History of the Arkansas Valley, Colorado, Part 25

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

USA > Colorado > History of the Arkansas Valley, Colorado > Part 25

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The most important city in the vicinity, educa- tionally and historically, is Lawrence, the scene of the initial struggle of the great conflict between the friends of liberty ou the one side, and the bor- der ruffians on the other, whose history is written in letters of blood, and whose thrilling events marked the period from 1855, to 1858. Lawrence is a beautiful city, the view from College Hill, where is situated the State University of Kansas, being pronounced by Bayard Taylor one of the most magnificent he had ever seen in all his ex- tended travels. The site of Lawrence was fixed in 1854, and it now has a population of ten thou- sand inhabitants.

From Lawrence to Topeka, the capital of the State, the road passes through fertile fields, past cultivated farms and through smiling villages, the homes of peace and plenty, for a distance of twenty- one miles.

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HISTORY OF COLORADO.

The writer recently asked a commercial traveler, who had visited every part of the United States, what city he would choose as a permanent home, and his answer was, " Topeka, Kan., or Denver, Colo " Topeka is a beautiful city. "Its streets are broad, its houses well built, its churches nu- merous and attractive, its society of a high order, its newspapers enterprising, its business interests flourishing, and its political prestige a source of constant life and activity. Its educational in- terests are cared for by Bethany College and Washburne College, and a finely managed body of public schools." From Topeka, west, the road continues to follow the north bank of the Kansas River, to Junction City, a distance of seventy-one miles, passing through immense corn-fields, and a number of flourishing towns. Says a visitor to this section : " I shall not soon forget those amaz- ing maize-fields-say about 200 miles long, and width not measurable by vision, and with a soil rich, strong and bottomless. They are diversified in a mo- saic work of wheat, oats, barley and varied shades of grasses-meadow, prairie grass and clover. The valley is decorated with neat farmhouses and pretty cities, and the most conspicuous features in every settlement are the American emblems of pat- riotic civilization, pretty little churches and com- modious schoolhouses. I would defy stolidity it- self to repress imagination or supress enthusiasm under the impulse of the magical pictures which flit through the visual and mental kaleidoscope, under the inspiration of the electrical atmosphere and the enchanting picture of the prairie pag- eant."

At St. Mary's, one of the towns passed on the way to Junction City, is located the largest Cath- olic school in Kansas, while Manhattan, a town of about two thousand inhabitants, is the seat of the State Agricultural College. Junction City is so called from the fact that the Republican and Smoky Hill Rivers here unite to form the Kansas. From this point, the Junction City & Fort Kearney Branch extends northwest along the Re- publican Valley, through several thriving .. towns

and a most beautiful and delightful section of country, to Concordia, seventy miles away.

Returning to Junction City, the passenger over the Kansas Pacific is hurried rapidly along the north bank of the Smoky Hill River, through prosperous villages to Salina, one hundred and eighty-five miles west of Kansas City, and the headquarters of the land department of the Kan- sas Pacific Railway. Salina contains about four thousand inhabitants, and, in all that goes to make up a typical Western town, is fully equal to any of its size in the West. The Salina & South- western Branch of the Kansas Pacific leaves the main line here for McPherson, thirty-six miles to the south west.

From Salina, the tourist is whirled along seventy-seven miles to Russell, the next most im- portant point west, and thence onward a hundred and fifty-cight miles further, ascending all the way, to Wallace, the last station of any note in Kansas. Leaving Wallace, the State line between Kansas and Colorado is soon passed, and the train rushes on past a number of small stations to First View.

" If the day be clear, the tourist obtains, at this point, the first view of the Rocky Mountains. Towering against the Western sky, more than one hundred and fifty miles away, is Pike's Peak, standing out in this rarified atmosphere with a clearness which deludes the tourist, if it is his first experience, into the belief that he is already in close proximity to the mountains. Henceforth he feels, in the presence of the mighty peaks which disclose themselves one after another, that he has entered another world-a land of unapproachable beauty and grandeur."

The train moves on over the plain, past small stations, the shipping-points for the immense cattle trade of Eastern Colorado, and all the while " the mountains have been unfolding themselves, as if the wand of some fabled necromancer held them in faithful obedience. Peak after peak appears. The shadowy range takes more definite shape; the dark rifts in the canons become visible, and then,

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HISTORY OF COLORADO.

