USA > Colorado > History of the State of Colorado, Volume II > Part 22
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"The reward offered by the Governor was never paid, to my knowledge," says Col. Francisco, "and the only thing in my opinion that Toben ever received, was a silver mounted rifle, donated by private individuals. The legislature of the Territory endeavored to do some- thing for him, but what was done, if anything, I am not prepared to state. His only fault was his recklessness in an Indian fight. While the enemy was in view he seemed to regard the battle as individually his own."
In the summer of 1889, Col. George L. Shoup, now and for many years a resident of Idaho Territory, but from 1861 to 1864 one of the bravest officers in the First Regiment of Colorado Volunteers, and who afterward commanded the Third Regiment of Colorado Cavalry at the battle of Sand Creek, in recognition of Toben's worth as a man, scout and guide, but more especially for his distinguished service in ridding
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the world of the bloody butcher of his (Shoup's) brother, who, with a companion named Binkley, was murdered by the Espinosas in the Red Hills of the South Park, sent Toben, through Capt. L. V. Cutler, editor of the "Field and Farm" in Denver, a draft for two hundred dollars. This, so far as known, is the only substantial reward the heroic Toben has ever received, except the rifle mentioned by Col. Francisco, but he is entitled to the everlasting gratitude of the people, and it would seem that some more fitting appreciation than mere panegyric, should be granted him, in his old age, and in his poverty.
SOME MEMORIES OF OLD ZAN HICKLIN AND THE REBELLION AT MACE'S HOLE.
By the courtesy of Mr. D. Ellis Conner, of Covington, Kentucky, who was among the first immigrants to the gold regions, and kept a diary in extenso of the more remarkable incidents of his experiences and observations in the Rocky Mountains, I have been furnished a large collection of manuscript notes, chiefly relating to the original discoveries of gold in Georgia, French and other gulches thereabouts, with some stirring incidents of that memorable period, and among them some personal reminiscences of old Zan Hicklin, and the rebellion at Mace's Hole, in 1861-'62, all of which he vouches for as being strictly true.
It appears from these notes that soon after the first news of the war reached the gulch, and there began to be something of an upheaval between the opposing parties of secessionists and Union men, Mr. Conner left the mountains, and proceeded to Hicklin's ranch, which was the outpost for the rebels who were congregating at the general ren- dezvous,-"Mace's Hole," where Col. John Heffiner was organizing a regiment for the Confederate army, and contemplated the capture of Fort Garland as the beginning of his campaign. He states that at one time Heffiner had about six hundred men concealed at this rendezvous, but none of them were uniformed and only a portion supplied with arms. A government freighter named John Sowers, arrived on Apishapa Creek in the fall of 1861, in charge of a train laden with bacon and other 17 II.
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supplies for General Canby's troops, but instead of going on, he halted there for a month, anticipating Canby's defeat by Sibley's Texans, when he proposed to deliver the stores to the Confederates. But when in the course of events the tables were turned, he hastened to Fort Union and delivered them to the Federals.
Conner, while in Georgia Gulch, was offered and accepted the cap- taincy of a company of Confederate recruits, not that he desired to enter the army, but merely took this means of getting back to his home in Kentucky. The recruits gathered in the mountains, separately repaired to Mace's Hole, or to Zan Hicklin's, by whom they were directed to the camp. He states that Hicklin guided Federal troops by day, and drove beef cattle to the rebels by night, and operated for some time without detection in the Confederate interest. He knew · Hicklin well, but the latter did not know him, nor his purposes.
When the first regiment of Colorado troops marched down to Fort Union, in response to Canby's call, being poorly supplied, they foraged upon the country, pressing into service about everything they could find, and among other movable property, one hundred head of Hicklin's cattle. But it didn't seem to annoy him at all, he simply remarked that he was a guide for the Federal troops ; that the government had been very good to him, had always paid him for his cattle and would do it again. He made out his bill for the stock and it was paid in due time, but in some manner nearly all of it escaped the troops, or was aban- doned by them in their haste, and it came back to Hicklin's ranch.
