History of Colorado; Volume I, Part 19

Author: Stone, Wilbur Fiske, 1833-1920, ed
Publication date: 1918
Publisher: Chicago, S. J. Clarke
Number of Pages: 954

USA > Colorado > History of Colorado; Volume I > Part 19

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

The first members of the organization began to arrive early in the spring of 1871, and before the beginning of summer several hundreds had joined the com- munity. An elaborate system of irrigating ditches and mains was constructed and the Town of Longmont platted. Longmont quickly became a town of im- portance and well populated, also equipped with sizable stores, a newspaper and public-spirited citizens.

THE ST. LOUIS WESTERN COLONY

The second colony established in Colorado during the spring of 1871 was the St. Louis Western. This organization had been formed at Oakdale, Illinois, on November 29, 1870; A. C. Todd, a clergyman of Protestant faith, was the presi- dent. Shortly after the organization, the "New England Colony of Boston," united with the St. Louis Western. The first families arrived in Colorado in April, 1871, and occupied land in the vicinity of Evans, named for Governor Evans, which town had been laid out and platted in October, 1869, and was only a straggling community of a half hundred souls. Before the end of the spring season, however, Evans experienced a great "boom," fully five hundred people settling near by. The settlement prospered and has always been rated high.

THE SOUTHWESTERN COLONY

The Southwestern Colony was established at Memphis, Tennessee, in Janu- ary, 1871, and consisted mainly of people from Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois. The organization was effected chiefly through the efforts of D. S. Green, of Denver, who was elected the first president. The colony selected land in Colorado on the South Platte River, about twenty to thirty miles eastward of the Town of Evans. About one hundred families arrived during the spring, an equal number following during the summer months.

Irrigating ditches were dug and a town, named "Green City," in honor of the first president of the colony, was laid out. This town was located in the vicinity of the present station of Masters, Colorado, on the Union Pacific Railroad. However, notwithstanding the efforts of the Southwestern Colony, it did not become a success, and within a few years disappeared as a distinctive community. The settlers had hoped for the construction of a railroad from Golden City to Julesburg along the South Platte, and had indulged in many grand dreams of the future prosperity of Green City. But the panic of 1873 effectually halted all railroad construction, which gave the opportunity for Evans and Greeley to absorb all the trade of the section. Green City in this way collapsed.

INSPIRING IMMIGRATION

The organized bands of colonists were not the only settlers in Colorado during the years 1870 and 1871. Many individuals came to the state, seeking

163

HISTORY OF COLORADO

good agricultural lands, and generally sought a location near to one of the colony towns. These independent farmers, in fact, outnumbered the organized colonists during these years.

Citizens of Colorado strongly urged newcomers to settle upon the land of the state and cultivate it, and great efforts were made to induce people to leave the eastern states and locate in Colorado. The Ninth General Assembly passed an act, approved February 9, 1872, which established a Bureau of Immigration, the bureau to be in charge of a board of five commissioners. The duty of this board was "to adopt and put in execution such means as will best promote and encourage immigration to the Territory, and for this purpose shall publish and disseminate such useful information as it can obtain concerning the developed and undeveloped resources of the Territory, and may provide for one of its number, or such other person as the Board may select, to attend such Agricul- tural and Institute Fairs as may be deemed expedient for the display of the Agricultural and Mineral products of the Territory."

But the advertising campaign conducted by this committee, or bureau, acted in the nature of a boomerang. The advertisements and literature circulated throughout eastern states, giving information relative to the advantages to be found in Colorado were flagrant, deceptive, misrepresentative and filled with gross misstatements of fact which led the people of other states to believe that Colorado contained opportunities for every kind of workman, whether skilled or unskilled. Colorado was pictured to be the elysium of industrial oppor- tunity and consequently thousands of people, of every profession and trade, came across the plains to the Territory, expecting to earn a quick fortune. Many of them found advantages suited to their tastes, but the great majority were bitterly disappointed, and angered at the deception which had been prac- ticed upon them. These disgruntled ones returned to their native states, told the story of their experience, and then began the back-fire. The eastern news- papers "exposed" the fraud, as they termed it, and strongly advised against further immigration to Colorado. This injured the then Territory to a great extent and considerably retarded settlement and development.

SETTLEMENT OF COLORADO SPRINGS

There were also in Colorado Territory at this time several settlements which might be called non-agricultural. The principal one of these was that at Colo- rado Springs.

