History of the Arkansas Valley, Colorado, Part 24

Author: O.L. Baskin & Co
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Chicago : O.L. Baskin & Co.
Number of Pages: 1080

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While in Washington, a basis of agreement, in settlement of the Ute difficulties was arranged be- tween the Indians and the Secretary of the Interior. This agreement was drafted in the shape of a bill

and placed hefore Congress for its adoption. Here was another delaying barrier to the plan of settle- ment which must be overcome. This bill dragged before Congress for several months, but was finally pushed through both branches of Congress, and received the President's signature about the 10th of June, 1880. In all this course of handling, it had received numerous amendments, and its lead- ing features, as it passed over to the tribe for their ratification, were as follows :

It removed the White River band of Utes en- tirely out of Colorado, placing them on the Uintah Reservation, in the Territory of Utah.

The Uncompahgre tribe were removed from their present quarters to the lands in Colorado adjoining Utah, on the Grand River, which could be utilized for agricultural purposes.

The Southern Utes are to be placed upon un- occupied agricultural lands on the La Plata River, in Colorado, provided there is a sufficiency of such lands on that river ; otherwise, such other unoc- cupied agricultural lands as might be found in its vicinity within the State.

It turned over to the people nearly eleven mill- ions of acres of the reservation, which constituted about twelve million acres, all told, and this por- tion turned over comprised the substance of all the mineral land of the entire reservation, while the best part of the agricultural land was retained by the Indians.

One clause of the proposed treaty provided that it should not become valid until ratified by three- fourths of the male members of the Ute nation. The treaty set forth that the unpaid annuity, due from the Government, which had accrued under the old treaty, and now amounting to something over $60,000, should be settled immediately upon

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the ratification of the agreement by the Ute nation. It further provided that the old annuity should be continued, amounting to $25,000 per annum, and that under the new treaty, an additional sum of $50,000 should be paid to the tribes an- nually.

Under the stipulations of the new treaty, it set forth that the head of each family should receive one hundred and sixty acres of agricultural lands, surveyed off by the Government, and a like quan- tity of grazing lands, and for every other Indian eighty acres. The lands thus apportioned were to become the property of each Indian, to be held inalienable for twenty-five years.

Thus the treaty agreement passed Congress, and a commission was appointed to carry it into effect. This commission consisted of Col. Manypenny, of Ohio, Chairman ; Hon. W. S. Stickney, of Wash- ington, Secretary ; Col. John Bowman, of Ken- tucky ; Hon. J. G. Russell, of Iowa; Otto Mears, of Colorado. These gentlemen went immediately to work, and, by the middle of September, 1880, had obtained the signatures of over four-fifths of the male members of the tribe, being more' than the number necessary to carry the agreement into effect.

During the sessions of this commission occurred the death of Ouray, head chief of the Ute nation. He died on the 24th of August, 1880, of disease of the kidney". Some said, at the time, he was probably poisoned by a jealous chief, who held a position subordinate to Ouray. This is generally considered incorrect. As soon as it was known that he was dangerously sick, the best of medical assistance was procured to save his life, but all in vain. Ouray was the greatest diplomat in the whole tribe, and his cunning and careful watchful- ness after the interests of his people is often said to have outgeneraled that of an ordinary Secre- tary of the Interior. He was recognized as the white man's friend, and has, in a large measure, been the means of maintaining peaceful relations between the Government and the Utes during years past. Ouray was a kind-hearted Indian, of | be settled within our borders, in a few years the

noble instincts, if cver there was such a one. In point of intelligence, his successor, Sapavanaro, who was chosen on the 26th of August, is far the inferior of Ouray, but is, nevertheless, at present the recognized head of the Ute nation.

Ignacio, the head of the Southern Utes, had never felt very kindly toward Ouray in late years, and would not recognize him as his superior in au- thority. It is related that when he learned of Ouray's favoring the treaty, he firmly refused to sign it. In this protest he held out for several days. About this time Conatche, an old ex-chief of the Southern Utes, was struck by lightning and killed. This, taken together with the impression left in his mind by Ouray's death, is said to have brought to the front his Indian superstition that the Great Spirit was displeased with his actions, and he very suddenly changed his mind and signed the treaty, and after him followed all the Southern Utes.

