i sii Os« UN MAUIONMA Hor yen dy de) rere ueospauctrt Et DUNN MaMa tere in} F CORNELL TPO UNIVERSITY Co LIBRARY H 67t ln : : vers L J HISTORY 4? OF 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, railroad and mining interests; an account of the Ute trouble; a History of Gilpin, Clear Creek, Boulder and Jefferson Counties, and Biographical Sketches. ILLUSTRATED. CHICAGO: O. L. BASKIN & CO., HISTORICAL PUBLISHERS, - 186 DEARBORN STREET. 1880. O. uv. BASKIN. NELSON MILLETT. \ Y es CL He Ls A707 2b 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. ris: CHICAGO: CULVER, PAGE, HOYNE «& CO., PRINTERS, 118 anp 120 Monnox Starz. WAN \ PREFACE. t, 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. Brr- THOUD, and Boulder County by Amos Brxpy, 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. 4 v 4 Vee ae 9. ds + & | + 1) ft CONTENTS PART FIRST. rer PART THIRD. POEM.. a ns HISTORY OF GILPIN COUNTY. wien CHAPTER L Ringiug 1 up > the Curtain 17 | CHAPTER I.—Grand Opening of the Golden Gate............0..e0 205 CHAPTER II.—Early Discoveries of Gold. CHAPTER II.—Early Dircoveries of Gold Mines—Mining and CHAPTER IlI.—Journalism in Colorado.. Milling and other Treatment of Ores ‘ CHAPTER IV.—EHarly Politics and Organization of the Terri. CHAPTER II1.—Journalism in Gilpin County... tory CHAPTER IV.—Early Organization of Mining Districts—Their CHAPTER V.—Lo! the Poor Indian.. 3e Laws, Rules and Customs—Recognition of Same by Con- CHAPTER VI.—The Mountains of Colorado... .. 38 CHAPTER VII.—Colorado During the Rebellion—Territorial QM CIAL so cn cenivessvancearewnsnooneeasesumsdione ore sens bceneensevennaerarteibsspegy CHAPTER VIII.—Progress of the Country... CHAPTER IX.—Climate of Colorado... CHAPTER VIII.—Miscellaneous Organizations : CHAPTER X.—Agricultural Resources of the State. Masonic Order—Odd F+llows—Good Templars—Knights of CHAPTER XI.—Stock-raising in Colorado......... Honor—Knights of Pythias—Knights of the New World CHAPTER XII.—Leadville and California Gulch.. a —Places of Amusement—Fire Department—Military Com- CHAPTER XIII.—History of the First Colorado Regiment....... 73 panies—Miners and Mechanics’ Institute............-...s000+++-248 CHAPTER XIV.—History of the Second Colorado Regiment...... 77 | GHAPTER IX.—Miscellaneous and Public: CHAPTER XV.—Sketch of the Third Colorado Regiment. Post Offices—Land Office—Banks—Expresses—Telegraph— CHAPTER XVI.—The Geology of Colorado..........--.-.--.++5 Telephone — Railroads oiccccccinnnneniansnsssvcriniariscaasvaanavannidere 257 CHAPTER XVII.—Peak Climbing in the Rocky Mountains. CHAPTER X.—Drstruction of Central City by Fire, May 21, CHAPTER XVIII.—Sketch of the San Juan Country and Do- 1874, and its Subsequent Reconstruction.............:0s0e0 259 lores District... Wiser lZ | CHAPTER XIX.—The University of Colorado... sneuie Tee eerste 119 HISTORY OF CLEAR CREEK COUNTY. CHAPTER I.—Location and Topography, Climate, Sermons in StOMeB ss .. ca sasceeeh ssicsnes when ncd Mgunhiseneee asa aerate eetadeet tess FOBTSCRIET. CHAPTER II.—The Wheels of Progress. x CHAPTER I.—The Ute Rebellion CHAPTER I11.—Towns and Mining Camps.. --286 CHAPTER II.—Affairs at White River Agency: CHAPTER IV.—Mining for the Precious Metals. 299 CHAPTER III.—The News in Denver........ | CHAPTER V.—The Mines of Clear Creek ee CHAPTER IV.—Advance upon the Agency... 35 CHAPTER VI.—Nlills and Milling... i ad CHAPTER V.—Arrival at Agency—The Massacte..............0..:06+ 145 | CHAPTER VII.—The Sublime and the “Beautiful. i acuiiebinek seem ENS 345 CHAPTER VI.—Cessation of Hostilities—Rescue of the Pris- oners.. HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY. CHAPTER VII. —Bad Story of ‘he ‘Ciopeliven: BOUNDARIES OF LOUISIANA CHAPTER VIII.—The Atrocities in Colorado, RELIGIOUS ADVANTAGES.. CHAPTER IX.—The Peace Commission Farce.. EDUCATION... Re CHAPTER X.—The Ute Question in Congress... re SCHOOL OF MINES... CHAPTER XI.—The Present Condition of the Ute Question......176 | DHE PRESS....c0..... HISTORY OF BOULDER COUNTY. PART SECOND. CHAPTER I,—Vision of the Valleys and Hilla RAILROADS. CHAPTER II.—Peculiarities and Advantages of Situation........ 381 CHAPTER III.—First “ Find” of Gold Dust. CHAPTER I.—The Denver Pacific - CHAPTER IV.—The Boulder Coal Measures... CHAPTER II.—The Denver & Rio Grande: (82 | CHAPTER V.—Agricultural Trials and Triumphs. CHAPTER III.—The Denver, South Park & Pacific. «188 | GHAPTER VI.—The Road and Mill Builders......... 392 CHAPTER IV.—The Colorado Central. CHAPTER VII —Early Society,—Courts, Crimes and Schools....396 CHAPTER V.—The Kansas Patific.... CHAPTER VIII.—Conflicts with the Indian......... 2 CHAPTER VI.—The Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe.. CHAPTER IX.—Boulder and Valley Towns and Villages......... CHAPTER VII.—The Denver & Boulder Vailley...... CHAPTER X.—Mountain Towns and Mining Camps................ <4— — og Ff ~~ me ‘ @ vi CONTENTS. ; PART FOURTH. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES ALPHABETICALLY ARRANGED BY COUNTIES. GILPIN COUNTY. CLEAR CREEK COUNTY.. JEFFERSON COUNTY. BOULDER COUNTY.... MISCELLANEOUS BIOGRAPHIBG........... ERRATUM—Biography of Hon. H. M. Hale ILLUSTRATIONS. PORTRAITS. PAGE | Hinman, P. T.. AMIGO tig Wel Hove siccsereisessesdssesassaesitiertieaceny 27 | Howell, W. R.. Aikins, T. A..... i Burrell, James.. Bacon, Corbit Berkley, G.... Berthoud, £. L.. 73 | Loveland, W. A. H.. Beverley, W. H. 81 | Merkel, S. B...... Blake, Orris... Mackey, Richard. Berkley, Junius..... aes Marshall, F. J... Barber, Joseph 8S. ...109 | Maxwell, J. P Bixby, A.... . 117 | Macky, A. J.. Brookfield, A. A.. 127 | McKenzie, N. D Crawford, D. C.. 135 | North, James M ... 45 | Jones, A. M... . 55 | Kelly, James. 343 | Wright, Alpheus. Tyler, C. M..... Thomas, Mary.. Van Deren, A. J..... Van Fleet, Charles G Welch, C. C... 351 | Wells, R. C West, George. Wise, Willixm 0.. Wellman, Sylvanus... Williamson, G. R. Wells, B. T NY Carpenter, C. C.. VIEWS. Chatillon, Henry. Bi us eorgetown... Chase, George F. Orahood, H. M.. erton House, Georg Golden Brewery, at Golden. Cornell, L. 8..... Post, Charles C.. : a Hard Money Silver Mine. De France, A. H... Paul, Henry... - 7 i Hidden Treasure Mine...... Davis, Jobn...... Ratliff, J. W.. zs Public School, Boulder Dabney, Charles. Roberts, John G. S 2 Public School, Central City... Everett, F. E.. Rogers, A. N..... A > x Public Schools, Golden....... Fisher, 8. W... Rollins, J. Q. Au... : f 3 Public School, Georgetown.. Fish, Charles R.... Smith, Elmus. és 7 . Residence of Eugene Austin. Green, David S..... Schwartz, B.... : : Residence of Capt. Tyler... Graham, T. J. Stratton, G. W.. : _ : Residence of Maj. Whiteley.. Greenc, 0. F. A. .-253 | Stott, Israel. 5 Smelting Works of Golden. Hale, H. M.. Sargent, N. ‘ = : University of Colorado. Henry, 0. H. Smith, N. K. View of Rollinsvill Hahn, 8. B.. Smith, J. Alden ¥ i ° a Bane ees Holman, J. H. Smith, Eben... SOM A ABR AMO sie Hall, G. W...... Teller, H. M.... Map of North America in 1597... . oe 94 SHIELD with three white peaks in chief, A pick and sledge beneath them crossed ; For crest, an eye with rays; a sheaf Of reeds about an ax; and tossed About its base a scroll I see, That says, “Mil sine numine.” Oh, 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 that dower thee, Yet are “ Mil sine numine.” The ax makes way for fold and field And marching men; and none may bend Thy sheaf of knitted hearts; who wield In caverns dim the blows that rend From earth her treasures; these agree All is “ Wil 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 and strong, Thy future still, oh, Queen, shall be, Though great, “ Mil sine numine.”’ 12 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 Of shadowy walls about them set And domes of days that are not yet. The sun looks not upon their rest. IT 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 4 + @. «4 13 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 pean 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, And fanes for Science reared, and Art, Beautiful, and sacred, and apart. Y 4 14 Yet 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 hands true and strong. And now, upon her border lands The vanguard of a nation stands. a 15 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 othérwhere. The gifts that wait beside your doors, And on the hills, and in the air, Are better than all old conceits, All faded and forgotten sweets. 4. 16 ~ 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. +S HISTORY OF COLORADO. BY W. B. VICKERS. CHAPTER I. RINGING UP THE CURTAIN. OOKING 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 rare 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 Centennial 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 the 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 rather than dryly statistical, and, | although facts and figures will enter into its com- position, they are by no means likely to mar the pleasure of those opposed to the Gradgrind school There is no lack, indeed, of interesting historical data, and the material inter- ests of the State deserve more recognition than they are likely to receive here; but there is no room for the long roll of pioneers more than there is for the 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 days of 59 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 of social economists. almost endless list of paying mines. A or ~— eo. a9 = oi 18 HISTORY OF COLORADO. were forced by their masters to the task of making bricks without straw, had far more to encourage them than the early settlers of Colorado. The real utility of straw in the brick business has been doubted, but there is no doubt that nine- tenths of the men who saw Colorado in 1859, con- 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 homes 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, and concurrently to get themselves out of the country. Thousands of them thought the first of less consequence than the second, and so made themselves scarce without waiting for fortune to shower her gifts upon them, preferring the flesh-pots of “ America,” as the East for many years was called, to Colorado’s sunny but unsym- pathetic and lonely 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 be sure; but who could live on scenery? A fine climate, too; but that only aggra- vated appetite, when flour was worth $50 a sack. The man who turned his oxen out to die in the fall of ’59, and surprised himself in the spring by rounding them up in good condition, was probably the first one who looked upon Colorado with a view to permanent residence. He was the father of the stock business, and his name ought to be 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 but 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 sidered it nearly, if not quite, unfit for human hab-. yet 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 Rio Mancos in Southwestern Colorado, there lived once a half- civilized people, probably descended from the ancient Aztecs, 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- temporanecous with the latter, and possibly with the former, were the various tribes of American Indians who roamed these then pathless wilds and fought and bled 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, but 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 barriers 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. Meee ate 0 BOaN +4, when Vasquez 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 Cilarady to-day, and view the rich treasures of Leadville and our mining districts generally; if he euuld Se | or ea a) Y HISTORY OF COLORADO. 19 ride into Denver and stop at one of our leading hoteis a few days, long enough to mark the mar- velous growth and activity of the city, what would he think of himself as a prospector and explorer? From Coronado to Captain Pike is a long leap; but history has not bridged the interval with any account 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 his attention was attracted by the famous mount- ain which bears 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, but which is now out of print, may be 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 his story, was twice as high as the point on which he stood, and he thought it must be at least 18,500 feet above the level of Louis- jana 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 Bardstown, 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. H. Long, next visited Colorado, and Dr. E. James, “surgeon, botanist 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 1843, and it was the report of his explorations which first awakened public interestin 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 been troubled by the aborigines. Gen. 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 to 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. Among 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 (1879) been dead many years, but Gerry’s death occurred only a few years ago. Carson’s only monument is ; ~~ + e. £, 4 20 HISTORY OF COLORADO. a lonely railway station on the Kansas Pacific road, once for a brief space a flourishing frontier town, but now nearly 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: “T 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 as 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. Vrain, Carson, Bent, Boone, Head, 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 Georgians stumbled upon the shining sand in the bed of Dry Creek in the summer of 1858. Russell’s party had looked in vain for gold dig- gings up and down the country from Cafion City to the Cache la Poudre, and were returning home- ward 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 Pueblo on 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 Utes, with characteristic meanness, had so persecuted the white people there 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 comers, 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 Pueblans 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 ary of the early prospectors, gold has never been discovered in paying quantities in the vicinity of the Peak, and not until some years after the north- ern mines were yielding large returns was there any bullion produced south of the Pike’s Peak range of mountains. The “ Silver San Juan” oe ~~ aie! HISTORY OF COLORADO. 21 country, which is, perhaps, the richest mineral region of the State, not excepting Leadville, dates back but a few years as a mining center. But if prospecting and other industrial pursuits were dull, Pueblo did not lack life or activity in the summer of 1858. Hon. Wilbur F. 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: ‘Game 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 back 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 Hoe 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 more 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 and 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. Every 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 and surpass- ing beauty. Of this mighty mountain view, Mr. Samuel Bowle’, 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 my eyes no panorama of mountain beauty surpassing, nay, none equaling that which burst upon my sight at-sunrise upon the Plains, when fifty miles away from Denver; one which rises up before me now as I sit writing by the window = Y enh 22 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 and surface, every shade of cover and color, up and on until we reach the broad, snow-covered range that marks the highest sum- mits, and till where Atlantic and 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 his 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, and thought them incomparably finer than the Alps. Said he: “T know no external picture of the Alps that can be placed beside it. If you could take away the valley of the Rhone, and unite the Alps of UT we must not linger too long en route or the impatient reader will sympathize with the impa- tient pilgrim, anxious to reach the “golden sands,” achieve a fortune and retrace his steps, for few, if any, pilgrims expected to remain in the new gold- fields longer than was absolutely necessary. Events showed, however, that their ideas of necessity varied very widely, according to pluck and energy. Some of them started back inside of twenty-four Savoy with the Bernese Oberland, 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 Blane. Tosuch scenes of surpassing beauty were the early 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 Pike’s 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, and, 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 IL EARLY DISCOVERIES OF GOLD. was no gold here, nor anything else worth living for. Others began mining operations, but, meet- ing with only partial or indifferent success, and finding that hard work offered no more attrac- tions in Colorado than elsewhere, concluded that they would do their hard work back East among friends and relations. Others. stil] persevered despite all discouragements, and to these ae men the country is indebted for its marvelous hours, cursing the country and declaring that there | outcome. =o Fe 2 9 \ HISTORY OF COLORADO. 