USA > Colorado > History of the State of Colorado, Vol. I > Part 43
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How fully this portraiture of the coming eras has been perfected by the subtle fingers of time and the agencies it has evoked from the forces of nature, those who now enjoy the delights of Manitou, the Garden of the Gods and the æsthetic beauties of Colorado Springs, can realize and appreciate. In July, 1872, W. W. Nevins wrote the Philadelphia Press this sublime description :
" Health is what Colorado most surely and absolutely offers to its visitors. On this vast upland plateau, six thousand feet above the level of the sea, on which as a magnificent monolith, rests the Rocky Mountains, we have an atmosphere which itself is health. *
North and South, from the Arctic Ocean to the Gulf of Mexico there is raised a vast plateau of tableland from four thousand to six thou- sand feet, and extending in width many hundred miles. On this tre- mendous bed are built the unknown and almost limitless mountains, their vast, brawny, irregular ranges rolling out like the waves of the sea, in some places four hundred miles east and west. Of course, from any near point like this, the view is of a gigantic wall which rises
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sharp against the sky, with its naked stone gray faces climbing, one above the other, until all are relieved and lost in the snow line. Climb what seems this wall, however, and you gain its summit only to see a more formidable ascent in advance, and so, on and on you might go for weary days and months. Once reach some commanding eminence like Long's Peak, Pike's or the Spanish Peaks, and then you only gain some idea of the mountains. Over a vast expanse of savage and des- olate wilderness further than the limits of human eye can reach-a dreary ocean of waste-stretch out the endless ranges of the centuries, twisting, crossing and closing with each other like the contortions of giants."
Coming back to Manitou, he concludes that it is idle to attempt a description "of the grandeur and picturesqueness of this wild gorge. It is a fine cañon, the walls of rock rising on either side almost perpen- dicularly, two thousand feet. As you make your way through this titanic fissure, so narrow at times that it seems itself as if a single span might bridge it, the walls appear to close in and shut you up in chambers of eternal rock. This magnificent cañon closes its series of beautiful shifting views with an airy waterfall three hundred feet in height, broken, however, in its descent into three dalles or descents. Down into the cool fastnesses of this canon will be the attractions of the place, although now the professional tourist pays his respects to the Garden of the Gods and the bubbling springs, which constitute the regulation trip."
From May until November Manitou is a scene of picturesque love- liness unparalleled in the Rocky Mountains. Two railways-the Rio Grande and the Midland, hourly wake the echoes of this wonderland ; the slopes where once buffalo, deer, antelope and elk roamed in unchal- lenged freedom, are now dotted with beautiful villas ; the springs are crowded with invalids seeking their health-imparting waters, and the piazzas of not one, but half a dozen hotels, are thronged with guests. Manitou has many rivals, but few equals.
Colorado Springs was organized, primarily, as the "Fountain
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Colony of Colorado." All the profits derived from the sale of lots and lands were to be expended in public improvements. Titles to lots were made contingent upon the completion of certain improvements within four months. The manufacture and sale of intoxicants was strictly inhibited, and, as at Greeley, this condition entered into all con- tracts between the company and the settler.
General R. A. Cameron was made Vice-President, Superintendent and General Manager. It was with him that I made my first excursion to the famous springs, and he who suggested the appropriateness of the Indian name for the resort. At that time he was projecting and carry- ing into effect the plans for improvements which have given the two points a national, almost world-wide celebrity.
His faithful co-operators were W. E. Pabor Secretary, and E. S. Nettleton Chief Engineer, in charge of the scientific branches of the several enterprises. All the site back of the bluff line where now stands the splendid Antler's Hotel, and along which to the northward some of the most elegant residences have been built, was dotted here and there, though at wide intervals, with rude frame cabins. There was then not the shadow of promise of the present broad, smooth, well kept streets, lined with trees and beautiful homes, peopled with choice spirits from many climes, the center of wealth, culture and refinement that have caused it to be known, and deservedly, as the "Athens of Colorado ;" nor of its handsome parks, its well ordered government, the multitudes upon its thoroughfares, the great business houses established, its fine schools, seminaries and colleges. The region had been but little advanced from the state in which Lieutenant Pike found it in 1806.
