USA > Colorado > Colorado pioneers in picture and story > Part 11
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*Hugh Steele kept time to the music with graceful step, and *Major Boutwell - bowed with dignity to his
* Both have since passed away.
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white-haired partner-the partner who has stood at his side for fifty years, and both entered into the dance. George Twombly and his handsome wife led the Virginia reel.
Mrs. Elitch Long, "the lady of the gardens," moved among the throng, her face beaming with smiles, and giving a pleasant word to both young and old. Through her untiring energy the gardens have been run on a very high plane, and have always attracted the cultured people of Denver.
For this beautiful work, she is appreciated and rec- ognized as one of our state builders.
Fannie D. Hardin, the moving spirit in the Pioneer Aid Society, was there. She mingled with lads and las- sies of seventy and eighty, and danced the old steps with rhythm and grace that attracted attention. Mrs. Har- din's father. Samuel W. Walthall, fought in the war of 1812. Her parents were Virginians and died before she was twelve years old. While she had ancestors and rela- tives of historic connections, she deserves attention on her own account.
"I came to Colorado in a 'prairie schooner .? " said Mrs. Hardin, "in company with my sister and brother- in-law. Mr. and Mrs. A. R. Malone. We camped one night on the Platte, and the next morning we received a call from some friendly Indians. I wore a bright turkey red calico dress, and I made a great impression on one of them. He asked my brother if he would exchange me for five ponies. and. thinking it a joke. my brother nodded ves. He did not know the Indian method of courtship. A few hours later, to his surprise, he saw the Indians returning with five ponies. He turned to me and said, 'Hide!' I jumped into the wagon and he covered me over with a feather bed. In order to get rid of them he had to tell them that I had gone. and. after talking.
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they went away, showing great disappointment. It is rather interesting to know how much they thought I was worth-five ponies," said Mrs. Hardin, with a laugh. "And, being an Indian proposal, it was an unusual ex- perience."
A few years later this bright young girl was married at Fort Weld, on Christmas eve, to Lieutenant G. H. Hardin. The wedding was one of military pomp. Father Kehler, founder of St. John's church of Denver, per- formed the ceremony.
When Lieutenant Hardin finished his time of serv- ice, he went to his big ranch on the Julesburg Short Line. at Hardin, Colorado, a station named for him. He died in 1885. After his death, Mrs. Hardin, with her son. Arthur B. Hardin. ran the ranch successfully for four years, and for twenty-five years Mrs. Hardin has been in the hotel business in Denver, proving by her energy that she is a woman worth while.
At six o'clock, the lunch baskets were opened and the empire builders of '59 and '60 lived the glory of it over again while they sat and ate in the long afternoon shadows. exchanging reminiscences that thrilled the blood and quickened the imagination.
THE OLD DUGOUT
The story of the "old dugout" will illustrate the in- crease of values in real estate.
Richard E. Whitsitt, in 1860, bought four lots at the corner of Sixteenth and Curtis for $700. In 1865, Whit- sitt sold them to John Fetter for $950. One year later the First Baptist church bought them for $1.150. The church first made the corner famous, and many old-timers can recall the site of that day. The congregation com- menced the erection of a church building and the base- ment walls were completed to the height of about four
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feet above the sidewalk; owing to lack of funds a rough board roof was built over them, and this was called the "Baptist dugout." The hall that was used as a church had originally been intended as a basement of a sump- tuous structure. In 1872, there were unmistakable evi- dences that the transplanted population of Colorado was beginning to grow up with the country and must needs have opportunity to grow up in the way it should go. The board was perplexed to know how to provide desk room for Colorado babies, that seemed to come into the state at an unprecedented rate, all six years old and with
"THE BAPTIST DUG-OUT."C E.L. SCHOLTZ
an insatiable thirst for knowledge. This perplexity has been handed down as a legacy from board to board to the present day. The school houses were crowded and vacant buildings were few in those days. The old dugout was rented and fitted up as a schoolroom. It was used on week days as a public school and Sundays as a church. Later on, a large brick room was built on it by Charley Leitsenour for a beer hall, named "The Walhalla." which eventually became a public hall for meetings, balls, con- ventions, shows, lectures, theatricals, social parties, po- litical speeches and occasional church purposes.
