USA > Colorado > Larimer County > History of Larimer County, Colorado > Part 14
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Frank G. Bartholf, who was an early settler in the Big Thompson valley and a county commis- sioner in the late 80's, gives the following account of his first meeting with Slade: "I received my introduction to Slade over on the Little Thompson at the stage station in the fall of 1862. Slade was coming down over the line from his station at Vir- ginia Dale, and at Laporte he got drunk. Between Laporte and Big Thompson station he began firing down through the top of the coach and the four passengers inside rolled out on the prairie. Slade drove into the Big Thompson station at Mariana's on the dead run, and, going inside, ordered the agent, a man named Boutwell, to make him a cock- tail. A loaded shotgun stood in the corner. Slade picked it up and cocking both barrels covered Bout- well with it and ordered the drink mixed in a cer- tain manner. Hardly able to hold anything, his hand shook so, Boutwell did as directed. When he had completed the mixture, Slade ordered him to come from behind the counter and place the glass on
the muzzle end of the gun, which he did, the two barrels of the gun staring him in the face all the way.
"After pouring the decoction down his throat, Slade mounted the stage and ran the horses over to the Little Thompson station where one of them laid down completely exhausted. I was keeping the station for my brother-in-law, who had gone up into the hills to bring down his wife. As the stage drove up I went out to unhitch the horses. The driver made some insulting remark to me and I an- swered him pretty short. Biff. Something struck me across the right eye. I turned quickly and looked straight into the muzzle of two revolvers. I had never seen Slade before but I realized at once that we were introduced. After I went into the stable he walked over to where a couple of young fellows were camped and threatened to shoot one of their horses and did kill their dog that was quietly lying under the wagon. Then he kicked their coffee pot over, put out their fire and went off. All this time the two fellows with their guns in hand stood and watched him. He had terrorized them and they dared not lift a finger. Slade afterwards wrote me a letter of apology, saying he thought I was the agent and that he did not allow any of his agents to 'sass him.'
"That same year Slade had a good deal of trouble with his drivers, who were, for the most part, wild reckless characters, who got drunk at every oppor- tunity and endangered the lives of passengers by their abandoned driving. On one occasion, after a drunken driver had had a runaway and smashed up the coach and injured some of the passengers, he sent word to the agent at Laporte, who kept a grocery store, not to sell liquor to any of the drivers on his division. The agent sent back word that he would sell to whom he pleased, that Slade need not think because he had killed Jules, the agent was afraid of him. Two nights later when the stage drove up to the Laporte station Slade and three of his men walked into the store and began to shoot at the bottles on the shelves. Then they caught the agent, tied him with rope, spilled all the flour on the floor and opened all the faucets to the barrels of liquor and molasses and allowed their contents to mix with the flour. Then they went out of doors and taking runs, slid through the mixture on the floor. When they tired of their fun, Slade turned to the agent and said: 'Now, when I tell you not to sell liquor to my men, I mean it.' Slade was always cold-blooded and always took the advantage. His wife would fight at the drop of the hat and was
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grittier than he was by long odds. Had she gotten to Virginia City before he was hung, there would have been a fight from the word go."
First Wedding in Larimer County
Weddings were not of common occurrence in pioneer days. Indeed, they were few and scattering for the first two or three years after the white set- tlers began to locate along the streams. This was largely due to necessity rather than choice. There were more bachelors than maids. As a matter of fact there were no maids at all, unless we except the copper-colored belles of the aborigines, whom a few of the first settlers, making a virtue of necessity, took to wife. The ceremonies accompanying these alli- ances were simple and very brief, consisting mainly of a tender by the groom of a pony, a blanket or a little coin of the realm to the reputed father of the dusky bride-to-be in exchange for her. If the tender was accepted, the expectant groom took his willing or unwilling bride to his cabin and set up a family altar without the formality of marriage vows or the incense of flowers.
