History of the city of Denver, Arapahoe County, and Colorado, Part 33

Author: O.L. Baskin & Co. cn; Vickers, W. B. (William B.), 1838-
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Chicago : O.L. Baskin & Co.
Number of Pages: 844

USA > Colorado > Arapahoe County > History of the city of Denver, Arapahoe County, and Colorado > Part 33
USA > Colorado > Denver County > Denver > History of the city of Denver, Arapahoe County, and Colorado > Part 33

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

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for traffic until 1872. Upon its completion, work was pushed upon the main line for some time, but after the whole distance had been either completely or partially graded and the track had been laid to the Boulder County line, a few miles beyond Long- mont, the Julesburg branch was abandoned, aud not a dollar has been expended thereon from 1873 until the present time.

Still another monument to the vaulting ambi- tion which vainly sought to overleap Denver is the decaying grade of the Golden & South Platte Railroad, a proposed feeder of the Colorado Central, which sought to intercept the Denver & Rio Grande, at Littleton, ten miles south of Denver, and to divert the traffic of that line from Denver to Golden. This grade was built aud abandoned in 1873. The failure of these schemes, however, was not entirely due to Denver's acknowledged suprem- acy. The panic of 1873 was peculiarly fatal to all new railway enterprises, and the Bostonians who had been backing Mr. Loveland aud his friends suddenly deserted them, sacrificing most of the investments they had made up to that time, rather than risk further development of their schemes.

The history of the Colorado Central for the next three or four years was eventful, by reason of the struggles of rival factions for its control. The Union Pacific held a majority of the stock. In the spring of 1875, a consolidation agreement was entered into between the Union Pacific and Kansas Pacific, by which the Colorado Central was to be merged into the Kansas Pacific. The minority stockholders, of whom Mr. Loveland was chief, opposed the scheme, but were unable to pre- vent its consummation, which occurred in December, 1875. Until the spring of 1876, the line was operated as a part of the Kansas Pacific, but, in May of that year, the Colorado stockholders met, threw out a vote of 7,200 shares of Union Pacific stock, and elected themselves Directors of the road.

A few days later, the officers elected by the new Board took possession of the road. These pro- ceedings and certain subsequent acts of lawlessness in holding possession did not redound greatly to the credit of Colorado railway management, and perhaps the less said about them the better. It was undoubtedly true, however, that the immedi- ate patrons of the line, particularly the counties which had voted bonds to help build the road, were better satisfied with the Colorado management than any other, and public opinion sustained Mr. Love- land in his possession.

After fighting for a whole year to get control of the property, the Union Pacific people proposed a compromise, which was finally affected, and which resulted in several important extensions of the line. The long-looked-for outlet to the Union Pacific was finally completed via Fort Collins to Cheyenne ; the Georgetown Branch of the Mountain Division was extended from Floyd Hill to Georgetown, and the Central Branch from Black Hawk to Central. About the same time, the Denver line was straight- ened from Clear Creek, crossing so as to run into Denver direct, and depots and their appurtenances were established at the capital. From that time forward, the road did a profitable business. Its traffic contract with the Union Pacific has lately been changed into a long lease to the latter com- pany, which manages the road as a part of its main line, and proposes to extend it to Leadville in the near future.

Mention has already been made of the large and constantly increasing traffic of this road, but until one sees its crowded passenger trains and heavily laden freight cars, no proper idea of its business can be obtained. Georgetown and Central alone would give the line profitable employment, and they are growing every day in population and com- mercial importance. The Colorado Central is des- tined to be the most important link in Denver's chain of railways.

HISTORY OF DENVER.

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CHAPTER XXII.

THE TELEGRAPH AND STREET RAILWAYS.

T THE influence of the telegraph upon civiliza- tion, and the part played by it in the develop- ment of new countries has been during the past twenty years so thoroughly demonstrated, that the introduction of a chapter upon the organization of the electric system of Colorado in a work of this character needs no apology. Reaching Denver in advance of the railroad, during a most important epoch in the history of the city, it exercised no slight influence over the future of the vast steppes west of the Missouri River, which, before the tele- graph and railroad lines had demonstrated the actual value of the country, aside from its mineral wealth, were supposed to be entirely inadequate for the sustenance of human life. The first two years following the discovery of her mineral wealth developed the fact that Colorado was a per- manency, and a demand for the facilities of civil- ization was created among her citizens, many of whom were men of wealth, with important business connections in the East, with which they were frequently anxious to communicate quickly.