23 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 and circumstances very dis- couraging, the enterprising prospectors ventured into the mountains, and 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 new 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. H. 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 River 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 back to the States and denounced it as a miserable fraud. Graham found himself without influence at the National Capital, and 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 1858, 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, but the great excitement of the season did. not begin until May, when Gregory Gulch was first prospected by the famous John H. Gregory, whose name it bears. Gregory does not appear to have 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 far 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 back and inspected the Colorado dig- gings critically, and, without any unbounded faith in their paying qualities. He reached Golden, 4 mere hamlet then, and, still dissatisfied, pushed on through the now famous Clear Creek Cafion to where the town of Black Hawk now stands. He 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 v or vo + a eq. 24 HISTORY OF COLORADO. accompany him—Wilkes Defrees, of South Bend, 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 center. Where poor Gregory so nearly perished in the snow, stands three populous cities 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 resumé of the history of Gregory Gulch will be 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 and 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 ory nature. Rude appliances for treating ore, such as had served the early miners while their circumstances, more than neutralized by its refract-. 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 almost 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 up more Kastern capital than the sum of her annual bullion product. Rich ores were treated only to be ruined. The precious metals could not be extracted and separated from the 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- ting rid of the “company’s” money. Fitz-John Porter's “ Folly,” at Black Hawk, now figures asa 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 were 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 A ee ~~ + HISTORY OF COLORADO. 25 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 Gulch, 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 ERY 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; but, 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, Hon. William N. Byers, founder, and for a long time editor of the Rocky Mountain News, has been called the 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 Gibson, then and now of Omaha, and Dr. George C. Monell, of the same place. Merrick reached Denver first, and to that e&tent 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 bears date April 22,1859. Merrick issued a paper on the same day, but later. Both were rather rude spec- imens of typography, especially as compared with the elegantly printed sheets now circulating in the IN COLORADO. 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 News, 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 most discouraging circumstances, and more than once upon brown paper or half-sheets of regular print. The nearest post office was at Fort Laramie, 220 miles distant, and the mails arrived 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 poured 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 liars in the country. Looking back over his twenty years of labor for Colorado in the face of every possible there at very irregular intervals. a, aT) Y -_ er ~~ y | a 4 , discouragement, the veteran editor can afford to smile at these ancient assaults upon his veracity asa scribe. More 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, and was published by Thomas Gibson, who had sold his interest in the News to John L. 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, called 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. D. 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. Capt. 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, but the spring brought many of the stampeders back, and not a few “tenderfeet,” as new-comers were already called by those who had wintered in the country. Among the 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 News had not been idle, and, very soon after the Daily Herald was started, the Daily News made its appearance. The rivalry between these sheets is one of the liveliest traditions of 1860. The fierce competi- 26 HISTORY OF COLORADO. tion between our great dailies of to-day sinks into insignificance when compared to the News and Herald war of that date. Single copies of each paper sold readily for “two bits,” 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 tramp 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 East, 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, but which existed for many years, was established by Capt. Frank Hall and O. J. Hollister, in the same year. Both these gentlemen made their mark in journal- ism, and the former is still an honored and exceed- 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 later years, have almost destroyed | } the value of “Hollister’s Colorado,” except as a book 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 oq et ~—a v 4 HISTORY OF COLORADO. 29 : 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 & Bliss retired from the News in 1863. 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 or burned, teams driven off and men,killed. During the summer of 1864, when the trouble culminated, Denver and the immediate vicinity lost about fifty citizens, who were murdered by the Indians. Most of them were killed while en route to 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 qui 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 Indians. 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 News 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 field in Denver almost entirely alone, and then new enterprises were started, and the number of newspapers has since multiplied rap- idly, some 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 been 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 an appearance, and a creditable newspaper is launched in less time than it would take an Eastern commu- nity to make up its mind that a newspaper was a necessity. Who would think in the East, 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 + . oT a a <= 30 HISTORY OF COLORADO. successful. Should the new settlement prosper, | and himself and tries another location. As a the newspaper always shares its prosperity; should | matter of present as well as future interest, the the town fail, the publisher, a little downcast, per- | following list of periodical publications in the haps, but not at all disheartened, picks up his office | State, at the close of 1879, is hereto appended : NAME. PLACE. PROPRIETORS. not NEWS, WOCKLY......0.ssceeceeesee. censesceersseeee: AlamoSa ...eseecessseeee waitedsanead M. Custers.......scccsersscecereees 1878 Independent, weekly. .-..| Alamosa ......- .--.| Hamm & Finley. 1878 Southwest, weekly..... seee| Animas City....ccessccseecsseceeee Engley & Reid... 1879 Post, weekly .....sccerscoeesees wees] Black Hawk.....ccccsscescssceeees J. R. Oliver......... 1876 News and Courier, weekly.. -...| Boulder......... «| Shedd & Wilder... 1869 Banner, weekly.........sscesee -.-| Boulder....... | Wangelin & Tilney... =| 1875 Record, weekly.......sscsecsecessecssceeserseeees Cation City ......ceecesceereceeenes H. T. Blake............ «| 1875 News Letter, weekly.........sssscesseessecsreeees Castle RocK.....csssccersseceeeeees C. E. Parkinson... 1874 Register, daily.........s.cescssceeceseeeseeereeeaeee Central City.......cccceceeseeserees Laird & Marlow........ «| 1862 Gazette, daily and weekly.........e.csscecsesces Colorado Springs.......ccceseeees Gazette Publishing Co...... «| 1878 Mountaineer,.daily and weekly ...........0045 Colorado SpringS.......cecceeeees Mountaineer Printing Co...... 1878 Deaf-Mute Index, monthly...... seoee| Colorado SpringS......0.sceeseees H. M. Harbert.............ceseeee 1875 Prospector, weekly.. .....+0+- «| Del Norte.....cccccoscssseccsssscees Cochran Bros...... 1874 News, daily and weekly..... Denver seiccaswsvsececoesssniexvece News Printing Co.. «| 1859 Tribune, daily and weekly..... -| Denver . ....| H. Beckurts........ --| 1867 Republican, daily and weekly. ..| Denver . «+-| Republican Co.... | 1879 Times, daily and weekly.......cecssescecsceeees DEDVER f.c2.c0esececnesdacetee ponerse R. W. Woodbury... 1872 Colorado Farmer, weekly... ..| Denver .... | J. 8. Stanger .........eee -| 1873 Financial Era, weekly....... oo) DENVER siccoscsccnenieescvosadsndece F. C. Messenger & Co.... -| 1878 Colorado Journal, weekly sal Denver siccsescicnvccccgerescegaeses W. Witteborg............ «| 1872 Colorado Post, weekly... we] Denver ....csccscscoecnecerercenres News Printing Co.... 1879 Herald, weekly........... ..| Denver . --+-{ O. J. Goldrick...... 1860 Presbyterian, monthly.. ie| DON VER scnecnssessisosvvastancvave ves Rev. 8. Jackson. 1871 Journal, weekly .......... oe) EVANS) acacvasrewesiacsecosescerscenee James Torrens..... 1871 Express, weekly.. ae| Fort: Collinsviscissevscccsosstsesees J.S. McClelland... 1873 Courier, weekly... .._ Fort Collins... .| Watrous & Pelton. 1878 || Flume, weekly..... ..| Fairplay ....... ci) dasiaie es seveasnazeecea snes 1879 Miner, weekly.. ..| Georgetown ... ..| Patterson & Bellamy.. 1867 Courier, weekly...... «-| Georgetown ........-s.eeeeseeeeees J. 8S. Randall............ 1877 Transcript, weekly.. os] GOLA OW sic. vecdaveiseccwasvcnmisasiiey George West... 1867 Globe, weekly........ i) AP gece pactsysnavnennneaeisaniar W.G. Smith... 1872 Sun, weekly.. ..... --| Greeley... ..{ H. A. French. 1872 Tribune, weekly ....... ws} Greeleycicssessusetsnnrsaxervvaweces E. J. Carver... 1870 Silver World, weekly... ..| Lake City.. H. C. Olney 1875 Chronicle, daily and weekly.. ..| Leadville.. «-s-| Chronicle Co... 1879 Eclipse, daily and weekly... wa Dead ville’ sccvewseivescecsecceveeese G. F. Wanless......... 1378 Herald, daily and weekly... ..| Leadville..... .-.| Herald Printing Co.. «| 1879 Reveille, daily and weekly. we] Leadville.........cccesseceseecesees R. 8. Allen......... | 1878 Colorado Grange, monthly.. s+] LONgMONt..-..cececeeceeeceeeeeeeee W. E. Pabor... 1876 Press, weekly........ssscseseees oo] Longmont .......escceceeeeeeeeeene E. F. Beckwith... «| 1871 Ledger, weekly... +) Longmont........ccceeesssceseereee Ledger Co........ .| 1877 Mentor, weekly... | Monument .csas ccsiaidscceencecrews A. T. Blachley 1878 Times, weekly..... oi QU ay secsscpicsse sieve secasecsapeawa Ripley Bros.............. 1877 Solid Muldoon.......... 0.00.46 t| QUPAY csossssentecieseipearainseuas’ Muldoon Publishing Co.. 1879 Chieftain, daily and weekly... Pueblo «.| J. J. Lambert... 1868 Democrat, daily and weekly.. Pueblo -| Hull Bros...... 1875 Index, weekly..... ot ROB Asscmenrexe wel deentinwasgun comple 1875 Banner, weekly... -| South Pueblo . «| A. J. Patrick.. Chronicle, weekly.. Saguache....... ..| W. B. Felton..... 1874 Miner, weekly....... of SUWERION . ccaesineseaatani corsariny John R. Curry... 1875 Prospector, daily......... Silver Cliff ........cccceeseeesseeee McKinney & Lacy... 1879 Miner, daily and weekly....... «| Silver Cliff .......ccescscceesseces W. L. Stevens...... ; 1878 Enterprise, daily and weekly .-| Trinidad .. «| J. M. Rice..... i 1875 News, daily and weekly...... . +.| Trinidad ............ --| Henry Sturgis. 1878 Leader, weekly.......se.ce++ oaeeeseseecseassoneee -| West Las Animas................. C. W. Bowman........ 1873 Pm. roe a9 t HISTORY OF COLORADO. 31 three fair dailies; Pueblo, two; Colorado Springs, The preceding shows fifteen daily and fifty weekly | Silver Cliffand Trinidad, two each, and Central, one. newspapers. Denver has four large dailies; Leadville, | The Denver dailies challenge the admiration of every one who appreciates pluck and perseverance. RIEF 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 pioncers were good citizens, but they foresaw the lawless element || which would fall upon them presently, and carn- 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- meni, and wanted to remain a dependence of Kan- sas, and 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 | CHAPTER IV. EARLY POLITICS AND ORGANIZATION OF THE TERRITORY. ' gold 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 649 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 Union. 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 act 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 Constitution, on the 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 Gilpin, Governor; George A. Hinsdale, Lieutenant Governor; J. H. Gest, Secretary of State, and W. R. Gorsline, Allen A. Bradford and J. Bright Smith, Justices of the Supreme Court. Cn a Oe iecist + “ ® 32 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 R. W. Steele, as Governor; Lucien W. Bliss, Secretary; C. R. | 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 order 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,’ asthe 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 $1 per capita, levied by the Provisional Government, was the occasion of much vigorous “kicking,” and went farther toward breaking down than sustaining Gov. Steele’s admin- istration. Meantime, Capt. Richard Sopris, now an hon- ored citizen and Mayor of Denver, represented “Arapahoe County” in the Kansas Legislature, and a complete list of Kansas county officers had 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 feared to go to trial in one, he took a change of venue to the other. Sometimes cases 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. In January, 1860, the Provisional Legislature met again and made some more laws, which were as inoperative as their predecessors. 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 mountains had been supplemented by people’s courts in the valleys. The proceedings of the lat- 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. 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 had near relatives or friends in the 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 court, he incontinently rushed inte another; if he | summary punishment. Miners’ courts in the | ter were as open and orderly as those of the for- | The prisoner had counsel and could call witnesses, |. ° ¥ a”. J HISTORY OF COLORADO. 