USA > Colorado > Larimer County > History of Larimer County, Colorado > Part 38
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delay resulted in giving the Southern Utes an op- portunity to attack the Overland stage on the Laramie Plains. On the 5th of July, these Indians raided the stage company's station at Cooper Creek and ran off all the stock, and the same night they visited Medicine Bow station and carried away all the provisions and stripped the keepers of the sta- tion, Hazzard and Nicholls, of their clothing.
In the meantime Lieut. Col. W. O. Collins of the 11th Ohio Volunteer Cavalry, commanding the post at Fort Laramie, was ordered to send two companies of his regiment to take the place of the Colorado troops sent to join General Connor's forces at Fort Bridger. Companies B and F of the Ohio troops in command of Capt. William H. Evans, were sent to Laporte in pursuance of this order, arriving the latter part of May, 1864. The camp or post, which before this had no distinction, was christened Camp Collins in honor of Lieut. Col. W. O. Collins. A portion of Capt. Evan's troops occupied the cabins left by the Colorado soldiers and the remainder lived in tents.
Laporte at the time was the county seat of Larimer county, a station on the Overland stage line and the most important trading and distributing point north of Denver. Quite a large settlement of white people had centered there and nearly all lines of business were represented. The duty of the Ohio troops was the same as that performed by the Colorado soldiers, the patroling and guarding the Overland stage line and protect- ing emigrants and settlers from Indian depredations. It was because the Indians had become more dar- ing and more troublesome with the opening of the spring and their raids and depredations more fre- quent, that General Schofield, commander of the department, deemed it wise in the interest of safety, to send two companies of cavalry here at that time to take the place of the one company of Colorado troops. The new comers found plenty to do and none of them ate the bread of idleness that summer. They were required to patrol the stage line and escort the coaches and emigrant trains every day from Laporte to Virginia Dale; were detailed on detached duty at Fremont's Orchard, Latham, Camp Mitchell, Big Laramie station, Cooper creek, Willow Springs and Vir- ginia Dale.
A great body of snow fell in the mountains in the winter of 1863-4, filling the gulches and ravines to the depth of several feet, and the snow was from four to six feet deep in the timber on the hillsides. From the barren mountain tops above timber line
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the snow had blown off into the timber, gulches and ravines where it became packed and as hard as an ice-bed, almost. The foothills near the Plains were covered with a heavy growth of timber which held the snow in place, preventing it from drifting, so that back in the hills there was an immense quan- tity of water making material.
"The summer of 1863," says Gen. Frank Hall in his History of Colorado, "was marked by a pro- tracted drouth which dried up the smaller streams, and prevented the growth of crops in the limited area then cultivated. Earlier than usual, about the middle of October, one of the severest winters ever known in this latitude set in, with frequent heavy snows and very cold weather. Those who had stock on the range lost it, supply trains were block- aded, and many abandoned. It seemed impossible to maintain any sort of communication with the States. The stages, under ordinary circumstances would push through when it was possible for any living force to face the bitter blasts, were delayed ; the drivers, bewildered and lost in the furious wind- blown snows, wandered about wildly on the track- less prairies."
In the spring of 1864, under the influence of the sun's warm rays the great masses of snow melted on the foothills and torrents of water came pouring down from the slopes into the channel of the Cache la Poudre, swelling the stream even with its banks. On the 9th of June, an extraordinary rain storm set in on the water shed of the upper part of the river, melted the snow in the higher altitudes and an enormous volume of water laden with drift-wood, poured into the already swollen channel, and the sullen roar of the rushing stream as it burst out of the canon was heard for a long distance. On reach- ing the Plains, the water spread out and sub- merged the bottom lands from bluff to bluff, to a depth of several feet. The storm occurred in the afternoon and the raging torrent, plunging like the waves of the sea under the impulse of a gale, swept down through the soldier's camp in the night al- most without warning. Tents, clothing, accoutre- ments, ordinance and ordinance stores and some of the cabins were carried away and the soldiers, awakened from sleep, fled for their lives to the near- est bluff. Some of them sleeping in the cabins and unable to open the doors because of the pressure of water against them, crawled out through chimneys and jumping from the roof into the water, waded to dry land. The poor fellows were in a sorry plight the remainder of the night without shelter and many of them with only the clothes they slept
in to protect them from the chilling rain which was still falling. When morning broke a scene of deso- lation presented itself to view. The camp grounds were completely submerged and only the roofs of cabins that had withstood the on-rush of water were visible, while as far as the eye could reach up and down the river nothing but a surging sea of muddy water could be seen. Fortunately no lives were lost, but there were several narrow escapes by the settlers on the bottom lands. In Laporte all the cellars and floors of the buildings were deluged, and the inhabitants had to seek higher ground. Several lost everything they possessed.