In 1870 Gen. William J. Palmer and Ex-Governor Hunt organized the Denver & Rio Grande Railway Company. General Palmer in addition to his promotion of the railroad, conceived the idea of developing the country of Colorado through which the railroad was to pass. One of these ideas was to establish a town near the east base of Pike's Peak, to be known as "Colorado Springs." Late in the year Palmer organized the "Colorado Springs Company," of which he was elected president, with Henry McAllister as executive director. This new company secured about ten thousand acres of land, the greater part along Monument Creek and east of Colorado City, with some west of the town and including the soda springs. Settlements had been made in the vicinity ten years before, but no improvement of value had been made, and Colorado City itself,

164

HISTORY OF COLORADO

once cherished with such high hopes, had shrunken to a mere village of a half- hundred people.

General Palmer first visited the site of Colorado Springs on July 27, 1867, although he twice before had been in Colorado. His early efforts in establish- ing the Colorado Springs Company are well told in his own words, following:

"To start a railroad under these circumstances (the fact that there were not 10,000 white people in Colorado south of Denver, Colorado City having eighty- one inhabitants and Pueblo 666) required stronger considerations than any promise of immediate returns from the business of hauling freight and passen- gers. There was no national subsidy in land or money, and no county or town aid. But one thing was not in doubt-the effect of a railway on the value of land, if judiciously chosen along its route. Our subscription paper was sent out on December 1, 1870, for the first section of seventy-six miles. It provided that all who subscribed for the railway securities should enjoy the privilege of subscribing, pro rata, to a land and townsite investment, called 'The Mountain Base Investment Fund,' embracing tracts at selected points along the projected railway, where the greatest rise in values by reason of its construction was expected to occur.

"This was the parent of the 'Colorado Springs Company.' It was thought that many of the first disadvantages to immigration might be counteracted by the formation of such land companies, with capital enough to construct the irrigation ditches, lay out the farms and towns, plant the trees, aid the building of hotels, and even that of dwellings in some cases, while selling the tracts and lots to arriving colonists on small annual payments distributed over several years ; that by such a system, the colonization of the country could be greatly stimulated, the railroad earnings increased and 'the work of twenty years be concentrated into ten.' Of the capital of our land company, as of that for the initial seventy- six miles of railway, about one-half was raised in America, chiefly among my own friends in Philadelphia and the East, and the remainder in Europe, chiefly among the friends of Dr. W. A. Bell.

"The money was raised that winter and spring, construction began in a very quiet way in January, 1871, and the track reached a point a few miles out from Denver, when the first stake was driven at the town on July 3Ist, and by October 23, 1871, the railroad had reached the townsite. As soon as the money for the railroad was assured, everything was ripe to organize, and on June 26, 1871, in Denver, the Colorado Springs Company held its first meeting, elected officers, authorized the construction of roads, bridges and hotel, and on the next day the whole party, with Colonel Greenwood, the chief engineer of the railroad, started from Denver to lay out the new town, appraise the lots, and start business. We had then, or shortly afterward, secured the services of Gen- eral Cameron, of Greeley, to come to Colorado Springs to initiate and take charge of the infant colony; and with him, or in his immediate footsteps, came the first detachment, perhaps forty or fifty people, who settled on our tract and began building their homes."

The first stake driven upon the site was set in place July 31, 1871. The city plat contained seventy blocks, each 400 feet square. By the end of the year 1871 there were 159 structures of various kinds erected upon the plat of Colo-

165

HISTORY OF COLORADO

rado Springs, the first dwelling having been commenced on August 15th. The various improvements this first year cost about $160,000.

In the summer of 1871 the "Fountain Colony of Colorado" was organized, with Gen. Robert A. Cameron as the leader. This was a subordinate organiza- tion to the Colorado Springs Company, was not incorporated, but conducted a part of the business belonging to the Colorado Springs Company.