33 February 26,1861. President Lincoln immedi- ately appointed Federal officers for the new Terri- || tory. William Gilpin was the Governor; Lewis || Ledyard Weld, Secretary; B. F. Hall, Chief Jus- | tice; S. Newton Pettis and Charles Lee Armour, || Associate Justices; Copeland Townsend, United States Marshal; William L. Stoughton, Attorney General, and Gen. Francis M. Case, Surveyor | General. Gov. Gilpin reached Denver May 29, 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 280. It comprises an area of 104,500 square miles, an Emipire in itself and the third largest State in the Union, Texas being the first and California second. But, according to the maps and Hayden’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 almost 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 State nearly due south of the point where it entered. Across this mighty mountain range the State sits, 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 and 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 and 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 thé great valleys over the range, which are 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 lands 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 Utes and Arapahoes—and not infrequently the scene of severe conflicts between the rival tribes, although mainly held by the Utes, while the Arapahoes held the plains country. Game, however, has almost entirely disappeared from South and San Luis Parks, and is seldom seen 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 save 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, and the fact that the country is comparatively valueless either for agriculture or a ~— 4 > 34 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, find 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 fight, 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 LO! ESTERN 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 fine mineral, pastoral, and agricultural land, larger than the State of Massachusetts twice over—nearly three times as large, in fact. It is nominally occu- pied by about 3,000 Ute Indians. Of this land, and those Indians, Gov. Frederick W. Pitkin wrote, in his message to the Legislature of 1879, as follows: “ Along the western borders of the State, and on the Pacific Slope, lies a vast tract occupied by the tribe of Ute Indians, as their reservation. It CHAPTER V. THE POOR INDIAN. contains about twelve millions of acres, and is: Prospectors, however, have explored some portions 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 had turned back | to camp. This example was soon followed by the_ others, and the bears never knew how narrowly they had escaped 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 old settlers seldom bother themselves about Bruin, so long as he leaves them alone, and never attack one without being exceptionally well armed. 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 than in most localities of the same altitude on the Atlantic Slope. Grasses grow there in great lux- uriance, and nearly every kind of grain and vege- tables can be raised without difficulty. This tract contains nearly one-third of the arable land of Colorado, and no portion of the State is better adapted for agricultural and grazing purposes than many portions of this reservation. Within its timits are large mountains, from most of which explorers have been excluded by the Indians. oc << “+? + HISTORY OF COLORADO. 35 of the country, and found valuable lode and placer claims, and there is reason to believe that it con- tains great mineral wealth. The number of In- dians who occupy this reservation is about three thousand. If 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, stcul- ing horses, killing off the game, and 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 and wanton waste of property. Living off the bounty of a paternal but idiotic Indian Bureau, they actually become too lazy to draw their rations in the regular way, but insist on taking what they want wherever they find it. But for the fact that they are arrant cowards, as well as arrant knaves, the west- ern slope of 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 off his premises. They 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 he did in such an emergency. The degeneration of the Utes has been very rapid ever since the first settlement of the coun- try. Formerly, they were a warlike tribe, and held their own with the fierce Arapahoes of the east and the savage Cheyennes of the 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, had 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 inhis journey ‘On Horseback into Oregon,” “ with one hand 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 colony 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. | oC { v + 36 HISTORY OF COLORADO. The continuous and ever-increasing intercourse between Colorado and the East has long since dis- pelled the ancient idea that Denver was situated in the heart of the Indian country, but the pres- ence of Indians in the State still constitutes an obstacle to the advancement of Colorado, for even those who do not fear the Utes dislike them, 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 the department, is particularly anxious to have the Utes 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 “good 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 are 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- ficient 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 soon 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, shows 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 took his life in his hands, and generally laid it down before he came back. So many went and so few returned, that even the boldest pioneers pres- | ently abandoned the idea of prospecting south of the Arkansas River. As time went on, however, and as the country became 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 be 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 been cruelly murdered by the Indians. af oF Livé AMevift Y 8 ae 39) 4 HISTORY OF COLORADO. 37 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 presented 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 and coal have been made within the reservation. Of course, no title to property can be acquired there until the Indian title is extinguished. The new district has been named after Gov. Frederick W. Pitkin, and that gentleman, gs well as the Colorado delegation in Congress, is besieged with applications to have the Indians removed out of the way of ever- advancing civilization. ‘The Utes must go. Uncle Sam can feed them as well and much cheaper elsewhere, and the income he would derive from their Colorado estate would support them in affluence. Indeed, it is asserted even now that the Utes 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 Pinos Agency. He 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 recalcitrant 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 an immense pony- pasture, well stocked. The farm is mostly tilled by Mexican cheap labor. Ouray is 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, ts here beau- tifully exemplified. Let it not be understood, however, that the Col- orado Utes, useless as they are, 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 and 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 proceeds of their hunt, for supplies, such as they “ hanker ”’ after, generally provisions or clothing, the sale of firearms + a a Y + 38 HISTORY OF COLORADO, and fire-water to Indians being prohibited. An Indian family out shopping is a disgusting picture of connubial infelicity. The poor 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. HE 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 State, and diverging ranges reach a grand total almost as” large, making nearly 1,000 miles of ‘Snowy Range,” so called in Colorado. Jn point of fact, however, there is no snowy range proper in the State, and all the magniloquent 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, clse 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 3,000 feet above timber line, and none 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 and 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 its destruction. At this great distance from the sea, or any considerable bodies of water, the air is almost destitute of moisture, and 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 by 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 domegind 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 4 oe cs aw #__9 HISTORY OF COLORADO. 39 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 from the eastward-lying plains, As we approach the rocky walls which, ata 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, and the dwarfed pifion pines grow scrag- gily here and there, or cease entirely, leaving the hillsides bleak and bare. We follow the windings and turnings of some stream, for mountain roads must accommodate themselves to the cafions 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 either 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 an 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. But for the 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 greatens in every sense. The mountains rise higher and still higher on each hand, and the val- leys open right and left like great grooves wrought out of the mountain sides by centuries of slow attrition. Vegetation, which had attained its greatest luxuriance at an elevation of eight or nine thousand feet 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. Prim- 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 entirely covered with pond-lilies of regal splendor. One lake on the Long’s Peak trail above Estes Park, is (or was a few years ago) completely hidden under a mass of lily-pads and blossoms, and is known far and wide as Lily Lake. Above timber line, these flowers begin to dwarf and shrink closer to the earth, until they Y ee ~~ + 40 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 grass 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 off clinging to the rocks, and the bare, bald mountains rise around you on every hand, the wide sweep of vision seems to 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 cold 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 to the overpowering solitude. Few ever forget their advent into such a scene. As if it were yesterday, the writer remembers his first experience in peak-climbing. It was mid- summer, but the air was intensely cold 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 of a total eclipse of the sun, a light that was neither that of day or night, but a curious commingling of both. It seemed impossible to 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 different circumstances the same scenes were revisited and enjoyed, but the memory of that first impression remains unchanged. 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 of 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 beén 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 Estes 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 eae ~~ } ime: > epee) Feet, Feet. Blanca ....seceeeseeeees 14,464 | Red Cloud............ 14,092 -++. 14,383 | Wetterhorn ........... Massive... -14,368 | Simpson... 14,055 Gray’s..... seoeeel 4,341 | Atolus .. 14,054 Rosalie..... 14,340 | Ouray.. ... +0014,048 Torrey .. +++.14,346 | Stewart... +0001 4,082 Elbert...... .. 14,326 | Maroon.... .14,000 La Plata... +++14,802 | Cameron.. 14,000 Lincoln ... -». 14,297 | Handie,... neal OUT Buckskin.. .-.14,296 | Capitol...... ooee18,992 Wilson.. .14,280 ; Horseshoe Long’s...... .14,271 | Snowmass 13,961 Quandary.... «14,279 | Grizzly......... 00018,956 Antero..... .. 14,245 | Pigeon..... +e. 13,928 DL SVANG.<)isvsaeavcen 14,239 | Blaine .... 13,905 Uncompahgre........ 14,235 | Frustrum. ++013,893 Crestones..... Pyramid........ . 18,885 Princeton..... White Rock...........13,.847 Mt. Bross.... Hague........ 18,8382 Holy Cross... R. G. Pyramid......13,773 Baldy Silver Heels.......... 13,766 Snefiles.. . Hunchback Pike’s.... Rowter......scccessoeee Castle... Homestake.. Yale........ a Of Osssercinesenssseseases San Luis..........0008 +«14,100 | Spanish......13, 620-12, 720 HE early history of Colorado was probably com- pletely changed by the war of the rebellion, which broke out very soon after the new Territory was organized, and, indeed, before Gov. Gilpin had taken hold of the helm of government. This dis- tracted the attention of the East so much that Colorado, though not forgotten, was comparatively ignored during the first years of the war. More- over, the people of the Territory were divided on the issues of the war themselves, and a considera- ble secession element manifested itself in the utter- opposite the present executive offices. The flag, mittee of very determined citizens, who said that Seventy-five peaks, between 13,500 and 14,300 feet in height, are unnamed, and not in this list. ALTITUDES OF PROMINENT TOWNS IN COLORADO Feet. AlaMOSA......ese0er eee 7,000 AlMA.Q... cee eeeee 11,044 Black Hawk.. » 7,975 Boulder...... « 5,536 Breckenridge......... 9,674 Cafion City.........0. 5,260 Caribou... wwe “O905 Cewirall scicssnensoayase 8,300 Cheyenne............. 6,041 Chicago Lakes. ...+.. 11,500 Colorado Springs... 5,023 Del Norte ..... waaay . 7,750 Denver.... wes 6,224 Divide..... 7,210 Estes Park. 8,000 Fairplay .. 9,964 Garland...... «. 8,146 Georgetown........0. 8,400 Golden...........2060. 5,729 Gold Hill.......0.... 8,463 Greeley...... esas eee 4,776 CHAPTER VII. COLORADO DURING THE REBELLION—TERRITORIAL OFFICIALS. either the flag or the house must come down, and they didn’t care which. Joined to these difficulties were the discourage- ment of miners arising out of refractory ores and failing placers, for already the flush days of placer mining in Colorado seemed, at least, to have passed -by.” The Clear Creek placers were abandoned or worked casually, as any claims are worked which yield only bare wages without promise of a richer harvest, It must be borne in mind, too, that not | | 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 secession flag on Larimer street, almost directly | by which means the scope of mining development | | 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 gold is light indeed compared to that of silver. — HISTORY OF COLORADO. 41 of range, 11,000 feet; average timber line, 11,800 1 3 es | Buffalo 1 ot a | GUY OC. cae cceveeeveeeeeetd 000 | DUTAIO....- sacresearereL Oy feet: ....13,546 | Arapahoe... 113,520 MOUNTAIN PEAKS OF COLORADO. Kendall ........... 118,542 DUG sevcsavnevsavene 13,502 Feet. : } Green Lake.......... -10,000 | |: Hot Sulphur Spr’gs 7,715 Idaho Springs....... 7,500 Lake City........ weeee 8,550 Leadville... «210,205 Magnolia. 6,500 Manitou... - 6,297 Montezuma 00 -10,295 | fb MOrrisoni.: vesscsssaxns 5,922 ‘Nederland... 8,263 Oro City ... seo 24d Ouray..... . 7,640 Buebloveccsesiadivssvces 4,679 Rosita..... . 8,500 Saguache. 7,745 Silverton. 9,405 Sunshine... .. 7,000 Trinidad...... .. 6,005 Twin Lakes... oe Veta Pass.......0.... 