In the spring of 1871, General Palmer and ex-Governor Hunt insti- tuted a brisk movement toward the extension of their railway to Pueblo where the people had caught the prevailing fever, and having acquired material accessions of population, began to assert their right to more conspicuous recognition. As nothing could be done without a public meeting, the leading citizens were called together the first week in March, to whom two distinct propositions were read, one from Palmer
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and Hunt, on behalf of the Rio Grande, and the other from General R. E. Carr of the Kansas Pacific. In the first it was clearly stated that the Rio Grande Company would extend its road from Colorado Springs to Pueblo, notwithstanding the fact that it was not on its projected line, provided the county would subsidize it to the amount of two hundred thousand dollars in bonds.
General Carr proposed to construct a branch from his main line at Kit Carson, to Fort Lyon and thence up the Arkansas River, on condi- tion that Pueblo County would aid it with a certain amount of bonds. Here was a choice to be sure, but the meeting rather favored the "baby road." As to the cost, there was no difference. Pueblo, never rash, took time for reflection. In June following, having meanwhile made her choice, a proposition to aid the Rio Grande was submitted to the electors and carried.
In the spring of 1872 the grade was extended down the fertile valley of the Fountaine-qui-bouille to the rising metropolis of the Arkansas Valley. While awaiting the rather slow arrival of the iron, a cloud of laborers were put upon the branch thence up the Arkansas River to the coal fields, about midway between Pueblo and Cañon City, with the further intention of proceeding southward toward Trinidad and the Raton Range of mountains as soon as the unfinished divisions were completed. It was anticipated that the company would construct some- thing over one hundred and fifty miles of road during 1872. In March of that year, General Palmer and ex-Governor Hunt went to the Republic of Mexico, whence General Rosecrans had preceded them, and had been negotiating with the Juarez government for concessions to the proposed construction of a system of narrow gauge roads in that country. Rosecrans had made considerable progress, but Palmer's eminent skill was required to perfect the scheme. It may as well be stated here as elsewhere, that the project failed, largely through the intervention of English influence, and to some extent by reason of the hostility of the people to Americans. Some years later the negotia- tions were renewed, and out of them sprang the Mexico National railway
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Track laying began the last week in March, 1872, from Colorado Springs toward Pueblo, to which point the road was completed on the 29th of June following. Hundreds of people assembled at the terminus to give the "baby road" a cordial welcome. On the 2d of July a train load of excursionists comprising the Governor, Territorial officers, the municipal authorities of Denver, representatives of the press, a number of prominent railway managers and many citizens went down to aid their brethren in celebrating the happy consummation of the union between the valleys of the Platte and Arkansas-the capital of the North with the first city of the South. The train was drawn by the quaint little engine "Ouray," which whirled it across the divide at the rate of twenty miles an hour. The excursionists reached Pueblo at one o'clock P. M., where the principal part of the inhabitants congregated to accord their guests of the day a cordial greeting. Forming in procession, all marched to the Court House where a sumptuous banquet had been pro- vided. George Q. Richmond, the orator of the occasion, in a well con- sidered speech, formally welcomed the visitors. "The consummation of this enterprise," he said, "had brought the people of Pueblo and of Southern Colorado into close fraternal contact with the Northern and Western divisions of the Territory, whence would arise a spirit of friendly strife between the two principal cities, each representing the central station of one-half the Territory. The natural tendency would be toward the building of more railroads on the narrow gauge plan until all material points were brought into the alliance. And thus we should soon be prepared for Statehood." The speech expressed very fully the enthusiasm of the people over the beginning of a more progressive era. Grace Greenwood, General Sam E. Browne, Col. W. H. Greenwood, C. J. Reid, editor of the "Chieftain," Hon. H. P. Bennett, G. M. Chilcott, General R. A. Cameron and others, followed in appropriate remarks.
Taken altogether, it was the happiest day in the history of the town, for, like the first born of woman, the advent of this tiny railroad was hailed with greater joy than all the rest which followed in the fulness of time.