"In respect to the sums of money to be paid the Indians, Representative Belford, Senators Hill, and Teller and Gov. Pitkin, all united in sending a request to the Government headquarters that its promises be faithfully kept this time, and thus any further difficulty with the Utes be pre- vented, for a term of years at least. This has been done, the money paid the Indians, and what has not been frittered away for cheap gew-gaws or squan- dered for poor whisky, has probably ere this been gambled off, the Indians being almost without ex- ception inveterate gamblers. For the purpose of carrying into effect those portions of the treaty relating to the selecting and surveying of their lands and the removal of the Indians thereto, the Commissioners recently went to Los Pinos, whence they left for Grand River, accompanied by a large force of United States troops. It is generally un- derstood, however, that not sufficient arable land will be found to answer the purposes of the treaty, and the result will probably be the removal of the entire Ute tribe from the State. This is a " con- summation devoutly to be wished," for, should they

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new settlers will so encroach upon them, and there will be such a demand for the use of their agri- cultural land-which, it will be seen they will not utilize-that the result may be another Ute war in years to come, which, considering the exasper-

ated feeling of our border settlers and the fact that the Ute nation is found to be rapidly decreas- ing, having less than 2,600 Indians in the entire tribe, would probably ultimately result in their utter extinction.

PART II. RAILROAD INTERESTS.

CHAPTER I.

UNION PACIFIC SYSTEM.

CHEYENNE DIVISION.

T HE natural desire of a new community for railroad communication was intensified in the case of Colorado. The expense of freighting across the 600 miles of arid land between the mountains and civilization, and the impossibility of utilizing thousands of tons of low grade ores, lying neglected on the dumps, because the cost of the transportation of means for their reduction was too heavy to permit them to be worked at a profit, rendered the coming of the railroad the most important factor in the development of the State. Of course, so young and comparatively poor a community could not be expected to do much in the way of railroad building, but it was willing to help, and watched anxiously the west- ern progress of the rival trunk lines, ready to turn its hands in the direction that gave the promise of the most speedy connection with the Great East. In 1865 came the first glimmer of hope. The Union Pacific had then commenced the building of its line, and the faith of the people of Denver in the future greatness of their city was so strong, that they could not understand how a great trans- continental line could afford to pass Denver by on the other side, and so they waited patiently while the northern trunk line pressed steadily onward, every day coming nearer and nearer Denver, and raising the hopes of her citizens. In the latter part of 1866, it began to be whispered that it was possible that the Union Pacific would not touch Denver, but would pass a hundred miles to the

north of this city. This suspicion became a cer- tainty in the early part of 1867, and the people commenced looking for relief from other sources. The Kansas Pacific was then away down in Kan- sas, coming westward certainly, but coming so slowly that it could not be foretold when it would reach Denver, besides the managers of the line were uncertain what to do, whether to build north, con- necting with the Union Pacific, or to build south to Pueblo. The latter town, even at that early day, indulged in the hope of becoming the capital of the future State, and held out strong inducements to the Kansas Pacific, and between the several projects then on foot, there seemed to be but little hope of a railroad reaching Denver, unless its own people took the bull by the horns, and compelled respect from the railway magnates who acted as if they held the destinies of Denver in their hands.

The first loophole of escape from the threat- ened danger to the commercial interests of the city was afforded by a project to build the Colo- rado Central from some point on the Union Pacific road, the intention being to extend the line to the mountain towns, and it was then authoritatively stated that if the Colorado Central would grade the road to Cheyenne, the Union Pacific would complete the construction of the line. On this proposition, a meeting was held at the Plant- er's House July 10, 1867. But few of the lead- ing citizens were present at the meeting, and a public meeting was called for the following even- ing. At this meeting, a resolution was adopted

