USA > Colorado > History of the State of Colorado, Volume III > Part 11
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In the meantime, July 12th, 1886, the property of the company was sold under foreclosure proceedings at Burnham station, the principal creditors being the purchasers, after which a new company was organ- ized with the following directors: W. S. Jackson and David H. Moffat of Colorado ; George Coppell, Robert B. Minturn, Adolph Engler and R. T. Wilson of New York ; J. J. Stadiger and John L. Welsh of Phila- delphia, and T. H. A. Tromp of the Hague, Holland. The new capital stock was placed at $73,500,000-of which $45,500,000 was common, and $28,000,000 preferred stock. The company issued, however, only $38,000,000 common, and $23,650.000 preferred; $7,500,000 common, $4.350,000 preferred being reserved in the company's treasury for the purpose of buying the Rio Grande Western, or building a new line from the border of Utah to Ogden, as should appear to be most feasible. The sale was confirmed by Judge Hallett, the Receiver discharged, the new company took possession, and immediately set on foot the improve- ments and extensions that are now being completed by Mr. Moffat. Jackson surrendered the road fully repaired, its floating debt paid, with the extraordinary legacy of a million dollars in cash in the treasury.
The directors elected the following officers: President, W. S. Jackson ; Vice-President, George Coppell; Secretary, Wm. Wagner ; Treasurer, Joseph W. Gilluly ; General Counsel Edward O. Wolcott.
James N de ulike
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On the 30th of July the Denver & Rio Grande Western, that for some time had been in the hands of a Receiver (W. H. Bancroft), was restored to General Palmer, and D. C. Dodge reassumed the manage- ment. On the ist of April, 1887, Mr. Jackson gave notice of his inten- tion to retire, in order that he might give personal attention to his large and increasing private business. The stockholders met in Denver May 2d. His letter of declination was read, accepted, and a series of very complimentary resolutions expressing the confidence of the company in and tendering its thanks to the retiring president for the honesty and efficiency of his management, were framed and adopted. He found it a wreck ; he surrendered it in excellent condition. He had handled more than $18,000,000 of the company's funds and not a dollar had been squandered or misapplied. Mr. R. F. Weitbrec, during the first five years of the organization had been his confidential clerk and assistant. When in 1875 Mr. Jackson resigned as vice-president and treasurer, Mr. Weitbrec succeeded him as treasurer, which position he retained until 1881, when he resigned to assume the more responsible post of manager of construction, then actively in progress. He remained with the company until its financial embarrassments compelled a suspension of construction. When Mr. Jackson was appointed Receiver in 1884, he again became his clerical assistant, remaining with him until the final act of reorganization. Mr. Weitbrec is a young man of sterling worth, of great energy and executive capacity, as evinced in his long coir- nection with this enterprise. He is now a member of the contracting firm of J. N. Carlile & Co., at present constructing the Rio Grande Southern from Dallas to Durango.
Mr. W. S. Cheesman was chosen director in place of Mr. Jackson, and the following officers were elected : President, David H. Moffat ; Vice-President, Robert B. Minturn ; Secretary and Assistant Treasurer, Wm. Wagner ; Treasurer and Assistant Secretary, Joseph W. Gilluly ; General Manager, Sylvester T. Smith (late General Superintendent of the Union Pacific); General Superintendent, R. E. Ricker; General
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Passenger Agent, Col. S. K. Hooper ; Auditor, E. R. Murphy; Gen- eral Traffic Manager, Andrew S. Hughes.
In his annual report Mr. Jackson stated that the Aspen extension had been finished to a point five miles below Rock Creek, and that a contract for completing the grade to Glenwood had been let. He urged activity in building the requisite lines, to prevent encroachments of rivals upon its trade territory. On the 3d the officers and directors went to Colorado Springs, and there arranged for building the additions for which there was immediate demand.
It being one of the conditions of Mr. Moffat's elevation to the presidency, that he should not be required to relinquish the presidency of the First National Bank, the office of General Manager was revived, and at his desire Mr. S. T. Smith was persuaded to resign the superin- tendency of the Union Pacific Road, and accept this position on the Rio Grande. He had developed superior capabilities for railway direc- tion, and moreover, a strong personal attachment had subsisted between Mr. M. and himself for many years. Smith entered the Federal army in April, 1861, and was mustered out of the service at Fort Leaven- worth, Kansas, in 1863 ; February Ist, 1864, became general accountant and cashier of the Eastern Division, or Kansas Pacific Railway, which position he retained until February, 1867; thence to October 22d, 1878, was its Auditor ; from the date last named to June 14th, 1879, was Receiver of that road; thence to October 14th, 1884, General Super- intendent ; and from October 15th, 1884, to April 30th, 1887, Gen- eral Superintendent of the entire Union Pacific system. He was then and still is regarded as one of the most accomplished of railway managers.
