 1

"(5) The promotion of the interests of the
mechanic arts.'

Subsequently, a constitution was framed and
adopted in accordance with the charter. Section
3 reads as follows :

"It is herein stipulated and declared, that no
political or sectarian question shall be discussed
at any meeting of this association, or shall lie-
come a part of any lecture, debate, or essaj to
lie delivered before the said association ; nor
shall the affairs of this association be under the
control, or made to subserve the interests of
any particular denomination, party or sect."

January 21, 1867, the following-named offi-
cers were elected and entered upon their re-
spective duties : George W. Buchanan, Presi-
dent ; Samuel P. Lathrop, Vice President ;
Frank C. Young, Secretary ; Joseph H. Good-
speed, Treasurer ; Charles E. Sherman, Libra-
rian.

Standing Committees. — Executive — Hugh
Butler, Chairman ; Robert Teats, Phil. M.
.Martin. A. J. Van Deren. Ezra Humphrey.

Finance — Joseph A. Thatcher. Chairman ;
Columbus Nuckolls, C. R. Bissell. Horace II.
Atkins, L. C. Tolles.

Mines and Minerals — Harley P>. Morse,
Chairman ; Alvah Mansur, Frank J. Marshall,
M. B. Hayes, Charles B. Martine.

Library — Samuel Cushman, Chairman ; 'L.
L. Bedeli. Henry Garbanati. X. S. Keith, D. M.
Richards,

Mechanic Arts — A. N. Rogers, Chairman ;
J. B. Fitzpatrick, S. H. Wilder. Thomas K. Rod-
man. George R. Mitchell.

Literary Exercises and History — Robert H.
Hare. Chairman; Thomas R. Tannatt. Charles
A. Mather. Benjamin H. Wisebart, Charles C.
Post.

The annual dues of members were sin each
per annum

We find 152 names signed to the Constitu-
tion, i iprising citizens of all political parties,

denominations and creeds. For several years
the institute was in a very prosperous and
nourishing condition — the pride of all our citi-
zens, and the admiration of visitors from abroad.
There were over 1.000 volumes of well-selected
hooks al one time in the library, and the most
extensive cabinet of minerals, natural curiosi-
ties, fossils, etc., in the Territory, besides papers,
periodicals, public documents and literary es-
says, to interest the tourist, visitor or home
members.

But the departure from the county of some '
who had made their fortunes in it, and of others
who had failed to do so, but thought they knew

-M>

HISTORY OF GILPIN COUNTY.

257

of other places where it was still to be won,
little by little, diminished the membership more
than the incoming population replenished it.
It then began to be uphill work to sustain it in
addition to other calls for religious audbenevo-
lenl purposes, and it began to decline.

The change of general character in the com-
munity was perhaps a loss more of literary
taste and culture; than of enterprise and en-
ergy in its principal industries— mining and
milling.

The last, meeting of the institute was hold
January 3, L873, The executive committee re-
ported atthat time, that under authority given
them by the institute, they had sold the library
to the city of Central, at the nominal value of
$300, "for the use and benefll of the public
schools, under the direction of the Public
School Board."

The election of officers beingin order at thai
time, and called for, resulted as follows: Hor-
ace M. Hale was elected President ; Samuel
Cushman. Vice President ; James Burrell, Sec
retary; Thomas II. Potter. Treasurer, and Will-
iam II. Tappan, John Best, Andrew N. Rogers.
I huh Butler and Joseph A. Thatcher, Execu-
tive ( lommittee.

The building where the library had been
kept was in a few days after destroyed by fire
with all its valuable contents — collections of
minerals, furniture, etc., so that the library thus
saved was fortunate for the public schools
and community. It is still under the guardian-
ship of the Scl 1 Board, and, with such addi-
tions as from lime to time have been and are
being made to it. is a great public benefit.
About 1,000 volumes have already been added
to it.

CHAPTER IX.

MISCELLANEOUS WD PUBLIC POST OFFICES— LAND OFFICE— BANKS— EXPRESSES— TELEGRAPH

—TELEPHONE B SJLROADS.

POST OFFICES.

TUP first post office in Gilpin County, and
in fact, in the Rocky Mountains, was es-
tablished in 1860. It was designated as " Moun-
tain City" Post Office, because, although Cen-
tral City was at the time, as it is now. the
most prominent and central point in the county,
the whole country here was then considered b)
the Government as a part of the Territory of
Kansas, and in that Territory there was al-
ready a post office by the name of Central City.
Afterward, when Colorado had been organized
as a separate Territory, no objection existing,
the name Mountain City was dropped by the
Government, and Central City adopted.

There are now in the county the following-
named offices: Central City, Black Hawk.
Bald Mountain, Rollinsville and Russell Gulch.

LAND OFFICE.

The President, by executive order, dated De-
cember 27, 1867, directed the creation of an
additional land district in the Territory of
Colorado, to be composed of the counties of
Clear Creek and Gilpin, and all that part of the
counties of Boulder and Jefferson which lies
west of the range line between Townships 70
and 71, with land office at Central City, in Gil-
pin County. Irving W. Stanton was appointed
Register, and Guy M. Huletl Receiver. The
office was formally opened for business May
L8, 1868, and the first application for mining
patent therein was filed on the same day by F.
J. Marshall. Esq., of Georgetown, for the Com-
pass and Square lode, in Griffith .Mining Dis-
trict, in Clear Creek County. The case was
prepared and tiled through James Buvrell's

258

HISTORY OF GILPIN COUNTY.

Mineral Land Agency, in Central City, which
for about a year had been operating through
the Denver Lund ( tffice.

The present "ilieers are liichard Harvey,
Register, and E. W. Henderson. Receiver. Up
to September 1, 1880, there have been 1,803
applications for mineral patents, and 1,369 en-
tries ; 990 patents for mines have been granted
that were returned to the land office here for
delivery to the claimants, beside others delivered
at Washington to parties there, by request of
claimants. There have been 1,829 declaratory
statements tiled, and 318 eash sales made, the
latter embracing 40,240 acres. There were 231
entries for homesteads, and of final homestead
entries made, embracing 0,8(15 acres, there have
been 82.

BANKS.

The Rocky Mountain National Bank, Cen-
tral City, was organized May 1, 1866. Capital
paid in, $60,000, with authority to increase to
$200,000. This bank succeeded the private
banking house of Kountz Brothers, established
at a very early day. The present officers arc
Joshua 8. Raynolds, President ; John Best.
Vice President ; T. 11. Potter, Cashier.

The First National Bank, Central City, was
organized January 1, 1874. Capital paid in
$50,000, and authorized to inn-ease to $300,000.
This bank succeeded the private banking-house
of Thatcher, Standley & Co., who. three years
before, succeeded Warren, Hussey cV Co. The
original incorporators and directors were .Joseph
A. Thatcher, Frank C. Young, Otto Sau r, Jo-
seph Standley. Samuel Mishler, William Martin
and Hugh C. McCameron. The present officers
are Joseph A. Thatcher. President : otto Saur,
Vice President; P. Nichols. Assistant Cashier.

Hamilton eV Mellor, bankers, Central City
This banking house was organized January 1,
1^7.",. by the above-named linn, wlio are still its
proprietors and managers.

There is also a private banking house in
Black Hawk, established Jim.' 1. 1880. by Sam

Smith & Co. They do a general collecting and
exchange business, and buy gold bullion.

EXPRESSES.

The first fully equipped express to Colorado,
of which we have any reliable data, was one
established by Russell, Majors & Co., in May,
1850, called the " Leavenworth and Pike's Peak

Express

They stocked the line with 100 coaches and
1.100 mules, and placed Nelson Sergeant in
charge of it as superintendent.

The route first selected was via the Repub-
lican River ; but in the fall of the same year, on
account of Indian hostilities, it was changed to
the Platte River, where military protection was
being afforded by the Government to trains and
property. Their terminus then was Denver.

This company was succeeded by the Cali-
fornia Overland and Pike's Peak Express in
the spring of 1800. by the way of Denver, and
extended to Central City.

This arrangement continued until sometime
in the spring of 1862, when it came into pos-
session of Ben Holliday, under whose manage-
ment it continued until sonic time in 1S70.
when it was transferred to Wells. Fargo & Co.,
who continued to run it until 1865, when it
passed into the hands of the Kansas Pacific
Railroad Company.

It was afterward known as the Kansas Pacific
Railroad Express Company : but. as now organ-
ized and running, it is known as the Pacific
Express Company, with E. Morsman as General
Manager, and J. K. Johnston as Superintendent.

TELEGRAPH.

Telegraph communication was completed to
Gilpin County and Central City, November 7.
1863. and. in the next issue of the Miners' Regis-
t, r. commenced the daily publication of regular
dispatches. The line had been built, and was
owned by the Pacific Telegraph Company, But
in 1865, that company was merged into the

-4^

HISTORY OF GILPIN COUNTY.

259

Western Union Company, and. since that time.
known as the Western Onion Telegraph Com-
pany.

TELEPHONE.
Tt was not long after the astonished world
had quietly admitted that telephonic communi-
cation was not of supernatural origin before
Gilpin Countj came in to share its advantages
Its first introduction in the county was at Cen-

two roads had reached Denver in 1870, the en-
terprise of extending either up through our
mountain fastnesses was so formidable an un-
dertaking that capitalists hesitated, and engi-
neers and others had their doubts of its feasi-
bility and practical safety.

But. with the lion. A. II. Loveland, of Golden,

in the van. ami ('apt. E. L. Berthoud. of the
same city, as Chief Engineer the Colorado < !en-

tral City, in September, 1879, by the Western tral Kailroad Company overcame the obstacles of

Union Telegraph Company, who christened it
the Colorado Edison Telephone Company.

The Bell Telephone Company's bine, under
the superintendence of F. 0. Vaille, Esq., was
introduced about the same time, and for awhile
it was hardly considered safe to think out loud
in sight of their transmitters.

In February. ISSO. however, these lines be-
came consolidated all over the country, and the
division in this State was designated as the
Colorado Telephone Company, and placed un-
der the management of Mr. Vaille, with princi-
pal office at Denver. Through the Exchange
at Central City, our citizens can be instantly
put in communication with Black Hawk. Ne-
vadavillc Georgetown, Idaho Springs, Golden
and Denver, and with many of their respective
business houses, mines and citizens.

RAILROADS.

The Colorado Central Railroad reached Black
Hawk, in Gilpin County, in 1873. Although

th«' circuitous Clear Creek Canon, with its falls
and overhanging precipices, until the iron horse
came snorting triumphantly into Black Hawk.
Here was a halt again until 1S77-78, to con-
sider, and. if possible, overcome the still greater
difficulties to be surmounted between that point
and Central City. But it was finally accom-
plished, and, on the 21st day of May, 1878,
the last spike was driven and connecting
rail laid that connected Central City with
the whole country — East, West. North and
South.

Central City and the Colorado Central Rail-
road took that occasion to have a gala day. of
which we shall have occasion to speak more at.
length in the next chapter.

Although fears were at first entertained for
the safety of travel over this road, yet years of
experience have shown it to be more than
comparatively free from accidents with other
roads.

CHAPTER X.

DESTRUCTION OF CENTRAL CITY BY FIRE MAY 21, ISTt, AND ITS SUBSEQUENT RECONSTRUCTION.

WE are under obligations to the Register- They say: "Five years ago to-day the fire
Call <>f this city for copious extracts fiend swept from end to end of the Golden
from their well-written review Of the events of Queen of the mountains, and left Central a mass

this chapter, intheir issue of May21 ofthepres- of charred and smoldering ruins.
cut year, upon the fourth anniversary of the tire. " Yet. a majority of our citizens, men who upon

It was celebrated mainly by the lire depart- that sad day looked through the lurid flames

incut of Gilpin County and its citizens. of the disaster at the destruction of all their

: F

260

HISTORY OF GILPIN COUNTY.

worldly possessions, will acknowledge, in that
disaster, the great good which has resulted from
it. Central then, as now, was the pride of the
Rouk3' Mountains, and the second city of the
State. How well she has held her own, in the
great race for supremacy, the Central of to-day
stands a living witness.

'■The narrow, pent-up streets and low frame
buildings of 1874 were swept away in that great
flood of flame, and disappeared before the
destroying monster like mists before a sum-
mer's sun. The stately blocks of bsick and
mortar, the wide streets and palatial emporiums
and marts of business remain to attest the en-
ergy , the advancement and business capacity
of a community which rose from its great mis-
fortune — a misfortune which might well have
swept it from the map of the State. It is not
so much to commemorate the disaster as the
energy of our people in recovering from it, that
this day is celebrated.

'■The lire originated in the house of a China-
man on Spring street. Here, on that day, in
accordance witli the custom or superstition of
the Orientals, some religious ceremonies wen'
in progress tor the purpose of exorcising an
evil spirit with which the simple inmate im-
agined the house infected. In the performance
of these ceremonies, myrrh and incense were
slowly burned on live embers or coals.

■■ By some means, these apparently dying em-
bers broke oul afresh, and. tilling the low apart-
ment with a blaze, speedily communicated with
the building, which, being of a light, dry and in-
flammable material, burned like a tinder-box.

"In the immediate vicinity the buildings
were of the lightest materials, and supplied
willing and appropriate food for the flam i,
which, in less time than it takes to write these
words, had got beyond all control.

"The city at that period had no system of
water-works, not even a fire engine graced Cen-
tral. With no check on their progress, and
with the rapidity of lightning, the lambent

flames shot forth on all sides, licking up every-
thing in their reach and receiving fresh mate-
rial at every instant, until that portion of the
city was a perfect roaring hell of unquenchable
flames, hissing, seething, cracking, and conquer-
ing everything in their reach.

" The citizens fought the flames nobly. Men
of every class, regardless of their own safety or
property, turned out to check the progress of
the fire, but their efforts were useless. The
mines upon the hill-tops and mountain sides
poured out their swarms of brawny, bare-armed
anil stalwart miners, who rushed to the rescue,
merely to find every effort to save property
baffled. Disheartened, sick at heart, baffled at
every step, weary and tired in oft- repeated ef-
forts, many of them bruised, wounded, blistered
and sore, time and again they returned to the
charge, only to be driven back by the flames,
which seemed to have full sway and total pos-
session of the devoted city.

"In an instant, and to the horror of almost
every one, the flames, shooting forth irresisti-
ble tongues, had leaped across Main street.
With the energy of despair the citizens re-
doubled their efforts, still fighting, still strug-
gling, hoping against hope."

But, when all hope had vanished of saving
the remaining portion of the city, each citizen
betook himself to his own premises to save
whatever he could of value.

At the beginning of the lire, a telegram had
been sent to Golden for assistance, and, when it
reached J. W. Nesmith, Master Mechanic of
the Colorado Central Railroad there, he bounced
a platform-car and locomotive, for which the
"Excelsior Boys," with their engine, were all
ready, and ordered the engineer to make his
best time to Black Hawk (then the terminus of
the road) or ditch the outfit, taking his chances
with it himself.

It is said to have been the quickest time up
Clear (.'reek Canon ever made, and the noble
men were of invaluable service in checking the

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HISTORY OF GILPIN COUNTY.

263

fire, which had just reached the Teller House
and Register building when they arrived.

Again, quoting from the Regi&U r- < 'all: " But
why rest upon these sad, sorrowful scenes ?
Why describe the wild scene of terror that took
possession of all ; the rushing to and fro of
men in their vain efforts to save property ;
the wailings of women in their frantic en-
deavors to save smile household idol; and the
cries of childhood separated from fathers and
mothers. I he pandemonium of voices, weeping
and wailing, which arose above the hissing of
the flames, the crackling of timbers, and the
falling of buildings? Suffice it, to say,
that, when the shadows of night fell upon
the prosperous mining camp of the morn
ing, a scene of desolation was presented to
the eye which sickened every beholder and
left impressions which all will take to the
grave.

(; Throughout the long watches of the night,
huddled together on the mountain sides, small
knots of sad, sorrowing men, women and chil-
dren, sat gazing upon the ruins of their once
happy and domestic flre-sides, some bewailing
the loss of properly, ami others sorrowing for
the hearthstones around which they and their
children had gathered so happily but a few
short hours previous. And as through the gloom
the fitful and lurid flames would shoot up, and
for a moment illumine the scene, they found
a sad consolation in pointing out the spot where,
the night previous, they had nestled beneath
their own roof, until the sun dawned, and found
them still sleepless watchers over Central in
ruins. Central in ashes.

"Of all the proud mining camp but half a
dozen buildings remained on its business
street — the Eoworth Block, on Main street ; the
Teller House, the Register building, on Eureka
street, and the buildings of Lorenzo M. Preas
and Jack Raynolds, on Lawrence street. The
losses ran from $500,000 to $750,000, with but
a small portion covered by insurance.