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requesting the County Commissioners to issue a proclamation calling an election to vote $200,000 in bonds, in aid of the railroad. On the 13th of July, the Commissioners ordered the election for that purpose to take place on August 6, attaching the condition to the call that the road should be built from some point on the Union Pacific road by the most direct route to Denver. Before the day of voting on the proposition, it became ap- parent that the managers of the Colorado Central did not propose to build the road as stipulated, but proposed building on the north and west sides of the Platte, and make the terminus of the road at Golden, sixteen miles west of Denver. This resolution grew entirely out of the attitude assumed by Golden toward Denver, Golden also having aspirations toward becoming the capital, and con- tending that its location was the only point at which the railroad system of Colorado could prop- erly center. In this claim, it was supported by the mountain towns, and thus, at the very outset of her efforts to secure railroad connection with the East, Denver found herself opposed by the most thriving of the outside communities. On account of this suspicion, that the interests of Denver would not be secured by a connection with the Colorado Central, the Commissioners of Arapahoe County so changed the order of election that the issue of the bonds was made conditional upon the construction of the road upon the east bank of the Platte. The result of the vote was 1,160 for, and 157 against the issue of the bonds.

In September, it became apparent that the Col- orado Central Company would not accept the bonds with the condition attached, and for the time the hope of a connection with the Union Pa- cific died, and again the Kansas Pacific seemed to be the dependence of Denver. On November 8, Mr. James Archer, of St. Louis, one of the Kan- sas Pacific Directors, came to Denver, and, at a meeting of the principal business men, gave them to understand that they could only hope to secure the building of the Kansas Pacific to Denver by the contribution of $2,000,000 in county bonds.

Much as a railroad was desired, such a contribu- tion was out of the question, and the only resource was to again seek a connection with the Union Pacific. To facilitate the negotiations, a Board of Trade was organized on November 13. On the following day, George Francis Train arrived in Denver, and, true to his instincts, desired to address the Board of Trade. Accordingly, a meeting was called for that evening, at which he spoke, and at which a provisional board of directors for a railroad company was elected. On the 17th another meeting was held, at which estimates for the con- struction of the road were presented. A com- mittee was appointed to select incorporators, and another committee to learn what changes, if any, were necessary to be made in the incorporation law. On the 18th, the committee reported the organization of a railroad company, under the name of the " Denver Pacific Railway and Tele- graph Company," with a capital stock of $2,000,- 000 and a Board of Directors. On the 19th, at another meeting, the Board of Directors announced that they had elected Hon. B. M. Hughes, Presi- dent ; Luther Kountze, Vice President; D. H. Moffatt, Jr., Treasurer ; W. T. Johnson, Secretary ; F. M. Case, Chief Engineer, and John Pierce, Consulting Engineer. The organization of the company was now complete, and the committee on subscriptions went out at once. Before the fol- lowing night they had secured subscriptions of $225,000. By the 22d, the subscriptions had swelled to $300,000.

An effort was then made to induce the Colorado Central to fulfill the original arrangement, and accept the county bonds, but the offer was refused, and nothing now remained but for the road to depend on its own resources, and the energy of the gentle- men having it in charge. On December 27, the County Commissioners issued a call for a special election, to be held on January 20, 1868, on the question of giving $500,000 in county bonds, in aid of the railroad, for which a like amount in the stock of the company was to be received by the county. On the following day, December 28, 1868, the

CHICAGO LAKES.

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company advertised for proposals for furnishing ties -- the first movement looking to the actual com- mencement of operations. Before the election took place, the Kansas Pacific made repeated efforts to induce the company to build to meet them, but as lines had been established, and the active support of the Union Pacific had been promised, it was thought they had gone too far to recede. At the election, the vote was 1,259 in favor of, and 47 against the bonds. Soon afterward, an arrange- ment was made with the Union Pacific, that com- pany agreeing to complete the road as soon as it should be graded and ticd.

On March 9, 1868, a bill was introduced in Congress granting the road the right of way through the public lands, and soon afterward Gov. Evans and Gen. John Pierce, representing the Denver Pacific, met the Union Pacific Directors in New York City, and there the promises on the part of the Union Pacific, which had heretofore been merely verbal, were reduced to writing. In this memorandum, which was signed by a majority of the Union Pacific Directors, it was agreed that they should execute the contract, when, 1st, the road should be graded and tied ; 2d, the Denver Central and Georgetown Railroad Company should be organized ; and 3d, an application should be made to Congress for a land grant to the Denver Pacific. The contract for the construction of the railroad was let in Cheyenne to Dr. Durant and Sidney Dillon of the Union Pacific, they stipulating to complete the road when the Den- ver parties should have expended $500,000 thereon.

