USA > Colorado > History of the State of Colorado, Volume III > Part 52
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HISTORY OF PUEBLO COUNTY.
the flowers of Colorado and of India, in distemper, painted by D. R. Fay of New York, who has executed fan painting for Tiffany and decorated Jay Gould's mansion.
The stage built to accommodate a great orchestra will represent a grotto constructed of immense natural stalactites and stalagmites. From its center bubbles a mountain stream and waterfall, and out from this by mechanical arrangement, will appear and disappear a water nymph grasping sparkling mineral nuggets. Entirely around the interior of the structure will run a frieze composed of silver dollars encircling coat-of- arms of the various States and Territories. A part of the decoration scheme is the employment of the 2,200 incandescent electric lights in the hearts of the painted procession of flowers.
The capital stock of this State institution is $150,000, and the directors are Donald Fletcher, George H. Hobson, W. W. Palmer, A. J. McQuaid, C. L. Hill, A. W. Cham- berlin, George H. Parsons, Henry C. Brown, Ferd Barndollar, O. H. P. Baxter, Ben- jamin Guggenheim. The executive secretary is Mr. John Livezey, a mining man, favor- ably known throughout Colorado.
In 1884 Mr. J. R. De Remer erected a roller skating rink building, at a cost of $20,000, which proved a good investment, while the craze for this pastime existed, but two years later the interior was changed at a cost of $6,000, into an opera house (so called), seating 1,300 persons. The new place of amusement was opened early in 1886 with the " Parlor Match " Company, and seats were at a premium, so anxious were the amusement loving Puebloans to see the new auditorium. After two years of popular success this building suffered a disastrous fire, which, however, benefited the city, for it brought about the formation of the Pueblo Grand Opera House Association, which during the present year has erected a magnificent edifice at the corner of Fourth and Main streets. A stock company was formed by local capitalists in May, 1889. Messrs. Thatcher Brothers and Baxter and Cresswell, offered to contribute $115,000, including the site, estimated at $40,000, toward the erection of the opera house, provided public spirited citizens would increase the fund to $250,000. The people favored the enter- prise of these progressive and broad minded men, so the association was incorporated by O. H. P. Baxter, Frank Pryor, John A. Thatcher, Robert Billings, L. B. Strait, T. J. Downen and Charles Henkel, and the following were elected directors : O. H. P. Baxter, T. T. Player, Charles E. Gast, A. B. Patton, A. McClelland, J. A. Thatcher, J. B. Orman, N. W. Duke, J. D. Miller, E. R. Holden, George B. Stimpson, Frank Bingham and M. D. Thatcher.
Adler & Sullivan, architects of Chicago (who built the Auditorium building of that city), were employed to make the plans of the building, and under the unremitting control and supervision of President Baxter, the imposing building was completed on the evening of September 9th, 1890, and opened by the Duff Opera Company in Gilbert & Sullivan's " Iolanthe." All the beauty and wealth of the city congregated in the audi- torium on that evening, assisting in creating a new epoch for Pueblo-the graduation from the roller skating rink period to the full artistic dignity and triumph of the $400,000 Grand Opera House, and all the word implies-ballet, fine orchestral music, gorgeous scenery and stage fittings, resplendent costumes, fashionable gossip and cigarettes between acts. Its dedication was significant of the rise of the city above a provincial station.
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HISTORY OF PUEBLO COUNTY.
The structure's front is built of Colorado's red sandstone, in tones and carvings designed to suggest the peculiar thorny effects of the Colorado cacti-this the poetic feeling of the architect. The sides and back of the edifice are of red brick, and the building is girt about with arcades of Moorish arches with fenestrated walls rising to a height of fifty feet, with a frontage of 120 feet on Main street and 190 feet on Fourth street, and with its square Moorish tower rising to 131 feet from the roadway and eighty feet from the roof,-a striking contrast is presented to the old 'dobe that formerly stood on the site -- ground which earlier still, forty years ago, was a portion of the Indian's trail to his mountain fastness.
The upper story is a "summer garden," to be supplied with seats for visitors and orchestra, and a profusion of flowering plants. The imposing edifice is not only to serve as an opera house and theater, but at the same time the First National Bank of Pueblo will occupy the handsome rooms on the ground floor, on the corner of Fourth and Main, and here the bank is building its immense safety vaults ; and on upper floors is the domicile of the Pueblo Club, while some sixty offices, reached by a Crane elevator, have been arranged above. The auditorium itself is approached through three hand- some stone arches and a vestibule lined with marble and tile flooring. It is eighty feet square, with a balcony running entirely around, and a gallery facing the stage. The seating capacity of the auditorium is 1, 100.
