USA > Colorado > Larimer County > History of Larimer County, Colorado > Part 25
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The following extracts from a letter written to me by the late William N. Bachelder who, in 1900, was living at Gebo, Montana, and who was one of the pioneer sheep men of the county, will give one an insight into conditions as they existed here when he engaged in the wool growing industry. He says: "I just noticed in the Rocky Mountain News an article on the lamb feeding industry in Larimer county which was suggested by an article taken
from the Fort Collins Courier describing the re- sult of the introduction of the industry in that county. It brought fresh to my mind many scenes and incidents of the sheep business in Larimer county in the early days.
"In the fall of 1871 I left my native state, Ver- mont, and came to Colorado to engage in wool growing. Larimer county was the first place I struck and when I settled I asked my host, Harry Conley, who then kept the hotel afterwards known as the Blake House, if he could show me a sheep ranch. 'What do you want he replied?' I said plenty of grass and water. He then pointed Spring
RANGE SHEEP AT PASTURE
Canon out to me. I drove out to Spring Canon that evening and laid the foundation for a house and sheep ranch. There were two bunches of sheep in the county at that time, one owned by Thomas Weldon on the Big Thompson, and one owned by E. W. Whitcomb on the Boxelder. I sold my brook washed wool the following spring for 60 cents a pound, and my unwashed wool for 40 cents a pound.
"I soon found out that a sheep man was hated above all other men because his sheep bit off the grass too short to suit his neighbors. Being young and ambitious at that time I accepted the nomination as a delegate to the Constitutional Convention; those awful, ugly sheep defeated me at the election. A few years later I had associated with me in the wool growing business the Bristol brothers of Vergennes, Vermont, and Henry Dewey, of Ben-
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nington, Vermont, who was a brother of Rear Admiral George P. Dewey, the hero of Manila Bay. Henry came there for lung trouble, but like a good many others he came too late. Many Fort Collins people will remember him and his estimable wife. We sent him back to Vermont, where he died soon afterward.
"I used to try persuade my neighbors in Larimer county that the sheep business was the best to en- gage in, but one of them had the cheek to tell me that he should have voted for me if I had not been a sheep man. I have been vindicated at last. I have lived to see one half of the business people of Fort Collins engaged in the sheep business and to see that industry bring them in a $1,000,000 a year."
For many years after agriculture had taken root in Larimer county, the farmers devoted all of their energies to raising wheat, with here and there a field of oats or barley and until the introduction of alfalfa in 1877, the small grains were about all the crops raised. From 1865 down to 1876 wheat commanded good prices, as the supply was insuf- ficient to meet the demand for bread, and farmers realized handsome profits from their crops. That year, owing to the importations from Kansas and Utah, the price of wheat began to fall off, selling in the early 80's as low at times as 60 cents per hundred pounds, and to make matters still worse the yield per acre began to dwindle, due to con- tinued cropping of the same ground and consequent exhaustion of the soil. At these prices the farmers were unable to make ends meet as the cost of producing wheat in the arid region under irrigation is greater per acre than in sections of the country where the rainfall is sufficient to mature a crop. Many of the farmers were in debt, some for their land, some for water supply and others for teams and farm equipment; so that the outlook down to about 1890 was decidedly gloomy. When wheat growing ceased to be profitable the farmers turned to growing more alfalfa and soon that came to be a drug on the market. Then there was but little stock feeding in the county so that the demand for hay was light and alfalfa would not bear shipping. There were between 40,000 and 50,000 head of cattle in the county, but those fit for beef were shipped out in the fall and only a few head, com- paratively speaking, were fed through the winter for the spring market. The farmers had not yet learned that they could ship their surplus alfalfa to market on foot and thousands of tons of fine hay rotted in the stacks. The raising of alfalfa had an effect, however, on depleted soils, for it restored
them to fertility so that wheat sown on alfalfa ground began to give better yields.