In 1860, the Pacific Telegraph Company com- menced the work of building a line across the con- tinent from Omaha to San Francisco. The con- tract for constructing the line to Fort Kearney was taken by Charles M. Stebbins and Edward Creighton. Their contract was fulfilled during 1861, and, in the spring of that year, Mr. Creigh- ton visited Denver to make arrangements for a branch from Julesburg. The proposition was made by him to construct the line if the citizens would subscribe a certain amount, to be repaid in telegraphing. The proposition was rejected, and for the next two years Denver was without tele- graphic facilities. An agency was established in Denver, which received telegrams for transmission East, sent them to Julesburg, a distance of 200 miles, by coach, and thence by wire, receiving

return messages in the same manner. Every coach going out took a large bundle of messages for the operator at Julesburg, and each incoming coach had an equally large bundle for distribution at Denver. So important was the business trans- acted in this roundabout way, that Mr. Creighton became convinced that he had made a mistake, and. in the spring of 1863, he again visited Denver, and succeeded in concluding a satisfactory agreement. Arrangements were at once made for the construc- tion of the line, and, early in June, a very large train of wire and material reached Julesburg. Here the foremau of the construction party was taken sick, and died, causing the commencement of the work to be delayed until the 15th of July. In the mean time, Mr. B. F. Woodward, who had been employed as the first manager of the Denver office, had arrived at Julesburg from Omaha, and took charge of the construction after the death of the foreman. At Spring Valley, about fifty miles from Julesburg, an office was opened, Mr. Wood- ward remaining in the office until an operator came from Omaha, when he again took the field with the construction party. Another office was opened at the Junction, afterward Fort Morgan. Previous to this, the stage route had been via Fremont's Orchard, following the Great Bend of the Platte. The telegraph line was built on a cut-off across the Great Bend, via Living Springs. The stages soon followed, and in that manner the well-known cut- off road was established.

The wires reached Denver about October 1, and an office was opened in the old bank of Warren Hussey & Co., near the present corner of Fifteenth and Holladay streets. Much interest was mani- fested by the people, in the connection of the city by telegraph with the "States," and a large crowd assembled to witness the completion. Hon. Amos Steck, then Mayor of Denver, desired to test the

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accuracy of the new enterprise, and sent the first message to Mrs. Steck, then visiting in the East. The Mayor sat near the instrument all the after- noon; was at his post again early in the morning, and called frequently during several days, but the line would not work, and, finally, His Honor gave up in despair, pronouncing the thing a humbug. It was afterward discovered that poor wire and storms had occasioned several breaks, and ten days elapsed before the line was in working order. Mr. Creighton, who was a line-builder, and not ac- quainted with practical telegraphy, had a theory that lines could not be worked successfully in these high altitudes, on account of the super- abundance of atmospheric electricity, and became quite discouraged before the connection had been made and the error of his theory fully demon- strated.

A branch of the line was immediately con- structed to Central, and, during the next few years, the telegraph business of Denver and Cen- tral was immense. The tariffs were high, $9.10 being the charge for a ten-word message from Denver to New York, and the receipts frequently ran up to $5,000 per month, at each place. With but one assistant and one messenger, Mr. Wood- ward was enabled to remit to the Treasurer of the Company 836,000, as the net receipts of the first year-more than double the first cost of the line.

In 1865, the Pacific Telegraph Company was merged into the Western Union Company, and the line was extended on the stage road from Denver to Salt Lake, via Fort Collins and Vir- ginia Dale, the old route via Fort Laramie being abandoned, and Denver became the repeating station for all California business, employing five operators.

In 1866, Mr. Woodward left the Western Union, temporarily, and organized the United States & Mexico Telegraph Company, the Directors and stockholders of which were mainly Denver men. The Denver Directors were D. H. Moffat, Jr .; II. M. Porter, F. Z. Salomon, W. N.

