USA > Colorado > History of Colorado; Volume I > Part 17
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"Constitution of Auraria Town Company.
"We, the Citizens of the South Platte, having assembled on the First day of November, A.D., One thousand, Eight hundred and fifty-eight, and agreed to associate ourselves into a Company to be known and distinguished as the Auraria Town Company, and by which name we hold ourselves liable to sue and be sued, and to transact business as an individual and legal body.
"Article Ist.
"This Company shall be known and distinguished as the Auraria Town Com- pany.
"Article 2nd.
"There shall be elected by the Stockholders of said Company a President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, and One Director, who shall hold their offices for the term of one year from the date hereof, at the expiration of which term there shall be a new election.
"Article 3rd.
"In case of any failure of such election at the expiration of said term of One year, or should a vacancy occur through resignation, death or absence, a majority of the Board may direct a meeting of the Stockholders to be called and elect others in their places.
"Article 4th.
"It shall be the duty of the President to preside over the meetings of the Board, to preserve order, and likewise to sign all certificates of shares, and to discharge all the duties usually devolving upon the President of meetings and companies.
"Article 5th.
"It shall be the duty of the Vice President in case of death, resignation, or any absence from any cause, of the President, to discharge all the duties required of the President.
"Article 6th.
"It shall be the duties of the Secretary to keep the books and accounts of said Company, to record all meetings of the Stockholders, or of the Board of Directors; likewise to sign all shares and transfers of shares and record the same. Keep a record of all documents and papers relating to Town property, and to notify stockholders of all assessments and when to be paid.
"Article 7th.
"It shall be the duty of the Treasurer to take charge of all monies which the Board of Directors may place in his hands, and receipt for the same; to collect all assessments which the Board may make, and receipt for the same; and shall upon an order from the Board disburse any funds belonging to said company,
ยท
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HISTORY OF COLORADO
and shall submit a statement of his proceeds in office at any meeting of the Board when called upon to do so by said Board.
"Article 8th.
"The President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, and One Director shall constitute a Board of Directors, all to be chosen from the Stockholders of said Company.
"Article 9th.
"It shall be the duty of the Board of Directors to superintend the surveying, platting, lithographing or mapping, of the Town Site. Printing or writing shares of stock, superintending all company improvements, and hold all Company prop- erty in trust for the benefit of said Company. And also-when it becomes neces- sary to levy a tax for any improvements upon the Town Site, it shall be the duty of the Board of Directors to call a meeting notifying the stockholders to that effect. A majority of a quorum always being necessary to levy such a tax."
"By-Laws.
"Article Ist.
"All shares donated by said Company shall be improved in such manner as the Board of Directors may contract, within Sixty days after the day of Dona- tion. But if such specified improvements be not made, then the title of such person or persons to whom such donation shall have been made is null and void.
"Article 2nd.
"The election of Officers shall take place on the first Monday in November in Each year, the vote shall be cast by ballot, and two-thirds of the vote cast shall be necessary to a choice.
"Article 3d.
"Each stockholder shall be entitled to one vote at the first election. At every succeeding election each stockholder shall be entitled to one vote for every share of stock as originally issued, providing all arrearages of assessments are paid.
"Article 4th.
"Thirty days shall be allowed for payment of assessments, and if not paid within said thirty days the Secretary shall advertise the same for thirty days ad- ditional, and if not paid within said time the Secretary shall cause such share or shares to be sold to pay such assessments.
"Article 5th.
"The owner or owners of any stock sold as above provided to pay assess- ments, by paying, within 90 days after such sale as aforesaid, the purchase money and fifty per centum added thereto, shall be entitled to redeem such stock.
"Article 6th.
"Each member of the Board of Directors shall be held under bond for the faithful discharge of his duties as such member, the sum of which bond not to exceed the sum of Twenty-five hundred dollars and not less than Two thousand dollars.
"Article 7th.
"There shall be set apart four hundred shares for the use and benefit of the Stockholders, the remaining two hundred shall be set apart for donation, public
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HISTORY OF COLORADO
improvements, etc., and it shall be the duty of the Board of Directors to take charge of such donations, and all profits arising from such donations shall be set apart for the benefit hereafter of said Company.
"Article 8th.
"The number of Original Stockholders shall not exceed the number of One hundred. In the absence of any stockholder he may appoint an agent to cast the vote or votes to which he may be entitled, and to act as proxy, generally.
