USA > Colorado > History of the State of Colorado, Volume II > Part 30
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49
/ MPatterson
351
HISTORY OF COLORADO.
Whole number of votes cast for representative to the Forty-Fifth Congress, 3,829, of which Thomas M. Patterson received 3,580; James B. Belford, 172; scattering, 77. [Signed] JAMES B. BELFORD, THOMAS M. PATTERSON.
Setting all other issues aside, the reader will observe that Mr. Bel- ford stipulated away his entire case in the foregoing instrument, and having signed it there was nothing to do but abandon the contest and come home. Still, it was not considered as a matter of much importance by the committee, nor by the House. On the 22d of November, it was brought somewhat sharply before the whole body on a resolution by Mr. Hale, who had grown impatient of the delay, that the Committee on Elections be discharged from further consideration of the contested election case of Belford vs. Patterson. It had been twenty-seven days in their hands, still no report had been rendered, and he proposed to have it brought back to the House for determination in open session.
Mr. Harris of Virginia had been made chairman of the committee. He explained that the Colorado case was an extremely difficult one to decide, that it embraced two hundred and seventy-two pages of printed matter as prepared by the contestant, contestee and the clerk. It had been sent to the printer October 31st, but was not returned until No- vember 12th, when the committee met and invited both parties to come and be heard. They came and discussed the question for two or three days. After this the committee took up all the points involved with the view of reaching, if possible, a unanimous decision, but they were divided, "not upon party lines, but upon other questions, and some of the members of the committee were not prepared to give any opinion at all."
The venerable Mr. Wait of Connecticut, a member of the com- mittee, of whom Mr. Conger said, "No truer or honester man ever lived," and whose remarks were listened to with profound attention by all parties, said, "There was but one feeling on the part of the entire committee, and that was to agree if possible, upon a unanimous report ; but while two or three of us had decided pretty definitely in regard to
352
HISTORY OF COLORADO.
the merits of the case, and were prepared to say what our action would be, other gentlemen said that there were novel and important questions of law arising in the case to which they wanted to give careful examination. A great many authorities had been read, embracing decisions of courts and opinions of elementary writers, in connection with arguments made on one side and the other. From the beginning to the end, I have never seen on the part of any gentleman on the committee any action, or heard any expression, indicating a desire on his part that this question should not be fairly presented to the House by a full, well-considered report, at the very earliest time that we could agree what our action should be. The difficulty has been for the com- mittee to arrive at a unanimous decision. Some gentlemen were in favor of seating one contestant, others of seating the other party, while others were in favor of referring the case back to the people of Colo- rado for another election." He, himself, favored the seating of Belford, but he wanted to have all the questions of law fully and fairly determined. The contestants had been before the committee almost every day, but neither had ever complained of the action taken.
Mr. Cox of Ohio, a Republican member of the committee, said, "It . would be impossible for any body of gentlemen under the same circum- stances to show more completely a non-partisan spirit than had been done. I do not mean that we may not all have prejudices growing out of party associations and sympathies ; but I unqualifiedly assert that if they exist they have not shown themselves in the action or bearing of the members. It was agreed from the first to push the case as rapidly as possible. It was also agreed with great freedom from anything like partisan spirit, that the committee should, as nearly as possible, take upon itself both the feelings and duties of a court of justice."
Mr. Clarkson Potter of New York, another member, said, " This Colorado case presents a difficult question of law, for the prima facie question in the case is all there is of it, and it is a very difficult question of law. I have read the brief on one side, and Senator Edmunds' letter and the brief on the other side, and I made up my mind both
353
HISTORY OF COLORADO.
ways, according to the side I read last. If I ever met a law question of the kind that wanted consideration, that required advisement, it is the question in this case."
Mr. James A. Garfield made a lengthy argument, in which he assumed from the consideration he had been able to give it, that Belford had been legally elected. " But," said he, with characteristic candor, " I am bound to say that I have never considered this case as free from doubt as to the right of Belford to a seat. There are points in it which have troubled and perplexed me. The principles involved are of the very highest importance to the people of this country, and they invoke the earnest attention and honest judgment of the members of this House." While he admitted that men might honestly differ as to the technical right of Mr. Belford to a seat, he would regard the seating of Mr. Patterson as "a palpable and open violation of every principle of law."