Byers, S. H. Elbert and B. F. Woodward. H. M. Porter was President, and B. F. Woodward, Secretary and Superintendent. The line was completed to Santa Fe in the spring of 1867. It was the intention of the Company to extend the line into Old Mexico, and a number of com- munications on the subject passed between the Company and President Juarez. The disordered condition of Mexico, however, prevented the consummation of the design. In 1867, this Company made a contract with the Denver Pacific Railway Company to extend the line to Cheyenne. The extension was completed January 1, 1867, before any iron had been laid on the road. A controlling interest in the United States & Mexico Telegraph Company was purchased by the Western Union in 1870, and Mr. Woodward appointed Assistant Superintendent of the latter Company, holding the position until relieved by Mr. S. T. Armstrong.

Many interesting incidents are related of the early period of telegraphy in Colorado, a number of which are historical in their character. One of these is worthy of recital. When Juarez had been driven from the Mexican capital by Maxi- milian, he sought refuge in El Paso, and applied to the United States for protection. As this was during the rebellion, there could be no communi- cation with Washington via the southern lines, and dispatches on the subject from Gen. Carleton, then in command in New Mexico, were brought to Denver along the line of military posts then extend- ing between the two points, a distance of six hun- dred miles, by Col. MeFarran, Gen. Carleton's Adju- tant General. For transmitting the dispatches by telegraph to Washington, Mr. Woodward received from Col. MeFarran between $300 and $400 in gold.

Illustrative of the comparative popular igno- rance of the principles of telegraphy at that time, Mr. Woodward relates that on one occasion, hav- ing to construct a temporary line from Denver to Valley Station, a number of soldiers were employed and strung the wire on stieks and crowbars. It is

W.P. Decicco

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almost needless to add that the line did not work satisfactorily.

Since 1875, the Western Union Company, now controlling all the lines in Colorado, has been taxed to the utmost to satisfy all the demands of the business community. The lines and operating foree has been more than quadrupled in that time, and nearly the entire system has been reconstrueted. With the completion of extensions now in process of construction, the most remote of mining camps will be connected by telegraph lines with the out- side world.

DENVER STREET RAILWAY.

Sinee January, 1872, Denver has enjoyed the advantage of a street railway, and now has about nine miles in successful operation. The entire line is owned and operated by the "Denver Horse Railway Company," originally incorporated in 1867. It was about this time that Denver began to assume metropolitan airs, and a franchise was granted to this Company by the Territorial Legislature of that year. The incorporators were Wilson Stinson, David J. Martin, Lewis N. Tap- pan, Edward C. Strode, Robert M. Clark, Alfred H. Miles, Moses Hallett, Luthur Kountze, Amos Steek, Freeman B. Crocker, Cyrus H. MeLaugh- lin, J. S. Waters and M. M. De Lano, most of whom are still prominent eitizens of Colorado. The ehar- ter was granted for a period of thirty-five years. Judge Amos Steck was the first President of the Company, and D. A. Chever the first Seeretary. Hon. Moses Hallett sueeeeded Judge Steck as President, and held the office two terms.

During all this time, nothing had been done in the way of active operations. But in 1871, some Chieago capitalists, headed by Col. L. C. Ellsworth, bought the franchise and began to build the road in different directions throughout the city. The first seetion opened for business was what is known as the Champa street line, extending from Twenty-seventh and Champa, to the South Park Depot, in West Denver, a distance of two miles. In 1873, the North Denver Branch was completed

and opened. This division extends from the eor- ner of Larimer and Fifteenth streets, down the latter street to the bridge over the Platte, across the bridge and through a considerable portion of North Denver, to the Grand View Hotel, two and a half miles distant over a very uneven road. At the time this division was opened, it was expected that North Denver would become a populous suburb from the Platte bridge to the Grand View Hotel, but these great expectations were not real- ized, and now the last mile of the traek is not regu- larly used. A year later (1874), the Broadway Branch was opened from Larimer, corner of Six- teenth to Cherry Creek, above the County Hos- pital, distanee one mile and a quarter. The line follows Sixteenth street to Broadway, thenee out the latter street. It is now lined almost the entire distance with good residences, many of which are first-class. Later in the same year, the Park Avenue and Twenty-third street line was opened, branching from the Champa street traek at Twenty-third street and extending to Park Avenue, a mile distant.

In 1876, a mile and a quarter of additional traek was laid on Larimer street, from Sixteenth toward the fair grounds, which has since proved to be about the best paying part of the whole system. All the lines run their cars past or from the corner of Larimer and Fifteenth streets, and all except the North Denver line pass the post office.

