USA > Colorado > Colorado pioneers in picture and story > Part 14
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"All passed before me like a horrible panorama and left an indelible picture on my mind. On we went, our ears ringing with the whoops of the Indians and our wagon top stuck full of arrows. When we reached the top of the hill, we could see Thompson's ranch, the point for which we were striving, for there they had arms and ammunition.
"Presently we heard a bugle sound, and the clear. liquid tones were sweeter than any music I ever heard before or since. It seemed to my troubled soul that heaven had opened and the strain floated from the angel choir. We bent our heads in thanks.
"My husband had gone to Fort Cottonwood, secured a guard of sixty soldiers and set out to meet us. He lifted me from the wagon. I laid the baby in his arms. saying. 'I have brought him to his father.'
"With eager joy he drew the veil from the baby's face. Like a piece of rare sculpture he lav. the long lashes rested upon his marble cheeks, and the golden locks clustered around his chiseled features that bore no trace of pain-dead, dead. my baby was dead.
"All grew dark around me and I fell senseless at my husband's feet. Heart and brain were both shattered. It seemed that my faculties would never recover their for- mer intelligence: for weeks and weeks the savage war whoop rang in my ears, and my feverish lips mur- mured. 'Taking the baby to his father.' "
BATTLE OF SAND CREEK
The scope of this work does not admit of a detailed account of the part our pioneers took in the Civil War or of the Indian wars. I shall tell only enough to show
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what the pioneers encountered in the upbuilding of the State.
In the autumn of 1860, the Arapahoes and Chey- ennes, under a treaty, ceded their lands here to the gen- eral government and left this part of the country for their reservations. Their hearts were filled with hatred for the white man.
The war between the States took so many men from Colorado, that the Indians believed it to be their oppor- tunity to unite in a general uprising, to drive out and exterminate the whites and place themselves in posses- sion again of the entire country.
Colorado was made a separate military district and Colonel Chivington was placed in command. He came to Denver in 1860 as the first presiding elder of the Meth- odist Episcopal Church in the Rocky Mountain district. When the Civil War broke out, he stepped from the pul- pit to the battle field, without any military training what- ever. There was in him the peculiar quality of the great warrior, that made men willing to follow wherever he led.
The Indian uprising through 1864 had grown to be somewhat terrible. Governor Evans held peace councils with them. to no effect.
General Curtis notified the governor that peace was not to be made with the Indians without his instruction.
Denver was threatened with famine: all provisions had to be hauled here from the Missouri River in wagon trains : freighters could not venture out : the glare of burn- ing houses could be seen from the city at night: stage stations were burned ; men, women and children were hor- ribly butchered.
During the excitement, the Third Regiment was en- listed to serve for one hundred days in a campaign against the Indians. "I saw the mounting of that regi- ment." said a pioneer, "and it was funny. You see, to fight the Indians it was necessary to be mounted. but how
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to do it was a perplexing question, for horses were scarce in the country. The Ford brothers had brought in one thousand California bronchos. They made a proposition to the quartermaster to furnish horses. which was ac- cepted. Ford employed professional horse trainers, and after a few days of choking and throwing, the horses. tired and exhausted, but not tamed, were reported ready for use.
"The soldiers went out on the prairie for their even- ing drill, and the prancing steeds were led, four abreast. and placed in position. The commanding officer rode up and down the line, and viewed his soldiers.
"He thought he had never looked upon a fairer sight. and straightening himself with stately grace, he gave the command to mount. The attempt to execute this maneu- ver startled the horses out of their senses: some of them stood straight up in the air on their heels, and quickly reversed the position; some stuck their heads down. clumped their feet together, and elevated their backs with such force that the men were sent skyward. and the horses passed all the jack-rabbits on the way. in their ef- forts to get out of the country. But the Third Regiment was afterwards mounted, and the exploits of that fine body of men deserve the gratitude of every citizen in Colorado.
"On the 29th of November Governor Evans issued a proclamation of war against the Arapahoes. Cheyennes. Sioux and all who were on the warpath. Shortly after. the hundred days men, under the command of Colonel Chivington, fought the battle of Sand Creek. which was considered by the philanthropists of the East one of the greatest Indian massacres of modern times. But it brought peace and quiet to the terror-stricken people of Colorado, by crippling the power of the most numerous and hostile tribe of the plains, and men resumed their struggle for daily bread without fear of the savage."