The second session of the State Legislature was held
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there, Governor Pitkin was inaugurated there, Professor N. P. Hill was elected senator within its walls, and both Henry R. and E. O. Wolcott served as legislators in the old building.
In 1875, the First Baptist church sold the corner to Lewis C. Ellsworth for $7,500. Ellsworth sold the four lots in 1884 to Jerome S. Riche for $90,000. Mr. Riche is one of Denver's successful pioneers, whose genius and working energy have been directed towards the upbuild- ing of Denver. He is always ready to act on his own initiative and has long been regarded as an investor of fine judgment. This purchase instilled in others confi- dence in Denver real estate.
The increase in value was now on in earnest and the lots which originally cost $700 Mr. Riche sold. in 1897. for $300,000 to William Church. It is now the site of the leading drug store of the city. Mr. Ed. B. Scholtz pays as much rent for the corner store a month as the original cost of the four lots. He came to Denver in the early days and was a clerk in a drug store before he went into business for himself. He worked his way without any help, and now owns and controls a chain of drug stores in Denver. He was the first president of the Sons of Colorado, and. owing to his real western enterprise and enthusiasm, was made president of the Chamber of Commerce. Today he holds an enviable position in the hearts of the people of Denver as one of its most popular citizens.
WHEAT
About the last of October, 1859, two heads of wheat were accidentally discovered in a garden in Denver. The grain was large and fine, which convinced the pioneers that a very superior quality of wheat could be grown in this country. The gateway of opportunity swung wide. and John W. Smith was the first to drive into it. He
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arrived in Denver June 3, 1860. with a wagon-train loaded with merchandise for a general store and machinery for a planing mill. a flour mill and a quartz mill. From the day of his arrival, he was one of the most substantial men in the community. for he brought with him twenty thou- sand dollars in cash.
He set up the quartz mill in Mosquito Gulch. Park County. and the planing mill was estab- lished in Denver. Both of these John Smith he sold at a large profit. The flour mill was a small. portable buhr gristmill. and, with it, he ground the first wheat and made the first flour ever made in what is now Colorado. He charged $1.50 a hundred for grinding and ten cents for sewing every sack. He also had a gen- eral store on Blake street. In the period of fifteen years between 1860 and 1875, John W. Smith erected five flour mills in this city; the one best known was the Excelsior Flour Mills, which he sold to J. K. Mullen. For many years he derived a large income from his milling inter- ests alone.
He was one of the first to attempt to irrigate the dry plains. In 1863. he invested $40.000 in the construc- tion of the Platte water canal, familiarly known as the Smith ditch, which is now owned by the city.
He erected, in 1868. the hotel named the American house; it was the first large building to have steam heat. and the first to have an electric elevator installed.
The opening of the American marked the beginning of smart functions, some of which have never been sur- passed. All the distinguished people who came to Den- ver in the '70's were guests at the American.
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John W. Smith was one of Colorado's most enter- prising pioneers. Richard E. Leach, in his sketches of departed pioneers, says: "Not content with but one line of activity, he was, at different times in his career, mer- chant, miller, manufacturer, miner, irrigationist, hotel proprietor, banker and railroad builder, enjoying equal success in whatsoever pursuit he followed. Few men have scattered their energies over so large a field of en- deavor without meeting with disaster in the end. Few men who gave their attention to such a variety of inter- ests ever accomplished better results for themselves and for posterity."
Mr. J. K. Mullen
Another man shrewd enough to grasp the opportu- nities in the milling busi- ness was J. K. Mullen. He came in the early '70's, and, securing a position in a mill, studied the details of the business both from the mechanical and finan- cial standpoint. His em- plovers showed their ap- preciation of his industry by soon placing him at the head of the mill. In the course of a few years he bought the Excelsior Flouring Mills from John W. Smith. Later on, he began the construction of the Hungarian Flour Mills and installed the roller system of making flour in Colorado. Today
J. K. Mullen
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he is operating ninety-one mills, elevators and warehouses in Colorado, Nebraska, Kansas, Utah and Oregon.