In 1872 the Town of Colorado Springs further developed. An improved roadway to the soda springs was built and a good hotel constructed there. These various improvements were made possible by the fact that the Colorado Springs Company had decided to devote all the proceeds from the sale of land to the improvement of the community. Liquor was forbidden in Colorado Springs, as it was in Greeley, but there arose some opposition to this and the case was finally brought before the Colorado courts, who eventually decided that the liquor clause in the land deeds was valid. Appeal was taken to the United States Supreme Court and in 1879 this court affirmed the decision of the Colorado courts. General Palmer wrote the following in regard to the liquor situation here :

"The liquor restriction had already been adopted by Mr. Meeker for his Greeley colony. In the early summer of 1871, while we were making arrange- ments with General Cameron and some of his confreres to interest themselves in our new enterprise, I was asked by them whether we would adopt a similar restriction for the proposed Fountain colony. Having had some experience with the railroad towns of the day in the new West, especially those whose generally short but always lively existence punctuated the successive stages of advance westward by the Kansas Pacific and Union Pacific railroads, I answered 'Yes.' At Sheridan, especially, on the former road, where I had the privilege of a resi- dence of some eight months in 1870-71, while directing the construction of a railroad to Denver, the most noticeable suburban feature, notwithstanding the salubrity of the air and the brevity of the settlement, was a fat graveyard, most of whose inhabitants, in the language of the 100th meridian, had died 'with their boots on.' "

General Palmer continues: "We had, of course, the inevitable fire, until which no Rocky Mountain town feels that it has really entered the lists for a permanent race in growth; the Jay Cooke panic in 1873, after which corn was 121/2 cents per bushel in Kansas and Nebraska, and potatoes here were about as worthless as they now are on 'the Divide'; a grasshopper invasion and an Indian alarm the same year, when the able-bodied men of the town were organ- ized under Capt. Matt France, and on October 6, 1873, marched to Jimmy's Camp to meet 3,000 Cheyenne who were killing cattle, because, as they said, 'The white man has been killing our buffalo.' This.was the last Indian alarm in this neighborhood.

"Distinguished visitors came along. Among the first was Samuel Bowles, the able and spirited editor of the Springfield Republican; later on, Charles Kingsley, who helped us to celebrate the third anniversary of the town, in the tent of Mrs. Giltner, who kept the shoe shop; General Grant twice, Jefferson Davis, General Sheridan, Henry Kingsley, Lord Dunraven, Asa Gray, Sir Joseph Hooker, the Duke of Northumberland, General Sherman and many others. Some came to witness the operations of the colony, and of the novel

166

HISTORY OF COLORADO

railroad gauge. Others were attracted by the budding fame of the locality for scenic interest and healthfulness."

Colorado Springs has become known as one of the most beautifully located cities in the United States. Possessed of all the climatic advantages con- ducive to health, surrounded with the most artistic handiwork of Nature, the city has been the Mecca for tourists from over the whole world and has grown from the barren plain of fifty years ago to one of the most prosperous cities in the West.

SOUTH PUEBLO

The settlement of South Pueblo, across the Arkansas River from the early town of Pueblo, was undertaken in much the same manner as that of Colorado Springs. For this purpose, the "Central Colorado Improvement Company" was organized, which was auxiliary to the Denver & Rio Grande Railway Company and under the direction of Gen. William J. Palmer. This organization, in 1872, purchased a large tract of ground, the Nolan Mexican land grant, along the Arkansas, opposite Pueblo. By the middle of the year the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad was completed to Pueblo and about this same time the plat of South Pueblo was laid out, covering approximately one thousand acres. Shortly afterward the terminus of the railroad was taken from Pueblo and brought to the new town of South Pueblo, which occurrence caused much bitterness between the two communities. However, the closeness of the two towns really made them one, although for thirteen years each had its own governmental organiza- tion. The Pueblo of today includes the plats, with additions of both, forming one consolidated municipality.

BEGINNING OF FORT COLLINS

The start of the settlement at Fort Collins occurred at nearly the same time as that of South Pueblo. In the early '6os a military post was constructed on the Cache a la Poudre River, four miles southeast of the village of La Porte, and named "Fort Collins," sometimes called "Camp Collins," in honor of Lieut. Col. William O. Collins, of the Eleventh Ohio Volunteer Cavalry, portions of which regiment engaged in fighting the plains Indians. A large space of ground was included in this military reservation, and so remained until 1872, when it was thrown open to entry by an act of Congress, approved May 15, 1872. After this land had been opened for settlement, Gen. Robert A. Cameron, of fame as a colonizer, organized another colony company, of which he was elected president, for the purpose of founding a town upon the new land and developing it agriculturally. The beginnings of settlement were similar to those of Greeley and Colorado Springs, and, within a year the present City of Fort Collins had been started. Many immigrants came to the vicinity of the new town and located, also residents of other parts of the Territory moved here. `Since that time Fort Collins has had a steady growth and is now the county seat of Larimer County and the center of one of the leading agricultural sections of northern Colorado, and the location of the State Agricultural College.

