History of the Arkansas Valley, Colorado, Part 5

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

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No language can express the beauty of the flowers which bloom all along the way, lifting their bright faces to the foot of the traveler at almost every step, nestling among the rocks wherever a handful of soil is found, and uplifting their tender petals beside the snow itself. Prim- roses, buttercups, violets, anemones, daisies, colum- bines and many other rare and beautiful flowers are found in the mountains, and the lakes are often almost entirely covered with pond-lilies of regal splendor. One lake on the Long's Peak trail above Estes Park, is (or was a few years ago) completely hidden under a mass of lily-pads and blossoms, and is known far and wide as Lily Lake.

Above timber line, these flowers begin to dwarf and shrink closer to the earth, until they

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

barely lift themselves above the stunted grass which carpets the patches of earth like a close- shaven lawn. But their beauty is enhanced thereby, and no sense of their insignificance is felt.

Another peculiarity of the mountains is that everywhere away from the streams or springs the peculiar aridity of the plains manifests itself. The same stunted grass grows high up the mount- ain-side, and, after brief exposure to the summer sun, it loses its freshness and assumes the gray, cold color of the rocks themselves. When the gnarled and twisted trees have left off clinging to the rocks, and the bare, bald mountains rise around you on every hand, the wide sweep of vision seems to take in nothing but desolation itself. All is one color, and that color is almost colorless. While the sun illuminates the scene, there is some warmth of light and shade about it, but when the cold gray of the mountains is sup- plemented by the cold gray of the sky, no scene can be less inspiriting, especially to those unaccus- tomed to the overpowering solitude.

Few ever forget their advent into such a scene. As if it were yesterday, the writer remembers his first experience in peak-climbing. It was mid- summer, but the air was intensely cold at timber line, and above that point it was almost arctic winter. The solitude was so intense that like cer- tain degrees of darkness, of which we read, it could be felt. Nay, it was felt by at least one of the party, who could hardly dismiss the distressing idea that he was out of the world, and likely to meet another class of mortals at any moment. The very light was unlike anything he had seen before, unless it might have been the wild weird twilight of a total eclipse of the sun, a light that was neither that of day or night, but a curious commingling of both. It seemed impossible to say whether the peak before us was near or far-it might have been both for aught we could say to the contrary. Looking downward, into the awful chasms that yawned below, brought to mind nothing but the " abomination of desolation " mentioned in Holy

Writ, and it was hard to wrest out of the somber surroundings a thought of the sublime beauty which marks most mountain scenery for those who first look upon its grandeur. In later days and under different circumstances the same scenes were revisited and enjoyed, but the memory of that first impression remains unchanged.

Perhaps the grandest of all mountain scenery is a near view of the snowy range in winter, when the sun shines fair and bright over the unsullied snow, whose dazzling whiteness challenges the bril- liancy of the diamond itself. A million sparkles meet the eye at every turn, and above timber line there is no relief from the oppressive glare, which often produces "snow blindness," unless the eyes are in some way protected.

The mountain view from Denver has been pro- nounced unequaled by many travelers, but to the older residents of Colorado it presents no special attraction above many other views to be had from other points. So much sentiment has been expended in describing it that description has grown a trifle stale. The thousand and one news- paper correspondents who "do" Denver every season, always speak of the range extending " from Long's Peak on the north to Pike's Peak on the south," after which one always knows what is coming-the story of the Englishman who started to walk from Denver to the mountains before breakfast.

There is a particularly fine view of the mount- ains from Longmont, another from Colorado Springs, still another from Walsenburg in the south, and any number of them from interior points, the finest of which, perhaps, is that from the gateway to Estes Park. The view from Lead- ville is scarcely surpassed. It seems very appro- priate that the finest mining camp in the world should have also one of the finest mountain views, though no doubt men would flock there from everywhere regardless of the view.

Following is a list of the principal Alpine peaks in the State, with their approximate altitudes and their elevation above sea level. Average summit

Charft. aldrich

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

of range, 11,000 feet; average timber line, 11,800 feet:

MOUNTAIN PEAKS OF COLORADO.

Feet.

Blanca 14,464

Red Clond. 14,092

Harvard

14,383

Wetterhorn

14,069

Massive

14,368

Simpso

14,055

Gray's

14,341

Eolus

14,054

Ouray.

14,043

Feet.

Torrey .14,346

Elbert. 14,826

La Plata 14,302

Lincoln 14,297

Buckskin 14,296

Capitol. 13,992

Breckenridge. 9,674

Cañon City

5,260

Magnolia 6,500

Long's. 14,271

Snowmass 13,961

Caribon ...