The storm which brought on the flood in the Caché la Poudre was general in the northern part of the Territory and Denver, the Boulder, St. Vrain and Big Thompson valleys suffered severely from its effects. Great waves of muddy water came down Cherry creek and poured over and sub- merged West Denver, doing a vast amount of dam- age. Among the buildings which were wholly de- stroyed and carried in fragments down the Platte river were the Methodist church, the office of the Rocky Mountain News and the City Hall. Por- tions of the heavy machinery of the News office were carried down the river and never recovered. The low lands in the Big Thompson valley were submerged, settlers' cabins were washed away and gardens and meadows destroyed.
Soon after the storm ceased and the sun came out from behind the clouds, the waters began to recede and it was not long until they had fallen back to the channel, leaving the bottom lands uncovered. The channel ran bank full, however, through a good part of the month of June. A report of the disaster that had overtaken the soldiers was sent to Col. Collins at Fort Laramie, and he directed Capt. Evans, commander of the post, to look up a new location for the camp, one that would be beyond danger of floods in the future. Capt. Evans sent Lieut. James W. Hanna with a detail of soldiers down the river in the month of July in search of the desired location. The party followed the river on the north side down to the mouth of Boxelder creek, forded the stream there and returned to camp via the south side of the stream, fording again at La- porte. In coming up the south side of the river they met Joseph Mason, who then lived on the place so long owned and occupied by the late Wil- liam F. Watrous. Mr. Mason called Lieut. Hanna's attention to the site now occupied by the city of Fort Collins, and describing its advantages, urged a favorable report of the ground to Col.
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Collins. This Lieut. Hanna promised to do. He along the best routes. The record of the last two kept his promise and sent through Capt Evans, a days' travel is herewith copied : flattering description of the site, giving its prox- imity to the river, situation on the high dry land with good drainage and a fine view of the surround- ing country for miles in each direction. One great objection to the old camp grounds at Laporte, in addition to its liability to be flooded in times of high water, was that it was hemmed in by bluffs and hog backs so that the view was restricted in each direc- tion, making it possible for Indians to swoop down upon the camp unseen and run off the troopers' horses.
At the time Lieut. Hanna made his survey there was not a house nor even a cabin on the south side of the river from Joseph Mason's home to the Sher- wood place, a distance of about five miles, and thou- sands of prairie dogs had possession of the site se- lected for the new camp. Soon after receiving Lieut. Hanna's report, Col. Collins left Fort Lara- mie with a guard of soldiers, for Camp Collins for the purpose of a personal inspection of the location recommended. He arrived at Laporte on the 13th of August. He remained there a week, leaving on on the return to Fort Laramie via Fort Halleck, August 21st. On the way down from Fort Lara- mie, Col. Collins kept a daily journal noting num- ber of miles traveled each day, the stopping places at night and describing the character of the country and the road traversed. At the request of Mr. Francis C. Grable of Fort Collins, Mrs. Catherine W. Collins, widow of Col. Collins, sent him from her home in Hillsboro, Ohio, this journal and several other papers of historical value, which have, with Mrs. Collins' consent, been presented to the Association of Pioneer Women of the Cache la Poudre valley for preservation. The list of papers include:
A pen map made of Camp Collins ;
Autograph letter of Col. Collins ; Journal ;
Circular of the Overland Stage Company ;
Photograph of Col. Collins and Mrs. Collins' letter of transmission.
The journal sent by Mrs. Collins is endorsed in Col. Collins' handwriting as follows :
"Journal of trip to Camp Collins from Fort Laramie, August 8th to August 13th, 1864."
It enters into details concerning roads, grass, water and wood. No doubt such a record was re- quired by the army regulations in those early days so that all movements of troops might be made
"Friday, August 12th, left camp about 6 a. m .; road hilly and circuitous, water in one or two small branches, especially on Little Crow creek. A few miles from camp where party with prisoners from Camp Collins had camped last night; met them two or three miles from our camp. Road thence broken, circuitous and latter part muddy to Jack Springs, when stopped for noon; distance about twenty-two miles. Road generally good; no wood or water. Grasshoppers appeared in swarms as we left camp. Camped for night on Boxelder. Fine running stream, plenty of flood wood, good grass; distance fourteen miles. Total 36 miles in day."
