USA > Colorado > History of the State of Colorado, Vol. I > Part 46
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reader imagine the circumstances and the apparent inhospitable con- ditions under which they began. If acquainted with the thrift and comfort of New England homes he will readily comprehend the vast difference between such scenes and the austere desolation of the Cache la Poudre Valley in its natural state, before a house had been built, a tree planted, or an acre plowed. Even the elements were against them, everything was new, the forms and methods of cultivation untried. The settler of to-day to whom the way has been opened and made comparatively clear, will easily comprehend that great courage was necessary to carry these pioneers over the difficulties that met and opposed them on every hand.
About the middle of October, 1870, Horace Greeley himself, the patron saint of Union Colony and the greatest of American journalists, arrived in Denver via the Kansas Pacific and, by invitation, delivered his famous lecture on "Self Made Men," to a large audience assembled in the Lawrence Street Methodist Church. He prefaced the same with a few personal observations relating to his first visit to the Rocky Mountains in 1859, immediately after the discovery of gold by John Gregory, and his gratification at the marked advance of Western set- tlement since that time. A day or two later he went down to observe the progress of the town which bore his name, and which he had been so largely instrumental in founding, where he was enthusiastically wel- comed. The platform of the railway station was crowded with colonists, the town as profusely decorated in his honor as its limited resources would permit. Those who had flags displayed them, and all mani- fested in their several ways the joy that inspired them over the arrival of their leader. A stage or rostrum had been erected in the town, to which, after the first greetings, the committee conducted him, when looking down over his spectacles upon the multitude of ardent admirers he related his experiences in pioneering and farming on the prairies of Illinois and elsewhere. He believed the location of this colony had been wisely determined, the soil greatly superior to that of the Salt Lake valley where the Mormons had accomplished the transformation
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of the desert into blooming gardens. He was a little apprehensive, however, that the colonists had given too much attention to their town and not enough to the chief business of farming. He had hoped to see fewer houses in Greeley, and more upon the neighboring lands. It was there that the greatest effort should have been made, since the town must depend for its growth and maintenance upon the products of the soil. While all the results for which he contended came in good time, it was evident that he felt somewhat disappointed over the lack of agricultural development. But as we have seen, the colony lost nothing in the course of events by establishing and fortifying its beau- tiful central station. It had come late, and before much could be done with agriculture, water had to be provided, fences built and dwellings put upon the various subdivisions. The preliminary work consumed the first year, but in the second and each ensuing season the busi- ness of husbandry received its full share of attention. The vener- able Horace gave the settlers much fatherly advice regarding the management of the colony; the importance of working in harmony for mutual benefit ; advocated the organization of Farmers' Clubs, and pointed out many ways whereby, rightly pursued, their prospects would be materially brightened.
Notwithstanding the criticism passed upon the initiatory move- ments, it was apparent that he was deeply moved by the heartiness of his welcome and the reverential respect exhibited toward him by the people. Farther examination caused him to see things in a better light, and satisfied him that the colony had been well founded and would endure the shocks of time.
But one saloon was ever opened within the colony lines, and that in the first year of its existence. It happened in this way, as related by an eye witness: On Sunday morning of October 23d, 1870, a German dealer in beer and other intoxicants, who had been doing business in the town of Evans four miles above, where the sale of liquors was not prohibited, concluding that the people of Greeley only needed a reasonable opportunity to abandon their teeto-
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talism, went down and established himself in an old adobe building on a ranch within the colony lines, displayed his "wet groceries," and patiently awaited his customers. This building had been erected by one of the first settlers in that region. Certain persons, whether members of the colony or not is of no material consequence, took occa- sion to patronize the bar rather freely in the morning hours, and afterward attended church services, where the matter soon became gen- erally known that an intruder, in direct and defiant violation of the laws in such case made and provided, had entered upon the sacred limits devoted to temperance and godly virtues, and begun the sale of liquid damnation. Before, or immediately after the benediction from the pulpit, a committee was appointed to call upon the saloon keeper and remind him of the error of his ways. A crowd soon gathered about him. The committee quietly but firmly insisted upon the removal of his contraband goods to the point whence they came, anyhow outside the Union lines. He replied that, having leased the premises for a certain period, he proposed to stay there. The com- mittee entertained different views, issue was joined, but the outcome was by no means doubtful. The door of his place was instantly closed and locked by the committee, who, desirous of avoiding violent demonstrations, renewed their argument. The German told them he had paid two hundred dollars for his lease, and it was unjust to turn him out neck and heels without some sort of compensation. The committee finally proposed to pay him the amount. Meanwhile others of the attendants had broken into the place and set it on fire. The committee extinguished the flames, but they broke out again and again until at length the cabin was burned to the ground. This proved an effectual settlement of the question, and thus ended the first and only attempt to trample upon and overturn one of the fundamental and unalterable laws of this sturdy little community.