The venerable Alexander Stephens of Georgia, said in the course of his brief speech, that it had been clear to his mind from the first, that Belford, having the only credential, should have been seated on his prima facie right, and the case then sent to the Committee on Elections for investigation of the legal points. Thus we find the Democrats divided in opinion as to the matter of prima facie right.
But it is unnecessary to dwell at greater length upon the various opinions evoked in this remarkable controversy. Notwithstanding that every inch of ground had been traversed in all its bearings before the case went to the Committee on Elections, it was traversed again after the reading of Hale's resolution to discharge the committee. The ablest men in the House engaged in the discussion. On the 6th of December,-the matter having been debated for days together at different times all through October and November,-at the second session of the Forty-Fifth Congress, three reports were presented from the committee, who had been unable to arrive at a unanimous opinion. The majority offered with theirs the following resolution :
Resolved, That Thomas M. Patterson is entitled to a seat in this House as the rep- resentative in the Forty-Fifth Congress from the State of Colorado.
23 II
354
HISTORY OF COLORADO.
Mr. Wait, on behalf of the minority consisting of three members, presented the following :
Resolved, That Hon. James B. Belford is the duly elected representative in the Forty-Fifth Congress from the State of Colorado, and that he be sworn in as such representative.
Mr. Cox submitted a dissenting report, with this resolution :
Resolved, That no valid election has yet been held in Colorado for representative in the Forty-Fifth Congress.
All of which were ordered printed. On the 12th of December, Mr. Harris called up the case for the last time, when most of the day was consumed in debating the questions of law. All the members who desired, having ventilated their views, Harris moved the previous question, which was ordered. A vote was then taken on the minority report and it was rejected. The next was upon Cox's resolution remanding the case back to the people for a new election, and this also was rejected ; finally, upon the original resolution, which was adopted,- yeas 116, nays 110, not voting 65. Patterson was then sworn and seated (Dec. 13th, 1877), and thus terminated one of the most perplexing contests that had ever been before the Congress of the United States.
We cannot conclude that Mr. Patterson was seated by a strict party vote, for there were Democrats who voted nay, and Republicans who voted aye, and there were sixty-five members, some of whom were Repub- licans, who did not vote at all.
Again, we must conclude that had the other party been in the majority it would have seated Belford, thus determining that October 3d and not November 7th was the legal day for the election of represent- ative in Colorado. How this could have been done in the face of the fact that the law of Congress of 1872 fixed the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November as the day on which all representatives must be elected ; that the amendatory act of March 3d, 1875, could not have applied to Colorado, inasmuch as it was expressly designed to exempt States already formed, and whose charters required amendment to
355
HISTORY OF COLORADO.
enable them to conform, and not to Territories, nor to States which had not yet formed constitutions, we leave to the lawyers who may read these pages. It seems to be quite clear that upon the question as presented the majority was right, and that, had the facts been submitted to the Supreme Court, it would have decided either that the election of Mr. Patterson was valid, or that, in view of the conditions under which the November election was held, there was no valid election at that time.
The original error and the primal cause of all the difficulty lay in a misguided interpretation of the powers conferred by the sixth section of the Enabling act, the revocation of the Secretary's proclamation, and in the withdrawal of the Republicans from participation in the November election. Notwithstanding the claim set up, that the laws of the Ter- ritory had been suspended by the incoming State, and that no State legislature had convened to provide laws and election machinery, if Belford and Patterson had made the canvass in November, in other words, if a full and free election had been held as in October, the returns would undoubtedly have been canvassed by the State Board, and a cer- tificate given to the person who received a majority of the votes, and such certificate would undoubtedly have been received by Congress without question and the bearer duly seated.
Let us return now for a brief glance at events attending the adoption of the constitution, which have necessarily been passed over in pursuing the matter of Congressional representation. As the day approached for the vote to be taken upon the adoption or rejection of the provisions made for State government, the lack of hearty enthusiasm everywhere observable, gave rise, if not to forebodings of actual defeat, at least to serious apprehension of a very light vote. As much depended upon the majority obtained in Arapahoe County, and to arouse the masses to the necessity of polling the full strength of the qualified electors in favor of the charter, on the 30th of June, a mass meeting was held in Denver. The speakers were Governor Routt, Hon. G. G. Symes, H. P. Bennett, Judge Blackburn, Hon. W. B. Mills, W. S. Decker, Gen. Bela M. Hughes, Alfred Sayre, Gen. S. E. Browne, E. L.
