History of the State of Colorado, Volume IV, Part 49

Author: Hall, Frank, 1836-1917. cn; Rocky Mountain Historical Company
Publication date: 1889-95
Publisher: Chicago, Blakely print. Co.
Number of Pages: 791

USA > Colorado > History of the State of Colorado, Volume IV > Part 49

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Harry Endriken and wife, as already mentioned, are the only residents who were on the ground in the days when Julesburg flourished under mob rule. Endri- ken served in company M, 2nd Cavalry, with Capt. Mix during the war. Mr. D. C. Polley settled there in the spring of 1881, when the only residents were Mr. and Mrs. William Beck, Mrs. Belle Ellis, who conducted the section house, and A. Weir, who had a little store of general merchandise. Until 1884 it was scarcely more than a lonely station on the plains. Mr. Polley built the first permanent res- idence. Mr. D. B. Morgan, present county clerk, came in the spring of 1884, when Mr. Polley was the only resident besides the railroad section hands. John Hagist, Andrew Burg, William Guy and a few others had land claims near the town.

Denver Junction, now Julesburg, was laid off by the Union Pacific railway company and the plat acknowledged, April 23rd, 1884, by Elisha Atkins, vice-presi-

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dent, and Henry McFarland, secretary, of Suffolk county, Mass., before James G. Harris, commissioner for Colorado. It was filed in Weld county, July 2nd, 1884. After these proceedings, the first building erected was by Kelley & Jones, a real estate firm. Among the early immigrants to the new town were L. M. Pars- ley, P. W. McNamara, S. and T. R. Liddle, J. F. Munson, David Casteller, A. F. Clopper, A. Piper, Brady Sharp, P. Peterson, Andrew Axelson, J. W. McHale, J. B. Sweet, O. Miller, John Knoblaugh, A. Fisher, H. Doing, T. J. Mason, W. A. McClintock, A. J. Chindgren, George Gordon, J. J. Phelan, Henry Gherkin, Cris Anderson and Samuel Carlson.

Miss Amelia Guy taught the first public school in Julesburg in the summer of 1885, in a frame building, 10x12, standing between the railway tracks, west of town. Her salary was $50 per month. The present fine two-story frame school building was erected in the fall of 1885. Miss Lydia Guy, sister of Amelia, was a teacher in the new building. They emigrated to this country from Guilford, New York, and have taken up claims on the public lands, from which, let us hope, they will realize a fortune, to compensate them for the trials and hardships of the change, and for their enterprise and usefulness.

The one church building was erected by the Congregationalists, who organ- ized July 12th, 1885, under the direction of Rev. H. P. Case. The officers were three deacons, a clerk and a treasurer, with three trustees. The Rev. Albert E. Ricker, the first pastor, preached there for the first time May 17th, 1885, prior to the organization, and continued in the work until August 30th, following. Ile was front Sidney, Nebraska. The church was incorporated under the following mem- bership: Mr. and Mrs. Woolman, Mr. and Mrs. Casteller, Misses Lydia and Amelia Guy, Mr. Tooney, Bertha Hungerford, Mrs. Newman, Mrs. Emma Stod- ard and Mrs. Lydia Woolman. The early meetings of this society, as well as those of the Methodist Episcopal church, were held in various unfinished buildings, and in a tent, until prevented by winds and cold weather. From September Ist, 1885, to June 27th, 1886, no regular service was held by the Congregationalists. The Rev. WV. H. Bonnell accepted a call to the pastorate, delivering his first regular sermon June 27th, 1886. In July of that year it was organized as the First Congregational church of Julesburg, with the following officers: Deacons, H. W. King and H. M. Woolman; deaconesses, Mrs. Iliram Sapp and Mrs. C. G. Farnham; secretary, Hiram Sapp; treasurer, H. M. Woolman; trustees, H. W. King, David Beach, H. M. Woolman, Will Raser, and G. W. Gordon. The church building was erected in the winter of 1886-87. March 6th, 1887, the first services were held therein. Rev. Bonnell closed his pastorate May 13th, 1888, and was succeeded by the Rev. H. J. Zercher, who was followed by the Rev. A. E. Ricker in August, 1890.

The Presbyterian society was organized by the Rev. T. C. Kirkwood, Septem- ber 25th, 1887, at Julesburg, with the following elders: Dr. R. N. Hutchinson, George McConaughy and W. S. Ball. Dr. Kirkwood was the synodical missionary for Colorado.