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Congress took notice of the public indignation, and the result of the Congressional investigation was that Colonel Chivington was removed and Colonel Thomas Moonlight was placed in command of the Colorado mili- tary district. But Colonel Chivington was sustained by almost every frontiersman, and all who were familiar with Indian character. Jim Baker was heard to say that the Sand Creek affair did more to command the fear and respect of the Indians than all the other fights put to- gether. It broke their power and they were compelled to accept the reservation system. which practically ended the savage war in Colorado.
Colonel Moonlight had a laughable experience some time later. He was in command of a company of mounted troops and was close upon a band of Indians, far down the Platte. One night while the colonel and his men were in camp, the savages adroitly managed to steal and run off every one of the horses, leaving him and his men to foot it out of the Indian country. The Indians were so pleased with their brilliant achievement in horse stealing that they let the colonel and his troops go unmolested.
TREATY WITH THE INDIANS
A treaty was made with the Indians in 1867 whereby the Arapahoes. Cheyennes. Kiowas and Comanches gave up their lands east of the Rocky Mountain range and set- tled upon the reservations provided for them in the In- dian Territory. In 1868 they repudiated the act and began a general assault upon the borders of Colorado. which was followed by many bloody scenes similar to those of the outbreak in 1864-65.
General Sherman. who took command of the depart- ment in March, 1868. received orders to drive the Indians out of the country. but his forces were scattered and not sufficient in numbers for speedy effect. August 28. the
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mutilated remains of Mrs. Henrietta Dieterman and her boy, about five years of age, were brought into Denver. The exhibition of the dead bodies excited fierce indigna- tion.
It was impossible to get either troops or ammunition from Fort Hays, Reynolds or Wallace, and Secretary Hall, who was then acting governor, called for volunteers to carry a message to the officer in command at Fort Wal- lace. Theron W. Johnson and a man whom he selected were chosen for this perilous undertaking. They ran the gauntlet and delivered the message. The result was that Colonel George A. Forsythe, with a body of fifty scouts. moved toward the Republican River. He reached the Arickaree branch of the Republican, and while encamped. he was attacked by a force of seven hundred Indians. Finding himself overpowered, he retreated to a small is- land in the Arickaree. where he was immediately sur- rounded. The little band dug rifle pits from which they repelled a number of furious charges. The fight was con- tinuous; their courage and daring are without a parallel in the annals of border warfare.
Twenty-one of the fifty scouts were killed and the survivors resolved to perish to the last man rather than surrender.
They fought off their assailants for three days. when the Indians began to withdraw.
Meanwhile two brave men crawled through the lines of the beseigers by night, made their way to Fort Wallace. and upon their report. Colonel Bankhead proceeded with a small force to Forsythe's relief. By this time, under orders from Sheridan, fifteen companies were then march- ing to the borders of Colorado. Soon the Federal troops had control of the situation and in due time peace was restored by driving the Indians out of the country and keeping up the pursuit until they could fight no longer. ending with Custer's terrible slaughter of the Cheyennes,
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Arapahoes and Kiowas under Black Kettle on the Washita, where one hundred and two warriors were left dead upon the field. the old Black Kettle being numbered among the slain.
The dispersion of the Indians from Colorado was owing chiefly to the industrial acquisition of the white man, and would make a history in itself. The Southern Utes have been allotted a reservation in the southwestern corner of the State. and there is found the only remaining relic of savage life in Colorado.
CHAPTER XV THE GROWTH OF DENVER THE LOT QUESTION
The early pioneers of Denver were merely "squat- ters." They could acquire no valid title to lots, for the Indian right, as first in possession, extended over the land. An effort was soon made to provide a remedy by law for this peculiar condition. In 1860. by a treaty with the Arapahoes and Chevennes at Bent's Fort, the title passed to the United States. It was difficult to get Con- gressional attention, owing to the important demands of the Civil War, and it was not until 1864 that Congress passed the "Grant bill." a law which was called, "The Re- lief of the People of Denver, Colorado Territory." It was intended to correct all defects of title growing out of the conditions under which Denver was founded. Out of it grew the "lot question," which caused bitterness of feeling, personal animosities and great public excitement. Even the Cherry Creek flood was drawn into it, to ac- count for the loss of records that were in the "old safe." which was washed away and never found. But the vic- tims of the loss strongly asserted that the titles were de- stroyed in some other way. It was long before the bitter feeling aroused by the "lot question" passed away.