356
HISTORY OF COLORADO.
Smith, A. P. Hereford and others. The meeting was arranged by Dr. R. G. Buckingham, as chairman of a special committee appointed for the purpose. All these gentlemen exhausted their powers of argument in favor of the constitution, and succeeded in stirring up a feeling of pronounced activity for the measure. Mayor Buckingham, as a further inducement, issued a proclamation, earnestly requesting the business men of the city to close their several places of business on July Ist, between the hours of one and four o'clock, that their employes might enjoy the privilege of casting their votes on this glorious occasion.
The election occurred on Saturday, and Sunday morning the public journals brought news of a very gratifying triumph. Nearly ten thousand votes were polled in Denver, and only two hundred and thirty- six were in opposition. Governor Routt telegraphed the glad tidings to the President. The same week the 4th of July was celebrated in grand style. A great procession formed, and the populace followed it to Denver Park, where a number of orations were delivered. During the exercises, the Governor received the following dispatch from our delegate in Congress, dated Washington, July 4th:
"Through you I greet the Centennial State,-the latest but the brightest star in the political firmament. I am proud of the consciousness of representing the grandest State, the bravest men, and the handsomest women on the continent.
THOS. M. PATTERSON."
From the Colorado department of the Centennial Exposition came the following inquiry :
To GOVERNOR ROUTT :- "Are we a State?" Answer. STEPHEN DECATUR.
"ANSWER. . We are. The Centennial State, and twenty thousand here assembled, send joyful greetings to the sister States of the American Union, represented at Phila- delphia on this ever glorious Fourth.' JOHN L. ROUTT."
Celebrations were held at many other points, and congratulations exchanged upon the happy result of the popular will in the late election.
The result of the State campaign has been given elsewhere. Of the members of the General Assembly, the Republicans elected nineteen
WD. Einstrony,
357
HISTORY OF COLORADO.
Senators and the Democrats seven ; of members of the House of Rep- resentatives, thirty-one were Republicans and eighteen Democrats. For the accommodation of this body the R. E. Whitsitt building, on Blake street, between Sixteenth and Seventeenth, was remodeled and fitted up. The first State legislature convened at noon of Wednesday, No- vember 1, 1876. The Senate was called to order by Hon. H. P. Bennett of Arapahoe. Mr. T. O. Saunders of Boulder, was chosen to preside temporarily, and Wm. A. Hamill of Clear Creek, chosen Sec- retary pro tempore. The usual form of procedure was observed. The permanent organization was effected by the election of W. W. Webster of Summit as President pro tempore, and George T. Clark of Arapahoe, Secretary, A. W. Kellogg of Boulder, Assistant, H. Stratton of Larimer, Sergeant-at-Arms.
The House of Representatives was called to order by Hon. C. H. McIntyre of San Juan; David Ransom of Boulder, chosen Speaker pro tem., P. E. Morehouse of Clear Creek, temporary clerk. The members of both houses were sworn by Judge A. W. Brazee.
The permanent organization was as follows :
Speaker .- Webster D. Anthony of Arapahoe.
Chief Clerk .- W. B. Felton of Saguache.
Assistant Clerk .- M. R. Moore of Rio Grande.
Sergeant-at-Arms .- James D. Wood of Gilpin.
On the second day of the session the vote for State officers was duly canvassed and the result declared. The first bill introduced (H. B. No. I), provided for the selection of three Presidential electors by a joint convention of the Senate and House, on the 7th of November. It passed immediately and was approved by the Governor on the 3d. The Governor's message was brief but comprehensive. The financial condition of the new State was epitomized as follows :
LIABILITIES.
Warrants outstanding and unpaid $44,358.34
Other estimated liabilities 5,500.00
$49,858.34
358
HISTORY OF COLORADO.
RESOURCES.
