History of Colorado; Volume I, Part 82

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

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McMurray, William S., Company C, accidentally drowned, November 2, 1898.

Neptune, Frank D., Company H, at San Francisco, August 22, 1899.

Phillippi, Leonard E., Company G, died of wound, April 1, 1899.

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Phoenix, Charles, Company I, died of wound, August 18, 1898.

Pynchon, Edward R., Company K, died of wound, March 20, 1899. Ramsay, Arthur, Company F, spinal meningitis, February 20, 1899.

Reisig, Harry J., Company M, July 14, 1899.

Sarazin, Norbert, Company B, typhoid fever, October 4, 1898. Saunders, David I., Company I, smallpox, December 20, 1898. Scroggs, John A., Company A, acute malaria, October 4, 1898. Smith, Bernard J., Company B, variola, March 18, 1899.

Springstead, F. E., Company K, killed in action, August 1, 1898.

Stewart, Capt. John S., Company A, killed in action, March 25, 1899.

Sullivan, Niel C, Company H, spinal meningitis, June 4, 1898.

Tinnerholm, Ivan, Company H, tuberculosis, at sea on homeward voyage, August 2, 1899.

Warrington, George W., Company F, dysentery, July 8, 1899.

White, Cass, Company D, killed in action, February 5, 1899.

Whiteside, Thomas F., Company M, at Manila, March 23, 1899.

Wise, Walter W., spinal meningitis, at sea, July 5, 1898.

SERVICE OF OTHER COLORADO TROOPS

As stated before, the remainder of Colorado's troops in the Spanish-American war consisted of two organizations of cavalry and one battery of artillery. There were really three small cavalry troops in the state-Troop A at Leadville, and Troops B and C at Denver-but A and B received precedence over C as ranking organizations. Troops A and B were mustered into the United States service on May 6th, the official date being given as May Ist, however. The officers of Troop A were: Charles A. McNutt, captain ; John Harvey, Jr., first lieutenant ; and Frederick A. Follett, second lieutenant. Troop B was officered by : William G. Wheeler, captain; Arthur L. B. Davies, first lieutenant ; Francis A. Perry, second lieutenant. These two troops were assigned to the Second United States Volunteer Cavalry, under command of Col. Jay L. Torrey. The Colorado troop- ers left Denver May 30th for Fort D. A. Russell, near Cheyenne, Wyoming, and became the ranking troops of "Torrey's Rough Riders." On June 22d the regi- ment left Fort D. A. Russell and proceeded to join the Seventh Army Corps, under Gen. Fitzhugh Lee, at Jacksonville, Florida. Arrival was made June 28th and camp was pitched at Panama Park, near the city. The regiment, with the Seventh Corps, was destined for active service in Cuba, also attack upon Havana, but the early closing of the campaign in that country prevented the Second Cav- alry from leaving its native soil. The regiment remained in camp at Jacksonville until October 24, 1898, when it was mustered out of the service. Five men of the Colorado contingent died while in camp; these were :

Johnson, Ralph S., Troop B, died of fever, September 10, 1898.

Moss, Peter E., Troop B, died of fever, September 15, 1898.

Nellis, George G., Troop B, died of fever, September 15, 1898.

O'Brien, William J., Troop B, died of fever, September 13, 1898.

Woodhall, Serg. Thomas A., serving on Colonel Torrey's staff, died of fever, October 2, 1898.

The Colorado Battery, formed from the Chaffee Light Artillery, was not

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mustered into the United States service until July 1, 1898. The officers were : Harry J. Parks, captain; John G. Locke, first lieutenant; and John C. Exline, second lieutenant. The organization was assigned as Battery A, First Colorado Volunteer Artillery, but was known as an independent battery during the term of service. On July 2, 1898, the battery was taken to Fort Logan, near Denver, and there remained until August 12th, when it was transferred to Fort Hancock, New Jersey, arriving August 16th. Here the battery stayed until mustered out of the service November 7, 1898. No deaths occurred in Battery A during this period.