9,339 Y ~ aly Ck 42 HISTORY OF 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 bas gone abroad far and wide, but who labored long and hard before reaping the reward he 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 had to be shoveled out with painful care, that the gold might be gathered. The 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, and 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 fight 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 and 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, but simply a fight 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- ‘grand banquet given by Ford & McClintock on tle the Indian question” very soon, and “ without costing the Government a cent.” The Sand Creek fight occurred November 29, 1864, the Coloradoans being commanded by Col. J. M. Chivington, a Methodist minister and first Presiding Elder of the Colorado Conference. Chivington was essentially a Western man, equally. ready to pray or fight, and at home everywhere, even in the most incongruous associations. Prof. O. J. Goldrick, the well-known pioneer teacher and editor, relates that Chivington attended a the occasion of the opening of their gambling- rooms, up-stairs over the corner of F and McGaa streets, now known as Fifteenth and Holladay. The writer knows nothing of Chivington’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 his 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. Chivington called for volunteers, and led them himself, by forced ‘marches, to the Arkansas, where he and his men fell upon the Indian camp on Sand Creek, before the red devils knew that danger was near. For this, Chivington was severely censured by his superior officers, though warmly applauded by the people. The 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 East that an attempt was made by the Nouth, very early in the war of the rebellion, to capture Colo- rado, but it is an actual fact, and the failure of the enterprise was due to the pluck and energy of the Coloradoans themselves. This stirring episode in the history of the State occurred in March and April of 1862, when Grant was making his first memorable advances + _ 3 v ; \ wh + HISTORY OF COLORADO. 43 upon the enemy. A wmilitary organization, which had been started in the fall of 1860, was revived on the breaking-out of 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 they 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, but space will only admit of a review in this connection. The Texans were encountered just north of Santa Fe. They. were more than a match for the Colo- radoans in number, but 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 to eat, 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, he was soon afterward superseded by Dr. John Evans, of Evanston, Ill., one of the best Governors Colo- rado ever had, and still an honored citizen of the State. Secretary Weld, for whom Weld County was named, was also removed, and succeeded by Samuel H. Elbert, afterward Governor himself, and now an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the State. Gen. Sam E. Browne was about this time appointed Attorney General, and Gen. John Pierce succeeded Gen. Case as Sur- veyor General. 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 1861 to 1876: William Gilpin qualified July 8, 1861; John Evans, April 11, 1862; A. Cummings, October 19, 1865; A. C. Hunt, May 27, 1867; Ed. M. McCook, June 15, 1869; Samuel H. Elbert, April 5, 1873; Ed M. McCook (again), June 26, 1874, and John L. Routt about May 1, 1875. Routt held until the admission of the State, in 1876, and was the first State Governor, holding the latter office from November, 1876, until January, 1879, when he was succeded by Frederick W. Pitkin, present in- ,cumbent. During the same perioa, an almost equal num- ber of changes were made in the other officers of the Territory, except that Hon. Frank Hall served several terms as Secretary under Govs. Hunt, McCook and Elbert. The Secretarial succession was as follows: Lewis Ledyard Weld, qualified July 8, 1861, with Gilpin; Samuel H. 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 McCook, and still again with Elbert, April 17, 1873, holding the office honorably for seven years. To him succeeded John W. Jenkins, March 11, 1874, and John Taffe, who came with Routt and remained until the organization of the State. William M. Clark was the first Secretary of State, N. H. Meldrum is the present incumbent. These constant changes of officials, at such irregular intervals, served to keep the Territory in a state of political excitement not unlike that Cr a “Vo Y Tt “revolutions” of Old Mexico. 44 HISTORY OF COLORADO. engendered by the more practical and sanguinary . They also served to beget a feeling of hostility toward the central Government at Washington. Andrew Johnson, poor man, was most 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 ever had, in the person of Cum- mings, whose brief reign was eminently unsatis- factory. Grant, too, was unpopular until the admission of the State, 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 understood 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 be 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 they held it would have been hard to find, and yet the people chafed under their rule, for the simple reason that they were not called but sent. There is 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 of 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, but 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, and especially for his wholesale removal of Federal officials in Colorado at or about the same. time. The immediate result was a total demoralization of 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 aceeptable 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-} He was also lucky enough to secure the | Senator. long term, and will serve until 1883. Senator Chaffee’s voluntary retirement from politics at the close of his Senatorial term gaye Hon. N. P. Hill an opportunity to grasp the succession, which he | did, defeating half a dozen opponents. Curiously enough, although Colorado made such an cffort to break into Congress at an early day, she was not effectually represented there until 1863, when Hon. H. P. Bennett went to Washing- ton, armed with undoubted credentials, attested by ~~ —?___9 4 +. HISTORY OF COLORADO. 4% .the “broad seal of the sovereign Territory,” as 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 Hon. J. B. Chaffee was elected in 1870, and again in 1872. In 1874, the McCook-Elbert war resulted in the CHAPTER VIII. PROGRESS OF URING all these years, the country had been 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 by the succeeding chapters specially devoted to these indusiries. 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 bad 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 store chance election of Hon. Thomas M. Patterson, who served until the admission of the State into the Union. Mr. Patterson also served term as Representa- tive in Congress after admission, although his seat was unsuccessfully contested by, Hon. James B. Belford, the present Representative, who defeated Patterson in 1878 by a large majority. 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 he began to agitate the question of railway con- nection 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 then on foot looked to Denver either as a terminus or way station. Seeing that the mountain would not come to Mahomet, Mahomet got up and went ‘to the mountain. The Denver Pacific road was built to a connection with the Union Pacific at Cheyenne, 106 miles due north, and in due time a railway 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. Tt was a grand and glorious transformation scene. The 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 within three years following the completion of the Union Pacific. Development was a little retarded, but aaa =e oe 48 HISTORY OF COLORADO. not checked by the panic of 1873, and the grass- hoppers of 1875, but there has never been a year since 1864-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 extend to Colo- rado. There were no failures in the State worth speaking of. The banks 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 real. On the other hand, the panic drove many active business men 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 large 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 OF COLORADO. HE history of Colorado as a sanitarium dates back 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 heroic 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- fied. oF oe a HISTORY OF COLORADO. 49 It was many years, however, ere Colorado began to offer 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 apace, 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 Not in every case, of course, nor in ninety and nine per cent. of them, but in enough of them to make a have poured into her extended palm. | very satisfactory showing. Hundreds and, perhaps, thousands of people are enjoying good health in Colorado to-day who came here confirmed invalids. Many more, coming too late, have died here, but, if the fair warning given by such deaths had been heeded in the Hast, 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 ina 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 life. - pressure. 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 are 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 and 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 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 east 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 the State Medical Society, the sensations attending a first entrance into this State are 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 In healthy lungs, it is invigorating and . v S| + 50 HISTORY OF COLORADO. which, it may be for years past, have been accomplished in a sluggish, inefficient manner, at once assume a vigor of ‘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 to 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 for people to say that the air of Colorado invigorates them like new wine. In the very admirable essay from which the foregoing is quoted, Dr. Edmondson goes on to say : ‘“ An unclouded mind partakes of the elasticity of a healthy body, and the unwonted vigor of man’s intellect is manifested by a newly aroused desire for activity and by an increased capability to 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 be 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 place where a hearty good will is most manifest in all classes and conditions of men. This is a curious 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 pleasant, 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 the 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. arly in April, the spring snows fall, 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 1s often delayed a month or more longer. With the foliage come the rains, varying greatly in different seasons, but no¢ 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. Rains 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 Cr a w=). i ee 4 HISTORY OF COLORADO. 51 no inconvenience whatever to invalids, who have all the sunshine they want even in wet weather. It is this unlimited sunshine that builds up many debilitated systems, which seem to need no other medicine. The average number of cloudy days for each year since 1872, when the Signal Service was first established in Denver, is but a fraction over sixty-three; the days on which rain fell, consider ably less, and those on which snow fell, only forty. As to the range of the thermometer, that erratic instrument should not be quoted 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 does, 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 the delightfully cool mornings and evenings of midsummer, they can get all the air and exercise necessary for them. In the fall of 1873, two well-known gentlemen of Denver—Mr. F. 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, it 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, 1873. 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 had only 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 1874, a pamphlet was printed for gratuitous distribution, containing a condensed record of over two hundred and fifty cases 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 and 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 general debility, the t —~— a s y = +4 ek. ical 52 HISTORY OF COLORADO. ; recovery is marked and rapid. The marked excep- tions to 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, with its 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. Beside 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, are pronounced among the finest in the world. The Steamboat Springs, in the North- west, are truly wonderful as a natural curiosity, as well as valuable for their medicinal qualities. They take their name from a peculiar noise emit- ted 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 these 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, and 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 brings to mind this new disease—new to Colorado, at least, though common enough in lead minesall over theworld. 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 Cafion, which are a specific in almost a ne ’ ~—— 9) Y HISTORY OF COLORADO. 53 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 be a healthy city, but the verdict of the Coroner’s jury—“too much whisky and too little blanket”—+tells the story of many a death. The altitude is too great for over-indulgence and reckless neglect. Care and cleanliness have been 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. GRICULTURE, 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 are invariably | designated, for every product of the soil. In the early years of the country, when scarcely | anybody expected to stay here more than the few weeks or months necessary to obtain a fortune 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, after 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 had 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 paid 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 day. 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 fine linen, and fare sumptuously every day. On the contrary, they work harder and are less repaid proportionately than farmers 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 poor 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 inri- gation, and it is not a question of land, but of a “—~—o8 4 54 HISTORY OF 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 Jand and water, he pro- ceeds to 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 wheat 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 full 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 safe to say that during the irrigation season the farmer will be called upon to work at least all day, and 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 but one 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 in about that order, the beginning and ending having been 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 ° : i ranchman only knows that they come in countless - numbers and depart, leaving his fields as brown and bare as though they had never been planted. Nothing could well be 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, are 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 farmers can and 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 how numer- ously they are hatched out in and around their fields. It is only when swarms of hungry ’hop- pers alight in the midst of the growing crops for a hasty lunch that the heart of the ranchman sinks within his bosom, for then he 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 that allowance should be made for grasshopper visitations at least once in ten years, but it is certain that the farmers of Colorado N og ~~ HISTORY OF COLORADO. 