A route was immediately laid out and submitted to the Union Pacific Directory. They asked for a change in the northern part of the proposed line, which was made, but failed to formally approve of the whole line. This delayed the road some time, as the construction of the line before approval by the Union Pacific would render void the contract existing between the two companies. It was finally resolved to commence work on the southern part of the line, which had been accepted by the Union

Pacific, and accordingly ground was broken at the Denver end of the line on May 18, 1868, several thousand people assembling to witness the formal commencement of a road that was inaugurated solely by Denver enterprise and capital. The southern half of the road was graded to Evans in three months.

Early in the session of Congress for 1867-68, a bill was introduced in the Senate for the usual land grant to the Denver Pacific. Before action on the bill was had, an agreement was made with John D. Perry, then President of the Kansas Pacific road, to transfer to the Denver Pacific the land grant of the former company between Cheyenne and Denver. The pending bill was amended in such a manner as to grant a subsidy in bonds to the Kansas Pacific as far as Cheyenne Wells, and the bill, thus made satisfactory, passed the Senate July 25.

In February, 1868, Gen. Hughes resigned the presidency, and Maj. W. F. Jolinson was elected his successor.

In September, 1868, the company commenced grading from Cheyenne, completing the grade along the entire line during the fall. The Union Pacific had so far done nothing toward the fulfill- ment of its contract, and further progress was ne- cessarily delayed.

During the session of 1868-69, the Senate bill was defeated in the House, owing to the popular feeling against railroad subsidies of all kinds, but another bill containing all the important features of the defeated act was passed and approved March 3, 1869, and the road was ready to finish the work which had been fought through, step by step, dur- ing nearly three years. The line was now graded and ties were ready.

December 14, 1868, the first annual meeting of the company took place, at which W. F. Johnson was elected President ; Luther Kountze, Vice President ; D. H. Moffat, Jr., Treasurer, and R. R. McCormick, Secretary. The death of Mr. John- son, March 5, 1869, caused a vacancy, which was filled by the election of Gov. Evans, under whose

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management the road was pushed through to a successful issue, his associates remaining practically unchanged.

In the spring of 1869, an agreement was made with the Union Pacific to cancel the contract, and sell the iron to the Denver Pacific, which company at once entered into a contract with the Kansas Pacific, by which that company agreed to build their road into Denver, and complete the construc- tion of the Denver Pacific, taking a certain amount of Denver Pacific stock. From this time, the difficulties of construction appear to have been overcome, and the building of the road progressed steadily until the 22d day of June, 1870, when a silver spike, contributed by the miners of George- town, completed the first connecting link between Denver and the outside world.

Since its completion, the road has passed through the vicissitudes that so frequently assail Western roads, but in 1880, a consolidation was effected with the Union Pacific and Kansas Pacific, and the road now forms a part of the great Union Pacific system, being known as the Cheyenne Di- vision.

BOULDER BRANCH.

Prior to 1870, all the coal consumed in Denver, as well as the supply for the Denver Pacific Rail- way, was hauled in wagons from the mines, in Boulder County, and the western part of Weld, to the yards in Denver, or to the stations along the line of the above road, and cost, in Denver, about $8 per ton in summer, while in winter it was not unusual for the price to reach and even exceed $15 per ton. It was to meet this demand and reach the coal deposits of Northern Colorado, that a number of prominent citizens, embracing Gov. Evans, Cyrus W. Fisher, Walter S. Cheesman, William E. Turner, William N. Byers, William Wagner and Joseph F. Humphrey, met and or- ganized the Denver & Boulder Valley Railroad Company, with a capital stock of $825,000. The design was to start from a point of connection with the Denver Pacific, and proceed by way of the coal fields of Weld County, up the valley of

Boulder Creek to Boulder City. The company was incorporated October 1, 1870, and operations were begun at once.

Starting from Hughes' Station, now Brighton, eighteen miles north of Denver, the work pro- ceeded without interruption, and the road was completed during the fall of 1870, or the succeed- ing winter as far as the Erie coal mines. Beyond that point its path lay along the beautiful and fer- tile Boulder Valley, through an agricultural dis- trict unsurpassed anywhere in Colorado, past com- fortable homesteads and smiling farms, which had been opened up years before, and whose rich pro- ducts of grain and vegetables were to furnish a considerable portion of the revenue of the new road.