From taxes available January and July, 1877 $65,000.00
From delinquent taxes former years 8,000.00
$73,000.00
Deduct liabilities say, in round numbers
50,000.00
Balance $23,000.00
A tax levy of three mills was deemed sufficient to meet all the expenses of the State for the ensuing term. His Excellency devoted special attention to educational matters, setting forth the status of the public schools ; counseled rigid economy in public expenditures so as to avoid burdening the people, and made some valuable recom- mendations respecting needed legislation for the several departments of industry. Almost immediately after the organization of the assembly, the contest for choice of United States Senators rapidly developed. The members from Pueblo and the southern tier of districts advanced the name of George M. Chilcott. A very large majority conceded Mr. Chaffee's right to an election, and it soon became a foregone conclusion that he would be chosen almost without division. El Paso urged W. S. Jackson, its most prominent citizen. Judge Moses Hallett had a number of strong advocates, but it soon became clearly apparent that Chaffee and Henry M. Teller would be elected. The Democrats in caucus resolved to support as their candidates, Hon. Wm. A. H. Love- land of Jefferson, and Hon. Thomas Macon of Fremont.
On the 7th, the two Houses convened in joint session and elected Herman Beckurts, Otto Mears, and Wm. L. Hadley as presidential electors. On the night of the 9th, the Republican caucus nominated by acclamation Jerome B. Chaffee for the United States Senate. In making the second selection some difficulty was experienced; the South made a vehement demand for recognition, but the members were divided. Pueblo urged Chilcott, and El Paso insisted upon Jackson, and as a result no choice was made. On the 14th another caucus was held, and Henry M. Teller chosen, a large number of members from the South casting their ballots for him on the ground of his pre-eminent
359
HISTORY OF COLORADO.
fitness for the position. On the same date Chaffee and Teller were chosen by the assembly in joint convention.
Mr. Chaffee was born in Niagara County, New York, April 17th, 1825, where he was educated, after which his parents located in Mich- igan. Young Chaffee subsequently removed to St. Joseph, Missouri, and there engaged in banking. In 1860 he came to the Pike's Peak gold region, and, with Mr. Eben Smith, took up the pursuit of mining and milling in Gilpin County, in which both acquired handsome fortunes. He was elected to the Territorial legislature in 1861, and again in 1863, when he was chosen Speaker of the Lower House. In 1865, under the State Constitution (which failed of adoption by the repeated vetoes of Andrew Johnson), he was elected to the United States Senate. From that time forward he became the leader of the Republican party in Colorado, a position which he retained until his death. In 1865 he organized the First National Bank of Denver, and through all the years from 1860 to 1888 was extensively engaged in mining, but devoted the greater part of his time and remarkable talents to politics, Territorial, State and National.
Henry M. Teller was born in Allegheny County, New York, May 23d, 1830, acquired an academic education by dint of close application to study, and paid for the same by teaching school between terms. In 1856 he began the study of law in the office of Judge Martin Grover of Angelica, New York, and was admitted to the bar in January, 1858. Soon thereafter he located in Whiteside County, Illinois, where he began the practice of his profession. In the spring of 1861 he came to Colorado and opened a law office in Central City in connection with H. A. Johnson, the little tin sign on the crude little cabin reading "John- son & Teller, Attorneys at Law." In 1863, during the Indian troubles he was appointed by Governor John Evans, Major General of Militia, and organized the forces for the first general movement against the hostile savages. In 1865 he became connected with the organization of the Colorado Central Railroad, drew the charter which passed the Territorial legislature in that year, and for five years was president of
360
HISTORY OF COLORADO.
the company. As a lawyer he was eminently successful. From the earliest times he had stood at the head of the bar, and has not since been displaced. He took zealous part in all the political movements of his party, and in most of the public enterprises of Gilpin County. In the great order of Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, he was the original leader, though not the first Grand Master. As its head and governing influence for many years, he had much to do with perfecting the splendid organization which is the pride of every member of the craft to-day. For a long time he was its accepted leader and lawgiver. Thoroughly familiar with its history and its needs here in Colorado, he guided it by wise counsels to its present exalted standing. But the fact which more than any other influenced his choice as Senator, was the universal recognition of his fitness for the position. On this point there were no dissenting opinions. During the administration of President Arthur he was appointed Secretary of the Interior, a place which he was pre-eminently qualified to fill acceptably, by virtue of his great knowledge of the principal questions constantly arising in regard to the disposition of the public domain and mineral lands. It was said of him that he was the greatest Secretary of the Interior that had occupied the office during the last fifty years. At the close of his term he was re-elected to the Senate, where he still remains.