The entire fittings and decoration of the theater are of the latest and most approved design and construction, and have been put in the hands of Chicago firms. The arch- itects, Messrs. Adler & Sullivan, were also the designers of Chicago's Auditorium, and in the eyes of those who favor the modern style, Pueblo's Grand Opera House is said to rank next to the Auditorium in the list of theaters in the great West. The building is finished in hard wood, with exception of the theater, which is polished Texas pine. The theater's decoration is of salmon color with a soft opposition in the robin's egg blue of the arched ceiling-relieved with a liberal use of gold leaf. The side arches are in old ivory and gold, as also are the fronts of balcony and gallery. The incandescent lights which are used as a part of the decorative scheme, give the whole a brilliantly beautiful and warm effect. The proscenium arch is a solid mass of gold on plastic ornaments, supported by pilasters, giving a suggestion of Roman architecture. These are adorned with acanthus leaves in plastic work, and the one salmon and blue and gold effect is carried out throughout the interior. The decorations are all done in oil by Healy & Millet, of Chicago.
The scenery is painted by Albert and Burridge (artists of the Chicago Grand Opera House and Auditorium) at a cost of $7,000. These artists are individual and American, and acknowledge no superiors in this country. The drop curtain is con- sidered by Albert as his masterpiece. In it the scheme of the house's decoration is carried out-the architect, decorator and scene painter have labored in unison. The subject is taken from Tennyson's " Brook:"
"I chatter, chatter as I flow To join the brimming river,
For men may come and men may go, But I go on forever."
O.N.P. Bafter
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HISTORY OF PUEBLO COUNTY.
The entire set of scenery has been artistically and conscientiously painted, the greater part of the work having been done by Walter Burridge, well known among American artists everywhere.
In the theater are 1,200 incandescent electric lights, and on the immense stage are rows of red, white and green electric lights, turned on or off by rheostats, which thus do away with the necessity of calcium lights. The opera chairs throughout the lower house are of terra cotta velvet and cost over $6,000 ; and a second drop curtain, made of satin and cloth of gold adorned with rhine stones, cost over $2,000 alone. A feature of the opening was the presentation of a huge basket of Colorado wild flowers to Mr. O. H. P. Baxter (who has been the prominent prime cause of this temple's being) by General E. K. Stimson (remembered by old Puebloans as the Governor of the Silver San Juan). General Stimson in an appropriate oratorical effort, after complimenting Pueblo upon her push and progress and prosperity, said that children of a future generation would rise from their seats in that opera house to call Mr. Baxter blessed. Mr. Baxter, in expressing thanks was greeted with a storm of applause, which he may never forget, and which proved that he had won a permanent place in Pueblo's esteem and gratitude.
As we have seen, in sketching this history the people of Pueblo were, in early days, without fear, honest and industrious. Though rough and uncultivated in the main, they strove, constructing canals and building bridges, schools and churches and rail- roads and smelters, to create an orderly, moral and independent community, which should use and improve the talents given by Nature's God. They have manifested a broad foresight and public spirit in late years, not alone by ready contributions toward the building of railroads, but by the presentation of lands for securing the location of smelters. And if in primitive days, the rough road of the pioneers allowed no time to the cultivation of the arts and of æstheticism, this spirit is now manifested by the public building of their truly Grand Opera House. And lastly, this people, that encouraged the Denver & Rio Grande in coming to their gates are as willing to-day, to contribute generously toward the location of the new manufactories or any institutions which are destined to promote Pueblo's progress or any humanitarian end. The city now counts one hundred and fifty manufacturing concerns, prominent among which, in addition to those already mentioned, are large foundries and machine shops, barbed wire works, fire clay works, brick yards, tile works, planing mills, cracker factory, brewery, packing houses, carriage shops, etc., etc.