187

in this transparent air, the whole range for two hundred miles bursts full upon the view. Less and less heed is paid to objects close at hand as the tourist moves along in sight of this entrancing panorama. Deer Trail, Byers, Kiowa, Box Elder and Schuyler pass almost unnoticed, for the moun- tains aggrandize as they are approached, and hold the gaze as the beacon-light enchains the mariner at midnight. The train rolls on over the swelling bosom of the prairie, and soon makes its last stop, at Denver, the unique and beautiful City of the Plains."

COLORADO DIVISION.

Of Denver's six railway lines not least in impor- tance is the Colorado Central, or technically speak- ing, at the present time the Colorado Division of the Union Pacific Railway, and in some high respects it is the most noted and best known of all Denver roads. It was the first to penetrate the fastnesses of the mountains, and its sinuous trail in and through Clear Creek Canon has made it famous on two continents. Although other moun- tain roads now vie with the Colorado Central in magnificent scenery, the prestige of the latter has not been diminished in any degree by rivalry, and it is still sought out by all strangers coming to Colorado.

Starting from Denver, this line traverses the entire northern portion of the State, taps the prin- cipal mining centers of this section and carries travelers to some of the spots most famed for scenic beauty and natural grandeur. ' It connects Denver and other Colorado towns with the main line of the Union Pacific at Cheyenne, and thus affords connection with trains east and west on the great continental thoroughfare. The Cheyenne Branch penetrates the very heart of Colorado's best agricultural region, giving the traveler a better idea of our farming resources than he can gain from any other railway transit, and also connects at Boulder with stages for the mining camps of that county. Through Jefferson, Boulder and Larimer Counties this branch is lined, for a great part of its length, with wheat-fields, and passes the

important towns of Golden, Boulder, Longmont, Loveland and Fort Collins.

But it is the mountain division of the road which is the most famous for interesting scenery and unexpected physical development. The moun- tain division is a narrow gauge, and the traveler must needs change cars at Golden unless northward bound. Taking his seat in the narrow-gauge train, he is soon swallowed up, as it were, in the cavern- ous depths of Clear Creek Canon, which is entered at once after leaving Golden. For many miles the road follows the course of Clear Creek, often turn- ing curves which seem beyond accomplishment, and climbing grades which would tax the energy of an ox-team, but which only serve to slacken, not stay, the speed of the iron horse.

The scenery in this grand canon is unparalleled save in the canons of the Colorado and Arkansas Rivers. The rocky walls rise precipitously on either hand to immense heights, almost shutting out the sun, and yet there is nothing gloomy about the scene to mar the pleasure of the traveler. The tourist rides leisurely and comfortably along on a railway car and looks out upon scenery which in Switzerland he would have to climb tediously ou foot to see. The wild waters of Clear Creek rush along at break-neck speed, foaming and roaring among the rocks, giving a better idea of the " down grade" of the road itself than the engineers' fig- ures, for seeing is believing. Great granite walls, not hundreds but thousands of feet high, rise almost perpendicularly over the train, and in one place a chamber has been cut through the over- hanging rock for the passage of the train, there being no room elsewhere sufficient for that pur- pose.

Anon the train glides swiftly across a little val- ley dotted by miners' cabins or more pretentious ranch houses, but for the most part of the distance between Golden and Black Hawk, the cañon is so narrow as to leave no room for side-tracks, and these turn-outs are forced to occupy the gulches which enter the canon almost at right angles. The effect of this arrangement upon travelers is

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often astonishing, as these sidings have the ap- pearance of branch lines leading nowhere. The scenery is thus varied, in some places rough and wild, in others soft and beautiful ; but always and under all circumstances, it is sublime and deeply impressive.

Although the road is largely patronized by sum- mer tourists and sightseers, it does not depend entirely upon this class of traffic for support, as one is speedily convinced upon visiting its moun- tain termini. You take the Colorado Central for Golden, an important industrial city, and the head- quarters of the Colorado Central Company ; for Black Hawk, a large mining town and former loca- tion of Hill's extensive smelting works; for Cen- tral, the county seat of Gilpin County, until recently the largest ore-producing county in Colo- rado ; for Idaho Springs, a famous watering-place as well as an important mining center ; for George- town, the " Silver Queen " and the capital of Clear Creek County ; for Boulder, county seat and prin- cipal town of rich Boulder County, famous for its mines and for its crops ; and for numbers of lesser towns whose tribute of trade is the heritage of the Colorado Central road, in most cases without com- petition.