HOW BROADWAY WAS LAID OUT
In 1859. Thomas Skerritt, with his sixteen-year-old bride, traveled over the plains in an ox team. from Chicago to Denver. Where Englewood is now located he took up six hundred acres of land, in 1864, and lived there continuously to the day of his death.
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For the public guid- ance as well as for his own convenience he se- cured the service of sur- veyors to mark off with stakes the section lines bordering his ranch lands and extending towards Denver. He then locked the back wheels of his - THOMAS SKERRITT heavy wagon, and made MRS MARIA SKERRITT - a straight track, by the aid of the section line stakes, all the way from his house to Cherry creek. Three times back and forth went the wagon, and when the work was done there stretched away in unswerving line across the prairie what is now the busy thoroughfare of South Broadway-that portion of Broadway south of Cherry creek.
David J. Cook was widely known in territorial days as a pathfinder, officer of the law and private detective. He was a terror to evildoers in the times when border outlaws and thieves needed to be ruled with an iron hand. No desperado ever escaped him. If he took the trail after a band of marauding Indians, horse thieves or highway robbers, he never returned empty- handed. He knew that his errand meant death to him if he failed: the criminals of the border neither gave nor asked quarter. If they David J. Cook got a drop on an officer of the
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law, they ended his career with a bullet through the heart. General Cook wrote a book entitled "Hands Up," in which he related numerous experiences with bandits and criminals in the mountains and on the plains.
He served as a peace officer continuously from 1866. and died a member of the police force, at seventy-one years of age. He bore a reputation for personal bravery unsurpassed by any western official. He was polite, mod- est and retiring and seldom took credit for his deeds of daring.
Sam Howe. the veteran detective of the Denver police department, is the oldest officer in term of service in the State. He was appointed a member of the Denver police force in 1873. When he went to Marshal Hopkins, after receiving the appointment, Hopkins said. "He won't last long." But the frail looking young man was soon a terror to evildoers, and to quote Mr. Howe. "has lasted 'bout as long as the rest of that bunch." His famous "scrap-books" contain many of his thrilling adventures. Sam Howe The wildest tale of the dime novel manufacturer is an idle prattle when compared to the real story of Sam Howe's career.
OLD LIGE
Among the prominent personages in Denver from 1864 to 1886. was old "Lige." He was colored, but he wasn't a plain, ordinary black man ; he was an individual. and his name was high-sounding, Mr. Elijah Wentworth : but no one knew him by that name. for every man, woman and child in Denver called him "Lige;" even tourists
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knew him by the name "Lige" and laughed over the comi- cal darky. He was an essential figure at that time and as often quoted as the "all kinds of shoe laces" man of today.
"Lige" was bow-legged and gray-haired and his age was an unsolved mystery. He had no particular calling. but he often said, "I'm handy at most anything," which he proved by always having plenty of money. He was "barker" for hotels and rang an old bell while 4 he told in his own peculiar way the attractions of that particular hotel. Many a one was induced OK to remain and see Denver grow by the eloquence of old "Lige." He was a great booster for Denver.
But his real fame was in re- storing straying and lost children to anxious and weeping parents. This was "Lige's" specialty. He would sing rhymes of his own Old "Lige" making and ring his bell from one end of the city to the other until the child was found. His voice was loud and far-reaching: but one day a voice called him, and "Lige" went willingly to his home beyond.
THE FIRST GROCERY BUSINESS
"The foundation for Denver's grocery business." said Mr. S. T. Sopris, "was laid in 1860, by Captain Scudder and Freeman B. Crocker. A small tent was used for sleeping quarters and for storage of goods at night, but business was transacted out in the street under the shadow of cottonwood trees. A wheelbarrow answered as delivery wagon for articles that customers could not carry
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home. Captain Scudder pushed the wheelbarrow and was usually whistling or singing as he went. He had been captain of a fishing boat, sailing from Gloucester, Mass. : he was a jolly soul, a typi- cal New England coast skipper.
They were good men, those pioneer merchants, and they be- came prominent in mercantile and political affairs. Scudder was a county commissioner for two or three terms and a member of the Captain Scudder first Territorial Legislature for two or more terms. Crocker was active in the organiza- tion of our public schools. a member of the city council. county commissioner for many years and at the time of his death was president of the board of public works. He was always spoken of as a worthy public official.