The year 1889 witnessed the dawning of a new and prosperous era among the farmers. In the fall of that year the brothers, E. J. and I. W. Bennett, who a few years before had been interested in the range sheep and wool growing industry and also feeding sheep in Nebraska in the winter time, bought in Southern Colorado about 2,500 high grade Mexican lambs with the intention of shipping them to their feeding pens in Nebraska and fattening them for the spring markets. They were caught at Trinidad in a severe snow storm which blocked the railroad so that no trains could be moved. Here for two weeks the lambs were held without food except such as was afforded by a few pinon trees cut down for them to browse. By the time the rail- road was opened for traffic the Bennetts had lost a number of lambs from starvation and exposure and the remainder were so weak that they feared to ship them through to Nebraska. As a last resort the owners decided to ship the lambs to Fort Collins where alfalfa could be obtained at a reasonable price, and there attempt to fatten them under what they considered at the time as adverse cir- cumstances. The lambs reached Bennett Brothers' ranch, 12 miles east of Fort Collins, about the middle of November and were placed upon a gener- ous ration of alfalfa. They recovered rapidly from the effects of their long fast and rough journey and later were fed corn as well as hay. The lambs were shipped to Chicago in March and April, 1890, and sold at prices ranging from $5.05 to $6.40 per hundred pounds, leaving the feeders a fine profit.
This was the beginning of the lamb feeding in- dustry in Colorado, an industry that put the farmers on their feet and enabled them to pay off their debts, improve their farms and build new homes. For the purpose of showing the growth of the in- dustry I will give figures showing the number of lambs fed in the county, year by year, for a series of years :
In the winter of 1889. 2,500
In the winter of 1890. 3,500
In the winter of 1891. 6,000
In the winter of 1892. 30,000
In the winter of 1893 40,000
In the winter of 1894. 60,000
In the winter of 1895 80,000
In the winter of 1896. 128,000
In the winter of 1897 193,000
In the winter of 1898. .250,000
In the winter of 1899 .300,000
In the winter of 1900. 350,000
In the winter of 1901. 400,000
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Since 1901 the number of sheep and lambs fed each winter in the county has ranged from 250,000 to 400,000 until this year (1910). Owing to the lack of an adequate water supply and the ravages of grasshoppers the alfalfa crop was light and many feeders were compelled, for the want of sufficient hay, to cut down their purchases of lambs for winter feeding and others to temporarily drop out of the business entirely for the same reason. It is esti- mated that the feeding pens of the county will not contain more than 75,000 sheep and lambs this year.
From Larimer county . the industry spread to other agricultural counties of the state so that in ordinary seasons Colorado turns off about a million and a half of fat lambs every spring. At first the lambs cost the feeders from $1.25 to $1.50 each and their winter's operations brought them a good snug profit. Late years, however, the range flock masters have increased the price so that now a 60-pound lamb costs from $3.50 to $4.00, thus reducing the feed- ers' profits. The industry has proved a blessing to Larimer county in many ways. It has enriched the farms and brought them up to a high state of fer- tility through the distribution and plow- ing under of the manure. It has paid the interest on the mortgage and saved the home. In many instances it has paid the mortgage. It has enabled many a struggling farmer to get out of debt and to bring into his home some of the comforts of life. It has enabled many a farmers' boy or girl to satisfy an ambition for a higher education than he or she could receive at the public schools.
At first the feeders were obliged to borrow money at the banks with which to buy their lambs and corn, and the banks were very accommodating and did their share toward building up the industry. Now most of the feeders are independent of the banks and some of them are prepared to assist their less fortunate neighbors by loans for use in stocking their feeding pens and the purchase of corn. It is a significant fact that the banks have never lost a dol- lar during the twenty years they have been loaning money to sheep feeders, their loans always being promptly paid when the lambs were sold. Since the winter of 1890, when the lamb feeding industry had its beginning, more than 4,000,000 sheep and lambs have been fattened in and marketed from Larimer county.
The alfalfa crop has also prepared the way for the profitable feeding and fattening of cattle and tens of thousands of fat steers and cows are now shipped to market every spring. Twenty years ago it was a rare thing to see a car load of fat cattle sent away to market from the county. To Senator W. A. Drake belongs the credit of having received the high- est price ever paid in Chicago for Larimer county fed lambs, which was in the spring of 1910 when he sold a shipment at the rate of $10.25 per hundred pounds. Mr. Drake is perhaps the most successful stock feeder in the county, his feeding pens annually containing from 30,000 to 40,000 lambs, which he feeds out during the winter months and markets in Chicago.
BEGINNING OF COLORADO AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE
Colorado State Agricultural College
The origin of the State Agricultural college of Colorado, like that of its sister institutions in other states, dates back to an act of Congress, approved July 2nd, 1862. Therein it is proposed to endow in the several states and territories, by grants of public lands, "a college where the leading object shall be, without excluding other scientifie and classical studies, and including military tactics, to teach such branches of learning as are related to Agriculture and the Mechanics Arts, in such man- ner as the Legislatures of the States may respectively prescribe, in order to promote the liberal and prac- tical education of the industrial classes in the several pursuits and professions of life."