"Article 9th.
"No transfer of stock shall be considered legal unless such transfer be signed and recorded by the Secretary in the books of the company at the time of making such transfer.
"Article 10th.
"Shares of stock shall be issued to each and every stockholder when such Stockholder shall have, or caused to have been, constructed within the City Limits a house not less than Sixteen by sixteen feet, to be approved by the Board of Directors. Such improvements to be made and completed on or before the first day of July, A.D., 1859, or the shares become forfeited to the Company.
"Article IIth.
"This Constitution and By-Laws thereunto annexed may be revised and amended at any general meeting of the Company by a vote of Two-thirds of the Stockholders of said Company."
At a meeting of the stockholders of the Auraria Town Company held Novem- ber 6th the following officers were elected: William McFadding, president ; J. H. Dudley, vice president ; L. J. Russell, secretary ; John S. Smith, treasurer ; Henry Allen, director.
The name "Auraria," meaning "Gold Town," was one of two suggested by Dr. L. J. Russell and appears for the first time in the title of the constitution. Auraria was the name of Doctor Russell's home town in Lupkin County, Georgia, where gold "diggings" existed then and which are still being worked.
Auraria was in this way the first town that was established at the mouth of Cherry Creek and was the nucleus of the present City of Denver. Here many of the first features of Colorado, including the first newspaper, the first Protest- ant church and the first church school were started. Nichols, the custodian of the St. Charles Company site, in the meantime stood by and watched with grow- ing apprehension the rise of Auraria. There was nothing he could do just then to hold the interest of the others, even though he did complete a cabin which he had started with the four logs. This was near Cherry Creek in the vicinity of the present Blake Street crossing, and was located outside the mile-square plat of the St. Charles Company, but upon land which Smith and McGaa were to have obtained for the organization.
THE DENVER CITY TOWN COMPANY
The Denver City Town Company was the result of the arrival of a company of pioneers at the mouth of Cherry Creek in November, 1858, many of the mem- bers of which became very prominent in the early life of Denver. This company was really a union of two parties formed in eastern Kansas. One of them was
GEN. JAMES WILLIAM DENVER
For whom the city was named. He was born in Winchester, Va., on October 23, 1817, and died in Washington City on August 9, 1892. His tomb is at Wilmington, O., in which town he had resided for many years.
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HISTORY OF COLORADO
organized at Lecompton in the summer and among the members were Hickory Rogers, Edward W. Wynkoop and H. P. A. Smith. James W. Denver was then governor of Kansas Territory and thought there should be some represen- tative government in the new Pike's Peak gold country. With this end in view he appointed Smith probate judge, Rogers chairman of the county board of commissioners and Wynkoop sheriff, of the County of Arapahoe, then nothing more than a name attached to the western end of Kansas. In this way the three. "county officials" were authorized to proceed to the new country, which they did.
The other half of the pioneer company was from Leavenworth, in fact be- came known as the "Leavenworth Party." This company consisted of Folsom Dorsett, M. M. Jewett, Gen. William Larimer, Jr., his son William H. H. Lari- mer, Charles A. Lawrence and Richard E. Whitsitt. The six men departed from Leavenworth on October 3d, with a prairie schooner, four yoke of oxen, and a horse for each of the party. Five weeks later they arrived at the site of Pueblo, there meeting Governor Denver's county officials and others. The two joined and traveled to Auraria, reaching there November 16th.
The newcomers quickly perceived that a rival city could well be platted on the east side of the creek from Auraria and with this end in view allied them- selves with E. P. Stout, P. T. Bassett, William Clancy, Smith and McGaa, the traders, and a few others. A meeting was held in McGaa's cabin on the night of November 17th, when the Denver City Town Company was organized. Nichols was present, according to all accounts, and protested strongly over the "jumping" of the St. Charles Company's land, but later kept silent when he was threatened with being the guest of honor at a "neck-tie party." No official record of this first meeting exists. The gathering was more in the nature of a love-feast, how- ever, with the flowing bowl much in evidence, and undoubtedly no one was in the humor to keep the minutes. The minute-book of the Denver Town Company, though, contains the following as its first record:
"Denver City Company adopted their Constitution on the 22 Nov. 1858, and Elected the following Board of Directors and Officers:
"President E. P. Stout. "Treasurer Wm Larimer Jr. "Secty H. P. A. Smith. "Recorder P. T. Bassett. "Directors "E. P. Stout. "Win Larimer Jr "J (William) McGaa "C. A. Lawrence "W. Clancy "Hickory Rogers "P. T. Bassett
"The Board of Directors appointed Wm Larimer Jr Secty of the Board and also Selected the Same to donate lots under the instructions from the Board
"Under a previously appointed Committee of Messrs Rogers, Bassett, McGaa, Lawrence & Larimer they secured the services of-Curtis (Col. Samuel S. Cur-
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HISTORY OF COLORADO
tis) on the 22nd Inst and laid out one principle Street and further the Same Committee Set posts and bounded two miles square for a town site. Called Denver City.
