USA > Colorado > Colorado pioneers in picture and story > Part 8
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He has never cared for politics or publicity in any way. Through patient and persistent industry he has ac- quired wealth, and in the annals of his time has earned the name of empire builder.
Mr. Sheedy is a tall, dignified man, with broad shoulders, and blue eyes that flash with intelligence. He lives without pomp or worldly display. His wife is a beautiful woman, with a charm of manner that has drawn around her a large circle of friends.
Mr. Sheedy is a member of the Denver Club, the Denver Country Club, and the Denver Athletic Club.
JOHN GOOD
John Good's life has been closely interwoven with the history of Denver from pioneer days to the present time. He came from Alsace to Colorado when a mere
MR. AND MRS. GOOD
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boy, without money and without friends, but he had in his character all the qualities necessary for success and would have reached the top no matter to what line of endeavor he might have directed his energy. From the first he had a way of attending strictly to his own busi- ness; the comments and criticism of others made no im- pression upon him. He is honest and just in business and has acquired great wealth through no freak of for- tune, but through his own steady, intelligent and per- sistent effort.
In the midst of luxury he has never become self- important, but has always a smile and cordial handclasp for old-time friends. His immense business demands much of his attention : he is fond of books and gives most of his leisure time to reading. His palatial residence. presided over by his wife and daughter, Mrs. J. E. Has- ler. is often thrown open to friends, and every en- tertainment is marked by elegance and refined taste.
Mr. Good does not be- stow large sums of money in public munificence to have his name blazoned abroad. but the needs of the poor or sick. or those in any kind of trouble. ap- peal to him. and. in his own way. he gives large sums of money.
Mrs. J. E. Hasler
and the devoted love of his family.
Mr. Good is today a well-preserved. handsome man of seventy-five, com- manding the respect and admiration of his friends His son. John E.
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Good, a college man of fine characteristics, is associated with him in business. His grandson, John Hasler Good. is a student in Germany and is acquiring fame in the mu- sical world.
WILBUR F. STONE
In the fall of 1859, Wilbur F. Stone, then twenty-six years old and finely educated, went to Omaha on legal business. He spent the winter there and was appointed assistant postmaster and incidentally edited the Omaha "Nebraskan" newspaper. During that winter he became acquainted with Robert W. Steele, governor of Jefferson Territory ; William N. By- ers, and other noted Pike's Peak fifty-niners. and was induced to join the rush to the new "gold dig- gin's," and, in the spring of 1860, Stone outfitted with a party of ox team- ers and crossed the plains to Auraria and Denver. "at the mouth of Cherry creek," whence he went up into the gulch mines of Tarryall, in the South Park. In 1861, after the organization by Congress of Colorado Territory. Stone was elected a mem- ber of the Territorial Legislature from Park Wilbur F. Stone County. and afterwards served in the legislative session of 1864.
In 1862 he was appointed assistant United States
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attorney for Colorado and served until 1866, during the Civil war.
He was married in 1866 to Miss Sarah Sadler of Bloomington, Indiana, and settled at Pueblo, where he was president of the first town board and president of the school board, and editor of the Pueblo "Chieftain," Pueblo's first newspaper. He was the first general attor- ney of the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad Company, was one of the organizers and a director of the railway branch of the Kansas and Pacific.
In 1875-76 he was a member of the convention which framed the constitution under which Colorado was ad- mitted as a State, and was chairman of the judiciary committee of that body.
Upon the admission of the State he was elected one of the judges of the first Supreme Court for the nine- year term, and in 1886 was appointed, by the governor, judge of the district criminal court of Denver and the then county of Arapahoe. In 1891 Judge Stone was ap- pointed. by President Harrison, one of the five judges of the United States court of Spanish and Mexican land grant claims, and was reappointed by Presidents Cleve- land. McKinley and Roosevelt, which court had jurisdic- tion in six States and Territories, and a term of service of nearly fourteen years.
Judge Stone has written much of the pioneer history of Colorado, especially its judicial history, and is now the oldest living member of the bar in length of service; has been president of the State Bar Association and is an honorary life member of the Denver Bar Association. He has traveled much abroad, and possesses a knowledge of the French, German, Spanish and Italian languages, and is an ardent student of literature and science.
