USA > Colorado > History of the State of Colorado, Volume III > Part 3
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Very soon after the election of General Garfield, the Republican leaders in Colorado began a strong movement to secure for ex-Gov- ernor Routt a place in his cabinet-that of Postmaster General-for which he had been well fitted by an experience of some years in the Postoffice Department. In January, Senators Teller and Hill, with Congressman Belford, Judge Jasper D. Ward and others proceeded to the home of General Garfield at Mentor, Ohio, and there urgently pre- sented their errand. They were heartily seconded by ex-Senator Chaf- fee, General Grant and many other influential Republicans, and while the president elect listened patiently and attentively to their appeal, and perhaps was inclined to gratify them, the exigencies of the situation
E. Q. Sopris.
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ultimately compelled him to make another selection. Routt's friends here and elsewhere were exceedingly active in his behalf, and he was heartily sustained by the press of Denver, but without avail.
The legislature of 1881 created a new judicial district comprising the counties of Lake, Pitkin and Summit, one of the most important in the State, by reason of the enormous amount of litigation arising from mining and other land contests, and requiring a high order of talent for their adjudication. It devolved upon Governor Pitkin the duty of selecting from numerous candidates a man who, by virtue of his legal attainments and integrity, would preside over this court in a manner most acceptable to the people, and having in addition to his intimate knowledge of Mr. Jasper D. Ward's eminent capabilities as a lawyer, a strong personal attachment for him, at once elevated him to the bench of this district. He had served as a judge in Illinois, in the Senate of that State, as district attorney for the northern division, and as a member of Congress. The appointment was tendered and accepted March 5th, 1881. Mr. Ward served out his term, but declined all over- tures made to him for continuance upon the bench by popular election.
The same assembly also created a district composed of Hinsdale, Gunnison, San Juan, Ouray, La Plata and Dolores Counties, for which Hon. C. W. Burris was appointed presiding judge.
The most stubbornly contested legislation that appeared at this session, which occupied more time and excited deeper public interest than any other, was a proposition known as the Jacobson bill, designed for the regulation of railways by a board of three commissioners to be appointed by the Governor by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. Colonel E. P. Jacobson, a distinguished lawyer and politician, led the forces for this measure which he had framed with infinite care, and Edward O. Wolcott those who were opposed to some of its pro- visions. It was a long and animated contest, which resulted finally in the defeat of this and all other measures of a like character.
The chief seat of popular discontent against extortionate railway charges and the exasperating indifference of the managers to the public
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interests has always been in Gilpin, Clear Creek and Boulder Counties, where the traffic has been controlled by the Union Pacific, whose offi- cers, while holding absolute monopoly, have paid little heed to the fre- quent remonstrances advanced, and done much to alienate the regard of the people dependent upon it for the transportation of ores and sup- plies. Hence most of the numerous attempts to regulate such corpo- rations by legislative enactments have had their origin with the repre- sentatives from those counties. But as no bill could be passed to con- trol the Union Pacific without embracing all the others, and as the Denver & Rio Grande Company had always been popular through its efforts to furnish isolated towns within the territory over which it claims exclusive jurisdiction with rapid transit, without which they could not prosper, its interests were protected by the larger number of represent- atives who did not desire to have its work impeded. This influence, combined with the powerful co-operation of all the roads against restrictive measures, has always been sufficient for their defeat. In the meantime many of the grievances have been adjusted by competition, others by modification of the iron rules.
President Garfield was assassinated July 2d, 1881, an act that shocked all Christendom, and convulsed our republic from center to cir- cumference. Vice-President Chester A. Arthur succeeded him, and in reconstructing the cabinet in March, 1882, Senator Henry M. Teller of Colorado was offered the portfolio of the Interior Department, which, after some hesitancy and delay, was formally accepted. Then arose the important question of his successor in the Senate, which in the recess of the legislature fell to Governor Pitkin for decision. The matter of selection would not have been difficult had he not been persistently har- rassed by numerous applicants for the honor.