Excepting Pueblo and Bessemer, the county contains no important towns. Beulah Springs is a summer resort with mineral springs, situated twenty-eight miles southwest of Pueblo, and was first settled by cattle men, in the sixties. Mace's Hole, as the site was called, is about nine by two miles in area, and the town proper is located at the opening of a beautiful cañon and on the north, St. Charles Creek, a pure and cold mountain stream. The mountains west of the little town (which with the outlying population numbers over two hundred) are covered with pine and spruce timber. Mace's Hole was first settled by J. J. Dase, who cultivated the soil. Questions of litigation retarded settlement until the spring of 1880, when W. F. Townsend and Judge N. P. Richards bought twenty acres, including the Mineral Springs, and erected cottages for summer visitors from Pueblo. In 1881 Robert Patton built a boarding-house and
486
HISTORY OF PUEBLO COUNTY.
in the summer of the next year, the town was platted and several houses built. In 1885, as a local historian informs us, "Robert Patton was appointed postmaster, and moved the postoffice (which had been kept out of town) into the town, he putting in the first store." Beulah now contains six stores, two hotels, etc., and some forty homes. Beds of iron ore surround the town and there is an abundance of marble, lime rock, red clouded marble, gray and red granite. Three miles from town is a copper mine, while indications of the precious metals are not wanting. Lead ore has been discovered, but none of these natural riches have been developed, for lack of railroad facilities.
Rye is perhaps the thickest settled of the agricultural towns of Pueblo County, and all around Rye, the grain from which the settlement took its name, corn, wheat, oats and the best of red clover and alfalfa, are grown. Vegetables thrive, and the melons and small fruits.
In 1888 there were 50,000 cattle on the ranges in the county and 10,000 horses. There were 40,000 sheep, also, that year, 20,000 of which were clipped for wool and 20,000 sold for mutton. Horticulture proves profitable, and many orchards have been set out lately. Dairying grows steadily in importance, 70,000 pounds of butter were made last year in the county. Attention has been paid to the making of roads and to the bridging of streams. There are no toll roads. Surrounding the city of Pueblo, are surface deposits of "kidney " iron, and there are undeveloped coal beds at Rock Creek and other places. Some twenty limestone quarries are opened within a radius of as many miles of Pueblo City. Near the city is a site for water powers of great prospective value.
Other small towns and settlements, not previously mentioned, in Pueblo County are, Agate, Anderson Ranch, Andersonville, Barry Ranch, Baxter, Beulah Springs, Boone- ville, Cactus, Chico, Cody Ranch, Cook Ranch, Dog's Ranch, Doyle's Mill, Dry Ranch, Fosdick's Ranch, Four Mile Ranch, Goodnight, Graneros, Greenhorn, Holliday Ranch, Horn Ranch, Huerfano, Jackson, Jones' Ranch, Juniata, Langley's Ranch, McClellan's Ranch, McIlhaney's Ranch, Meadows, Merrie's Ranch, Mexican Plaza, Muddy Creek, Nada, Nepesta, Old Fort Reynolds, Osage Avenue, Parnassus Springs, Peck's Ranch, Piñon, Pond, Robniett Ranch, San Carlos, Skeeter Ranch, Spring Lake Ranch, St. Charles, Sulphur Springs, Swallows, Table Mountain, Taylorville, Undercliff, Walker Ranch, Wilson's Ranch, Wood Valley.
ENMartin
487
HISTORY OF HUERFANO COUNTY.
HUERFANO COUNTY.
BOUNDARIES-FIRST SETTLERS-ORPHAN BUTTE -- PRIMITIVE ORGANIZATION-PEAKS AND RANGES-NATURAL RESOURCES-IMMENSE AREA OF COAL LANDS-TOWNS- WATER SUPPLY-MINERALS-JOHN D. ALBERT-D. J. HAYDEN-C. O. UNFUG.
As originally organized in 1861, this county was bounded by what then were assumed to be the exterior lines of the Las Animas Land Grant. That the title in Ceran St. Vrain and Cornelio Vijil was a valid one, was not doubted, therefore the lines of Huerfano were drawn to accord with it for the convenience of those who expected to become settlers and purchasers of land from the grantees. By the act of organization, it comprised the territory that now constitutes the counties of Huerfano and Las Animas, together with that part of Bent lying south of the Arkansas River, and that part of Pueblo lying south of the same stream, and east of St. Charles River.
The first settlement made was by Charles Autobees, at the junction of the Huerfano River with the Arkansas, in the year 1849. Autobees had for many years previous been employed as hunter and trapper for the American Fur Company. Under promises made to him of a title to a considerable tract of land, he was induced-with a number of Mexicans and Indians-to begin the work of colonizing the enormous grant in conformity with the requirements of Mexican law in relation to claims of this character.