EARLY DAY AMUSEMENTS
Denver has been from its earliest history, a great theatrical center. The first theater was opened October 24. 1859. in a building known as the Apollo, which was built by the Barney brothers. The company that opened it was run by C. R. Thorne, who produced a line of le- gitimate performances. In the opening play, "Rich- Apollo Hall in the Early '60s ard III." he played the title role himself.
The company soon went to pieces. Then Madame Wakely came, and her players became prime favorites.
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Other companies appeared from time to time at the Apollo. Jack Langrishe was the first of importance. Mike Doherty was with him; he was one of the best Irish come- dians that had been seen in the West.
Then a large theater of wood was built on the corner of Sixteenth and Lawrence. It was opened November 30, 1861, and shortly after came into the possession of Langrishe, who maintained a stock company here.
This theater was destroyed by fire. Soon after the fire the Governor's Guards building was erected. A stage was built at one end of the large hall and concerts were frequently given there, with an occasional theatrical per- formance.
In 1876 N. C. Forroster came to Denver at the head of a good company and played at Guards' hall. Theatri- cal performances were continued here until the Tabor Grand opera house was opened in 1882.
SOCIETY
The Goss girls, Hattie, Kate and Dell, were favorites in society in the early days. Their home was in Boulder.
HATTIE GOSS
MRS GEO. CLARK
DELGUSS
but they attended the social affairs in Denver. Dell mar- ried Rodney Curtis; Hattie. Fred Zell ; and Kate married
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George T. Clark, one of the early mayors of Denver, who was called the "boy" mayor because of his youth at the time of holding office. The George Clarks had the first piano ever brought to Denver. It was a small square piano of rosewood, inlaid with pearl.
Mrs. Clark is still a handsome woman and lives in Denver. While taking a cup of tea with her at the home of her daughter, Mrs. W. G. Wigginton, we talked of society in the pioneer days.
"The Rocky Mountain News did not run a society page," said Mrs. Clark, "but there were many social gath- erings of bright and congenial people. . . .
"There were no bridge parties, no afternoon teas or receptions, for the pioneer women were too busy with their domestic duties to frivol away afternoons; besides, we scorned amusements that were not shared with our husbands.
"Our dances were usually given at one of the hotels. They began promptly at eight o'clock; we tripped the light fantastic, to the music of a 'fiddle' and a flute, and John Lewis, who recently passed away, was the profes- sional caller. Supper was served about midnight, and the dance went on till the break of day.
"The theaters were unusually good, though the build- ings were crude. The troupes, as they were called at that time, came in a stage and played a week's engagement at the little theater on Larimer street, and later at the Den- ver, which stood where Spengel's store now stands.
"Driving in the evening was one of the great pleas- ures. Everybody owned a horse and buggy, and from Denver to Ford's park, out northeast, was simply a race track. The greatest sport was in trying to pass one an- other on the way. George Estabrook, big-hearted, open- handed George, had the finest stable in town, and is still noted for his string of thoroughbreds.
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"His sister, beautiful Mary Estabrook, now Mrs. C. B. Kountze, was considered the best horsewoman in the country."
The photographs are from Mrs. Clark's old album, with her remarks as she handed them to me.
"Anne George, a beautiful Southern girl, who mar- ried Jasper Sears. She is still a resident of Colorado and is the mother of Mrs. Eugene W. Tay- lor, a well - known newspaper woman.
"The charming and popular Jennie Rollins, now Mrs. L. C. Greenleaf.
"Mrs. George Kassler came here as a bride; a woman of re- finement and culture. who im- pressed all who knew her.
"Mrs. Avery Gallup was handsome, and a great favorite. Mrs. Anne Sears Stevenson "Mollie Voorhies was always bubbling over with vivacity. She is now the widow of O. H. Harker.
"Miss Diadema Adams, who married A. W. Bailey. was a very pretty girl and developed into an artist of some distinction.
"Mrs. Fred Clark, the mother of Mrs. A. G. Reynolds and Mrs. Everett Steele. Mrs. Clark was always one of the most elegantly dressed women in the town.
"Mr. and Mrs. Henry M. Porter. Mrs. Porter had pretty golden hair in those days.