Teller was appointed and confirmed April 6th. His elevation to a seat among the confidential advisers of the president, and to the most important of the departments, was hailed with universal satisfaction. It was regarded as an honor conferred upon every citizen of Colorado without reference to political affiliations, therefore men of both parties
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united as one in rejoicing over the selection, and shared alike the dis- tinction it reflected upon the State at large. It was all the more cause for general congratulation, from the fact that the appointee was not only the first lawyer of the commonwealth, but pre-eminently qualified to adjust the many complex questions relating to public lands in the West, more especially such as related to the mineral lands. It was believed that some of the inconsiderate rulings of the Interior Depart- ment and of the General Land Office would be revised and errors cor- rected, that the various problems with which he was more broadly familiar than any of his predecessors had been, would receive intelligent hearing, prompt and proper determination. It is sufficient to say these high expectations were fully realized. Notwithstanding the fact that he was sharply assailed by interested parties toward the last, for some of his rulings upon railway land grants, none of them have been set aside by the courts, and Teller's record stands practically unquestioned as one of the most efficient that has been made in that office.
Adverting to the original subject, after this brief digression, Lieutenant Governor Tabor, who, only a few months before had reached, as he supposed, a distinct and unchangeable determination not to again become a candidate for any political office, but to devote his time and talents to the vast business interests that had come to him with great wealth, became suddenly inspired with feverish ambition to succeed Mr. Teller in the Senate, and pushed his aspiration with vehe- ment insistence. His appeals were brought to Governor Pitkin's at- tention by every influence that could be devised. He listened patiently, but made no pledges. When the time came for definite action, he acted promptly.
Mr. Teller's letter of resignation reached the executive office in the evening of April 10th, and on the 11th George M. Chilcott of Pueblo was appointed to the vacancy, probably the wisest selection then avail- able, and as satisfactory to all interests. It was hailed with profound gratification in the southern part of the State, which now for the first time, since Allen A. Bradford's election as Territorial Delegate, had
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been accorded a representative in the national legislature. Chilcott was near to the hearts of that people, besides possessing thousands of warm admirers in the northern division. He had represented the Territory in Congress, from 1865 to 1868, making an enviable record there, and it was believed that in the higher council he would be useful to the fullest measure of his fine capabilities. He was seated in the Senate April 17th, and throughout his brief term met every expectation that had been formed of him.
On the 22d of July, there came a report by associated press, from Washington, that Secretary Teller had recommended Judge Westbrook S. Decker of Denver, for the office of Assistant Secretary of the Interior; that it had been approved by the president, and his name transmitted to the Senate for confirmation. At that time, however, Judge Decker was an aspirant for the more independent office of Rep- resentative in Congress, with hopes of a nomination, therefore would have declined the tender of the Assistant Secretaryship, had it been made, but as a matter of fact, the report was without foundation.
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CHAPTER II.
POLITICAL EVENTS FROM 1882 TO 1886-ADMINISTRATIONS OF GRANT, EATON AND ADAMS -- MR. CHAFFEE'S LAST APPEARANCE IN COLORADO POLITICS-RE-ELECTION OF H. M. TELLER TO THE SENATE-TELLER'S EULOGY OF MR. CHAFFEE-THE GREAT MILITARY EXPEDITION TO WHITE RIVER.
Preparation for the fall campaign of 1882, began sometime in advance of the nominating conventions, giving early promise of being the most virulent in local history. Ex-Senator Chaffee arrived upon the field at the inceptive stage, to assume the direction of the canvass, from the selection of candidates through the various ramifications of the primaries, to nomination and election. Long prior to the time for decisive action, it was understood that Senator N. P. Hill would advance Mr. Henry R. Wolcott as his candidate for Governor, and also that it would be done in the interest of his own re-election to the Senate. The main incentive of Mr. Chaffee's part in the conflict, was his desire to return Henry M. Teller to the office he had vacated for the Interior Department, at the expiration of his term in the cabinet. Naturally enough, much excitement resulted from the stirring rumors growing out of those preparations for a mighty wrestle in the political arena, which spread to all parts of the State, inspiring the partisans of each leader to secure as many delegates as possible for the coming general convention. Wolcott carried the primaries in Denver, Gilpin, Clear Creek, and at a few other points, but failed to secure a majority in the final count. It was not opposition to him personally that caused his defeat, but rather to the universal understanding that the Senatorship lay back of his can- didacy. The party being divided between Hill and Chaffee, the latter was still sufficiently potential as a leader to control the field. But in
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this instance as in some prior contentions, the two great parties did not have the field to themselves, a third composite organization, called the Greenback Labor Party, entering as a disturbing factor of considerable force, without power, lacking numerical strength to decide anything for itself, but nevertheless capable of effecting serious divisions in the ranks of both Republicans and Democrats.
