USA > Colorado > Arapahoe County > History of the city of Denver, Arapahoe County, and Colorado > Part 27
USA > Colorado > Denver County > Denver > History of the city of Denver, Arapahoe County, and Colorado > Part 27
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Denver was deeply mortified by the failure of the bill for Colorado's admission as a State, vetoed by President Johnson, and a strong effort was made to have the bill passed over his veto, but in the last days of the session the bill failed utterly,
and the people turned their attention to other mat- ters.
The Denver Musical Union, the forerunner of the present Choral Union, was organized March 10, 1867, with Messrs. Woodward and Joslin, act- ive members of the present Union, as leading spirits. J. P. Whitney was sent to the Paris Exposition with a lot of Colorado ores, and suc- ceeded in attracting much attention to our country.
Mayor Delano was re-elected in April, on a light vote, the total being only 1,524. Emigra- tion, however, was very good during April, and Denver bade fair to note a prosperous year, but the prospect was eclipsed, a little later, by Indian troubles down the Platte. In May, Gov. Cum- mings was succeeded by Hon. A. C. Hunt, and almost immediately Gov. Hunt found himself embarrassed by an Indian scare. Although no serious results followed the outbreak, further thau the stealing of stock and interruption of travel, Indian matters occupied the attention of everybody for some time, and volunteers were called for early in June. The response was prompt enough, but some unforeseen troubles in getting them into the
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field prevented their doing any service. Out of these complications rose a sort of irrepressible con- flict between Gen. Sherman and the people of Col- orado, which gave the former at the time a rather unenviable reputation here, until the calmer judg- ment of the people prevailed.
Business was rather dull during the summer of 1867, on account of exaggerated reports of Indian troubles, and, in the absence of continuous em- ployment, the Denver business men resorted to various devices for " killing time," among which was a season of base-ball, which deserves to pass into history. The "artists " of the Denver nine were such light and airy young chaps as Phil Trounstine, Harry Pickard, Ed Willoughby, Al Zern, and the like. Mose Anker offered a silver ball as a prize for the best club, and a State con- test was soon arranged between Denver and the Mountains. Denver was rather inglorionsly defeated, which probably accounts for the lack of interest in base-ball displayed in later years by the " original " nine.
Meanwhile, the Pacific Railway had reached Julesburg, and its future route via Cheyenne had been located, showing conclusively that Denver was to be left out in the cold. A railway connec- tion being all important to Denver, a meeting was held July 11, to consider the Colorado Central scheme, but, as it appeared that Denver could ouly have a " branch " of that line, as proposed by Golden, nothing was done at that time. It was not until the arrival of George Francis Train, in November, that the Denver Pacific scheme took shape. The new town of Cheyenne was then an accomplished fact. The railway had reached that point, the old Julesburg stage line was abandoned, and the first coach had made the trip between Denver and Cheyenne in twenty four hours.
Train electrified the Denverites. He said : " Col- orado is a great gold mine! Denver is a great fact ! Make it a railway center !"
public mind. A railway map of Denver adorned the columns of the city papers and was printed on the envelopes used by every business man in the city. It is worthy of remark, now twelve years later, that every imaginary line of railway save one, shown on that map, has been built, and the missing line (up the Platte Valley into Denver), will soon be here.
The harvest of 1867 promised well, but, owing to a variety of causes, including grasshoppers, did not realize all that was expected of it. The dull times did not stop building in Denver, however. The railway was near enough to insure the suc- cess of the town, even if no connection was made with it, and there was even then a tolerable degree of certainty that the " Eastern Division," as the Kansas Pacific was then called, would be extended to Denver direct.
In October the second annual fair of the present Colorado Industrial Association was held, under the general direction of Capt. Richard Sopris, President of the Society, and was a grand success. It is a fact, apparently, that the earlier fairs of this society were more meritorious than its later exhibitions, making due allowance for the difference in population and progress since those days.
The grand event of 1867, however, was the final removal of the capital from Golden to Den- ver, accomplished after a hard-fought battle in the General Assembly, which met at Golden Decem- ber 2, 1867, and adjourned to Denver, the future capital, four days later. Under the act, at least ten acres of land at Denver were to be donated for capitol grounds, and these were deeded to the Territory by H. C. Brown, Esq.