It is only necessary to add at this time, since the subject will be resumed at a later stage of our history, that the first colony located in Colorado continued to flourish with the passing years until it became
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a noble monument to the wisdom, honesty and industry of its founders. In all the West there is no finer example of the benefits accruing from well ordained colonization. The builders of this admir- able structure understood human nature, and the better methods of its direction under such an association of elements as were here brought together, and while they may have committed numerous errors in working out the details, the result has, so far, exceeded the highest expectations formed of the experiment by the original members.
The town has grown and prospered, each member lending his best endeavors toward the common desire to make it beautiful. Many of those who came with only moderate possessions have been enriched, while the fortunes of all have been advanced to a greater degree undoubtedly than could have been anticipated from the same number of years of application to like avocations in the States whence they emi- grated. The greater part of the lands are under splendid cultivation and the annual fruitage is of such quality and magnitude as to render it one of our chief sources of supply for farm and dairy products. No- where in the West are seen prettier homes or more widespread peace and contentment. While several other enterprises of a similar char- acter were instituted in the same and succeeding years, not one has attained the same degree of excellence through like influences-unaided by corporations.
In the spring of 1870 a colony, almost wholly composed of Ger- mans, was organized in the city of Chicago by Carl Wulsten, and located in the Wet Mountain Valley, in what is now Custer County. During the first season some improvements were made, and about one hundred and twenty-five acres of land plowed and seeded ; a colony garden of thirty acres was also provided. Each family had a house- hold garden fifty by one hundred feet. Something over one hundred families, and about thirty single men were located the initial year, but it has never been remarkably prosperous, owing in the first instance to fre- quent and very bitter dissensions among the members, but principally due to the want of administrative capacity by the leader, Wulsten.
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No great irrigating canals were constructed in Colorado prior to 1870. I do not mean to be understood that none were constructed, for that would be untrue, but rather to convey the idea that in com- parison with the colossal enterprises now employed, the few then known were but mere threads upon the broad face of the plains, the small and simple beginnings of what is now one of the most extensive and complete systems of artificial waterways on the American conti- nent, for we have surpassed Mexico, California and Utah in the length, breadth, depth and capacity of such canals. For the first two years the country districts were in the main poor, thinly settled, and groping in darkness, making but indifferent progress in their search for light to guide them to the finer intricacies of cultivation under new and strange accessories. The sun rose every morning on schedule time, smiled benignly upon them in almost perennial splendor; the elements rarely frowning, still more rarely weeping. Canals could not be built by individual effort; it must be done either by large combinations of farmers, or by strong corporations supported by unlimited capital, and made a distinct branch of the business. How to irrigate the uplands, even when furnished with water, was unknown to the great majority. It was not difficult to manage the narrow strips of bottom land along the streams to which the bulk of production was confined, but the vast unwatered plateaus adjoining presented difficulties which they were unable to overcome, and these were seen to be the true great fields of the future. Even after capital had supplied the remedy, the details of the problem had to be worked out by incessant application and close observation of the effects produced by too much or too little water in the furrows, each crop requiring different treatment. They were with- out knowledge, precedents or guides, and like the primitive miners, each was compelled to master the details by slow and costly experimenting. Meanwhile, the people in the towns and cities, especially in the north- ern division of the Territory, were forced to look elsewhere, mainly to Kansas and Nebraska for hay, corn, wheat and oats. But at the close of the first decade, the knowledge acquired, and the waterways built, had
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prepared the way for the incoming thousands who took up lands on all the streams and diverted them into auxiliaries for the further expansion of husbandry. The business of supplying water soon thereafter fell into the hands of monopolies whose exactions created in the ensuing years a vast amount of litigation.