Judge Stone now holds the office of United States commissioner of the federal district court of Colorado. His fund of humor keeps him young in spirit. He is one
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of the best preserved-mentally and physically-of the Colorado pioneers, and within the framework of this out- line sketch he has had an eventful life since boyhood.
JAMES M. WILSON
Mr. James M. Wilson, a man by nature modest and retiring, came to Denver in 1860, a young country boy, with no stock in trade except his hands, good sense, and a strong determination to work out his own way.
Few figures in the history of this western State stand out with more distinctness than this man. who, from the first, has stood for high ideals in the world of fin- ance, culture and humanity. In business, he demands all that is due him, but never reaches out for more than is justly his own. He is a friend to be relied upon, through prosperity or adversity, and, when once his word is given, he is sure to keep it.
James M. Wilson
He was active in every phase of Colorado's pioneer life. a freighter, a farmer, a cowboy, and, after years of hardships on the plains, developed into a "cattle king." Many positions of public trust have been filled by him. but he has always avoided the limelight.
In 1866, Mr. Wilson was elected county commis- sioner of Arapahoe County. In 1868, he went into the cattle business and was elected president of the Colorado Cattle Growers Association for three terms. With the late George Tritch and others, he organized the German National Bank, of which he was elected vice-president.
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As a member of a committee named by the governor of the State. he selected the sites for the penitentiary at Canon City and the State reformatory at Buena Vista. As a member of the Denver Club. Mr. Wilson is known as a faithful friend and genial companion.
He has never gone into any wild speculations or schemes, but has acquired wealth along legitimate finan- cial lines, and lives a quiet, unostentatious life. Still. back of this unassuming man there crowds a wealth of historical human incidents that are intimately woven with the development of Colorado.
"You have worked your own way to success," I said, when talking with him. "Can't you give a word of ad- vice to young men who are starting in business ?"
"No." he quickly replied. "What would be the use of it? The people of today are living under different conditions. and the young don't care to be bothered with advice."
"Then tell me a pioneer story." I said, knowing that he is an inimitable story-teller.
"Yes, I can do that. In 1860. I took up one hundred and sixty acres of land down on the Platte. and I put in the time that winter chopping and hauling wood to Den- ver. I was not living luxuriously and faring sump- tuously at that time. One day I had sold my wood, and. with the money in my pocket. I felt rather opulent, so I decided to go to Riethman's bakery and get a dried apple pie (they were luxuries at that time)." he threw in paren- thetically. "I seated myself at a table and cut my pie in four pieces. Just as I was about to help myself. a man rushed toward me, with a fine glow of happiness on his face.
"'Why. Bob!' he exclaimed. ‘I am so glad to see you. With this he drew his chair to the table and helped himself to a piece of pie. 'The last time I saw you,' the fellow continued. 'was over in camp Well. We had a
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high old time; I shall never forget it if I live to be a hundred. We were on the hunt for cattle, and at night we rolled ourselves up in our buffalo robes and slept, re- gardless of expense-no rent raised on us.' He laughed at his own humor, and helped himself to another piece of pie. 'Apples are fine fruit ; Eve ate the first one, didn't she ? But that is a theory in theology.'
"He ate pie and flitted from one subject to another, like a patent office report.
"I sat and looked on as dumb as a mummy in a pyra- mid. 'This is good pie, Bob.'
" 'My name is not Bob,' I remarked.
"'What ? Not Bob? I made sure you were my old friend Bob.'
""'No, I am not.'
"'I thank you for your hospitality,' he said, as he moved away, leaving me alone with my empty pie pan.
"The hungry fellow was out foraging," commented Mr. Wilson, in a humorous way, "and it was so neatly done that it aroused my admiration."
DANIEL WITTER
No pioneer of Colorado was more active in the en- terprises of the formative days of the city and state than Daniel Witter. He established the first abstract of title office in Denver in the early '60's. which is still in exist- ence. He was one of the incorporators and an officer of the Denver Safe Deposit and Savings Bank. established in 1874, which had connected with it the first safety de- posit vaults between the Missouri river and the Pacific.
He was one of the organizers of the Platte Water Company. Its ditch, now known as the City ditch, sup- plies the lake at the City Park, and waters the farms be- tween Denver and Littleton.