55 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 most experienced husbandmen of the State to the writer, recently : “Nobody can tell anything about the grasshop- pers in Colorado or anywhere else. They have been here and may be here again, savans to the contrary notwithstanding. I may lose my. crop by them next year, but while I am sure of water for irriga- tion, I 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 Hastern 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 I 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 to south, and the best of these, perhaps, as far as development has gone, lie between the Platte and the Cache la Poudre 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 more 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 Caiion, twenty miles southwest of Denver, to Julesburg, in the extreme northeastern corner of the State. Thousands of aeres of fertile lands line both sides of the river for this entire distance. Above Denver, and below that city for a distance of fifty or sixty miles, there are fine farms; below the junction of the Platte and the Poudre and the State line, there are occasional farms and frequent meadows, but 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 bed of treacherous, shifting sand, in and through which the channel winds and turns and divides and 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, but oftener 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, are the best reli- ance of the farmers of Colorado, even though their volume of water may be restricted. Of 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 below Evans and Greeley, the “ Poudre,” as it is univer- sally called in Colorado, is lined with improved farms, many 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 fitting location for such an institution, surrounded, as it is, by some of the finest farms and best farming land in the State. ; The early history of this part of the State, 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 v A oe Ck sf 4 i =) 56 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 the 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 and so often by the leading newspapers of the whole country, East and West, that a brief review will be sufficient for the purpose of this volume. Established in 1870, at the suggestion of the lamented Horace Greeley, whose honored name it bears, and whose principles it largely per- petuates, it started with a fund of $150,000, 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 land 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, and farm property is particularly valuable under the Greeley canals. Some of the farmers 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 farmer 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 $1.50 per bushel. 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 Greeley colonists have turned their attention to raising small fruits, with very gratifying success. Their strawberries are simply magnificent, and the yield equal 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 the 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 Potatoes and all kinds of veg-— a 4 oe ! ~~ = =p Y sll pssst s HISTORY OF COLORADO. 57 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. 100,000 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 resident 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 its greatest develop- ment since 1877, when the Colorado Central Railroad was extended past that place to a connection with the Union Pacific at Cheyenne. The follow- ying 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. ' “Tts elevation of 5,100 feet above the sea 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 and 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 for 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 farming 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. Longmont, settled by a Chicago colony about 1870, is located on the St. Vrain, in the midst of a very rich farming country. The A ee ~— Y 58 HISTORY OF COLORADO. ‘St. Vrain is one of the most beautiful of Colorado rivers. It rises at the base of Long’s Peak, and, though boasting of no grandly romantic cajion like Boulder, Clear Creek and the Platte or Arkansas, it flows through scenes of sylvan beauty strangely enchanting to the eye and the esthetic 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 cafion has been pronounced 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 Boulder 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 advanced to the position it occupies in Northern Colorado, though the conditions are all favorable. In time, no doubt, the arable lands of this district will be developed as well as those of the western slope, which in some respects are superior to those 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 in 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 for 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 people 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 1873, 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. H. 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 case 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. Though the arid lands of Colorado find no sale at Government prices, and, perhaps, would not bring more than 10 cents per acre at auction, they are all productive in one sense, and the State reaps a large benefit therefrom every year, in its r See ee Oy +___9 “ HISTORY OF COLORADO. 59 production of beef, mutton and wool. The stock | competition. The home demand is enlarged by interests would surely suffer if the plains were | the stock interest, which produces nothing but “reclaimed,” but whether farming, with the added | beef. Reduce the home demand by excluding the expense of costly irrigation, could successfully | bulk of the stock men, and at the same time compete with Kansas cheap production, is not | double the agricultural production, and we may equally certain. have a state of affairs which neither the farmers Kansas, which lies right at the door of Colo- | nor the State will appreciate as a public blessing. rado, is undoubtedly the finest agricultural State These objections, however, may be more than in the Union, and is growing rapidly in our direc- | met by the rapid increase of our mining population | |. tion. The corn and wheat of Kansas are already | in the next five years, creating a home market | |! sold in our markets at prices which tend to dis- | which the present agricultural resources of the || courage our own farmers, though, happily, the | State will be entirely unable to supply. In that || latter still have a home market for their crops | case, more farms and more farmers will be among | |, which affords them protection against Kansas | the actual necessities of the country. i CHAPTER XI. - STOCK RAISING IN COLORADO. NOUGH has already been said in this work On the plains of Colorado and Western Kansas, | | to indicate that the pastoral resources of | cattle succeeded the buffalo as naturally as white |} Colorado are second only to the industry of mining | men succeeded the Indians. It could not have been in point of profit if not of production. The net | any secret to the early settlers that stock would | |i profit of stock-growing exceeds that of agriculture | live and fatten on the nutritious grasses of the | |' every year. Probably during the decade preceding | plains and mountains all the year round, for they | | the eventful year when the mines of Leadville | saw buffalo, antelope, deer, elk and other gram- began to yield up their hidden treasures, the net | niverous animals depending entirely for their sus- | profit of mining over and above the expense | tenance upon the same, but in spite of this “ ocular incurred in its prosecution, was not much greater | proof,” it appears to be a fact, as already stated | than the net profit of the stock business. elsewhere, that the father of the stock business in _ This is a startling statement, and, unfortunately, Colorado turned his cattle out in the fall expecting or fortunately, as the case may be, the figures are | them to die during the winter, and was surprised not at hand whereby it can be supported. It is | to find them fat and flourishing in the spring. 1 equally impossible to say how much money was | Even at this late day, with thousands of cattle | |! swallowed up in unlucky mining enterprises, and | roaming the plains on every hand, winter and sum- ; how much was made by raising stock while the | mer, some stranger is always found willing to swear business was comparatively new and the range not | that they must inevitably starve to death in the overcrowded as it is now in many directions. When | winter. These doubting Thomases, impressed with. | |; cattle could be brought to maturity and market at | ancient heresies regarding the Great American a cost of about $5 per head, and sold at $30, $40, | Desert, are alike incapable of realizing that cattle: or even $50, it requires no arithmetician or “light- | can live on our grasses the year round and that the ning calculator,” or even Col. Sellers, to see that | finest wheat and vegetables in the world cam be there were “ millions in it.” produced from our soil. oe 7 ek. A 60 HISTORY OF COLORADO. However lightly Coloradoans may esteem the intelligence of these people, they do not much care to combat their erroneous ideas by argument, and cattle-erowers are especially indifferent on the sub- ject. On the contrary, they do not care how many people are 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, and they do not want to be crowded by new- comers out of their chosen localities. Though the “yrange” is free to all, the water front is usually taken up by the home ranches of cattle and sheep growers, who own the land adjacent thereto and thereby control the range back of their respective claims. Encroachments upon these vested rights are rare, but 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 be endangered in other respects. Prior to the advent of railroads in Colorado, the stock business was limited by the home demand and such Government contracts as could be secured for the 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 Colorado. The magnitude of this business under the new development is something astonishing. Next to Texas, Colorado probably produces more beef than any other State 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 everywhere, even into the Indian Reservation. Some years ago, the Indian Bureau, in a lucid interval seldom duplicated, drove a band 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 are 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, and this Snake River beef is often on 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 and other valleys of the San Juan country produce the finest beef as well as the best vegetables and 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, but they all resolve them- selves at last into one general system, which cen- ters around a home ranche or camp, and extends pretty nearly over the entire surrounding country. Having 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, but gen- erally it is best to buy from the Texas stock driven up from the South every summer, which comes cheaper and 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. ee at) HISTORY OF COLORADO. 61 The camp should be located near a permanent water-supply, and it is well to purchase or enter 160 acres or more and inclose it with a stock-fence as a kind of gigantic barnyard. Horses kept for 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 heavy work, tough draft horses and a number of native ponies or bronchos for saddle use. Of 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 $25 to $50, and the trouble of raising them is but slightly ereater 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 far 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 $1,000, 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, and the other for sleep- ing and lounging, whenever opportunity offers. For an ordinary camp, the working force includes about six 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 sick 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 is very trying; but when the foreman and herders are away on the round-ups or are shipping beef, he is often left en- tirely alone for weeks, with 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 may be. 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 ndamber 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 found. Y oF 62 HISTORY OF COLORADO. 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 scen 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 mettle 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 of the animal it is pursuing, and none but a skilled and well-trained rider can keep his seat in the sad- dle throughout the chase. 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 soon find themselves, if they are careful and economical, ahead of the world and in a fair way to become proprietors on a small scale. Accidents are not 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 he accumulates two or three hundred head, he is ready to begin busi- ness himself, generally taking a second small bunch of cattle to herd “ on 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 to accumulate anything for themselves, but find that they will not be trusted with the care of stock for other owncrs. Much has been written about the ‘cattle kings” of Colorado, their countless herds and the princely ‘round-ups with his men, eating out of their camp-ket- 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 great. 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 State, 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. He 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 and always eat 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 settle up his _ estate. It is said that $250,000 worth of beef was sold by his executors last year, without making much inroad upon his immense herds. My. Tliff did not commence business a poor man, as is often stated, but his capital was limited, and, in his early days, he devoted himself to Govern- ment contracts and to supplying dressed beef to butchers, at 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 after every detail and often following the 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 stepped in and ended his busy life in its very prime. Had 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 firms in Colorado have created: colossal fortunes in stock-raising or are now . in a fair way to become millionaires, but the business is less profitable of late, particularly to new investors. 4 a “ve 1 eas) y HISTORY OF COLORADO. 65 The range is getting crowded about the water- fronts, and sheep-men are driving cattle-growers back from their old ranches into new quarters, north and east. 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 are 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 rigors of Colorado’s “Italian” climate without too much risk. Blooded stock and thorough American cattle thrive excellently well in Colorado, but 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 fast 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 seldcm 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 broncho’s cash value is less, he is more reliable for hard and rough riding, whether on the mountain or plain. His sinews are steel, and his i tireless gallop is a marvel of endurance. Yet, in- breeding develops the same characteristics in other horses, and 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 no one can surely say what the “coming horse” of Colorado will be, or whether he will be able to hold his own with Eastern stables. Thus far, but few Eastern horses have been able to compete with Colorado-bred stock in trials of speed on our own turf, but this is accounted for on the very natural and reasonable theory that Colorado air is “too thin” for equine lungs unac- customed thereto, while home-bred horses, on the contrary, are 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, are 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-day to contain over fifteen million head, worth upward of $300,000,000, are 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 the Iliffs, the Bosters, Dorsey, Waddingham, Craig, Hall Brothers, and others, have each nearly as many cattle as existed in either Y oe “ve 1 66 HISTORY OF COLORADO. of the territories a year ago, and together, have more than existed in New Mexico, Colorado and Nebraska combined. Just 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 to stop it. There will be 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 be, and hence it is generally certain that some- thing will be done.” — The “alarm” of which the correspondent writes was more 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 20,000 to 30,000 head of cattle ranging over that country, to the “exclusion of 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 $1.25 per acre for land worth in open market not more than one-fifth of that sum. The cattle kings, however, are willing to buy it in tracts of five or ten thousand acres 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 and on the terms proposed, but 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 10,000 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 for 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 be 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 see 10,- 000 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 “cut out” + or ~— eae a 'D a HISTORY OF COLORADO. 