Two other young men of Denver who met death in the service were Herbert A. Lafferty and Thomas R. Sullivan. Lafferty, a graduate of West Point in February, 1898, became a second lieutenant in the Seventh U. S. Infantry, served in Cuba, and died at Montauk Point, New York, September 17, 1898 of wounds received at Santiago, Cuba. Sullivan, formerly member of Troop B, Colorado National Guard, was discharged March 9, 1898, and became first lieutenant in Company I, First U. S. Volunteer Engineers, contracted fever in Porto Rico and died in New York City November 3, 1898.

THE WORLD WAR

The story of Colorado's participation in the events which have occurred since the United States' entrance into the present World War is one of patriotism and pride. The state has accomplished great things in preparation and has not only given freely of her youth, but has given money continually and liberally. The future historian of the State of Colorado will have a larger and greater story to tell of the state's share in the great struggle overseas, as now the accomplish- ments have been directed toward the war preparations and other tasks necessary for the insurance of success. In the columns of the Rocky Mountain News, Governor Julius C. Gunter stated :

"Colorado is shaped for war. The state is organized to meet any demand the nation may make. At the threshold of the New Year (1918) Colorado faces the war problem of future months with a council of defense in every county of the state. This means that our state is well advanced in preparation to bear its part and to do its share in all of the services President Wilson had in mind when he said : 'It is not an army we must shape and train for war; it is a nation,' and it further means that Colorado's people, zealous to give their abilities and resources to the cause of the world's democracy and liberty, are coordinated and unified in organizations that can quickly and effectively translate into action the policies of their chief executives, state and nation. Thus prepared, Colorado will bend its energies in concentration upon the performance of its work.

"Our state began its loyal action before even the declaration of war. First an appropriation in the regular session of the Legislature, in anticipation of the possibility of war. Again, on March 29, 1917, four days before our President de- livered his historic address at the joint session of Congress, and eight days before the issuance of the official proclamation declaring the existence of a state of war with Germany, the chief executive of this state called together a voluntary group of citizens to advise and aid in the direction of Colorado's war activities. From then until now that group of volunteers, since enlarged as conditions have de-

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manded, has been laboring continuously and zealously to meet fundamental needs." This organization is now known as the Colorado Council of Defense which, with its auxiliary, the Woman's Council of Defense, has done such lauda- ble work.

Prior to the outbreak of the war the National Guard of Colorado was con- sidered one of the best state organizations in the country. This body of men was well equipped, well trained and every way ready for instant call to the colors. The state National Guard aggregated about forty-two hundred men when mus- tered into the United States service on August 5, 1917. The mustering was directed at that time by Capt. I. L. Hunsaker of the regulars, who had been de- tailed by the War Department as senior mustering officer for Colorado. Previ- ously, on July 7th, the troops had been mobilized by Governor Gunter's orders and encamped while awaiting formal muster. By the close of the year prac- tically all of the companies and regiments had been transported to national camps. The First and Second Regiments of Infantry and the First Regiment of Cavalry were stationed at Camp Kearney, Linda Vista, California, also a signal corps company was there. The First Battalion of Field Artillery was despatched to Camp Mills, Long Island, New York, there becoming a part of the Sunset Divi- sion. The Field Hospital Company of the Colorado National Guard is now upon French soil, being part of the famous Rainbow Divisioin.

Something of the war activities of Colorado during the year may be learned from the following figures :

Number of officers and men of the Colorado National Guard in the United States service 4,250

Number of Colorado citizens drafted and sent to the national camps 4,753

Red Cross funds subscribed by the state $1,570,000

Red Cross funds subscribed by Denver City $714,500

Colorado's subscription to First Liberty Loan

$18,000,000

Denver's subscription to First Liberty Loan

$12,900,000

Denver's subscription to Second Liberty Loan

$14,913,600

Total registration in state under selective conscription law 83,847

Total registration of Denver 18,468

While Colorado boys are going to war to fight for democracy, echoes come of that old conflict back in the '6os when other Colorado boys, some of them fathers of those who are now going to the front, were fighting for an undivided nation and the right to open western America to the white man.

A document of interest to state historians has recently come from one of those who helped to write the early chapters of the history of Colorado in war time. Sylvester Gilson, private of Company B, Second Colorado Cavalry, now living in Los Angeles, has added to the archives a copy of the parting address of Capt. J. C. W. Hall as he bade his comrades farewell and retired from the service with the reorganization of the regiment in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, on November 15, 1864.