He was the leading land office attorney of the State
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from the early '60's until his death. The business he es- tablished is still continued by his daughter, Miss Ellen C. Witter.
He was one of the resolute men in taking up the work of building the city and state, and he never faltered in it, even when prospects were most discouraging.
GEORGE TRITCH
Mr. George Tritch was a man of quick wit, deep thought, and marked business ability. A short time be- fore his death he said :
"We came to Denver because the tide of immigration was this way; the people heard of the Pike's Peak coun- try and fabulous stories of gold. When we started out we had no idea where we were going, but I thought that towns had to spring up, and possibly I could make a living for my family. There is only one reason why we stopped in Denver. There was nothing here that was promising, but when we got this far our money George Tritch had run out, and knowing that we could go no farther we were content to remain."
Mr. Tritch brought with him his tools, a small stock of goods, and at once began business in a cabin on Blake street near Cherry creek.
This picture was taken from an old paper. His busi- ness soon outgrew its quarters, and he built a large store room on Fifteenth and Blake. In 1884 his business again outgrew its quarters and he built a large block on Arapa-
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hoe street and Seven- teenth, in which he placed the present George Tritch Hardware Company, which is one of Denver's great commercial estab- lishments.
GEO. TRITCH
Hardware " Stoves
He amassed a fortune by persistent industry and good judgment. All his interests were centered in Denver, which proved his faith in the city. Mr. George Tritch's First Hardware Store-1859 Tritch died at his home on Grant street in 1899. He left a widow and eight children.
WOLFE LONDONER
Wolfe Londoner enjoyed the reputation of being Colorado's practical joker.
"I came out from Atchison," said Mr. Londoner. "with freighters, in 1860. I walked most of the way and
Wolfe Londoner
had a terrible experience with a pair of hob-nail boots-regular miner's brogans, with spikes stick- ing out in a formidable manner. The memory of it makes my feet ache; the nails tortured me so I walked barefoot one hundred miles. We met some Indians and I traded my shoes for several pairs of moccasins. Believe me, I was the happiest tenderfoot in existence.
"There were no flies here when I reached Denver- no, that is no joke; flies came with the increase in popu- lation. The pioneers did not have to worry about flies,
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and the only bathtubs were Cherry creek and the Platte river.
"I ran a store in California Gulch for awhile. and. in 1863. I opened a store in Denver, at Fifteenth and Blake I had a neighbor. Alvin McCune, who was a prac- tical joker, and we used to go at each other hot and heavy. I once had him paint a lot of wagons for me. The town began to grow, and, instead of carrying home their own goods. customers insisted upon having them delivered. so I had to get some wagons. There was one wagon that did not need repainting. It had on the back the words. 'Come and See Us.'
"One day Alvin saw it standing in front of the store : he ran it into his store and changed the words to 'Come to Jesus.' and put it back without my knowing it. That wagon was driven all over town before I found it out. and then I had a hard time to pacify the people, who thought I did it purposely. I tried to talk to McCune about it. and I really was angry, but the angrier I got the more he laughed.
"I am one of the few men who ever got even with Gene Field. It was near an election, and I had taken quite a prominent part in politics. in one instance. trying to influence the colored vote.
"Gene Field wrote an article. saying that I would present every colored voter who called at my store with a watermelon. They came in droves. all clamoring for melons. Fortunately, I found a wagon of Georgia mel- ons on Market street and I passed them out.
"The next day I put an 'ad' in the News that Gene Field wanted a watchdog, and set a time for owners to bring dogs to his office. At the appointed time there was yelping and fighting and scrambling of dogs in Gene's office. He climbed on the table and screamed for help. while the owners of the dogs fought lustily with each other.
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"To return to that watermelon incident"-the mem- ory of it caused Mr. Londoner to smile. "It placed me in high esteem with the colored people. At a big colored meeting, at which prominent Denverites spoke, I was introduced by the negro chairman in this way: 'We now come to a man who is the friend of colored people- speaks to us on the street, treats us to watermelons. Though he has a white face, he has a heart as black as any of us.' "
The first Press Club in Denver was started over Mr. Londoner's store on Blake street, and he prizes among his possessions a cup which was presented to him by the Press Club.