He has more acres of ground under cultivation than any other man in the State, except Governor Benjamin H. Eaton, and is president of the following companies : J. K. Mullen Land and Cattle Company of Lamar; Tam- arack Land and Cattle Company of Logan County; The Harmony Land and Cattle Company of Logan County; Platte Land and Cattle Company of Platte County. The invested capital amounts to $5,000,000, and the business aggregates $18,000,000 annually.
Mr. Mullen is at the head of this vast business today, and is a splendid example to all young men as to what industry and energy can accomplish. He has built near his own home, beautiful homes for his four daughters. He and his estimable wife are spending the closing years of their lives surrounded by their children and grand- children.
BANKS
The development of the banking business is another instance of the keen business sagacity of the early pioneers.
In September, 1859, Charles A. Cook and Jas- per P. Sears formed the firm of C. A. Cook & Co .. and came to Denver from Leavenworth, Kansas, with a stock of general merchandise. They were soon doing a flourishing business, mostly whole- sale. The medium of ex-
Jasper P. Sears
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change was gold dust at this time, and they gradually drifted into the purchase of it as a subordinate part of their business, with the ultimate result that they became full-fledged bankers. There arose a demand for small currency in trade, and, to meet this, Cook & Company issued script "shin-plasters," engraved on steel, of ten. twenty-five, fifty cents and one dollar denominations, re- deemable in gold or other legal currency at their store bank.
The circulation of these "shin-plasters" proved a great convenience in the mining camps, and the face value of them was never discounted. When gold was at a pre- mium during the Civil war, the private notes of the above named firm went to a premium also over the gov- ernment notes.
All the old-timers remember "Jep" Sears, as he was familiarly called. He saw the city grow from a few log cabins and tents to be the metropolis of the West, and he took an honest pride in being one of its founders. He was a capital story-teller: his imagination could always supply all that was needed to embellish a story, and a slight impediment in his speech made his manner of telling it inimitable. He loved to tell about the time that he and his friend rode out toward the foothills to secure a deer for Christmas. He was mounted on a really good horse from the States. and his friend was on a broncho. A straggling band of Indians on the warpath discovered him and his friend and immediately gave the warwhoop. The race toward Denver was on. He quickly realized that his mount could easily run ahead of the ponies ridden by the Indians. but the broncho bearing his friend was a laggard. He was in the lead, but he was too chivalrous to abandon his friend. who was bend- ing low and plying the whip with all his might. "Jep" kept looking back; he saw that the Indians were steadily gaining, and. growing uneasy, he shouted: "Come on.
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Bob; they are gaining on you," which brought from Bob the response : "Damn it, do I look like I was trying to throw this race ?"
I heard him tell this story, and when he finished he laughed a long, loose laugh that rolled away into a thou- sand indescribable chuckles. Then he elevated his chin. which was a habit when about to draw a conclusion of some kind, and said: "Really, my friends, there is not much needed to make a merry Christmas; it is all a ques- tion of circumstances and how you look at it."
George W. Brown was the first banker and broker of the Territory. He opened his office in 1859. A few months later, Turner & Hobbs of Independence, Missouri, opened an office under the management of George W. Kassler. Both of these offices closed in the early '60's.
George W. Kassler was for thirty years actively and honor- ably identified with the business life of the city of Denver. He was always respected and es- teemed by his associates.
Warren Hussey was one of the first private bankers and deal- ers in gold dust of prominence in George Kassler Denver. In 1864, Hussey, in partnership with Mr. No- lan of Denver, established a like bank in Virginia City. Montana, at the rich gulch mines of Alden Gulch. and. about 1866. Hussey established a leading bank at Salt Lake City. He was one of the active and widely known business men of early Denver.
Austin M. Clark, Milton E. Clark and C. H. Gruber came to the new town on Cherry creek in 1859. They noticed that miners coming down from the hills with
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gold dust and bright yellow nuggets had no place in which to store it. So they built the two-story red brick structure on the corner of Market and Sixteenth. Over the door was the sign, "Bank and Mint." It was a square two-story brick building with a square flat turreted tower. The interior was finished quite sumptuously and was the show place of the town. The windows were heavily
BANK & MINTI
CLARKGRURER& Co
CLARK , GRUBER & CO'S BANK AND MINT
OLD MINT
RUBER
CLAR
CO
5
GOLD NOTE
1861 TWENTY DOLLAR GOLD COIN
NEW MINT
barred and were made doubly secure by iron shutters. Denver was a wild town then and there was no telling when the "bank and mint" might be attacked by desper- adoes bent on securing booty. The bank opened July 20, 1860, and George W. McClure was placed in charge of the minting department.