"Wm Larimer Jr "Secty of the Board.
"Denver City "22 Nov. 1858"
The new city was named in honor of Governor Denver, the head of the Kan- sas Territory administration and who played such an important part in inaugur- ating the movement which led to the establishment of the community. The identity of the individual who proposed Denver's name is not known and by many writers it is claimed that his name was chosen by acclaim as he was upper- most in the thoughts of many of the members of the Company. The St. Charles Company stockholders were given shares in the new company in recompense for the "jumping" of their townsite. The Leavenworth-Lecompton party has been accorded the honor by many authorities of being the founders of Denver, but this statement is visibly in error. The members of the Auraria Company hold much greater claim to this distinction; in fact, E. P. Stout, one of the members of the latter company and the first Denver City president, had staked off a town upon the St. Charles site before the arrival of the Leavenworth-Lecompton party. In this work he was assisted by Smith and McGaa, who seemed to have an inter- est in every scheme broached in the Pike's Peak region.
When the Leavenworth-Lecompton men arrived, there were about a dozen cabins constructed upon the site of Auraria and an equal number in the course of building. The first house actually built on the St. Charles site was the first house, necessarily, erected upon the land platted by the Denver City Company, and this was the one erected by Charles Nichols, in the attempt to hold the claim of his companions, and used for a time as a blacksmith shop by Hank Way. General Larimer occupied this cabin after his arrival, until his own house was constructed on what is now the northeast corner of Fifteenth and Larimer streets.
As stated before, Montana City was gradually absorbed by the Cherry Creek towns. In December, Samuel S. Curtis laid out another paper "city" about two miles east of the present Town of Golden. This he named "Arapahoe City." Not until the spring of 1859, though, did any settlement of consequence occur here, then a portion of the great army of fortune-hunters occupied the site.
FIRST BUSINESS AT CHERRY CREEK
The first mercantile business in the Pike's Peak region was established in 1858 at Auraria. This was started by Charles H. Blake and Andrew J. Wil- liams, under the firm name of Blake & Williams. These men came from Cres- cent City, Iowa, and arrived at the mouth of Cherry Creek on October 27th, with a train of four wagons, each hauled by four yoke of oxen. The wagons were loaded with merchandise of all descriptions and especially adapted to the needs of the frontier country. On the first day of November Blake & Williams began business in a tent, but shortly afterward moved into a double log cabin, located on the north side of the present Wewatta Street, near Twelfth Street.
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HISTORY OF COLORADO
One week later, the firm of Kinna & Nye came to Auraria with a stock of hardware. Kinna was in charge, Nye not arriving until the next spring. Kinna secured a location near the northeast corner of Eleventh and Market streets and there erected a cabin, to serve as both residence and store.
The third merchant in Auraria was J. D. Ramage, a jeweler, who located near what is now the southeast corner of Eleventh and Larimer streets. On December 25th Richens L. Wooten, known as "Uncle Dick," an old Indian trader, came to Auraria with two wagon-loads of merchandise, consisting principally of New Mexican "fire-water," and called "Taos Lightning" by the Pike's Peakers. By way of establishing an acquaintanceship with the citizens of Auraria and Denver in the briefest time, Wooten placed the contents of one barrel at the mercy of the public, to be consumed as a part of the general holiday celebration.
Auraria and Denver were quickly recognized as the center of the Pike's Peak gold region and nearly all of the argonauts made for the Cherry Creek settle- ments the first thing. Auraria made a better appearance during this first winter than Denver, having about fifty log houses while Denver had only a score or so. Little time was occupied in improving the condition of the towns, as gold was the all-absorbing topic and the settlers were impatient to get to the "diggins."