VIEW OF FORT COLLINS IN 1865

It was a United States military post that occupied a part of the site of the present city of Fort Collins. The original picture was a pencil drawing made by a soldier who was sta- tioned at the fort in 1865. The lower part of the two-story building (back of the flag-staff) was occupied by the sutler, and its upper story was an assembly hall. The buildings to the left of this, and also those that are ranged about the staff, afforded living quarters for the officers and men. Some of the other structures were stables for the horses and some were warehouses for supplies.

CHAPTER VIII

GOVERNMENT-ITS BEGINNINGS AND DEVELOPMENT

UTAH, NEBRASKA, KANSAS AND NEW MEXICO LAND TRANSFERRED-THE BEGIN- NINGS OF GOVERNMENT- FAILURE OF FIRST STATE CONSTITUTION- TERRITORY OF JEFFERSON-PEOPLE'S AND MINERS' COURTS-CONGRESS CREATES COLORADO TERRITORY-CREATING THE FIRST COUNTIES-MOVING THE CAPITAL TO COLO- RADO CITY-THE CAPITAL AT GOLDEN-CHANGE FROM GOLDEN TO DENVER- CONGRESS PROVIDES FOR CONSTITUTION-CUSTOMS OF LEGISLATURE-TERRITO- RIAL OFFICERS OF COLORADO-GOVERNORS-SECRETARIES-TREASURERS-AU- DITORS-SUPERINTENDENTS OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION-DELEGATES TO CONGRESS -JUDGES OF THE SUPREME COURT-CHIEF JUSTICES-ASSOCIATE JUSTICES- UNITED STATES DISTRICT ATTORNEYS-LENGTH OF SESSIONS AND NUMBER OF MEMBERS-CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTIONS-FIRST ELECTION POLL BY COUN- TIES

UTAH, NEBRASKA, KANSAS AND NEW MEXICO LAND TRANSFERRED

The area of the State of Colorado includes cessions by France, by Texas and by Mexico to the United States. The northeast section, bounded north and south by the 31st and 40th parallels, east by the 25th meridian and west by the Rockies, was in the original Louisiana cession, and was transferred by Congress from the Territory of Nebraska to the Territory of Colorado. The por- tion east, bounded north by the 40th parallel, east by the 25th meridian, south by the Arkansas and west by the Rockies, was taken from Kansas and trans- ferred to Colorado. It was part of the Louisiana Purchase. The southeastern portion of the state, bounded north by the Arkansas River, east by the 25th meridian, south by the 37th parallel, and west by the 20th meridian, was in the cession from Texas and Mexico, and was transferred from the Territory of Kansas to that of Colorado. The southern part of the state, bounded by the 38th and 37th parallels, the 20th meridian and the Rockies, was a Texas and Mexico cession, transferred from the Territory of New Mexico to that of Colorado. The western portion, bounded by the 4Ist and 40th parallels, the Rockies, and the 32d meridian, was ceded by Mexico and was transferred from the Territory of Utah to that of Colorado.

THE BEGINNINGS OF GOVERNMENT

In the fall of 1858 the handful of settlers within a few miles and on the present site of Denver called a meeting "to establish security and to prevent and

