USA > Louisiana > The province and the states, a history of the province of Louisiana under France and Spain, and of the territories and states of the United States formed therefrom, Vol. IV > Part 40
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).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47
Y
414
THE PROVINCE AND THE STATES.
passed by the assembly that no taxes should be levied for 1872, and that the taxes of 1873 should be only fifteen cents on each hundred dollars of taxable property.
Early in the year 1873 Governor McCook was charged with irregularities in conducting the office of superintendent of Indian affairs and an investigation was made. Nothing to the discredit of the governor was disclosed but the public got the impression that the investigation was a farce, and in March, MeCook was removed, Samuel H. Elbert being appoined his successor.
Samuel Hitt Elbert, sixth governor of Colorado during the ter- ritorial period, was born in Logan county, O., April 3, 1833- When only seven years of age he went with his parents to Iowa where he passed his boyhood working on the farm and attending the public schools. In 1854 he graduated from the Ohio Wes- leyan university, and began the study of law with one of the lead- ing firms of Dayton, O. Two years later he was admitted to the bar, and in the spring of 1857 began the practice of his profes- sion at Plattsmouth, Neb. He was a delegate to the Republican convention which nominated Lincoln for president in 1860, and in 1862 was appointed, by President Lincoln, secretary of Colorado territory. While secretary he was several times called on to per- form the duties of governor, and he took an active part in the formation of the Second and Third Colorado regiments. After serving as secretary four years he retired and formed a law part- nership with J. Q. Charles, and in 1869 was elected to the ter- ritorial legislature. Governor Elbert devoted much of his time to the study of irrigation, and in 1873 called a convention of dele- gates to consider the subject. Every state west of the Missouri was represented. Before the matter could be fully presented to congress he was removed from office and the subject dropped. Upon the admission of the state he was elected a member of the supreme court, and from 1880 to 1883 was the chief justice. He was re-elected in 1885, but before the close of his term he resigned owing to failing health and went abroad. The decisions ren- dered by him while justice are highly regarded by the legal pro- fesssion.
The year 1873 was one of general prosperity to Colorado, the business of railroad building being pushed with such energy that at the close of the year there were a little over Goo miles in opera- tion. The Denver and Rio Grande completed 156 miles of road. This was the first narrow gauge road in the United States, being but three fret, and the average grade was seventy-five feet to the mile.
ك.
415
COLORADO, FROM MCCOOK TO PITKIN.
The question of admission came up again in the congress of 1873-74, but the passage of a bill requiring a population of 125,000 before a territory would be eligible for statehood defeated Colorado's prospects at that session. The tenth legislature assem- bled at Denver on January 5, 1874, and organized by electing Madison W. Stewart president of the council, and David H. Nichols speaker of the house. Congress had passed an act in January, 1873, turning over to the territory the penitentiary at Canon City. Owing to the fact that there was no money in the territorial treasury to maintain the prison, Governor McCook refused to accept it. In his message to the legislature of 1874 Governor Elbert said, regarding the matter: "As there was no fund at the command of the Executive with which to meet the current expenses of the institution, my predecessor declined to receive it. . An appropriation should be made to meet this exigency, and a law passed providing for a full and complete system of prison discipline and government." On Feb- ruary 9, an act was passed authorizing the governor to appoint three commissioners, with power to accept the prison from the United States government, and an appropriation was placed at the hands of commissioners for the support of the institution. Acts were passed establishing several other institutions. An appropriation of fifteen thousand dollars was made to erect build- ings for a university ; seven trustees were appointed for the school of mines at Golden City, and five thousand dollars appropriated to complete the buildings already begun ; a school for deaf mutes was located at Colorado Springs, seven trustees were appointed, and an appropriation of five thousand dollars was made, with the provision that it was not to be available until the citizens gave five acres of ground for a suitable site.
In the spring of 1874 Governor Elbert was removed and Edward McCook reappointed. The appointment was not con- firmed by the United States until July, Elbert meantime con- tinning to administer the affairs of the territory. Part of that time there was an interesting controversy between Elbert and John W. Jenkins, the territorial secretary. About the time that McCook was reappointed, Elbert went East on business, leav- ing the secretary as acting-governor. When he returned Jenkins addressed a letter to him, signing it as acting governor. Elbert returned the letter with the endorsement "not recognized" and signed himself "governor of Colorado." Jenkins insisted that he had received information of Elbert's removal, and Elbert as strenuously maintained that he had received no notification of the
416
THE PROVINCE AND THE STATES.
fact. Both opened offices as the chief executive of the territory, and both claimed to be governor until the confirmation of McCook settled the matter.