His famous "cyclone cellar" was known to every newspaper man and every good fellow who visited this town. "It was no misnomer," said Mr. Londoner. Many met with a cyclone at home because of a visit to that cellar.
Mr. Londoner was widely known and counted his friends by the hundreds. He was interested in every- thing that made for the upbuilding of Denver. He was elected county commissioner: made chairman of the building committee for the erection of the court house. and gave up his business to do faithful and conscientious work in this building committee. He was proud of the fact that not a penny's worth of graft occurred in the construction of the court house. He was elected mayor of Denver. was a Shriner. and active in Masonic circles: a member of the National Editorial Association. and. in every way, a good citizen .*
JOSEPH B. DONAVAN
Joseph B. Donavan had a high standing with the Indians because he always gave them a square deal.
*Since this writing Mr. Londoner has passed away.
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Among his frontier relics is a necklace of beads and claws, and it tells a history. With the settlement of the prairies the Indians found horse and cattle-stealing prof- itable. They were shrewd enough to shield their wrong- doers, and their attacks upon the quiet herds without any redress fired the blood of the white settlers. One day they seized the chief of a Cheyenne tribe and put him through the rigors of a frontier third degree, but he failed to disgorge. The white council deliberated, and resolved to give the chief the benefit of an Indian execution as practiced upon themselves by the savages.
Slo-a-necka was the chief's name, and slow strangu- lation was the method resolved upon. The execution was set for sunrise the following morning. The chief was roped to a wagon for the night.
Joe Donavan was a member of the white council and he strongly urged the chief's innocence. Towards midnight, Donavan stepped from his blankets, cut the thongs, and ordered Slo-a-necka to mount his horse and ride away. The next morning, Donavan was threatened with the chief's punishment. He told them that he knew the chief was innocent and felt sure that he would bring the real offenders to justice within forty-eight hours.
A day or two after, Slo-a-necka, with a squad of his braves surrounding five Indians bound to their ponies, rode into camp and delivered the prisoners to Donavan. They were of another tribe-Arapahoes, and had full justice meted out to them.
Donavan later negotiated a treaty with Slo-a-necka, who became the deadly foe of cattle and horse thieves on the frontier.
Three years later, Joe Donavan lost his way in the mountains and entered an Indian camp by chance. A squaw, the daughter of Slo-a-necka, came forward to greet him. She knew Donavan from her father's de- scription of him, and. removing the necklace of beads
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and claws from her own neck, she tied them around Don- avan's with great ceremony.
Mr. Donavan had many close calls in his perilous career as scout, and he was loved, as well as feared, by the Indians.
DR. O. D. CASS
Dr. O. D. Cass came to Denver in 1860. He prac- ticed medicine for seven months. The following story will show that the early day life of physicians was not enviable. He said :
"One evening in 1860, while sitting in my office, the door opened and in stalked a man about five feet nine inches in height, bearded like a pard, trousers in boot- legs, his dark hair covered by a black slouch hat, beneath which I saw a pair of glittering black eyes.
"'Are you the doctor ?'
" 'Yes, sir.'
""'Well, I want you to go and attend my woman, who's sick.'
""'What's the matter with her ?'
" 'I don't know, but I want you to go and see her.'
"'Well, my fee is $25, which must be paid before I go.'
"The words had scarcely passed my lips before the stranger whipped out an ugly looking six-shooter, and, thrusting it in my face, said: 'Damn your fee; follow me, sir, and be quick about it.'
"Thus positively adjured, I stood not upon the order of my going, but went at once. He led me to the door of his cabin, opened it, pointed to the patient, and imme- diately disappeared in the darkness. I attended her for a week and cured her. I did not in the meantime see or hear of my conductor. The woman having recovered, he came again. Striding up to my desk with the air of a cavalry brigadier, he said :
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"'You cured her. did you ?'
". Yes. I think she's all right now.'
"Laying five twenty-dollar gold pieces of Clark and Gruber's mintage on the desk, he added in a milder tone : "'Will that pay you for your services ?'
".Yes. sir. abundantly. and I'm very much obliged.' "'See here, doctor. I've taken a notion to you. There's a good many rough fellows about town. who drink and fight and make trouble for honest people. If any of 'em ever interfere with you. you send for me. My name's Charlie Harrison .? "
Harrison was the chief of desperadoes, who shot at a word. and who had killed nearly a score of men.