The year 1868 opened in Denver with an elec- tion on the question of voting bonds in aid of the Denver Pacific Railway. There was practically 110 opposition to the bouds, and only fifteen nega- tive votes were cast in Denver, out of over twelve hundred ballots.
Enthusiasm ran high. A Board of Trade, com- posed of the best citizens, was formed at once, and ' George W. Clayton was elected Mayor in April. railroad building filled the newspapers and the . The municipal contest was marked by a revival of
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the vexed " lot question," and a fierce controversy raged in the newspapers throughout the summer. The true inwardness of the lot question was the fact that the city records were carried away in the great flood of 1864, and titles were unsettled thereby for several years. One faction claimed that another had seized property by unlawful, or at least dubious, methods ; that deeds were made out by the officials to parties other than the right- ful owners of the land conveyed. The absence of the records prevented the accusing party from making their charges good, and the historian can- not undertake to say which was in the right of the matter, if either werc. Fortunately for Denver, the " lot question " appears to have been disposed of in later years, and titles are as good in this city now as anywhere.
Ground was broken for the Denver Pacific Railway May 18, 1868, with imposing ceremonies, the whole population turning out to celebrate the glad day. May 31 witnessed the completion of the Colorado and New Mexico telegraph line to Pueblo, and the opening of telegraph communica- tion between Denver and the southern metropolis. In July, Judge Allen A. Bradford was nominated for delegate to Congress by the Republican Terri- torial Convention, which met in Denver. The contest was a very exciting one, but Bradford was elected by a small but sufficient majority.
Gen. Grant visited Colorado, for the first time, in July, 1868, reaching Denver on the 23d. He was received with considerable enthusiasm, although the public demonstration was limited to a reception at Masonic Hali, which was attended by almost everybody in Denver. After a short trip to the mines, the General and his party took their departure. Many other distinguished soldiers and civilians visited Denver during the summer, among them Prof. Agassiz and Senator Conkling, with a party of friends, who spent some days in Denver during the month of September.
The inevitable Indian outbreak occurred late in the summer of 1868. In July, Gov. Hunt started south on a mission to the Utes, who had
lost their principal chief by death, and were rest- less without a leader. Ouray, then called " Ulay," chief of the Tabaguache Utes, was the most influen- tial Indian of the tribe, and was subsequently chosen chief. By his aid and that of Hon. Lafayette Head, Gov. Hunt was enabled to quiet the Utes temporarily, but a new embarrassment arose about the middle of August, when the Plains Indians commenced their depredations along the entire line of the eastern border.
It has not been stated, perhaps, that Gen. Sher- man, who rather befriended the Cheyennes and Arapahoes, had patched up a peace with them after the usual fashion of Indian treaties, and they figured as " good Indians" during the early part of 1868. Large bands of them were scat- tered through Eastern Colorado, from the Platte to the Arkansas, and as they molested no one when they first came, the settlers felt little or no anxiety about their presence in the Territory. Suddenly, however, and of course without warn- ing, they began to steal and kill all along the line. Among their first victims was a brother of Hon. J. L. Brush, of Greeley, who, with others, was murdered in the Lower Platte Valley, while herd- ing stock. Similar outrages were committed at various other points about the same time or in quick succession.
In the absence of Gov. Hunt, Secretary Hall, as acting Governor, organized forces for pursuit as well as for defense, but the wary Indians were too careful of their lives to put them in unnecessary jeopardy, and almost all escaped with their plun- der and unharmed. The old Indian fighters down the Platte were too quick for the savages, how- ever, and succeeded in killing a few of them on their retreat and recovering some stolen stock. The Platte Rangers were commanded by Mr. James Bailey, and included such men as Brush, Ashcraft, " Little Gerry," and Godfrey, the gal- lant commander of "Fort Wicked," in 1865. Maj. Downing, of Denver, went east with a small force of cavalry, but met with no success in his search for Indians.
