USA > Colorado > Larimer County > History of Larimer County, Colorado > Part 20
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Mr. Spotswood ran as express messenger between Atchison and Denver at the beginning of his career on the Overland, and faced countless hardships and perils. The express coaches carried no passengers, but were filled with packages. They were especial prey of highwaymen, and the messenger's life was one of constant peril. The trip consumed six days and nights, and Mr. Spotswood usually slept by buckling himself with straps in the rear boot of the coach to avoid being jolted out while he caught a few naps. He was acquainted with all the famous characters of frontier days in Kansas, and was a close friend of "Buffalo Bill" Comstock, the scout and buffalo hunter who was the first to bear that descriptive name. In later years Comstock aided Mr. Spotswood in running down a desperado, who had committed an unprovoked murder at one of the stage stations and had hidden himself in the wilder- ness, defying all the efforts of the soldiers at Fort Halleck to capture him. At Mr. Spotswood's re- quest, Comstock disguised himself as an Indian and took the trail. He had lived most of his life with the Sioux, and was probably the greatest scout and trailer the West ever knew. Comstock in a day or two had captured the murderer and delivered him to the commandant at Fort Halleck, where the desperado was hanged.
Charles Clay's Thrilling Experience With Indians
Charles Clay, the pioneer colored man of the Caché la Poudre valley, who started the first barber shop at Laporte, related the following account of his life and experience in the West to a reporter and it was printed in the Fort Collins Courier in 1909. In this story, Mr. Clay makes the claim that "as near as he could get at it" he was born in 1810, but in a former interview with him that was printed in 1900, it was figured out he was born in 1828. At any rate, he was a very old man when he
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died on August 31st, 1910, and it is possible that the latest story of his birth is correct. He well remembered events of which he was cognizant in the early days and the dates he gives correspond with those of other authorities. The story prac- tically as he told it being as follows:
"I was born in Calloway County, Missouri, near what is now the town of Fulton, as near as I can get at it, October 10, 1810. My parents were slaves and I was born in slavery, being the property of John W. Robinson, a wealthy planter. I lived the usual life of the slaves and was freed with the rest of them by Mr. Lincoln's proclamation. I had gone to St. Louis at the outbreak of the war and there I got a place as cook with a party headed by Richard Overall, that started for California, overland in the late summer of 1861. We got as far as Fort Lara- I
mie, where I got a job cooking for the soldiers. came to Fort Collins in 1864 with the soldiers, this being an army post at the time. From here I went to Laporte, where I started a barber shop, the first one in the Poudre valley. There I shaved many men who were prominent in those days along the Overland trail, among them Jack Slade, the man- killer, who was afterwards lynched up in Montana. Others I remember were Bill Updyke, the stage driver ; Bob Saunders, wagon boss; Bob Spotswood, division agent for the Overland, and William S. Taylor, who ran the hotel at Laporte. I worked for him as cook for a while and had the honor of cook- ing General Grant's meal for him when he came through in a special coach after the close of the war. "I never will forget that dinner. We had the best Laporte afforded-trout, caught out of the Poudre just above town, chicken, squash, baked beans and potatoes. I had cooked the potatoes in a steamer and I put the steamer on the window sill in the kitchen, while I was busy putting on other dishes. When I went after the potatoes they were gone and I found out the soldiers in General Grant's escort had taken them. The general had a good laugh when he found it out and he said he made out a good dinner without potatoes. He thought it was about the best meal he'd had on the whole trip.
"Those were exciting days. I remember once when we were at Fort Laramie, I had to go out with a troop of cavalry under command of Lieu- tenant Collins. He was a son of Col. Collins, for whom Fort Collins was named. The Indians had attacked a wagon party near Sweetwater and we went to their relief. They were barricaded in a corral made of their wagons, but had already lost several, two of their women having been stolen by
the redskins. When we got to the camp, the Indians fled and we went after them. After chasing them into the hills, Lieutenant Collins' horse became frightened and dashed out of line into the line of the enemy. The last we saw of him he was surrounded by Indians and he disappeared with them.