"Saturday, August 13th, left camp at 7 o'clock ; got to Camp Collins on Caché la Poudre about 11 o'clock. Road good but no water or wood, but grass plenty. Caché la Poudre fine stream coming out of mountains just above camp; distance about fourteen miles. Summary :
From Fort Laramie to Cherry Springs 24 miles
Camp on Chug. 30 miles
Camp on Horse creek. 30 miles
Camp on Crow creek. 20 miles
Camp on Boxelder. 36 miles
Camp Collins. 14 miles
Total 154 miles
While at old Camp Collins, Col. Collins inspected the new site for a post, the condition of the troops and his report of the way he found things and what he did is embodied in a report to General R. B. Mitchell, commanding the district of Nebraska, which follows:
"Hd. Qrs. 11th O. V. C. in the Field at Camp Collins, Colo. Ter., Aug 21st, 1864.
"To Gen. R. B. Mitchell,
Comdg. Dist. of Nebraska.
"I respectfully report that I have arrived at this Post, on the 14th inst. Found companies B and F 11th O. V. C. stationed here partly in quarters upon detached service, health of the troops excellent and the discipline creditable to officers and men.
"On careful examination and inquiry, I became satisfied that the good of the service required a change in the location of the post. The present site is within the town of Laporte, where the claims of lot holders seriously interfere with military inter- ests, the ground is subject to overflow, the whole having been under water and much public property
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HISTORY OF LARIMER COUNTY, COLORADO
destroyed about the 10th of June last, and the space being too contracted for military purposes.
"I therefore determined to select new grounds in the vicinity and fortunately was able to find a locality having superior advantages in the way of wood, water and grass without danger of overflow
-
LIEUT .- COL. WM. O. COLLINS
and where sufficient territory could be obtained without interfering with the claims of any citizens. "I enclose a copy of an order appropriating the ground and directing the removal of the troops and stores to the same and respectfully ask its approval. This post is likely to be an important one and I find a contract for the delivery of 2,000 tons of hay by the order of the Quartermaster of the Depart- ment which indicates an intention to winter a large number of troops and stock in the vicinity. The great alarm existing from attacks made and threat- ened by the Indians seemed to make it proper that I should visit Denver to consult with the authori- ties, and I made a hasty trip to that place, being absent from this post but three days. I found martial law proclaimed, business suspended and a regiment of volunteers rapidly raising which is to take the field in a few days. Its destination is the valley of the South Platte and the coun- try south towards the waters of the Republi- can and Arkansas, where the Cheyennes, Kiowas, Apaches and other Indians have recently been committing serious outrages and depredations. No part of these volunteer forces will prob- ably go north of the valley of the South Platte.
There is a considerable number of Arapahoes in the neighborhood of this post, but they profess friendship and as yet have committed no acts of hostility. Several parties of Utes have recently crossed the Overland stage road west of this post, going north to 'look for Sioux' as they say, but who protest they will harm no white men. Gov. Evans and Maj. Whiting (Indian Agent) assure me they have full confidence in their professions, and sug- gest that they be permitted to make war upon the Cheyennes and Arapahoes and Sioux who are their hereditary enemies. At this time all the Indians need watching and I shall care that they are care- fully observed. Capt. Evans' Company F, com- manding the two companies stationed at this post, is ordered to hold them in readiness to pursue Indians at any moment and detachments are con- stantly out scouting, escorting and garrisoning points supposed to be liable to attack. Most of the settlers on Caché la Poudre river, Thompson and other streams are abandoning their ranches and gathering into this post for protection. I think much of the alarm unnecessary and hope the panic
MRS. WM. O. COLLINS
will soon subside. I am about starting for Fort Halleck from which post I will communicate with you. Very respectfully your obdt. sevt., "WM. O. COLLINS, Lt .- Col., "Comd'g 11th O. V. C."
The date of the foregoing report corresponds with the date of the birth of Fort Collins, for on that date Col. Collins issued an order appropriating the ground for military purposes and directing the
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removal of the troops and stores to the new Camp Collins, although it does not appear that any of the soldiers occupied the new site until a few days later. The active work of constructing the new camp was immediately begun, however, by sending men into the hills to cut and prepare timbers for quarters for the officers and men and for the stables.
Col. Collins had, on his first visit, directed that a military reservation four miles square be set off and that a description, giving metes and bounds, be sent to the war department at Washington for approval. On the 12th of November the acting Secretary of the Interior addressed the following letter to President Lincoln, recommending the es- tablishment of the reservation :
"Department of the Interior,
"Washington, D. C., Nov. 12, 1864.