Our Senators elect were sworn and seated December 4th, 1876. This being the first representation of Colorado in the Senate, lots were drawn under the rules to determine which of the two should hold the longer term. In the first drawing Mr. Chaffee drew the term of two years, and Mr. Teller a blank. On the second Mr. Teller secured the ticket which covered only the unexpired term which closed March 3d, 1877, and Mr. Chaffee that which expired in March, 1879. On the 9th of December, 1876, Mr. Teller was re-elected for the full term of six years from March, 1877, the Democrats casting their votes for Hon. Thomas Macon.
The presidential electors, at a meeting, selected Otto Mears, one of their number, as messenger to carry the electoral vote of Colorado
Otto Years
361
HISTORY OF COLORADO.
which had been cast for Mr. Hayes, to Washington. The General Assembly had adopted a concurrent resolution, recommending and requesting the electors to employ Mr. Louis Dugal as messenger, because of his distinguished services to the party in the State campaign, he having acted as chairman of the Arapahoe County Republican Cen- tral Committee, and had been named as one of the candidates for pres- idential elector. The chosen three however, saw fit to adopt a different course, therefore upon Mr. Mears fell the coveted honor.
On the 9th of January, 1877, the President appointed Hon. Moses Hallett to be United States District Judge for the district of Colorado, and Hon. Westbrook S. Decker to be United States District Attorney. Judge Hallett had long been esteemed by the bar and the people as the most eminent jurist of Colorado, and by many as the equal of any in the country, hence, his selection gave great satisfaction. Judge Decker was a prominent lawyer, a member of the firm of Symes & Decker ; had been an active adherent of the Republican party, a man of unblemished character, of high social standing, and universally respected. Both were immediately confirmed and in due time assumed the duties of their respective offices. Judge Hallett's commission was received January 23d, just in time to enable him to qualify and take his place on the bench and thereby prevent the lapse of the term, by the absence of Judge Dundy. One of the first cases to be considered was that of the Union Pacific vs. The Colorado Central Railway, the history of which appears in a subsequent chapter.
On the 17th of January, William L. Campbell was appointed Sur- veyor General of Colorado. Mr. Campbell was a professional engineer, one of the first to lay out and construct public thoroughfares in the mountains. He arrived in 1860, built the Virginia Cañon wagon road from Idaho Springs to Russell Gulch, in Gilpin County, had been a mail contractor, proprietor and manager of some of the early lines of stages, and to some extent engaged in mining. He took possession of the Surveyor General's office February 24th, 1877, with Mr. E. M. Ashley (who had served nearly all his predecessors), as chief clerk.
362
HISTORY OF COLORADO.
The General Assembly having completed its work, adjourned March 20th, 1877, after a continuous session of one hundred and forty days, in which it provided for a complete revision of the Territorial laws, per- fected the machinery of State government, and passed many new measures. Its record cannot be recited here. Its work is found in its voluminous publications. As a whole, it was a very creditable body of representative men, who applied themselves industriously to the business before them, and in all things conducted themselves with proper decorum. The closing hours were marked by no disgraceful scenes, quite in con- trast to those of some, perhaps the majority of its successors. A com- mendable spirit of economy prevailed. Hon. Alva Adams (afterward elected Governor of the State, in 1886) was one of the ablest debaters on the Democratic side, and honestly earned his soubriquet, " The watch dog of the Treasury," by his incessant endeavors to curtail expenses.
363
HISTORY OF COLORADO.
CHAPTER XVII.
PROGRESS OF INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS-EXTENSIONS OF THE RIO GRANDE RAILROAD -SHORT HISTORY OF THE ATCHISON, TOPEKA & SANTA FE-COMPANIES FORMED IN PUEBLO-INCEPTION OF WAR BETWEEN THE SANTA FE AND THE RIO GRANDE -FORCIBLE SEIZURE OF THE MOUNTAIN PASSES-ENGINEER MORLEY'S FAMOUS RIDE-ARMED CONFLICT IN THE GRAND CANON -- ARREST OF M'MURTRIE AND WEITEREC-A GREAT BATTLE IN THE COURTS-LEASE OF THE RIO GRANDE TO THE SANTA FE-MANAGER STRONG'S AMBITION-RENEWAL OF THE WAR-JUDGE BOWEN'S WRITS-RIOTING ALL ALONG THE LINE-TROOPS CALLED OUT.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.