Pending the events just recited, a formidable rival-the Colorado Midland, a corporation composed of Colorado and New York capitalists, was organized, evidently upon the opportunity afforded by the prostrate condition of the Rio Grande, and had begun the difficult and highly expensive enterprise of building a standard gauge road from Colorado Springs northwest across the mountains to Leadville and Aspen, thus
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invading some of the richest and most productive sections of Rio Grande territory. Other corporations,-the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fé, the Missouri Pacific and the Rock Island had similar plans under contem- plation, hence it behooved Mr. Moffat on assuming control to so rush his forces as to secure every possible advantage in advance of his com- petitors. The Midland, however, was the only one in a position to be immediately dangerous, for it was being energetically prosecuted. For its connection with Denver and Pueblo it formed an early alliance with the Santa Fe, whose president had begun extending his road from Pueblo to Denver, because, as stated by him, Mr. Jackson had refused to grant him certain concessions for the use of the Rio Grande tracks between those cities. Mr. Moffat, to check this new danger to his road, offered Mr. Strong very liberal terms for joint trackage, but his blood was up, and he stubbornly refused to abandon his purpose. Hence it will be seen that the recently rehabilitated Rio Grande was threatened with a second parallel from Pueblo to Denver (the Denver, Texas & Fort Worth being the first), by the Colorado Midland into the very heart of the Western mining regions, and inferentially by two Eastern trunk lines, the one from Central and the other from Southern Kansas. Confronted by these problems at the outset, he at once resolved upon aggressive action, and advised his company that ample funds to meet the emergency must be provided. He would take care of the interest on the bonds, but stock dividends must be postponed until the road should be in a condition to earn them. The directorate reposing im- plicit confidence in his judgment, complied. Before leaving Colorado Springs, he had employed Mr. J. A. McMurtrie, late chief engineer, to lay the iron on the grade from Red Cliff to Glenwood, and contracted with McMurtrie & Streeter to build the line from the latter point up the Roaring Fork, forty-five miles to Aspen.
At a later stage it was decided to lay a third rail and provide a standard gauge equipment between Pueblo and Trinidad, and from Pueblo to Grand Junction via Leadville and Glenwood, the first to com- pete with the Santa Fe, and the second with a view to making the latter
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the main line to Salt Lake City and Ogden, the Rio Grande Western having also decided upon a standard gauge.
Almost simultaneously with the projection of these enterprises, Mr. Jay Gould made preparations to extend the Missouri Pacific from its western terminal at Kingman, Kansas, northwesterly to Pueblo; the Santa Fé had purchased the Denver Circle or Belt Railway with its franchise and real estate, expecting to use that line as its right of way into Denver, but finding this strenuously resisted by the people, arranged for trackage over the Texas & Fort Worth; the Rock Island was sur- veying a route from Central Kansas with the view of invading the coal fields of Southern Colorado, and ultimately of extending it on to the Pacific Coast by a southerly route. The Burlington & Missouri River Company began overtures for purchasing the Denver, Utah & Pacific narrow gauge between Denver and Longmont; the Denver, Texas & Fort Worth had been purchased by a New York syndicate, and its ex- tension from Pueblo, which had long been its southern terminal, across the Texas Panhandle to Fort Worth, determined upon, therefore it will be seen that unprecedented activity in railway building in Colorado had begun, and that some extraordinary changes were being made in the progress of our young commonwealth.