By an act of the legislative assembly of Jefferson Territory, Auraria and Denver were consolidated into one municipality in April, 1860. The Denver title became the most popular and the name Auraria was gradually dropped. The first territorial assembly of Colorado, by an act approved November 7, 1862, in- corporated Auraria, Denver and Highland as the City of Denver, which was largely a repetition of the consolidation act of the Jefferson Territorial As- sembly.
BOULDER CITY TOWN COMPANY
By the spring of 1859 several more town companies had been established in Colorado. These companies are to be distinguished from those mentioned in another chapter by the fact that gold-mining was the basis of their organization, their members were prospectors for the greater part, whereas colonies such as Union and the Chicago-Colorado had agriculture as a stimulus and Colorado Springs and South Pueblo were conceived by the railroad interests.
The colony at Red Rock, having been enlarged considerably, organized the "Boulder City Town Company" on February 10, 1859. There were fifty-six stockholders in this company and Alfred A. Brookfield was elected president. A tract of ground covering 1,240 acres was selected, extending from the mouth of the canyon for a distance of two miles down Boulder Creek. This land was divided into 337 blocks, each of which was subdivided into twelve lots. Within a few weeks the town was fully laid out and cabin-building actively begun. There were about two thousand people then living in the vicinity of this new townsite and the stage was splendidly set for the growth of a large community. However, speculation by the most of the shareholders effectually obstructed the growth of Boulder City for some time. The larger faction desired to hold the lots for high and exorbitant prices, while the minority wished to give alternate lots to set- tlers who would improve them and in this way establish a town equal to Auraria and Denver. The high cost of the lots caused the early failure of this com-
VIEW OF BOULDER CITY IN THE MIDDLE '60s
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VIEW OF THE MINING TOWN OF MIDDLE BOULDER, IN OR ABOUT THE YEAR 1874 The name of the town was changed to Nederland a few years after this picture was made.
Vol. 1-10
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HISTORY OF COLORADO
munity, only a quarter section being retained finally upon which to build the future city. Had the majority of the shareholders followed the experience of the Cherry Creek towns it is reasonable to suppose that Boulder would have become a very strong competitor to Auraria and Denver.
LA PORTE
Coincident with the start of Boulder City, the Town of La Porte came into existence. The company which established this town, or "Colona," as it was first called, was formed among the settlers on the Cache a la Poudre, near the present site of Fort Collins. Among those included in this organization were: Antoine Janise, Nicholas Janise, Elbridge Gerry, John Baptiste, B. Goodwin, Antoine Lebeau, Oliver Morisette, and others named Randall, Ravofire, Ray- mond, and Todd. A half hundred houses were constructed upon the plat and the community began to take definite form. Several years afterward the town was reorganized and the name La Porte, meaning "the gate," was substituted for Colona.
EL PASO CITY
On the Fontaine qui Bouille, a short distance above the mouth of Monument Creek, another community organized a town company during the winter of 1858-59. This company was named the "El Paso Town Company." The site for the town which was laid out as El Paso City was located at an Indian trail, in the gateway to the Ute Pass, through to the South Park, so the name El Paso. Little is known of the character of this town organization or the names of those who were active in the formation of the same. It is known, however, that the town plat of El Paso lay within the present boundaries of Colorado City. El Paso City experienced a very short life, though, and was succeeded during the following summer and fall by Colorado City.
FOUNTAIN CITY TOWN COMPANY
Another of the ephemeral town companies which sprang up about this time was the Fountain City organization. This was formed among the small settle- ments on the east bank of the Fontaine qui Bouille near its mouth, a half mile east of Pueblo by the christening of the community "Fountain City," which was superseded in the winter of 1858 by the formal town company. The town plat, which was surveyed by J. M. Shafer and a Mr. Brown, was laid out immediately and about thirty cabins, of logs and adobe, were erected. Some of the material used in the construction of these small adobes was taken from the old Pueblo trading-post of former years. The people residing here soon moved to Pueblo and for a few years the huts were occupied by Mexicans, who farmed the ad- joining land. The site of Fountain City was afterwards absorbed by the City of Pueblo.
MOUNTAIN CITY
During the days of the gold rush the formation of "cities" and "town com- panies" was a matter of common occurrence. Wherever gold was discovered
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HISTORY OF COLORADO
and a strike made the prospectors would gather by the hundreds, make a loca- tion, and immediately proceed to organize a company and lay out a city, hoping that it would be the metropolis of the gold country within a very short time. An instance of this is "Mountain City," later absorbed by Central City, the present seat of Gilpin County.