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Though this raid resulted in the death of a good many settlers and the loss of considerable stock, it had one good effect, and that was, the awaken-' ing of Gen. Sherman to a realizing sense of the only proper way to manage Indians. Pretty much all the savages engaged in this bloody busi- ness were the General's " good Indians," and some of these carried his certificates to that effect with them, through the campaign. It is needless to say that the General considered his obligations to them canceled by their accursed treachery, and has ever since been in favor of vigorous treat- ment as a remedy for Indian outbreaks on the border.
Meantime, Gov. Hunt, who had been operat- ing in the mountains with the unruly but not openly hostile Utes, had experienced great difficul- ty in bringing them to terms. Colorow and Capt. Jack, always bad Indians, seemed determined to precipitate a fight, and it was feared at one time that Hunt and his party would be massacred. They finally completed arrangements with . the leaders of the tribe, and returned safely to Denver.
Denver continued to improve in spite of all this trouble, and the prospects of the young city were never brighter. The third annual fair of the In- dustrial Association commenced September 29, under the same capable management, and was more successful than any previous exhibition.
Some opposition to the State movement having been developed, particularly in the mining camps, State Conventions of each of the political parties were held in Denver November 28, 1868, to give expression to public sentiment on the question. The Conventions were large and respectable bodies. Both unanimously declared in favor of Statehood
and a joint committee from each Convention drafted appropriate resolutions to that effect.
Although law and order were in the ascendency in Denver during 1868, there was some excite- ment in the latter part of the year over a series of bold robberies committed in the city by a few desperate characters who came in to spend the winter. Judge Orson Brooks, then and now one of the best known and most respected citizens of Denver, was then Police Magistrate. Returning home one night, the Judge was surprised by a sudden and of course utterly unexpected order to " hold up his hands." He had been on the border too long to underestimate the serious consequences of a refusal. Up went his hands and up came two burly ruffians who took his valuables and de- camped.
All the circumstances of the case pointed to two men as the guilty parties, and, learning that they were suspected, they left town. They were watched and followed, however, and one was killed while resisting arrest. The other, whose name was S. C. Dugan, was brought back to Denver under guard. He confessed to the Brooks robbery and admitted, rather boastingly, that he was a "bad man." Upon this hint, the citizens hanged him, which was, perhaps, the best use they could have made of him for the benefit of society.
December 14, the first annual meeting of the Denver Pacific Railway Company was held, and the reports of the officers were submitted and printed at length in the newspapers. The road had made some progress, but unforeseen difficulties had been encountered, and the completion and equipment of the line depended upon negotiations which were then in progress.
Y
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CHAPTER X.
EVENTS OF THE YEAR 1869.
advanced steadily through the successive stages of Western development into a city of six or seven thousand inhabitants, considerable wealth and refinement and architectural pretensions of no mean order. The tents and log cabins had given way to frame buildings first and finally to sub- stantial brick edifices. Water for irrigation had been brought in and distributed along every street, its pearly streams delighting the eye, cooling the air and giving life to an extensive system of arboriculture, which in time was to transform the barren plain into a beautiful forest and make Denver a delight.
On the first day of the new year, Denver rejoiced over the opening of the telegraph line to Cheyenne, the work of the newly organized railway company, which at the same time was rapidly grading its line and throwing bridges over the Platte and Poudre near the points where the towns of Evans and Greeley are now located. The former town was soon afterward located and figured somewhat prominently for a time as the "end of track," but Greeley was all unknown for the time being, and the place where it now stands, embowered in sylvan beauty, was then a cactus plain. The Cheyennes and Arapahoes still roamed up and down the valleys of the Platte and Poudre, and early in January, 1869, they made a stock- stealing raid, in which most of the settlers lost their best horses, and Little Gerry was left with a single horse out of a large herd which the Indians drove off in open daylight. A few years later, the Government had the privilege of paying him some $20,000 for his losses at the hands of thiev- ing Indians.
Denver Board of Trade, from which a lengthy quotation has already been made in these pages.