"the rebuilding op central.

" It is a pleasure to turn from such scenes as
we have faintly described above to something
more pleasing. Even as the blackest cloud
lias a silver lining, so has the darkest night a
bright and glorious morning. After our citi-
zens had become tired re-counting up their
losses, and bemoaning the sad fate which at
one fell swoop deprived them of all the pleas-
ures of home and the savings of years of toil
and labor, a spirit of enterprise and friendly
business rivalry took possession of them.
Where we but yesterday heard but wailings
over hard fortune, we heard words of en-
couragement ; tears gave place to smiles, and
nothing was heard in our midst but the pros-
pects of the Central of the future, what it
would be like, and how the Golden Queen of
the mountains, resurrected and arisen from its
ashes, would rival in wealth and magnificence,
in business enterprises and population, any city
west of the Missouri.

'•The smoldering embers and debris were

removed. New enterprises started, new streets

laid out. and old ones straightened and widened.
and in a short space of time our people threw
off everything like despondency, and laughed
to scorn the iron hand of fortune which threat
died to ruin them. Foundations of magnifi-
i. hi brick buildings were laid, stately walls
of brick ami mortar arose on every side, the en-
tire length and breadth of the gulch assumed
the appearance of an elongated bee-hive, and
the angel of prosperity spread ils fostering
wings over the blackened and charred ruins,
until Central is what our welcome visitors find
it on this, our fourth anniversary of the confla-
gration—a city of stately business blocks, of
magnificent churches, substantial schoolhouses,
with a hotel and opera house second to none
in the West, and populated with an energetic,
happy and prosperous people, who never
fail to extend the right hand of fellowship
to the tourist or emigrant who may seek

264

HISTORY OF GILPIN COUNTY.

shelter or a home within her hospitable bound-
aries."

After the Are and during the year, the title
to the "town site" of Central was perfected by
the United States to the city authorities, "for
the use and benefit of the owners and occu-
pants thereof," and subsequently conveyed by
the city to individual claimants, according to
their respective rights.

May 21, 187S. a grand celebration of the
completion of the Colorado Central Railroad to
Central took place. Being, also, the anniver-
sary of the fire, it brought together from all
parts of the State, and even from Cheyenne and
other cities outside the State, thousands of vis-
itors and spectators to witness for themselves
the gala day of the resurrected Golden Queen.

There were quite a number of fire companies
from abroad present, in full uniform, to partic-
ipate in the festivities of the occasion. The
wonderful feat had been accomplished in rail-
road engineering, by which a track had been
laid over the streets and chimney-tops of the
city of Black Hawk. and. surmounting all ob-
stacles, had entered the heart of the city of
< lentral.

The hospitality of public and private houses
alike was proffered to the visitors. The Teller
House, alone, entertained over 1,800 persons.
Flags floated on the breeze, and citizens and
visitors in regalia, marched along the streets to
bands of music, playing in no minor key. to
cheer and welcome all. and the day passed otf
without accident, to the satisfaction and enjoy-
ment of all.

Central now has a well-appointed system of
water-works, witli pipes and hydrants in all its
principal streets, and an efficient tire depart-
ment, ever ready to meet the fire king whenever
he visits us.

ROLLINSVILLE.

This is the name of the business point where
John Q. A Rollins, its founder, resides. It is sit-
uated on the Boulder River, in the Colorado

Mountains, and on the main line of travel from
Black Hawk northward to Xederland. Caribou,
and all the mining camps of Northern Colo-
rado. It is. too. the starting-point of the
wagon road over the Continental Divide, by
way of the South Boulder Pass, into the Mid-
dle Park. The town has a good hotel, quite a
number of neat private residences, besides
about twenty dwellings erected for the work-
men of the mining companies that operate
from this point ; four gold mills, and here
the Rollins Gold and Silver Mining Company
are building their hydraulic flume for placer
mining. The place is not only the center
of a rich mining region, but of an extensive
scope of arable mountain land, that must event-
ually be improved by a large rural population.
The valle3 - in which Rollinsville is located is
exceedingly beautiful, possessing in perfection
the attractions so alluring to summer tourists
in the Rocky Mountains — the pure aud not too
light, but highly electrified air of the altitude of
8,000 feet; waters, cool and clear as crystal, and
sunshine that is healing without being oppress-
ive ; high cliffs and accessible lookout points,
giving views of scenic wonders unsurpassed in
the mountain world. These things have
charmed many a visitor, enchaining him to the
fascinations of this lovely valley.

HtJGHESYIELE HARD MONEY MINE.

This lode is the property of Messrs. Locke
Bros. & Ilunderman. and was discovered in
September. 1878, on the ranche of Mr. Patrick
Hughes, now known and designated by all as
Hughesville. in compliment to that honest old
ranchman. Xo work, or, rather, development,
was made on the vein until October following
the date of the location. Since that time, the
main shaft has been sunk to a depth of 265
feet, pay having been found from the grass-
roots down to the present depth. The first
pocket of pay was stoped out to a depth of
fifty feet, which was in pay for a length of 100

!£,

HISTORY OF GILPIN COUNTY.

2G5

feet. A level east of the fifty-foot level has
been run eighty feet, when a winze was sunk to
connect with the eighty-foot level. The next
levels inaugurated were at a depth of 120 feet,
the one going cast, being in from the main
shaft a distance of ninety feet. At this point,
another winze — or shaft — is being sunk to con-
nect with the 200-foot level. This has passed
through a continuous body of pay ore. much
richer than anything heretofore found in the
mine in the upper workings. The writer has
taken out a number of specimens of ore from
this winze literally bespangled with native sil-
ver, leaflet and spiral in form. The west level,
directly opposite, is in seventy feet, where
still another winze has been commenced to
connect with the 200-foot west level. Lest the
reader should not fully understand why these
winzes are sunk, it might not be amiss to
state that they are for the purpose of ventila-
tion, and I'm' the more, economical working of
mines, thus serving a double purpose. After
the sinking of a few feet, a good body of ore
was struck in the west 120-foot level, similar
to that found in the east level. In the bottom
of the main shaft, a level cast is being driven
to ascertain the length as well as the depth of
the pay above. This is passing through ore
which assays from ,">n to 200 ounces of silver
per ton. Both east and west from present
main shaft, the vein has been opened and
traced for a distance of 1.500 feet. On the
east, the same parties own the Hard Money
No. 2 Lode, which is a continuation of the Hard
Money. West of the westerly end of the Hard
Money, they own an additional 1,500 feet,

which gives them exclusive control of 4,500
contiguous feet of property without any con-
flicting claimants. Soon after the mine was
opened, and the richness of the ore established,
leases were given of fifty feet each, both sides
of the discovery, now main shaft, at a royalty
of 50 per cent of the gross product. To illus-
trate the high grade of ore taken out, John
Huggard took out $3,600 in six weeks, clear of
his royalty, paid to Messrs. Locke Bros. &
Hunderman. These gentlemen also own the
English- American Lode, north of, and parallel
with, the Hard Money, also the Greenbacker
Lode, south of and parallel with the Hard
Money. This gives them a property 450 feet in
width by 4,500 feet in length, enough territory to
insure them and their heirs and assigns riches
for all time to come, when fully exploited. Over
the mine is a substantial shaft house, cupping-
room, and a furnace for the drying of ores. The
main shaft is well timbered, and a substantial
ladder-way has been put in. Adjoining the mine
is an assay office, the Hard Money mine being
the only one in the Golden Queen which can
boast of this facility for testing the quality of
the ore as it is extracted

The Hard Money is accessible at all times of

the year, bj a g 1 wagon-road, over an easy

grade, to the concentration and sampling works
at Black Hawk, the distance being two and
one-half miles. The production of the mine
since 1878, has been between $80,000 and $90,-
000. This mine will amply repay the tourist
or capitalist a visit, as the owners are very
accommodating to all who wish an insight of
I the workings of their property.

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PUBLIC SCHOOL BUI LDING, GEORGETOWN

HISTORY OF CLEAR CREEK COUNTY.

BY AAEON IF 1 R O S T.

CHAPTER I.

LOCATION AND TOPOGRAPHY— CLIMATE— SERMONS IN STONES.

LOCATION AND TOPOGRAPHY.

Previous to the unprecedented and marvelous
discoveries at Leadville, Clear Creek County
was the great silver-center of Colorado, and it
still remains the most steadily productive dis-
trict in the State. Its western limit is market I
by a very decided flexure of the main range of
the Rocky Mountains — a spinal curvature of
the North American continent — which sepa-
rates it from Summit County. Its other bound-
aries are Gilpin on the north, Jefferson on the
east, and Park County on the south. Its
greatest length is about thirty-five miles, and
its average width, north and south, is about
fifteen miles. The area thus defined embraces
a number of secondary ranges, which tend east-
ward from the continental divide, and includes
several of the highest and most prominent
peaks in the State.

One of its most distinctive physical features
is the rude magnificence of its scenery. With
the exception of a small area in the southeast
corner, this consists of an unbroken succession
of mountain peaks and ranges. The latter are
usually bold and defiant in appearance, but offer
no serious obstruction to the development of
the rich metalliferous veins that seam their
declivities. Perpendicular precipices are com-
paratively rare. Each mountain side is a pro-
digious escarpment, fringed at its base with a

talus of granitic rocks. These have yielded to
the tireless persuasions of the elements, and
are more or less covered with vegetation. High
on the mountain slopes, dense forests of pines,
of several species, are abundant, while the
sides of the canons are dotted with clumps ami
isolated specimens of pines and cedars wher-
ever they can obtain a foothold. Many of the
peaks, even on the subsidiary ranges, tower far
above timber line. The practical limit of the
latter in Clear Creek County is about 11,000
feet, but stunted and wind-twisted pines and
spruces are found as high as 11,500 feet above
tide level. Above this, fringing the ice-cold
streamlets, a dense, scrubby species of willow
is common, and grasses and Alpine flowers
grow to a height of nearly 13,000 feet.

The natural avenue to this region is Clear
Creek Canon, through which a resistless tide
of gold seekers surged as early as 1859. By
their untiring industry, they paved the way for
the Cyclopean steed that followed on bars of
iron a dozen years later. Near the eastern
boundary of the county is the union of the
North and South Forks of Clear Creek. The
first of these drains Gilpin County, and the
latter ramifies through the silver districts of
Clear Creek, feeding, at numberless sources, on
the perpetual snows of the main range. The
valley is gradual in its ascent, as the ease of

268

HISTORY OF CLEAR CREEK COUNTY.

construction of the Colorado Central Railroad
sufficiently attests. Its width varies from less
than a hundred feet to half a mile or more, the
widest portions commonly resulting from the
confluence of two or more streams. At these
points, husbandry is carried to the extent of
raising a few acres of potatoes, cabbages and
other hardy vegetables. The seasons are too
short for maturing cereals, though oats are fre-
quently grown and cut while in a green state,
to be used as fodder. Several varieties of
coarse but highly] nutritious grasses thrive in
the valleys and on the slopes of the mountains.
affording excellent pasturage for cattle and
horses. This is not extensively utilized, except
by owners of milk ranches and pack animals,
other stock requiring dry feed the year round.
Agriculture is an unimportant industry in this
district, comparatively speaking, as the acreage
of tillable land is exceedingly limited. It is
by no means unprofitable, however, all that can
be produced finding a ready sale at the vicinal
towns and mining camps, of which the great
silver and gold mines are the sure foundation.
The above description applies entirely to the
country drained by South Clear Creek and its
many tributaries, the principal of which are
Soda, Chicago, Leavenworth. Bard and Mill
Creeks, together with North Fork, West Branch
and Fall River; their waters all uniting in Clear
Creek Cam m before bidding adieu to the county.
In the southeast corner of the county, there lies
a small district which is naturally distinct from
the preceding. This is on the head-waters of
Bear Creek, which join those of the Platte, a
number of miles above the mouth of Clear
Creek. This is not included ill the great min-
eral belt, but comprises more arable and graz-
ing land than all the remainder of the county.
The valley is from half a mile to one and a half
miles in width, and is well watered by streams
that flow from the base of Old Chief Mountain.
At this point a decided attempt at systematic
farming is made. It is situated at the limit at

which cereals can be successfully grown, how-
ever, and its facilities for stock-raising are of
more importance than its agricultural lands.
A number of farmhouses dot the really beau-
tiful valley, among which is one owned by Ex-
Gov. Evans. The district is connected with
Clear Creek Canon by a good wagon road owned
by the county. This traverses a bold mountain
ridge, follows the windings of Soda Creek, and
terminates at Idaho Springs. Agriculture
forms so unimportant a part of the industries
of Clear Creek County that any further allusion
to it will be considered entirely unnecessary.

CLIMATE.

Much has been said and written about Colo-
rado's • Italian climate ; " but this expression is
now justly used with a certain degree of irony.
In respect to salubrity and uniformity of tem-
perature, the climate of Clear Creek County
will compare favorably with that of any other
portion of the Centennial State ; but it is rarely
suggestive of the balmy, redolent atmosphere
that instills indolence into the constitution of
the swarthy Venetian. On the contrary, it is
clear, bright, sparkling and inspiriting. The
sudden variations of altitude in the mountain
region produce a corresponding diversity of
climate. This feature is illustrated in the fact
that at Georgetown, the county seat of Clear
Creek County, the summer season is from three
weeks to a month shorter than at Idaho Springs,
which is located fourteen miles farther down
the canon. The difference in altitude causing
this variation is 1.002 feet; the former being
8.514. and the latter 7,512 feet above the level
of the sea

It is a singular but indisputable fact that the
minimum temperature of the winter season at
Denver is rarely reached at Georgetown ; and it
is equally true, though not at all strange, that
the maximum daily temperature of the summer
mi aiths is largely in favor of the mountain town,
averaging about ten degrees less thanthatof the

HISTORY OF CLEAR CREEK COUNTY.

269

metropolis. The only objection that can be
urged against the climate of Clear Creek County
is the length, but not the severity, of its win-
ters. Toward the end of September, the icy
breath of approaching winter transforms the
bright green foliage of the aspens and maples
into still brighter hues of gold, orange and crim-
son, and the first light fall of snow is usually
encountered during that month. Glorious sunny
days and frosty nights are the rule for about
two months succeeding ; and rarely before the
middle of December does the frost-king assume
complete control of the situation and silence the
music of the mountain brooks. During the next
few months there is usually but little snow, but
vigorous gales, playfully termed "mountain
zephyrs," are by no means uncommon. This
description applies mainly to Georgetown and
the vicinity. Storms of Arctic rigor often visit
the mining camps located near the main range,
and the snow drifts in huge banks and fields,
which disappear only in the middle of June, or
even later. The dryness of the air at this ele-
vation (Georgetown) considerably lessens the
apparent severity of the coldest weather. Dur-
ing April and May, heavy snows maybe expected,
and June is sometimes ushered in in the midst
of a snow-storm, just as the deciduous bushes
are bursting into life and beauty. These do
not remain long, however ; nor do they often
fall in sufficient quantity to interfere seriously
with out-door employment.

The ensuing season that completes the circle
is perfectly delectable. A thousand pellucid
runnels leap merrily from the gleaming snow-
banks that lurk in the ravines near the summits
nt't lie mountains, and go singing on their jour-
ney to the sea. Numberless varieties of Alpine
flowers awake suddenly from their protracted
slumber, and a placid gladness steals over the
entire face of nature. During the summer
months, showers of rain are frequent, but light,
usually falling in the afternoon. The nights are
deliriously cool and invigorating, and " tired

nature's sweet restorer" closes the eyelids of
the weary without solicitation.

The sanitary features of the climate are rarely
excelled. Malarial disorders are entirely un-
known, and fevers of any description are ex-
tremely rare. Incipient consumption and asth-
ma succumb readily to the salubrious influence
of the climate, and many other diseases are di-
rectly benefited. It is not claimed to be a pan-
acea for all diseases, however, as it is detrimental
to some kinds of nervous disorders. On the
whole, though, Clear Creek possesses one of the
most healthful climates on the globe, and, dur-
ing the summer months, one of the most delight-
ful.

" SERMONS IN STONES."