Col. L. C. Ellsworth is the efficient President and Manager of the enterprise, and Hon. W. D. Todd is Secretary and Treasurer. The Company has lately passed through some financial difficulties, but now is in a good condition. It has extensive shops and stables on Curtis and Sixteenth streets. The Sixteenth street front is twenty-five feet by a depth of one hundred and seventy-five feet, while the Curtis street front is seventy-feet by one hun- dred feet deep. Both buildings are substantially built of brick, and are two stories in height.

At present, the Company employs only about twenty-five men, but the rapid development of the eity will soon necessitate an enlargement of the foree. The street railway is itself a potent factor

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in the prosperity of the city .. It has given valne to outside property, and has enabled men of small means to locate themselves in homes of their own on the outskirts of the town. Nor should its moral influence be overlooked. Strangers coming here with very vague impressions of Denver's status as a metropolitan city, are always favorably impressed by the sight of a well-loaded street car rattling along past them, and are ready to admit that the Queen City of the Plains has some genuine

and undisputed claims to a place among cities of the first class, East or West. Thanks to the enterprise and liberality of the management, the cars are always neat and clean and comfortable, and only the best "motive power" and the most gentlemanly drivers are employed. As a consequence, no complaints are heard from the patrons of the line, and it is a pleasure instead of a discomfort to ride in the ears of the Denver Horse Railway Company.

CHAPTER XXIII.

THE CHURCHES OF DENVER.

W HILE it cannot be said that Denver, in the earliest years of its history, was essentially a religious community, it is none the lesstrue that, like all the great mining camps of the West, it always ex- tended a hearty welcome to the genuine Christian minister, and listened to him with respect. Few, even of the most notorious outlaws, refused to ae- cord a patient hearing to the sayings of the man of God, and in many instances business was sus- pended in bar-rooms and gambling-saloons, to give the preacher a chance. Au earnest Christian worker was always sure of obtaining substantial support from the roughest element of the frontier, whose early experiences, not entirely eradicated by their after-lives of carelessness and crime, led them to look with a certain awe, if not superstition, upon the man who took his life in his hand. in a measure, and came across the Plains for no other purpose but to preach to men like them. The in- dividual who so far forgot himself as to interfere with the acknowledged rights of the cloth was shown little muerey, and more than once the wan- ton disturber of religious exercises was compelled to silence at the muzzle of a revolver.

Among men of this character, the task of church-building was comparatively an easy one, and it is, therefore, not surprising that many of the churches of Denver date their organizations back

to witbin a year or two of the first settlement of the city.

The first religious services, of which there is any absolute record, took place in June, 1859, and were conducted by a man named Hammond, in a building then under construction on Larimer street, between Fifteenth and Sixteenth. The walls of the building were partially erected, and the joists were laid on the first and second floors. A few boards were laid over the joists for a platform, and the audience utilized the joists for seats. The place was crowded, and Mr. Hammond was lis- tened to attentively. Mr. Hammond preached occasionally during the summer and fall. In Janu- ary, 1860, Father Kehler held services under the Episcopalian rite in Goldrick's schoolhouse, then on McGaa (now Holladay ) street. In the spring of 1860, Father Kehler secured a room in Ruter's Block, then partially completed, and there held the services. An Episcopalian Church was organ- ized during that year. Some time during 1860, Rev. Mr. Bradford, of the Sonthern Methodist Church, effected an organization of the members of his communion, and, securing a site on the present corner of Arapahoe and Fourteenth streets, built a small brick church. On the breaking-out of the rebellion, Mr. Bradford left for the South. A number of the members following, the Trustees

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disposed of the property to the Episcopalians. Early in 1861, Bishop Talbot, Missionary Bishop of the Episcopalian Church, arrived on his first visit to Denver. Learning that a mortgage of $500 stood against the newly acquired property, he declined to dedicate the church until the debt had been extinguished, a course that doubtless had great influence on the future prosperity of the Church. The money was raised promptly and the mortgage cleared off, when the ceremony of dedi- cation was performed. In 1860, also appeared a Presbyterian clergyman, who held a number of meetings, and had much to do with the formation of the nucleus, out of which has grown the pres- ent organizations of this denomination. This is, in brief, the early history of church affairs in Den- ver. Many religious meetings, other than those enumerated, were held, but, in the main, those alone which developed into permanent organiza- tions have a bearing upon the growth and im- provement of the city.

PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH.