Mountain City was the result of the discovery of gold upon the north fork of Clear Creek. By midsummer of 1859 about two hundred dwellings and busi- ness houses were constructed here, but the town flourished only for a year or two, then, as stated, was merged with Central City.
Nevada, two miles west of Central City, began in this summer, and still continues as a mining center. Idaho Springs and Georgetown were also laid out during this same season.
Missouri City was platted a short distance southwest of the Central City site in the autumn of 1859, but did not long survive the competition from its larger neighbors. Altona was another of the unfortunate, laid out at the mouth of the Left Hand Creek canyon, eight miles north of Boulder City. The "Shiann Pass Town Company" made a great noise when they organized on June 5th to establish a town in the Cheyenne Pass through the Laramie Mountains. The . company platted a tract of land and advertised it as the site for the future great city of the West. Arapahoe City, on Clear Creek, had sprung into prominence with a town organization and about sixty cabins, but the diggings in the vicinity proved valueless and before the end of 1860 the city had been abandoned.
Golden Gate, at the mouth of a gulch some two miles above the site of Golden, was another town to live for a space, then die. Through here the wagon road from Denver to Central City led and all the travel to the Gregory "diggins" passed over it until the railroad was built from Denver to Central City. This was the death of Golden Gate and its highway. The town company here organized is described in another paragraph.
GOLDEN CITY
In June, 1859, the Pike's Peakers in the neighborhood of Arapahoe City had become familiar with the site of Golden, where some of them had settled and were engaged in more or less profitable placer mining. To these men this loca- tion seemed to be the ideal one, being located conveniently to the Clear Creek mining district and of great natural beauty. The founding of a "city" soon sug- gested itself to these men, the leaders of whom were members of the "Boston Company," eight in number, who had come to the neighborhood on June 12th. A meeting was held on June 16th, where the "Golden Town Company" was dis- cussed, and on the 20th the organization was effected, with George West as the first president. Prominent among these men were: W. A. H. Loveland, J. M. Ferrell, E. L. Berthoud, David K. Wall, A. F. Garrison, William Davidson and J. C. Kirby. Land to the extent of 1,280 acres was secured for the townsite, on the south side of the creek, and one-quarter of it was surveyed into streets, blocks and lots during the summer. Buildings were constructed rapidly and be- fore the end of the summer this town, named after the character of the surround- ing district, had a population of over seven hundred people. Golden prospered
BOSTON COMPANY.
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A PIONEER LOG BUILDING IN THE CITY OF GOLDEN, ERECTED IN 1859 BY THE BOSTON COMPANY, AN ORGANIZATION WHICH TOOK A LEADING PART IN THE FOUNDING OF THAT CITY
The picture was given to the Society in October, 1902, by Gen. George West, of Golden, who was one of the builders of the structure.
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HISTORY OF COLORADO
as no settlement had done since Auraria and Denver and, indeed, it became a serious rival of the latter two.
COLORADO CITY
Another town which came into being during the summer of 1859 was that of Colorado City. This town lay along the Fontaine qui Bouille from a point near the gypsum bluffs above the mouth of Camp Creek toward the mouth of Monument Creek. Fully 1,280 acres of land, or a tract two miles long and one mile wide, were included within this townsite. Most of the founders of this "Colorado Town Company," which was organized in Auraria and Denver, were citizens of the latter communities and included such men as E. P. Stout, R. E. Whitsitt, Lewis N. Tappan, L. J. Winchester, S. W. Wagoner, Charles H. Blake, H. M. Fosdick, W. P. McClure and D. A. Cheever. L. J. Winchester was the president of the company and Lewis N. Tappan secretary. One of the founders thus described the origin of the town in the Rocky Mountain News (History of Colorado; J. C. Smiley ; 1913) :
"On the first day of August, immediately following the receipt of authentic information that rich and extensive gold-fields had been found in the South Park, and upon the Blue River, the only easy and natural access to which was by the old Ute Trail, passing into the mountains at the foot of Pike's Peak, at the famous Boiling Springs, a body of gentlemen, comprising some of the leading business men of the country, associated themselves together, and entered upon possession of a site lying near the old townsite of El Paso, some two miles, how- ever, nearer the mountains. It was decided to establish a town and designate it by the title of Colorado City, the recently discovered mines (evidently meaning those on the Blue River) being, as was then supposed, on the Colorado River."
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