To the superficial observer ascending Clear
Creek Cafion, via the Colorado Central Rail-
road, there is presented a grand panorama of
mountain scenery — an apparently endless,, but
never-wearying succession of rugged precipices
and pine-crowned palisades. Near the lower
end of the canon, huge cliffs rise vertically or
nearly so, to a height of from 100 to 700 feet
above the creek. Some of these crags are of
the most fantastic shapes, and have received
specific names from their resemblance to human
or animal forms. All these are highly interest-
ing objects, and, if the traveler is a stranger to
mountain scenes, he is almost spell-bound by
the overpowering magnificence of the specta-
cle. As the eastern confine of Clear Creek
County is reached, he sees that the bottom of
the valley is broader, and that the mountain
slopes are less precipitous than they were a
dozen miles back. There is, also, an absence
of the sharp minarets that lent variety to his
first introduction to the canon. He, doubtless,
notes the fact that the ascent is not uniform,
but is interrupted by vasl accumulations of
rocks of all sizes, the interstices being filled with
earth, and the whole partially covered with veg-
etal ion. As the locomotive toils laboriously
through the cuts which these aggregations of

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270

HISTORY OF CLEAR CREEK COUNTY.

stones have necessitated, he notices that the
rocks are generally rounded in form, and that
they vary in size from that of a pea to that of
a wheelbarrow, and much larger. At the first
opportunity presented, he very probably secures
an attractive specimen of the vest-pocket series,
and resumes his seat, calmly oblivious of the
fact that the little stone is anything more than
a smooth, shining pebble, and a souvenir of
Clear Creek Canon.

To the geologist, the little water-worn stone
breathes the prologue of a long and interesting
story. It introduces him to the last act in one
of the most conspicuous and interesting dramas
of prehistoric time, and confesses itself to be
a monument of the era when Clear Creek Can-
on was furrowed out by the slow but resistless
motion of immense bodies of ice, supplemented
by the erosive action of water. From this
point, the evidences of glacial action are abun-
dant and indisputable, and become more so as
progress is made in the direction of George-
town. The country rock is rnetainorphic, usu-
ally consisting of several varieties of granite.
Cneiss is also abundant, though not predomi-
nant, as it is on the main range. The bowlders
which everywhere cover the bottom of the
gulch to a depth of from twenty to one hundred
feet, and in some places much more, are almost
invariably gneissic ; but the disparity between
the texture of these and that of the surround-
ing cliffs is not sufficiently marked to convey
decided assurances of remote origin. It is
from their vasl accumulations that the geolo-
gist is enabled to draw logical conclusions of
the resistless agencies that were at work many
thousands of years ago, and of the magnificent
scale on which the moraines were formed. At
sin .it distances, level stretches of ground occur,
through which the creek meanders somewhat
lazily, but it displays its characteristic energy
as it reaches the rock} 7 rim of each flat, and
plunges grandly down to the next terrace. It
should here be mentioned, that, although rap-

ids are abundant, perpendicular falls are ex-
tremely rare.

Near the lower end of these level places, de-
posits of sand, from a trace to as much as eight
feet in depth, are frequently noticed. This at
once suggests the lacustrine origin of the little
•■ parks " — as they are sometimes called — and if
further proof is needed, smooth water-washed
cliffs, corresponding in level to the arenaceous
deposits just mentioned, testify to the correct-
ness of this theory. At no point is this feature
more conspicuous than it is at Georgetown and
Silver Plume. At Georgetown, the park is two
miles in length, the town being situated at its
upper extremity. At the lower end, the rail-
road cuts through the sand bed and shows it to
be a number of feet in depth and perfectly pure.
On the west side of the canon, this is piled up
to a considerable height above the principal de-
posit — proving the gradual recession of the
waters that once covered the valley at this
point to a probable depth of from fifty to one
hundred feet. Two small lakes, each of several
acres in extent, lineal descendants of the mag-
nificent sheet of water that once existed here,
still remain a short distance above the moraine
that proves their glacial ancestry.

The site of Silver Plume, two miles above
Georgetown, still further illustrates the subject
of park formation, if such a term is admissible
as applied to the diminutive tracts of land un-
der consideration. A heavy deposit of sand is
present, and several smooth, gl< >ssy r< >cks at the
lower edge of Brownville undoubtedly betray
the polishing action of the waves. Evidences
of its glacial origin, however, are less decided
than in the previous instance. The obstruction
that dammed the waters in this case appears to
be composed partially, at least, of an immense
land-slide that slipped away from the northern
slope of Leavenworth Mountain subsequent to
the glacial epoch. The channel worn through
the obstruction by the erosive action of the
stream discloses craus of such magnitude thai

(D,ft,fforhvv

TvT VOB>' '

HISTORY OF CLEAR CREEK COUNTY.

271

the question of their glacial transportation is
almost untenable. The rock is similar in ap-
pearance to that on the mountain slope from
which it is supposed to have fallen, but the
formation of this whole region is so nearly
identical that that feature cannot be relied on
as geologic evidence of any description. It
would naturally be inferred that land-slips must
be extremely rare in a granitic formation, and
this conclusion is perfectly logical. The only
condition under which slides of considerable
extent would be likely to occur is that where a
fissure vein pitches outwardly from a mountain
at a greater inclination from the perpendicular
than the mountain slope itself. A slide in
that case would be not only possible but ex-
tremely probable, and it is by no means unlikely
that this may be one of that class. In the ma-
jority of instances, however, the lake basins of
Clear Creek County are clearly of morainic ori-
gin, and their number and variety render them
one of the most salient traits in the geology of
the county.

Whatever their origin may have been, the
gradual annihilation of the lakes was produced
by two causes which are everywhere manifest,
and which were coeval in their action — the ac-
cumulation of sedimentary deposits and the
erosion of the moraines or other obstructions
that formed a barrier to the flow of the waters.
Lakes are abundant throughout the county, and
these processes may be observed at the present
day At Clear Lake, three miles above George-
town, on a branch of Leavenworth Creek, the
emergent water flows through a subterranean
passage for more than 300 feet, and the process
of alluvial deposition is well illustrated at the
upper end of the lake. At this point is the
most gigantic evidence of glacial action to be
seen in the county. The whole valley is tilled
by an immense moraine more than half a mile
in width and at some points several hundred
feet in depth. For a large area. huge, naked
gneissic blocks are scattered in the wildest con-

fusion, suggesting the name of the " Battle
Ground of the Gods."

Nestling in the midst of this moraine, without
inlet or outlet, is Green Lake. This is a decided
anomaly, and is about sixty feet higher than
Clear Lake, which is less than half a mile dis-
tant. Clear Lake is about sixteen acres in area,
and Green Lake is about one-third less. The
latter is probably fed by subaqueous springs.
The presence of arenaceous and argillaceous
deposits at its northern end, with the usual evi-
dence of aqueous erosion, and a natural inlet at
its southerly termination, reveal the probability
that at some remote period a stream ran through
it similar to that of Clear Lake, but it is diffi-
cult to account for the changes that have since
occurred.

Lakes of considerable size are frequently
found at, or near, the heads of the streams, to
which the adjective " initial " may properly be
prefixed. Chicago. Summit and Lone Duck
Lakes belong to this class. These are usually
of morainic origin, though they frequently dif-
fer in some respects fr< >m those already described.

Another striking peculiarity of Clear Creek
Canon are the vast aggregations of debris found
at the mouths of the lateral gulches. These
gulches are much stee[K'r than the main valley,
and almost invariably contain a tributary brook.
They were probably grooved out by secondary
glaciers toward the close of the drift period,
but the fan-like accumulations of detritus are
of a later date. These owe their existence to
heavy rain-storms. Bowlders, pine-trees, etc.,
were washed into the gulch at such times, ami
formed temporary dams, which, on bursting,
increased the volume of water, which swept
everything before it to the foot of the gulch.
In some instances, these may have dammed the
principal stream ; but this cause of lake basins
does not possess an extensive application.
These deposits are all of comparatively recent
origin, and their formation may be observed at
the present day. In the year 1872, many

272

HISTORY OF CLEAR CREEK COUNTY.

thousands of tons of rocks, pines and other
debris wore washed from Silver Gulch on to the
town site of Georgetown, completely covering
clumps of mountain aspens to a depth of sev-
eral feet. A few years later, another " land-
slide," as it was somewhat erroneously termed,
rushed down a ravine near the foot of Leaven-
worth Gulch, bringing with it huge rocks of
many tuns in weight on to the wagon road.
These cases are cited to show the degrading ef-
fects of temporary mountain torrents in general.
The whole Clear Creek Valley is evidently-
one of erosion by immense glaciers, the result
of subsequent aqueous agencies being compara-
tively unimportant. Lateral moraines are
plainly discernible at an altitude of several
hundred feet above the present bed of the
creek, between Idaho Springs and Green Lake.
Medial moraines are common at the junction of
the streams, though these are not usually large,
often consisting of several isolated boulders.
Glacial striae are not as common as might be
expected. They are found in several localities.

however, and may be seen within a quarter of
a mile of Georgetown, on the base of Leaven-
worth Mountain.

It is almost impossible for the human re : »d
to form even an approximate conception of the
immense lapse of time required for the changes
that have been noticed. A cycle of ten thou-
sand years will scarcely serve as a base line for
the measurement of the time occupied in
grooving out these mighty canons, to say noth-
ing of the subsequent era of fluviatile and lacus-
trine deposition. The colossal footprints of the
great ice-rivers cannot be misinterpreted, how-
ever. Their record is as positive as it is dura- ,
hie and vast. This abrading agency revealed
the great repositories of mineral wealth, which
have rendered Clear Creek County famous as a
mining center, and which will be treated of in a
succeeding chapter. Dikes oftrap and porphyry
are found traversing the older formation, some
of these being of considerable extent. Speci-
mens of dendritic porphyry are frequently found ;
and some of which are singularly beautiful.

CHAPTER II.

THi: WHEELS OF PROG ESS.

THE TRAIL BLAZER. and untried country, they struggled nobly in the

THERE is something peculiarly interesting battle for existence and conquered; and many
in the study of the settlement and growth I of them remain to-day apt illustrations of the
of the mining districts in Clear Creek County, theory of the survival of the fittest. After the
Its colonization was attended by so manydisad- Pike's Peak bubble had burst, and many of the
vantages, and the field of operations was soiso- | victims of that desperate and imprudent race
lated ami uncertain that one cannot easily sup- for the acquisition of wealth had returned east-
press a feeling of admiration for the pioneers of wai'd over the desert waste, or had died by the
civilization who first paved and afterward car- wayside, there still remained a few undaunted

peted the way for the refinement, intelligence
and wealth that has since toll,, wed and become
permanent I v established. Stern, rugged ami
persistent as the mountains which surrounded
them, and thoroughly imbued with that feeling of
self-reliance which is one of the essential ele-
ments of success in the settlement of a new

spirits whom misfortune could not check, and
who bravely pushed forward into the very heart

of an unexplored mountain region — hoping, toil-
ing, struggling or dying, in their eager search
for the only metal that was then worth a mo-
ment's consideration — gold.

It was during the year Is.")! I. that Clear Creek

\£+

HISTORY OF CLEAR CREEK COUNTY.

273

County received its first influx of gold-seekers.
Even at that time, observing men claim to have
seen evidences of the works of pre-existing gold-
miners ; and, indeed, there is a strong probability
that these were genuine traces of the primordial
gulch miner ; but, if so, his lineage, and the date
and results of his labors, had died into forget-
fulness. In the Western Mountaineer, published
at Golden, and bearing date October 25, 18G0, is
a long and intelligent description of a human
skeleton found by a party of gulch miners, on
Soda Creek, 200 yards southwest of the mineral
springs. Idaho. This was discovered at a depth
of twenty-two feet below the surface, and,
strange to say, the remains, with the exception
of the skull, which was missing, were in a good
state of preservation, the cellular structure of
the bones being well preserved. Within two
feet of this interesting relic were found the
trunk and roots of a red pine, the woody fiber
being distinct and of its normal color, but some-
what decayed. It is a matter of regret that the
skull was not found, as the identity of the race
might have been determined thereby. It is
probable that the cranium might have been pres-
ent ; but the men were seeking gold, not skele-
tons, and doubtless considered this an unimpor-
tant " strike." Whether these remains could
have had any connection with the vestiges of
human labor just cited, is a question that is left
entirely to the speculation of the reader. There
are many reasons for giving credibility to the
statement published in the Mountaineer, and
this discovery is certainly a knotty question for
geologists to solve.

During the spring of 1859, George A. Jack-
son and several partners, all endowed with
energy and a spirit of enterprise, ascended the
South Fork of Clear Creek, and located their
camp on the present town site of Idaho Springs.
This was the nucleus of the gold-mining that
gave employment to hundreds of men for sev-
eral years succeeding. For ages, the limpid
stream had flowed on untrainmeled by art

and unsullied by man. but the change had at
length come. The many-hued flowers which
had blushed and bloomed unseen of aught
but the summer sun and the twinkling stars.
were now ruthlessly crushed under the cow-
hide boots of the gold seeker ; and the mur-
muring creek was harnessed up and rendered
subservient to the great aim and object of
his life. He stood, an adopted son of the
mountains, and faithfully he kept his allegiance
to his selected parentage. He was in a strange
land and amid unfamiliar scenes. He had out-
stripped the protection of his Government, and
his liberty and security rested alone in his
quickness of perception and the strength of his
arm. He was a cosmopolite, a pioneer and a
hero. A tent was his only shelter, his ■■ claim "
his only tangible possession, gold his idol,
wealth his ambition, and his " navy " his tried
and trusty friend. Energy and muscular vigor
were his salient, characteristics, and of these,
the course he had chosen was the direct and
natural result. Such is a cursory sketch of
the man who crossed a desert waste. 500 miles
in width, to carve for himself a name, a. fortune
and a habitation, in the Kocky Mountains.

INCIPIENT GEORGETOWN.

It was during that season (1859) that George
F. and D. T. Griffith, brothers, followed up the
windings of South Clear Creek to the present
site of Georgetown. Although but twenty-one
years have elapsed since that occurred, it is a
question in history whether they unintention-
ally missed their way on a trip to Middle Park
or were simply out on a prospecting expedition.
This is of little importance — the results are
the same. They remained and prospected for
gold "leads." They were successful in their
search. The auriferous veins eventually led to
the discovery of silver-bearing lodes; and to-
day a busy, bustling town of 3,000 inhabitants
perpetuates the name of one, a prominent mount-
ain the name of each, and one of the richest

274

HISTORY OF CLEAR CREEK COUNTY.

silver districts in the world is a monument to
the enterprise of both. As the Griffith broth-
ers looked into the miniature park for the first
time, they beheld a long stretch of swampy
ground, covered with a dense undergrowth of
willows and fringed by a primeval forest of
pines, where the wildcat and the cougar lay in
wait for the black-tailed deer and the mountain
sheep, and the shaggy cinnamon bear strolled
leisurely around with a feeling of perfect secu-
rity. At the upper i.'m\. which now corresponds
to the business part of the town, was a wide,
sunny glade. Throughout the length of the
park, a colony of beavers hail industriously
dammed the stream at occasional intervals and
were happy in their semi-aquatic existence, and
tin- attenuated otter slyly watched for the finny
denizens of the crystalline waters, which at that
time abounded.

The lode discovered by the founders of
Georgetown on their initial visit runs right into
the present site of the town. This was named
the Griffith, and the mining district in which
Georgetown is located also bears that appella-
tion. The surface quartz was panned for gold,
and the rich metallic prize was obtained. It
was essentially a silver-bearing lode, however,
though its argentiferous character was not fully
established until several years later. The dis-
covery of the Griffith lode had the usual effect.
Prospectors came in little armies, and the great-
est excitement prevailed. Many lodes were dis-
covered, and tested for gold. Stamp mills and
arastras were erected for treatment of the ores;
but, as the miners and millmen were on the
wrong track, working silver lodes ignorant of
their real character, the camp had a variable
and uncertain existence for a number of years.

THE COURSE OF EMPIRE.

Union mining district, in which the town of
Empire is situated, was first temporarily organ-
ized in the spring of 1 860, by a number of pros-
pectors from Spanish Bar, a small mining dis-

trict adjacent to, and contemporaneous with,
Idaho Springs. George Merrill, Joseph Musser,
George L. Nieholls and D. C. Skinner were the
first on the spot — the two former building the
first cabin. Dr. Bard, whose name is handed
down to posterity in "Bard Creek," drove the
first wagon into the camp that season. The lo-
cation of the town is one of the most pleasant
in the mountains, and one can easily conceive
the thrill of delight experienced by the hardy
prospectors who first viewed the valley in its
pristine wildness and its natural beauty. They
weii' seeking gold, however They came, they
sought, they found. Empire was not subject to
the unexpected changes wrought in adjacent
camps by the silver excitement of 1864 and
1805. and gold bullion is still the predominant
product of the district.