"Mrs. Moffat enjoyed social life at that time. and while Mr. Moffat shunned dances and parties. he insisted upon his wife taking part in these pleasures. She often went with a married couple and promptly at the ap- pointed time Mr. Moffat called to take her home.
- "In the early days the prominent visitor received
9
GED. ESTABROOKE
MRS SAYRE
MRS O.H. HARKER
MRS. AVERY GALLUP
MRS KASSLER
MRS A.W. BAILEY!
MRS FRANK HALL
MR. ANDMRS H.M. PORTER
MRS. FRED A.CLARK
ALFRED SAYRE
MRS C. B. KOUNTZE
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marked attention, which formed a splendid side to social life. In 1865, Speaker Schuyler Colfax. later Vice-Presi- dent, came to visit his sister, Mrs. Daniel Witter, who was a prominent woman socially. A ball was given for him and tickets sold rapidly at sixteen dollars each. Colfax avenue was named for him.
"On one visit, he brought his cousins, Sue and Carrie Mathers, to visit Mrs. Witter. Sue later married Frank Hall and Carrie became the bride of O. J. Hollister, a well-known newspaper man of Central.
"In 1866. Bayard Taylor came to Denver in company with the noted American artist. William H. Beard. Gen- eral Sherman came in 1868, and with him were Generals W. R. Hazen and W. J. Palmer. Professor Louis Agassiz came and was a guest at the Planter's house. where a ban- quet and other festivities were given in his honor. Al- bert Bierstadt. the famous landscape painter. was royally entertained.
"General Hancock, with an escort of soldiers, came in 1867, but remained only a day or two. Professor Hay- den of the United States Geological Society. with several associates in scientific work, arrived in 1868. General Grant was received that year and given the freedom of the city. Cyrus W. Field of Atlantic cable fame, came in 1869 and was given a warm welcome. The Grand Duke Alexis reached Denver in January, 1872. He engaged in a great buffalo hunt on the plains. under the direction of W. F. Cody, known better as 'Buffalo Bill.' A conspicu- ous event of the Grand Duke's visit was a ball at the American house.
"But the coming of the railroads made distinguished visitors so numerous that public festivities could not be provided in honor of them.
"Those were happy days." said Mrs. Clark, in con- clusion, "and the few of us who have weathered the hard-
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ships of many years find that feeling of frendship, love and loyalty which bound us together then, still enduring."
THE FOUNDATION OF DANIELS' AND FISHER'S STORES
An ox-team and wagon-load of general merchandise jolted into the pioneer town of Denver, October 6, 1864. This was an important event, for it was the beginning of the Daniels and Fisher Stores Company of today.
The man at the head of the firm was W. B. Daniels. who remained in New York, engaged in the wholesale clothing business. Mr. W. R. Kenyon was placed in charge of the store here, and it was one of the corner- stones on which Denver built her reputation as the future metropolis of Colorado.
The business prospered from the very first. It be- came necessary to increase the accommodations. and the new company was Daniels & Eckhart.
Trade poured in steadily, and it became necessary to move into a still larger building. In the fall of 1869. a new store was opened on Larimer street. Quite a pre- tentious building for brave, strenuous little Denver. and in consequence the whole undertaking was condemned by the pessimistic element as too foolhardy to succeed. But the little dry goods house continued to grow.
An anecdote which well illustrates the resourceful- ness necessary to successful trading in the early days may not be amiss here. An enthusiastic buver for the firm had placed an order for trouser buttons. the ordinary, four-hole kind, not wisely. but too well! When the con- signment arrived. containing hundreds of great gross. Mr. Daniels wrathfully remarked that there were more trouser buttons in the shipment than there was popula- tion in the State. The discomfited buyer, however, was by no means checkmated, but straightway hied him to a "keno" parlor and bargained with the proprietor with
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WM. B . DANIELS
W. B. DANIELS & CO ..
FIRST STORE
....
MAJOR WY COOKE DANIELS
THE TOWER
such good results, that the trouser buttons, transformed by the simple process of renam- ing, into keno counters, changed hands there and then, at a handsome profit to Daniels, Eckhart & Co. As these keno rooms were never closed, night or day (a bean lunch being served to the patrons shortly after midnight, that the pangs of hunger might not interrupt the game and, incidently. the profits), a constant demand for the new style of counter was thus assured, the so-called
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