At first, only $20 pieces were coined, and they were of pure gold, thus exceeding in value the government
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coins with their alloy. The first smaller coin issued was a $10 piece, which was presented to William N. Byers. proprietor of the Rocky Mountain News.
In 1861, additional dies were secured to coin the $2.50 and $5 denominations, and these were coined with alloy, according to the United States standard, the pure metal being too soft for practical purposes. This money found a ready circulation, and, in a little less than two years, they coined and circulated over $3,000,000. They also issued handsome steel engraved $5 notes, payable in gold at the Clark & Gruber bank. These notes were quite elaborate affairs and bore engravings of Mr. Gruber and of Indians chasing a herd of buffalo.
In 1862, when the stringency of the money market. due to the Civil war, became so marked that the United States currency was at a discount for gold, the Clark & Gruber bank notes were in great demand. They were worth $5 in gold and the bankers were good for demand.
It might be a singular fact that paper money issued by a private firm in a little western town was worth con- siderably more than money issued by the United States government, but these Denver bankers had the gold back of their paper issue, while the United States then had not the like security.
It was not until 1862 that the legality of the Clark & Gruber money was brought into question. At that time it was decided that the best solution of the problem would be to have the government purchase the plant and establish a mint in Denver.
In 1862 the government purchased Clark, Gruber & Company's mint-the transfer was made March 3, 1863. and a brand new sign was placed over the door: "The Mint of the United States," but it did no coining, and was only for assaying and casting bullion.
In 1895, Congress appropriated $500,000 toward building a new mint in Denver. A site at West Colfax.
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Evans and South Thirteenth streets was purchased, and the erection of the present magnificent building com- menced. The passing of the old mint building removed almost the last of the landmarks in Denver of the '60's.
CHARLES B. KOUNTZE
Mr. Luther Kountze came to Denver in 1862, and opened the second banking house of the series of private banks organized by the four Kountze brothers-Augustus, Herman. Luther and Charles B. Kountze. The first bank of this system was opened in Omaha by Augustus Kountze in 1856. The bank in Denver was in a corner of Walter S. Cheesman's drug store on Blake street. After the fire in 1863. the firm built a two-story brick building on the corner of Holladay and Fifteenth streets. and moved into it in 1865. The following year (1866) the bank became a national bank.
Charles B. Kountze came to Denver to enter the bank
BANK
BROTH
OLD BANK
NEW BANK
C.B. KOUNTZ
in 1864. when nineteen years of age, and in 1866, at twenty-one, he became its first cashier. At the age of forty-six he was supreme con- troller of the Colorado
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National, an equal sharer in the First National of Omaha. and that of Kountze Brothers in New York. There is scarcely a western state in which he and his immediate family have not possessions.
Denver became the home of Mr. Charles B. Kountze. and banking was his permanent vocation. His fortune was not the result of greed, but the reward of honest industry, energy and the legitimate exercise of ability. He never sought his own advantage in the ruin of his fellows, but made profits in the general advancement of the community. He showed his faith in Denver by in- vesting largely in real estate and helped to build up a greater Colorado.
Mr. Kountze was a man of irreproachable life. al- ways generous and true, with a marvelous grasp of affairs and the courage of his opinions. He possessed the confi- dence and esteem of all who knew him. He married Miss Mary Estabrook. a woman of rare beauty and many fine personal traits. Her deeds of charity have helped many an unfortunate one over the rough path of poverty.
Their son. Mr. Harold Kountze, has the business in- stincts of his father. and has taken his place in the Colo- rado National Bank.
BOULDER
How Boulder Was Settled
While precedence is accorded to Denver as to date of location, the settlement at Boulder was almost simul- taneous with that of the first goldseekers at the mouth of Cherry creek.
On the seventeenth of October. 1858. a party of emi- grants pitched their tents near the site of Boulder. They built a number of log cabins and there laid the founda- tion of the town.