On New Year's day, 1862, there occurred, how- every, a regular wedding. It was the first to take place in the county and the ceremony was performed by F. W. Sherwood, who tied the marital knot as a representative of his brother, Judge Jesse M. Sher- wood, who was sub-Indian agent for the Cheyennes and Arapahoes and spent much of his time in Den- ver, looking after his charges. Just before Christ- mas, 1861, a son of Louis Cyr, a husky young fel- low, called at the Sherwood ranch and inquired for the judge, who was absent. Cyr called twice after that during the week and, on the first day of Janu- ary, made his third appearance and the judge was still absent. F. W. Sherwood, noticing the disap- pointed look the young fellow wore when told that the judge was not at home, asked if there was any- thing he could do. Young Cyr hesitated, but finally said he wanted to get married and wanted the judge to perform the ceremony. "If that is all you want," said F. W., "I can help you out. I can perform the ceremony as well as my brother." This pleased the young man, who said the wedding had been put off a week already and he didn't want it delayed any longer. The young fellow was honest and frankly told Mr. Sherwood he had no money. "Oh, that's all right," Mr. Sherwood replied. "I never charge anything for marrying people."
Hardly were they in their saddles ready to start for the home of the bride, than the young man dis-
covered that Sherwood had no bible with him and called his attention to that fact. Sherwood replied that they didn't need it and that the bible played no part in his marriage service. Cyr, however, refused to be married without one. Sherwood dismounted, went into his house and brought out a large volume of Shakespeare's works, the sight of which satisfied the expectant groom. On arriving at the home of the bride-to-be a new difficulty presented itself. The young lady had disappeared and, of course, the wedding couldn't take place without her. She was the daughter of Suis Lewis and his Indian wife, wild and timid as a fawn. In extreme bashfulness she had hidden under a pile of blankets. She was soon discovered and on being brought from her hid- ing place, stood up with the young man and was married by the most intricate and involved method that frontier wits could devise. The service was an hour in length, and was witnessed by two gamblers named McIntosh and Rice.
After the ceremony Mr. Lewis, father of the bride, insisted upon a marriage settlement, which he proposed in the following manner: "You make paper that if my gal behave and boy get drunk and raise the devil, my gal get all his horses. If my gal do wrong by Lewis he tell her go 'hell.'" The "settlement" was drawn up and signed and that ended the ceremonies of the first wedding in Lari- mer county.
It is presumed that Mr. and Mrs. Cyr lived happily together, as they do not figure in the records of the divorce court.
First Term of the District Court
The first general term of the district court held in and for Larimer county, opened on the 20th of October, 1868, in a hall on the second floor of the Grout building that stood at the corner of Jefferson and Linden streets, where Frank P. Stover's drug store now stands. This building was erected in 1865 by Mason & Allen for use as a sutler's store. It contained a large store room, facing the north, on the ground, back of which were a warehouse and living rooms. On the second floor, reached by an outside stairway, there was one large room and two smaller ones. This was the only hall in the place until 1873 and was used for many purposes, church, Sunday school, theatre and court room. This old historic structure was razed to the ground in the spring of 1882. Although the county had been organized since 1864, no term of the district court had been held in the county until October
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1868. The officers of the court at this time were William R. Gorsline of Central City, judge of the Second Judicial district of the Territory of Colo- rado.
C. C. Post of Georgetown, district attorney.
J. C. Matthews of Fort Collins, deputy clerk. (The name of the clerk at this time does not appear in the record.)
H. B. Chubbuck of Big Thompson, sheriff.
The names of the grand jurors summoned for the term were: H. B. Blevins, George Brigham, John G. Coy, A. J. Ames, Fountaine Peterson, Neal Boulware, George E. Buss, James S. Arthur, G. R. Strauss, Thomas Sprague, Jesse M. Sher- wood, Edwin C. Smith, J. M. Smith, H. Samuels, Frank Gard, Judson Warren, G. L. Luce and Ben- jamin Claymore. J. M. Smith was appointed fore- man of the jury by the court. Ranger Jones, Thomas Sprague and George Van Dyke failed to appear at the opening of the court to serve as grand jurors, and the judge ordered an attachment issued for their bodies and placed in the hands of the sher- iff. The defaulting jurors were brought into court the following day, and after purging themselves of contempt, were directed to take seats with their comrades.
The petit jurors drawn for the term were: John Palmer, Enoch Cornell, Fred Wallace, N. H. Mel- drum, C. C. Hawley, W. N. Payton, Rock Bush, F. W. Sherwood, Paul Tharp, A. R. Chaffee, H. Mannis, N. P. Cooper, Arthur Ames, John Baxter, John Hahn and W. C. Stover. Attachments were issued returnable October 21st, for Thomas Mc- Bride, also for the bodies of Joseph Musgrove and J. M. Eaglin, returnable at the succeeding term of court, all having failed to appear when summoned to serve as jurors.