Old Zan, from this account, selected Mace's Hole as a gathering place for Heffiner's men. He had two stations, one on the Greenhorn which he rented to one Dobson, where mails for the United States troops were received and forwarded. Old Zan moved down the road half a mile or so, and being a bachelor, built a cabin, corrals for his stock, employed Mexican peons for herders, and there continued the business of a stockgrower and farmer. Dobson's nearest neighbor was Bo. Boyce, on the Huerfano. On the Purgatoire, forty or fifty miles to the south, resided Jim Gray, Boyce's brother-in-law. All these men
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except Boyce were, in a limited way, employes of the government, but all rather inclined to sympathize with the South, as they were natives of that country. Capt. George Madison, under a roving commission from Gen. Sibley, rode all through the country, and in 1861 captured the United States mail carrier on the Huerfano, destroying the contents of his pouches, and throwing his saddle into the creek just above Boyce's house, where it lay for months. Buckmaster, Sibley's chief of artillery at the battle of Valverde, was subsequently captured, charged with robbing the mail carrier, tried and sentenced to be shot, but pending the execution confined in the military prison at Santa Fé, made his escape by bribing the guard and fled to Colorado, where he raised sixteen men in the fall of 1862, with the intention of going to Texas.
Heffiner's regiment was broken up by the Federal troops and scattered throughout the Territory, most of the leaders being captured. Conner states that he was at Dobson's ranch when Col. Slough and some of his men called there in search of rebels, but was neither recognized nor disturbed. The rest may be told in his own words. He says, "I went to Boyce, and there procured a Mexican disguise, con- sisting of a check shirt, overalls, hat and moccasins. Furnished with secret credentials, I went by night to Dobson's, secreted my old clothes under a stack of corn husks in the corral, proceeded to the door of the house and knocked. After some parleying it was opened. I said I was seeking employment, and was immediately engaged to pull corn. While there I saw Zan Hicklin daily, and while keeping my own counsel, speaking but rarely, and then only in answer to questions, discovered some important secrets, I knew that Col. Slough and his troops wanted me as a rebel, for my name was on their list, so I kept as quiet as the grave, attending strictly to my character of a common laborer in the cornfield, associated with Mexicans. The names of all who were wanted were given to Dobson and Hicklin, who promised to look out for them.
"One day the soldiers left a copy of the Rocky Mountain 'News' at the station. Hicklin, who could neither read nor write, handed it to me
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and asked me if I could read. I said No, though I was planning in my mind how to secure and take it out to the field, being very anxious to get the latest information from the war. In the presence of the troops, Zan jokingly called himself 'Old Secesh,' to disarm suspicion, and by the manner in which he did it, succeeded in persuading them that he was loyal to the Union. Hicklin was an excellent judge of human nature, a keen humorist, and an exceedingly clever actor. He could play the clown, or the part of a grave, sedate and dignified gentleman at pleasure. He would laugh and joke at one moment, and be as silent and stately as a graven image the next. To the soldiers he always put forward his silly demeanor, and they regarded him as a half-witted crank, yet he was as cunning as a fox, and when necessary, brave and resolute. He entertained intense disgust for dainty and well dressed people who put on airs. To illustrate :
When he kept the station prior to Dobson's coming, two young men rode up, one well dressed, neat and precise, the other just the opposite, and asked for a night's lodging, which was promptly granted. Zan measured them up, and laid his plans accordingly. The nice young man gave his horse to the Mexican servants to be cared for, while the coarse, gruff fellow went out to the stable and took care of his own animal. At the table the dude waited to be helped, while his companion, disdaining assistance, reached all over the table and helped himself. Next morning the dude politely asked for his bill, and was told it would be exactly seven dollars. The rough one, who had just returned from the stable, made the same inquiry and was charged only a dollar and a half. * Surprised at the difference, the first inquired of Hicklin if he had any objection to explaining why he was charged seven dollars and the other only one fifty. Old Zan, looking him squarely in the eye, said : "Certainly not. Your friend rustled around and helped himself, and it took all the folks about the ranch to wait on you, and then it wa'n't more'n half done."
On another occasion two gentlemen stopped there for the night. Just at dusk they espied an old hunter named Jones, a friend of Hicklin's
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coming in from the plains on horseback, carrying before him on the saddle a carcass wrapped in a white sheet. When Jones rode up, Old Zan, resolved on playing a huge practical joke on the strangers, to whom he had taken a deep dislike, with a furtive, suspicious manner rushed out and beckoned him round to the back of the cabin. In an instant Jones divined that the old man was up to some trickery, and promptly obeyed the signal. Hicklin took the carcass, which was that of a fine fat antelope, from the horse, and carrying it to the back room, began a whispered conference with Jones, and by his mysterious movements excited the attention of his unwelcome guests, when in a loud whisper, every word of which was clearly audible to them, he asked, "Why in the devil's name did you shoot an old scraggy and tough Arapahoe buck when you know they're not fit to eat at this time of year, and it'll take as much lard to fry it as the poor old Indian is worth. Why in hell didn't you get a Ute, as they're all fat and juicy ?"