Tree planting and fruit culture began to develop about the year 1863, but no success worthy of mention attended these efforts until about the year 1869, when the numerous cultivators began to com- prehend something of the proper methods. This observation is more directly applicable to the experiments conducted with trees and vines, for with irrigation rightly applied there was little difficulty in producing small fruits. In 1870-71 the trees and vines began to bear, and thence- forward by attentive watching and the frequent interchange of views and experiences between the farmers in their granger clubs, the pursuit of horticulture became steadily progressive, though beset by many dis- asters and failures. The greatest triumphs were achieved in the partic- ularly favored region about Canon City in Fremont County, where the geniality of the climate and the peculiar adaptability of the soil, with, perhaps, a clearer apprehension on the part of the fruit growers, ren- dered the experimental period less tedious and harrassing. It is there that the more striking advances have been made, and the larger har- vests gathered. It has been justly designated the fruit garden of the State, and it will doubtless maintain its prestige throughout the future. It is astonishing to see the magnificent fruitage which the still young trees and vines bring forth with each recurring season. In the spring the atmosphere all about this charming valley is redolent of the rich perfume of myriad blossoms, and the scene made one of transcendent loveliness. In the summer when the fruits are ripening, the branches have to be supported by strong props to prevent their destruction by breakage of the heavily burdened stems. However, scenes like this, entrancing to the senses, as they are, wherever seen, are not confined wholly to Canon City and its environs. Wherever like care has been given to fruit culture, similar results have appeared, though in some
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localities it has taken a longer time to secure them. Though the people of the State are now, and for years-indeed ever since the com- pletion of the Union Pacific railway-have been largely dependent upon Salt Lake City and California for their supplies of domestic fruits, the progress made and making by our own horticulturists, will, in the procession of the cycles, render us comparatively independent of foreign sources, in the matter of apples, grapes, pears and plums. The quality of the fruits raised here is equal to the best produced elsewhere, and while we may forever lack some of the varieties which are so lav- ishly furnished by our neighbors of the Pacific slope, and by the well matured orchards of Southern Kansas, there is reason to hope that we may be able to reduce the annual outflow of money for the staples when the industry shall have been further developed.
Until after 1870-71, the city of Denver, now when viewed from any of the surrounding heights, apparently seated in the midst of a forest, was almost wholly destitute of trees and shrubs. It was idle to plant them unless they could be freely watered until deeply rooted, and there was no water for the purpose. I well remember a trip to Salt Lake City in the summer of 1869, soon after the completion of the great national highway, when I obtained my first view of a Pullman palace car and of the City of the Saints. How beautiful the chief city of the Mormons appeared, as the coach bore us up from Uintah station to the splendidly shaded streets of the modern Zion. The blooming gardens laden with fruitage, the aspect of bounteous plenty which met the eye on every hand, the cool green lawns and all the evidences of perfected cultivation, were in such marked contrast to the treeless and literally parched brown plains within and without the city of Denver, it seemed a veritable paradise of luxury and beauty.