In conjunction with his rapid advance westward, that soon became an exciting race for the rich traffic of Aspen, against the Colorado Mid- land which endeavored and expected to outstrip him, Mr. Moffat, yielding to an urgent demand by the citizens of Ouray, effected arrange- ments whereby the Rio Grande was extended from Montrose southeast- wardly to that town, thus affording an outlet for the mining products of that prolific section. In due time also a branch was built from El Moro to Trinidad. In 1889 a narrow gauge thirty-six miles long was thrown up the Lake fork of the Gunnison from Sapinero to Lake City, and thereby the mines of that region were given rail transportation to market. The Aspen line was completed and opened for business November 2d, 1887, three months in advance of its adversary. Many improvements were made along the main line and branches, by straightening curves,
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reducing heavy grades, replacing wooden bridges with iron, building stone culverts, by the substitution of heavy steel for light iron rails. The Rifle Creek extension from Glenwood Springs down the Grand River to a connection with the Rio Grande Junction Railway at the mouth of Rifle Creek, twenty-six miles, at first a narrow gauge, was con- verted into a standard gauge by the laying of a third rail, and is used as part of the main line to Grand Junction and Salt Lake City. During 1889 the company decided, in order to reduce the distance between Denver, Grand Junction and Salt Lake, to build a cut-off, commencing at a point called Acequia, seventeen miles south of Denver on the main line, and running southwesterly across the South Park to a point known as Lidderdale, there connecting with the Colorado Midland, and using its track to Buena Vista on the Arkansas River. At present the dis- tance between Denver and Leadville via Pueblo and Cañon City is 277 miles. The proposed direct line was expected to reduce the distance to 166 miles, which, together with a reduction of thirty miles recently made in rebuilding and standard gauging the Rio Grande Western, would make the new Denver & Rio Grande route to Salt Lake about twenty miles shorter than the Union Pacific, which is 120 miles shorter than the present line of the Rio Grande. These plans, however, have since been changed, but are not at this writing very distinctly defined.
The Rio Grande Southern from Dallas on the Montrose-Ouray branch, and running thence southwesterly to Mt. Sneffels mining dis- trict, through San Miguel, Dolores and La Plata Counties to Rico, Telluride and Durango, 175 miles in length now under rapid construc- tion by Otto Mears, but really a part of the Rio Grande system backed by its capital, will open very rich and productive agricultural, pastoral and mining regions.
In addition, arrangements were made whereby the Rock Island uses the Rio Grande tracks from Colorado Springs north to Denver and south to Pueblo ; the Denver, Texas & Fort Worth from Pueblo to Trinidad, and the Missouri Pacific from Pueblo to Denver, and the car
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and repair shops at Burnham have been enlarged to accommodate the two lines last named.
Fort Logan has been supplied with a branch, as also the granite stone quarries at Aberdeen, from the junction of that name near Gun- nison, whence the magnificent stone for the State capitol is produced. All parts of the road have been ballasted and put in thorough repair throughout, superb equipments of rolling stock provided of both narrow and standard gauges. During the current year (1890), standard gauge trains will be run from Denver straight south to Trinidad ; from South Pueblo through the Arkansas Valley to Leadville, and thence down the Eagle and Grand to Grand Junction, with a branch line from Glenwood Springs to Aspen.
These are the more important improvements that have been insti- tuted by Mr. Moffat, and while the aggregate cost has been great, the earnings have been rapidly augmented by the economical and skillful management of the road in all its multifarious details. There have been no wars or cut rates, no violent convulsions anywhere. The commerce of the country has been fairly and justly treated, the road made one of the best in the country, and the territory naturally belong- ing to, or assumed to be its own, has suffered no invasion except by the Midland. Indisputably, in its present perfection and prospective future, it is one of the most desirable of railway properties. What it has done and is doing for the internal development of the State, has been con- sidered elsewhere.
At each successive election of officers, Mr. Moffat has been re-elected president, and all his superior staff retained. So great is the satisfaction of his company with what he has accomplished, they readily concede whatever he may recommend for the betterment of the property, and the extension of its usefulness to them and to the people of the State.
By virtue of his position as president of the First National Bank of Denver, and as the chief director of the Rio Grande Railway, Mr. Mof- fat is recognized as the first civilian of the State. Though often
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tempted with the proffer of political honors, they have invariably been declined with thanks. Though charged with great responsibilities and cares, they neither wear upon nor worry him. He is one of the few who, in the midst of great affairs knows "exactly what to do next," is never confused, rarely perplexed, penetrating every proposition and plan for vast enterprises with unerring sagacity and deciding promptly upon the course to be pursued. In addition to being the first banker, and first railway president, he is also the most extensive miner in Colorado, and one of the chief owners and directors of a water com- pany whose plant now in construction will cost nearly two millions of dollars.
9 III.
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CHAPTER VI.
