History of the Arkansas Valley, Colorado, Part 55

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

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J. R. ROCKWELL.

This gentleman, a member of the firm of El- lis, Rockwell & Smith, mine and real estate

brokers in Robinson, Ten Mile District, is of Scotch-English descent, and was born in Seneca County, Ohio, August 11, 1833. He received a limited education in the public schools of his native county. In 1847, he removed with his parents to Allegan County, Mich. At the age of twenty he began an apprenticeship at the carpenter's trade, at which he continued six- teen years. In 1869, he began devoting his attention to architecture and superintending the construction of large buildings. In the spring of 1879, through the solicitation of George B. Robinson, he came to Ten Mile District, and made the drawings for, and had charge of, the building of the Summit County Smelter. After the death of Gov. Robinson, he was appointed agent for the administrators ..

FRANK RALPH.

Mr. Ralph, of the firm of Ralph & Bergerman, grocers and dealers in miners' supplies, is a native of Pennsylvania and was born June 9, 1842. At an early age he removed with his parents to Philadelphia, where he attended public school until seventeen years of age, then served an apprenticeship at the wood mechan- ic's trade. In 1862, he went to Chicago, where he followed carpentering a short time. During the succeeding sixteen years he traveled over the West, working at his trade. In February, 1879, he came to Ten Mile District, and engaged in the mercantile business in Carbonateville in company with Jacob Bergerman, under the firm name of Ralph & Bergerman, and was appointed Postmaster of that camp. In August follow- ing they removed their goods to Robinson where they have since conducted a successful business.

LORIN. A. STALEY.

Mr. Staley, of the law firm of Staley & Saf- ley, was born in Newark, Ohio, February 12, 1854. At an early age he removed with his parents to Tama County, Iowa, where his early life was spent in attending district school. In 1865, he removed with his parents to Memphis, Tenn .; thence, in 1867, to Sedalia, Mo., and the following year to Cooper County, same State. During the latter year he entered the State University, at Columbia, Mo., from which he graduated in 1873. He then came to Denver and began the study of law ; in 1876, he was admitted to the bar, and practiced in Denver three years. In February, 1879, he came to

RESIDENCE OF HON. WM. H. JAMES, CAPITOL HILL, LEADVILLE, COLO.

RESIDENCE OF W. S. WARD, CAPITOL HILL, LEADVILLE, COLO.

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TEN MILE REGION.

Kokomo, formed a partnership with Ben. Safley, and has since been actively engaged in the practice of his profession. In June, 1879, he was appointed City Attorney of Kokomo, which office he honorably and efficiently filled one year.

BEN SAFLEY.

This gentleman, a member of the firm of Staley, & Safley, attorneys at law in Kokomo, was born in Galena, Ill., February 14, 1855. In 1863 he came with his parents to Denver, Colo., where he attended public school two years. During the fall of 1865, they returned East, and located in Burlington, N. J., where he received private school advantages two years. Thence to Rochester, N. Y., and there attended high school four years. In 1871, he went to Council Bluffs, Iowa, with his parents, and was there engaged in the jewelry business one year with his father. He subsequently entered the Uni- versity of Michigan, at Ann Arbor, from which he graduated in 1876. Then returned to Den- ver, Colo., and began reading law under the law firm of Charles & Dillon, and two years later was admitted to the bar. In February, 1879, he came to Kokomo, where he has since de- voted his entire attention to the practice of law.

WILL C. STAINSBY.

This gentleman, an enterprising young mer- chant in Kokomo, was born in Newark, N. J., May 24, 1855. He completed his education, at the age of sixteen, in the high schools of his native city. He then went to New York City and accepted the position of book-keeper in a bank, and was subsequently promoted to As- sistant Cashier .* In December, 1879, he came to Colorado, located in Kokomo, and in Jan- uary, 1880, succeeded Lippelt & Bowman in the drug business, which he has since success- fully carried on. In June, following, in com- pany with J. F. Fort and George B. Colby, opened a hardware and stove store under the firm name of Stainsby, Fort & Colby.

JOHN C. THOMPSON.

This gentleman was born in New York City, September 22, 1853. He attended public school until seventeen years of age, then spent two years in the School of Mines at Columbia College, in that city. He was subsequently en- gaged in the broker business on Wall Street five years. In 1877 he went to Chihuahua,

Old Mexico, and there held the position of Su- perintendent of the Santa Eulalia Mines and Smelter one year. He then returned home, and in April, 1880, came to Ten Mile District as Su- perintendent for the Trophy Mining Company, of New York, who own nine claims on Sheep Mountain, a group of six north of the Robinson Consolidation, and one of three south, with good plants of machinery on both. He is rap- idly developing the properties, and at present has a two-hundred-foot shaft on the south group, with drifts, which looks very promising.