The grand jury disposed of all the business brought before it, reported to the court October 21st, and was discharged from further service dur- ing the term.
The cases docketed for hearing at this term of court, follow :
The People vs. Samuel Dion, keeping gambling house. Continued for the term.
The People vs. Peter Decony, keeping gambling house. Continued for the term.
The People vs. Thomas McBride, contempt of court in failing to appear when summoned to serve as petit juror. Dismissed.
Charles Pitts vs. H. Forbes; appeal from judg- ment of justice court. Appeal dismissed.
James Maddux vs. Thomas Edward; appeal from justice court. Remanded to Justice of the Peace J. W. Smith of the Big Thompson for new trial.
The People vs. Antonia Madeno; assault with intent to kill. Continued for the term. Adam Blackhurst and Sarah Blackhurst entered recog- nizance to appear and testify in the case at the next term.
The People vs. Phillip Lariviere. Bond for appearance declared forfeited and district attorney directed to begin suit to recover the penalty named in the bond.
Rufus Fitzhugh vs. F. W. Sherwood; appeal from justice court. Continued for the term.
John R. Brown vs. O. P. Bassett; appeal. Con- tinued.
Mason & Co. vs. Edward Marshall. Continued. Rufus Fitzhugh vs. A. R. Chaffee. Dismissed.
James W. Hanna vs. F. W. Sherwood ; replevin.
After being in session three days, the court ad- journed for the term.
Of the four criminal cases docketed for this term of the court, two were for keeping gambling houses, one for assault with intent to kill and one for adultery, neither of which was tried. It will thus be seen that the law abiding people of Larimer county, moved early in an attempt to break up public gambling. At the succeeding term of court which opened October 19th, 1869, Samuel Dion and Peter Decony were convicted of keeping gambling houses and fined $100 each and costs of suit.
The second term of the district court opened October 19th, 1869, in the Grout building. The officers present were :
W. R. Gorsline, judge.
C. C. Post, district attorney.
J. C. Matthews, deputy clerk.
H. B. Chubbuck, sheriff.
The grand jurors summoned for the term were: Revilo Loveland, Joseph Prendergast, John Davis, Zack Thomason, C. W. Howell, J. B. Arthur, A. K. Yount, William Samuels, James Milner, David Notman, N. H. Meldrum, Joseph Musgrove, B. T. Whedbee, J. M. Smith, Sr., J. M. Sherwood, A. A. Howard, Thomas Johnson, Thomas R. McBride. Joseph Mason, who had been summoned, was ex- cused from service on account of being postmaster at Fort Collins. Thomas Gill failed to appear and an attachment was issued for him.
The petit jurors summoned were John B. Pro- vost, T. L. Moore, J. H. Yeager, John R. Brown, Peter Anderson, C. C. Hawley, Sherman Smith, R.
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B. Wygal, James Carwile, James Eaglin, J. N. Hallowell, Frank Prager, John Parish, Reed Berry, George Litle, Guy H. Mannville, W. B. Osborn, Rock Bush, Austin Mason, William Rivers, John Theobald, A. A. Davis and E. N. Garbutt. Mr. Garbutt failing to answer to his name when called, an attachment was issued for him. Mathew S. Taylor was admitted a member of the bar and allowed to practice in the courts of the Territory. Mr. Taylor was a brother of W. S. Taylor who kept the Overland stage station at Virginia Dale and later Park and Laporte stations, and became a prominent member of the Colorado bar. He went to Leadville in 1877, and represented Lake county in the Second General assembly of Colorado. He was a brilliant lawyer, but died at Leadville in 1884, while still comparatively a young man.
No important cases came on for trial at the second term of court, and but little of moment was done save to continue most of the cases that had been docketed. Indeed, the dockets for the succeeding terms of court down to 1874 and 1875 fail to show that any cases of general or special interest were tried by the district court. The civil cases were mostly appeals from the judgments of either the county or justice courts and the criminal dockets being made up of misdemeanor cases, such as gamb- ling, keeping gambling houses or assaults. At the term of the district court held in July, 1874, the district attorney filed two informations, one against James Nugent, known as "Mountain Jim" of Estes Park for an assault on June 10th, 1874, with a deadly weapon, with intent to kill his neighbor, Griffith J. Evans, and the other against Griffith J. Evans for shooting Mountain Jim June 19th, 1874, with intent to take his life. These cases excited a great deal of interest because of the prominence of the persons implicated and also because of the cir- cumstances which led up to the attempt of these two men to take each other's lives. A detailed ac- count of the troubles between Evans and "Mount- ain Jim" will be given in another chapter; also of the trial of John Phillips in July, 1875, charged with murder of Clarence Chubbuck.