The First Presbyterian Church of Denver was organized December 15, 1861, by Rev. A. S. Bill- ingsley, acting under a commission from Board of Domestic Missions, Old School. The services were held in International Hall, on Ferry street, West Denver, then known as " Auraria." Eighteen members, of whom eleven were women, were en- rolled. Mr. Billingsley remained with the church but four months, until April, 1862, and then the little church was without a Pastor until the follow- ing November, when Rev. A .R. Day assumed the ministration, receiving his support in part from the same Board of Missions. Mr. Day at once com- menced agitating the subject of a church edifice, with such success that he secured a donation from Maj. John S. Fillmore, Paymaster United States Army, of a lot 40x100 feet, on Fifteenth street, between Arapahoe and Lawrence. Citizens of all classes and denominations contributed liberally for the erection of the church, the Home Mission Board contributed $600, and a brick structure,

37x65 feet, was commenced in 1863, and com- pleted in 1865. Mr. Day resigned in February, 1865, and again the pulpit was vacant for sev- eral months. In the following October, Rev. J. B. McClure, of Fulton, Ill., became the Pastor, and continued in charge two years, when lie re- signed, and the pulpit was again vacant until March, 1868, when A. Y. Moore, of South Bend, Ind., became the Pastor. Hitherto, the Old School Presbyterian Board of Missions had contributed to the support of the Pastor, but the Board becom- ing financially embarrassed it was unable to continue the contributions, and Mr. Moore was compelled to return to his home. Failing to receive the necessary encouragement and assistance from the Old School Board, the Church opened negotiations with the New School Board, and extended a call to Rev. E. P. Wells, at the same time asking to be connected with the Presbytery of Chicago, through which the call to Mr. Wells was made. On Nov- ember 20, 1868, the Church was legally incorpor- ated, and on Sunday evening, November 28, 1868, Mr. Wells was formally installed Pastor. About this, time several members of the Church withdrew,, and formed what is now known as the Seventeenth Street Presbyterian Church. Mr. Wells continued in the pastorate six years. Until 1871, aid was received from the New School Board, but in that year the Church became self-supporting. In 1874, in accordance with an agreement with the with- drawing members above mentioned, the Church adopted the name of the " Central Presbyterian Church." On January 1, 1875, Mr. Wells, having accepted a call from Chicago, resigned, and was succeeded by Rev. Willis Lord, who assumed the pastorate in February. The Church had grown so large under the ministrations of Mr. Wells that the building was now entirely inadequate to accom. modate the congregation, and active measures were at once taken looking to the construction of a new edifice. In May, 1875, lots were purchased on the corner of Champa and Eighteenth streets, and on October 9, 1875, a contract for the erection of the church was awarded. The corner-stone was

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laid January 6, 1876, and the building completed, with the exception of the spire, two years there- after. In the mean time, the congregation, which could not be accommodated in the old building, worshiped in a public hall until the commodious lecture-room of the new edifice was completed, when it was occupied until the main auditorium was finished. Dr. Lord was compelled to resign on account of ill health in the spring of 1876, and the pulpit remained vacant until October of the same year, when Rev. Dr. Reed was chosen, preaching the first sermon in the new lecture-room October 29, 1876, and the first sermon in the main auditorium January 13, 1878. Dr. Reed remained in charge until his death, which occurred in De- cember, 1878. The new edifice is the largest and most conveniently arranged church in the city, capable of seating comfortably between five and six hundred people, and has cost, up to the present time, $50,000. The membership is now between three and four hundred.

ST. JOHN'S CHURCH, EPISCOPAL.

The record of St. John's Church affords a re- markable instance of the growth, in importance and wealth, of the religious institutions of Den- ver, not more, perhaps, than the Church whose story precedes this, but still of a different charac- ter, which brings its history into a somewhat bolder relief. St. John's is the mother-church of the Episcopal communion of Colorado, and, there- fore, its history is the history of the Diocese, connected, as it is, with every important measure adopted by the Church.

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History of the city of Denver, Arapahoe County, and Colorado, Part 33

Author: O.L. Baskin & Co. cn; Vickers, W. B. (William B.), 1838- Publication date: 1880 Publisher: Chicago : O.L. Baskin & Co. Number of Pages: 844

Author: O.L. Baskin & Co. cn; Vickers, W. B. (William B.), 1838-
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Chicago : O.L. Baskin & Co.
Number of Pages: 844