USA > Colorado > Colorado pioneers in picture and story > Part 21
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At this point the ranchman laughed heartily. I was anxious to know how the affair terminated, but before he recovered his mental equilibrium we arrived at Golden.
GOLDEN
The castellated cliffs surrounding this pretty town, planted just between the foothills and the plains, ap- peared so like real castles with towers, buttresses, battle- ments and moats that had the sound of a warder's horn from the walls been heard, a great gate swung open, a drawbridge lowered, I should scarcely have been startled.
The town of Golden was organized in the summer of 1859. It was named for Thomas Golden, who, with James
*** . EA OF CCLOEN CLEAN RES· LA _ AND THE FLA IS FROM LOOKUP MY FARM
BOSTON COMPANY
GOLDEN 1859
GOLDEN UP-TO-DATE
Saunders and George A. Jackson, camped upon its site while prospecting for gold. The town company was com- posed of George West, David K. Wall, J. M. Ferrell, J. C. Kirby, J. C. Bowles, Mrs. Williams, W. A. H. Love- land, H. J. Carter, Ensign B. Smith, William Davidson. I. W. Stanton. C. A. Clark, F. W. Beebe, James Mac- Donald. E. L. Berthoud and Garrison. Irving W. Stan- ton was elected the first mayor in 1860.
Here is located the reform school and the School of Mines, which is a thorough technical school, and prepares
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its students for intelligent practical mining of every kind used in the treatment of mineral ores the world over.
While our party visited the School of Mines I talked with Mr. George West, who has been a prominent and interesting figure in Colorado, as editor and publisher of The Transcript.
"Tell me something of the early days of Golden," said I.
His eyes twinkled with merriment as he gave me the following incident :
"After the town was laid out, in July, 1859, the erec- tion of houses here and there was at. once commenced. As sawed lumber was scarce and commanded enormous prices, most of the dwellings were built of logs. The company with which I was connected, known as the Bos- ton Company, commenced a huge log building calculated for a store and dwelling combined. Soon after Mr. Love- land began a rough log structure for a store, and as work progressed considerable rivalry was engendered as to which should be first completed. The rafters were put on both about the same time, and the strife to get them shingled became quite animated. All the neighbors were interested in the contest, and who would prove the victor became a lively topic of conversation. By a lucky trade we had secured sufficient shingles to cover our roof, and all but three or four bundles had been put on when night interrupted our work.
"Mr. Loveland had also obtained some shingles, but not enough to complete his roof, which left him in a bad fix. We went to our downy couches that night feeling much elated at the prospect of beating Loveland in the race. But fancy our astonishment in the morning on discovering that he had come over with his men, stolen our remaining shingles, and was at that very moment nailing the last of them on his own roof.
"During the forenoon, however, he sent us over the
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same amount of shingles he had surreptitiously appropri- ated, with his compliments and a five-gallon keg of the best whisky in his stock. He had beaten us in the race. and that was all he cared for."
WEST'S DUEL
*Hon. W. A. H. Loveland is one of the heroic figures in Colorado history. As pioneer road builder and a pro- jector of great undertak- ings his name is men- tioned often in these stories. There is also a delightful social side to him. He was on a visit to Golden at this time and had quietly taken in the story; then, in a good- humored way, said : "Turn about is fair play, so I'll tell you of West's duel.
"In the fall of 1859 West established a paper at Golden called The Western Mountaineer, publishing the same dur- ing the following year, when he sold out to enter the Union army. A rough element had gathered here during the winter of '59- '60. There were many W. A. H. Loveland southern sympathizers in this locality, most of them good fellows, but quite free, in the vernacular of the period, 'to talk with their
*Hon. W. A. H. Loveland passed away since this writing.
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mouths.' Among them was a young fellow known as 'Dick Turpin,' from Western Missouri, a rabid secession- ist, and somewhat addicted to drink. When full of 'tangle-foot' he was particularly loud-mouthed and reck- less. One day he mounted his horse. and, pistol in hand, rode through the streets, cursing all who claimed to be 'Yankees.' In the next issue of The Mountaineer West gave him some pretty severe taps for his recklessness and general cussedness, at which he took umbrage, and called at the office to demand satisfaction.