An Early Day Tragedy
On the 19th of June, 1874, James Nugent, better known as "Mountain Jim," a famous hunter and trapper who lived in a cabin on the edge of Estes park, was shot and mortally wounded, the bullet lodging in his head. Nugent accused his neighbor, Griffith J. Evans, between whom and himself there
had been bad blood for more than a year, of firing the shot that later caused his death. Evans was arrested, brought to Fort Collins, given a prelimin- ary hearing and bound over for trial in the district court. On the opening day of the 1874 term of the district court, which convened on the 15th day of July, 1874, in the Grout building, District Attorney Byron L. Carr filed an information with the clerk, charging Evans with assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill Nugent. The case was not called for trial until July 14th, 1875, when District At- torney G. G. White, who succeeded Mr. Carr, entered a nolle prosequi in the case against Evans and the accused was discharged from custody. It developed between the time of filing the information and the opening of the July term of court in 1875, so it was alleged, that Evans was not guilty of the charge; that the shooting was done by a young Englishman, who had been sent out from England in December, 1873, to look after Lord Dunraven's interests in Estes Park, and who had left the coun- try. Nugent was brought down from Estes Park and lodged at the City hotel, then and for several years afterward, kept by Thomas L. Moore, where the wounded man received medical treatment. Nu- gent lingered between life and death until some time in September, 1874, when he died and was buried in Mountain Home cemetery where his bones yet re- main. Before he died, Nugent made a will which he directed should not be opened until after his death, and in it he bequeathed his favorite riding horse to Mr. and Mrs. T. L. Moore's infant daughter, Carrie, now Mrs. T. K. Seaton of Delta, and twenty head of cattle on the range in Estes park to Frank D. Morrison, a barber, who shaved the wounded man until he died. It took all of "Mount- ain Jim's" property, however, to pay his debts and funeral expenses so that the devisees got nothing.
Mountain Jim was known all over the Territory as an expert hunter and trapper, who had many ex- cellent qualities of heart and mind as well as numer- ous bad ones. He often drank to excess and when in his cups was a quarrelsome and a difficult man to get along with, but in his sober periods, he was a well informed, genial and companionable gentleman. His neighbor in Estes park, Griffith J. Evans, was a stock man and either owned or managed for others, a large herd of cattle in the park. He lived in a large log cabin and had several outlying cottages near Clear lake where, in the summer season, he en- tertained visitors, tourists and hunters from whom and his herds of cattle, he derived a goodly income. There are several theories as to what caused the
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trouble between "Mountain Jim" and Evans, but the most accepted theory is that "Mountain Jim" became enamored of Evans' seventeen-year-old daughter and that the young lady's parents disap- proved of his attentions to her. At any rate a cold- ness grew up between the two men, and "Mountain Jim" had been heard in his cups to threaten to do Evans up. After the arrival of the young English- man, whose name was Haigh, to take the manage- ment of Lord Dunraven's interests in the park, the young lady became much attached to him. They were often seen riding together which stirred "Mountain Jim's" anger toward Evans to the very depths. On the 10th of June, 1874, only nine days before he received his death wound, he fired from ambush and tried to kill Evans, but fortunately his shot missed its mark. On the day of the fatal shoot- ing, June 19th, "Mountain Jim" appeared at Evans' cabin in a frightful mood, threatening to kill Evans and Haigh if they dared to come out in the open. At this Haigh, it is alleged, stepped to the door and fired the shot that a few weeks later ended the life of one of the most notorious characters that ever dwelt in the Rocky Mountains.