"We did not find him until next morning, when his body, cut open by the redskins, was lying on the ground. We found a note at his side signed by two white women, who said they had been captured and that they would try and break away the next night. They wanted us to stay on the trail of the Indians, so they could join us if possible. We followed them and sure enough, the next day one of the women was found by us. She had made her escape, but the other one was carried away and we never heard from her or the Indians again, as they had given us the slip. I'm pretty black, but I tell you my skin turned white more than once in those days. I could give you some more yarns like that from my life that would make your hair stand up, if I had a little time to think."
Rescue of Ute Susan
I am indebted to J. N. Hollowell of Loveland, for the following pioneer reminiscences :
"I arrived in the Big Thompson valley in Octo- ber, 1860, and found that about twenty people had preceded me. Among those living in the valley at that time, as I recall them to mind, were Thomas H. Johnson, John Hahn, W. A. Bean, Samuel Heffner, Adam Dick, W. C. Stover, Doc. Allen, Ed. Clark, Mariana Modena, his Indian wife whom he called 'John,' and three children, Lena, Antoine, and Martin Modena, Louis Papa, Jack McGaa and squaw, Tim Goodin and squaw, and three Mexi- cans and their squaws.
"The principal industry at that time, through which we made our living, was hauling hay to Central City and vicinity, a distance of about 75 miles. Our meat, during the summer, was ob- tained principally from antelope; in the winter from deer, sometimes elk, and mountain sheep.
"There was no particular change in the situation of affairs during 1861, except that people came in, stopped a short time on a piece of land and then moved away, finding nothing in the country that was to them attractive. A few stray Indians passed. by in the spring on their way to northern hunting grounds, returning again in the fall. They were of no particular trouble to the settlers, except that they were always hungry. Among the most
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familiar Indians were those belonging to Chief Lefthand's and Chief Friday's bands of Arapahoes. Chief Friday and his band numbering between 200 and 300, was located for a time in the Caché la Poudre valley, but they would often stray over to the Big Thompson.
"In the spring of that year I went to Golden and purchased garden seeds from Bill Loveland's store. These I planted on W. B. Osborn's ranch (now owned by M. Y. Osborn), about one and a half miles east of the present city of Loveland. I was fortunate in raising cabbage, lettuce, radishes, onions and melons, which found a ready sale at good prices. It was an experiment, consequently I did not branch out very heavy. Being at Mariana's store one day in September, I invited him to come to my place and eat melons and to bring the rest of the squaw men with him. They came, six of them. I prepared a dinner for them and they ate to their fill. To the best of my knowledge, the vegetables I raised that year were the first grown in the Big Thompson valley. There were then about twenty persons living here, of whom only Thomas H. Johnson, W. B. Osborn, John Hahn, Louis Papa and myself remain. The rest have all moved away or passed on 'to that bourne whence no traveler returns.'
"One day in the latter part of June, 1863, I was lying asleep in my cabin, a mile and a half southeast of the present city of Loveland. Being suddenly aroused from my slumbers by an unusual noise, I looked up and discovered that my cabin was full of Indians. They were painted and feathered up in regular war style. After I had dressed myself, the spokesman of the party said 'swap,' pointing at the hat I had on and at a looking glass hanging on the wall. He then pointed up the Big Thompson river as an invitation to go with them. My first thought was they wanted to 'swap' a pony for my hat and looking glass, so I took the glass and went with them to their camp, about half a mile distant. When we reached the camp I found about a half a dozen tepees which I supposed were for the use of the chiefs or headmen. One of my guides opened the entrance to one of the tepees and soon came out with a young squaw whom he pushed against me, saying 'swap,' pointing to my hat and my glass. I sized them up the best I could under the circum- stances and replied 'no swap.' The squaw, judging by her dress, was about 13 years of age. There were some 200 or 300 Indians in the band, al- together, and when I refused to 'swap,' they set up such a yell as I shall probably never hear again. I
then left them and went back to my cabin, feeling not a little uneasy concerning the outcome. They didn't trouble me, however. The band staid in camp two nights. On the second night I saw a bright light in the Indian camp and heard a thump, thump, so I went as close to them as I thought prudent. The savages were having a war dance. The bucks were going round and round in a circle, raising their feet and keeping time to the thumps, yelling the war whoop and carrying poles on which were strung three scalps with long black hair. Those that did not dance, chanted their war song in unison with the thumps. They kept this up until midnight or later. The following morning they broke camp and marched away in a northeasterly di- rection. Though they had done me no harm, I was not a bit displeased to see them leave my neigh- borhood.