"He had taken the precaution to 'brace up' at the liquor saloons en route, and by the time he arrived was pretty full. He demanded to know if West was the author of the attack, and, being assured with great urbanity that such was the fact, he issued a peremptory verbal challenge to mortal combat. In fact, blood seemed to be the only fluid that would satisfy him and heal his wounded honor.
"Taking in the situation, West thought best to humor him in his sanguinary desires, and, after much talk, said : 'Why, Dick, don't you know that this is not the best way to get at the business? I'll fight you, of course; but you ought to send a friend with the challenge; then I will refer him to my friend, and let them fix it up for us.' "'Well. Cap,' said he, 'I'll be dog-goned if that ain't SO. I didn't think about the 'forms.'
"They joined in a little 'O-be-joyful,' to bind the bar- gain, when Dick departed in search of a second.
"He selected Jim Watson, who was a particular friend of West's, and who soon presented him with a challenge, properly made out. West chose George Jack- son as his second, and between them they fixed up a scheme to sober Dick, a difficult matter at all times: but they concluded if he could be brought to that condition he would not care to fight any more than West did. His second found him shortly afterward fuller than the
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legendary goat, informed him that his challenge had been accepted, and endeavored to impress upon his mind the necessity of sobering up in order to do justice to himself in the approaching combat. He succeeded in shutting him up in his room, and refused him any more liquor.
"As the effects of the liquor gradually wore off, he was informed that the challenged party had the choice of weapons, time and place of meeting, and he had chosen bowie knives.
"This suited him exactly; he said bowie knives were his favorite instrument of death.
"Finally Watson and Jackson had West's antagonist in a proper state of mind to receive his ultimatum.
"They presented the cartel to him for his signature. It had already received West's, and ran to this effect :
"The parties were to be on the ground at sunrise on the following morning; the instruments to be bowie knives of equal length and sharpness; the blade to be not more than eight inches long and one and one-half inches at the widest part; the combatants to be placed back to back, one on the south edge of North Table Mountain. the other on the north edge of South Table Mountain. and at the words 'one, two, three,' to turn and fight across the intervening gulch !
"The chasm over which the fight was to take place is fully a half mile across. Dick, of course, saw the joke. the very ridiculousness of the proposal acted upon him as expected, and he declared himself satisfied, accompanied the seconds to the Mountaineer office, and compromised it over a bottle of 'old cherry bounce.'
"'Yes,' said Mr. West. 'that was one of the duels I didn't fight, and I assure you it was decidedly a 'satis- faction' affair."
I was deeply impressed with the danger of early journalism in Colorado.
From Golden sprang the first railways, developing
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the great mineral resources of the State. Even as early as 1861 the project of a Pacific railway had taken form. Mr. Loveland and others were ambitious to establish the route via Golden to Salt Lake, and the agitation of the question resulted in a survey being made by Captain E. L. Berthoud to determine the feasibility of a stage and wagon road through the mountains between the two towns. The survey demonstrated also that a railroad could be built over the same route.
The greatest achievements in early railroad construc- tion are justly accredited to Captain Berthoud. While chief engineer and secretary of the Colorado Central Railroad Company he designed and built lines from Golden to Cheyenne and Denver; the famous Central City switch-back and the still more remarkable George- town Loop. He discovered the pass that bears his name.
We took the cars again and were whisked into a val- ley of scenic wonders. Fantastic turrets, crowned with lofty pines, towered above us, and below the angry, foam- ing torrent of Clear creek coursed down toward the sea.
John Gregory
May 6, 1859, John H. Gregory of Georgia discovered gold in Gilpin County. He followed Clear creek until he reached a point about where Black Hawk now stands. Indications of gold caused him to go up a tributary gulch. He was alone, and, being caught in a heavy snow storm, nearly perished. After the storm he had to return to the base of the mountains for supplies, and there he met Wilkes Defrees, whom he induced to go with him. They reached the gulch after three days of tedious climbing. Gregory scraped away the grass and leaves that covered his pan, which he had filled with dirt; he panned this out, and it produced about four dollars' worth of gold. The sight of the gold in the bottom of
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the pan caused a mercurial nature like Gregory's to effer- vesce fluently, and his expressions of delight, if given, would be pronounced very profane history. It is re- corded that the first forty pans of dirt from the Gregory lode, taken in 1859, the year of its discovery, yielded forty dollars. And Gregory talked all night. Defrees fell asleep about three o'clock in the morning and awoke at day-break to find Gregory still talking. That day they started for Auraria, and reached the town just in time to stop the stampede for the East. This is today one of the richest gold mining districts in the world.