In the fall of 1873, an English lady named Isa- bella L. Bird, spent several weeks with the Evans' family, becoming very well acquainted with both Evans and "Mountain Jim." The latter guided Miss Bird, Platt Rogers and S. S. Downer, two young men tourists to the summit of Long's peak and she is believed to be the first woman to ever ascend to the top of this grim old guardian of the Continental Divide. In a series of letters written to her sister in London, Miss Bird graphically de- scribes Estes Park, the ascent of Long's peak, and her various experiences while a visitor in the park; giv- ing pen pictures of Nugent and Evans and her im- pression of the characters of the two men. She also wrote interestingly of other trips in Colorado made on horseback and her letters were published in book form in 1879-80. The book is entitled "Life in the Rocky Mountains." Her descriptions of Evans and Nugent and comments on their individual char- acteristics make very interesting reading. Describ- ing her first introduction to "Mountain Jim" she says :
"A very pretty mare, hobbled, was feeding, a collie dog barked at us, and among the scrub not far from the track, there was a rude black log cabin, as rough as it could be, to be a shelter at all, with smoke coming out of the roof and window. We diverged towards it; it mattered not that it was the home, or rather den of a notorious 'ruffian' and
'desperado.' One of my companions had disap- peared hours before, the remaining one was a town- bred youth. I longed to speak to some one who loved the mountains. I called the hut a den,-it looked like the den of a wild beast. The big dog lay outside it in a threatening attitude and growled. The mud roof was covered with lynx, beaver and other furs laid out to dry, beaver paws were pinned out on the logs, a part of the carcass of a deer hung at one end of the cabin, a skinned beaver lay in front of a heap of peltry just within the door, and antlers of deer, old horseshoes, and offal of many animals lay about the den. Roused by the growling of the dog, his owner came out, a broad, thickset man, about the middle height, with a cap on his head, and wearing a grey hunting suit much the worse for wear (almost falling to pieces in fact) a digger's scarf knotted around his waist, a knife in his belt, and a 'bosom friend,' a revolver, sticking out of the breast pocket of his coat; his feet, which were very small, were bare, excepting for some dilapidated moccasins made of horse hide. The marvel was how his clothes hung together, and on him. The scarf round his waist must have had something to do with it. His face was remarkable. He is a man about forty-five, and must have been strikingly handsome. He has large grey blue eyes, deeply set, with well-marked eyebrows, a handsome aquiline nose, and a very handsome mouth. His face was smooth shaven except for a dense mustache and im- perial. Tawny hair, in thin incorrect curls fell from under his hunter's cap and over his collar. One eye was entirely gone, and the loss made one side of his face repulsive, while the other side might have been modeled in marble. 'Desperado' was written in large letters all over him. I almost re- pented having sought his acquaintance. His first impulse was to swear at the dog, but on seeing a lady he contented himself with kicking him, and coming up to me he raised his cap, showing as he did so a magnificiently formed brow and head, and in a cultured tone of voice asked if there was anything he could do for me. I asked for some water, and he brought some in a battered tin, gracefully apolo- gizing for not having anything more presentable. We entered into conversation and as he spoke I for- got both his reputation and his appearance, for his manner was that of a chivalrous gentleman, his ac- cent refined and his language easy and elegant. I inquired about some beavers' paws which were dry- ing, and in a moment they hung on the horn of my saddle. Apropos of the wild animals of this region, he told me that the loss of his eye was owing to a
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recent encounter with a grizzly bear, which, after giving him a death hug, tearing him all over, break- ing his arm and scratching out his eye, had left him for dead. As we rode away, for the sun was sink- ing, he said courteously. 'You are not an Ameri- can. I know from your voice that you are a country- woman of mine. I hope you will allow me the pleasure of calling on you.' This man, known through the Territories and beyond them as 'Rocky Mountain Jim' or more briefly, as 'Mountain Jim,' is one of the famous scouts of the plains, and is the original of some daring portraits in fiction concern- ing Indian frontier warfare. So far as I have at present heard, he is a man for whom there is now no room, for the time for blows and blood in this part of Colorado is now past, and the fame of many daring exploits is sullied by crimes which are not easily forgiven here. He now has a 'squatter's claim,' but makes his living as a trapper, and is a complete child of the mountains. Of his genius and chivalry to women there does not appear to be any doubt; but he is a desperate character, and is sub- ject to 'ugly fits,' when people think it best to avoid him. It is here regarded as an evil that he has located himself at the mouth of the only entrance to the park, for he is dangerous with his pistols, and it would be safer if he were not here. His besetting sin is indicated in the verdict pronounced on him by my host: 'When he is sober, Jim's a perfect gen- tleman; but when he's had liquor, he is the most awful ruffian in Colorado.'
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