Middle Park, too, the great hunting-ground, and location of the famous Hot Sulphur Springs, is reached from Denver via the Colorado Central, tour- ists leaving the cars at Empire or Georgetown, at pleasure, and continuing their journey by stage over Berthoud Pass, one of the finest mountain roads in the State. Since Leadville has loomed up so prominently, a new stage road has been built from Georgetown to the carbonate camp, and much Leadville travel follows that line. It is thought that the railroad will shortly be extended over the same route, which is at once direct and prac- ticable.

The inception of this important enterprisc dates back to June, 1861, when the Overland Stage Company was seeking a nearer outlet from Colo- rado to Utah and California. Golden was just then the most ambitious town in Colorado, and

joined with the Stage Company and some public- spirited citizens of Gregory Gulch and Spanish Bar in fitting out an expedition to explore and survey a route for a wagon road from Golden to Salt Lake. Capt. E. L. Berthoud, now, and for many years engineer of the Colorado Central road, headed the party, which was absent from June till September, and explored some 1,100 miles of coun- try west of the starting-point. It was claimed for this important survey, that it established two im- portant facts, viz :

First, that the main difficulties of a good direct wagon route were the first ten miles of the canon of Clear Creek, and the main central range at the Berthoud Pass, 10,914 feet above the sea.

Second, that the country traversed west of this pass was fine valleys, and that excellent coal abounded, while the total distance from Golden to Salt Lake was only 458 miles, thus shortening the overland route fully 200 miles.

Two years later, Hon. W. A. H. Loveland and E. B. Smith, leading citizens of Golden, went be- fore the Territorial Legislature and procured a charter for a wagon road up Clear Creek cañion to the mines. Some work was done on the line, but it was subsequently abandoned as impracticable, and the old wagon road from Golden Gate contin- ued to be the great highway between the valley and the mountains. Loveland never lost faith in the canon route, however, and his next scheme was the building of a railroad where the wagon road had failed.

In the year 1865, the Colorado Central Rail- road Company was chartered. H. M. Teller, John T. Lynch, John A. Nye, William A. H. Love- land, Thomas Mason, A. Gilbert, Milo Lee and E. K. Baxter, of Colorado, with James Mills, George Hoyt, John A. Dix, Ebenezer Cook, W. W. Wright,.Thomas Small, L. C. Pollard and William Bond, of New York ; M. Laflin, of Chicago ; A. Mckinney, of Boston; Samuel Wheelwright, George B. Satterlee, W. V. Ogden and Jonathan Cox were incorporated to build a railroad from Golden westward to Black Hawk, Central City,

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and, by the South Fork, to Idaho and Empire City ; thence over the Berthoud Pass, to the west bound- ary of Colorado, in the direction of Provo City, Utah, and easterly, by Denver, to the east bound- ary of Colorado, and northeasterly, by the coal fields of Jefferson and Boulder Counties, and the valleys of St. Vrain, Big Thompson and Cache la Poudre, and thence to the northeast corner of Col- orado, where the northern branch of the Pacific Railroad intersects said boundary.

At that time, and for some years thereafter, the idea of building a railroad up Clear Creek canon was considered undiluted nonsense, and nobody thought it would ever be done, except Mr. Love- land and a few of his friends, who were inspired by his strong faith in the ultimate success of his scheme. He knew that the trade of the mines would support a railway ; the only question was how it should be built. Before he could enlist active aid in his enterprise, it was necessary for him to make a preliminary survey, which was done by private subscription. Even then, when the practicability of the proposed route was established by the engineers' figures, nobody was ready to in- vest, and the work waited. A mistake had been made in providing for a broad-gauge road, which required several tunnels and a large amount of ex- pensive rock work. Narrow-gauge roads were then almost unknown, and their special fitness for moun- tain defiles was still undemonstrated.

To Capt. E. L. Berthoud belongs the honor of first suggesting a narrow-gauge for the mountain division of the Colorado Central. The Captain was then stationed at Fort Sedgwick, and, at that distance could only present his views by corre- spondence. Mr. Loveland caught the idea at once, but his associates did not fully share his confi- dence in the success of the new idea, and nothing was done.