It was about the 1st day of August, 1S60,
that Edgar Freeman and H. C. Cowles, two of
the most persistent prospectors that ever
shouldered a pick, climbed over the mountains
from the diggings about Central and dropped
down into the valley of Empire. They pros-
pected and found two minute bits of wire gold
on Eureka Mountain. The latter generously
credits the discovery to the former, but the
writer is of the opinion that the honor should
fall alike on both. Those miniature specimens
of the precious metal were the glowing sparks
that were fanned by persistence and energy in-
to the fires of prosperity which are burning to-
day. An impetus was at once given to pros-
pecting. The news spread, and the murmur in-
creased to a tumult. In the month of Septem-
ber, the Empire and Keystone Lodes were dis-
covered. The necessity of a district organiza-
tion was immediately felt, and in the following
December this was perfected, resulting in the
•lection of Henry Hill, President; H. C.
Cowles. Miners' Judge ; D. J. Ball, Clerk and
Recorder; James Ross, Sheriff, and George L.
Nieholls, Surveyor, all of whom held their of-
fices until superseded by the Territorial organ-

A±.

HISTORY OF CLEAR CREEK COUNTY.

275

ization in 1SG1. Committees were appointed to
draft laws, define boundaries and confirm the
names of mountains and streams. Such names
as Columbia, Lincoln. Douglas and Brecken-
ridge, applied to mountains in Union District,
and Republican, Democrat, Sherman, McClel-
lan, Capitol, etc., in adjoining districts, hear wit-
ness to the loyalty and the political proclivi-
ties of the early settlers, whose names are re-
corded in Kelso, Griffith and Ball Mountains,
Irwin's Peak. Burrell Hill and many others hav-
ing a local and personal significance.

A tide of immigration from Gilpin County
poured into the camp, and hastily constructed
log cabins supplied the place of tents. The
second cabin erected was court house. Sheriff's
office. Recorder's office and town hall This is

still extant, and is aipied by " Uncle Tommy

Hodgkinson," another old-time prospector.
About this time, Empire City, as it was then
characteristically termed, was laid out and sur-
veyed by George L. Xieholls, Henry Hill, H.
C. Cowles, D. J. Ball and Ed Freeman A
more energetic and tenacious class of men
than the first settlers of Empire never estab
lished a colony, and no truer type of the original
"trail-blazer "can be found than that furnished
in the person of Judge 11. ('. Cowles.

From 1861 to istl.">. Empire reveled in a sea-
son of prosperity. Valuable auriferous depos
its on Silver Mountain (a most unwarrantable
appellation), resulting from the decomposition
of the apexes of clusters of gold lodes, w T ere
sluiced at a handsome profit: a number of
arastras and stamp mills were kept running on
the auriferous quartz, liar mining on the creek
paid well, the town flourished, schools were
organized, roads built, and high-pressure times
prevailed generally, during which, many for-
tunes were made ami many were lost. The
wave of prosperity culminated in 1864. The
workings on the veins were getting down to
pyrite. which required different treatment, and
the discoveries made in the adjacent silver dis-

tricts during the fall of that season and the
year following naturally attracted the miners in
that direction. Through the years intervening
from that time to the present date, a number
of the pioneers have steadily developed the
mines of that section, and a recent revival of
mining interests suggests that the tenacity of
the early settlers will, as it should, be prop-
erly rewarded.

EARLY LAWS AND CUSTOMS.

Previous to the Territorial organization,
which occurred early in the spring of 1861,
each mining district possessed a miniature goi
ernment of its own. A desire for law and
order was a singularly conspicuous feature
among the first settlers of Clear Creek County,
and the laws framed and adopted at that time.
at the open-air meetings of the gulch miners.
are living monuments of the strength of char-
acter and integrity of the men who enacted
them. As each district was practically inde-
pendent of the remainder, the laws of the dif-
ferent districts were not necessarily uniform.
The officers usually consisted of a President,
Recorder and Sheriff — the President officiating
in the capacity of •fudge in all cases, civil or
criminal, and presiding at all public meetings
of the miners. Occasionally the district organ-
ization included a Judge, in addition to theother
officers. The court was often called to order
under a pine tree, and the subsequent proceed-
ings were short, sharp and decisive. Criminals
were tried, convicted, sentenced and punished
within the space of an hour. The " law's delay
ami insolence of office" were then unknown
As jails were not so much in demand nor so
common as at the present time, the punishment
for minor offenses frequently consisted of a
command to the offender to strike out for other
pastures. Upon rare occasions, a jury was
impaneled, but a majority of the persons pres-
ent usually decided the case. To this decision
there was no appeal, but in some cases a re-

276

HISTOKY OF CLEAR CREEK COUNTY.

hearing was allowed. How different was this
to the changes of venue, appeals, delays, quib-
bles and technicalities of law. and legal ave-
nues of escape, which an advanced civilization
permits to frustrate the ends of justice at the
present day. George F. Griffith was the first
Recorder, and James Iiurrell was the first Pres-
ident of Griffith mining district, the one in
which Georgetown is located. Samuel Cush-
man. in his " Mines of Clear Creek County," pub-
lished in 1876, writes as follows of the ante-
Territorial laws of Griffith District. " An exam-
ination of the district laws and the proceedings
of the miners' meetings, will .satisfy any one of
the capacity of American citizens to govern them-
selves under any circumstances. After revision
and codification in 18G1, they were probably
the most complete set of laws adopted in the
then unorganized Territory."

IDAHO SPRINGS.

Again looking back to the first settlement of
the county, and reviewing the changes that took
place, and the progress made for several years
succeeding, that part of Clear Creek Valley ex-
tending from Fall River down to Floyd Hill, of
which Idaho Springs was the principal camp,
justly claims the attention of the historian. A
straggling line of miners' cabins, with numerous
devices for washing out the free gold, existed
all along the eieek. Spanish Bar, Fall River
In ass Valley and many other points aspired to
the dignity of mining towns, and not without
some foundation. Gulch-mining was pursued
with remarkable vigor for several years, but at
length the camps of minor importance were
gradually absorbed by Idaho Springs, and now
lnii little remains of them except ruins of tin/
old ditches and sluicing operations and their
names; and, in some instances, even the latter.
as is learned from reference to files of the
Rocky Mountain News published at that time.
have fallen into desuetude, or are entirely un-
known.

Idaho Springs possesses many advantages of
location. The valley where the town is built
is at least half a mile in width and over a mile
in length. The first gulching was commenced
on Chicago bar. now within the town limits,
and the fact that the gold-seekers were deserv-
edly successful, soon attracted others who were
thirsting for gold and adventure ; so that when
the mountain maples shed their russet leaves in
the fall, at least 200 prospectors were on the
spot. Many of them remained during the win-
ter, and. in the summer of 1860, Idaho was an
established fact. During that year, Dennis
Faivre, now one of Idaho's most popular and
successful merchants, occasionally drove a team
of oxen, laden with miners' supplies, into the
incipient camp. It was then, also, that an un-
pretentious log cabin commenced to cater to
the gastronomic necessities of the gold miners,
under the direction of F. W. Beebee and the
ci igni mien of the Beebee House. That was the
foundation of the Beebee House of to-day, and,
through all the intervening vicissitudes of for-
tune, and the ups and downs of the town, he
has stood tenaciously at the helm, and acquired
a reputation in this line second to none in the
State. Indeed, tenacity was a notable feature
among the early pioneers of this place. Among
the '59-ers who are still residents of the town,
may lie mentioned A. P. Smith. William Hobbs
and John Xeedham.

In 1860, Dr. A. M. Xoxon. Dr. E. F. Holland,
M. 15. Graeff, John Silvertooth, " Elder" It. B.
Griswold, and a number of others who still
remain here, first migrated to the nascent camp.

In the same year was the first increase of
population not due to immigration, ami the first
celebration of Independence Pay in the county.
On the latter occasion about 100 miners marched
proudly in procession tc* the mellifluous strains
of a single fife, carrying the insignia of their
rani'; — their picks ami shovels — on their shoul-
ders. Tt is claimed that this patriotic display
was entirely free from the stimulating influence

j£*

HISTOWY ()K CJ,KAK CHEEK Oil XIV.

277

of whisky. There is a lingering suspicion in
the minds of many, however, that this unusual
abstinence cm the part of the enthusiastic miners
might possibly be due to an unavoidable scarci-
ty of the article.

In 1861, Cedar Creek Canon, from Spanish
Bar. two miles above Idaho, to Floyd Hill, six
miles below, was alive with gold-seekers, and

"Clear" Creek became a misn er applied to

the stream that was completely polluted by
gulch-mining. At this time, female society
began to exert its refining influence on the rude
but generous miners. Religious services, con-
ducted alternately by a divine named Bunch,
alias " The Arkansas Traveler," and the Rev.
Mr. Potts, were of weekly occurrence, but the
decorum exacted at the present day was not
always observed. At one time a reckless adven-
turer was shot in a fracas, ami when a number
of miners carried him to his last resting-place,
in the absence of any orthodox ritual, they
lustily sang -Old Rosin the Bow, " over him
before consigning him to his untimely grave,
After he was securely -planted," a quantity of
gold dust which he happened to have on his
person at the time of his death, was first used
to defray his funeral expenses, and a surplus
left over was spent in a bibulous jollification.

in the same year the Seaton mine was dis-
covered and the first stamp mill erected. The
Whale Lode was located at this time — the Ilukill
having been discovered a year previous -ami
the attention of many of the gulch miners was
diverted to lode milling. In this year the Ter-
ritorial government was organized, and Idaho
Springs became the county seal of Clear Creek

County, but. in 1867, this distinction was trans-
ferred to Georgetown. In the interim the milch
miners worked along in a rudely felicitous way.
and many st,„ies are told at the present day of
the unpolished manliness and native generosity
of the early pioneers, who traded solely through
the medium of gold dust, and attended church
in indifferent attire.

In I860, Mr. Harrison Montague took charge
of and commenced to improve the hot soda
springs, which soon became renowned for their
curative properties, and since that time hundreds
of tourists have been annually attracted to Idaho
by this feature alone. During the 70's a num-
ber of adjacent veins were steadily developed,
and lode mining became a profitable industry.
Mills were built and wagon roads constructed,
and the pioneers began to reap the reward of
their perseverance.

In the fall of 1873, a government patent was
obtained for the town site, and a Board of Trust-
ees organized with "Elder" Griswold at its
head. In the spring of 1879, the town and the
surrounding district commenced to take uncom-
monly rapid and effective strides in the march
of progress. Idaho now possessed railroad facil-
ities, great advancements had been made in the
treatment of its ores, and many of the disadvan-
tages which had militated somewhat against the
prosperity of the camp at an early day, were par-
tially or entirely removed. Capitalists cast sig-
nificant glances at its immense mineral veins,
and among the. first to recognize their impor-
tance was a party of Nevada gentlemen. The
result was that two of the most valuable lodes
in the vicinity — the Freeland and the Ilukill —
were purchased, and mining was commenced on
a scale hitherto unknown in this county. Now
that the way was so clearly pointed out. other
men possessed < >f means soon followed, and min-
ing investment, and development became gen-
eral. Residences, with claims to considerable
architectural beauty, were speedily erected, and
to-day Idaho Springs is one of the neatest and
most pleasant and progressive mountain towns
in the State.

THE DISCOVERY OF SILVER.

The discovery of silver in Clear Creek and

the State at large is usually dated in the tall of
1864 or the spring of 1865. There are abun-
dant evidences to prove, however, that silver

278

HISTORY OF CLEAR CREEK COUNTY.

was km iwn to exist in the State as early as 1859,
and its discovery in Clear Creek County the fol-
lowing year admits of indubitable proof.

In the first volume and thirteenth number of
the Rocky Mountain News, published in "Aura-
riaand Denver. K. T.." August 20, 1859, is a
statement of the result of an assay of quartz
taken from the Gregory Lode, Gilpin County.
This shows a yield of sixteen and three-fourths
ounces of silver per ton. in addition to ten and
one-half ounces of gold, the analysis being made
by John Torrey, assayer at the U. S. Assay Office,
New York.

The Ida '-Silver" Lode, as tiny were Ikst re-
corded in contradistinction to the auriferous
veins, was the first true silver-bearing hide dis-
covered in Colorado. It was found by LV C.
Daley in September, I860, on Silver Mountain,
near Empire. The mineral was assayed a few
days later by Dr. Day, of Central, in the pres-
ence of a number of dee] ly interested prospect-
ors, and found to contain 723 ounces of silver
per cord, or about 100 ounces per 'on. A pre-
emption certificate in the possession of the wri-
ter is a marvel of brevity. Tt consists of a strip
of legal cap one and a half indies in width. On
one side is the following :

Upper Fall River District, Oct. •). 1860.
I claim by pre-emption 100x50 feci on the Mori
Sun Silver Lode, being No. 7 west IV >m discovery claim.

E. H. N. Patterson.
On the opposite side the record is given as
follows :

Filed and recorded Oct. .her 4, 18R0. Book B, Page
139. William Pilgrim, Recorder.

Three other ci rtificates, all signed by E. II. X.
Patterson, and testifying to the record of silver-
lit aring lodes, two of which were located in Union
and one in Lincoln mining district, prove that
the former was not an isolated case These
are interesting, also, in showing the wanderings
and perseverance of the discoverer of the lodes
in question, the lately deceased editor of Tin
Colorado Miner, who at that time furnished the

Western Mountaineer with lucid descriptions of
the incipient mining camps of Clear Creek
County, told in his own rac} - and original stjde,
under the nom dt plume of " Suiktaw." In a let-
ter published in the Mountaineer November 8,
1860, he speaks of the discovery of several sil-
ver " leads." as they were then termed in the
parlance of the miners. The Rocky Mountain
Xi ns of 1860 anil 18G1 contains frequent allu-
sions to the silver lodes of this district. The
News of October 2. 18G0. in an editorial on this
subject, says: ''The silver veins are not, how-
ever, confined to the district of country named.
All along the main Clear Creek they also abound,
and have been traced clear to the Snowy Range,
and far up its precipitous slope."

To R. W. Steele (who was at the head of the
provisional government previous to the Terri-
torial organization by the General Government),
James Huff ami Robert Lay ton. is usually given
the credit of the discovery of silver in the
month of September. 1864. That they discov-
ered the Belmont Lode, in East Argentine dis-
trict, at that time, is a fact which no one dis-
putes. Assays of the mineral made by Prof.
Dibbin proved the argentiferous character of
the ore. and this was the immediate cause of
the wide-spread prospecting that established
Clear Creek County's reputation as a silver cen-
ter. The discovery of silver, however, in this
county was accomplished in 1860, as before
stated. The tact had been determined by
numerous assays, but. in their frantic search for
the more precious metal, the miners of that
day did not give the silver lodes the atten-
tion that they merited. No better proof of the
thorough knowledge of their existence at that
time can be furnished than in the following ex-
tracl from Gov. Steele's message to the "General
Assembly of Jefferson Territory." published in
the Western Mountaineer, bearing date Novem-
ber 22, 1860. This message, by the way. was
a remarkably able and interesting document,
reflecting great credit on Gov. Steele and the

-=*-

•

HISTORY OF CLEAR CREEK COUNTY.

281

founders of the Centennial State. The quota-
tion referred to is as follows:

"Numerous leads of a bright and shining-
ore of quartz, called " silver ore," have been
discovered in the neighborhood of the summit
of the mountains, extending for hundreds of
miles with the ranges. From numerous assays
of this ore, many of the leads promise to be ex-
ceedingly rich, both in gold and silver, equal
even to the celebrated Washoe mines of Carson
Valley."

The decadence of gulch mining in the county
probably had a direct influence in determining
the development of silver-bearing lodes, by di-
verting the energies of the miners into another
channel. As a result of this, the discoverers of
the Belmont Lode should rather be credited
with first awakening the public to a sense of
the importance and value of Clear Creek's ar-
gentiferous veins, than with the original dis-
covery of silver in the county.

STEP BT STEP.
" Backward ! turn backward, O Time ! in your flight,"
and again permit the reader to view the site of
Georgetown in the year 1860. At that period,
there was nothing but a site to see, but it must
have been a beautiful site. The Griffith
brothers were energetic men, and they immedi-
ately commenced the development of their lode.
They also discovered several others on the
mountains that smiled down on their initial la-
bors. The Burrell. Corisannie and Nancy Lodes
were among the first discoveries. Griltith min-
ing district was organized June 25. 1860. In
that summer a plat of the town was made by
D T. Griffith, but was subsequently lost.

It is a singular fact, and one which betrays
the perseverance of the Griffith brothers and
other early settlers, that a narrow belt of aurif*
erous lodes was found in the center of the sil-
ver district. They panned the surface quartz
and found gold. As soon as possible a stamp
mill was erected near the site of the gas works.