The Methodist Episcopal society was organized by the Rev. E. Mount, May 2nd, 1888, as a west Nebraska mission, but it became a part of the Colorado con- ference in 1888. At the first quarterly conference thereafter hekdl, October 18th, 1886, the following trustees were elected: Wm. Dye, J. W. Knoblaugh, L. M. Fairchilds, Will Raser and J. B. Sweet. Mr. Mount was succeeded by Rev. C. R. Crane at this first quarterly conference, who continued until the fall of 1887, when he was followed in the order named, by Rev. W. II. Babcock, Richard Eason, in 1880, and A. II. Miller, in 1800. The Methodists have several organizations in the county. The Catholics hold services at the section house of Thomas Dolan.

Julesburg has two banks. The Citizens' Bank, a private institution, was opened in March, 1886, by 11. L. McWilliams, who was president, and Frank MeWil- liams, cashier. Soon afterward C. H. Hoffman purchased the bank, becoming

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president, with L. E. Loveland, cashier. June Ist, 1887, Hoffman sold to Leander Lodge, whose cashier was A. S. Avery. The capital stock is $10,000. The Bank of Denver Junction was organized in 1885 by the Liddle Bros., T. R. Liddle, presi- dent, and Oscar Liddle, cashier. This was the first bank in the town. When the name was changed to Julesburg, it became the Julesburg Bank. June 14th, 1887, the name was again changed to the "State Bank of Julesburg." The capital stock is $30,000. It officers are James Robson, president; J. L. Robson, vice-president, and Oscar Liddle, cashier.

The only newspaper in the town is the Sedgwick County "Sentinel," edited and published by H. C. McNew. The Denver Junction "Gazette," started in 1885 by Charles Callahan (late of the Cheyenne "Leader,") was the first enterprise of that nature. It soon after fell into the hands of Michael McGinnis. Various other journals were cstablished from time to time, but the "Sentinel" is the only one to survive. The town has no system of water works. Its supply for domestic purposes is obtained from wells.

The Masons, Odd Fellows and the Grand Army of the Republic have organi- zations there. There are several hotels, restaurants, markets and business houses of various kinds.

Old Fort Sedgwick, the U. S. military post, established during the Indian troubles of 1864-65, stood about one mile west of "Old Jule's" ranch, or the first Julesburg. The troops stationed there guarded the stage route. The reservation was 8x8 miles in extent, all of which, except a small fraction which extends into Nebraska, lies within the present boundary lines of Sedgwick county. This reser- vation was opened to settlement in 1889. Sedgwick post office is not on the mili- tary site, but is a small station on the Union Pacific, a few miles west. It was laid off by John Casey of Cass county, Nebraska, April 7th, 1887, having been surveyed April 5th, that year, by Hiram Sapp. It is about fifteen miles west of Julesburg. It has a school house, railway buildings and a few dwellings. Flora is a post office on the divide, sixteen miles south of Julesburg. Byrne is simply a town site.

In 1890 Sedgwick county had a school population of 406, of which 48 were enrolled in the graded schools and 265 in the ungraded. There were 25 school districts and 23 school houses, with 568 sittings, this property being valued at $8,855. There were two teachers in the graded and 38 in the ungraded.

The assessed valuation of property in Sedgwick county for 1889 was $715,- 714.75, and for 1890, $721,416.22.

Among the reminiscences of Julesburg, which are frequently repeated at the present day, are numerous distorted accounts of the killing of "Old Jule" by Joe Slade. I am impelled, therefore, to produce a condensed recital of that tragedy from "Vigilante Days and Ways," published in 1890 by Mr. N. P. Langford, of Montana, whom I personally knew, and who vouches for the accuracy of his statement.

"Joseph A. Slade had been a soldier in the Mexican war. In 1859 he was made superintendent of the worst division of the Overland Stage line between Jules- burg and Salt Lake, with headquarters at Julesburg. A man of iron nerve, he be- came a terror to the horse thieves and robbers who infested that country. Jules Reni was a Canadian Frenchman, a leader of his class, many of whom were engaged in the fur trade. Jules was ugly and quarrelsome. Numerous disputes occurred between Slade and himself, and finally a serious quarrel, in which Jules first shot Slade with a revolver and then emptied the contents of a double-barreled shotgun into his body. Slade was taken to the station and laid upon his bunk, having re- ceived no less than thirteen bullets and buckshot. Jules expected him to die, and remarked to the bystanders: "When he is dead you can bury him in a dry-goods box." Slade, hearing the observation, exclaimed with an oath: "I shall live long enough to wear one of your ears on my watch guard, so you needn't trouble your- self about my burial." Soon afterward, the Overland coach arrived bringing the