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The first depot was located on the Fountain north of the Court House, but was shortly afterward transferred to the present site. Crowds of immigrants came, hundreds of houses were built, trade flour- ished as never before ; dance halls, theaters of questionable repute, gambling dens and the customary accessories inseparable from the excite- ment incident to the building of frontier towns, multiplied rapidly. Gradually the character of the place underwent a general transform- ation. From a quiet, unpretentious village, with a mixed population of Americans and Mexicans dwelling in long rows of primitive adobe houses which gave it the tone of a Mexican settlement with indo- lent, easy movement that signified, "We are at peace with all the world and hope to remain so," it suddenly assumed the habiliments of a new civilization, and with them loftier aims and purposes actuated every element of fixed society. In due time the mud houses disappeared and were replaced by substantial residences and business houses of brick and stone. Business methods changed from the old to new principles of conduct in mercantile affairs. While before it had borne some likeness to the city of Santa Fe, in that it resembled a brick yard, it now took on the nature of an American town which had the foundation of modern ideas and taste, and would henceforth be identified with the United States instead of Mexico in thought, feeling and action. Prices of goods cheapened, well assorted stocks adapted to the new epoch, were placed on sale. Public schools and churches began to appear. The hotels, though neither palatial nor imposing, were fair. But one essential element was left out of calculation which might then have been easily supplied, and is still lacking-there were neither trees nor public parks in all the wide boundaries of the town.
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CHAPTER XXIX.
1870-72-DATA SHOWING THE GROWTH OF THE TERRITORY-EFFECT OF RAILWAYS ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF PUEBLO-TERRITORIAL ASSESSMENTS AND EXPENDI- TURES-RALPH MEEKER'S TRIBUTE TO BYERS, EVANS AND MOFFAT- DEVELOP- MENT OF THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS-THE SUPERINTENDENCY OF W. C. LOTHROP- ARAPAHOE STREET SCHOOL-LEGISLATIVE APPROPRIATIONS-FIRST BUREAU OF
IMMIGRATION-EFFECTS OF TOO FREE ADVERTISING-THE ADMINISTRATION OF JOSEPH E. BATES AS MAYOR-DEPLORABLE LACK OF PUBLIC PARKS-CONSERVA- TISM OF THE PEOPLE-HENRY M. STANLEY, THE RENOWNED EXPLORER-HIS CAREER IN THE WEST-FIRST ANNIVERSARY OF FOUNTAIN COLONY-FIRST YEAR'S PROGRESS-FORT COLLINS COLONY-ORGANIZATION OF COLORADO PIONEERS- VISIT OF THE GRAND DUKE ALEXIS OF RUSSIA-SETTLEMENT OF THE SAN JUAN COUNTRV.
The influence which operated most effectively toward the adjustment of our troubles with the hostile Indians, in all parts of the Territory was the coming of railways in 1870. With the first locomotive there came a radical change pregnant of momentous consequences for the new West. While the field of agriculture constantly expanded with the passing years, we are wholly without trustworthy data of the products, because they have never been collected. Though many attempts have been made to compile accurate statistics of the crops, none have succeeded. In all the mass of Territorial and State publications there is not one book nor pamphlet, report or compilation of any kind to which the earnest inquirer may turn and discover even a respectable glossary of facts relating to this very important branch of industry. The State, which should have reliable figures of the yields from every section culti- vated, has only a few fragmentary reports-nothing complete, for the simple reason that no adequate provision has been made to achieve
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better results. Hence the seeker after facts is compelled to rely upon estimates, no two of which are in agreement. If one should accost twenty different persons and ask each his opinion of the quantities of corn, wheat, oats and barley produced in Colorado in any given year, he would be likely to receive twenty different estimates, and the volume of information thus derived would be about as valuable as most of the published statistics on the subject.
The confession is humiliating, but true. The responsibility for this unfortunate state of affairs should rest where it belongs-with the Terri- torial and State Legislatures, which have uniformly treated the matter as one of no consequence whatever. Some of the members have even gone so far as to denounce every attempt to throw light upon such pro- ductions, under the apprehension probably, that if the facts are made known ruinous competition will ensue. Intellects of this caliber should emigrate to Mexico, or to some of the remote islands of the Pacific Sea where light and progress are unknown.