67 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 be 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 for the larger one, and it may be driven away with the rest in perfect peace and serenity. When an owner has separated his cattle from the main herd, it is no trouble at all to drive them back 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 ' barn, with an occasional meal of vegetables. Only the most timid, the Colorado stock being somewhat domesticated by more handling as they grow up. Whole 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, and seem to.consider man and horse a sort 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, but 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 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. WRITER, referring more particularly to mining in Park County in the early days, | said that “Colorado has 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 be 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 band 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 was 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 1876. It was the old story, so familiar in mining history, told once more. 4 yo ~— Ou 68° HISTORY OF COLORADO. In 1860-61, placer mining in the gulch formed the great attraction for the major number of adventurers flocking into the country. The towns of Buckskin, Hamilton, Montgomery and Fairplay 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. Tn 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 he 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 has 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 per 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 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 the peculiar formations now so universally known as carbonates. It is uncer- tain who were the original discoverers or locaters. 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 paying 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 oe ~~ —i§_ 9 ee HISTORY OF COLORADO. ‘69 year 1879 sees it a well and substantially built city, having brick blocks, well-laid-out streets, water-works, gas-works, opera-houses, daily news- papers, banks, and all the adjuncts that make up great and 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 sys- tem of water-works began, which was completed. early in 1879, by which the city now has an inex- haustible supply of pure water for all purposes, and there is but 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 be said of the town that it is the healthiest in the world. Many stig- matize it as the unhealthiest one 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 and 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 Ist day of July, 1879, 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, and 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. One 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- gon 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 1877 would pass from hand to hand for a few 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 1879, 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 banks, principal public buildings and hotels are located on Harrison avenue and Chestnut street. That Leadville is a lively town may well be imagined ; but one can hardly realize it who has not stood within its borders and witnessed the mighty flood of humanity that, day and night, in a never-ceasing tide, surges through the principal thoroughfares. Its great wealth, its increasing prosperity, naturally make it the point to which + Cr a ~— i 70 HISTORY OF COLORADO. converge all the elements of social and business activity, and all classes are represented, from the Mexican greaser to the son of an ex-President. The man of prominence in public life who has not seen 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) 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 and. 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. Under 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 mood, 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 sight 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 2—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 “‘ Hasy come, easy gone,” is nightly illustrated in these dens of infamy and hot-beds of crime. “ Lifein 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 ed 129) Y HISTORY OF COLORADO. 71 time goes by, and a greater stability is given to the institutions, and permanence to the homes, the ele- ments that go to 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 lucky if 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 best grades 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 facilities 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 discoveréd, which have since proved to be among 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 Hallock 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 Giant, Shamrock, Aitna, Walden, Forsaken, Monto Cristo, Agassiz, 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, Miner Boy, Lowland Chief, Robert Burns, Gilderry, Highland Mary, Fanny Rawlings, Eliza, Daisy, Denver, Idaho and Nevada, all overlooking Evans’ Creek. Scarcely half a mile distant from the last- named mines, lie the Little Ella, Izzard, Virginius, New Year’s, Trade Dollar and Grand View. ‘4 oe A 72 HISTORY OF COLORADO. Directly south from this last-named hill, is Long and Derry 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 named. The names of the mines thus far given com- prise only those that are best known, not by any means all of the producing mines 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 who 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 and 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 beds 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, how 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 $60_ 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, some 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 the Methodist, Baptist, Presbyterian and Catholic. These places are well attended every Sabbath. There are, of course, thousands of people in the oer ses) 4 HISTORY OF COLORADO. 73 city who prefer what is called the sacred concert in the 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, four 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 60°, while that of winter is 26°. 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 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 much 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 air 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 1877 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 THE FIRST COLORADO REGIMENT. HE question, Is Colorado for the Union, or will it declare for secession? was early forced upon the consideration of the people, far removed though they seemed to be from the scene of active operations. But the war no sooner broke out than it was evident that the emergency was arising. The Southern element was strong in society. Greor- gians had first discovered gold in the country, and this had led to the influx of a large Southern popu- lation. In the latter part of August, 1861, the news of the battle of Bull Run reached Denver. This resulted in the secession element boldly avowing 4 ° ~— 14 HISTORY OF COLORADO. hostility to the Union, raising secession flags, buying up arms, and in other ways making prepar- ations to declare for the Confederacy. But Gov. Gilpin was a stanch Union man, and surrounded himself at once with men who were 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, 8. F. Tappan ; Major, J. M. Chivington. Captains—Company A, E. W. Wynkoop; Com- pany B,8.M. Logan; Company C, Richard Sopris ; Company D, Jacob Downing; Company E, 8. J. Anthony; Company F, 8. H. Cook; Company G, J. W. Hambleton; Company H, George L. San- born; Company I, Charles Mailie; Company K, C. P. Marion. Recruiting offices were opened at various points, and, in two months, the necessary complement of men were 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, but 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 the peace,” even in so isolated a part of the country and among such a scattered population. But 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 volunteers, 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 with 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 sowing the seeds of dissension inthe 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 E and F reached Fort’ Wise—now Fort. Lyon—where an order met them from Gen. Hunter, assigning them to 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 13th. 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 Gen. Canby announced his capture of a large train coming from the South with an escort of one hundred and fifty men. Gen. 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, Capt. Cn a al 19) HISTORY OF COLORADO. 15 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 Cafion cccurred on the 26th. (This point had 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 cafion at about 2 P. M., and were met by the been made, out of the cafion. 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 foward toward Santa Fe. When in the cafion of Pigeon’s Ranche, the pickets were driven in. The enemy was approaching. The men, not being aware of their close proximity, were engaged in filling their canteens with water, with their arms stacked in the road. They were called to attention, and Capt. Kaster, of Company I, was ordered to advance on the right; Capt. Downing with Company D, on the left of a narrow caiion, 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 troops and driven, after three different stands had’ Claflin, of the Regulars, moved their battery in the cafion, 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 (134) of killed and wounded. But the enemy’s loss was much greater, as taken from their own Surgeon’s books; two hundred and fifty-one being killed, two huadred 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. He 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 10th, the troops reached a little’ town called Galisteo, about twenty miles from Santa Fe. Here information was received of Gen. Canby’s Yv A or ~— Vv shemale

7 > 76 HISTORY OF COLORADO. : whereabouts. He had come up from Fort Craig, | marched along the other. The foe was constantly 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 distant. The Texans were reported as 2,000 strong, and, apparently satisfied with the experi- ence of Apache Cafion and Pigeon’s Ranche, were not very eager for the fray. About this time, Col. Slough resigned his command and left for Gen. Canby’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 he 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, Maj. Chivington was promoted over the head of Lieut. Col. Tappan, to the coloneley of the regiment, subject. to the ap- proval of Gov. Gilpin. 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 easy 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 finally 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 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 eommand of the Southern Depart- ment, relieving Col. Chivington, who immediately proceeded to Santa Fe and procured an order from Gen. 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 he 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 on 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 E 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 there to receive their annuities, and finally marched to Fort Larned. About this time, news of the following Special Order arrived : EXTRACT. Heapqvuarters DEPARTMENT OF THE MissouRI, Sr. Louis, Mo., Nov. 1, 1862. } Srecrat ORDER No. 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 oe —~— ; HISTORY OF COLORADO. v7 Col. Chivington, will be converted into a cavalry regi- ment; to be denominated the First Cavalry of Colorado. The Quartermaster and Ordnance Departments will furnish and change equipments to suit the change of arms. * * * The regiment will rendezvous in Colorado Territory ; headquarters at Denver. By command of Maj. Gen. Curtis. N. P. Cuipman, Colonel and Chief of Staff. The welcome news soon traveled east and south to Larned 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, of the Ninth Kansas, refusing to recognize the order, Col. Tappan proceeded to Leavenworth and had the news confirmed by Gen. Blunt. December 13, the company left Larned 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 Ist of January—a welcome New Year's present—were issued to them. H, 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, F 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 Range, 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 13th, into which they were very handsomely escorted by the Third Regiment of Volunteers and 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 and now were welcomed back by the 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 OF THE SECOND COLORADO REGIMENT. T seems proper, in giving a full history of: the Second Colorado Regiment, to prefix it with a concise sketch of the raising and services of the two companies that formed 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 doings of the First Colorado, with the intention of 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 Capt. Hendrew, with T. H. Dodd as First a a = ~~ “f° > » 78 HISTORY OF COLORADO. Lieutenant and J. C. W. Hall as Second Lieuten- ant, and the other by Capt. James H. Ford, with Lieuts. De Forest and Clark, in the fall of 1861, and all rendezvoused at Cafion 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, where 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 were allowed to choose between remaining under another Captain or returning to their homes. Eighty-four out of eighty-seven had come to stay, however, which speaks volumes for their patriotism and pluck. They were accordingly mustered into service on the 22d of December, with Dodd as Captain and Hall and Piatt as Lieutenants, and designated as Company B. About this time, Capt. Ford arrived with his mén, and Company A was thus mustered into service. It was supposed that arms, accouterments, cloth- ing, camp and garrison equipage awaited them here. But in this they were mistaken, and, illy prepared as they were for further marching, two days after arrival at the fort, Company B was ordered to Santa Fe. Capt. Dodd started at once with six men from Company A to act as teamsters for the scanty ox transportation furnished him. They crossed the range, experiencing fearful hardships, and reached Santa Fe, a distance of 180 miles, on the Ist 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 and 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. After the battle, Gen. Canby found himself without men enough to warrant him in following up the He remained cooped up at Fort Craig for several weeks, his supplies all cut off, and him- self and troops suffering severely for want of them. Company A, meanwhile, started from Cafion 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 Cajion 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 fight 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 Mesilla, during which there was some skirmishing, but no regular battles. After the enemy had dis- persed and made his escape in scattered bands to the Texan frontier, Companies A and B returned by easy marches via Santa Fe to Fort Union. They remained on duty in Gen. Canby’s department Texans. oc fF % v HISTORY OF COLORADO. 