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superintendent, who caused Jules to be arrested and strung up. After raising and strangling him until black in the face, he was permitted to go, upon his promise to leave the country. Slade was taken to a hospital in St. Louis, recovered in due time, and resumed his duties on the line. Meanwhile, Jules came to Colorado. Though warned that Slade would kill him at sight, he nevertheless wandered back to his old haunts. Slade caught him at a place called Chanson's ranch, west of Julesburg. Entering the station where several persons were standing in the door- way and all armed, he seized a revolver from the belt of the first he met, and, glanc- ing hastily to see that it was loaded, said: "I want this." He then strode rapidly to the corral in the rear of the station, where Jules had been made a prisoner by the em- ployes. As soon as he came in sight of his enemy he fired, intending to hit him between the eyes, but, aiming too low, the bullet struck him in the mouth and glanced off, causing no material injury. Jules fell upon his back and simulated mortal agony. Slade discovered the deception and said: "I have not hurt you, and no de- ception is necessary. I have determined to kill you, but having failed in the first shot will give you time to make your will." Jules said he would like to do so. The will was drawn and read to him. Soon afterward Slade shot and killed him. Thus perished the man for whom the original Julesburg was named.

Up to this time Slade had been comparatively temperate, and an invaluable manager for the stage company, but he took to drink, went to Montana, became a leader of gamblers and desperadoes, and finally was captured and lynched by the famous Vigilantes of that territory.

SUMMIT COUNTY.

ORIGINALLY OF ENORMOUS DIMENSIONS-FIRST DISCOVERERS OF GOLD-ROMANTIC EPISODES-FOUNDING OF BRECKENRIDGE-RICHNESS OF THE BARS AND GULCHES -PROGRESS TO THE PRESENT -CARTER'S MUSEUM-ROBINSON AND KOKOMO- RAILROADS, RANCHES, ETC.

Reference to any of the earlier maps of Colorado Territory will show that for twenty years or more after its primary organization in 1861, the county of Summit embraced all the northwestern division of the existing state, including the territory now covered by Grand, Routt, Rio Blanco and Eagle counties. Yet its only settlements were Breckenridge and contiguous mining camps, within a radius of eight miles. It is wholly mountainous, and has few resources except mineral, owing to its lofty position, which fanges between 6,000 and 13,000 feet above sea level. It is now bounded on the north by Grand, south by Lake and Park, east by Clear Creek, and west by Eagle. Its present area is only 600 square miles, and by the census of 1890 its population was 1,906. From the beginning of local government its county seat has been located at the town of Breckenridge.

The impulse which brought a multitude of fortune seekers to the Rocky Moun- · tains in 1858-59 also caused a very thorough exploration of the elevated parks and tributary streams for gold. The story of the primary finding and development of precious metal deposits in the region under consideration is no less romantic and interesting than that attending like events in Gregory and California Gulches during the same early period. To find the actual beginning, the author communicated with Mr. Ruben J. Spakling. now a resident of Wetmore, Colorado, who, under date of October 28th, 1891, set forth the incidents following:

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Mr. Spalding, according to this narrative, was born in old Fort Snelling, Minnesota Territory, February 26th, 1827. He served in the Mexican war, and in 1849 went to California, where for some years he followed gold mining, with varying success, and in due course returned to the states. He arrived in Denver from Missouri in July, 1859. At the time there were only a few log cabins on the town site. After prospecting about the country for a time, toward the last of July he was invited to join a company then forming to prospect the western slopes of the Rocky Mountains. This party of about thirty men started from Denver on the morning of August 2nd, 1859. The same afternoon they were overtaken by a tremendous rainstorm. On the night of the 3rd they encamped at Manitou Springs, and on the 4th took the Ute Indian trail into the mountains. Soon after- ward the company divided, Mr. Spalding being one of the fourteen who traveled apart from the others. He can not recall all the names of his comrades, but remem- bers the following: John Randall, N. B. Shaw, Wm. H. Iliff, James Mitchell, a Frenchman named Lebeau and another named Weaver. They pursued the trail westward to the South Fork of the South Platte, and thence to the point where the town of Fairplay was subsequently located; thence up to the base of Mount Lincoln, where Montgomery was established a year later. Here they crossed to the western slope, on to Blue river. On descending the slope they observed a small lake to the left, which was immediately christened Silver lake. Con- tinuing down the Blue, to a point about one-fourth of a mile below the present Breckenridge, they halted. It was here that the first stakes were driven in the ground to mark the spot where it was their purpose to prospect for gold. The instinct which prompted this determination seems prophetic of after results. The exact date was mid-afternoon of August 10th, 1859. "We sunk a hole three feet deep on a bar," writes Mr. Spalding, "and I, having mined in California, was selected, as the most experienced man in the company, to do the panning. The result of the first pan of dirt was thirteen cents of gold, the largest grain about the size and shape of a flax seed. The second panful gave twenty-seven cents, both yields being weighed in gold scales brought for the purpose. This was the first recorded discovery of gold on Blue river. Our little party now felt jubilant over the strike thus made and began to realize that here lay the fulfillment of their most ardent hopes." The company united in according to Mr. Spalding the honor of the first discovery, an event of great importance in the subsequent history of the territory and state. He was by unanimous vote given possession of the claim wherein the gold was found, which he occupied and worked with satisfactory returns. His associates, now fully convinced that a great precious metal-bearing region had been fairly hit upon, proceeded to stake off clainis, each 100 feet along the river and across it, to include both banks. Mr. Spalding, by right of discovery and miner's usage, was allowed 200 feet. Realizing the jealousy of the Ute Indians, to whom all the mountain region belonged, their warlike spirit and their hostility to the intrusion of the white men, and to provide against attack, the miners erected a block house or fortification, which was after- ward christened "Fort Mabery," in honor of the first white woman who crossed the range to French Gulch .* It was situated on the main highway, on the west side of the river, a little southwesterly of the present Breckenridge stamp mill and concentrators. A few traces of the foundation still remain.