This act gave the Colorado Agricultural College an endowment of 90,000 acres of land. From the sale and rental of these lands the college is receiv- ing a steadily increasing income, year by year.
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The Territorial Legislature took advantage of the concession and accepted the grant made by congress and in 1870 passed an act establishing and locating the Agricultural College of Colorado at Fort Col- lins in Larimer county. This act also named the first board of trustees as follows: James M. Smith, Timothy M. Smith, John S. Wheeler, Hugh Mason, Jesse M. Sherwood, B. T. Whedbee, A. K. Yount, A. F. Howes, H. C. Peterson, Joseph Mason, A. H. Patterson and John C. Matthews, nearly all of them at that time residents of Lari- mer county, whose exertions procured the passing of the act by the Territorial Legislature locating the proposed institution here, conditional upon the donation of two hundred and forty acres of land. The land, a fine tract well suited to the pur- pose, was donated by Arthur H. Patterson, 80 acres; Robert Dalzell, 30 acres; Joseph Mason, H. C. Peterson and John C. Matthews, 50 acres; The Larimer County Improvement com- pany, 80 acres, making in all 240 acres. The deeds to these lands were executed in January, 1871, Dec- ember, 1872 and in January, 1873.
The Territorial Legislature of 1872, amended the act passed in 1870 by naming a new board of trustees, to-wit: T. M. Smith, H. C. Peterson, J. M. Sherwood, B. H. Eaton, A. H. DeFrance, Samuel H. Elbert, J. M. Paul, A. F. Howes, Gran- ville Berkeley, A. K. Yount, G. M. Chilcott and B. T. Whedbee. In 1874 the Territorial Legislature appropriated $1,000 to aid in erecting buildings and making other improvements on the grounds. This appropriation was made contingent upon a like sum being donated by citizens of the county. The donation was raised in Fort Collins and this, with the legislative appropriation, enabled the trustees to erect a small brick building and secure certain neces- sary water rights for the farm.
The Constitutional Convention, held in 1876, permanently located the college at Fort Collins by constitutional provision and, by an act of the first General assembly passed in 1877, an entire re- organization of the board was effected, changing the title from board of trustees to the State Board of Agriculture and authorizing the levy of a tax of one tenth of a mill on the taxable property of the state to provide a fund for the erection of a suitable building. The act gave the Governor the power, by and with the consent of the senate, to appoint the members of the board. Before the session ad- journed, Governor John L. Routt sent to the Senate the names of N. W. Everett, of Jefferson county ; John Armor, of Arapahoe county; B. S. La
Grange, of Weld county; P. M. Hinman, of Boulder county; William Bean, John J. Ryan, Harris Stratton and W. F. Watrous of Larimer county which the senate promptly confirmed. The first official meeting of this board was held in March, 1877, in Denver, when W. F. Watrous was elected president and Harris Stratton, secre- tary. The College tax for 1877 and 1878 amounted to about $8,000, which was expended in the erec- tion of a building, planting a nursery of forest, fruit and shade trees, and otherwise improving the grounds. The contract price of the building was $7,280, but it cost several hundred dollars more
ADMINISTRATION BUILDING, COLORADO AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE
than that sum which the contractor and his bonds- men had to lose. The corner stone was laid July 27th, 1878, by the Grand Lodge of Masons of Colo- rado, with appropriate ceremonies, and the build- ing was completed in December of that year. The building committee was composed of W. F. Watrous, W. A. Bean, B. S. LaGrange, Harris Stratton and John J. Ryan. George E. King, of Boulder, was the architect, H. C. Baker, of Boulder, builder, Andrew Armstrong, of Fort Collins, super- intendent. The sub-contractors were Charles Brotherton, cut stone; Boyd & Weldon, brick work; O'Neil & Thorn, plastering, Wallace & Graves, painting; Tedmon Bros., tin work.
The General assembly of 1879 increased the tax levy for the college to one-fifth of a mill and authorized the board to borrow $2,000 in anticipa- tion of the tax collections for use in furnishing the .building ready for the opening of school, which had been set for September 1st, of that year.
The college opened on Monday, September 1st, 1879, with 25 students enrolled. The faculty was composed of Dr. E. E. Edwards, Ph. D., President; A. E. Blount, A. M., Professor of practical Agri-
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HISTORY OF LARIMER COUNTY, COLORADO
culture and Farm Superintendent; F. J. Annis, Professor of Chemistry and Mathematics.