Dr. Cass had been in Cali- fornia in the golden era in that State. and his experience there O. D. Cass taught him that handling Rocky Mountain gold dust would be more profitable than prac- ticing medicine. so he decided to engage in banking and gold brokerage. In the spring of 1861 he was joined by G. W. Wilcox and Joseph B. Cass, his brother. Together they established the Exchange Bank. It did a large and profitable business, which soon included deposits, loans and discounts.
During the Civil war. gold went to higher and higher premiums. and their profits on gold purchases added to those derived from interest rates of twenty per cent a month became very great, running as high, at times, as a thousand dollars a day.
The firm opened a branch office in Central and be- came the agents there for Holladay's Overland Mail
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Stage Company. In 1865 the business was sold to Holla- day. Dr. Cass remained a prominent citizen of Denver until his death in 1894.
His son, O. D. Cass. is prominently identified with many enterprises that are strong factors in the develop- ment of Colorado today. He is always ready and will- ing to contribute to religious and philanthropic move- ments, and possesses the esteem and respect of all who know him.
CYRUS H. MCLAUGHLIN
No Colorado pioneer is more widely known than Cy- rus H. Mclaughlin, whose name is now enrolled upon the list of the dead. In 1859, while at Leavenworth, the Colorado gold excitement broke out, and Jones and Cart- right of that town, who were do- ing an express business. believed that the gold that had been sent out had really come from Califor- nia. McLaughlin was sent to in- vestigate. He reached Golden without difficulty and then climbed over the mountains to Gregory diggings. When the min- ers learned that he represented an express company. he was loaded down with gold dust and he came back to Denver with thirty thou- sand dollars in dust in an old car- pet sack. This he kept by him day and night, sometimes sleeping in the coach with it for a pillow, Cyrus H. Mclaughlin and. on one occasion, drove the stage himself. with no passengers, for fifty miles. He arrived safely in Leaven- worth. the bearer of the first trustworthy reports from the new camp.
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In 1860, he came back to Auraria and started in as a compositor on the News, his occupation being that of a journeyman printer. In 1861 he took up some land on the Platte below Denver and opened a dairy and farm. The Indian scare in 1864 caused him to leave his farm and seek Denver for pro- tection. He secured a position in the army department, which he held until 1866. when he again went back to his ranch. That same year he was elected a representative to the Territorial Legislature. and in 1867 he was Mrs. C. H. Mclaughlin re-elected and made speaker of the House.
His wife. a beautiful woman, with many fine traits of character. died recently.
O. P. BAUR
It may be of interest to the people of this day and age to know that the Baur confectionery store was founded in pioneer days.
Adolph Schinner owned a bakery and grocery store in the early times, and opened the first confectionery and ice cream house in Denver. O. P. Baur was one of his clerks. The latter bought out the business, established the Baur Confectionery Company, and, from that day to this, that company has catered for all the swell functions of the city, with unvarying excellence.
CAPTAIN RICHARD SOPRIS
Captain Richard Sopris was a pioneer of 1859, and in the fall of that year was elected to represent Arapahoe
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County in the Kansas Legislature. In 1860 he headed a party of thirty or forty men, exploring the wilderness west of the snowy range, in a search for gold mines. The captain traveled on the back of a large mule, an animal which had a certain gait up hill and down hill. The "engineer" of the party, Charles P. Marion, who also acted as historian of the expedition, conceived the idea of measuring the distance the captain's mule could walk in a given time, and. by keeping a record of the number
CAPT. SOPRIS
MRS. SOPRIS
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SOPRIS GATEWAY. CITY PARK DENVER
of hours they traveled each day, he arrived at the num- ber of miles covered by the party in the trip.
A rough sketch of the country passed over, distances between streams and mountain ranges, based on "mule measurement," was given to Governor Gilpin. who in- 6
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cluded it in his map of Colorado, and surveys of later years proved the figures given by Marion to be about right.
After serving a year or two in the Civil war as cap- tain in the First Colorado Volunteers, he was elected sheriff of Arapahoe County. Later, he was made mayor of Denver and re-elected. He discovered Glenwood Springs, and Mt. Sopris was named for him.
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