CHARLES E. VAN TRESS.

Mr. Van Tress was born in Clinton County, Ohio, September 17, 1834. His early life was spent in attending district school. At the age of seventeen he went to Mount Pleasant, Iowa, where, during the succeeding ten years, he was engaged in surveying, taking contracts for rail- road and bridge building and superintending public work. In 1861, on the breaking-out of the war of the rebellion he enlisted in Company C, fourth Iowa Cavalry, and served until the close of the war. After being honorably mustered out of the service he returned home. Shortly afterward he removed to Peoria, Ill., and there worked three years in the sash, door and blind factory of William Truesdale & Sons. In 1869, he came to Colorado and has since devoted 'his entire attention to mining and the study of the various mineral belts and deposits. In March, 1877, he went to Leadville, where he associated himself with the leading mining men and gave his attention to the study of the mineral de- posit of that district. During July, 1880, he came to Ten Mile District, where he has since been engaged in examining and reporting on mines.

HENRY C. WEBER.

Mr. Weber was born in Warren County, Penn., December 13, 1846. His early life, until he was nineteen years of age, was spent on a farm and in attending school. He then went to Ogle County, Ill., where he was variously engaged four years ; thence to Storey County, Iowa, where he followed farming two years, and was engaged in the drug business in Kel- ley two years. In 1873, he went to Red Cloud, Neb., and during the succeeding three years was engaged in stock-raising; he then re- turned to Storey County, Iowa, and resumed farming and at the same time carried on the

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drug business. In the spring of 1880, he came to Colorado, located in Robinson, and opened a drug store, in which business he has since been successfully engaged.

JAMES C. WIGGINTON.

Mr. Wigginton was born in Louisville, Ky., November 18, 1853. His education was com- pleted in the high schools of his native city. In 1875, he removed to Charleston, Clark Co., Ind., where he was appointed Deputy Auditor

of that county, in which capacity he served two years. He then returned to Louisville, and ac- cepted the position of book-keeper in a whole- sale liquor house. In the spring of 1879, he came to Colorado and located in Ten Mile Dis- trict, Summit Co., where he has since been en- gaged in prospecting and mining. During the fall of 1880, he was elected Justice of the Peace of Precinct No. 5, and in April 1880 was elected Police Magistrate for the town of Rob- inson.

HISTORY OF EL PASO COUNTY.

BY A. Z. SHELDON.

CHAPTER I.

EL PASO COUNTY is composed of that portion of Colorado which is west of lon- gitude 103° 57', and east of longitude 105° 13' 40," and between the parallels of 38º 31' 18" and 39° 7' 49" north latitude, less seven town- ships in the southwest, which appertain to Fremont County. It is therefore, approximately, the central county of the State. It has an area of 2,646 square miles, of which 1,890 square miles are east of the mountains; 567 square miles mountainous, 189 square miles pastoral and agricultural lands in mountain valleys and mesas, and 546 square miles generously timbered.

Its topography, therefore, is very diverse and Interesting. Pikes Peak, the unfailing land- mark and beacon to the Argonauts who crossed the Great American Desert in quest of the. Golden Fleece, the peer of all the giant gems which stud our mountain rosary, grandly and fitly presides over the surrounding landscape, defying the thunders, and battling the fierce storm, or smiling through an atmosphere the purest and most pellucid of the earth-the re- flected rays of the genial sun. A suhjacent coterie of inferior peaks, Monta Rosa, Rhyolite, Pisgah, Cameron's Cone and Cheyenne, rugged and grand, each stupendous and imposing if alone, but dwarfed and humilated in presence of a superior, amplify and complete a setting which is almost without a parallel in nature. This group of mountains virtually absorbs the southwestern part of the county.

Along its northern houndry is the "Divide," an elevated region extending from the moun- tains with decreasing altitude eastward to the

plains, and separating the tributaries of the Platte and Arkansas rivers. Near the extreme northwest is Crystal Peak, which has been an abundant source of topaz and amarou stone, and seven or eight miles farther east is a sin- gular conical peak standing isolated, about a thousand feet above the adjacent valley, known by the stockmen and hunters who frequent there as Slim Jim. The mountainous portion of the county is generally very rugged, and along the eastern foothills sends out sharp and unique ridges two or three miles into the plains. The plains themselves are more or less undulat- ing, and sometimes broken here and there by precipitous bluffs.