JOURNALISM IN DENVER -ANNALS OF FOUR GREAT DAILY PAPERS-THE NEWS, TRIBUNE, TIMES AND REPUBLICAN - BRIEF REVIEW OF THEIR EDITORS AND MANAGERS.
The history of the "Rocky Mountain News" is not only that of the first newspaper, but of the first and most influential public institution planted in the Pike's Peak region. The facts subjoined have been com- piled from notes by the founder of the paper, and from a more elaborate sketch written by one of its present editors. In summarizing the more important events in its career, reference will be made to cer- tain other journals of contemporary times.
In February, 1859, Dr. George C. Monell, and Wm. N. Byers of Omaha, and Thomas Gibson of Fontanelle, Nebraska, in view of the favorable reports received from the gold mines, resolved to establish a newspaper in Denver. At Bellevue, a few miles below Omaha, was such a printing office as they desired, which they purchased. On the 8th of March it was loaded into wagons drawn by oxen, and started toward its destination. Accompanying those named above were Robert L. Sumner, Edward C. Sumner, P. W. Case, I. Sanson, John L. Dailey, L. A. and W. J. Curtice, James and Harry Creighton, H. E. Turner, Henry Gibson and one called "Pap" Hoyt. Owing to the terrible condition of the roads, but eight miles was made the first day. The streams were all flooded, the mud bottomless, snow and rain storms frequent, therefore it was not until the last day of March that the procession of somewhat disgusted emigrants arrived at Fort Kearney, 185 miles from the initial point. There they were informed
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1 E Graydon
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that another printing office had passed westward only a few days before. At Fort St. Vrain, Mr. Byers came on in advance of his train, arriving in Denver on horseback April 17th. On the 20th, the press and material arrived, and two days later, in the midst of a driving snow- storm, the first number of the "Rocky Mountain News" was issued.
The press of which they had been advised at Fort Kearney belonged to John Merrick, a printer, and had been brought from St. Joseph, Missouri, and reached the Cherry Creek settlement a few days in advance of their coming. Says Mr. Byers, "When we began work he did the same, and there ensued a close and spirited race for prece- dence in the first issue. Both papers were printed the same evening, but a self-constituted committee that vibrated actively between the two offices decided that the 'News' was victorious by about twenty minutes." Merrick's fledgling was named "The Cherry Creek Pioneer," but only one number was printed. Its publisher rested a few days, then caught the gold fever and tramped up to the Gregory diggings. To procure an outfit he traded his office to Mr. Gibson of the "News" for about thirty dollars' worth of provisions. Merrick's new venture proving un- fortunate, he returned and "took a case" on his successful rival. At the first outbreak of the war in 1861 he hastened back to the States and en- listed in an Illinois regiment, served his term, and when mustered out sought his former home in Leavenworth, secured a commission in one of the regiments of Kansas veterans, and toward the close of the rebellion was made Provost Marshal in that city. While in the dis- charge of his duties he was shot and killed in a street riot.
The weekly publication of the "News" was continued with tolerable regularity during the summer of 1859, sometimes on white paper, again upon common wrapping material, when legitimate supplies failed. The nearest postoffice was Fort Laramie, 220 miles to the northward, where mail was delivered once or twice a month.
In July Mr. Gibson conveyed the "Pioneer" office to Gregory Gulch and there established the "Gold Reporter," the first journal to appear in that region. In the meantime Gibson's interest in the
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"News" had been purchased by John L. Dailey. The third partner, Monell, never came west of Julesburg, his share being sold to Mr. Byers. About the first of November the "Gold Reporter" was disposed of to a Boston company then establishing the town of Golden, and with it they founded thereupon the "Western Mountaineer," under the man- agement of George West.