9,905

Manitou. 6,297

Quandary

14,279

Antero

14,245

Shavano. 14,239 Blaine. 13,905

Uncompahgre

14,235

Crestones.

14,233

Princeton. 14,199

White Rock.

13.847 Denver. 5,224

Pueblo 4,679

Mt. Bross

14,185

Holy Cross. 14,176

R. G. Pyramid 13,773

Estes Park 8,000

Sagnache 7,745

Baldy. 14,176

Sneffles 14,158

Sunshine 7,000

Pike's .. .14,147

Rowter ... 13,750

Georgetown 8,400

Castle. 14,106 Homestake. 13,687

Yale ...

.14,101

Ojo.

.13,640

Gold Hill 8,463

Veta Pass 9,339

San Luis

14,100

Spanish .....

.13,620-12,720

Greeley 4,776

CHAPTER VII.

COLORADO DURING THE REBELLION-TERRITORIAL OFFICIALS.

THE early history of Colorado was probably com- T

pletely changed by the war of the rebellion, which broke out very soon after the new Territory was organized, and, indeed, before Gov. Gilpin had taken hold of the helm of government. This dis- tracted the attention of the East so much that Colorado, though not forgotten, was comparatively ignored during the first years of the war. More- over, the people of the Territory were divided on the issues of the war themselves, and a considera- ble secession element manifested itself in the utter-

ance of disloyal sentiments and by the hoisting of a secession flag on Larimer street, almost directly opposite the present executive offices. The flag, however, was soon hauled down, by order of a com- mittee of very determined citizens, who said that

either the flag or the house must come down, and they didn't care which.

Joined to these difficulties were the discourage- ment of miners arising out of refractory ores and failing placers, for already the flush days of placer mining in Colorado seemed, at least, to have passed by: The Clear Creek placers were abandoned or worked casually, as any claims are worked which yield only bare wages without promise of a richer harvest. It must be borne in mind, too, that not only during these years, but until several years later, no search was made for silver-bearing ores, by which means the scope of mining development was greatly limited, for Colorado stands pre-emi- nent as a silver-producing State, and her output of gold is light indeed compared to that of silver.

Feet.

Guyot. 13,565

Buffalo 13,541

Trinchara 13,546

Arapahoe 13,520

Kendall 13,542

Dunn .. 13,502

Seventy-five peaks, between 13,500 and 14,300 feet in height, are unnamed, and not in this list.

ALTITUDES OF PROMINENT TOWNS IN COLORADO

Rosalie 14,340

Stewart. Alamosa. 7,000 14,032 Maroon 14,000 Alma .. 11,044

Cameron 14,000

Handie, 13,997

Boulder. 5,586

Lake City 8,550

Leadville 10,205

Wilson 14,280

Horseshoe 13,988

Grizzly 13,956 Central

Pigeon 13,928 Cheyenne 6,041

Chicago Lak 11,500

Colorado Springs ... 5,028

Oro City 10,247

Pyramid 13,885 Del Norte. 7,750

Ouray 7,640

Hague. 18,882 Divide. 7,210

Rosita. 8,500

Silverton 9,405

Hunchback

13,755

Fairplay 9,964 Garland. 8,146

8,300

Montezuma 10,295

Morrison. 5,922

Nederland. 8,263

Frustrum. 13,893

Black Hawk 7,975

Green Lake ... 10,000

Hot Sulphur Spr'gs 7,715

Idaho Springs. 7,500

Silver Heels.

.13,766

Golden. 5,729

Trinidad. 6,005 Twin Lakes 9,357

Feet,

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

Thousands came and thousands left during 1861-62-63. ' California Gulch, over which almost if not quite the greatest furor of these years was raised, was soon deserted by all save a few faithful souls like Lieut. Gov. Tabor, the fame of whose riches has gone abroad far and wide, but who labored long and hard before reaping the reward he so richly merited. It is a curious fact, noted elsewhere but worth duplicating, that the very same sand carbonates which have made so many poor men rich in these latter days, were formerly one of the chief obstacles to success in gulch-mining. They were so heavy that they blocked the sluiceways, and had to be shoveled out with painful care, that the gold might be gathered.