Owing to the wrangle growing out of these conditions, and the difference of opinion in the Republican party regarding the question of statehood, the Democrats carried the election of 1874. Thomas M. Patterson was elected delegate to congress, defeating H. P. H. Bromwell, the Republican candidate. The national administration felt the rebuke and in March, 1875, Presi- dent Grant removed McCook and appointed John L. Routt gov- ernor of the Territory.
John L. Routt, eighth territorial governor of Colorado, was born in the little town of Eddyville, Caldwell county, Ky., April 25, 1826. When only a few months old his father died and in 1836 he removed with his mother to Bloomington, Ill., where he was educated in the public schools. While still in his minority he commenced learning the trade of builder and machin- ist, and having finished his apprenticeship he embarked in the business for himself. He continued in it until 1851, when he became interested in real estate and began dealing in town prop- erty and public lands. In 1860 he was elected sheriff of the county, but resigned in 1862 to accept a commission as captain of Company E, Ninety-fourth Illinois volunteer infantry. His first service was in Arkansas. After that he was with Grant at Vicksburg, where he performed an important service by bring- ing a supply of ammunition from a magazine, sixteen miles away. Ile was mustered out in the fall of 1865 to find that during his absence he had been elected treasurer of MeLean county. He served two terms but declined a nomination for a third. In 1869 President Grant appointed him United States marshal for the southern district of Illinois, and two years later made him sec- ond assistant postmaster-general, which position he held until appointed governor of Colorado. Upon the admission of the state he was elected the first state governor, and was again elected in 1890. During his first term as governor of the state he exerted all his influence to establish the credit of the young common- wealth, and with such success that warrants which were selling at a discount of twenty-five per cent, when issued, went up before the expiration of his term to two per cent above par. In 1883 he was elected mayor of Denver, and in this office he followed the methods that had distinguished him as governor, giving the city a clean, business-like administration.
March 3, 1875, congress passed an act authorizing the people
117
COLORADO, FROM MCCOOK TO PITKIN.
of Colorado to form a state government. It provided that the delegates to a constitutional convention should be elected by the people, and that the delegates should meet within sixty days after being elected; that no distinction must be made in the constitution on account of color ; that the instrument when framed must be submitted to a popular vote ; and an appropriation was made for the expenses of the convention. Sections sixteen and thirty-six in each township were set apart as a source of reve- ne for the support of the common schools; fifty sections of land were donated for the erection of public buildings; fifty for a penitentiary; seventy-two for a university; twelve salt springs, with six sections of land cach, were given to the state to be devoted to such purpose as the general assembly might elect ; and five per cent of the proceeds arising from the sale of public lands within the state was to be given as a further endowment to the com- mon schools. Mineral lands, however, were to be exempt from the provisions of the act.
Pursuant to this act, delegates were chosen to meet in conven- ' tion and draft a constitution. The convention met on Decem- ber 22, and remained in session until the 14th of March, 1876. J. C. Wilson was elected president and W. W. Coulson secre- tary. The delegates who signed the constitution were: HI. P. H. Bromwell, Casimiro Barela, William E. Beck, George Boyles, Byron L. Carr, William H. Cushman, William L. Clark, A. D. Cooper, Henry R. Crosby, Robert Douglas, Frederick J. Ebert, Lewis C. Ellsworth, Clarence P. Elder, Willard B. Felton, Jesus Ma. Garcia. Daniel Hurd. Lafayette Head, William H. James, William R. Kennedy, William Lee, Alvin Marsh, S. J. Plumb, George E. Pease, Robert A. Quillian, Lewis C. Rockwell, Wil- bur F. Stone, William C. Stover, Henry C. Thatcher, Agapito Vigil, W. W. Webster, George C. White, Ebenezer T. Wells, P. P. Wilcox, John S. Wheeler, J. W. Widderfield, Abram K. Yount, and the president. The constitution having been framed for submission, a committee of ten was appointed to prepare an address to the people of Colorado. That committee consisted of William M. Clark, chairman, Wilbur F. Stone, William E. Beck, John S. Wheeler, Casimiro Barela, William R. Kennedy, Robert Douglas, George E. Pease, E. T. Wells, and Jesus Ma. Garcia. In the opening paragraphs of the address the committee said: "In a work of such magnitude, where the interests are so varied and extensive, it is to be expected that errors would creep in, and omissions pass unnoticed, but, upon the whole, we believe it con- tains not only all of the primitive rights guaranteed in our IV-27
418
THE PROVINCE AND THE STATES.
national constitution, but most of those reformatory measures which the experience of the past century have proven wise and judicious.