It was the first to hold its convention, which assembled in Denver, September 9th, and put forth the ticket which follows:
For Representative in Congress .- L. W. Greene of Lake.
For Governor .- Dr. R. G. Buckingham of Arapahoe.
For Lieutenant-Governor .- T. O. Sanders of Custer. For Secretary of State .- W. N. Batchelder of -
For Treasurer .- L. J. Herzinger of Larimer.
For Auditor .- Aaron K. Frost of El Paso. For Attorney General .- A. H. Boreman of Summit.
For Superintendent of Public Instruction .- Mrs. Mary Ellis of Lake.
For Justice of the Supreme Court .- L. C. Hollingsworth.
For Chairman of the State Central Committee .- Dr. H. B. Button of Arapahoe.
Dr. Buckingham refusing to accept the nomination for Governor, Mr. George W. Woy of Longmont was substituted.
On the 14th of the same month, the Republicans held their con- vention in the Tabor Opera House, Denver, when as anticipated, there was hot contention for the mastery, with the odds materially favorable to Mr. Chaffee and his supporters. The Lake County delegation, strong and aggressive, demanded the right to name the head of the ticket, presenting the name of Mr. E. L. Campbell, one of its citizens. Mr. Chaffee's choice was Norman H. Meldrum, but he acquiesced in the demand for Campbell in order to secure control. Mr. Wolcott's friends advanced his claims, and wrought pertinaciously for him, but unavailingly. It was seen early in the struggle that he could not be chosen, although by far the fittest of the candidates presented.
W. a. Bumet
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By pre-arrangement, Charles W. Tankersley was made the chair- man and George T. Clark, secretary. After a great deal of preliminary skirmishing and speech making, the following ticket was nominated:
For Representative in Congress .- James B. Belford.
For Governor .- E. L. Campbell of Lake.
For Lieutenant Governor .- William H. Meyer of Costilla.
For Secretary of State .- Melvin Edwards of Summit.
For Treasurer .- Fred Walsen of Huerfano.
For Auditor .- John C. Abbott of Larimer.
For Attorney General .- D. F. Urmy of Pueblo.
For Superintendent of Public Instruction .- Joseph C. Shattuck of WVeld.
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For Associate Justice of the Supreme Court .- Joseph C. Helm of El Paso.
For Regent of the State University .- James Rice of Pueblo.
For Chairman of the State Central Committee .- Jerome B. Chaffee.
The delegates from the judicial districts made the following nominations :
For Judge of the Second District .- Victor A. Elliott (renominated).
For Judge of the First District .-- C. C. Carpenter of Jefferson.
For Judge of the Fourth District .- P. J. Coster of Chaffee.
For Judge of the Fifth District .- J. B. Bissell of Lake.
A week later (the 21st), the Democratic party held its convention in Denver. It had been for some time conceded that James B. Grant would be nominated to the headship of the ticket, provided he could be induced to make the sacrifice of his great business affairs as the presi- dent and director of the Grant Smelting Company, a matter known to be difficult of accomplishment. He did not seek this nor any other form of political preferment, and it was only after long and persistent importunity that he finally consented to the use of his name.
Mr. Charles S. Thomas of Lake, was made chairman, and in due time the following selections were made :
For Representative in Congress .- S. S. Wallace of Las Animas.
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For Governor .- James B. Grant of Arapahoe.
For Lieutenant Governor .- John W. Prowers of Bent.
For Secretary of State .- Frank C. Johnson of Gunnison.
For Treasurer .- Dennis Sullivan of Arapahoe.
.For Auditor .- Ansel Watrous of Larimer.
For Attorney General .- B. F. Montgomery of Custer.
For Superintendent of Public Instruction .- Francis M. Brown of Boulder.
For Associate Justice of the Supreme Court .- Vincent D. Mark- ham of Arapahoe.