The Indians, too, were troublesome during the early years of the war. Taking advantage of the withdrawal of the troops from most of the frontier posts, they raided the Plains, and were a continual terror to travelers between the mountains and the Missouri River. Many lives were lost, men, women and children sharing the same fate at the hands of the murderous crew. Then came the celebrated Sand Creek fight between the Colorado Cavalry and a large force of hostile Cheyenne Indians-an event which has evoked a great deal of hostile criticism, but which Coloradoans have no cause to blush for. It is undoubtedly true that Indian women and even children were killed upon that occasion, but the former were bearing arms and fighting with the utmost ferocity, leaving their offspring to chance the fortunes of war as best they might.

Sand Creek has been called a massacre. If so, it was a massacre of assassins, for fresh scalps of white men, women and children were found in the Indian camp after the battle. In fact, however, Sand Creek was not a massacre, but simply a fight after the most approved Indian fashion, and the Indians themselves never complained of the drub- bing they got on that memorable occasion. It exemplified very clearly the oft-repeated assertion of frontiersmen that, if left alone, they could " set-

tle the Indian question " very soon, and " without costing the Government a cent."

The Sand Creek fight occurred November 29, 1864, the Coloradoans being commanded by Col. J. M. Chivington, a Methodist minister and first Presiding Elder of the Colorado Conference. Chivington was essentially a Western man, equally ready to pray or fight, and at home everywhere, even in the most incongruous associations. Prof. O. J. Goldrick, the well-known pioneer teacher and editor, relates that Chivington attended a grand banquet given by Ford & McClintock on the occasion of the opening of their gambling- rooms, up-stairs over the corner of F and McGaa streets, now known as Fifteenth and Holladay. The writer knows nothing of Chivington's sport- ing proclivities, but that he was a good and suc- cessful fighter the Sand Creek business can attest. He was then military commander of the district, hut the troops at his command were only a hand- ful, when word came from Fort Lyon, on the Arkansas River, that the Cheyennes were encamped near there in force, and were inter- cepting every train and every wagon that passed in either direction, so that travel was virtually stopped. Chivington called for volunteers, and led them himself, by forced marches, to the Arkansas, where he and his men fell upon the Indian camp on Sand Creek, before the red devils knew that danger was near. For this, Chivington was severely censured by his superior officers, though warmly applauded by the people.

The Government more than once complained of the plucky, enterprising Coloradoans for taking care of themselves without waiting for an " official" order to do so. It is not generally known in the East that an attempt was made by the South, very early in the war of the rebellion, to capture Colo- rado, but it is an actual fact, and the failure of the enterprise was due to the pluck and energy of the Coloradoans themselves.

This stirring episode in the history of the State occurred in March and April of 1862, when Grant was making his first memorable advances

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

upon the enemy. A military organization, which had been started in the fall of 1860, was revived on the breaking-out of the rebellion and became the First Colorado Cavalry. Col. John P. Slough, afterward Chief Justice of New Mexico, was its commander, and the boys humorously called them- selves Gov. Gilpin's "Pet Lambs." Gov. Gilpin had some trouble in getting them mustered into Uncle Sam's service, owing to their remoteness from the "front" and the difficulty of commu- nicating with headquarters, but the delay was a happy accident, after all. While the "Pet Lambs" were waiting for their marching orders, reports came that a force of 3,000 Texans had left San Antonio for Colorado, and were making a clean sweep of the country through which they passed. They had already entered New Mexico and were entirely beyond the reach of the Union armies when the "Lambs" heard of their coming. No time was to be lost, and, without waiting for orders from Washington, Col. Slough ordered an advance.

The history of this short, sharp and decisive campaign appears elsewhere at length, but space will only admit of a review in this connection. The Texans were encountered just north of Santa Fe. They were more than a match for the Colo- radoans in number, but in strategy the latter showed their superiority. While a considerable body of " Lambs " engaged the lean and hungry Texans in front, the rest made a flank movement on the camp and commissary stores of the enemy, and destroyed everything they could not carry away. The result was that the Texans had to fall back in search of something to eat, and, having no " base of supplies," were forced to abandon the campaign. Bull Run, in the East, was hardly a circumstance compared to Baylor's retreat from New Mexico, and the " Lambs " returned home, covered with glory. Their success earned for them the recognition of the War Department, but Gov. Gilpin received no credit for his efforts. On the contrary, he was soon afterward superseded by Dr. John Evans, of Evanston, Ill., one of the best Governors Colo-

rado ever had, and still an honored citizen of the State. Secretary Weld, for whom Weld County was named, was also removed, and succeeded by Samuel H. Elbert, afterward Governor himself, and now an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the State. Gen. Sam E. Browne was about this time appointed Attorney General, and Gen. John Pierce succeeded Gen. Case as Sur- veyor General.