The little colony maintained itself for many years, by farming in a primitive way; by hunting, trapping, and trading with the Indians, and also with emigrants to California from the States of Missouri and Arkansas, who journeyed by the southern route. Auto- bees remained upon the ground until his death, leaving a large family. He was a typical mountaineer in every sense of the term, a noted Indian fighter, scout and guide. Later on, in 1858, William Kroenig of New Mexico, purchased of the grantees a tract of land with a view to engage in stockraising and farming on a large scale. These settlers were closely followed by others, among them Samuel Watrous, Joseph B. Doyle and William Craig, who opened extensive farms, established stores of merchandise and built mills for the accommodation of the public generally. These larger settlements were confined to that part of the county that now belongs to Pueblo, and through them the region was at an early day brought to a high state of cultivation. The stiff prices paid for grain by the government in the years following, stimulated activity and the investment of large capital in agricultural pursuits that are unknown at the present day in the same locality. The failure of the grant titles, followed by the close of the war and the loss of markets for their produce, proved disastrous to these extended operations and the credit of the community, hence there is now scarcely a vestige left to testify the extent of their efforts.
488
HISTORY OF HUERFANO COUNTY.
The word Huerfano signifies "Orphan," a name applied by the early Spanish explorers, to the huge butte that stands as an everlasting landmark upon the open plain of the Huerfano River, giving its name to the stream and the county also. This isolated butte has been rendered prominent in history by its mention in Captain J. W. Gunnison's report of his southern survey for a Pacific Railroad, and in the first speech on the subject in the Senate of the United States, by Hon. Thomas H Benton of Missouri in 1847, who suggested this lone mountain as a suitable place for a colossal statue of Andrew Jackson. This magnificent pile of eruptive rock stands near Colonel Fremont's route from the Mississippi to the Pacific, and so near the center of the continent it seemed to Benton to be a natural emblem of the destiny of the nation. It is yet one of the most suitable locations for an astronomical observatory to be found in the United States.
In its primal state the county was so inconveniently large, as its settlement pro- gressed it was by common consent of the people divided by an act of the Territorial legislature in 1867, when the present limits were established. The early organization of the county as a political division, was of a desultory character. Being a combination of such immense distances and without any towns whatever, the officers residing upon their farms many miles apart, it became difficult to bring them together for any sort of action. Joseph B. Doyle was the first county judge, George Simpson clerk and recorder. James S. Gray, Boanerges B. Boyce and Norton W. Welton, commissioners. It is doubtful if the judge ever held a term of court, and the commissioners met only once during their term of office. Ultimately, it was the good fortune of the county to inherit about an equal quantity of mountain and plain. The contour of the mountains in the western and southern part form two well defined parks, each drained by one of its principal streams. In these parks dwell many small farmers and stockgrowers. The Huerfano park, containing a considerable population, is drained by the stream of that name and its tributaries, and La Veta Park by the Cuchara and the smaller streams that flow into it from almost every direction.
For many years this county was exclusively a farming and pastoral community, and its population largely composed of Mexicans from New Mexico.
The advent of the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad in 1874-'75, entirely changed its status in a business point of view. From a primitive people with primitive methods and manners, it has grown to be one of the most extensive coal mining districts in the State, and some mines of silver, copper and iron are being developed by a population that represents the American race-in other words, a mixture of nationalities.
On the western and southern boundaries of the rugged landscape are seen four great peaks of the Sierra Madre Range,-the Greenhorn, Sierra Blanca and the Spanish Peaks. Here, long years ago, was the winter home of the Tabeguache Utes, and in the protected valleys were settled the old men, women and children of the tribe, while the younger warriors went out upon the plains in search of buffalo meat and robes. Its little valleys still echo many curious reminiscences of frontier life.
In relating certain memories of old Zan Hicklin as set forth in our second volume, upon the authority of Mr. Ellis Connor, it is made to appear that Hicklin was a bach- elor. From Judge D. J. Hayden of Badito, to whose kindness I am indebted for the principal material of this sketch of Huerfano County, one of the older and most respected
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HISTORY OF HUERFANO COUNTY.
of its citizens, I am enabled to correct this grievous error. Zan Hicklin was married to Charles Bent's daughter Stephana, in 1858 at Taos, New Mexico, and his widow, children and. grandchildren reside at the old home on the Greenhorn River. Hicklin was descended from a Missouri family, and came West in 1845 ; went to California in 1849, where Judge Hayden first met him. He settled on the Greenhorn in 1859, and was one of the most extensive farmers and stockgrowers of his time ; accumulated large sums of money, and spent them in the free and easy manner characteristic of Western barons.