The vales of these ridges afford to lovers of the curious and rare some of the most attractive features of Colorado, Monument Park and Blair Athol being, perhaps, the most noted. In the former a species of calcareous sandstone has been worn away by the action of heat and cold, rains and snows, and potent winds, in such a manner as to leave serried lines of monu- ments in fantastic outlines, in which the imagin- ation readily perceives human and animal forms and works of art from the altar to the cathedral. These, interspersed through graceful glades and sheltering pines are, beyond question, wierd and fascinating. The general altitude of that part of El Paso County which lies east of the mountains is about six thousand feet the southern portion being about five thousand five hundred, and the north boundary seven thou- sand five hundred feet above the sea. Nestling among the mountains at an elevation of about eight thousand feet is the beautiful amphitheater

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HISTORY OF EL PASO COUNTY.

of Maniton Park, the field of the Aboriginal gods and paradise of summer pleasure-seekers, and lovers of piscatorial pastime. Its acicular peaks, its numerous glens; its gracefully trend- ing glades and wealth of sheltering pines ren- der it one of the most attractive summer resorts in Colorado.

Hayden Park is a semi-timbered expanse ex- tending from near Manitou Park to the western boundary of the county, and having an elevation of about nine thousand feet.

HYDROGRAPHIC.

El Paso County is fairly supplied with water, thongh less abundantly than some portions of Colorado. The streams are numerous, but in- considerable in magnitude and, some of them, intermittent in their flow. The South Platte River cuts its northwestern boundary and re- ceives a number of tributaries, which drain the adjacent country, but is available only to a lim- ited extent for purposes of irrigation. Twin Creek and its tributaries flow from Hayden Park, and threading their numerous delightful valleys, here join their fortunes with the parent stream. West Creek, Rule Creek and Trout Creek have the same source, but take a north- easterly course, and find the Platte at a lower point, through the ruggedest of rugged canons. These are permanent streams, and, at times, carry considerable volumes of water.

Four Mile has its origin on the west flank of Pike's Peak and, running to every point of the compass, finally looses itself in the Arkan- sas River, four miles below Canon City. This is Oil Creek of earlier date.

At an elevation of twelve thousand feet, on the south flank of Pike's Peak, are seveu small lakes, from which Beaver Creek, a considerable stream, flows, in a southeastward course to the Arkansas. These lakes are coming to be a fav- orite summer resort. The extreme purity and low temperature of this upper atmosphere ren- der their neighborhood a delightful retreat from the sometimes intense heat of the plains below.

But contributing, more than all the other streams of the county, to the sanitary and in- dustrial welfare of its people, comes the beau- tiful and poetically christened "Fontaine, Qui Bouille." Beginning its brief career virtually in the clouds, and first condescending to con- tact with terra firma at an elevation of over four-

teen thousand feet above the sea, by numerous rills and brooklets, which flow from the north and east declivities of Pike's Peak, it finds its way to the plains through the Ute Pass and the Canon of Ruxton Creek, through Maniton and Colorado City, by Colorado Springs and Foun- tain City, and joins its fortunes with the Ar- kansas at Pueblo. Its approximate minimum volume at Colorado City, as determined in 1862, is represented by a cross section of the stream, measuring 2,200 inches, with a flow of 150 feet per minute. Its principal tributary, Monument Creek, at times an ugly channel, and at times a devastating flood, has its origin in the mountains of the northwestern part of the county, and flows thence along their base in a sontherly direction to the neighborhood of Colorado Springs, and there looses itself in, or pollutes, with its muddy ichor, the waters of the fonntain. It is utilized to considerable extent for purposes of irrigation, but like all kindred streams, fails of efficiency when the need is greatest.

The Big Sandy in the northeast, Horse Creek in the east, and Black Squirrel Creek, Chico, Jimmy's Camp and Sand Creeks, more westerly, are intermittent streams which flow southerly and southeasterly to the Arkansas. These are availed of bnt to a limited extent for agricul- tural purposes ; but are invaluable to the stock men, as forming the nuclei around which gather and subsist the immense herds and flocks which represent in some sense the indus- trial progress of the county.

SCENERY.