79 | Colonel. until the spring of 1863, when they united with the balance of the regiment at its 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. It 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, 1862, the Secretary of War anthorized Col. J. H. 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 he was appointed 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 May, 1862, that he reached Denver to perform this duty. In June, the following appointments were made : Lieut. Col. T. H. Dodd. Captains—Company E, J. Nelson Smith; Company F, L. D. Rowell; Company G, Reuben Howard; Company H, George West; Company I, E. D. Boyd; Company K, 8. 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. Burrell, 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. ‘ment, and then properly drilled for service. Evans, taking the Bradford road, Destination, Middle Park. “Aug. 3.—Capt. West, with Lieuts Howard and Roe, and detachments of Companies G and H, arrived at Fort ‘Union, 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- 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 booty 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 days, a distance of 240 miles. r 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 7 oc Ff ~ ee 80 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 taking- away of the company formed for cavalry service, and for doing which Col. Leavenworth seemed likely to suffer. The regiment remained at Fort Lyon until April 6, 1863, 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 on the Santa Fe road, with headquarters at Fort Larned. 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, B, E, G, H 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 Colorado 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 | On the 16th, the little. army, numbering about one thousand four hundred, - rank and file, 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, for an advance movement. ' with the service was terminated, reached him at after a hard-fought battle (lasting some two hours), succeeded in routing him, with a loss of 400 killed, wounded and missing, according to his own accounts, he having been so closely pressed as to compel him to abandon his dead and wounded and to burn all his stores to prevent them from falling into Gen. Blunt's 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 pouring 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, 1863, protecting, under Gen. Blunt’s orders, the Santa Fe road and its approaches from the enemy, fre- quently sending out scouting parties to reconnoiter, sometimes leading the scouts himself, and endeavor- ing to keep the various tribes of Indians in that section from joining the rebels. Thus, we find him and the troops under him engaged, when, on the 19th of October, Special Order No. 431 of the Adjutant General’s Office, of September 26, 1863, by which his connection Fort Larned. He immediately resigned his com- mand of the post to Capt. James W. Parmeter, 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 + Oo or _ ® sails iD HISTORY OF COLORADO. 83 ‘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 the regiment. The succeeding history of the regiment we now give in the language of Capt. E. L. Berthoud, as prepared by him for a reunion of the regiment that occurred in Golden in 1877: “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 fegiment, 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 Rolla, and thence to Benton Barracks, at St. Louis. “ All detachments of men, officers and 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- 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 FH. 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. Burrell, Commis- { sary, Lieut. J. S. Cook, Quartermaster, Pollock, | Surgeon, and Hamilton, Chaplain. “ After remaining a certain time at Benton Bar- 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 be mounted and equipped, and thoroughly broken in the new drill. . “In February, 1864, Col. J. H. 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, 1864, the Ninth Minnesota was forwarded to the district, and formed the effective infantry of his command. “In January, 1864, 150 recruits having ar- rived from Colorado, they were distributed among the twelve companies of the regiment, which then mustered 1,240 effective men. “Tn taking command of the Fourth Subdistrict, embracing the most unmanageable and most ex- posed counties of Missouri, Col. Ford appointed his District Staff, consisting of Acting Assistant Adjutant General, Lieut. Berthoud ; Provost Mar- shal, Capt. 8. 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, 1864, 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 bands of Todd's, Quantrell’s and Hick- man’s guerrillas. Capt. Green was stationed at _ Westport, Capt. West at Independence; Maj. Smith, with one company, the Ninth Minnesota, was stationed also at Independence, while Maj. Pritchard, at Harrisonville, and Lieut. Col. Dodd, at Pleasant Hill, with Capt Moses in the wooded portion of Jackson County, kept vigilant watch over the Sny Hills. Capt. Rouell, at Hickman’s : { © Ms nate 4 84 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 thoroughly from 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 loss being two men wounded, one 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 and conflicts raged between the guerrillas, who continually pushed northward from Arkansas, and our scouting parties of cavalry. “Tn April, May and June, the system of patrols on horseback was also aided in the wooded por- tions of Jackson and Cass 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 very materially to rid the roads 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 gave the force of every post in efficient men, horses and guns, but 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, but 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, 1864, 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 road 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 Capt. 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 over twenty men killed and several wagon loads of wounded. “ Capt. Wagoner, who so gallantly defended him- self while life 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 be 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 be 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 — a Zz , ® eee) 4 HISTORY OF COLORADO. 85 Corp. Baer 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. Coon Thornton, preparatory to making their way south 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 proceeded 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, and 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 two hundred and fifty men—were making their final preparations for departure, having on that day 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 Capt. Moses and Lieut. Wise, with M and D 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, and 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. Flannagan—and one wounded—Sergt. Luther K. Crane—but had six or eight horses killed or so badly wounded as to cause them to be 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 three or four men killed and wounded, were again re-assembled, and, after scouting over the rest of: the 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 and 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 Vaughan, 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, and, with renewed energy, was marching to capture St. Louis, overrun the State of Missouri, and, by such v 4 a “v2 q @._g + Cu 86 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 some 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, 1864, 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 and 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 had meanwhile reached Independence from Leavenworth, and assumed command of the forces in the field. Capt. West, with his squad- ron, reached the environs of Lexington, on the river road, about dusk, and was pushing rapidly forward in order to reach the town and deliver his dispatches to Gen. Blunt before dark. He 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 cut 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 his pocket in a business sort of way, remarking, as he pulled out his wallet, ‘T’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 for 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 his 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 9 o'clock, and delivered his dispatches. The night was rainy and extreme- ly dark, but as soon as a house 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 morning, 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 Gen. 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- rado 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 oe v8 HISTORY OF COLORADO. 87 on the brow of the wooded hills west of Blue Mills bridge. “This position, defective, intersected by rail fences, and flanked on the north, east 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 field 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 woods on 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. Pleasanton with a heavy cavalry force, drove the Confederates from Independence, by which several hundred prisoners, with two pieces of cannon, were dense masses of cavalry, while close on the rear of captured by Col. Catherwood, of the Thirteenth Mis- souri Cavalry, the main force under Price having that day given up going to Kansas City to give battle to Gens. Curtis and Blunt, near Westport. The Second Colorado, with the regular Kansas Cavalry and the First Colorado Battery, were placed near the Westport and Brush Creek road, the important key of the whole position by which the easy approach to Kansas City was disputed to Gen. 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 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 though losing very 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 rapidly 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 the troops rested a few hours, then the Fifteenth and Tenth Kansas Cavalry, with the Second Colorado Cavalry and First Colorado Bat- tery kept on the pursuit. Mile after mile the race continued, when finally, at Newtonia, Price made Y + ; “Sy a A 88 ' HISTORY OF COLORADO. his last stand. The small brigade of cavalry, 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 for 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 long 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. “Tn December, 1864, after the return from the Price 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. “Tn 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 the effective force of the district amounted to over 5,500 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, 1865. Three columns of infantry. and cavalry, 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 Larned, 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 the 6th of July, orders came to Gen. Ford to sus- pend indefinitely the proposed campaign. “Trritated, 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 some 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, oc fF ¥ ® jpibcecinien P HISTORY OF COLORADO. 89 murdered, cut to pieces and scalped near Running Turkey Creek, was the cruelest tragedy of that 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 Dodge. 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. “Tn 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-out took place—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, and the strife was ended. For the dead, who peacefully sleep at Honey Springs, farewell. Apache Cafion, Cabin Creek, Westport, Newtonia, and on the Osage we can say: ‘«« How glorious falls the radiant sword in hand, In front of battle for their native land.’ ”’ N 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 for 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. Wanless and Castle in Denver. In the latter part of October, recruiting had become active. ‘By the 1st of February, 1863, troops had been mustered in and the First Battalion organized with commis- sioned officers as follows : Lieutenant Colonel, commanding, S. 8. Curtis. Company A, R. R. Harbour, Captain; Company B, E. W. Kingsbury; Company ©, E. P. Elmer; Company D, G. W. Morton; Company E, Thomas Moses, Jr. CHAPTER XV. SKETCH OF THE THIRD COLORADO. Company A came mainly from Summit County, Company B from Arapahoe and Boulder, Com- pany © from Park and Lake, Company D from Gilpin, and Company E from Clear Creek. The announcement for Colonel and Major of the regiment, when organized, was James H. Ford, Colonel, and Jesse L. Pritchard, 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 troops left Camp Weld on the march for the States by 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 to go to St. Louis, 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 part | of the First Brigade, Second Division, Army of |-the Frontier. On the 2d of June, the infantry in ’ oe Ss v 90 ‘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 along the line 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 HISTORY OF COLORADO. 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 and ceased to exist as the Third Colorado Cavalry, Companies A, B, C, D and E becoming Companies H, I, K, L and M of the Second Colorado Cavalry. CHAPTER XVI. THE GEOLOGY EOLOGY, asthescience treating of the 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 undeviating 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 ice, 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 of the Sierras were as rocky islands in the midst of an ocean, forward through its successive stages as the earth’s form assumed a habitable shape, and life, in its lowest form, began to appear upon its surface, and sea, land and air became full of activity, until he OF COLORADO. beholds it in its present condition, yet still moving forward under 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 been aptly said that “the structure of the 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 for 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 + oF scsi csc D » z HISTORY OF COLORADO. 91 | for all coming ages. 