An overshot water-wheel was used as the mo-
tive power, and in the spring of '61 the clatter
of twelve wooden, iron-shod stamps was echoed
back from the hills for the first time. In the
following year, $2,500 in gold was actually
taken out of the lodes mentioned above, through
the treatment of this first rude stamp mill.
They were but silver veins in disguise, however.
As depth was gained, their argentiferous char-
acter defeated the object of the pioneers. The
most diligent and persistent stamping couldnot
transform silver to gold, and the enthusiasm
attendant on the first discovery of gold died
for want of support.

At this time the stream was full of trout, and
the industrious beavers — the original pre-emp-
tors of the ground — diligently pursued their
nocturnal labors. As late as 1863, John T. Har-
ris was the sole denizen of the town for the
space of two weeks. Empire, Idaho and Span-
ish Bar were looming, however, and the county,
taken as a whole, was steadily growing in im-
portance and notoriety.

In the fall of 1864, an Eastern company im-
prudently commenced the erection of a stamp
mill for the treatment of gold ores. This was
completed in 1865, and the first trial convinced
the owners that this was not a gold district.
But now the silver excitement was fairly under
way, and gold was no longer an object of special
search. Miners flocked in from the surrounding
districts, and the hills were literally alive with
prospectors. Silver lodes were discovered all
the way from Georgetown to the main ranee.
The machinery of prosperity was in motion,
and the wheels of progress spun swiftly round,
under the powerful incentive of hope and the
vitalizing stimulus of industry. Homes were
established, and the " hand that rocks the cradle
and rules the world " gracefully wielded the
scepter in domestic circles. Georgetown was
now built upon a foundation that the whims
and caprices of fortune could not shake. True
fissure veins of silver were abundant and rich,

282

HISTORY OF CLEAR CREEK COUNTY.

and in order to insure complete success, nothing
now remained but the employment of some
practical process for the treatment of the ores.

The average result of the accurate assay of
six different specimens of ore taken from the
Belmont Lode (now the Johnson) during the
winter of 1SGL-65, was $827.4S per ton, prin-
cipally in silver. This attracted the attention
of Eastern capitalists, some of whom invested
" not wisely, but too well." This was particu-
larly noticeable in theoriginal attempts at mill-
inij;. To C. S. Stowel belongs the honor, if
honor it is. of erecting the first mill built in the
county for the treatment of argentiferous ores.
This consisted of an ordinary blast furnace.
The fires had been lighted several weeks, and all
the metallurgical skill of the projector of the
enterprise had been spent in vain. The min-
eral obstinately refused to run. At this junc-
ture, Frank Dibbin, a gentleman extensively
connected with the early inilline- operations of
Clear Creek County, approached the unsuccess-
ful smelter and said. " Stowel, I'll bet you 1500
I can melt that ore in twenty-four hours." The
bet was readily accepted and staked in the
hands of a mutual friend.

Next morning, Prof Dibbin. with three assist-
ants, entered the hastily constructed edifice
and closed the doors from motives of secrecy.
As the success of the undertaking was a matter
of immense importance to the whole silver dis-
trict, a crowd of eager and deeply interested
miners hung around the building all day.
Among the number was Lorenzo M. Bowman,
a gentleman of color from the lead mines of
Missouri. Possessing an observing turn of
mind. Mr. B. availed himself of the advantage
offered bj a convenient knot-hole, and carefully
watched the whole proceeding, He soon as-
sured Caleb Stowel that the color of the flame
indicated an improper temperature, resting his
judgment upon a fifteen years' experience in
smelting operations in Missouri. Stowel told
him to wait until the bet was decided, and then.

if the mineral still proved refractory, which
seemed highly probable, he, too, should have a
chance to display his ability.

Prof. Dibbin worked like a Trojan all day and
brought the advantages of a scientific education
to bear on the subject, but to no purpose. At
11 o'clock that night, his whole store of
metallurgic skill being exhausted, and the ore
still remaining unchanged, he reluctantly aban-
doned the contest.

Early next morning. Bowman took the mat-
ter in hand, and by noon the mineral yielded to
his efforts and fused. This was the first bullion
produced in Clear Creek County. A knowledge
of the fact was received with considerable en-
thusiasm by the assembled miners. The smelt-
er was kept in operation a number of months,
when it was found that to save and separate the
silver was much more difficult than the simple
smelting of the ore. As a chronological history
of milling will be given in a separate chapter, it
is not necessaiy to enter into further details at
this place. This occurred in 1866.

In 1865. a simple monument of stones, with a
scrap of paper giving the name of the claim and
its locator, were all that were required to hold
a claim for thirty days, when the date had to be
changed in order to insure its continuance. At
that time the inhabitants of the Clear Creek
County were probably the most enterprising
race of mound-builders that ever existed. Dur-
ing 1865 the Elijah Hise, Franklin. Guthrie,
i >. EL, Paymaster, ratten. Nuckolls, Victor and
many other lodes, including the majority of
the Lebanon Tunnel Company's properties,
were discovered, and their development was
:ii once commenced and pursued as actively as
isolation, indifferent roads and high rates of
miners' wages would permit.

During the following year the Baker. Beecher,
Summit, Silver Cloud and Terrible Lodes were
added to the list, which included hundreds of
others, some of which have passed into obscu-
rity, while many, notably those on the southern

l£*

HISTORY OF CLEAR CREEK COUNTY.

283

slope of Leavenworth Mountain are being stead-
ily worked at the present day Silver mining
in that year established a permanent foothold,
ami the district steadily earned the reputation
which it still retains.

From 1866 t 1870 was marked by the dis-
covery of what subsequently proved to be the
richest and most productive silver-bearing veins
in the county The Bismarck. Pelican, Dives,
Kangaroo, Mammoth Saxon, Ni-Wot and Com
are among the number. Some of the most im-
portant tunnel enterprises in the county were
also started at that time. Among these were
the Burleigh, on Sherman Mountain, now the
longest tunnel in the district, the Douglas Tun-
nel, on the mountain of that name, now known
as the Franklin, and the Diamond Tunnel, on
Republican Mountain. In 18GG, Ed Bainbridge,
a notorious character, suffered capital punish-
ment, under the efficient jurisdiction of Judge
Lynch, for shooting a man named Jim Martin,
on account of a gambling dispute. Knowing
the folly of procrastination, Bainbridge was
hung by an excited and determined crowd im-
mediately after the shooting occurred, a tree at
the point of rocks below the gas works being
used as a gallows. Although Martin fully
recovered from his wound, and is, probably,
alive to-day, the action of the lynchers does not
appear to have received, or merited, public con-
demnation.

The year 1867 is memorable from the fact
that the second survey and plat of the town was
made by Charles Govt, an employe of the Hull-
ion Silver Mining Company, under the direc-
tion of the citizens. Thus far, a thin cluster of
cabins, in the open glade near the foot of Bur-
rell Hill, had been known by the name of Eliza-
bet htowu, in honor of a sister of the Griffith
brothers, but, at a meeting of the citizens, held
onthecornerof Rose and Mary streets, the name
Ceorgetown was chosen, by a three-fourths ma-
jority, for the city as it stands to-day, which
comprises an area of G37 acres. The survey

made at that time defines the boundaries of the
streets and blocks at present existing, and is
incorporated in the town charter granted by the
Territorial Legislature, January 10, 18GS.

It was in 1S67, also, that the growing impor-
tance and steadily increasing population of
Georgetown determined the removal of the
county seat of Clear Creek County from Idaho
Springs to its present location. The first Police
Judge and Board of Selectmen under the munic-
ipal organization were as follows: Police Judge
Frank Dibbin ; Selectmen— First Ward, W.
W. Ware. Charles Whitner ; Second Ward, H.
K. Pearson, John Scott.

On the 1st day of May of that year, the ini-
tial number of the Colorado Miner, then the
Georgetown Miner, was published in a small
building in lower town. This is about 12x14
feet in size, and is now occupied by John T.
Harris. The first editors and proprietors were
J. E. Wharton and A. W. Barnard, and the
freshness and newsy character of the Minn- at
that time and later, is a striking index to the
push and energy of the citizens. From its in-
ception, the Miner has made a specialty of min-
ing news. and. though several changes of owner-
ship have been experienced, it has steadily pur-
sued the object stated in its salutatory, and has
acquired a reputation for accuracy and com-
pleteness of information concerning the mineral
wealth of the region where it is published, sec-
ond to no other paper in the State.

The primary organization of the public school
occurred in 1SG7. As Georgetown, at that date,
was a long, straggling village, the jealousy in-
cident to the location of schoolhouses in gen-
eral was prevalent among the citizens, and
ihe\ squabbled, petitioned and counter-peti-
tioned the perplexed school hoard in the usual
persistent manner. Miss L. II. Lander, an esti
mable. talented, and popular young lady gave
the young ideas of Georgetown their initial les-
sons. School was commenced early in the
spring. On the 29th day of the following June.

284

HISTORY OF CLEAR CREEK COUNTY.

Miss Lander, unfortunately, fell from a foot log,
while endeavoring to cross the creek, and was
drowned.

In 18G8, the Episcopal Church was organized j
by Bishop Randall. The year following the
Presbyterians commenced religious services;!
anil about the same time the Roman Catholic |
Church, through the medium of Fathers Rav- \
erdy and Foley, began to scatter the seeds of'
Gospel truth in a soil that was susceptible of 1
cultivation. The Methodists, however, were
first on the spot. They organized a church as
early as 1864, and a Sunday school tin- follow-
ing year. The Congregational Church was or-
ganized at a later dale.

The Barton House was built in 1807. ami al-
though one or two boarding-houses had pre-
viously existed, this was the first pretension at
anything like a first-class hotel. Mr. William
Barton was the parent of the institution. The
house was 1 mined to the around in 1871, bill
was immediately rebuilt.

On April 15, 1869, Stephen Decatur, better
known as "Commodore" Decatur, and :! Old
Sulphurets," the latter being his nom <h flume,
became assoi iated with the <'<>l<>rii<l,i Miner, as
mining editor, and faithfully he performed Ms
task. Earnest, enthusiastic and energetic, the
friend of the miner, and deeply devoted to his
adopted State, the -Commodore" gained an
enviable popularity, and acquired a large circle
of friends and acquaintances.

The valuation of the property in the county
in 1869. was $962,561 : in 1870, $1,100,112.

The thrifty and pleasantly situated mining
town of Silver Plume commenced to exist in
the latter year, as will be seen by the following
quotation from the Georgetown Miner, bearing
date July 20. 1870 ; " A new mining camp is
being built up about two miles west of George-
town, on the Bakerville road. The valley at
this point is quite broad, wood for fuel is
abundant, pasturage for several months in the
year is excellent, and a streamlet of clear cold

water tumbles down Cherokee Gulch. Jacob
Snyder and Daniel Peters will make their head-
quarters at this new mining camp. They are
agents for several mining companies, and now
have twenty men employed on the Snow-drift,
Silver Plume and other lodes. What name
shall grace the new town ? "

Silver Plume, then, was evidently named
after the mine of that name. The Pelican,
Pay Rock. Dives, Elm City, Phoenix. Cold-
stream. Dunkirk, Baxter, Eagle Bird and Den-
ver Lodes, with the two mentioned above, are
all plainly visible, from and within a short
distance of Silver Plume. The Diamond Tun-
nel is nearly on the site of the town, while th
Burleigh Tunnel is a short distance further up
the creek.

for several years succeeding, the great
mines of that district, the most productive of
which were the Pelican and Dives yielded im-
mensely, and the district was in a whirl of
excitement. The most unscrupulous cupidity
was fully roused by the fabulous richness of
the mines. Litigation sprang up. and the legal
fraternity reaped a bountiful harvest. In some
instances, judicial restraint was entirely ignored.
Mines were jumped' and th- miners were
protected at their labors by bodies of armed
men. The Terrible mine was sold to English
capitalists, and its development was vigorously
prosecuted The Saxon mine, on the mountain
of the same name, was yielding ore of ex-
traordinarily hi".h grade, running many thou-
sands .if ounces of silver to the ton. The Square
and Compass, O. K.. Argentine, Colorado Cen-
tral. Saco and Equator Lodes on Leavenworth
Mountain, were paying handsomely: the Ste-
vens and Baker mines, close under the main
range, were the scenes of active development
the Marshall Tunnel was being rapidly driven
ahead, and the Hukill. Seaton, Victor and a
number of other lodes in the vicinity of Idaho
Springs were remunerating their owners.

This period may truly be termed the "flush

.li ,.'

OiiJ ' '

>* *.«D

HISTORY OF CI.EAI! ( i;i;i;k COUNTY.

285

times " of Clear Creek County, and particularly
of Georgetown. Attracted by the rich returns,

capital flowed in by wholesale. Numberless
processes for the reduction and concentration
of the ores of the district were introduced
tried and abandoned with astonishing reckless-
ness and prodigality. Mills were built all over
the county, and there were scarcely two proc-
esses alike. Mine "salters" sprung up and
were summarily punished. The great Pelican-
Dives and Hercules-Roe mining contests, in-
vi living many hundreds of thousands of dollars,
were in progress. So fierce did this conflict
become that one of the owners of the Pelican
was brained on the streets of Georgetown by a
lessee on the Dives. Fortunes were made in a
few days or weeks, and were nearly as speedily
squandered. The Polar Star. Silver Cloud and
Junction mines, on Democrat .Mountain, were
paying royally The town grew rapidly, and
society improved. Green Lake was fitted up
by William H Cushman as a pleasure resort.
A road was built over the main range to the
silver mines of Peru and Montezuma districts,
Summit County The Geneva mines were pur-
chased by an English company, and the lodes
intersected by the Britannic Tunnel. George-
town and Empire were connected by a wagon-
road via Union Pass. A trail was constructed
to the summit at Gray's Peak tor the conven-
ience of tourists. Several churches and a brick
schoolhouse. the latter capable of seating over
30(1 pupils, were erected. Benevolent and other
societies flourished, and sociality was rife. The
touch of civilization subdued the rudeness of
the earlier days, but left intact the spirit of
-nyely ,,nd enthusiasm that was horn of com-
mercial and financial success. It was a period
of life, vigor and experiments, in which a solid
foundation was laid for the permanence and
prosperity of the district in succeeding years.
From 1875 to the present year. 1880, more
caution was exercised both in mining and mill-
ing than had been previously employed. In the

earlier years of the time in question, litigation
had a retarding influence on the development
and production of the Terrible. Hercules and
Roe, Pelican and hives and Maine and Phoenix
Lodes. Consolidation has been effected in every
case in question, however, and that annoyance
is forever removed from the properties in ques-
tion. In the closing months of 1876, D. E. Du-
laney, alter years of search, discovered the
famous Red Elephant mines, the Free America
being the first lode found. There was an im-
mense amount of activity among prospectors at
that point the following spring, and Lawson, a
new mining camp, sprung into existence. The
Boulder Nest and White mines were found, and
the first year of their development these proper-
ties added largely to the output of the county.
This was the Centennial year, and "Commo-
dore" Decatur was chosen as one of the State
Commissioners to represent Colorado at the Ex-
position at Philadelphia. On the 14th day of
August in the following year, 1877, the Colo-
rado Central Railroad was completed to George-
town. As this was a long-expected and much-
desired event, an unusual amount of enthusi-
asm was manifested by the citizens. The last
spike was driven, with considerable eclat, by
some of the prominent men of the town, public
speeches were made, and joyous greetings were
flashed over the wires from other towns. An
elaborately gotten up extra was issued from the
office of the Colorado Miner. After the arrival
of the first train, which brought in hundreds of
passengers, firemen's races and other amuse-
ments were witnessed by the largest crowd of
spectators ever assembled in Georgetown.

The first number of the Georgetown Courier
was issued May 24, 1877. Publisher and pro-
prietor. J. S. Randall ; editor, Samuel Cushman.
The paper has steadily increased in prosperity
to the present day, and is a valuable exponent
of the mineral wealth of the county.

On the early morning of the 15th day of De-
cember of that year, a slight ripple of excite-

286

HISTORY OF CLEAR CREEK COUNTY.

ment coursed through Georgetown, owing to the
discovery of the dead body of Robert Schrainle
hanging by the neck to the frame of an old
building. On the 12th day of the preceding
October, Sehramle had wantonly murdered an
industrious butcher named Henry Theide. He
was subsequently arrested at Las Animas and
brought back to Georgetown, where he had a
preliminary examination before J. P. He Mat-
tos. Justice of the Peace. There being not the
slightest doubt of his guilt, he was incarcerated
in the county jail to await his trial, but. tin the
second night of his prison life, the jailer was
overpowered by a number of determined men
and Sehramle was taken out. with the result
given above. The action of the lynchers was
generally approved by the citizens.