In 1866, when the Union Pacific Company was surveying the passes of the Rocky Mountains, a party of their engineers went over the old Berth- oud trail and pass, and reported a practicable route from Golden westward. Every effort was put forth

to induce the company to locate its line in this di- rection, but without success. Then the engineer- ing difficulties were too great. Besides, the work in Clear Creek cañon, a tunnel over a mile long was deemed necessary in crossing the range, and the northern route was adopted and built upon.

After the termination of this survey, in 1866, the subject rested until the spring of 1867, when the Colorado Central Railroad Company, fully re- organized, proceeded to inaugurate the construction of its line. The first work was done between Golden and Denver, in aid of which Jefferson County voted $100,000 in bonds. A survey was ordered between Golden and Cheyenne, to connect with the Union Pacific, but this survey was aban- doned. The line ran from Golden northeast to Boulder Creek, down Boulder to the St. Vrain, thence to Big Thompson and the Cache la Poudre, crossing the Poudre a little west of the spot where Greeley now stands, and from there to Cheyenne direct, a total distance of 118 miles.

Work on the Golden and Denver line was nom- inally begun in January, 1868, and actively entered upon in May of that year, the design being to reach Denver simultaneously with the Denver Pa- cific from Cheyenne. The co-operation of Denver was diverted, however, by the action of the com- pany in locating its line not to Denver direct, but to a junction with the Kansas Pacific two miles below the city, a mistake since corrected at con- siderable expense to the company. The fourteen miles of road were not finished the first year nor the second. It was not until late in 1870 that the line was opened for business, and then it was compelled to run its trains into Denver over the track of the Kansas Pacific Company. In this as well as in other respects, the rivalry between Den- ver and Golden has been maintained to the disad- vantage of each party.

Though latterly, by force of circumstances, the Colorado Central has been made a part and parcel of Denver's railway system, the original plan ig- nored this system entirely. Denver did not figure

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on the first maps of the road, and the building of the first line was not so much to connect the two towns as to separate them. It was intended that the Kansas Pacific should be extended by the Col- orado Central to Golden, making Denver merely a way-station, and the Union Pacific connection was planned to avoid Denver entirely. The plan was admirable enough in conception, but there was a fatal defect in it, in that it underestimated the strength of the opposition. Denver built to a connection with the Union Pacific at Cheyenne before the Colorado Central was commenced, and, in a short time .thereafter, projected a line to the south, which, at once, made the capital of the Territory also its railway center.

In 1870, the Boston managers of the Union Pacific interested themselves in the promotion of the Colorado Central scheme with a view to mak- ing that road what it has since become, in a certain sense, a " feeder " of the main line. At that time, the Union Pacific had no Colorado connection, the Denver Pacific having been absorbed by the Kan- sas Pacific. Chief Engineer Sickles of the Union Pacific became associated with Capt. Berthoud, engineer of the Colorado Central, and together they surveyed and staked a narrow-gauge line from Golden up the canon to Gilpin and Clear Creek Counties, the main line dividing at the forks of Clear Creek and extending up each branch of the stream. At the same time a survey was made of a broad-gauge line down the Platte to Julesburg, and work was commenced upon each division of the road. The narrow-gauge was pushed up the cañon as rapidly as possible, but it was not opened for traffic until 1872. Upon its completion, work was pushed upon the main line for some time, but after the whole distance had been either complete- ly or partially graded and the track had been laid to the Boulder County line, a few miles beyond Longmont, a change of programme occurred, and the Julesburg Branch was abandoned.

The history of the Colorado Central for the next three or four years was eventful by reason of the struggles of rival factions for its control, re-

sulting in the merging of the Colorado Central into the Kansas Pacific, in December, 1875. Un- til the spring of 1876, the line was operated as a part of the Kansas Pacific, but, in May of that year, the Colorado stockholders met, threw out a vote of 7,200 shares of Union Pacific stock, and elected themselves directors of the road. A few days later, the officers elected by the new board took possession of the road. These proceedings and certain subsequent acts of lawlessness in hold- ing possession did not redound greatly to the credit of Colorado railway management, and perhaps the less said about them the better.