The first log dwelling in the new camp was erected by Mr. Ruben Spalding, whose notes we are following. Soon afterward the miners set to work to turn the course of the river by digging a large canal, the head being very near the town of Breckenridge. This accomplished, they were prepared for the more earnest business

* Wir. lohn Shock informs me that this block house was named for a Mr. Mabery from Cleveland, Ohio, one of the miners who assisted in building it. Others assert that it was called Fort Mary B. in honor of Mary Bigelow the first woman quartered there.

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of placer mining. About this time some men came in, bringing a whip-saw, and began cutting lumber for sluices and other purposes. Says Mr. Spalding: "1 don't recollect their cash price for boards, but distinctly remember that I gave my mule, that cost me $140, for 175 feet of lumber and two sacks of musty Hour. With the lumber I made three 'toms' and went to mining in water ankle deep, and having nothing better to wear on my feet I roped them with pieces of a saddle blanket, which answered the purpose of boots very well. The first day's work netted me ten dollars and a bad cold. I remained on Blue river during the winter of 1859-60 in company with nine others, only a few of whose names are now remembered. One was James Mitchell, another a Mr. Eaton, Balce Weaver, two Norwegians and a man named Ogden. Snow fell to great depth-six to eight feet. We made each man a pair of snowshoes of white pine, nine to thirteen feet in length; breadth in front four inches, and at the rear end three and three-fourths inches."

"In January or February, 1860 (1 can't remember which), we all mounted our snowshoes, taking blankets, tools and provisions, and went down Blue river about six miles, where we built a cabin of small pine logs and claimed a town site, calling it Eldorado West. It was from this cabin that Mr. Balce Weaver went prospecting and discovered Gold Run diggings beneath snow eight feet deep. French Gulch was discovered, I believe, by a French Canadian known as 'French Pete.' In 1861, contrary to my desire, I was elected sheriff of Blue River, comprising several mining districts. I at once appointed Dr. P. H. Boyd, of Springfield, Missouri, my chief deputy, who executed all the duties of the office in a satisfactory manner.

Here end the chronicles of the original discoverer of gold in Summit county and on the western slope of the great Sierra Madre. From various sources, mainly the recollections and correspondence of pioneers in that distant region of country, the notes following are compiled.

Directly opposite the Spalding discovery, on the east bank of the river, William H. Iliff and an associate found a pocket of auriferous gravel of limited extent, which yielded two dollars per pan of dirt. Afterward nearly $7,000 was extracted from a space 40 feet square, with a depth of less than 10 feet, which illustrates the rich- ness of certain parts of this gulch. Provisions becoming scarce, Messrs. Iliff, James Mitchell, one called "Cucumber," and another whose name can not be ascertained, late in August started out with pack animals en route to Denver, the nearest depot for such supplies. They journeyed via Swan river and Georgia Pass to the South Park, and thence by the most accessible outlets down to the plains. Before entering upon the long and fatiguing expedition, however, Mr. Iliff pro- ceeded to his claim, and within two hours collected therefrom something over fifteen dollars in gold, which he sold in Denver at the rate of eighteen dollars an ounce. The arrival of this party in town, coupled with the stories they told and the amount of yellow metal exhibited, created much excitement, and, as a natural sequence, a general stampede of the unemployed men on its streets toward the scene of those wonderful revelations occurred. By the middle of September, fol- lowing, about two thousand people had settled in Spalding and contiguous camps. Several new districts were occupied and organized under the brief miner's code then adopted. Independent and Miner's districts on the south, Red Hill and Gold Run on the north, became points of great activity. The winter of 1850-60 being unusually mild, placer work continued from fall until spring without serious inter- ruption. Early in 1860 the town of Breckenridge was founded by a prospecting company composed of Gen. George E. Spencer (U. S. Senator of Alabama in the reconstruction period, after the war of the Rebellion) and others, under the name of Spencer, Humphreys, MeDougal and Wagstaff. Arriving on the scene in August, 1859 (probably in conjunction with Mr. Spalding's party, though he fails