Its natural scenery is the most varied and interesting to be found in Colorado, embracing every form of landscape expression-from the soft and billowy aspect of the plain, to the wierd, rugged and overwhelming majesty of the mountains. Ruxton's Creek, Queen's and William's Canons, Glen Eyrie, Cheyenne, Red Rock and Bear Canons, and the far-famed Gar- den of the Gods, are already names equally familiar in Europe and America.

The soil is, generally, first-class, and, where water is available for irrigation, very product- ive. The grasses have the characteristic luxn- riance of the grasses of the plains, and are very nutritious. At all elevations of less than 8,000 feet, wheat, rye, oats and barley, of su- perior quality, afford to the husbandman benef-

JamesN Johnston.

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HISTORY OF EL PASO COUNTY.

icent returns for his labor ; and, at less eleva- tions than 6,000 feet, Indian corn is grown suc- cessfully. Such vegetables as are common to Pennsylvania are also produced in abund- ance.

Fruit culture has hitherto been regarded as a doubtful experiment, but the last two years have rendered it no longer a matter of doubt, as apples, plums, pears, peaches, cherries, grapes, raspberries, currants and strawberries have been produced within this period, and of the finest quality. Indeed, the strawberry seems to have found here its peculiar habitat, as its productiveness and zest have astonished the most ardent of the friends of that delicious fruit, and rendered it an indispensable adjunct to the garden.

A peculiar feature of that portion of El Paso County which lies east of the mountains that has not been generally recognized, is that it de- clines to the south with an angle of one and a half to two degrees; or, in other words, is tilted toward the sun to that extent, and, there- fore, receives and reflects his rays less oblique- ly. This is, in fact, equivalent to the reduction of our latitude by two degrees, and will find its most emphatic illustration in the reverse condition which obtains north of the " Divide," where the declination is to the north, and where the snows rest undisturbed much of the winter. A further illustration, more direct and decisive, is presented in the rincon enclosing Colorado City and Manitou, where the mountains receive and reflect perpendicularly the morning rays of the sun, and in winter afford those genial and balmy mornings so characteristic of that lo- cality.

GEOLOGY.

The geology of El Paso County has elicited a variety of conclusions from those who have set themselves to study it; yet, while there re -. main many nugatory and confusing features, certain leading facts seem to have been quite generally accepted. The tertiary formation seems to be limited to the neighborhood of the summit of the divide, east of the mountains, and extends along this summit well toward the northeastern limit of the county. It has, ap- parently, been abraded by the action of the elements, and swept into the distant valleys, or possibly the conditions were such that its

formation was impossible throughout the con- siderable extent where now it is not found.

A few miles below this summit the post- cretaceous appears, and extends to the south- east corner of the county and beyond, and em- braces something like fifteen townships within the county limits. We next find the cretaceous -having about the same superficial extent, and embracing most of the residue of the county-east of the mountains.

Along the base of the mountains, and over- lapping their flank, the Jura-trias crops out, having been tilted up by the grand process under which the mountains themselves had their being; and here and there also, notably in the neighborhoods of Colorado City, the upper valley of the Fontaine Qui Bouille, and in Manitou Park, the carboniferous and silurian are presented under similar circumstances.

The mountains proper are evidently meta- morphic, with the exception of a group near the southwest corner of the county, including Pisgah and Rhyolite Peak, which is volcanic.

In connection with the silurian and carboni- ferous formations, as apparent near Colorado City, there seems to have been interposed a re- markable talcose deposit, which is, evidently, the muddy vomit of the volcano or the geyser.

This formation carries both silver and gold, and, it is believed by many, can be treated for those metals with profit. Should this prove practicable, this point will become one of the most important mining fields in Colorado. In- dications of the presence of the precious metals are also found in the Cheyenne group, near Manitou, and in the neighborhood of Manitou Park, and, without doubt, several true mineral- bearing fissures have been uncovered in each of these localities, but whether these can be worked with profit is a matter to be determined by further experience.

In the post-cretaceous, near Jimmy's Camp, and at other points northeasterly and north- westerly, is found a species of lignite coal of fair quality, which is being utilized to a consid- erable extent as fuel, and the mining of which, especially at Jimmy's Camp, promises to de- velop to a large and profitable industry. Two strata in close proximity are there already opened, which aggregate fourteen feet in thickness.

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HISTORY OF EL PASO COUNTY.

CHAPTER II.

H ISTORY is the record of growth and de- cadence-of evolution. Incidents of ap- parent insignificance often constitute the germs of revolution, of reformation, or of empire. Nature's ceremonials are of the most silent order, and the fortuitous deposition of the acorn, where its vitality is nurtured to activity and growth, has little of emphasis and pa- geantry to herald its culmination in that glori- ous emblem of hardihood and strength, king of the forest-the mighty oak.