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 of the creation.” And of all countries in the world, Colorado presents within its area of mountain ranges a field so deep and wide as to seem almost inexhaustible Its system of parks alone— once vast inland seas—as they become better 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 and there we see evidences of volcanic action ; but 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, but 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 here Geology opens her wonderful book and we pause to linger, look and finally long to 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 but as a day in His eyes, who is maker and ruler of the world. It is but natural that the opinion should prevail that our State is too young to have much ofa his- tory. Yet it has one, it will be 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 forms 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 the Silurian, these mountains consisted of separate chains, and inland seas marked the spots where the great parks 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, and probably communicating with the inland seas between the two ranges. It will now are. _be thus seen that the Rocky Mountains were long, Co = a v nln: 92 HISTORY OF COLORADO. rocky islands, wearing down continually by the flow of a thousand streams, caused by incessant rains. With the ocean on every side, evaporation, owing to 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 it 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. Lucoidal impressions abound in _a water-line of this age. The mountains were steatlily growing, princi- pally in an easterly and westerly direction. Slowly the great parks lifted their broad, expansive bosoms to the sunlight; the water drained off, swamps ‘were exposed where only the deep, deep seas had been, until, in the Carboniferous period that fol- lowed, an abundant vegetation sprung 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 mountains, 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 parks, for the eleva- tion of the higher mountains does not 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 strait similar to the Strait of Babelmandel, between the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean. Three-fourths of Colorado was covered by the. waves of ocean, in which abounded fishes and shells of many species ; 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 Pass, 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 flat and folded teeth, which formed a pave- ment for the jaws, enabling their possessors to Cr a ~~ Le 5 it a) HISTORY OF COLORADO. 93 crush the shells and crustaceas on which they fed. The sea which occupied the Middle Park and communicated with the great Western Ocean, con- tained many baculites and some conchifers. 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 for 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 seen at Golden, Coal Creek, and other places in the vicinity, with their coal beds, under-clays and iron“ ores, bearing a great resemblance to the car- boniferous coal measures. Here are 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 of less thickness. After the deposition of the coal measures, lakes of fresh or brackish water covered most of the western and central parts of Colorado, as well as the valley at the foot of the eastern range. At this time, the higher grounds were adorned with palms and trees indigenous to a tropical country, many of them resinous and of a strange aspect, while some 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 land. Once more the mountains were elevated, carrying with them the beds made at the sea bottom during the preceding age. Earthquakes rent the mountains in twain, and volcanoes poured out molten streams of fire. A greater part of Middle Park 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 an immense bed can be seen near Golden, forming a small mesa or table-land, known as Table Mountain. The lava here is 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, save one outlying mass in the valley 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 glides so quietly by it, to the lovely park in which the stream y 4 or ~—— y a 4 94 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 covered 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 large number that are now extinct, covered the surface of the land. Hosts of insects filled the air about the margin of this vast expanse of water, while in it swam turtles and aquatic pachyderms, somewhat resembling the tapir in appearance, lived in the rivers that sup- plied it, and fed upon the plants that grew in great abundance on the margins. The water of the 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 sinking of the lake bottom, giving room for such enormous deposits, which sinking probably coincided with the elevatiun of the mountain ranges upon the east and west of it. The Glacial or Drift period followed, 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 is 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 gui Bouille, eight miles above Colorado Springs, and at the foot of Pike’s Peak, at 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 qui Boutlle. 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 Creek, 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 strie are distinctly visible; this is the only place in the State east of the snowy range where they have been seen, and their general 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 are 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 A oe a 7 HISTORY OF COLORADO. 95 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 ice and snow which did not melt, but kept continually pressing down the mountain gorges toward the plain. These were thickest and most 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. But 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 pines 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. i 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 also on the 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. Of 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 Pass, the granite is overlaid by slates and limestones, probably of Silurian age, the lime- stones containing crinoidal 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 and hornblend-schist, with gneissoid rocks, 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, baculites of large size and great abundance on the Platte, a few miles from Denver, while the limestones lying between Colorado Springs and Pueblo contain the inocera- mus, scaphites, baculites, ammonites and other characteristic cretaceous fossils. These beds extend for 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 Y oe ¥ 2 Y ey + A 96 ’ 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 the cretaceous beds of England, are found in remark- able profusion. There is a ranche on the Green- horn River where is contained the 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. Four hundred feet of white sandstone and quartzose conglomerate, in which are to be found fossil woods in fragments, with some bones of mammals and birds. Third. Four hundred feet of shaly sandstones full of the scales of cycloidal fishes. Fourth. Twenty feet of blue limestone. F%fth. Five hundred feet of shales, marls and sandstones, containing fish teeth, bac- ulites, conchifers and tucoids. Of these numbers, three, four and five are probably cretaceous; the rest tertiary. From the disintegration of the lava come the agates and chalcedonies of the park. Where the lava mingles with the sandstone and other material of the second, agates and fossil lie mixed together on 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 are so denominated because of the gyeat 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 fect on the western side of the Rocky Mountains, from the Gore Range, which is composed of tertiary lavas, to the Junc- tion of White and Green Rivers. Here are to be 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 the 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 are 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 series is eight hundred feet of white and light-brown sandstones, white shales on which are to be found ripple marks, brown shales and shaly sandstones. To these succeed a thousand feet of thick, white sandstones, and brown shales, and thick, brown sandstones 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. shales, 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 are 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. It 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 oq Ff il rina 4 ' , HISTORY OF COLORADO. 97 formed near the junction of the White and Green Rivers in Utah; the lower ones near the Gore range, where they are covered by immense beds of lava, in some 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 of 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 H. Scudder, an eminent member of the Boston Society of Natural History, who has made the study of fossil insects 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 fifth discovery of fossil insects in this country, if some tracks and an apparent larva in the Triassic rocks of the Connecticut Valley be correctly referred to insects; but it is the first time that they have been found in the tertiary beds of America. 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 Caiion 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 bones, 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 rocks are beds of petroleum shale a thousand feet in thickness, varying in color from a light These were obtained cream to inky blackness; these shales are filled with innumerable leaves of deciduous trees, and throughout their extent the remains of insects ' abound. The specimens brought home are about fifty in number, many of the little slabs contain- ing several different species of insects upon them. The 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 Limacodes. ‘“‘The most perfect insects among the Diptera are mostly small species of Mycetophilidx, a fam- ily whose larvee live mostly in fungoid vegetation, and Tipulide, whose larve generally live in stag- nant water. There are, besides, some forms not yet determined, of which some are apparently Muscidz, a family to which the common house-fly belongs. The larve of Diptera belong to the Muscide, and to another family, the latter of which live during this stage in water only. None of the larvee, however, belong to the species of which the perfect insects are represented as these stones. The Homoptera belong to genera allied to Lssus Gypena, Deephax and some of the Tettigo- nid. “A comparison of the specimens from the two localities shows some differences. They both have Mycetophitide, but Fossil Caiion has a propor- tionately greater abundance and variety of them. Fossil Cafion has other flies also in greater num- ber, though there are some in both ; but Myrmica, the very minute Diptera and the minute Coleopte- ra, are restricted to Fossil Cafion. On the other hand, all the larve, both the Diptera and that which appears to be a Limacodes, were brought only from Chagrin Valley. + + } v a 4 98 HISTORY OF COLORADO. “Of course, the number of specimens is too small to say that the fauna of these two localities 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 for 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 aggregation of species with any of the insect beds of Europe, or with the insects of the Amber fauna, and, since they have been found in Europe in considerable numbers only at rathef wide inter- vals in the geological record, we should need more facts 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, ete. 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 cafions, 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 for the 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 the 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 be 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 Cafion, near Curtis Grove on White River, to the summit level of the country a thousand feet in height and nearly 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 con- tains .33 of one per cent.moisture. It affords 39.67 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, 77.67; 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 bed 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 and 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 ee) 4a |e HISTORY OF COLORADO. 101 Pennsylvania. There are few beds of coal that can | easily worked by tunneling. An assay of the compare with this in the amount of bituminous | Riffenburg coal, which lies. close to that of the matter which it contains, or in the great value that | other company, gave the following result : "it possesses as an article of fuel. The tertiary beds Loss at 110° C. (water) ......... 0.26 per cent. of Colorado are rich in fuel and gas-making Carbon, fixed .....cscsceeeeseeneee 65.76 per cent. material, though it is more than probable that the Volatile combustible matter... 29.66 per cent. petroleum now in the shales and petroleum coals ASH ..sceeee aiseceue vanes aad eeeuuenive 4.32 per cent. came originally from the oil-bearing coral beds of Total Scie. se devsustvalctastuecy 100.00 per cent. some much older formations. ‘Its specific gravity varies from 1.28 to 1.53.” On the eastern side of the mountains, mainly, The coke made has a bright, silvery color; is lie the tertiary coal measures, containing beds | hard and strong, and suitable for all smelting pur- of coal and of iron ore of excellent quality. | poses. These coal-bearing lands ‘embrace many thousand Above these coal beds are beds of sandstone and . square miles of the State’s area. The bulk of these | conglomerate, abounding in fossil palms, firs and thus far located extend along the plains, east of the | various kinds of resinous and gum-bearing trees, foot-hills, the entire length of the State. Those | together with modern exogens. Trunks of trees opened and worked lie principally in the counties | of large size have been found lying far out on the of Boulder, Weld and Jefferson. These mines | plains, where they have been left when the disin- have probably yielded nearly two hundred thousand | tegrating rock loosened them from their captiv- tons this season. In Fremont and Las Animas | ity. Between Denver and Golden, many very fine Counties, in the southern part of the State, | specimens have been found; still more on a low the mines are being developed. The Trinidad | range of sand-hills about twenty miles south of coals, in the latter county, coke equal to any in | Denver, while some very fine specimens have been the coking districts of Pennsylvania, and this | brought from South Park. interest is steadily growing in importance, two In the Middle Park, west of the Grand River, companies having each one hundred ovens in | is also a coarse sandstone passing into conglomer- active operation. ate, and containing silicified wood. Above it are These companies are named the Southern Colo- | beds of trap; and where this has disintegrated, rado Coal Company and Riffenburg Coal Company. | chalcedonies and agates are found; principally ; To show what an advance has been made in the | moss agates, as they are called, but which are, in growth of this industry, we have but to state that, | reality, chalcedonies containing oxide of manga- four years ago, six ovens, producing ten tons per | nese in a deudritic form. The rock originally day, were capable of supplying the market of Utah | holding them was a lava poured out of some long and Colorado. Now, Utah consumes about fifteen | extinct volcano; this was full of vesicles or hollow ‘hundred tons per month; Northern Colorado, five | places produced by gas or vapor, and, in process of | hundred, while Leadville calls for three thousand, | time, these were filled with extremely thin par- and is likely to demand a constantly increasing num- | ticles of silica, separated from the surrounding ber. Prof. Hayden, in his report of 1875, relative | rock, forming the ordinary chalcedonies. In some to the coal deposits in the neighborhood of Trinidad, | cases, a small quantity of oxide of manganese has calls’ these coals a binding bituminous coal, not | been carried in with the silica, and this, crystalliz- considering the term “lignite,” as generally used, | ing in an arborescent or tree-like form, has pro- strictly applicable, from the standpoint of a miner- duced the appearance of moss in the chalcedony, alogist. The thickness of the seams vary from | and. thus have been formed the beautiful moss nine to thirteen feet, nearly horizontal, and are | agates which abound throughout Colorado. ‘atin