The value of the agricultural crop of 1868, to illustrate how little is known of such matters-was estimated at two millions seven hundred thousand dollars, and that of 1869 at three and a half millions ; not a recorded syllable as to the nature of the products, nor even a guess at the amount of each, measured by pounds or bushels. Those of 1870-71, were said to have been about the same as that of 1869. While there was an increase in the number of acres sown, there was a manifest decrease of yield per acre, owing to protracted drouths. The bullion product from the mines, estimated by the same rule, showed an increase of about one million dollars, the gross amount being placed at four millions six hundred and sixty-three thousand. Since it was deemed essential to have some kind of an exhibit for advertisement abroad, to show that the Territory was not retrograding but making rapid strides toward the front, the yields of the farms and mines thus collated were bunched together, and the total of eight millions seven hundred thousand set down as the result of our industrial activity.
The business of the United States land office, where records
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were available, exhibited a material increase in the sale of public lands, and, inferentially, a decided augmentation of settlers. At the branch mint the miners had deposited one million ninety-two thousand six hundred dollars' worth of gold bullion, an increase of one hundred and twenty-five thousand one hundred and fifty-two dollars over the deposits of the previous year. The business of the postoffice showed a marked advance. The receipts of the Denver Pacific railway in freight amounted to eighty-seven million seven hundred and thirty-one thou- sand five hundred and thirty pounds, including the coal traffic of the Boulder Valley road. In the same period the freight receipts of the Kansas Pacific were sixty-nine million one hundred and thirty thousand three hundred and seventy-three pounds.
That there ensued a pronounced increase of wealth and population is indicated by the growth of towns and cities, and the number of farms put under cultivation. In Boulder, Golden, Colorado Springs, Cañon City, and especially at Denver and Pueblo, the movement was remark- able. From a summary published in the "Chieftain" at the close of 1871, the following data, showing the development of Pueblo in that year, are extracted :
The number of buildings erected was one hundred and seven, of which twenty were brick, thirty-three frame, and fifty-one of adobe. The cost of these structures amounted to two hundred and fifteen thousand seven hundred and sixty dollars. The freight receipts aggre- gated nearly five million pounds. Four hundred thousand pounds of wool were purchased by local dealers. Also six hundred and thirty- eight thousand dollars' worth of merchandise. Half a million bricks were made to meet the demands of the builders. There were two hundred and sixty-one transfers of real estate, the value, as expressed in the conveyances, being one hundred and thirty-three thousand two hundred and six dollars and fifty cents. The U. S. land office sold eighty thousand seven hundred and nineteen acres of government land. While these figures are but an outline, they denote progress, since in prior years there had been no activity at all in real estate, and only a
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turbid flow in the channels of commerce. But the railways had quick- ened the arteries by infusing new blood into them, and this is the evidence of it. It was manifest on every hand in a thousand ways. It was observable all along the lines, but most apparent at the terminals of the iron thoroughfares.
While dealing with the statistics of the time it is interesting to glance over the report of the Territorial Auditor, Major J. B. Thompson, for the year 1870, which shows a total of revenue receipts from the entire Territory for the biennial term, of eighty-eight thousand five hundred and twenty-nine dollars and eight cents. The Treasurer's report gives an epitome of the expenditures of the Territory from the date of its organization in 1861 to the close of 1871, amounting to two hundred and twenty-nine thousand one hundred and ninety-five dollars and eighty-six cents. At the close of 1871 the accounts showed a balance of cash on hand amounting to fifty-five thousand one hundred and four dollars and thirty-two cents.
The assessed valuation of property for that year was $24, 112,- 078.37. The expenses for the biennial term of 1872-3 were estimated at $85,387.42, or $42,693.71 per annum. The resources for the term were placed at $194,743.32, of which sixty per cent. was unavailable, being delinquent taxes which could not be collected.
The assessed valuation of property in Arapahoe county for the year 1871 was $9,058,405. The increase of valuation in the Territory over 1870 was $7,334,073.37, of which $4,351,524, or more than one- half, was in Arapahoe County. The counties paying the largest pro- portions of territorial revenue were Arapahoe, Gilpin, Clear Creek, Pueblo, Jefferson, Boulder and Weld.