The strangers took it all in, and knowing nothing of the humorous propensities of their host, their feelings may be more easily imagined than described. The conspirators having satisfied themselves that the scheme would work as intended, prepared for the next scene in the im- provised drama. Jones left to put up his horse, and "Old Secesh" went in to entertain his guests, who were stricken dumb with aston- ishment and fear. But Hicklin could be fascinatingly polite and agree- able when he had a pet purpose in view, and on this occasion fairly outdid himself. His auditors, however, remained frigidly unresponsive ; they were too deeply horrified to talk at all.
In due time supper was announced, and when seated at the rude table, Old Zan pressed them to partake of some fine antelope, just that day killed, extolling it as the sweetest and most delicious of all game meats, rattling away glibly about its excellence, etc., etc., but his guests could not be deluded into eating an old scraggy Arapahoe Indian, however adroitly disguised, so they remained silent witnesses of the dia- bolical cannibalism. Old Zan expressed the deepest regret that they should be indifferent to the rare delicacy offered them, and, as if cudgel-
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ing his brain for a reason, finally hit upon the suggestion that they were Catholics, and this being Friday, humbly begged pardon for in- sisting. One of the strangers said Yes, he was a Catholic, but the other more honest, declared that he wasn't much of a meat eater anyhow. The upshot of the supper was, that while Old Zan gorged himself with antelope, the others ate little or nothing. Next morning, after a wake- ful night, they departed in great haste, evidently glad to escape from what they believed to be a den of murderers.
On another occasion a spruce young man rode up to the ranch late in the afternoon, and inquired how far it was to Fort Garland. Hicklin promptly pointed off toward New Mexico, and said : "Do you see that big range over thar ?"
The stranger nodded.
"Well, that is about one mile from here, and when you git on that thar ridge, you will be in sight of the fort, jist on the other edge of a nice sloping lawn." Then added, "The sun's 'bout 'nour high, and you can easily make it by dark."
The young man thanked him and rode away, in blissful ignorance that Fort Garland was forty miles distant by the nearest trail.
Hicklin was generally courteous to his guests, but if he didn't like them, something was sure to happen before they left. He employed the mysterious whispering scheme on two other men who stopped with him, saying to Jones, loud enough to be heard, "Wal, it's no use to murder them for their money, because all them nice dressy fellows hardly ever have any, so we might as well let 'em go." The men silently arose in the night and made what they undoubtedly deemed a hairbreadth escape from slaughter. Next morning old Zan, who had witnessed their stealthy proceedings, cautioned Jones to be careful how he fired into the next herd of antelope, as he might hit the d-d fools who ran away the night before.
He was accustomed to saying, when talking with trusted friends and sympathizers, that if the officers in command of the Federal
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forces engaged in fighting the South were as stupid as those he had seen in Colorado, they couldn't conquer Dixie in a hundred years.
Nevertheless, some of those same officers caught him at last. After Heffiner's regiment had been dispersed, the federals discovered traces which pointed directly to Hicklin as their aider and abettor, so they arrested him, and were making preparations to lock him up, when, resorting to his most effective jocular tactics, he marched up to the com- manding officer, and, slapping him on the shoulder, in a low, pleading voice began :
" Now, Kurnel, you know I ain't no rebel. You got me into this scrape an' you kin git me out. Now, Kurnel (laughingly), don't go an' git jellus 'cause me an' my Mexicans made it too hot for them rebels at Mace's Hole, to stay in the kentry. They seed I was on ther tracks, an' was about to hunt 'em down, when they got up an' lit out. You'd never've found 'em in a year, Kurnel. The guvment's always bin good to me, an' I can do it a heap o' good yet. Now don't git jellus, Kurnel, fur you kin have all the credit, if me an' my men did run 'em off."
He continued for some time in this strain, when the officer told him he could get out only on certain conditions.
" Name 'em," says Zan.
OFFICER. "Why, by taking the oath of allegiance to the United States, to be a loyal and good citizen, and stick to it."