D ENVER entered upon the last year of its | first decade under favorable conditions. From a town of tents on the open prairie it had . The Governor on that occasion rather eclipsed George Francis Train in his predictions of a glori- ous future for the Queen City of the Plains; and the prosaic business men of 1869, although full of faith in their city, did not subscribe to every utterance of the Prophet of the Cordilleras. Per- haps the same men think more to-day of those prophetic inspirations than they did ten years ago. The growing wealth and importance of the mines was beginning to attract new attention. The complete success of Hill's smelting works at Black Hawk not only made mining more profitable, but inspired other localities with an idea of setting smelters in operation. Denver soon caught the fever, and the press argued in favor of a smelter with no less fire and fervor than it had worked for a railroad.
The Macedonian cry for a smelter was heard and answered a year or two later, but as the smelt- er was a total failure, the brief mention it requires may as well be given now and here as later and elsewhere. After the Denver and Kansas Pacific roads were completed to Denver, the "Swansea Smelting Works " were established near the junc- tion of the two roads, an addition to the city was laid off, and operations were begun and carried on for a time with indifferent success, only to be aban- doned entirely in the end. The "Swansea " works still stand as an idle monument to vaulting ambi- tion or bad management-probably both. The splendid success of Hill's works at Argo, in full sight just across the Platte, testifies that the Swan- sea process is not a failure in Colorado, and the only wonder is that some enterprising manager does not start up the old works and make a for -. tune out of them.
It was in February of this year that ex-Gov. During the closing days or nights of the Gilpin delivered his notable address before the last session of Congress, Gov. Evans and his
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HISTORY OF DENVER.
associates were able to seeure the passage of a bill granting alternate seetions of publie land in aid of the construction of the Denver Pacific Railway and Telegraph Company, and making the railway a part of the Eastern Division of the continental line-in other words, an extension of the Kansas Pacific. News of the passage of the land-grant bill was received with great demonstrations of joy in Denver, for the reason that delays and impedi- ments in the way of equipping the line, then almost ready for the rails, had discouraged the Denverites a good deal, and the land grant was expected to settle the question of finishing the road immediately. The public rejoicing was so great, indeed, that on the return of Gov. Evans, in the latter part of March, 1869, he was tendered a publie reception, and received not only the warmest thanks, but also the highest compliments of his railway associates and con- stituents.
Hon. B. B. Stiles was chosen Mayor at the mu- nicipal election in April, 1869, and administered the affairs of the eity with rare fidelity and disere- tion during his term. Old residents affirm to this day that he was the best Mayor Denver ever had, and, on the strength of his previous record, he was re-elected in 1877, when he signified his return to office by getting into a controversy with the Board of Aldermen, which destroyed his usefulness dur- ing his entire term.
The Union Pacific Railroad was completed to Ogden in May, 1869, forming there a junction with the Central Pacific, and connecting Den- ver with the Pacific, as well as the Atlantic. Gov, Evans and several other citizens of Denver
were witnesses of the interesting ceremonies connected with that most important event. Ad- ditional consequence was attached to the comple- tion of the Union Pacific by the people of Den- ver, because they had been led to hope that the Union Pacifie would at onee take hold of the Den- ver Pacific, but in this they were destined to dis- appointment.
Decoration Day, May 30, was observed with appropriate ceremonies by the citizens of Denver. News of Gen. E. M. MeCook's appointment as Governor of the Territory, vice Hunt, had been received, and the new Executive was looked for daily but did not arrive until June 11. The inevitable reception followed, as a matter of course, and the new Governor, though a trifle reserved, made a good impression. A few days later, Hon. William H. Seward and his party appeared in Denver, and another reception followed, on which occasion Mr. Seward made a pleasing speech which was highly appreciated.
The remainder of 1869 passed away pleasantly enough for the people of Denver, but unmarked by any event of real importance. Distinguished visitors were numerous then as now, and the State and eity were extensively advertised by the letters of leading Eastern journalists, among them the lamented Father Meeker, who made his first visit to Denver with Cyrus W. Field in October, 1869. It was then that Mr. Meeker first eoneeived the idea of forming a Colorado colony, which after- ward took shape in the New York Tribune office, and eventuated in the beautiful and flourishing town of Greeley. Dr. Hayden also arrived out in 1869, with his geological surveying party.
RESIDENCE OF HON WM. M. CLAYTON. DENVER.
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HISTORY OF DENVER.
CHAPTER XI.