Thus, to say that the little incident of at- tempting to wash the sands of the Kansas River in the neighborhood of Lawrence, in the year 1857, led to the early settlement of Col- orado, is undoubtedly to levy largely upon our credulity, and yet it is equally undoubtedly true.

George Earle, since an engineer in the em- ploy of the Kansas Pacific Railway Company, having had some experience in California, and having also a genius to create a divertisement when it was not otherwise provided, quietly announced one day to a listless crowd gathered on Massachusetts street, that he could pan gold from the sands of the "Kaw " River. In those days, crowds on Massachusetts street were rather the order than otherwise, and as this constituted the amphitheater where polit- ical issues were discussed, and where the Free State men counseled together and matured their measures for the defense and furtherance of their cause, it need not seem surprising that such distinguished personages as Governor Robinson and grim Gen. Lane should be present.

Earle was at once challenged to verify his assertion ; and, accordingly, a pan was pro- duced and the crowd, including His Excellency, proceeded to the river. Earle produced his gold, whether as the result of legitimate pan- ning or after the manner of expert and subtile miners who have a purpose to serve, is not to be here stated. Be that as it may, a majority of those who were present believed in the honesty of the experiment and that the sands of the Kansas River were auriferons. Various conjectures were hazarded as to the source

whence this gold was derived, but the dominant thought, the major conclusion, was that its source was the region of the Rocky Mountains, from which it was generally believed the Kan- sas River flowed.

The matter continued to be the subject of conversation until visions of wealth, intensified under the refining influences of the imagina- tion, bourgeoned in the distant horizon with such splendor as to compel the consideration of de- tails as to the method by which it was to be compassed. The flame thus kindled was naturally augmented by certain vague rumors that a party of Cherokees, returning from Cali- fornia, had actually discovered gold in the very neighborhood where our incipient Argonauts had pre-determined it. A meeting of all those whose interest had been aroused was called to discuss the subject and to consider plans of or- ganization for an expedition to the mountains, or rather to Pike's Peak, which, by common consent was used as a synonym for them.

The times were propitious. The financial panic which the country was then suffering had prostrated business and nipped, as by frost, the spirit of speculation which, hitherto, ran riot and Lawrence was swarming with sterling fellows, without occupation, but with stores of energy for any enterprise which prof- fered either profit or adventure. These, and such as these, were they who then met, and in true American style, through the deliberations of a public meeting, organized themselves as a body, determined plans, established regulations and elected officers to traverse 600 miles across the great American desert and gather the un- certain treasures, stored by their fancy, in the sands of the streams and in the recesses of the distant mountains.

It has been the habit of historians of Den- ver unjustly to award the credit of pioneer suc- cess in Colorado to the party of Georgians, un- der the leadership of Green Russell, which reached the Cherry Creek Region in the early summer of 1858, and prospected that stream and the adjacent tributaries of the South Platte River with such degree of success as to give assurance that gold in paying quantities might

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HISTORY OF EL PASO COUNTY.

be reasonably sought after in the neighboring mountains. But the actual settlement of Colo- rado was purely the work of the Lawrence party. The accretions of the rolling snow-ball are natural and inevitable, but the power which gives it motion is the genius of the snow-ball. This party, which, under the leadership of John Turney, arrived in the early part of July, 1858, came with the full determination to make, in some form or other, of their erratic expedition an unquestionable success. They had less ex- perience, perhaps, as gold-hunters, but they had system, organization and a keen, speculative sense of something wherewithal they should be profited. They had also their historian. " Bil- ly " Parsons had been a conspicuous feature of most of the political gatherings in Kansas, was a fluent speaker and an easy and graceful writer ; and on his return to Kansas in the fall of 1858, published a glowing account of ad- ventures in their march across the plains, of the fascinating beauty of the mountains and their environment, of the immense wealth which time and enterprise should yet unfold here, with instructions as to routes, localities and natural attractions, in short a rose-colored guide-book, having for its object to tempt the adventure quite as much as to lead the adventurer. Others who returned at the same time, con- firmed the statements of Parsons, and exhibited small quantities of gold-dust, usually in a goose-quill, as an earnest of the wealth they had discovered, alleging, as an excuse for its paucity, that they had been too much occupied in exploiting and traversing the country to find time to gather gold.

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History of the Arkansas Valley, Colorado, Part 55

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