Colorado was nearly a thousand miles from the seat of the conflict, isolated by untracked prairies stretching from the mountains to the Mississippi, yet its

$23,017,850

Colorado's subscription to Second Liberty Loan

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HISTORY OF COLORADO

troops did valiant service in heading off raiding guerrila bands and played a part in the defense of St. Louis from capture by Confederates. The long hike those early day Colorado soldiers took gives them a unique place in the history of the Civil war.

The address of the retiring captain in part recites this march, but the achievement can better be appreciated when one considers that the route of the regiment wove from Denver through New Mexico to Honey Springs, Arkansas, to Fort Gibson, in the Cherokee nation; to St. Louis and back to Kansas City and Fort Leavenworth.

REGIMENTS CONSOLIDATED AS CAVALRY UNIT

The Second and Third Colorado regiments were filled with their full com- plement of men and it was decided to consolidate them and make them cavalry instead of infantry. This was effected at Benton Barracks, near St. Louis, and it was then that a readjustment of the official roster became necessary and Cap- tain Hall retired.

James H. Ford became colonel, T. H. Dodd, lieutenant colonel, S. S. Curtis, J. Nelson Smith and Jesse L. Pritchard, majors of the new cavalry regiment, which under the consolidation became a regiment of twelve squadrons magnifi- cently mounted and armed. Colonel Ford was placed in command of the district of central Missouri, Captain Hall became his provost marshal.

The troops had frequent skirmishes with bands of Missouri bushwhackers, the most harrassing and perilous form of warfare which had been known to that time, and invariably the men from the mountains of Colorado acquitted them- selves with credit.

The address of their retiring commander recites some of their deeds as gen- eral orders No. 40:

UNFLINCHING BRAVERY PRAISED BY OFFICER

"The captain commanding announces to the members of his company that he this day leaves you as your company commander, and in leaving you he leaves a company which is a pride to its adopted territory and his pride to command, and whose gallantry and good deportment now forms a part of their country's history.

"You were the first soldiers to leave Colorado in defense of your country ; you were the only representatives of Colorado at the battle of Val Verde, New Mexico, February 21, 1862, and your participation in that conflict has been a theme of praise.

"You nobly sustained your reputation in the different skirmishes, long and toilsome marches through snow, wind and sandstorms, in driving the Texan army from the soil of New Mexico.

"Your footprints in the sands and the sweat of your brows while on the march from Fort Union, New Mexico, to Fort Blunt, Cherokee Nation, a dis- tance of over twelve hundred miles, and your conduct at the battle of Cabin Creek, Cherokee Nation, July 1 and 2, 1863; your forced march and the unflinch- ing bravery manifested in the hard-fought battle of Honey Springs, July 17, 1863;

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HISTORY OF COLORADO

the untiring energy with which you performed the duties of provost guard and guarded for so long a time a large number of prisoners at Fort Blunt, will long be remembered.

"Your march from Fort Blunt, Cherokee Nation, to St. Louis, Missouri, thence across the state to Kansas City, Missouri, in the dead of winter; your many toilsome and dangerous scouts after bushwhackers in the district of central Missouri; your efficiency as provost guard at Kansas City, Missouri, incurring the love as soldiers and as a company of all citizens who knew you, and finally, your bravery and devotion to your country's cause in volunteering after the term of service of the larger portion of you had expired, and joining your regiment in the hard-fought battles of Little Blue, Missouri, October 21, 1864; Big Blue and Westport, Missouri, October 22 and 23, 1864, and your conduct in the many skirmishes and night marches in driving Price's army with marked rapidity to the State of Texas, and the cheerfulness with which you have marched over five thousand miles as infantry, and performed every required duty as infantry and cavalry soldiers, forms a part of a most worthy history.

HEROIC DEAD ARE LAUDED FOR SACRIFICE

"Your territory honors you, and it is with pride that your friends speak of you as soldiers of Company B, Second Colorado Cavalry. The price of your good name is shown in the records of your comrades who have been wounded, and who have laid down their lives as a sacrifice to their country's honor and integrity, to the perpetuity of her institutions and of the Union.

"The sad dreams of the past bring mournfully to our minds the names of Privates West, Hicks, Brown, Woodward, McKee, George, Eastland and Dicka- son as having a place among the heroic dead of our commonwealth, besides many others who have their names upon the list of those wounded and maimed for life.