A compromise was finally affected which re- sulted in several important extensions of the line. The long-looked-for outlet to the Union Pacific was finally completed via Fort Collins to Chey- enno ; the Georgetown Branch of the Mountain Division was extended from Floyd Hill to George- town, and the Central Branch from Black Hawk to Central. About the same time, the Denver Line was straightened from Clear Creek, crossing so as to run into Denver direct, and depots and their appurtenances were established at the capital. From that time forward, the road did a profitable business. Its traffic contract with the Union Pacific has lately been changed into a long lease to the latter company, which manages the road as a part of its main line, and proposes to extend it to Leadville in the near future.

DENVER & SOUTH PARK DIVISION.

One of the most important roads to Denver at the present time, and one which presents some of the most remarkable instances of the triumphs of en- gineering skill over apparently insurmountable obstructions, is the Denver & South Park Divis- ion. Very soon after the settlement of Colorado, when the marvelous discoveries of California Gulch, the famous Printer Boy vein, and other deposits of metalliferous wealth, filled the world with the fame of Colorado, the theory was advanced by prospectors, and others who had made the forma- tion of the mountain ranges and spurs a study,

Samt Dale

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that as yet the surface had been only skimmed, and that only on the outside of the vast deposits. As early as 1864, the prediction was made that Colorado would develop one of the largest and richest deposits of precious metals ever discovered on the globe. The prediction had special reference to gold, for silver was little thought of then, and many prospectors held that the only discovery worth looking for was the source of the gold found in California Gulch and many other gulches, all heading in the same general locality. The result of this firm faith in the wealth of the interior mountain ranges was to give birth to the idea of a railroad traversing the three great parks of the Colorado mountain system, and drawing its sup- port from the mines by which those parks would be lined. Gov. Evans was one of the first to recognize the practical value of the idea, if he did not originate it, and for years urged the formation of a company to carry it into effect, in such a manner that whatever benefit was to be derived from it would accrue to Denver, instead of some other locality favored by situation or circumstances. The Governor believed iu the extension of rail- roads for the development of the country, and the presence of a railroad in the heart of the moun- tain region would stimulate prospecting, for where a miner found a good lode, he would not be com- pelled to expend all his profit in getting his ore to market-the truth of which idea was remarkably illustrated recently by the re-opening and profita- ble working of mines which had been abandoned by their owners many years ago, because the ore could not be taken to the market at a profit. For several years, the road through the Platte Canon was urged by the Governor and those of his busi- ne-s associates who had faith in the project, but it was hard to convince people that it was possible to construct a railroad along a mountain eañon in many parts of which a trail was impossible and the possibility of a wagon road a myth. It was urged, in opposition to the road, that for a great part of the route the mountains would have to be tunneled at an enormous expense, and that where

the track could be laid along the water line, the torrent that sweeps through the canon every spring would toss away the embankments like so many bundles of straw, and cause the en- tire receipts of the road to be absorbed in repairs. Others laughed at the idea of a road ever becom- ing profitable on a route a great part of which would lie in sections where the snow lies on the ground during seven months in the year ; as to the metalliferous wealth of the country proposed to be traversed, opinions differed-only the few, however, insisting upon the wealth of the moun- tains. Another argument advanced was, that the grades on any route likely to be selected in cross- ing the high ranges surrounding the plateaus of the Rocky Mountain system, would be, if not im- practicable, at least so heavy as to be expensive beyond all computation, and the treasury of any company that might undertake the task would be subject to a constant drain to meet expenses, and with the most stringent economy would be unable to make hoth ends meet. The truth or fallacy of these objections will be demonstrated as we proceed in the history of this remarkable work.

Notwithstanding these drawbacks, which, to most men, would seem insuperable, the few gentle- men who had joined their faith to an inter-moun- tain line of railroad continued sanguine, and, with unremitting zeal, pressed the idea upon the public, and continually gaining accessions to their ranks, until early in 1873, when it was thought the time was ripe to put the project into execution. On the 14th of June, 1873, a company was organized and articles of incorporation filed. Arapahoe County became a subscriber, by voting $300,000 in bonds, in exchange for a like amount of stock, and individual subscriptions secured to an amount that warranted the commencement of active opera- tions. Gov. Evans was the first President of the company, and still holds the same position, to- gether with Charles Wheeler, Secretary.

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History of the Arkansas Valley, Colorado, Part 25

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