Work, however, progressed but slowly during the next few years, and it was not until 1873 that the road reached Boulder, its, present terminus, from which point a short feeder, known as the Golden, Boulder & Caribou, extends to the Mar- shall coal-banks, in the same county, a distance of six miles. The road was operated under a lease, by the Denver Pacific Company until last year, when it was turned over to Messrs. Gould and Sage, under a mortgage, and is now designated as the Boulder Branch of the Cheyenne Division of the Union Pacific Railway.

JULESBURG BRANCH.

This branch of the Union Pacific, commonly spoken of as the Julesburg Cut-Off, is now nearly completed from Denver Junction, a point five miles east of Julesburg to Evans, on the Cheyenne Division, and forms with the portion of that divis- ion between Evans+ and Denver; a line seventy miles shorter between Omaha and Denver than that now in existence, and following up the Platte River directly to Denver; the grade for the entire distance is an easy and natural one. Upon the completion of this branch, a special Denver train will be put on which will make the run from Omaha to Denver in ten hours less time than at present.

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KANSAS DIVISION.

The Union Pacific Railroad bill was passed by Congress in May, 1862, and in June the follow- ing year, a contract was let to Messrs. Ross, Steele & Co., to build 350 miles of the Kansas branch, and they soon afterward began work at Leaven- worth. Gen. John C. Fremont and Samuel Hal- lett, about the same time, undertook the construc- tion of the main line of the Kansas branch, after- ward known as the Kansas Pacific Railway, and now denominated the Kansas Division of the Union Pacific Railway. They soon after bought out the franchises under which Ross, Steele & Co. were at work at Leavenworth ; and, beginning work at Kansas City on the 7th of July, 1863, they com- pleted forty-three miles of the road-bed on the 18th of the following November. Thus was begun a work which has contributed more than any other enterprise to the rapid progress and permanent greatness of the Centennial State and its capital city. On the 19th of December, 1864, the road was opened to Lawrence, Kan., and in August, 1871, was completed to Denver, which city has remained the western terminus of the road.

The following is a condensed sketch of this great thoroughfare over the 639 miles of its course from the Missouri River to Denver :

Leaving Kansas City, it crosses the Kansas River near its junction with the Missouri, after which its course lies along the north bank of the Kansas, traversing a country whose rich and va- ried scenery of forest, field and stream, forms a most attractive panorama.

Thirty-five miles west of Kansas City and near the city of Lawrence is the junction of the main line with the Leavenworth branch, which extends northeast thirty-four miles to Leavenworth. This is a beautiful and growing city of over twenty-five thousand people, the seat of Fort Leavenworth, one of the most important military posts in the West. Having important railway connections with exten- sive coal mines in the vicinity, with its fine churches, elegant public buildings and progressive people, its future growth and prosperity is assured.

Continuing southwest from its junction with the main line, this branch extends to Carbondale, thirty-two miles distant, and in the midst of the extensive and exhaustless coal-fields of Osage County. Near the junction of the two lines is Bismarck Grove, which during the past few years, has become famous as the spot where have been held some of the largest and most important out- door meetings in the West.

In 1879, the principal gatherings in the grove were the Second Grand National Temperance Camp-Meeting, presided over by Francis Murphy, and the Quarter-Centennial Celebration of the set- tlement of Kansas, participated in by such men as John W. Forney, Edward Everett Hale and Walt Whitman, the poet. At this grove was instituted, during the same year, a church encampment mod- eled after the celebrated Chautauqua Lake Religio- Educational Encampment in New York.

The Grand National Temperance Camp-Meet- ing, from the 20th to the 30th of August, and the first annual fair of the Western National Fair Association from the 13th to the 18th of Septem- ber, were but two of the many important meetings held at Bismarck Grove during the present year.

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History of the Arkansas Valley, Colorado, Part 24

Author: O.L. Baskin & Co Publication date: 1881 Publisher: Chicago : O.L. Baskin & Co. Number of Pages: 1080

Author: O.L. Baskin & Co
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Chicago : O.L. Baskin & Co.
Number of Pages: 1080