For Regent of the University .- Jared Van Auken of Clear Creek.
For Chairman of the State Central Committee .- Thomas M. Patterson.
The delegates from the judicial districts named :
For Judge of the Second District .- Victor A. Elliott (the Repub- lican candidate indorsed).
For Judge of the Third District .- Caldwell Yeaman of Las Animas.
For Judge of the Fourth District .- William Harrison of El Paso. For Judge of the Fifth District .- L. M. Goddard of Lake.
For Judge of the Sixth District .- J. F. Cox of Fremont.
The campaign being now fairly opened, with the two great party leaders, Chaffee and Patterson, once more pitted against one another, it was prosecuted with extraordinary vigor to the end. The Repub- lican convention adjourned with the feeling everywhere prevalent that it had narrowly escaped a fatal division, and that it had made its stand- ard bearer a man who possessed neither magnetism, personal popularity nor any superior qualification for the place. Moreover, he was strongly suspected of being a Democrat, as he had many times supported that party. The balance of the nominees were accepted, and would prob- ably be elected, since there was no organized opposition. The leading organ of the party-the " Tribune," edited by O. H. Rothacker, having strenuously advocated the nomination of Mr. Wolcott, revolted openly
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against Campbell, and the "Republican," espousing Senator Hill's cause, did likewise. Besides, the party at large stubbornly refused to accept him. Unquestionably had Henry R. Wolcott been chosen instead, as he would have been but for the interjection of the Sena- torial succession as the one vital element in the campaign, he would have swept the field to a great majority, as he was deservedly popular with the masses, and in all respects highly endowed for a vigorous adminis- tration of the affairs of government. Indeed, he possessed all the requisites of popularity, a generous nature, winning manners, superior capabilities for business, an extensive acquaintance with the people, commanding their respect.
On the other hand, James B. Grant was the most attractive candi- date in every respect that had ever been put forward by the Democratic party. The contrast of his personal standing and character, his stain- less integrity and the exalted esteem in which he was held by all classes, with the contempt openly expressed for his adversary, was so marked there appeared to be but one alternative for Republicans and Demo- crats alike, and that was to vote for Grant. This impulse grew stronger with each day of the campaign. Although Mr. Chaffee exhausted every resource to stem the tide, it could not be restrained. It burst over all bounds, and elected Grant by a sweeping majority, but he was the only State officer of his party chosen. His administration was one of the most satisfactory in the history of that office. There was a note- worthy absence of strife and confusion. It was a quiet, strong, tran- quil government, almost without striking incident for the reason chiefly that the business was conducted without ostentatious display, and without straining to convert every trifling event into a means for the creation of political capital for himself or his party. He had no desire for re-election, or ambition for further preferment. Unlike some of his predecessors and successors, he had no Senatorial bees in his bonnet.
The bane of our political system is the eternal and almost frantic craze that possesses nearly every politician who assumes to be a leader, and which has governed the majority of our Governors, to fill a seat in
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the Senate. Time was when the chief magistracy of a State was a dis- tinguished position, held only by great men, scholars and statesmen, a place to which only the great dared aspire. Eminence in statecraft rendered them eligible for high places in the nation, in the cabinets of Presidents, to be Ministers Plenipotentiary in the courts of Europe, but that day has gone by.
Governor Grant is the only man except Alva Adams who has been called to the office, not self-nominated. Says one of our noted limners of political portraits : " He is not much of a statesman, and he is still less of a politician ; but he is what all statesmen, and all politicians, desire to be, -- an influence. He is not a political leader, and he has never displayed any political genius ; but there is not a political leader, whatever his genius, in the Democratic party who could at a crisis carry the mass of the party in Colorado against him."