During the summer of 1859 the district at first known as Gregory's Diggings was subdivided, and new mining camps were opened for miles around. Curious laws pre- vailed at that time.
MINING LAWS
Mr. Harper M. Orahood* said: "Whenever a pros- pector discovered a mine of sufficient richness to attract a number of people, the next thing in order was to or- ganize a mining district. Such a district was a democracy pure and simple." After the district was organized, some qualifications were required for citizenship-usually a residence of ten days in the district, and often that a claim of some kind should be owned. This last could be complied with if the applicant had half a dollar in gold dust to pay the recorder. But there was no such thing as representative government in the mining districts. Every man took part, or had the right to take part, in the government of the district.
To organize a district a miners' meeting was called. This was usually done by posting notices, giving the time and place for the meeting. Thereupon a chairman was selected and a secretary appointed. The chairman, with
* Recently passed away.
,
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WJUDGE W.L.K JUDGE W. L .KUYKENDALL
the approval of the meeting, appointed judges of the elec- tion, and they ap- pointed clerks. At CLEAR CREEK CANON the first election, as a rule, there was not much of a contest. Subsequent elections. however, were often as closely canvassed and contested as they are now. The officers usually consisted of a president, a recorder. a judge of the miners' court, and sheriff, sometimes a HARPER M. ORAHOOD treasurer, but he was more ornamental than useful. A district, as such, seldom had any funds.
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It is a curious fact that these laws, however small and insignificant, have, by subsequent legislation, been recognized and been made valid by the laws of this State and acts of Congress of the United States. By the same high authority the judgments of the highest miners' courts have been recognized and made as binding as a judgment of the supreme court of Colorado or the United States.
A friend introduced me to Judge W. L. Kuykendall, the father of John M. Kuykendall, one of Denver's well known and highly respected citizens.
"What changes the whirligig of time brings around !" I said, by way of opening the conversation. "Years ago John Gregory fought his way through this gorge in a blinding snow storm. Twenty yoke of oxen were re- quired to haul a small boiler over the precipitous declivi- ties of the toll road that was opened later, where now we glide in luxurious coaches."
"Yes," he answered, "and steam, science and stock companies have taken the place of pick, pan and shovel. I became a citizen of Colorado early in 1865, when it was in its infancy, during a time of great financial stringency and general stagnation of business in all lines. I reached Denver thinly clad. with a dollar and twenty-five cents as the amount of my cash capital. I had served four years as a soldier of the South, and although the war was over. and I had accepted its results in good faith. I could feel that with many I rested under the ban of ostracism. Seeing nothing in or around Denver by which I could obtain employment, I journeyed to an old friend's place near Black Hawk, who had known me from the time I was a small boy, and he offered me two dollars a cord for all the wood I could cut, which was gladly ac- cepted, for I was an expert with the axe. After a few weeks I went into the pinery of dead timber on my own
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account, chopped a large amount of wood and put up my charcoal pits for future burning. Running out of money and provisions, I worked at five dollars a day, excavating a pit in Russell Gulch, near Central City. With the capital thus secured I bought horses and wagons, and engaged in freighting from Denver to Black Hawk and Central. Charcoal then ranged in value from twenty cents to sixty cents a bushel. I soon had from two to four pits burning at the same time, to which I gave my personal attention. It necessitated sleeping in my blankets near the pits to save them in case of explosion from gas, which sometimes occurred, re- quiring swift and awful hard work with the shovel. During this time my most intimate friends would not have recognized me if they had met me in the road. be- cause my face was black from the charcoal. I felt a pride in my work, owing to the fact that in that humble way I was aiding in the attempt to revive the languish- ing mining industry that was everything to Colorado at that time, and my labor was a factor in trying out experi- mental mining plants then in course of construction for working the refractory ores of the Black Hawk and Cen- tral districts."
I soon discovered that Judge Kuykendall was a man of superior mental attainments. He left Colorado in the winter of 1865, and made his home in Wyoming, where he became a man of influence, was elected to the Legisla- ture and ably filled many important positions. In fact. he was one of the builders of Wyoming.