"That year Company B of the First Colorado volunteer cavalry and some Michigan troops were camped at Laporte. There had been some trouble with the redskins on the Platte, so a party of about a dozen soldiers was sent down there to straighten things out. On their way back the soldiers forded the Platte near the present town of Evans and climbed the bluff. From here they saw a large camp of Indians on the opposite side of the river, apparently in some commotion. The soldiers re- crossed the river and hastened to the camp, finding Chief Lefthand's band of Arapahoes, the same band that was at my place only a few days before. The savages were preparing to burn at the stake the young squaw they had tried to 'swap' to me for the hat and looking glass, and already had her tied to a tree with fagots piled up around her. The soldiers rescued the girl and took her to their camp at Laporte, and in the course of a few days sent her to Denver. From there, Governor Evans sent her, under guard, to Sulphur Springs, where she was turned over to her people. The young squaw's name was Susan and she was a sister of Chief Ouray of the Utes. In a raid upon the Ute camp the Arapahoes killed three Ute warriors and cap- tured Susan. In after years Susan married Chief Johnson and it was through her interposition that Mrs. N. C. Meeker and her daughter, Josephine, were saved from a cruel death at the hands of the Utes at the time of the White river massacre in September, 1879. Mrs. Meeker and her daughter were from Greeley and Susan remembered that white soldiers had saved her from a cruel fate when she was about to be burned at the stake on the very spot where Greeley now stands. It was gratitude
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that prompted her to intercede for and save the lives of the two white women."
Mr. Hollowell's story of the rescue of Susan from the Arapahoes is corroborated in all essential particulars by Major Simon Whitely of Racine, Wisconsin, who, at the time of Susan's rescue, was Indian agent to the Utes. In an interview with a reporter, which was printed in the Chicago Tribune, November 5, 1879, shortly after the White river massacre, Major Whitely told the following story :
"In the three years of my agency I never dis- covered any evidence of dissatisfaction or anything but a kindly feeling for the whites on the part of the Utes, which I attribute very largely to the fact that I restored to them the squaw Susan, the sister of Chief Ouray, who saved the lives of the Meeker women after the massacre of their husband and father, N. C. Meeker, at the White river agency on September 28, 1879. While on my way to Sulphur Springs in 1863, I was overtaken by a messenger from Governor Evans, who informed me of the rescue of a Ute squaw from the Arapahoes and Cheyennes by the soldiers of Company B of the First Colorado, stationed at Laporte. These In- dians had captured the squaw in one of their raids and, while encamped near the mouth of the Cache la Poudre river, had determined to burn her at the stake. The commanding officer at Laporte, hear- ing of this, took a detachment of troops and, by alternate threats and promises, obtained her release after she had already been tied to the stake and the fire lighted. Susan was sent to Denver in charge of a guard of soldiers and forwarded from there to me at Sulphur Springs in Middle park. I then sent her, accompanied by U. M. Curtice, my interpreter, to her people and delivered her to them after a journey across the western portion of Colorado into the borders of Utah, to the camp of the Indians on Snake river, where she was received with every de- monstration of joy by the tribe."
Major Whitely concluded his story by saying that Susan was Chief Ouray's sister, who displayed so much kindness and affection for the Meeker women, mother and daughter, and through whose inter- position, doubtless, their lives were saved.
Major Whitely's story was reproduced in the Fort Collins Courier from the Chicago Tribune, on November 12, 1879. Knowing that Capt. C. C. Hawley of Fort Collins, was an officer in the First Colorado in 1863, the editor of the Courier called his attention to the story told by Major Whitely and he corroborated it in some particulars. He said :
"Susan was taken to Denver, where my company
was stationed at the time, and turned over to Major Whitely, who returned her to her people." Capt. Hawley also said that Susan had been with the Arapahoes so long that she had acquired their lan- guage and habits and was in no danger of being burned at the stake, as stated by Major Whitely in his interview. The attention of Thomas R. Mc- Bride, one of the early settlers of Laporte was also called to the story and he stated that Major Whitely's version of the incident was correct. He said that Susan was brought to Laporte and kept in the family of Bill Carroll until Governor Evans decided what to do with her.