ZAN. "Take what, Kurnel?"
OFFICER. "Take the oath of allegiance."
ZAN. "Wal, now, Kurnel, what kind of a thing is that ?"
OFFICER. "Why, solemnly swear to support the Constitution of the United States, and not to aid or encourage its enemies."
ZAN. "Swar me!" raising his left hand way above his head as high as he could possibly extend it, and looking both grave and inex- pressibly foolish.
The officer called a lieutenant to come and swear Hicklin. He pulled out the long printed ironclad oath, and facing Zan, ordered him
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to hold up his right hand. Up went the left again, higher if possible than before.
" No, no," said the lieutenant, "put up your right hand," which he did, but without lowering the left, and thus remained, both hands pointing skyward, and standing almost on tiptoe, in his effort to get them high enough, his face the picture of innocence and patience. He was finally induced to lower the left and listen to the reading of the oath. At the end, after a moment's silence, drawing a long breath, he asked :
" Kurnel, does that let me in ?"
OFFICER. "In to what ?"
ZAN. "Why, into the Union."
OFFICER. "Yes, that lets you in."
ZAN. "Clear in, Kurnel?"
OFFICER. "Yes, and see that you live up to it."
ZAN. (Joyfully. ) "My God, Kurnel, I feel just like I'd got religion."
Conner's real character and purposes were not known to, nor even suspected by any one about Hicklin's ranch. He writes: "While pulling corn one day with a Mexican fellow laborer, I discovered at a distance out on the road, a man wandering about aimlessly, and thinking I had seen him before, I went down and boldly accosted him as Buck- master, Sibley's chief of artillery, He denied it for a time, but finally admitted his identity. I made an arrangement to go to Texas with him and sixteen companions who were encamped in the mountains above the Greenhorn, awaiting an opportunity to get out without discovery by the Federals. I was to meet him at Apishapa Cañon, more than sixty miles away. Soon afterward he passed on, while I went straight up the creek to Zan Hicklin's house. The old man stood out near the road looking grave and anxious, as if watching for some one. I said to him, 'Mr. Hicklin, did Bo Boyce request you to keep a good horse ready saddled and bridled for any one?' He turned on me with almost startling suddenness, and with flashing eyes, replied :
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"' What in h-11 is that to you, sir ?' then added, ' I suspect you are one of those Mace's Hole rebels, and if you don't get out of this country pretty quick, I'll report you to the government.'
CONNER. "' And I will report you to the government for driving beef cattle and taking other supplies under cover of night to those same rebels at Mace's Hole.'
" Surprised and indignant, he straightened himself to his full height,- he was naturally very tall and slender,-and austerely demanded my name and business, saying, ' Ain't you the man who has been up to Dobson's for some time, and that nobody supposed was able to talk ?' I re- plied, 'Yes, sir, I'm the man,' when he exclaimed, 'I believe you are an infernal spy, sir !'
"Without further words I quietly drew out a small scrap of paper covered with hieroglyphics, utterly meaningless to any but those for whom intended, that had been given me by Boyce, to be delivered to Hicklin when I should need the horse, and handed it to him. He looked at the paper, scanned it carefully and then looked searchingly at me, as if to assure himself there was no mistake about it, then smiled and said, ' You d-d impostor,' adding after a moment, 'Yes, the horse is ready.'
" In ten minutes the animal was at the door equipped for a journey. It seems he thought that Boyce intended the horse for Buckmaster's use, for he inquired of me, 'Did you know that Buckmaster was out of the Santa Fé prison, and is now safe in Colorado ?' I replied that I had seen and talked with him less than half an hour before, and that I had arranged to go to Texas with him. Leaving the horse to be fed, I returned to Dobson's, went to the pile of corn husks in the corral where my ordinary dress had been secreted, put it on, left my Mexican dis- guise in its place and went back to Hicklin's. Next morning at day- light I was on the Purgatoire. On my way I stopped at several ranches, whose occupants I knew, where, by simply presenting my cipher credentials, I was cared for. There seemed to be a perfect understanding of my mission and no questions were asked, except such as I could readily answer."
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Conner did not go to Texas, however, but to Arizona, where he remained until after the war, and then settled in his old home at Cov- ington, Kentucky. His notes on early gulching days in Summit County, will be given at another time.
One other anecdote of Zan Hicklin, and we are done.