168

169

HISTORY OF COLORADO

punish crime.". This gathering took place November 6, 1858, in the settlement of Auraria, containing at that time about two hundred inhabitants. The assembly, though composed of immigrants from different states, acted as citizens of Kansas Territory. Out of the Pike's Peak country, as that part of the Rocky Moun- tains, and the plains around their base, were called, they formed a county, de- fined its limits, and named it Arapahoe, from a neighboring tribe of Indians. They also declared Auraria to be the county seat. They then proceeded to elect a delegate to Congress and a representative to the Kansas Legislature. H. J. Graham was chosen delegate, and A. J. Smith representative. This action of the assembly manifested a rare spirit of enterprise in politics. They declared a district of Kansas to be a county, and deputed one of their number to the leg- islature with credentials of his election, and petitions that the county be estab- lished, and their representative be received. At the same time a delegate was dispatched to Congress with instructions to have the county converted into a ter- ritory. The delegate of Kansas Territory would be duly recognized and admitted to a seat in Congress. But to the delegate of Arapahoe County no such recognition or position would be tendered. His labors would be con- fined to the advocacy of the petitions and claims of the people he represented before committees, or with individual members of the House or Senate. Never- theless, Mr. Graham hurried to Washington, impelled by the delusive hope that his mission would be successful, and that he would enjoy the honors and emolu- ments of territorial delegate. The people of Arapahoe County were 700 miles distant from Leavenworth, the capital of Kansas, without railroads or tele- graphs, and with immense uninhabited plains lying between them and the terri- torial authorities. They, therefore, naturally desired to have the Territory of Kansas divided, and the western part organized into a new territory. This arrangement, if consummated, would place the country on a stable footing. Peace and order would be maintained, the general prosperity promoted, while Congress and the nation would be directly acquainted with the growth, pros- pects and necessities of the country. Mr. Graham exerted himself to prevail on Congress to respect the petition of his constituents, but his efforts proved unsuccessful. Their representative, A. J. Smith, succeeded in his mission, had Arapahoe County confirmed, but was not admitted as a member of the Kansas Legislature.

The first election of Arapahoe County officers, under Kansas laws, was held March 28, 1859. Over seven hundred votes were polled, of which 231 were credited to Auraria and 144 to Denver. The spring months brought a great increase to the mining population. From authentic sources it has been com- puted that, during the summer, the Pike's Peak gold regions contained 20,000 souls. · An established and accessible government became indispensable. The subject pressed itself more and more urgently on the public mind. Their first attempt, in 1858, to impress Congress favorably with the necessities of their situation had proven abortive. But a profound sense of their needs moved them to renew their efforts to prevail on Congress to consummate a partition of the Territory of Kansas, and to establish a separate government in this distant but even then populous region. A mass meeting was called, to convene in Auraria, April 11, 1859. In the resolutions adopted it was expressed as the unanimous sentiment of the meeting that a separate and distinct government was

170

HISTORY OF COLORADO

not only important but necessary. By these resolutions, also, the several pre- cincts of Arapahoe County were requested to choose delegates, to meet in joint convention on the fourth day after the meeting, April 15th, to consider the ques- tion of organizing a new state or territory. On the day appointed the delegates met. In order to save time and determine quickly, they pursued an eminently judicious course. They resolved on one subject of debate, and only one: "The formation of a new and independent state of the Union." It must be remembered that Kansas, at this time, was only a territory, though pressing her claims for recognition and admission as a state. Thus early, and prematurely, as facts subsequently proved, did the people, who crowded into this new coun- try, seek for the honors and privileges of statehood.

FAILURE OF FIRST STATE CONSTITUTION

This Auraria convention, as a summing up of their labors, ordered a general election of delegates on the second Monday in May, such delegates to meet on the first Monday in June. At the time designated fifty delegates assembled. As in the April convention, only one subject, it seems, engaged their deliberations- the attainment of statehood. The work of drafting a constitution was en- trusted to eight committees, in order to economize time and secure a complete instrument. The committees were requested to report, and submit their labors to a fuller convention, which was enjoined to meet on the first Monday in August. In the interval the several committees prepared their work. When the convention, which consisted of 167 delegates, met, the committees presented their reports. A constitution was completed, and arrangements made for its acceptance or rejection by the votes of the people. Though some members of the convention were sanguine of success, the majority thought that the result would be adverse, and sought to provide against such a contingency. The day set for voting on the constitution and movement for a state was the first Monday in September. The convention therefore resolved that should the constitution be rejected, a delegate to Congress should be elected on the first Monday in October. The delegate would represent Jefferson Territory-the name given by the convention to Arapahoe County, or the Pike's Peak gold regions. On September 4th the votes for or against the constitution were cast, and resulted in 2,007 against and 649 for that instrument. A short time before the October election it was proposed, at a mass meeting held in Auraria, that .on the day a delegate to Congress was elected delegates should be chosen to form a Provi- sional Territorial Government. The proposition was adopted. Accordingly, on the first Monday in October this double election took place.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

History of Colorado; Volume I, Part 19

Author: Stone, Wilbur Fiske, 1833-1920, ed Publication date: 1918 Publisher: Chicago, S. J. Clarke Number of Pages: 954

Author: Stone, Wilbur Fiske, 1833-1920, ed
Publication date: 1918
Publisher: Chicago, S. J. Clarke
Number of Pages: 954