The second year of the college opened in the year 1880, in September, with an enrollment of fifty- seven students - thirty-five males and twenty-two females. · From this on the enrollment of registered students increased year by year as the institution increased in age, until, on June 30th, 1910, the total number was 878. This, for a mountain state with a population esti- mated at between 800,000 and 900,000 souls is a most gratify- ing showing.
The first commencement ex- ercises were held in June, 1884, when the B. S. degree was con- ferred upon three graduates, George H. Glover, Miss Eliza- beth Coy and Leonidas Loomis. Mr. Glover is now the head of the department of Veterinary Science of his Alma Mater ; Miss Coy, the wife of Professor' James W. Lawrence, head of the department of Mechanical Engineering at the college, and Mr. Loomis is a prosperous far- mer and stock man of the Caché la Poudre Valley.
Additions were made to the faculty and teaching force from time to time as the enrollment of students increased and condi- tions demanded, until at the present time, there are thirty members of the faculty, includ- ing the secretary, and twenty- six instructors and assistants. During its thirty-one years of existence, the college has had six presidents, Dr .. E. E. Ed- wards, from 1879 to 1882; Dr. Charles L. Ingersoll, from 1883 to 1890; Dr. Alston Ellis, from 1891 to 1899; Dr. B. O. Aylesworth, from 1900 to 1909. Professor J. W. Lawrence, dean of the faculty, served as acting president from 1890 to 1891. Dr. Charles A. Lory was
elected president to succeed Dr. Aylesworth in June, 1909, and is now the head of the institution.
Under the authority of an act of congress, ap- proved March 2nd, 1887, generally known as the
BUILDINGS ON COLLEGE CAMPUS. UPPER, CONSERVATORY OF MUSIC. MIDDLE, CIVIL AND IRRIGATION ENGINEERING. LOWER, MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
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Hatch Act, an Agricultural Experiment station was organized and established at the college in Feb- ruary, 1888. This act appropriated $15,000 an- nually for research, investigation and experiments
along the lines of agriculture, horticulture and animal husbandry, and in the arid states the water problem which arises out of their systems of irri- gation. The act provided that the results of these investigations and of the prac- tical experiments should be pub- lished in Station bulletins to be issued from time to time as the investigations were completed. The bulletins issued by Colo- rado Experiment Station in compliance with the act, cover a wide range of industrial top- ics, and are conceded to be among the most notable and valuable contributions to the literature on the subjects inves- tigated that have been made to the science of agriculture.
On the 30th of June, 1910, the total estimated value of the College property, including lands, buildings, apparatus, li- brary, machinery and live stock, was $688,267. On the 30th of June, 1878, the total value of all the property belonging to the college was $5,000. The col- lege buildings now include the Main building, the largest on the grounds. It contains offices for the President, Secretary, Registrar, Director of Farmers' Institutes, Commandant, Rocky Mountain Collegian, the Col- lege Magazine, Y. M. C. A. and Y. W. C. A .; offices and class rooms for the department of English, Mathematics, Mod- ern Languages, History and Literature, Constitutional His- tory and Irrigation Law; an auditorium with opera chairs for seating 900 persons, an armory 40 by 72 feet, the gym- nasium, and a laboratory used by the department of physics.
Large Chemical building, Electrical Engineering building, Old Domestic Science building, Household Arts building, erect- ed this year (1910) at a cost of $50,000. This is the gift of
BUILDINGS ON COLLEGE CAMPUS. UPPER, ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING BUILDING. MIDDLE, LILY POND AND CAMPUS. LOWER, AGRICULTURAL HALL
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United States Senator Simon Guggenheim. Horti- cultural Hall, Mechanical Engineering building, Mechanical and Electrical Engineering Laboratory, Civil and Irrigation Engineering building, com- . pleted Feb. 1st, 1910, Agricultural Hall, Stock Judging pavilion, Greenhouse and Forcing Houses, Veterinary buildings, four in all.
Farm buildings, including barn, sheds, sheep barn, piggery, machinery sheds, farm blacksmith shop and poultry houses.
Farm Mechanics building.
Library, with room for 40,000 bound volumes and 50,000 unbound pamphlets and bulletins, office and reading room.
Zoological building, a handsome two story struct- ure.
The wisdom of the Territorial Legislature and the Constitutional Convention in locating and estab- lishing the Colorado Agricultural College at Fort Collins has been confirmed by subsequent events and the development of agriculture in its vicinity. The institution is situated in the richest and most productive section of the state, where farming by irrigation has reached a very high stage of develop- ment. It is also in the midst of fine scenery and near enough to the mountains for class excursions to study geology, botany, entomology, native flora forestry, and fauna.