Geographical .- At present Huerfano County is bounded on the north by Pueblo and Custer, on the east by Las Animas, south by Las Animas and Costilla, and west by Costilla and Saguache. As evidenced by the records of the county surveyor's office, it has 256,000 acres of coal lands ; 221,400 acres of agricultural lands duly entered in the United States Land Office ; the remainder of its large territory being unoccupied grazing and coal lands. The Colorado Coal & Iron Company has purchased 4,480 acres of coal land, the Colorado Fuel Company 6,760 acres, and the Pueblo Coal Com- pany 1,920 acres. The two companies first named have four mines opened and in active operation, with an output of 2,500 tons of merchantable coal per day.
The situation of this county is superior to that of any other in the State, with a number of good passes that are open in every direction through the mountain range that lies upon its southern and western border, and with the open field of the plains on the east, there is no good reason why her ample natural resources should not find large development in the near future. The extensive and increasing business of the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad, and of the towns along its line of passage through the 'county, are indicative of what the future offers, and present a respectable comparison to the sleepy past, which emphasizes the fact that every mountain pass will be utilized by Eastern roads that are looking westward for fuel and an increasing traffic. The grade from this county to the Gulf of Mexico is the shortest and easiest one to the waters of the Atlantic Ocean ; while the great Terra Amarilla route via Pagosa to the Territory of Arizona and the waters of the Pacific Ocean, afford an opening to the westward that may be utilized every month in the year. The beauty of the surroundings of the county, guarded as they are by four of the grandest peaks of the Rocky Mountain Range, can not be surpassed. Her mountain sides painted in the variegated colors of the peculiar geological formation, give a background to a picture that offers to the artist and student a scene at once picturesque and grand.
The growth of business is shown by an examination of the records of the county postoffice statistics, the tonnage and value of merchandise received and shipped, and the tonnage of coal mined and exported to other parts of the State, and farther east.
Its geographical position offers economic facilities that are possessed by only a few counties in this State or New Mexico.
The latitude, it will be remembered, is but little north of that of the city of St. Louis. The mercury in the warmest hours of the most heated days seldom rises above ninety degrees Fahrenheit, and drops as the sun descends from its zenith ; while in winter it rarely falls below freezing point for more than a few days at a time-in the months of December and January. A peculiar feature of the Rocky Mountain region is that the climate immediately under the protection of a continuous range of mountains
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HISTORY OF HUERFANO COUNTY.
is universally pleasanter than at a distance from them in the same latitude. The trade winds from the tropics find their way up the Gulf of California, and are tempered in their passage of the snowy crests of the great San Juan Range which deal out to this land of promise their beneficial influences as they traverse the continent. The topog- raphy and geographical location of Huerfano, give it a climate of its own. The sum- mers are never oppressive, the winters seldom very stormy, or cold enough to more than develop the latent energies of her inhabitants in a genial way ; while a good night's rest may be enjoyed the year round beneath a pair or more of woolen blankets. Bright sunshine and the ever shifting breezes free the air from any poisonous influences of the same latitude in the malarious districts, and are an unceasingly active preventive of disease germs.
The coming of the Denver & Rio Grande Railway introduced new possibilities into its somewhat primitive existence. The now flourishing town of Walsenburg, the center of the great coal basin, then came into being both as county seat and trade center. The thriving village of La Veta was originally laid out as a temporary terminus of this road in the year 1876, upon the site of one of the oldest farms in the county, and is now handsomely located as a residence place, and the trading point of La Veta Park. Each has its newspapers, churches, schoolhouses and other evidences of an advanced state of civilization, and have been incorporated under the laws of the State.
Their schoolhouses are furnished with modern conveniences and aids to instruction. The general plan of studies is under the direction of an efficient county superintendent of public schools, and the education of the children is fast becoming the universal aim of each of these communities, while their churches assume all of the new and bright features adopted by people who until recently were residents of well ordered settlements further east.
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