BLACK HAWK
The shrill whistle of the little engine announced Black Hawk. We were just one mile from Central, but the train must travel nearly four to overcome the inter- vening grade. We move forward awhile, then back, and
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change places in a dance on the giddy slopes overlooking the gulch, where private residences, stores, saloons, quartz mills and reduction works are crowded in, helter skelter. as if dropped from the clouds. And way down deep "in the earth beneath" hundreds of men are toiling in the mines. We could step from the car into the notable Bobtail lode, which derived its euphonious title from the fact that the first pay dirt from this magnificent gold-bearing fissure was hauled down to the gulch for sluicing by a bob-tailed ox in harness, the quartz wagon being a forked limb with a rawhide stretched upon it. This unique vehicle caused the miners much merriment. and suggested the name "Bobtail."
PAT CASEY
Many amusing stories are told of that early gold excitement. Among the prospectors who poured into this gulch in 1859 was one from the Emerald Isle, Pat Casey, who came in the capacity of a general roustabout to a wagon train, and soon after became Colorado's first bonanza king.
Being young, able-bodied and accustomed to manual labor, he found employment as a miner on the Ben Bur- roughs lode at "$2.50 a day and feed himself." After awhile he did some prospecting for himself on Sundays and evenings after working hours. It was not long be- fore he uncovered a vein which proved to be very rich. Qutting his employer, he devoted his entire time to his own shaft, and a few wagon loads of quartz made him a capitalist. He threw off his ore-stained overalls. bought the best clothes he could find in Central City. and his amusing peculiarities became the talk of the en- tire region.
As Casey's fortune developed he employed more hands. On one occasion Pat, having use for some men
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at the surface, went to the shaft and, yelling down, asked, "How many of yez are there ?"
"Five," was the answer.
"Well, half of yez come up here; I want ye."
This story has been often used, but it originated with Pat Casey.
Riches poured in upon him like a stream. Walking and horseback riding were discarded. He bought a span of beautiful black horses, a fine buggy, and drove up and down the gulches, attracting wild-eyed attention and shouts from the miners. He stopped and held animated conversations with the better dressed and more important merchants and mine owners, and never tired of telling the people he met of the money he was making and the number of night and day hands in his employ. Casey always carried, conspicuously displayed in a side pocket. a leather covered memorandum book, with a lot of pen- cils. When a trade was concluded he made a bluff of entering it after the fashion of business men, but every- one knew that he could not write a word, not even his name. It was his boast, "I use up tin pincils a day and thin don't get half through me business." One day Sam Buell, who kept a book store, called out, "Hello, Pat !"
Swelling with indignation at the familiarity, Pat replied, "I'd have yez to know that me name is not Pat at all, but P. Casey, Esq."
Frank Hall tells the following: "The principal place of amusement was the old Montana theater. Pat Casey's night hands, a large body of reckless, turbulent fellows who dominated Quartz Hill and every other place they entered, were the talk and terror of the whole region.
"Mike Dougherty, a fine comedian, was in the habit of writing and singing topical songs. On one occasion he produced a cutting satire on Casey's night hands. which created no end of amusement.
"Next day Casey rode into the town in a white rage
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against the Montana theater. He swore that if Lang- rishe and Dougherty made fun of him again he would bring down his men and clean out the town.
"This was during the heat of our Civil War, and Sergeant Pepper had a recruiting station in Central. Attracted by Casey's boisterous talk and threats, Pepper said to him: 'Mr. Casey, I represent the United States government, and you must be quiet or I will have to arrest you.'
"Quick as a flash Casey roared out, 'To hell with you an' the United States government; I tell you I'll bring down me men and clean out the town, and you can't stop me. I won't have Langrishe and Dougherty slanderin me and mine.' Continuing in this strain, uttering all sorts of vituperations and refusing to be pacified, Pepper arrested him, and put him under guard in the recruiting station, and then called on the sheriff for assistance. The sheriff put Casey in jail. A riot was feared. The night and day hands, who were devoted to Casey. organized. After making a great deal of noise and loading the air with imprecations, better counsel prevailed and the force dissolved.