Duringthese years, the Little Emma Mine, on
Democrat Mountain, and the Tilden. on Leaven-
worth, were the -.cue-, of t wo of the most im-
portant strikes. Stewart's Silver Reduction
works were entirely consumed by fire and speed-
ily rebuilt. The Clear Creek Company's con-
centrating, sampling and reduction works were
erected. The Geneva mines were developed
with increased energy, and a mill elected for the
treatment of the ores. During the fall of ls77.
the Dunderberg commenced to yield enor-
mously. The product of four months in the
winter of 1^77 an d 1S7S was SI 1L'.."»2S.!I7.

Mining was now reduced to a more perma-
nent and definite basis. Investments were made

with more than ordinary care. Strong com-
panies were formed, and heavy machinery was
introduced. Increased attention began to be
paid to the concentration of ores. The neces-
sity of deep mining and of the systematic and
economic development of properties was recog-
nized by mining men. Silver Plume and
Brownville prospered and grew until they now
aggregate a population of fifteen hundred, which
is essentially composed of miners. The Joe
Reynolds Lodes were discovered on Columbian
Mountain. The unusual richness of the ore con-
tained in these lodes incited prospecting, and,
as a result, a mining camp sprung up on Silver
Creek. A lively competition among ore buyers
insured the highest market rates to miners. An
excellent system of city water-works was intro-
duced at Georgetown. Hydraulic placer mining
was commenced by a company on the rich aurif-
erous deposits on Silver Mountain, near Em-
pire. Lodes which, years ago. were aban-
doned as unprofitable, owing to high rates of
freight and wages, etc.. were re-located and re-
muneratively worked. Miners' disputes were
left to the decision of judges instead of the
f< tree i if arms. " Salting'' and forcibly "jumping"
claims became matters of history only. A gen-
eral desire to consolidate groups of veins and
work them collectively became a conspicuous
feature. Here the past Insensibly merges into
the present.

CHAPTER III.

TOWN'S AND MINING CAMPS.

introduction. ' within a period of two years, or even less, be

TN the settlement and progress of a silver or ' transformed into a miniature city : and this, in

J- gold mining region, the rapidity with which its turn, may change almost as suddenly to its

towns are built up or deserted is especially no- primeval wildness. No better illustration of

ticeable. Their growth and decay are deter- this feature can be given than that furnished by

mined by the elements of uncertainty which Leadville. In 1860 and 1861, California Gulch

surround them. An uninhabited waste may. was nearly as thickly populated as it is at the

' l isi

HISTORY OF CLEAR CREEK COUNTY.

287

present day. For fifteen years subsequent to
this, it was almost uninhabited, when the human
tide again turned and a prosperous and popu-
lous city sprung up as if by magic.

Although Clear Creek County furnishes but
a meager comparison, quantitively considered,
with the changes just cited, it has seen many
mutations of this description which have af-
forded uncommon facilities for speculation in
town hits, some of which were mentioned in the
preceding chapter. Several of the mining
camps which were duly .surveyed and assumed
metropolitan airs from fifteen to twenty years
ago. are now entirely forgotten, the files of the
newspapers published at that time furnishing
the only records of their existence, and of the
blighted hopes of the modern Bemuses who
founded them. The sources of their existence
were not permanent, and their inhabitants mi-
grated to other fields. In some instances, the
conditions which produced them were not thor-
oughly understood, and, after a period of com-
parative dormancy, they are again the scenes of
life, activity and progress. A brief descrip-
tion of the towns and villages in the county will
now be given in the order of their importance.
The salient features connected with their growth
were recorded in the general progress of the
county. Nothing but their present condition
remains to be mentioned, casting such retro-
spective glances as unintentional omissions may-
have rendered necessary.

GEORGETOWN.

Georgetown is the county seat of Clear Creek-
County, and is located at the junction of West
Branch and Leavenworth Creek, which unite in
the center of the town, forming the South Branch
of South Clear Creek. Its altitude is 8,514 feet
above tide level. The town survey includes an
area of a little over 637 acres, and averages over
half a mile in width by about one and a half
miles in length. The central portion of the
town is comparatively level, but the sides, and

particularly the upper end, rest on the taluses
that flank the bases of the mountains that
bound the town on three sides. These are Grif-
fith on the east, Burrell on the south and Be- .
publican on the west. Douglas Mountain, three
miles to the north, limits the view in that direc-
tion. These mountain slopes are barren and
precipitous, both in appearance and reality, ris-
ing to a visible height of from fifteen hundred
to two thousand feet, their summits, which
cannot be seen from Georgetown, running up
and back at least fifteen hundred feet higher.
The best idea of their altitude and proximity
may be formed from the fact that from this
source the average daily duration of sunshine
is curtailed five to six hours.

Compared with those of other mountain towns,
the streets of Georgetown are quite regular,
though they conform, in a few instances, to the
course of the creek. A feeling of seclusion is
usually experienced by strangers on their first
arrival, so deeply is the •■ Silver Queen " held
in the rugged embrace of the eternal hills. A
beautiful grove of pines decks the talus on the
eastern verge of the town, at the foot of Grif-
fith Mountain. With this exception, however,
the town is almost devoid of arborescent garni-
ture. The buildings, both public and private,
are mainly frame structures ; brick is used to
some extent, and stone, the most abundant ma-
terial, still less. The foremost structures of
the latter type ai - e the stables and business
office recently erected by Gen. W. A. Hamill, in
the rear of his handsome residence on Argentine
street. There are numerous private residences
throughout the town which possess considerable
architectural beauty, but, as a rule, the comple-
ments of gardens and flowers are usually lack-
ing ; the presence of granitic bowlders through-
out the main part of the town rendering this
object unattainable, except at great expense.
Several acres of deciduous shrubs and trees
were carefully- fenced in a number of years ago,
by B. 0. Old, Esq., at his residence in lower

-s >>.

288

HISTORY OF CLEAR CREEK COUNTY.

town, and the result is a very conspicuous oasis
in a wilderness of rocks and detritus.

Although the summer seasons and the hours
per day of sunshine in Georgetown are compara-
tively hrief.it is by no means an undesirable place
forresidence. The air is elastic and bracing, and
the temperature is usually agreeable. For two
hours after the morning sun impinges its first
rosy beams on the apparent summit of Repub-
lican Mountain — which is but an hour's climb
distant — Georgetown remains immersed in the
shadow of Griffith Mountain, while the clearly
marked line between the light and shade crawls
slowly down the slope of Mount Republican.
In the evening, this is reversed. The sun slips
behind the westerly mountain, and the sunlight
gradually fades on Mount Griffith, until it
dies in a farewell of glory on its bald and
rounded pate. The effect of moonlight on
the crags and peaks is singularly weird and
ghostly.

The principal and most conspicuous building
in Georgetown is the public schoolhouse. This
is built of brick, contains seven rooms, afford-
ing accommodation for more than 300 pupils,
and is a handsome and commodious structure.
It was built in 1874. It is well lighted and
ventilated, and the heating apparatus is perfect
Its use has proven it to be not a whit too large
for its object. It is a matter of regret to the
citizens of Georgetown, that the next largest
and finest building in town — Cushman's Opera
House, a large three-story brick building — is
now nothing but a massive monument of ineffi-
cient workmanship, the building having been re-
cently condemned by the city authorities as un-
safe for the purpose for which it was designed.
The town hall and court house are both frame
buildings. Utility and convenience have not
been sacrificed to elegance in either instance,
particularly in the former. It serves well
enough, however, for the discussion of the
questions of municipal reform which are occa-
sionally brought before Georgetown's paternal

guardians. The county jail is another structure
that claims a passing mention. It contains
five sleeping apartments, vulgarly termed
" cells," and a sitting-room of meager propor-
tions. It is unoccupied at the present time.
The tempting opportunities of escape offered to
its inmates have several times resulted in a
general exodus. The new bell tower on Mary
street, behind the Alpine Hose Company's house,
is a very conspicuous and useful edifice. It is
seventy feet in height and supports a 1,200-
pound tire-bell, donated to the city by Gen. W.
A. Hamill. Immediately beneath the bell is a
room for the night watchman. The traveling
theatrical troupes that visit the town perform
in McC-lellau's Opera House, which has a seat-
ing capacity of over 300.

Probably the best criterion of the progress
and permanency of a town is furnished by tin-
reports of its public schools. Without doubt
the Georgetown public school is one of the most
successful institutions of the kind in the State-
From the first little log cabin in which the un-
fortunate Miss Lander ruled over a handful of
voung mountaineers to the elegant brick edifice
with corresponding appointments of to-day, the
growth has been steady and permanent. Mr
Frank R. Carpenter, a gentleman of rare tuto-
rial ability, was the first Principal of the school
after the completion of the present building.
Two years later, he was elected to the office of
County Superintendent of Public Instruction,
which office he held until the installation of Mr.
Harrison Montague, of Idaho Springs, the pres-
ent Superintendent, which occurred in Janu-
ary of the current year. After Mr. Carpenter's
resignation of the position of principal teacher,
Mr. A. E. Chase officiated in that capacity with
credit to himself, profit to his pupils and satis-
faction to the public, until the past winter, when
he resigned in favor of Mr. Henry Jane, who
was succeeded by Mr. J. B. Baker, the present
Principal. A condensed su mmary of the report
of the Georgetown Pu blic School for the year

J3C ^7 1^ t^^^-~#~~v^

ibL

HISTORY OF CLEAR CREEK COUNTY.

ending August 31, 1879, gives the following re-
sults : School census. 572 ; pupils enrolled,
450; average daily attendance, 300; average
cost per month for each pupil, $1.79 ; total
receipts, $11,534.61 ; teachers' wages, $6,539.-
50 ; curl-cut expenses, $1,317.64 ; balance on
hand, $3,455.34. During the school year just
passed, there has been a slight improvement in
attendance.

Georgetown contains five churches — Method-
ist, Episcopal, Presbyterian, Roman Catholic
and Congregational. The last of these is rented
to the society of Christians, which numbers
about twenty-live members ; Elder W. H. Will-
iams, Pastor. The Methodists constitute an
active and prosperous organization. The fol-
lowing history of this zealous society is fur-
nished by Dr. W. A. Burr, an active member of
the Georgetown church, and is cheerfully pub-
lished, verbatim :

" As early as 1864 the first organization of
Methodists was effected in Clear Creek County.
( Iharacteristic of this body of Christian workers,
they were here with the first pioneers, in 1864,
Rev. B. T. Vincent, then stationed at Central,
came to Georgetown and organizeda class with
Mr. Plummer as leader, and James Henwood,
Mrs. George Reynolds, Mrs. Simmons. Mrs.
Plummer, Mrs. Green, Mr. and Mrs. Porrigo, and
Peter J. Smith as members. This class held
weekly meetings in Mr. Plummer's log dwelling,
on Main street, below Mr. Tucker's store. Of
this pioneer class, Mrs. George Reynolds, only,
is still living in Georgetown.

"During this same year, 1864, the Colorado
Conference meeting in Denver organized the
Empire Circuit, comprising Empire, Upper Em-
pire, Mill City. Idaho and Georgetown, and ap-
pointed the Rev. Charles King to the work, who
occasionally preached in Georgetown at Plum-
mer's. He located in Empire, where a small
church building was erected. This same build-
ing was subsequently moved to Georgetown,
and for a short time used by the Baptists, also,

more or less by the Methodists, as a place for
worship.

"In l.Sti5 Rev. George Richardson succeeded
Charles King, when, Empire declining, George-
town was made the headquarters for the county,
where the pastor moved and took up his resi-
dence. For a few Sabbaths, services were held
in Bramel's Hall. Rose street, afterward at
Monti's Hall. During this time William M.
Smith was Presiding Elder.

'•The first Sum lay school was organized in
1865, in Georgetown, and held in a log cabin
on Rose street. Dr. J. E. Wharton, one of the
editors of the Miner at that time, was the first
Superintendent.

■ During these early times Peter J. Smith, a
local preacher, used to preach occasionally.
Having no bell to summon the people to serv-
ice, it was the custom, of this quaint old man,
to give a few blasts upon a long tin horn or a
conch shell, to call the people together.

" W. A. Amsbary succeeded George Richard-
son, after whom came the Rev. George Murray
in 1869. By this time, the society had become
quite considerable in numbers, including several
prominent business men of the rapidly growing
" Silver Queen " City. At this early day. many,
not actual members, neither professed Chris-
tians of any denomination, lent a helping hand,
r< ignizing the beneficent influence of a church
in the community.

; While George Murray was Pastor, the pres-
ent edifi< e was erected at a cost of about $8,000,
everything being very expensive at that early
day. Within the last year, this building was
added to, so that now it has a seating capacity
of nearly four hundred. Just previous to the
completion of this edifice in 1869, services
were held for a short lime in what is now
known as Reynolds' Hall, situated on Mam
street — the same building first built in Empire
in 18G4.

• During these early days. E. Trudall, John
Cree, James Barton. I). T. Griffith and wife,

200

HISTORY OF CLEAR CREEK COUNTY.

James Kempton and wife and Mrs. George
Reynolds stood by and aided the church, most
of whom still live in Georgetown.

" Tn 1870, I. H. Beardsley was appointed Pas-
tor ; at which time liev. 1!. T. Vincent was Pre-
siding Elder.

" In 1872. T. R. Sheer was appointed Pastor,
and G. H. Adams, Presiding Elder. G. If
Adams was continued as Presiding Elder of the
district until 187(1, when he was succeeded by
Dr. B. F. Crary. who tilled the position with
ability until the General Conference of 1880
called him tobeeditorof VasCalifornia Advocate.

" T. R. Slicer, remaining but a few months, was
succeeded in the work at Georgetown by Dr. R.
L. Herford, whose term expiring in 1874, C. W.
Blodgett was pastor for two years ; then W, A.
Dotson for a few months, who, being compelled
to leave on account of ill health, was followed
by D. II. Snowdon. In 1877, the Rev. 0. L.
Fisher came to Georgetown and remained until
appointed by the Board of Bishops in June.
1880. to succeed Dr. B. F. Crary as Presiding
Elder of the Northern District. During 0. L.
Fisher's pastorate, the society increased in num-
bers and spirituality ; the church building was
enlarged and otherwise greatly improved, and
the beneficent influences of the society extended
generally. At the present writing, June, 1880,
Rev. John Wilson is Pastor, having been ap-
pointed to till the vacancy occasioned by the
promotion of the Rev. O. L. Fisher.

•Dining these years of organization and
work, services have been held at other places,
more or less, throughout the county ; at Silver
Dale, Silver Plume and Brownville, at Empire
and Lawson and Mill City and Idaho Springs.

" In 1870, a comfortable frame building was
erected in Silver Plume, services held there,
more or less, until 1877, when it became a sta-
tion, and J. F. White was appointed to the work,
succeeded by John Stocks in 1879.

"Also, at Idaho Springs, services were held,
more or less, by 0. L. Fisher and others until

1870, when J. F. White was appointed to the
work. Here the society has secured desirable
lots, and is preparing to erect a suitable build-
ing thereon. They formerly worshiped in the
Presbyterian Church.

" In general, the church is prosperous through-
out the county. There are three stationed pas-
tors — one at Georgetown, one at Silver Plume
and one at Idaho Springs — who hold services at
other places more or less. At all these places
there are flourishing Sunday schools. Total
membership in the county, two hundred; total
value of church property, about $10,000."

The Presbyterian Church was organized in
1869, and in 1874 a stone church was built on
Taos street. This has a seating capacity of
two hundred and twenty-five persons, and is
elegantly furnished. The membership is about
sixty, with an average congregation of from one
hundred and fifty to two hundred worshipers.
The Rev. E. H. Curtis is the present Pastor, and
Prof. A. E. Chase is the Superintendent of the
Sabbath school, which numbers about one hun-
dred and twenty-five scholars.

The Episcopal Church is a neat frame build-
ing near the Barton House. This organization
commenced its labors in 1807, under the rector-
ship of the Rev. F. W. Winslow. Since ..<at
time, the following reverend gentlemen have
officiated as Rectors in the order in which they
are given: Courtland Whitehead, Gustavus
Mayen, T. J. French, Walter H. Moore, S. C.
Blaekiston, E. L. Green, Gabriel Johnson, C. H.
Marshall and W. P. Case, the last named being
the present Rector. The church was first erected
in 1800, but, by a strange fatality and a re-
morseless hurricane, it was blown down on
Thanksgiving Day of the same year. It was
subsequently rebuilt, however, and, in 1877, a
large pipe organ became a part of the church
property. There are now about seventy-five
communicants.