Cramped and hindered in its great work by the lack of means, it took the college many years to get on its feet and be able to demonstrate its usefulness, but during the past score of years it has attained a rank and standing equal to the very best of similar institutions in the United States. Indeed, it out ranks them all in many respects. Its graduates are sought after by Agricultural colleges in all parts of the United States, to fill positions as professors and instructors. Many of them are employed by the government in the reclamation service, in the forestry service and in scientific research and ex- permanent work. A number of the graduates in civil and irrigation engineering have attained emi- nence in the government's reclamation service, and are recognized the country over as being the best fitted and best qualified constructive engineers in that service. The college has done and is doing a grand good work for Colorado and the arid regions of the west, yearly graduating from its class rooms young men and young women who promptly take high rank as civil and irrigation engineers, scientists, and instructors and who are filling important and responsible positions in the industrial and scientific world. While the institution has had a remark-
able growth since it came into being, considering the unfavorable conditions encompassing its incep- tion and the obstacles it has had to overcome, it is not a wild guess to predict for it a still brighter future.
The present State Board of Agriculture is com- posed of :
Term Expires
Hon. T. J. Ehrhart, Centerville 1919
Hon. Chas. Pearson, Durango.
1919
Hon. R. W. Corwin, Pueblo .. 1913
Hon. A. A. Edwards, Fort Collins 1913
Hon. F. E. Brooks, Colorado Springs. 1915
Hon. J. L. Brush Greeley.
1915
Hon. J. C. Bell, Montrose.
1917
Hon. E. M. Ammons, Littleton
1917
Governor John F. Shafroth
President Chas. A. Lory.
Ex-Officio.
As a means of showing the growth of the institu- tion since it was opened in September, 1879, with only three members of the faculty, and the extent and character of the work carried on along edu- cational lines, the following list of officers, board committees, members of the faculty, instructors and assistants is herewith appended :
OFFICERS
Hon. A. A. Edwards. .President
Hon. Jared L. Brush. Vice-President
L. M. Taylor. . Secretary
Geo. A. Webb. Treasurer
STANDING COMMITTEES
Executive-A. A. Edwards, J. L. Brush, E. M. Am- monds.
Finance-F. E. Brooks, R. W. Corwin, J. L. Brush.
Farm, Stock and Veterinary Science-T. J. Ehrhart, J. L. Brush, John C. Bell.
Faculty and Courses of Study-E. M. Ammons, F. E. Brooks, John C. Bell.
Botany, Horticulture and Entomology-R. W. Corwin, E. M. Ammons, T. J. Ehrhart.
Mathematics, Engineering and Military Science-Chas. Pearson, T. J. Ehrhart, E. M. Ammons.
Chemistry-F. E. Brooks, John C. Bell, R. W. Corwin. College Lands and Leases-John C. Bell, J. L. Brush, Chas. Pearson.
College Buildings and Permanent Improvements-J. L. Brush, E. M. Ammons, R. W. Corwin.
Home Economics, Library and Music-R. W. Corwin, T. J. Ehrhart, Chas. Pearson.
History, Literature, English and Rhetoric-C. A. Lory, Chas. Pearson, J. L. Brush.
Farmers' Institutes-E. M. Ammons, John C. Bell, F. E. Brooks.
Salaries-E. M. Ammons, F. E. Brooks, Chas. Pearson.
FACULTY
Chas. A. Lory, M. S., LL. D. (Univ. of Colorado), President.
James W. Lawrence, M. E. (C. A. C.), Dean of the Faculty and Professor of Mechanical Engineering.
Clarence P. Gillette, M. S. (Mich. Agr. College), Pro- fessor of Zoology and Entomology, and Director of the Experiment Station.
William P. Headden, A. M., Ph. D. (Giessen), Profes- sor of Chemistry and Geology.
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Edward B. House, B. S. (E. E.), (Univ. of Mich.), M. S. (C. A. C.), Professor of Civil and Irrigation En- gineering.
Virginia H. Corbett, B. L., M. Ph. (Iowa State Col- lege), Associate Professor of History and Literature and Adviser of Women.
George H. Glover, M. S., D. V. M. (Iowa State Col- lege), Professor of Theory and Practice, and Head of Division of Veterinary Science.
William Russell Thomas, A. B. (Williams), Litt. D. (Denver Univ.), Associate Professor of Constitutional His- tory and Irrigation Law.
B. F. Coen, B. L. (Univ. of Wisconsin), Professor of English.
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