At one time when the troops at Fort Garland were suffering from scurvy for the want of fresh vegetables, the Commandant inquired of Hicklin if he had any. "Yes, tons of 'em going to waste. Send your wagon over and I'll load it up for ye," replied Zan, with the merry twinkle in his eye which always foreshadowed a practical masquerade.
A short time afterward a government wagon with six mules, attended by a detachment of soldiers in charge of a sergeant, appeared at the ranch. Old Zan dismissed the soldiers, telling them to amuse themselves about the house while he and his Mexicans were loading the wagon. He took it to the field, and after a time returned with it, the top ingeniously thatched over with cornstalks and husks, "to protect the vegetables below," he said. The sergeant thanked him profusely for his generosity and hospitality, and returned to the post with his precious consignment of fresh commissary stores. Fancy the astonishment of all concerned, and the chagrin of the commanding officer, when, the stalks and husks being removed, nothing was found but a lot of corn in the ear and-pumpkins.
It was some time before they caught Old Zan again, but when they did, and charged him with the trick, he meekly replied, "'Pon honor, Kurnel, I sent you all the vegetables I had."
A volume of tales might be written of Old Zan Hicklin, for he was. one of the most noted characters in all Southern Colorado, but these must suffice for the present. As to the rebellion at Mace's Hole, it was nipped in the bud by the vigilance of the Federal officers. Some of the recruits may have joined the Confederate army, but the majority scattered to the different towns and mining camps in Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona, their hopes dashed to pieces by the overwhelming. defeat of Sibley's Texans by the Colorado First Regiment.
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The hideous title, " Mace's Hole," given by the old trappers, was long ago supplanted by the romantic designation, " Beulah," or Pleasant Land. It is one of the loveliest parks in Southern Colorado, situated at the debouchure of the San Carlos, or St. Charles River from the mount- ains. For many years it has been the chief summer resort and water- ing place of Pueblo and other southern towns, and is second only to Manitou in picturesqueness, and the number and excellence of its min- eral springs.
A number of pretty cottages have been built there, the springs improved, and the romantic spot artificially beautified. In the process of years, by frequent additions it will be a very charming resort, where not only tourists bent upon pleasure, but many invalids in search of health, may find recuperation in the free use of its curative waters, while the eye is refreshed by the beauty of its environment. The old generation of hunters and trappers made it one of their principal ren- dezvous, and the Indians held it in high estimation as a camping ground.
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CHAPTER XIII.
PREPARATIONS FOR THE ADMISSION OF COLORADO INTO THE UNION-THE BILL PASSES THE HOUSE-HEAVILY AMENDED IN THE SENATE-OBJECTIONS OF EASTERN PEOPLE-SHARP EDITORIAL STRICTURES ON THE COUNTRY-PERSISTENT OPPO- SITION-THE LONG FIGHT IN THE SENATE-M'COOK'S EFFORTS TO DEFEAT THE BILL-INFLUENCES OPERATING FOR AND AGAINST IT-A MIGHTY BATTLE IN THE HOUSE-MR. CHAFFEE'S SPLENDID GENERALSHIP-THE MEN WHO CARRIED THE MEASURE-M'COOK RESIGNS AND JOHN L. ROUTT IS APPOINTED GOVERNOR-AN ALLEGORICAL PICTURE-COLORADO ADMITTED-GATHERING OF POLITICAL HOSTS.
Impelled by the friendly attitude of the President, and the urgency of the recommendation contained in his message to Congress, Hon. Jerome B. Chaffee, delegate from the Territory, on the 8th of December, 1873, introduced a bill for an act to enable the people of Colorado to form a State government, and it was referred to the Committee on Ter- ritories, of which he was a member. This bill had been very carefully prepared. It was reported back to the House and passed by that body without material opposition on the 8th day of June, 1874, and thereafter sent to the Senate. Then ensued the long vacation.
On the 24th day of February, 1875, at the expiration of the "morning hour," the Colorado bill was called up as part of the unfin- ished business of the previous session, taken from the files and con- sidered in committee of the whole, when Senator Hitchcock, in a brief but very earnest speech reviewing the internal affairs of the Territory, its resources, development, etc., urged its passage upon the assumption, which appeared to be well founded, that the population was nearly 150,000-an extravagant estimate, by the way, but in the absence of census figures or any other well authenticated statement, sufficient for the main purpose,-and as the assumed lack of a large population
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