The work of setting out trees along our streets came to be very general in the spring of 1870, mainly young cottonwood saplings, taken from the borders of the Platte River, arrangements having been made by the council with the owners of the Platte Ditch to supply water for them. Each thoroughfare from Broadway down to Larimer street,
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and on Fifteenth and Sixteenth to Blake, was fringed with cottonwoods. As business advanced further and further southward along these par- allels the trees were cast out, and much of the beauty of the city has been thereby destroyed. The architects in their desire to exhibit their handiwork in the erecting of beautiful buildings, have robbed nature of its richest jewels. Where the Tabor Opera House now stands was once the beautiful home of Mr. A. B. Daniels, surrounded with eme- rald lawns and filled with blossoming trees and shrubs, altogether one of the loveliest homesteads in the city. It seemed the grossest vandalism to destroy this charming picture of exquisite taste and homelike com- fort, merely to plant thereon a vast monument of brick and stone.
To-day, the city of Denver by the multiplication of the better accessions of modern civilization is a far more picturesque and beau- tiful metropolis than Salt Lake City, five times more populous, and, it is needless to add, no longer in unfavorable contrast to the capital of Utah.
The Chicago-Colorado colony established the town of Longmont in Boulder county, about the first of March, 1871. Its members were mostly Western men. The location comprised fifty-five thousand acres, purchased from the National Land Company, of which William N. Byers was the resident manager. The lands selected embraced the tracts watered by the St. Vrain, the Boulder and Left Hand Creeks, whose sources are in the lofty eminences of the Snowy Range. They are partly watered, also, by the Little Thompson, and extend out from the base of the mountains a distance of about twenty-five miles. The town is situated near the center on the north bank of the St. Vrain, and adjoining on the north the previously established town of Burlington, which Longmont ultimately absorbed.
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On the date named, according to the records, about twenty of the colonists were on the ground actively engaged in laying the founda- tion of their settlement. The name Longmont appears to be a com- posite, from Long, in honor of the discoverer of the majestic peak under whose shadow the miniature city rests, and the French mont, or mountain. It stands upon a bluff sloping gently toward the St.
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Vrain, an affluent of the Platte. Toward the south and east there are broad and fertile bottom lands, and beyond toward the Boulder an undulating plain. To the west is the stupendous snow-capped Sierra Madre, with its ever changing hues and incomparable cloud effects. The whole prospect is one of great beauty and attractiveness.
The projectors and members of this colony met in the city of Chicago on the 9th of March, 1871, to hear the final report of the locating committee. In the absence of the President, Vincent Collyer, William Bross, ex-Lieutenant Governor of Illinois, presided. The chairman of the locating committee, Mr. H. D. Emery, then editor of the " Prairie Farmer," stated that himself and associates, in visiting Colorado, first made a very full examination of Union Colony at Greeley, and stimulated by this notable example, which they heartily approved in its essential details of organization and management, they began searching for an equally eligible site with the result already mentioned. Mr. Byers being present, was introduced, and subjected to searching catechism respecting the climate, nature and productions of the soil, methods of irrigation, diversity of crops producible, markets, other settlements, experiences of the settlers already here, in short, everything pertaining to the prospects of the proposed colony. Being conversant with all the matters on which the meeting desired to be enlightened, he was prepared to answer its questions satisfactorily.
By the last of May, 1871, the records exhibited a very gratifying condition of affairs. One hundred and forty-three forty acre tracts had been located, and deeds issued to twenty ten acre tracts, five sixty-five acre subdivisions, three hundred and fifty-seven residence lots, and two hundred and seventy-four business lots. Fourteen miles of eight foot ditches had been constructed, with nine miles of four foot, and about twelve miles of side and lateral canals. The main ditch had been completed, and the water turned in along the streets of the town. Crops had been planted, and were in a flourishing condition.
Three hundred and fifteen memberships had been issued, and about three hundred and fifty adults were on the ground, including one
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hundred and fifty families. Exclusive of farmhouses there were sixty buildings in the town. This, it will be conceded, was pretty rapid work for a beginning. As far as practicable the general plan of Union Colony was adopted in the distribution of lands and the organization of municipal affairs, but the plan has not been so rigidly observed in some of its material details. Situated in an exceedingly fertile region, connected with the principal markets by two lines of railway, the Colorado Central and the Denver, Utah and Pacific, Longmont has been greatly prospered. Its further history will be given in the second volume of this work.