The Cherokee Trail
In 1848, after a part of the Cherokee nation of Indians had ceded to the United States their lands in Georgia, a party was organized and sent to the Pacific coast to look up a new country in which to locate their people. They came west by the Arkan- sas valley route to the mouth of Squirrel creek, a tributary of the Arkansas river. They ascended this creek to the divide, thence crossing to the head of Cherry creek, following this stream to its junc- tion with the South Platte. Though looking for gold was not the main purpose of the expedition, nevertheless they found that it existed in the streams of this region. They did not stop to do much pros- pecting, however, but pushed on northward along the eastern base of the mountains until they reached where Laporte is now. Here they plunged into the mountains, following a route that led them past what is now known as Virginia Dale and over the divide to the Laramie Plains, thence on west to California. On their return from the Pacific coast, in 1849, they came down from the Laramie Plains by the way of what is now St. Cloud and Cherokee park, where they evidently camped one night. From there they came over Cherokee hill, through what is now known as Alford, down Calloway hill, cross- ing the North Fork at the Cradock ranch, near which they struck their outgoing trail which they followed to Laporte, and thence on south to the Arkansas. There is a tradition to the effect that they were surprised at Cherokee Park by a war party of Utes that had come through Sand creek pass, over Boulder Ridge and down Sheep creek. The Cherokees are said to have fled to the top of Cherokee hill where it is said a battle was fought in which the Cherokees were victorious. The Utes were driven from the field after a loss of many warriors. A number of the Cherokees were killed
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in the fight, and these were buried on the battle field on the summit of the hill, where, to this day, mounds resembling graves, may be seen. Some of these mounds have been opened it is said, and human bones found in them, which lends an air of proba- bility to the tradition. When the remnant of the exploring party returned to Georgia, they attempted to organize an expedition for the Rocky Mountains on a gold hunting quest. News of the finding of gold in Cherry creek spread in Georgia, finally coming to the ears of W. Green Russell, miner of Dahlonega, who also projected an expedition to this region. In the meantime, a Cherokee cattle trader, named Parks, in driving his herds along what came to be known as the Cherokee trail, and having his eyes sharpened by the stories told by the Indians on their return from California, discovered gold in 1852, on Ralston creek, a small affluent of Clear creek. These discoveries excited a great deal of interest and early in the Spring of 1858 the Chero- kees organized for a prospecting expedition to the vicinity of Pikes Peak. W. Green Russell joined them with a party of white men. This expedition consisted of twelve white persons and thirty Indians, among whom were George Hicks, Sen., (who was a lawyer by profession and a notable man among the Cherokees) who was leader of the party. George Hicks Jr., John Beck, Ezekiel Beck, Pelicon Tigre and others. The white persons, George McDougal, brother of Governor McDougal of California, who had a trading post on Adobe creek, a Mr. Kirk, wife and two children, Levi Braumbaugh, Philan- der Simmons, a mountaineer of several years ex- perience, and Messrs Brown, Kelly, Johns, Taylor and Tubbs. The company left the Missouri front- ier May 12th, and arrived at Bent's new fort in good season ; but the winter had been severe and the spring late, which made traveling slow and difficult nor were there labors rewarded that season, though they prospected from the head of the Arkansas to the Platte and one hundred miles to the north, which brought them into Larimer county. From this date the real history of the white man's occu- pation of Colorado begun. The news of gold finds in the Pikes Peak region spread like wildfire, and during 1858, thousands rushed to the Rocky mount- ains. The Cherokee trail is frequently mentioned in subquent descriptions by explorers and travelers through this region.
Mystery of Cherokee Hill Mounds Explained
The following story concerning himself and his experiences in Larimer county in 1862-3, in which is also explained the origin and purpose of the Indian mounds on the summit of Cherokee hill, was told by Thomas Quillan, an aged pioneer and at present an inmate of the County hospital, to Judge Jefferson McAnelly who had it printed in the Fort Collins Democrat on June 5th, 1907. The story fully explains the mystery of the Cherokee hill mounds which have attracted the attention and ex- cited the curosity of passers-by for many years. The common acceptation of the origin of these mounds has been that they contained the remains of Chero- kee Indian warriors who were killed in a battle with the Utes in 1848. The only foundation for this supposition is the fact that a band of Utes did raid a camp of Cherokees near the place that year, and run off a lot of horses belonging to the strangers.