"I would say to you, as a parting request, remember and appreciate the com- pliments and kindness awarded you by your colonel, James H. Ford, your com- manding generals, Canby, Carleton, Blunt, Curtis and Brown. To those of the company who are soon to indulge in a citizen life, I would say, encourage and uphold the institutions of our Government, and encourage a vigorous prosecu- tion of the war.

"To those of the company who are to continue in the service, I would say, stand by the principles you first enlisted upon, stand by your country, and when the contest comes between you and the enemy of the Union, strike and battle with will and determination until the last foe has fled who would sever and de- stroy this glorious Union, and the true and wise will sustain you, and the patri- otic will honor you."

FORT LOGAN

Early in the year 1887, Henry R. Wolcott, Sen. N. P. Hill, David H. Moffat and other wealthy men proposed to donate a tract of land sufficient for the estab- lishment of a large garrison near Denver. The real leader of the movement was Maj. W. S. Peabody, who acted as agent for the men interested and for the Chamber of Commerce, and who also aided in drafting the bill which went through

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the lower House of Congress. On February 28, 1887, Congress passed an act authorizing the secretary of war to establish a military post near Denver; the same act appropriated $100,000 to be expended under the secretary's direction for the necessary construction work. The State of Colorado was required to cede jurisdiction over the tract of ground used by the post. Gen. Phil Sheridan came to Denver and selected the present location from a great number offered, and after it had been accepted by the War Department, Gen. George K. Brady, with two companies of the Eighteenth Infantry, was ordered to proceed to the ground and erect temporary quarters, the site to be known as "Camp near the City of Denver." In November of the same year (1887) Capt. L. E. Campbell, of the quartermaster's department, was ordered to Denver to begin the construction of permanent quarters. At the end of three years the post was an accomplished fact, and Col. H. C. Merriam, with six companies of the Seventh Infantry, took possession. For some time the post was called Fort Sheridan, but the people of Chicago, Illinois, had given their post the name of Fort Logan. When the matter was submitted to General Sheridan he switched the titles and the new Colorado post became known by its present name-Fort Logan.

Fort Logan is not, at the present time, a regular training post of the U. S. A., although strong efforts have been made to have it created as such. The post is used as a receiving station, however, for thousands of enlisted and drafted men, and here they are outfitted and given some preliminary training before being assigned to permanent training camps.

CHAPTER XXXVII

THE BENCH AND BAR

COLORADO COURTS-HISTORY OF THE APPELLATE COURTS, BY JUDGE WILBUR F. STONE-THE PIONEER BENCH AND BAR, BY JUDGE WILBUR F. STONE-REMINIS- CENCES OF THE EARLY BENCH AND BAR, BY C. S. THOMAS, T. J. O'DONNELL, W. H. GABBERT, JOHN F. PHILIPS AND E. T. WELLS-THE COLORADO BAR ASSO- CIATION

COLORADO COURTS

The courts of Colorado, as provided for and established by the state consti- tution, are the supreme court, district courts, county courts, courts of justices of the peace and municipal or police courts. The general assembly has author- ity to establish whatever other courts deemed necessary.

The supreme court has appellate jurisdiction only, excepting that it may exercise original jurisdiction in the issuance of extraordinary writs, such as habeas corpus, injunction, mandamus, ne exeat, etc., concurrently with the district courts.

The district courts have original jurisdiction in all civil and criminal cases, with appellate jurisdiction over cases brought up thereto from inferior courts. There are thirteen judicial districts in the state, in the larger of which there are more than one judge for the same district. In the Denver District, comprising the "city and county of Denver," there are five judges of the court sitting in five several divisons, in one of which all the criminal cases are tried, each of the judges in turn presiding therein for a certain period.

The county courts, one for each county, took the place of the county courts of the territory, which were termed the "probate courts." The county courts of Colorado are courts of record, with jurisdiction in matters of probate and in- heritance of estates, as well as limited jurisdiction in most of other civil actions, concurrently with the district courts, and from which appeals lie to the district and supreme courts.

Justices of the peace have the ordinary jurisdiction of such magistrates in other states, with appeals therefrom to the county and district courts.