"The Church of our Lady of Lourdes," the
Roman Catholic place of worship, is in a very

HISTORY OF CLEAR CREEK COUNTY.

291

prosperous condition and has a rather interest-
ing history. When Georgetown was first laid
out, a number of prospectors who were believers
in the Catholic faith, secured a block of ground
250 feet square, on each side of Main street, and
donated the same to their church. The Rev.
Thomas Foley was the first Pastor, ami he con-
ducted divine service in different halls in George-
town. In 1872, the Rev. Thomas McGrath was
appointed to this district, and under his admin-
istration a small wooden church was erected.
In 1875, a fine brick church was built at an ex-
pense of 812,000. This has a seating capacity
of four hundred, and is a credit to the associa-
tion, the membership of which is about four
hundred. A suitable residence for the Priest is
now in process of building behind the church.
A new fifteen-hundred-pouud bell was placed
in the tower during the month of September of
the present year. The Rev. N. Metz, a most
earnest and persistent worker, is the present
Priest.

Georgetown possesses, without doubt, the
best system of water-works in the State. The
Clear Creek Water Company was organized in
I 874j and now owns about two miles of six-inch
ami four-inch mains. The clear, cold waters,
direct from the snowy range, furnish a never-
failing supply. At the head of the mains is a
65x75 feet reservoir, and, also, a filter 12x20
feet in horizontal measurement, and sixteen feel
deep. Mr. A. R. Forbes is the President of the
company, having occupied that position since
its inception.

With such a complete system of water-works,
it is natural to expect that the Fire Department
is correspondingly excellent. Such is the case.
It has already earned a world-wide reputation
for speed and proficiency at the annual tourna-
ments which have been so popular of late years.
The department consists of four companies .
The Alpine Hose Company ; the Star Hook &
Ladder Company; the Hope Hose Companj
and the Georgetown Fire & Hose Company No.

1. The Alpines organized in November, 1874.
In August, 1877, at the first tournament held
under the auspices of the State Association,
which took place in Georgetown, they ran 700
feet with a hose cart earning 250 feet of hose, in
twenty-nine and three-fourths seconds, wiuning
first prize, consisting of a silver tea-set and a
brass cannon. In October, of the same year,
this race was again run between the Rates Hose
Company of Denver and the Alpines of George-
town, again resulting in a victory for the latter.
Time, twenty-six and three-fourths seconds. On
the Hh of July, 1879. they took first prize at
both the hook and ladder and hose races, win-
ning $150 in gold. This contest was with the
other Georgetown companies. On September
2!). 1879, at the State tournament held in Den-
ver, they again took the first prize in the hose
race, running 500 feet to hydrant, making at-
tachment, unreeling 200 feet of hose, breaking,
coupling, attaching nozzle, laud getting water in
thirty-five and one-fourth seconds, this being
the fastest time on record for that kind of a
race.

The Star Hook & Ladder Company was or-
ganized in 1S74. and early acquired a reputa-
tion for dexterity and speed. A list of the
prizes won by this company, furnished by the
company's Secretary, B. C. Catren, Jr.. shows a
record that the members can review with unus-
ual satisfaction. Among the prizes is a beau-
tiful silk flag, presented by the ladies of George-
town to the fastest team running in a straight-
away race. A silver trumpet was won two
years in succession. On August 14, 1877, the
company took a prize in the State Tournament
;it Georgetown, given to the fastest hook and
ladder team. In July, 1878, they won $50 in
cold at the tournament at Cheyenne, which was
open to Colorado and Wyoming. On August
13, 1878, they gained the champion belt of the
State at the State Tournament, held at Pueblo,
and a prize of s75 in gold. At that time they
also won a prize offered to the slowest team,

■

•U;

.292

HISTORY OF CLEAR CREEK COUNTY.

which was a very passable '• burro." The boys
won it legitimately, and it was brought to
Georgetown profusely decorated with ribbons.
On July 5 of the present year (1880). they were
tied by the Alpines in the hook and ladder
race at Georgetown, and the prize of $125 was
divided between these two companies.

Secretaries of the Hope Hose Company and
the Georgetown Fire and Hose Company No. 1,
have not reported. These are both active com-
panies, however, and are ever on the alert at
the time that is the best test of their proficien-
cy — in case of fire. The Alpines and George-
town Fire Companies each have commodious
hose-houses, while the Stars and Hopes use the
lower story of town-hall.

The ordinary water pressure is about fifty
pounds to the square inch ; but, in case of lire,
the water-power of the Clear Creek Reducing
Company's works is turned on, and a pressure
of 150 pounds to the square inch is thus gained.
There are sixteen hydrants throughout the
town. The hose companies have a full supply
of hose ami material, and more is added as it
becomes necessary. Hi' R. B. Weiser is the
Chief of the Department.

A number of secret and benevolent soci-
eties are represented in Georgetown. Wash-
ington Lodge, No. 12. A.. F. & A. M., dates
from October 7. 1867, and is in a flourishing
condition, possessing about ninety members.
The lodge meets on the second and fourth Sat-
urdays of each month. The following are the
principal officers: Ernest Le Neve Foster, W.
M. ; A. K. White. S. W. . William E Barton,
J. W. ; Henry C. Bates. Secretary. George-
town Chapter No. 4. 1!. A. M., was organized
May 11, 1875. It has forty-two members, and
meets the third Saturday of each month. Offi-
cers George EL Sites, M. E. II. P.; Charles
R. Fish. E. K. : W. W. Criley, E. S. ; Ernest
Le Neve Foster. Secretary. The Georgetown
Commandery of Knights Templar, TJ. D., is of
recent origin, and numbers twenty-two members.

It is officered as follows : J. R. Hambel, E. C. ;
Thomas Cornish, G. ; Warren M. Fletcher, C.
G. ; R A. Pomeroy, 8. W. ; C. H. Jacobson, I.
W. ; Ed C. Parmelee, P. ; W. W. Ware, Re-
corder.

The Georgetown Lodge, No. 5, I. 0. 0. F.,
meets every Saturday evening. Fred G. Gall,
N. G. ; R. B. Glaze, Secretary. Harmony
Lodge, No. 18, I. 0. 0. F., convenes every
Tuesday evening. Jacob Snetzer, N. G. ; AV.
T. Reynolds. Secretary.

Other societies in Georgetown are Columbia
Lodge, No. 7. Knights of Pythias ; German
Benevolent Society of Georgetown ; Silver Star
Lodge. No. 7, Independent Order of Good Tem-
plars, and Court Silver Queen, No. 6,620, the
latter being a recenl organization.

A public hospital was opened in Georgetown
during July of the present year. This was
started and will be supported by voluntary
contributions, nearly $1,000 having been do-
nated by the citizens of Georgetown for this
purpose. It is under the direction of the Sis-
ters of St. Joseph, but is entirely free from
sectarian influence. The sisters in question
have had a long experience in nursing the sick.

The population of Georgetown, as shown by
the census taken in June of the present year,
is 3,256. Of this number nearly one-third are
yoters.

The Barton, American and Myton Houses
are the principal hotels of the town. The Bar-
ton ranks first in size and style, and, conse-
quently, in prices, and has accommodation for
125 guests. W. E. Barton, proprietor. The
American House — Woodward & McGuire, pro-
prietors — can make fifty guests feel perfectly
at home, and has a large patronage, which is
justly merited.

iD.vno SPRINGS.
As a place of residence, Idaho Springs is by
far the most agreeable town in the county. It
is located fourteen miles easterly from George-

it*

HISTORY OF CLEAR CREEK COUNTY.

293

town, and thirty-five miles westerly from Den-
ver. The number of inhabitants is VIS. accord-
ing to the official enumeration made in June
last. It is growing rapidly, however, and the
population is steadily increasing.

The rugged precipices which characterize
Georgetown scenery are replaced at Idaho
Springs, by hills of less magnitude and auster-
ity. The valley at this point has an east-and-
west course, so that the morning and evening
sun smiles on the town with less interruption
than would otherwise be the case. The little
park in which it is built is one and a half miles
in length, and less than hall' a mile in width.
At the upper end of the town, and on its south
side. Chicago Creek debouches into Clear Creek,
forming a wide rift in the surrounding hills.
Half a mile lower down, and on the same side,
Soda Creek commingles with the waters of the
main stream. Immediately north of the town
is the foot of Virginia Canon, through which
a wagon-road, following the sinuosities of the
gulch, leads tn Central, a distance of six some-
what attenuated miles. This affords one of the
most delightful drives imaginable, and the head
of the canon, looking south, presents to view
a singular amphitheater of mountains of an
endless diversity of shapes, conspicuous among
which are the Old Chief. Squaw and Papoose.

The streets are comparatively level and reg-
ular, and a number of them are beautifully
shaded by colonnades of thrifty aspens and
cottonwoods, which are irrigated by numerous
ditches brought in from Clear Creek. Many
handsome residences have been recently built,
and others are in process of erection. Possibly
no better proof of the desirability of Idaho
Springs as a point of permanent residence can
lie urged than the fact that a number of gentle-
men of wealth and culture, from both East and
West, have exchanged homes of elegance and
luxury in populous cities for the pure mount-
ain air and pleasant surroundings of the little
town that has been not inaptly termed the

"Saratoga of the West." The evident deter-
mination of these gentlemen to make this their
future home, is a compliment to the attractions
of the place, increasing the stability of the
town, and improving its social status.

The principal hotel is the Beebee House,
which is first-class in every respect, and as
homelike as any house for the accommodation
of the public can possibly be. It has accom-
modation for about seventy-five guests, having,
in addition to the main building, a number of
cottages connected therewith, which are stead-
ily occupied by tourists during the summer
season. The Hotel de Paris, a large building
erected during the present summer, was totally
destroyed by fire on the 31st of August.

The Masonic brotherhood is represented by
Idaho Springs Lodge, ;A., F. & A. M., No. 20.
A number of other societies are in existence.

The educational facilities are all that can be
desired under the present circumstances, but,
if the town continues to grow as it has done
for the past year, additional room will be re-
quired. During last school year, 108 pupils
were enrolled, and the average daily attendance
was 70.7. the whole number of school children
in the district being 213.

The Idaho Springs Hook & Ladder Company
is one of the most practical organizations of the
kind in the State. It has never yet attended
a State tournament without winning a prize of
some description. At the State tournament
belli at Denver on the 10th day of August of
the present year. L880, the team sent down by
this company run the hook and ladder race in
twenty-six seconds, this being within half a
second of the fastest time on record in the State.
There is room for improvement in the system
of water- works possessed by the town. It has
been proposed to bring water from Soda or ( 'hi-
cago Creek into a reservoir, to be built on the
base of Flirtation Peak — a bold hill to the south
of the town — whence the town could lie thor-
oughly supplied. It is highly probable that

294

HISTORY OF CLEAR CREEK COUNTY.

this proposition will shortly be put into execu-
tion, as the necessities of the town require it,
and tlie citizens of Idaho are keenly alive to
their interests.

The mineral springs that gave the town its
name are of the alkaline-sulphur class. There
are six in number, all locate! on the banks of
Soda Creek, within a short distance of its con-
fluence with Clear Creek, and but a few min-
utes' walk from the Beebee House. They were
discovered as early as 1860, though but little
attention was paid to them for a number of
years. In 1863, Dr. E. S. Cummings erected a
small bath-house and retained possession of the
springs property until 1SG6, at which time it
passed into the hands of its present owner. Mr.
H. Montague.

The bathing accommodations at this date
consist of two swimming baths — the Mammoth
and the Ocean — and seven private or tub baths,
fitted up with shower baths and all necessary
appurtenances. The Mammothis 30x50 feet in
size and live feet deep, and the Ocean is 20x40
feet and four feet deep. The different springs
vary in temperature from To to 120 degrees,
and the supply of wafer is sufficient fur ten
times the present number of baths. Carbonate
of soda and sulphate of soda are the predomi-
nant minerals held in solution, as will lie seen
by the following table of the chemical constitu-
ents contained in a gallon of water: „ .

( irains.

Carbonate of Soda 30.80

Carbonate of Lime 9 52

Carbonate of Magnesia 2.80

Carbonate of Iron 4.1'J

Sulphate of Soda 29.36

Sulphate of Magnesia .. 1 8, 71!

Sulphate of Lime :; 44

Chloride ofSodiuui 4 16

Silic f Soda 4.08

Chlorides of Calcium and Magnesium, of each a

trace 107.00

The above analysis was made by J. Gr. Pohle,
analytical chemist, who says: "Watersof this
alkaline class occasionally contain iodine and

bromine, but the small amount of water at my
disposal prevented me from making an exami-
nation for these substances. The medicinal
characteristics of this spring are antacid, alter-
ative, and in many cases slightly laxative. Its
external use as a bath will be found beneficial
in cases of rheumatism and diseases of the skin.''

The most exhaustive and scientific work on
the mineral springs of the United States was
compiled, during the last decade, by Ceorge E.
Walton, an eminent physician of Cincinnati. A
special mention, in this work, of the springs of
Idaho, says : " They are valuable waters — es-
pecially useful in rheumatism, cutaneous dis-
eases, contraction of joints, etc."

Of the value of these mineral waters in rheu-
matic affections, indisputable local testimony is
furnished. The exhilarating effect of these
baths renders their use pleasurable and health-
ful at all seasons of the year, and for this rea-
son they are largely patronized by the perma-
nent residents of the town. "In chemical in-
gredients and temperature." says the author
above quoted, " these waters are of the nature
of the celebrated Carlsbad waters, in Bohemia."

They are highly charged with carbonic acid,
ami many drink the waters with evident relish,
although to do so the taste must be acquired.

A few hundred feet north of the hot springs
is a cold spring, which is similar in its chemical
composition to those already described. This
water is highly prized as a medicinal beverage,
and is kept at the principal hotel, the Beebee,
for the use of guests of the house. These
springs, both hot and cold, are steadily growing
in public favor, and the day is not far distant
when Idaho Springs will become one of the
must popular watering-places on the continent.

The mines in the immediate neighborhood of
Idaho have been brought greatly into promi-
nence of late. Some of the first discoveries in
the county were made in that vicinity. This
subject will be further treated in a list of the
principal mines in the county.

HISTORY OF CLEAR CREEK COUNTY.

295

SILVER PLUME AND BROWNVILLE.

Although these mining camps differ in name,
their juxtaposition and general similarity,
coupled with their identical interests, renders a
common description appropriate.

Silver Flume is something less than two
miles from Georgetown, in a westerly direction,
lying on the route of the "high line" stage road
to Leadville. It is built in the heart of one of
the richest silver mining districts in Colorado,
some of the heaviest producing mines in the
county being in plain view of the town.
On the north/Kepublican Mountain, its southern
slope nearby covered with immense dump-piles,
stretches grandly up into the sky, its rocky peak
being distinctly visible from the streets. To
the south, McClellan Mountain overlooks Silver
Plume with uncommon austerity, its surface,
which is unprofitable, and barren of silver lodes,
being fearfully rugged and precipitous.

Brownville commences farther up the gulch,
where Silver Plume ends, the division of the
two school districts being on the line of the
Burleigh Tunnel. This is near the upper limit
of the lake formation just mentioned, so that
Brownville is considerably narrower in dimen-
sions than Silver Plume, both towns being
strung along the gulch for a length of one and
a half mdes.

The population of the two villages is over
1.600. Of this number, 340 are between the
ages of 6 and 21 years. The population is
mainly composed of Cornish miners and their
families — a thrifty and industrious class of peo-
ple. The altitude is about 9,000 feet, yet even
al this elevation a few of the hardiest vegeta-
bles are successfully grown. .Many neat, and
even elegant, private dwellings constitute the
homes of miners and others who by patient in-
dustry, often aided by luck, pure and simple,
have amassed competencies.

The Roman Catholic and Methodist denomi-
nations both have neat places of worship, which
are well attended. All the innocent social

gatherings common throughout the country
which tend to break the monotony of every-day
life, are extensively patronized at Silver Plume
and Brownville, where there is a commendable
tendency to take matters happily and make the
most of existence. The educational facilities
are excellent, there being a schoolhouse at each
point. Silver Plume, it must be understood, is
the larger of the two places, where are located
the post office and the principal business houses.
Each has a schoolhouse, however, that at Silver
Plume requiring two teachers, ami having an
average daily attendance of one hundred and
twenty pupils, against twenty-six at Brown-
ville.

The Odd Fellows, Foresters and Good Tem-
plars have organizations at this point, their
meetings being held inappropriate halls, one or
more of which have been erected solely for this
purpose.

EMPIRE.