THE RAILROAD YEAR 1870.
THE proudest year in the whole history of Denver is the one whose leading events are about to be recorded. It has passed into history as the railroad year, from the fact that its summer marked the completion of two railways connecting Denver with the east and north, while the mount- ain line made fair progress, and that to the south became a certainty instead of an uncertain venture.
As usual under this Territorial regime, the first event of importance after the new year was fairly ushered in, was the assembling of the Legisla- ture in its Eighth Annual Session. The proceed- ings of that august body do not appear to have been of thrilling importance, judging from the dry and musty records inspected by the historian. At the end of its forty-day session, it passed away as its predecessors had done, in peace and quiet- ness. It must not be understood, however, that the writer underestimates either the ability or ser vice of the early legislators. They were, in many respects, superior to the average legislator of the middle West. They were keen, shrewd, sagacious, far-seeing men for the most part, many of whom have since made their mark in the national Con- gress and in honorable positions in public and pri- vate life. But in spite of their ability, they could not elevate a Territorial Legislature into an imposing body politic. The country was practi- cally governed from Washington. The scope of its legislation was narrow, and its acts were subject to approval by higher authority. The extreme southern counties were represented by a Spanish- speaking people, who obstructed legislation not only by their ignorance of the language in which it was conducted, but by their general aversion to legal limitations. Impressed with the idea that they were "governed too much," they opposed most of the measures introduced, and when opposition was futile they asked to be excepted
from the operation of the act, in so far as them- selves and their respective counties were concerned. So it came to pass that the local " self-government" of the Territory was never entirely satisfactory to anybody, and the State movement gained strength from year to year in the most surprising manner.
In February, 1870, Father Meeker returned to Denver with the locating committee of the Union Colony, and soon afterward arranged with the management of the Denver Pacific Railroad to locate on the Cache la Poudre, near the railway crossing of that stream. The colonists arrived early in the summer, and Greeley was added to the list of Colorado cities.
Meanwhile, Denver was growing every day, and new enterprises of "great pith and moment," as was then supposed, were being set on foot by the enterprising citizens. John W. Smith and others erected a woolen-mill in West Denver, the first in the new Territory. A full list of the improve- ments of the season would be cumbrons, but build- ing, as well as every other line of business, was exceedingly lively. Nor were public demonstra- tions lacking. The colored people of Denver met May 27, and celebrated the adoption of the Fif- teenth Amendment, and three days later Decora- tion Day was duly observed, Gov. McCook being the orator of the occasion.
June 22, 1870, however, was the day of days even of that eventful year. It saw the first rail- way train reach Denver, over the Denver Pacific road. The last rail had just been nailed fast with a silver spike, contributed by Georgetown. Pretty nearly everybody was wild with enthusiasm. Old- timers, who had toiled across the Plains in ox teams or on foot, in the early days, dodging In- dians in season and out of season, and enduring discomforts which tried their souls and bodies too, clasped hands in congratulations that the old
G
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" overland " days were done, and Denver was nearer New York to-day than she was to many of her mining camps in the mountains, which were reached slowly and painfully, by stages or freight trains. In less than ten years, many of those mining camps were to be linked with Denver by iron rails, but the pioneers did not stop to con- sider that branch of the subject. Sufficient to the day was the pleasure thereof.
The Denver Pacific began business under the most favorable auspices. An elegant brick depot, which has since become familiar to the thousands upon thousands of tourists from all over the world, was erected at the foot of Twenty-second street, the corner-stone having been laid June 24, with imposing ceremonies, conducted by the Masonic Fraternity, Bishop Randall delivering an address upon the occasion. Denver did nothing by halves in those eventful days.
The Republican Territorial Convention of 1870, held in Denver July 12, was a memorable event in the history of Colorado politics. It was har- monious enough as to general principles, but the contest over the nomination for delegate was pro- tracted and exciting. There were half a dozen candidates, three of whom (Col. N. H. Owings, Gov. C. H. MeLaughlin and Henry Crow) carried about equal strength. After numerous ballots, none of which gave a majority to either candidate, Col. Owings withdrew in favor of Hon. J. B. Chaffee, and that gentleman was nominated on the following ballot.
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