"Sir :-
"I have the honor to recommend that a reserva- tion for military purposes be made of a tract of land situated in township number 7, north range 69 west, in the territory of Colorado, and described as follows :
"Beginning in the center of the main channel of the Cache la Poudre river where the east line of the claim of Joseph Mason crosses the same, thence south four miles, thence east four miles, thence north about four miles to the center of the main channel of the Cache la Poudre, thence with the center of the main channel of the said river follow- ing its meanderings' to the place of beginning.
"The letter of the Secretary of War of the 3rd and the report of the Commissioners of the General Land Office of the 12th inst. relative to this sub- ject I respectfully submit herewith.
"I am Sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
W. T. OTTO, "Acting Secretary."
This letter bore the following endorsement:
"Executive Mansion,
"November 14, 1864.
"Let the tract of land within described be set apart as a military reservation pursuant to the recommendation of the acting Secretary of the In- terior. A. LINCOLN."
The reservation was surveyed in 1864 by Wm. Ashley and Hiram Witter and contained 6,168.92 acres of land.
The Joseph Mason claim mentioned in the recommendation of the acting Secretary of the In- terior, was later owned by Henry Forbes, then by
James L. Allen, who sold it to W. F. Watrous. The reservation was relinquished by the government and thrown open to homestead and preemption entries in 1872, under the provisions of an act of Congress, approved May 15th, of that year.
Valuable Record Book
While Judge M. E. Hocker was dealing in drugs in Laramie, Wyoming, in 1876, a man came to him with a book containing the morning reports and orders of the commanding officer at Camp Collins, and asked the Judge what he should do with it. The Judge looked the book through and saw that it contained records of events of historical value that would be of special interest to the people of Fort Collins, so he said to the man "Leave the book with me and I will send it to Frank Stover". He did so and Mr. Stover has been in possession of the book ever since. Through his kindness, I am per- mittted to copy from it as freely as I wish. The book is well preserved and the hand-writing in which the reports and orders are recorded is clear and distinct, showing but little the effect of age. The special orders issued by the commanding officers are num- bered from 1 to 187. These are followed in the book by a new series of general and special orders, the last one being numbered 16 and dated June 25th, 1865.
Special order No. 1 is dated Camp Collins, Colo- rado Territory, June 28th, 1864, and reads as fol- lows :
"Serg't B. F. McClermont Company E 11th O. V. C. and temporarily assigned to Company F 11th Reg't O. V. C. is released from duty at this camp and is hereby ordered to Fort Halleck D. T. to report without delay to Major Mackey for duty.
"By order, "CAPT. W. H. EVANS,
"Comd'g Camp Collins."
As most of the orders relate to details of soldiers to act as escorts to stage coaches, to the U. S. Pay- master or for guard or camp duty, only those having special bearing on conditions as they existed at that period or are of historical interest will be quoted, some of them at length and others by reference :
Order No. 2, signed by Capt. Evans gives notice that "any citizen who shall be detected in Larimer county of giving or selling liquor to sol- diers of Company F 11th Ohio Cavalry, without the written permit of the commander of Camp Collins, will be visited with the severest punish- ment."
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Order No. 3, dated July 4th, 1864, assigns Acting Assistant Surgeon T. M. Smith to duty at the camp. Dr. Smith was the pioneer physician and surgeon of Fort Collins and is kindly remem- bered by many of those who lived here as late as 1882, when he went to Virginia, where he died a few years later. Dr. Smith remained in the Cache la Poudre valley for several years after the soldiers left and was elected County Treasurer in 1872.
quarters and barracks for private soldiers and the Post Quartermaster had the logs hauled to the new camp grounds by government teams. Here the logs were fitted and put in place by other details of soldiers under the direction of Private Harold F. Elborn, post carpenter. The doors, windows and hardware for the buildings were procured at Den- ver and the lumber for the floors and roof and the shingles were obtained at Obenchain's saw-mill,
CAMP COLLINS IN 1865
By an order issued July 1st, Antoine Janis was appointed to act as guide and interpreter for the post. Mr. Janis located on the claim on which the soldiers were camped at the time this order was issued in 1844, and could speak the language of the Indians fluently. He was an educated man who, by reason of having an Indian woman for his wife, was on friendly terms with the natives.