The early history of Empire was noticed in
the general review of the county. It now con-
tains about two hundred and fifty inhabitants,
including ranchmen and woodsmen and their
families residing in the immediate vicinity.
It is most delightfully located on a gentle slope
to the south, near the junction of Bard Creek
and the North Fork of South Clear Creek, to-
gether with one or more minor streams ; there-
suit being an irregular park of considerable
extent, a fair proportion of which is cultivated
or fenced in for pasturage. The altitude of
Empire is about the same as that of George-
town, from which it is distant about four miles,
the route crossing a secondary range of mount-
ains via Union Pass, which affords a. never-
wearying view of the picturesque valley on
either hand. It is the home of several of the
earliest pioneers in the county, Judge H. ('.
Cowles and David J. Ball being two of the most
prominent. It contains but one hotel, the Pick
House, one of the most home-like and best hos-
telries in the State. Itiskeptby Frank L. Peck,

-s^.

296

HISTORY OF CLEAR CREEK COUNTY.

and during the summer season caters to the
wants of tourists and others who can fully ap-
preciate the comforts of a good hotel situated
in the midst of characteristic Rocky Mountain
scenery. Here is located the County Poor-House,
which is under the direction of Dr. Joseph Van
de Voort, the County Physician, and is but
poorly patronized — the business being, as a
rule, barely a sufficient excuse for keeping the
house open.

Empire does not make any great architectural
display. The private dwellings are as practical
as their tenants, and the public buildings con-
sist of a frame schoolhouse with accommoda-
tions for fifty pupils, and an Episcopal Church,
which is now used as a place of worship by the
Methodists, the active members of this denom-
ination numbering forty-sis. The public school
is now in progress, with an average daily attend-
ance of about forty pupils.

LAWSON

is a small mining camp, located six miles below
(icorgetown, on the Colorado Central Railroad.
It owes its existence to tbe Red Elephant group
of mines, which were discovered in 187G. Pre-
vious to that date, it consisted solely of a way-
side inn, known by the name of the "Six-Mile
House," which was well patronized by the nu-
merous teamsters that plied a lively and profit-
able business before the advent of the railroad.
This was Kept by Alex. Lawson, to whom the
village is indebted for its name.

Upon the discoveries of the mines just men-
tioned, the town sprung into existence at once
The following year the railroad was built
through the place. Since its inception, its
growth has been but slight, as the mines in
question, which are less than a mile distant,
gradually drew the population on to Red Ele-
phant Mountain, as being more convenient for
the employes, and, in due time, a post office
wis established at that point. In the same
manner, and at the same time, the little camp

on Silver Creek, about one and a half miles
from Lawson, in the opposite direction to Red
Elephant Mountain, had a retarding influence,
so that the village remained about stationary.
It has an excellent schoolhouse, built by sub-
scription of the citizens, with a daily attend-
ance of about twenty-five pupils. This serves
equally well as a place of Divine worship,
which is held there every Sunday. The school
census in this district numbers about seventy-
five. Two to three stores and saloons consti-
tute the business houses.

DUMONT,

which is located two miles lower down the
canon, is a rejuvenated municipality under a
new name. Until June, 18S0, it was known as
Mill City. Postal facilities having been re-
stored at that time, its original cognomen was
changed to avoid confusion with another camp
of that name in Colorado, its present name
being given in honor of John M. Dumont, one
of the early pioneers and prominent men of the
county. At the 'present time, the population
is about one hundred. The hamlet comprises
t wo hotels, one of which is of recent construc-
t ion. and a general supply store, such as are
usually found in camps of similar dimensions,
where a little of everything and not much of
anything is offered for sale. Dumont has re-
ed a vigorous impetus the present season
from the consolidation of, and resumption of
work on. mining claims which had been dor-
mant for years, and an encouraging amount of
building is in progress.

Silver Dale is a straggling aggregation of
log cabins and other buildings on the road to
Argentine Pass, about two miles from George-
town. It depends mainly on the great mines
of Leavenworth Mountain, which it closely ad-
joins, for its prosperity. A district school is
sometimes kept, but this can scarcely be con-
sidered a permanent institution. The popula-
tion is about seventj'-five.

7 '

Z,//

:iL

HISTORY OF CLEAR CREEK COUNTY.

299

The mining village at the head of Geneva
Gulch is, perhaps, the only remaining camp
worthy of enumeration. It is a mining camp
in every sense of the word, and the principal
part of the population consisis of adult males
employed at the surrounding mines. It is
fourteen miles from Georgetown via Argentine
Pass. This route, however, is impassable dur-
ing the winter season. Dowii through Geneva
Park to Grant, on the South Park Railroad, is
another and more convenient outlet. It is sit-
uated at timber line, and is, therefore, not less
than 11,000 feet above sea level.

This finishes the list. Brookvale, which is
the most intrinsically lovely spot in the county,
can scarcely be classed in this chapter, although
a school district is organized at that point.
"Sisty's Hotel, kept by State Fish Commis-
sioner W. E. Sisty, is the nucleus of the dis-
trict, and one of the most agreeable summer
residences in the mountains. This place, al-
though lying in Clear Creek County, is not,
strictly speaking, a portion of the Clear Creek
Valley, Bear Creek, on which it is located, run-
ning directly to the Platte River.

CHAPTER IV.

FISSURE VEINS.

IN preceding chapters, frequent allusion has
been made to the growth and progress of the
mining industry of Clear Creek County. Its
present status and importance, with results of
past operations, and the modus operandi of
mining for the precious metals, have scarcely
been mentioned. It may be well to remark at
the commencement that this is atopic requiring
more scope in its delineation than can be fur-
nished in this work. The reader will, therefore
please consider the restrictions alluded to a
sufficient apology for the cursory manner in
which the subject is treated.

The mineral belt which has given Clear Creek
and several adjoining counties a world-wide rep-
utation as producers of gold and silver, runs
parallel with the main range of the Rocky
Mountains, northeasterly and southwesterly,
and the separate veins, which may be considered
the component parts of one great system, usu-
ally run in the same direction. There are, how-
ever, numerous lodes, which run counter to the
majority, and equally at variance with certain
scientific theories regarding the courses of true,

MINING FOR THE PRECIOUS METALS.

metalliferous fissure veins. Indeed these rules
are so often and so openly violated, that science

stands aghast, and feels the necessity of adopt-
ing a new system, or attaching a long list of
exceptions to the old one. This statement is
made with a full appreciation of the great value
of the scientific experiments and appliances
which have aided so materially in the extraction
and subsequent treatment of our ores, without
which the mining interests of Clear Creek
County would have remained embryonic and
unimportant. Notwithstanding this, the vaga-
ries of the mineraP veins in this county are often
so extraordinary, and sometimes so unaccount-
able, as to throw dust into the inquiring eyes of
the votaries of science.

The majority of the lodes in this county are
fissure veins, varying widely in width, course,
pitch, density of the crevice material, and in the
quantity, character and value of the ores that
they carry. As the country formation is mainly,
if not wholly, granitic and gneissic, traversed
by numerous porphyritic dykes, there are no
contact veins ; consequently, there are no car-
bonate deposits, a fact that is not to be regretted.

—^ a

300

HISTORY OF CLEAR CREEK COUNTY.

The great variation in the character and qual-
ity of the mineral found in contiguous lodes is
wonderful ; so that the proximity of an unde-
veloped lode to one of proven value, is no cri-
terion of its merit, though this is sometimes
held out as a special inducement to investors
when all other means are likely to fail. And
yet, locality is not utterly devoid of significance.
As a rule, a certain mountain bears a certain
class of mineral ; but there are so many excep-
tions that this feature cannot be relied upon.

In order to give, at the outset, an idea of the
metalliferous properties of the veins, it is con-
venient to state that Clear Creek County's yield
of the valuable metals prior to January 1, 1S80,
was as follows :

Silver $ 15,701,907.99

Gold 3,015,661.05

Lead 431,000.00

Copper 37,000.00

Total | 19,245,569.04

These figures are copied from the latest edi-
tion ofFossett's "Colorado," the most instruct-
ive and accurate work of its kind published.
It will be seen from this that the proportion of
silver produced exceeds that of gold in the ra-
tio of five to one. The true gold lodes carry
pyrite, mainly: while the argentiferous veins
carry galena, associated with which, in small
quantities, are usually the true silver ores, sil-
ver glance, ruby silver, polybasite and gray cop-
per. The last named is not a true ore of silver,
but, in the genuine silver veins of Clear Creek
County, its presence is a sure indication of ore
that will run well up in the hundreds of ounces
of silver per ton. In the gold mines about
Idaho Springs, this mineral sometimes runs as
low as ninety ounces of silver per ton. though
it is always a desirable mineral. This ore is
also found in considerable quantities in the
Geneva mines, but it is of an inferior quality to
that produced by mines in the vicinity of
Georgetown.

Although copper ores are found in the major-
ity of the mines — both gold and silver — they do
not often exist in profitable quantities. They
are almost invariably a good indication, how-
ever, whether occurring in gold or silver veins.
Copper pyrites is the most common form of
the solid ore, but near the surface this is often
decomposed, forming malachite and azurite,
and less frequently, black oxide of copper In
a few instances, this metal is found native.
Zinc-blende is quite common in some of the
silver mines, and in many others it is entirely
alisent. It is usually considered an adverse
indication, though a light-colored variety of
this oi - e, found in the Terrible, Dives and others
of the most important mines, often runs well in
silver. When of the dark, bluish black variety
termed, in miners' parlance. " black-jack.'' it is
almost invariably worthless. The galena ores
vary greatly in the percentage of lead, the
maximum being from sixty to seventy. The
latter grade, which rarely occurs, is worth $30
per ton for the lead contained. Copper ores
are worth $2 for each per cent of copper con-
tained therein. The majority of the true ar-
gentiferous veins carry not a trace of gold, but
the gold lodes generally yield more or less sil-
ver, and the proportion of the latter metal
usually increases as depth is gained.

Although this county possesses what are
commonly spoken of as gold and silver belts,
they should be regarded in a relative rather
than an absolute sense. The gold belt in which
Idaho Springs is located, and which extends to
and includes the great gold mines of Gilpin
County, contains many lodes which are argen-
tiferous in character. The great silver belt in
which Georgetown is situated is traversed by a
narrow belt of gold lodes that can be traced
several miles. Its auriferous character is less
decided, however, than that of the main belt.

Much of the seeming variation and irregular-
ity of the lode deposits is o^ing in some degree
to the comparatively meager depth which has

£,

HISTORY OF CLEAR CREEK COUNTY.

301

been thus far attained. The lowest workings of
the mines in this county will not average more
than two hundred feet deep. It is highly prob-
able that further downward exploration will
result in greater regularity in the mineral de-
posits and in the grade of the ore. Experience
has already proven this. It will also result in
the centralization of numbers of lodes that seem
to have a separate existence at the surface.
This is abundantly proven by actiuil develop-
ment, lodes often converging toward each other
as depth is gained.

The great difference in the pitch of Clear
Creek's fissure veins is a. somewhat interesting
study. The majority have a decided dip into the
respective mountains on which they are located,
this varying from ten to forty -five degrees from
the perpendicular, and, in some eases, being more
nearly vertical. Those of variable pitch often
unite in descending, and. in one well-known
instance, that of the Seaton and Victor Lodes,
on Seaton Hill, near Idaho Springs, the planes
of the lodes cross each other on the dip, contin-
uing indefinitely below the point of contact.
This is of rare occurrence, however, contact
usually resulting in union below that line.

Although placer ami gulch mining for gold
is still prosecuted in the vicinity of Idaho
Springs and Empire, it is of but little importance
compared with lode mining. A company is
working over the auriferous deposits on Silver
Mountain, near the latter place, with the Little
Giant hydraulic process. The financial results
of this enterprise have not been given. A
general assumption that it is successful, arises
from the fact that the work is continued from
year to year.

LODE MINING.

Lode claims in Clear Creek County, located
since May 111. 1872, are each 1,500 feet long
and 150 feet in width. Prior to that time,
various laws had been in force, one of which
allowed the locator a strip of ground 3,000
feet long by 50 feet wide. Experience shows

that the dimensions given under the present
law are much better proportioned than the
3,000-feet claims, as some of the veins in this
district are more than fifty feet in width. Un-
der the present law, the probabilities of cover-
ing the apex of the lode — a very important
point — areas three to one compared with the
old law, and it is very rarely that a lode claim
oiih 1.500 feet long is worked its entire length.

1 Ipon the discovery of the outcrop of a miner-
al-bearing lode, the prospector writes on a board
or a pine stick shaved smooth for that purpose,
the name that he intends to apply to his claim,
the date of discovery, and its general direction
ami dimensions. To this he appends his sig-
nature and leaves it at the discovery-shaft.
The law next requires that he shall, within
ninety days from the date of discovery, sink a
shaft on the vein not less than ten feet in
depth, and have the claim surveyed and duly
recorded at the County Clerk's office. Sinking
thi' discovery shaft costs from $30 to $100,
according to the nature of the ground; and the
surveyors' fees, which include recording, are
from $10 to §12. After this, $100 worth of
work is required to be done on the property
each year, in order to maintain its possession to
its discoverer.

Upon the determination on the part of the
owner to procure a United States patent on the
property, he engages the services of a United
Slates Deputy Mineral Surveyor, who. upon an
order from the Surveyor General of Colorado,
resurveys the lode, establishes permanent cor-
ners with bearings to natural objects — a con-
spicuous cliff orpine tree — connects the survey
with a patented claim, and advertises the locat-
or's application for patent by a notice posted on
the premises, including a plat of the survey,
and by a like notice of application in a local
newspaper. It is thus continuously advertised
for a period of sixty .lays, when, if no adverse
claims are made, a Receiver's certificate is speed-
' ilv secured. The Surveyor's fees for procuring

302

HISTORY OF CLEAR CREEK COUNTY.

a patent are from $160 to $190 according to the
accessibility of the claim. This includes ad-
vertising and all other expenses, the work
involving a considerable amount of red tape
and a surprising number of " proofs " of the
legality of the work. Before tiiis work can be
accomplished, it must be proven that not less
than $500 has been expended on the property
in labor and improvements. When the Gov-
ernment title is secured, the annual work, of
course, is no longer required. In case of an
adverse claim preferred by owners of conflict-
ing lodes, which is a somewhat common con-
tingency, the question is settled by the courts.
For further information on this subject, the
reader is referred to" Morrison's Mining Rights,"
which is a complete compendium of the min-
ing laws applicable to this district.

As the lodes of this county are usually dis-
covered on the slopes of the mountains, the
idea of horizontal development, whether by tun
nels cutting through the country rock or by
adits on the vein, is at once suggested. Where
the latter plan can be adopted it is far prefera-
ble to : 1 1 1 \ other method of exploration. The
of tunneling in this county ranges from
slo to $25 per foot. This refers loan ordinary
single-track tunnel, four or four and a half feet
wide and seven feet high. An adit of the same
dimensions would cost from $4 to $12 per lineal
foot, according to the nature of the vein-filling.
In addition to economy indrifting, an adit pos-
M'sse-, the double advantage of continuous ex-
ploration of the lode, the ore exploited fre-
quently paying tor development. As the min-
eral veins usually run parallel to the mountain
ranges on which they are located, adit explor-
ation is less common than might be supposed.

It must be borne in mind that the form of hor-
izontal development just mentioned is only
available under any circumstances, to the level
of the' streams that Hank the mountains on
which the lodes occur: and. in many instances,
owing to comparatively level stretches on the

sides of the mountains, not even to that depth.
For this reason, where extensive mining opera-
tions are proposed, and the advantages for hor-
izontal explorations are not uncommonly good,
the opening up of the lode by a shaft is the
most feasible and permanent method. It often
happens that a lode is worked by horizontal
avenues to a depth of from 200 to 250 feet, and
when a change is made to vertical develop-
ment it is done at great expense, and usually
necessitates the erection of underground hoist-
ing works, which is objectionable for many rea-
sons. Shaft-mining, considered apart from the
formation of the mountain where it is intended
to commence operations, should be adopted
wherever the value of the property warrants ex-
tensive exploration. Viewed from the same
standpoint, surface exploration that is done
mainly to test the worth of the lode, may often
be more economically accomplished by some
other means.

Within the past two years, several well-ap-
pointed shafts have been sunk vertically, ignor-
ing the dip of the lode. This necessitates a
cross-cut at every level, from the shaft to the'
vein. This method possesses a few advantages
over an inclined shaft sunk on the lode, but it
is not likely to be extensively adopted. In
sinking a shaft, levels are usually run on the
vein at depths of sixty feet apart. Thus far
the work is simply what is termed development.
With the work of stoping commences actual
mining — the ultimate object of all previous
labor. This is a