The constitution fixed the number of judges of the supreme court at three and the length of a single term of office at nine years. But in the case of those first elected upon the organization of the state the three were to draw lots re- spectively for the short term of three years, the middle term of six years, and the full term of nine, so that a new judge should come upon the bench every three years. It also provided that the judge thus assigned to the shortest term should preside as chief justice to the end of his term, and so on in succession.

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The three supreme judges kept up with the docketed cases very well for about ten years, then the court became overburdened. To relieve this congested con- dition, a commission of three members was formed to aid in the work, but this, however, failed and was discontinued.

All other experiments having been tried, an appellate court or a court of ap- peals was created to divide the labor and this aided greatly for several years. However, it was then deemed best to increase the number of judges of the supreme court. Therefore, after the adoption of a constitutional amendment for , that purpose, that court was, in 1905, enlarged to seven members and the court of appeals was discontinued. But since that time the business of the supreme court had so increased that the Eighteenth General Assembly (1911) found it necessary to recreate the appellate court of four members, to be appointed by the governor. The duration of this tribunal is limited to four years and its work is to be the decision of cases already docketed in the supreme court, in order to allow the latter court to "catch up."

In addition to the state courts are the United States Courts-the district court of Colorado and the circuit court of appeals for the districts embracing the state. The judges of the U. S. District Court for Colorado have been : Moses Hallett, January 23, 1877, to May 1, 1906, retired; Robert E. Lewis, May 1, 1906 until. the present time.

THE APPELLATE COURTS

In a paper read before the bar association, January 12, 1905, during the ceremonies attending the convening of the reorganized supreme court, Judge Wilbur F. Stone related the following facts concerning the appellate courts of the state :

"Our Appellate Courts began with the organization of the Territory under the organic Act of Congress of February 28, 1861. Forty-four years is a long time in the lives of those of us who came here before that date-covering more than the chloroform period of Dr. Osler-but I shall try to give you a so-called 'history' inside of forty minutes; a little longer than the average divorce trial, but much shorter than the Kansas-Colorado water case.

"In the organization of all the Western Territories during a half century past the form of government provided by Congress has, with a few late excep- tions, been almost identical in each.

"The chief judicial department consisted of three judges, appointed by the President of the United States, an attorney (usually called in the territory the 'Attorney General'), and a marshal. Inferior courts were provided by terri- torial statutes. The legislature at its first session divided the territory into three judicial districts, and assigned each judge to one of such districts for the holding of courts at times and places designated by statutory provisions, as also were fixed the dates on which the judges were to convene at the capitol and hold sessions of the Supreme Court. These judges held the double headed posi- tion of trying causes at first instance in their respective districts, independent of each other, and then coming together and, without change of stage make-up, immediately transforming themselves into a supreme appellate court to decide each other's cases brought up from their nisi prius jurisdiction. This, then, was

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the first appellate court of Colorado. Very simple it was. The simplicity refers to the system and character of the court-not the judges.

"Quite anomalous, and one can fancy it rather embarrassing at times, when the Chief Justice should request one of his associates to retire while the two conspired to reverse the absent member, and thereafter the two associates po- litely hint that the Chief Justice should step out-to see a man-one at the bar, for example-while the two associate conspirators got even by taking the Chief down a peg in the reversal of his proudest decision.

"Some amusing stories were told out of this triangular school, and tradition has it that Judge Belford sometimes used to cross the triangle on the hypoth- enuse and beat both pitcher and batter by a solution in trigonometry-in the role of umpire and cube rooter.

"The history of courts is more or less a history of their judges, for courts are very much what the judges make them. A court is not a mere vehicle into which a judge steps, is carried, and steps out like a passenger. Every court takes its quality and complexion from the judge, and its influence and effects are measured by the structure of the man and not the machine.

"The first three judges of the territory appointed were Benjamin F. Hall, Charles Lee Armour and S. Newton Pettis. The latter came, saw, was con- quered, resigned and left the country without ever sitting in court, and Judge Allan A. Bradford was appointed successor.

"Colorado had its quota of experience with carpet-bag appointees in the early days, and complaints were hard to get to the ear of Washington while the civil war was raging and its results engrossing administrative attention.

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History of Colorado; Volume I, Part 82

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