He was inaugurated January 9th, 1883. The Fourth General As- sembly convened on the 3d, when arose the troublesome question of the Senatorship, which disturbed all the factions until the 26th, pre- venting any useful legislative work. Caucuses without number were held. Lobby members swarmed about the chambers, the committee rooms and the rotunda and parlors of the principal hotel, where the candidates had opened their respective headquarters, all engaged in or with combinations "warranted to insure success." Pitkin entered the lists with a strong and faithful following, but Tabor, Bowen and others divided the vote into small fractions, so that no majority could be secured. Caucus after caucus was held, but there was no agreement. At length the balloting was taken before the Assembly, but for a long time no definite result was attained. At last, on the ninety-second ballot, Thomas M. Bowen, a member of the House of Representatives. was chosen to be the successor of Nathaniel P. Hill, and Horace A. W. Tabor to fill out the short remainder of Mr. Teller's unexpired term of about thirty days. Many believed, and justly, that Mr. Chilcott should have been permitted to remain during the brief interval extending beyond the period for which he had been appointed, but the politicians
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who were indebted to Tabor for weighty favors in the past, and prob- ably expected further benefits from his generous hand in the future, seized this opportunity to cancel the debt, and, regardless of other con- siderations, sent him to the Senate, both as a satisfaction of his claims upon them, and of his ambition.
The next political event of importance was the general campaign of 1883, when it became necessary to so manage affairs as to insure the return of Henry M. Teller to the Senate on the expiration of his term as Secretary of the Interior. Here again, the factions so long opposed to each other were arrayed in bitterest hostility, creating dissensions and divisions which threatened to disrupt the Republican organization and give the Democrats the ascendancy. Yet strangely enough, that result did not follow. Mr. Chaffee reappeared as the leader of the party -- for the last time -- and arranged his canvass in Arapahoe County by fixing upon Mr. George H. Graham, a ward politician of some note, as his candidate for sheriff, with a view to securing the most effective aid from that source in this stronghold of Republicanism. The Democrats named Mr. J. W. Shackelford as their candidate for the same office. In the battle that ensued Mr. Chaffee won, and Mr. Graham was elected. Much the same preparation was made in the other counties of the State. The main contest, however, did not occur until 1884, which was also a presidential year, but the groundwork for it had been laid.
The Republican State Convention of 1884 was held at Colorado Springs, September roth, when the principal contestants were the can- didates for Representative in Congress, and for the office of Governor. William A. Hamill of Clear Creek, was made chairman. After spirited caucusing and the employment of various devices to defeat certain aspirants and advance others, the following ticket was chosen :
For Representative in Congress .--- George G. Symes of Arapahoe. For Governor .- Benjamin H. Eaton of Weld.
For Lieutenant Governor .- Peter W. Breene of Lake.
For Secretary of State .- Melvin Edwards of Eagle, re-nominated. For Treasurer .-- George R. Swallow of Las Animas.
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For Auditor .- H. A. Spruance of Clear Creek.
For Attorney General .- Theodore H. Thomas of Gunnison.
For Superintendent of Public Instruction .- Leonidas S. Cornell of Boulder.
For Regents of the University .- Roger W. Woodbury of Ara- pahoe, Clinton M. Tyler of Boulder, and J. C. Shattuck of Weld.
For Presidential Electors .- F. F. Osbiston of Clear Creek, Benja- min F. Crowell of El Paso and Frank C. Goudy of Ouray.
For Chairman of the State Central Committee .- Wilbur C. Lothrop of Arapahoe.
For the first time since the admission of the State in 1876, the party chose another candidate for Representative than James B. Belford. Mr. Symes had served in the Federal army from the beginning to the close, first as a private, subsequently rising through various grades to the rank of colonel of the Forty-fourth Wisconsin Infantry, and was twice severely wounded. Educated for the legal pro- fession, after the collapse of the rebellion he practiced law in Paducah, Kentucky, for a time, and was then appointed Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of Montana Territory. He came to Colorado in 1874, opened an office in Denver, and soon acquired a very large practice, through which in the course of a few years he became enriched.
Benjamin H. Eaton was one of the oldest and most respected of our citizens, an extensive farmer, builder of great irrigating canals, essen- tially a man of the people, who had pushed his way by earnest labor and honest devotion to the cause of agriculture, and the development of that industry upon the higher planes, to the headship of the guild. Possessed of only a limited education, derived from brief experience in the public schools, too hard worked in early life, and well on toward the latter half, for study and mental culture, the want of scholastic training was filled by sound common sense, which led to orderly management, and the expansion of his original small farm in Weld County to one of the largest landed and most extensively cultivated estates in Colorado. Becoming interested in the Greeley or Union Colony at the inception
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