A few years after the Cherokees sold their lands in Georgia and Tennessee to the United States, the tribe dispatched a party of braves to the Pacific coast in search of a new location for the tribe. This party came up the Arkansas river, crossed over the divide to the head of Cherry creek, down which they traveled to the site of the present City of Den- ver. From there they came north, following the trend of the mountains to the present town of La- parte where they entered the hills and pursued a northerly course until they came out on to the Lar- amie Plains. They camped one night on the North fork of the Cache la Poudre in the vicinity of what is now St. Cloud or William Campton's noted summer resort. Here their camp was raided by a wandering band of Utes, who stole and drove off some of the traveler's horses. The tradition how- ever, that a battle ensued here in which the Chero- kees were vanquished with the loss of several of their warriors, lacks the element of truth, for the Cherokees continued their journey to the coast, but not being pleased with the country, returned to their tribe in the Indian Territory without the loss of a single one of their members, so far as history tells of the expedition. The trail they followed from the mouth of Cherry creek northward, and back, is still known as the Cherokee trail. Mr. Quillan's story, with Judge McAnelly's introduction, follows :
"The mounds on Cherokee hill were discovered by a miner and a hunter in the winter of 1862-3. This miner was born on April 13th, 1829, in North Carolina, going thence with his parents to Indiana.
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From Indiana the family moved, in 1854, to Marion county, Iowa, and thence to Randolph county, Illinois in 1858. This man's name is Thomas Quillan, familiarly known as "Uncle" Tom Quillan. He, like many others, was seized with the gold fever in 1859 and started from Chester, Illinois, for Pikes Peak April 5th, in company with the two Killian brothers. Their outfit consisted of one wagon and three yoke of oxen. They were sixty-seven days on the road, arriving at Denver June 7th, 1859. Here they found but one log cabin, but numerous tents, and a floating, restless population of about 5,000. They remained here two days and, instead of going to Pikes Peak, they went to Gregory Gulch to hunt for gold. Here they worked in the mines and soon fell in with Green Russell, the discoverer of gold in Gregory gulch, and he taught them how to mine for the precious metals. Russell was a relative of Quillan. Tiring of mining, Quillan, in company with Thomas Bavington, Joseph Bog, George Per- kins and George Hall, started out in January 1862 on a hunting, trapping and prospecting expedition to the northward of Gregory gulch. They struck the old Cherokee trail and followed it to Laporte, stopping there several days, buying supplies and in- quiring about the country. The only white man they became acquainted with there was John Provost an old-time trapper and voyager, and French Cana- dian.
They journeyed from Laporte to Virginia Dale, remaining there a couple of weeks hunting on Dale creek and its tributaries. They then broke camp and moved on to what was then called Front creek where they hunted and trapped about a week and then moved to the North fork of the Caché la Poudre river in February. They pitched their tents in Cherokee park, adjacent to Cherokee hill, and hunted and trapped until spring. It was dur- ing that time that they discovered the mounds on Cherokee hill, which, to them, had the appearance of new made graves. Quillan's curiosity to learn what the mounds contained overcame his discretion and he bantered Perkins to help him open the graves for the purpose of seeing what was in them, but Perkins was superstitious and made a dozen excuses, finally declaring that he would not assist in opening the graves under any conditions. Not to be bluffed by superstitious notions, Quillan started out one day to make an investigation and after removing the stones and what little there was remaining, he came to solid ground. There were no graves there. In fact, the grass underneath the piles of stones was not yet dead, indicating the recent origin of the
mounds. On their way back to Gregory gulch, the party stopped at Provost's place in Laporte. While there, Quillan asked Provost if he knew why the mounds were built on Cherokee hill and he said he did. Provost then told him that during the prev- ious fall a large band of Cheyenne and Arapahoe Indians had camped in that vicinity while on a hunt- ing trip. The squaws and children remained in camp while the bucks were out hunting, and as is customary with them, built the mounds as a signal to show the absent bucks what they had done in case anything happened to them. Provost's story solved the mystery of the mounds. Instead of being the graves of Cherokee warriors slain in battle with the Utes in 1848, they were simply the work of squaws and pappooses of that band of Indians that was camped near Cherokee hill in the fall of 1861.
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