Early in the spring of 1860, H. E. Rounds and Edward Bliss brought an office from Chicago but it was immediately consolidated with the "News," and a printing company formed to include these gentlemen. On the first of May, Mr. Thomas Gibson began pub- lishing the "Rocky Mountain Herald," the first daily to appear in the embryonic metropolis. This compelled Mr. Byers to issue daily, and soon after a second, called "The Bulletin" designed for circulation among immigrants, but this was shortly discontinued. Competition between the rivals for public favor became intense, and many bitter personal invectives were exchanged. Both established pony express lines to the principal mining camps, and their daily editions were delivered to sub- scribers in Black Hawk, Central, Nevada, Missouri City and along many miles of tributary gulches, in from three to four hours after leav- ing the press. Each had an office and a corps of carriers in Central City. The subscription price for the daily was twenty-four dollars per annum, the retail price twenty-five cents per copy, "payable in gold dust, down weight." In 1861, the telegraph was extended from the Missouri River to Fort Kearney, Kansas, where it rested nearly two years. The Denver papers began immediately taking press dispatches which were forwarded by stage, but the more important intelligence was dispatched by pony express at heavy cost. Late in 1860, a third daily, "The Mountaineer" was established by Moore & Coleman. In the spring of 1861 it was purchased by Byers & Dailey, the paper discontinued, and its material moved into the "News" building. About the same time the "Western Mountaineer" at Golden suspended, and the office was removed to Cañon City, where the pioneer newspaper of Southern Colorado was founded. In the spring of 1862 it was again transferred,
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-to Buckskin Joe in Park County, where it flourished during the mining excitement of that period. But it was not the first in the Park region. The "Miner's Record" was published by Byers & Dailey at Tarryall about half a mile from the present town of Como, during July, August and September, 1861. It was simply a campaign journal in the interest of the first Territorial election, and became a conspicuous factor in determining the political result.
In 1862 Alfred Thomson started the "Miner's Register" at Central City, which was the first attempt in legitimate journalism there. A short time previous a weekly had been established by L. M. Amala, a native of the Sandwich Islands, but it was neither reputable nor calcu- lated in any respect to meet the wants of the great numbers of intelli- gent miners assembled in the mining districts.
After its brief service at Mountain City in 1859, at Golden and elsewhere, the Merrick press returned to Denver where it remained unused until 1863, when it was purchased by the Valmont Town Com- pany who produced at Valmont the "Boulder Valley News," the pioneer, journal of Northern Colorado. Its next resting place was at Boulder City. Soon after the discovery of the Moreno gold mines in Northern New Mexico the office was taken to Elizabethtown, where probably it still remains.
The years 1862-3-4, were trying ones for the two daily newspapers that remained in Denver. Rounds & Bliss retired from the "News" in 1863. The "Herald" underwent many changes of proprietorship and editorial management. The disastrous flood of 1864 in Cherry Creek swept away the "News" office and its contents, leaving not a vestige to build upon. Three or four weeks later, Byers & Dailey bought the "Herald" and with its limited material resumed publication of their paper. The Indian wars which began this year and practically severed communication with the "States," deprived them of mails and white paper. For weeks at a time there were no mails, and they were finally sent around by Panama and San Francisco, reaching Denver in from seven to ten weeks. Meanwhile the merchants' stores were ransacked
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for wrapping, tissue, tea papers, and even writing papers were brought into requisition to maintain the daily issues. In August martial law was proclaimed, and citizen soldiers marshaled to chastise the Indians. Then followed the battle of Sand Creek, as elsewhere narrated. For the succeeding two or three years the "News" was practically sole mas- ter of the field. Then new enterprises of like nature came and multi- plied rapidly, some destined to be permanent fixtures, others to perish and be forgotten.
In looking over the time-stained and musty files of the original newspapers, one is profoundly impressed by the strong nervous vitality of their editors and managers, the prodigious efforts put forth for fresh and important intelligence under incredible difficulties, their enthusiastic devotion to the new land upon which they had embarked their fortunes, their sturdy endeavors to reclaim an inhospitable and uninviting wilder- ness. It is a beautiful and prosperous region now-but thirty years ago it was a cheerless desolation, All through their discolored and sometimes torn and tattered pages may be seen the substantial, forceful, conquering work of young, determined and masterful men. This is more especially true of the "News," the first to begin, the only one to survive the mutations of time and change-the Plymouth Rock of the Pilgrims, the rallying point of the saviours of the Union, the guidon of well ordered citizenship. It is here that the splendid work of Mr. Byers is most clearly seen, and we are reminded of the impress that Horace Greeley stamped upon the pages of the " New York Tribune" in the prime of his great manhood. Byers, less able, perhaps, but surely no less resolute and patriotic, will stand in history as the leading expo- nent of principles, and all that belongs to the material progress of the time in which he lived and wrought, the first citizen and the most zeal- ous director of the destinies of Colorado through its most perilous era. Except in the heat of political combat, when personalities flew about in whirlwinds, and the claims and reputations of opponents were shredded, his editorial utterances were marked by careful thought and studious preparation. He always possessed sound opinions upon public ques-
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