"Reports of these occurrences were telegraphed to Governor Evans, who directed the military to act under the order of the sheriff, and endeavor to preserve the peace. He then took a carriage and drove to Central to take further action of it might be deemed necessary, but the riot was ended before he arrived.
"The redoubtable Casey was held in jail until he promised to behave.
"P. D. Casey, at the height of his prosperity, was worth $200,000, subject to many fluctuations growing out of his reckless extravagance.
"In 1863 the property was sold to Warren Hussey and W. H. Russell. Casey received about $60,000. He left the mountains, went to New York, where he was
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persuaded to invest his capital in a wholesale tobacco commission house. Through mismanagement it was soon lost, and he ended by opening a saloon and tending the bar himself."
CENTRAL CITY
When President Grant visited this elevated moun- tain town, a walk, composed of solid silver bricks, was laid from the carriage of the Teller house for him to step on. No such ostentatious display of wealth was made in honor of our arrival. However, as we are to linger here awhile, I shall turn public interviewer and tell my readers all that I find of interest.
It was my good fortune to meet General Frank Hall. who is a walking encyclopedia of Colorado lore. He was one of the most conspicuous characters in the early his- tory of the Territory and State. During the territorial period there were three territorial secretaries: the term of General Hall covered more than half of the period. He was lieutenant-governor when McCook was governor. and acting governor in his absence. General Hall has written a comprehensive history of Colorado, which will always be valuable as a work of reference. He is in the highest sense a literary man, and is now filling a posi- tion on the Denver Post. He walks with a military air which gives the impression that it was only a few years ago when he wore the epaulets. Though forty years have come and gone since then, his eyes and his intellect are as bright as then, and I said to myself, surely this man has found the fountain for which Ponce De Leon searched.
We were soon conversing about the pioneer days.
"Gregory gulch may be aptly called the hall of fame," the general said: "no spot of the same dimensions on the face of the earth has ever turned out so many men
J. B. BELFORT
EBEN SMITH
2
3
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HENRY M TELLER
E.O. WOLCOTT
CENTRAL CITY IN 1860
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HAL SAYRE
GEORGE PULLMAN
FRANK L. HALL
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of distinction in the political and the financial worlds. At one time the political destinies of Colorado, both at Washington and at Denver, were in the hands of men who had lived and toiled together in this teeming camp, then divided into three municipalities, Black Hawk, Cen- tral and Nevada, and they remain so to this day. In this picture gallery were Henry M. Teller, United States Senator and Secretary of the Interior. Teller was a noted lawyer; he untied more mining knots than any other man who made mining law a specialty. He re- ceived more honors than usually fall to the lot of men. He was returned to the Senate again and again as a Republican, and served twenty-nine years, and was fur- ther honored by being made one of President Arthur's cabinet as Secretary of the Interior.
"Jerome B. Chaffee was in the first rush to Gregory gulch; here he laid the foundation for a fortune, erected a quartz mill, which he operated three years. then, with the profits in his pockets, he went to Denver, the prin- cipal trading point of the mountain section, and organ- ized the First National Bank. Jerome B. Chaffee and Henry M. Teller were the first United States Senators elected from Colorado, when admitted to the Union in 1876.
"Then there was James B. Belford. It required the towering Rocky Mountains to form a fit background for big-boned, rugged. square-jawed. square-brained James Belford. He was called the 'Red-headed Rooster of the Rockies.' He received the appointment from President Grant as one of the judges of Colorado Territory Su- preme Court, and he went direct to Gregory gulch. Cen- tral was his home for thirteen years. At that time Colorado was divided into three judicial districts, and the three judges of the court traveled from one court town to another on horseback or in stages, much as the old Methodist circuit riders used to do.
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"It was Belford's custom to devote a certain period of time every day to study, and he took up mining law because it had a mysterious fascination for him. His friends laughed at him for wasting his time, but his wife, who was his good genius, encouraged him in his fad. She said her husband had never stored up any knowledge that had not come into good use. It was the knowledge gained at this time that enabled Belford to deliver sound opinions and decisions on the bench, and later, as a member of Congress, to take a prominent and wise part in shaping the mining laws of the nation. In 1878 Belford was elected to Congress. After serving his term he retired from politics and devoted himself to literature until he died, honored and lamented.
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