An order issued August 21 directs that no en- listed men of this camp will be permitted to en- gage themselves to work for citizens without special permission from the commanding officer, owing to the additional labor that will be required in the construction of the new camp. Sergeants of com- panies were directed to see that all axes and other tools were put in order.
Immediately afterwards details of soldiers were sent to the hills to cut logs for buildings for officers'
which stood near where William Falloon now lives, northwest of Laporte.
The plan of the post as designed by Col. Collins, who again visited the camp on September 29th, was carried out as follows :
Parade ground was laid out between what is now Jefferson street and the river north of where the Tedmon house now stands.
The officers' quarters were located immediately south of the parade and the privates' barracks on the east and west sides of the square.
The quartermaster's and the commissary's quar- ters were placed on the west side and the guard house on the east side, while the hospital stood west of the parade grounds on a site selected by Drs. Underhill and Smith. The laundry was placed at a point northwest of the post near the river. The stables were built near the river bank a little to the
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northwest of parade grounds; caves dug in the river bank were also used for stables. The black- smith shop stood on the bottom land east of the Linden street bridge. All buildings except the blacksmith's shop were erected on parallel lines and at right angles with the parade grounds. The south line of the parade grounds was about where the mill race is now.
The work on the buildings progressed rapidly and on September 28th Capt. Evans ordered Lieut. E. L. Pettijohn to take command of the new camp and all troops and government property, and on the
THE OLD GROUT BUILDING
2nd of October Lieut. James W. Hanna was or- dered to go to the new camp and take command of detachment of Company F 11th O. V. C. On the same day Lieut. Hanna was ordered to go down the Cache la Poudre with a detachment of soldiers and arrest "Gov. Briggs" with his wagon and all stores in his charge. In executing the "Gov. Briggs" order Lieut. Hanna seized seven kegs of sour lager beer and four gallons of wine. The beer was poured on the ground and the wine turned over to Dr. Smith for hospital uses.
On the 5th of October Capt. Evans appointed Capt. Wesley Love, Lieut. E. P. Drake and Lieut. E. L. Pettijohn a board of survey to convene at the new camp for the purpose of ascertaining and re- porting claims set up by citizens to any land within the reservation and whether any of the claims are valid and what the value of all labor and material expended upon the same prior to August 20th, 1864. The board reported the same day that there was not a valid claim within the limits of the reserva- tion nor any occupant or improvement of any value on said reservation on August 20th.
Notwithstanding the report of the board of sur- vey, Capt. Evans on the 12th of October issued orders to two trespassers on the reservation to
vacate and remove beyond the limits of the four miles square, giving one of them ten days and the other twenty-four hours to get off. The names of these spurious claimants are not given. They had probably squatted on the reservation for the pur- pose of selling liquor to the soldiers.
On October 7th Capt. Evans appointed Joseph Mason and Henry Chamberlin acting sutlers for the post, giving them the privilege of erecting proper buildings at. or near the new camp and the keeping and vending to the soldiers such goods as were usually kept and sold by army sutlers. In accord- ance with their appointment and the privileges granted them, Messrs Mason & Chamberlin erected a log building on the site now occupied by the Horn block at the corner of Linden and Jeffer- son streets, in which to keep their goods. This was Fort Collins' first mercantile establishment, and it proved to be a great convenience not only for the soldiers but for the settlers as well. Louis B. Taft, a brother-in-law of Mr. Chamberlin, clerked in the store for the firm in the fall of 1864 and part of the winter of 1865. In the spring of 1865, Mr. Chamberlin sold his interest in the store to Major Asaph Allen, former commandant at Fort Halleck, and the firm became Mason & Allen. That year the firm built the "Old Grout," which stood where Frank Stover's drug store now stands, fronting Jefferson street. This building not only afforded the camp sutlers more room in which to carry on their business but it also contained a hall which was used for public purposes for many years and in fact until 1878, when Wilson's hall was built. Harris Stratton was the architect and super- intendent of construction of the "Old Grout". The old building was torn down in the spring of 1882 to make room for Frank Stover's drug store. The "Old Grout" had a remarkable history, which if written up in its entirety, would read almost like a romance. It was a large two story build- ing, with a porch and balcony across the front end. The first floor contained a large store room, a warehouse and living rooms in the rear. The second floor contained a public hall which was reached by an outside stairway. This was the only public hall on the reservation and it was used for many different purposes, including church services, Sunday schools, theatres, lectures and dances. When the county seat was moved down from Laporte in the fall of 1868, the hall was converted into a court- room and county offices. The old building served a splendid purpose in its day and when it was razed
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