In the following January. Colonel J. S. Bull. Charles
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Clouser, William Huey, W. W. Jones, James Aikens and David Wooley explored the adjacent canyon a distance of twelve miles, where they found gold. The canyon was named Gold Run, and the place of discovery Gold Hill. One hundred thousand dollars was taken from Gold Hill during the following summer.
Boulder has been, from its earliest days, a place of learning. The first school house built in Colorado was in Boulder, and it was built by everybody giving what they could. Mr. Nichols found a big tree, which he cut down, intending to donate it to the school. He went for a team to haul it to town, and when he returned a man had it on a wagon and was moving it off. Mr. Nichols demanded his property. The man refused, saying: "You will have to fight for it." which Mr. Nichols proceeded to do, and, after a hard fist combat, the rogue agreed not only to surrender the property. but to assist Mr. Nichols in getting it to town.
SOME PIONEERS
Mrs. Mary A. Ellis, a gentle, blue-eyed woman ex- quisitely fine in manner and taste, is proud of being the fourth school teacher in Boulder. There is no pride like
FIRST SCHOOL HOUSE IN BOULDER 1860
MRS. MARY A ELLIS AND MRS L.R . WIDNER
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that of being able to impart knowledge. She taught sev- enteen classes in a half day, because every family brought school books across the plains and they were all different. Mrs. Ellis is full of the spirit of Colorado, and, at the age of eighty, writes verses expressing her love for the State. Mrs. L. R. Widner, who is over eighty, lives with her. They have been friends for fifty years, and it is beautiful to see those cultured and refined old ladies spending the evening of life together.
Mrs. Widner often comes to Denver to visit her daughter, Mrs. Platt Rogers, and when she gets tired of the style and fashion of the city, returns to the cottage in Boulder, where, with her old-time friend, she reaches .. the summit of contentment.
The pioneers of Boulder talk simply and without ostentation concerning the things which we of today call great-the hardships and inconveniences endured while building up the State.
The town was named because there were so many smooth, round boulders everywhere.
*Mrs. Annie A. Brookfield is the only woman sur- vivor of the fifty-niners who founded Boulder. She was made queen of the carnival when she was eighty-eight years old. She is still a handsome woman, with silvery hair and a mild, humorous way of talking. She said : "Mrs. Safely brought the first set of chairs to Boulder. I have one of them in my house now. It's a rocker, and if you sit down in it you'll go right over on your face- it kicks like a broncho."
The first, coal oil lamp in Colorado was owned by Mrs. Andrews of this city. Her house was partitioned with white cotton sheets, as was the custom in those days. The first night the lamp was lit the door was thrown open and the white walls added considerably to the bril-
*Mrs. Brookfield recently passed away.
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liancy of that nocturnal luminary. The neighbors, who had been so long accustomed to the flickering rays of a "taller dip." thought the Indians had come and were burning the house.
Mr. Andrews was calling his cows. which they thought was a cry for help, and a neighbor rushed to his assistance. calling : "I'm coming. I'm coming." The alarm spread, and all the people in the town fled to a place of safety.
COLORADO STATE UNIVERSITY
The Colorado State University was incorporated by an act of the Territorial Legislature. but was not put well under way until Colorado became a State. Nothing concerning Boulder would be complete without special attention to this great educational institution. Its present state of excellence is due to the loyalty of the citizens of Boulder, and to the wise and energetic university presi- dents. The university was founded in 1875 through the influence of David H. Nichols. He was a representative from Boulder County in the Territorial Legislature.
The Legislature expressed its willingness to appro- priate $15.000 for the building of a university, provided the citizens of Boulder would contribute the same amount. Mr. Nichols mounted a horse and rode to Boulder. He went among the citizens of the little town, and, in a few hours. raised the $15.000. The next day he rode back to Denver and secured the appropriation. The university opened its doors September 5. 1877, with two instructors and forty-four students. Dr. Joseph A. Sewell was the first president.
The ground. covering sixty-three acres, was donated by the citizens of Boulder, and with the buildings, was considered worth $35,000. and now the buildings and equipment are valued at $1.345.000.
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The second president, Mr. Horace M. Hale, was a careful economist. On one occasion, a caller found the president riding a sulky plow, with which he was shaping up the campus. "It saves $1.50 a day of the university funds." said President Hale.
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