This was the beginning of the numerous changes in official positions which marked Colorado's Ter- ritorial vassalage. Her list of Governors ran as follows, from 1861 to 1876: William Gilpin qualified July 8, 1861; John Evans, April 11, 1862; A. Cummings, October 19, 1865; A. C. Hunt, May 27, 1867; Ed. M. McCook, June 15, 1869 ; Samuel H. Elbert, April 5, 1873; Ed M. McCook (again), June 26, 1874, and John L. Routt about May 1, 1875. Routt held until the admission of the State, in 1876, and was the first State Governor, holding the latter office from November, 1876, until January, 1879, when he was succeded by Frederick W. Pitkin, present in- cumbent.

During the same period, an almost equal num- ber of changes were made in the other officers of the Territory, except that Hon. Frank Hall served several terms as Secretary under Govs. Hunt, McCook and Elbert. The Secretarial succession was as follows: Lewis Ledyard Weld, qualified July 8, 1861, with Gilpin; Samuel H. Elbert, April 19, 1862, with Evans; Frank Hall, May 24, 1866, first with Cummings and later with Hunt; Frank Hall again, June 15, 1869, with McCook, and still again with Elbert, April 17, 1873, holding the office honorably for seven years. To him succeeded John W. Jenkins, March 11, 1874, and John Taffe, who came with Routt and remained until the organization of the State. William M. Clark was the first Secretary of State, N. H. Meldrum is the present incumbent.

These constant changes of officials, at such irregular intervals, served to keep the Territory in a state of political excitement not unlike that

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

engendered by the more practical and sanguinary "revolutions" of Old Mexico. They also served to beget a feeling of hostility toward the central Government at Washington. Andrew Johnson, poor man, was most cordially hated throughout the length and breadth of Colorado. Besides vetoing the bill for Colorado's admission as a State, he sent out one of the most unsatisfactory Governors she ever had, in the person of Cum- mings, whose brief reign was eminently unsatis- factory. Grant, too, was unpopular until the admission of the State, since when, he has been a sort of idol with the Republican element, notwith- standing their former enmity. McCook, one of the fighting family of that name, was sent out as Governor by Grant. He was a gallant soldier but a poor diplomatist, and soon found himself very unpopular with some of the most powerfully influ- ential men in the Territory. Feeling ran high on both sides, and finally resulted in the overthrow of McCook in the spring of 1873. Elbert was appointed Governor, and it was announced that henceforth the offices of the Territory would be intrusted to its citizens; that carpet-bag rule was at an end forever.

This announcement was received with great satisfaction. Whether justly or not, it had come to be understood that the Territories generally, and Colorado Territory particularly, were asylums for misfit politicians, who could not be "worked in" anywhere else, but who had to be disposed of somehow and somewhere. That the position was not well taken, is shown by the fact that no less than five of Colorado's seven Territorial Govern- ors are to-day highly honored citizens of the State. The names of Gilpin, Evans, Hunt, Elbert and Routt are household words in Colorado. Better men for the position they held it would have been hard to find, and yet the people chafed under their rule, for the simple reason that they were not called but sent. There is something in the genius of our institutions strangely averse to rulers other than those chosen by the people themselves.

Although Gov. Elbert's regime opened so flat- teringly, it was marked by some of the most stormy incidents of Colorado's political history. It is not necessary to recapitulate the events of the McCook-Elbert war, which terminated in the removal of the latter and the re-instatement of the former, but the sensation it created at the time will not soon be forgotten by those who partici- pated in it. President Grant was visited with the severest censure for his action in the matter, and especially for his wholesale removal of Federal officials in Colorado at or about the same time. The immediate result was a total demoralization of the Republican party in the Territory and a Dem- cratic victory in 1874, which showed very conclus- ively that "some one had blundered." With characteristic manliness, President Grant corrected his mistake by again removing McCook and appointing a Governor who was acceptable to both factions and all parties.

This was the last act in the Territorial political drama. Colorado was admitted to the Union in 1876, just in time to pull President Hayes through the Electoral Commission into the WhiteHouse, and just in time, too, to earn the taking title of the Centennial State.