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to mention them), they began building cabins on the site, which is situated hall a mile above the mouth of French Gulch, on the east side of the Blue river (now the main thoroughfare). In the spring of 1860 Spencer & Co. claimed, under the town site law of Congress, 320 acres of land, which was surveyed and partly platted by an engineer named Samuel Jones, and the place christened in honor of John C. Breckinridge, then Vice-president of the United States, and for reasons which fol- low: The founders, earnestly desiring the location of a post office near the newly- discovered mines, together with a regularly-established postal route from Denver, appealed to B. D. Williams, a Democrat and a Kentuckian by birth, then repre- senting the settlers of the Pike's Peak region in the lobby of Congress, for the privileges mentioned. Williams answered that if the residents would consent to name the town for the Vice-president the chances for getting a post office would be enhanced thereby. His prophecy was almost immediately verified. The office was established and Gen. Geo. E. Spencer appointed postmaster, but before his commission arrived he left the country, turning the office over to Mr. . O. A. Whitte- more. At a later period the orthography of the name was changed to "Breck- enridge," owing to the prominent part which Mr. John C. Breckinridge assumed on the Confederate side in the late civil war.

The fame of the camp soon extended to all settlements, and by the middle of June, 1860, the population, mostly males, numbered about 8,000, distributed over French Gulch, Gold Run, Delaware, Galena, Illinois, Iowa, Dry, Nigger and other diggings. Later in the season Georgia, American and Humbug Gulches were discovered and worked. Roads were built and numerous trails opened. Large quantities of gold were taken out by the crude methods then employed, the only processes available to the early settlers. Georgia Gulch, about eight miles up the range, on the Pacific slope, one of the richer of the series, was discovered by a Mr. Highfield, a Georgia miner, who gave it the name of his native state. This gulch emptied into Swan river, a tributary of the Blue. Buffalo Flats, on Swan river, between Georgia Gulch and the Blue, were discovered by a party of Georgia Gulch prospectors in the fall of 1861, and, in 1862, were quite extensively worked. The placers were on the flats at the foothills of the Swan, very extensive, but not very rich. All provisions received by the miners of Georgia Gulch in the winter of 1860-61 were packed over the range from South Park by men on snow- shoes. Later, paek trains of mules and donkeys were employed.

As soon as practicable after the establishment of mining camps, barrels of whisky were brought in and saloons opened. Gold brokers, merchants, traders, hotel keepers and other accessories followed in quick succession. An attempt being made by the traders to rate the value of gold at $14 or $16 per ounce, the miners held a meeting and settled the question by resolving not to deal with any man who refused to take it at $18. Next, the traders claimed the privilege of cleaning the dust in the "blower" before weighing, but all such controversies were quickly disposed of by a firm named Conway & Co., who coined the native gold into slugs without alloy, in denominations of $5, bearing the name of the firm. These slugs passed current as five dollar gold coins do now. The edges were milled like any other coin and passed freely in all exchanges. Louis Valiton opened the first drug store in Georgia Guleh and George E. Kettle (later a resident of Denver, but some years since deceased) the first meat market. Gold Run was operated for gold in 1860, the original discoverers being the Weaver brothers and their associates, who made the first find of value in February in the year named. It was stated that during the next season they washed out ninety-six pounds of dust. The district took the name of Long Island. Later on, gold was found lower down the basin and called Buffalo Flats, in Erie district. In No- vember, 1862, the two districts were consolidated and called Union. In 1861 the Blue River and Buffalo Flats ditch, six miles in length, was completed by the New-

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History of the State of Colorado, Volume IV, Part 49

Author: Hall, Frank, 1836-1917. cn; Rocky Mountain Historical Company Publication date: 1889-95 Publisher: Chicago, Blakely print. Co. Number of Pages: 791

Author: Hall, Frank, 1836-1917. cn; Rocky Mountain Historical Company
Publication date: 1889-95
Publisher: Chicago, Blakely print. Co.
Number of Pages: 791