Ralph Meeker wrote the New York "Standard" in January, 1872, concerning the transformations effected in 1871, the first year of the second decade, and of the new era, as follows :
" Pages might be written of the improvements that mark the year 1871. Twelve years ago Colorado had only a few miserable cabins, with scarcely a house between the Missouri River and the Snowy
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Range, while an unbroken wilderness stretched from the north pole down to the cathedrals of old Mexico. The schoolboys can well remember when the postage on a single letter was twenty-five cents; when flour sold for one hundred dollars a sack; when thirty-five thousand people fled from Denver as from a pestilence ; when Colorado was a desert covered with dead men's bones. To-day the trains of five railroads glide in and out of this wonderful city. Well may its people point to the beautiful buildings, to the Union depot, the newspaper offices, the banks, and churches, and schools, and to the new civilization which is springing up under the shadows of these sublime mountains. Its founders need no monuments to carry their memories into the coming years. Neither storm nor flood can obliterate the footprints of Green Russell, the discoverer, and the day is approaching when Byers and Evans, and Moffat, and their coadjutors shall stand higher than Cæsar or Alexander. Sesostris chiseled his royal name in the temples of Egypt, but one greater than Sesostris has blasted the name ' Gregory' into the walls of the Rocky Mountains."
In no other department was the advance made during the early stages of the railway epoch more manifest than in the development of the public schools. If popular education be the corner stone and guide of modern civilization, it has found out here in the wilds of Colorado some of its noblest exemplifications. Up to this period the growth, while steady, had not in the matter of management been wholly satisfactory. It was evident that the system needed a strong, forceful head to organize and conduct ; to harmonize the discordant elements that had somehow crept in, and resolve the whole into an orderly, methodical and smoothly running machine.
Wilbur C. Lothrop was elected county superintendent of schools in the autumn of 1869, and in 1870, by virtue of his developed capa- bilities was appointed by the Governor, Territorial Superintendent of Public Instruction, which enlarged the field of action and gave him ample opportunities for the display of his organizing abilities. His report rendered in 1871-72 was a lengthy and carefully prepared docu-
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ment, giving in tabulated form the vital statistics of the schools through- out the Territory, accompanied by suggestions and recommendations respecting their improvement through amendments to existing laws. It is unnecessary to go into detail, but a glance at some of the figures presented, will indicate the status of educational affairs at the opening of this decade, whence by wise and capable direction and the munifi- cent liberality of our people in providing every essential requisite for the purpose, has been evolved one of the grandest structures built upon American soil, the pride of our own citizens, and the admiration of all contemporaries.
Mr. Lothrop gives the number of persons of school age in 1871 at 7,742, an increase of 1,325 over the previous year. The number of school districts was one hundred and sixty, an increase of fifty in the same period In 1871 the number of male pupils was 2,324, and the average attendance, 1,477 ; female pupils, 2,033-average attendance, 1,134. The number of teachers employed was 164, eighty male and eighty-four female. The average salary of male teachers was sixty- nine dollars per month, and of the female fifty-four dollars.
In 1870 there were sixty-eight schoolhouses in the Territory, and in 1871 there were eighty. The aggregate value of school property in 1870 was $66, 106.55, and in 1871, $82,574 05. The average rate of school tax levied was four and one-tenth mills. The total amount of school fund raised in 1870 was $64,839.39, and in 1871, $81,274.02. The amount expended in 1870, was $53,763.14, and in 1871, $67,395.48.
Of the amount of school fund collected, Arapahoe County con- tributed $29,049.80 ; Gilpin, $14,032.93 ; Jefferson, $6,238.29 ; Pueblo, $5,999.32 ; Boulder, $4,871.19 ; El Paso, $4,776.78 ; Weld, $4,409.48 ; Larimer, $4,119.56 ; and Clear Creek, $2,785.46. The other counties furnished less than $2,000 each.
The corner stone of the Arapahoe street school building, the first of the series of splendid structures erected in Denver and elsewhere throughout the Territory, was laid June 24th, 1872, and was made the occasion for an imposing demonstration. All the school children, the
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police, fire department, civic societies, the supreme judges, members of the bar, city and county officials, Odd Fellows and Masons, the Grand Lodge of the latter body escorted by the Knights Templar in full uniform and mounted, with a long line of citizens in carriages, was a gathering that evinced the depth and breadth of popular interest in the event.
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