In the fall of 1871 quite an extensive collection of Colorado products, agricultural and mineral, was made up and sent to St. Louis for display at the great annual fair held in that city, where, on account of their excellence, they attracted much attention. Judge Capron, then United States Commissioner of Agriculture, who was an inter- ested examiner of the various exhibits, remarked that Colorado was the only Territory or State which returned to the department better wheat* than the sample that had been sent out. In other words, according to his experience, wheat deteriorated in every State and Territory except Colorado. This flattering tribute was by no means exaggerated nor unwarranted. The fame of our cereals extended to many States after opportunity for shipping them to the eastward by railways was afforded. The average yield per acre is, as a rule, greater than in any other State except California, but we have an advantage over all other countries in the size and fullness of the berry, owing to the presence of natural phosphates and to the fructifying influence of irrigation from our mountain streams, which in the spring- time and during the early part of summer come laden with rich veg- etable mold, that, distributed over the grain fields, lends to them unequaled fertilizers. The dryness of the climate and the absence of drenching rains while the crops are ripening, is another cause.
* The wheat referred to was raised by Wm. N. Byers within the present limits of the city of Denver in 1862, and the sample is still preserved in the National Museum at Washington.
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In the winter of 1871 Baxter B. Stiles, of Denver, sent two sacks of Colorado flour, then regarded as the finest in the world, to the proprietors of the Southern Hotel in St. Louis, both as a delicate com- pliment to them, and as an illustration of the perfection of Colorado agriculture. They finding it equal to all the claims made in its behalf, instead of converting it into bread for the use of their guests, sent the donation to the Merchants' Exchange, to be there exhibited to the connoisseurs of that association, and then sold at public auction for the benefit of the homeless poor of St. Louis. The members of the Exchange, appreciating both the motive and the superiority of the flour, made it the occasion of a spirited rivalry in bidding. Soon the excitement became infectious, the bids mounted to the fifties and then to the hundreds, until finally the two sacks were sold for four hundred and sixty dollars.
Colorado manufactured flour is especially well adapted for export to the humid States of the South, and to South American ports, because of its dryness. In the years since 1871 large consignments have been ordered from Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama and Georgia, and many carloads have been sent to Pittsburg, New York and Boston. In the fall of 1872 several sacks were sent to the latter city and there exhibited on 'Change, which resulted in an order being sent to the " Rough and Ready Mills " at Littleton, for fifty carloads.
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LEGEND OF MANITOU SPRINGS.
BY GEORGE F. RUXTON .- 1847.
The Snakes, who, in common with all Indians, possess hereditary legends to account for all natural phenomena, or any extraordinary occurrences which are beyond their ken or comprehension, have of course, their legendary version of the causes which created in the midst of their hunting grounds these two springs of sweet and bitter water ; which are also intimately connected with the cause of separation between the tribes of "Comanche" and the "Snake." Thus runs the legend :
Many hundreds of winters ago, when the cottonwoods on the Big River were no higher than an arrow, and the red men, who hunted the buffalo on the plains all spoke the same language, and the pipe of peace breathed its social cloud of Kinnik-Kinnick whenever two parties of hunters met on the boundless plains-where, with hunting grounds and game of every kind in the greatest abundance, no nation dug up the hatchet with another because one of its hunters followed the game into their bounds, but, on the contrary, loaded for him his back with choice and fattest meat, and ever proffered the soothing pipe before the stranger, with well filled belly, left the village -- it hap- pened that two hunters of different nations met one day on a small rivulet where both had repaired to quench their thirst. A little stream of water, rising from a spring on a rock within a few feet of the bank, trickled over it, and fell splashing into the river. To this the hunters repaired; and while one sought the spring itself, where the water, cold and clear, reflected on its surface the image of the surrounding scenery, the other, tired by his exertions in the chase, threw himself at once to the ground, and plunged his face into the running stream.
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