The passage of the enabling act was largely due to the efforts of Hon. J. B. Chaffee, and he was very properly rewarded by an election as Senator of the United States by the first State Legislature. His colleague was Henry M. Teller, a man of com- manding ability, who enjoyed the distinction of never having held an office until he was chosen Senator. He was also lucky enough to secure the long term, and will serve until 1883. Senator Chaffee's voluntary retirement from politics at the close of his Senatorial term gave Hon. N. P. Hill an opportunity to grasp the succession, which he did, defeating half a dozen opponents.

Curiously enough, although Colorado made such an effort to break into Congress at an early day, she was not effectually represented there until 1863, when Hon. H. P. Bennett went to Washing- ton, armed with undoubted credentials, attested by

OXP/Balles

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

the "broad seal of the sovereign Territory," as waggish attorneys used to say. Bennett was succeeded by Judge Allen A. Bradford, who served a second term in 1869-70. Hon. George M. Chilcott served a term between the first and last of Bradford, and Hon. J. B. Chaffee was elected in 1870, and again in 1872. In 1874, the McCook-Elbert war resulted in the

chance election of Hon. Thomas M. Patterson, who served until the admission of the State into the Union.

Mr. Patterson also served term as Representa- tive in Congress after admission, although his seat was unsuccessfully contested by Hon. James B. Belford, the present Representative, who defeated Patterson in 1878 by a large majority.

CHAPTER VIII. PROGRESS OF THE COUNTRY.

D URING all these years, the country had been prosperous, more or less, according to cir- cumstances, and the miners had been steadily grow- ing in numbers and increasing their annual produc- tion. New processes of treating ores were intro- duced, which proved more profitable than the old, and the operation of smelting was found particularly adapted to the refractory ores of Gilpin County, where it was first introduced. Denver had been tried both by fire and flood, but her indomitable citizens never faltered in their forward course, and the town grew apace, as did the whole country. It is true that the miners left one locality for another pretty often, leaving large and populous cities almost desolate and without inhabitant, but the people turned up in another part of the State, very soon, and soon had another city under way. Though mining was always the principal industry of Colorado, agriculture and stock-growing kept pace with mineral development, as will be seen by the succeeding chapters specially devoted to these industries.

It was not, however, until after the close of the war and the disbandment of both armies, that the State entered upon its greatest era of prosperity. Large numbers of old soldiers emigrated at once to the new gold-fields, which had grown famous while they had been serving in the army, and others followed a few years later. Ex-Gov. John Evans, whose faith in the bright future in store

for Colorado was second to that of no man, not even that of his predecessor, Gov. Gilpin, had no sooner laid down his office in 1865, than he began to agitate the question of railway con- nection between Denver and the world outside.

The Union Pacific Railroad was working its way westward, and the Kansas Pacific was aiming at the mark which the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe road has since hit, but neither enterprise then on foot looked to Denver either as a terminus or way station. Seeing that the mountain would not come to Mahomet, Mahomet got up and went to the mountain. The Denver Pacific road was built to a connection with the Union Pacific at Cheyenne, 106 miles due north, and in due time a railway route was completed from Denver to each ocean. Then the Kansas Pacific suddenly changed its course from southwest to northwest, and made Denver its western terminus, giving the metropolis of the Rocky Mountains competing lines to the Missouri River, instead of the patient mule and the steadfast ox.

It was a grand and glorious transformation scene. The city and State at once sprang forward with a mighty bound. Local lines of railway were soon projected from Denver in other direc- tions, and the foundations of Colorado's present very extensive railway system was laid within three years following the completion of the Union Pacific. Development was a little retarded, but

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

'not checked by the panic of 1873, and the grass- hoppers of 1875, but there has never been a year since 1864-the year of the Indian war-in which Colorado has not made progress in some direction, if not in all.

The panic of 1873 has been mentioned as hav- ing retarded the development of Colorado tempo- rarily, but it is still an open question whether the country was not in the end a gainer by the panic, paradoxical as the proposition may appear. In point of fact, the panic did not extend to Colo- rado. There were no failures in the State worth speaking of. The banks stood firm. A consid- erable shrinkage in real estate was about the only effect of the panic upon the population of Colo- rado, but that only pinched a few luckless opera- tors, who bought high and had to sell low. It is true that a few men, who thought themselves mill- ionaires, found that they were only worth half a million, yet their sufferings were more imaginary than real. On the other hand, the panic drove many active business men from the East to Colo- rado, in the hope of rebuilding lost fortunes, and many of these new-comers in 1874-75 are now among the most enterprising and successful opera- tors in the State.

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History of the Arkansas Valley, Colorado, Part 5

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