"The end sought to be accomplished was to secure a just and economical administration of the departments of state, and, with this purpose in view, especial effort was made to restrict the powers of the legislative department, by making all laws general and of uniform operation, to establish uniformity in the judi- cial department-thereby furthering the ends of justice; to pre- vent the corruption of public officials; to provide for the safe keeping of all public funds, and to protect the people from unjust monopolies, and the oppression consequent upon the voting of bonds and other kinds of indebtedness to corporations."
In franiing the constitution the points emunerated in the para- graphs quoted were kept steadily in view. Besides the usual guaranties in the bill of rights it was provided that the gen- eral assembly should make no irrevocable grants of special privi- leges or immunities ; that private property should not be taken for public or private use without just compensation previously made to the owner ; the grand jury system was so modified that three-fourths of the jury could find a bill, and the legislature was given power to abolish the grand jury altogether. All state offi- cers were required to keep an accurate account of the public funds received and disbursed, and the state treasurer was required to make a quarterly statement of all moneys on hand and how depos- ited, which statement was to be given to the public. The legis- lature was given power to call for such statements at any time and to pass laws to prevent extravagance or fraud.
The sessions of the general assembly were limited to forty days, and at least one session must be held once in two years; laws of a local or special nature were prohibited; no law could be passed giving extra compensation "to any public officer, servant or employe, agent or contractor, after services shall have been rendered or contract made, nor providing for the payment of any claim made against the state without previous authority of law." This provision was intended to prevent extravagance in the mat- ter of legislation, and that due consideration might be given every measure proposed, all bills were required to be printed; that only one subject should be embraced in each bill, and that no bill, except for the general expenses of government should be intro- duced after the first twenty-five days of the session.
Radical changes were made in the judicial department. An additional district court was created and the district courts were
419
COLORADO, FROM MCCOOK TO PITKIN.
given original jurisdiction in a large number of cases ; to hear and determine all controversies in behalf of the people regarding the rights, duties and liabilities of certain corporations. A supreme court of three justices was established; probate courts were abolished and county courts created ; justices of the peace in suffi- cient numbers were provided for, and provisions were made for the settlement of differences by arbitration.
With regard to corporations the address of the committee con- tains the following language: "We have provided for the wip- ing out of all dormant and sham corporations claiming special and exclusive privileges. We have denied the general assembly the power to create corporations, or to extend or enlarge their chartered rights by special legislation, or to make such rights and privileges irrevocable ; but in case it shall be found that the exercise of such rights and privileges proves injurious to the people, then the general assembly shall have power to alter, revoke or annul such charters, when that can be done withont injustice to the corporators. We have declared that railroad corporations . shall be liable as common carriers, and that to avail themselves of the benefit of future legislation, they must subject themselves to all the requirements of this constitution. We have forbidden the consolidation of parallel and competing lines, and of all unjust and unreasonable discriminations. We are aware that these provisions do not cover the whole ground, but it must be remembered that while some of our sister states have not gone far enough in placing restrictions on the legislative power, others have gone too far, and have had to recede. We have endeavored to take a middle ground, believing it to be more safe, and in the end that it will give more general satisfaction."
The school fund was to be kept inviolate and intact. No appro- priation should ever be made by the state, nor by any county or municipality, to any denominational or sectarian school, and no religions dogma should ever be taught in any of the public schools or institutions of learning under the patronage of the state.
Some of the miscellaneous provisions of the constitution dealt with the subjects of mining and irrigation in which a greater portion of the population were directly interested. The office of commissioner of mines was created, the water of all unappro- priated streams in the state declared to be public property for the purpose of irrigation, and certain rights, in the matter of con- structing ditches, were established. Amendments to the constitu- tion were provided for as follows : "The general assembly may, at
420
THE PROVINCE AND THE STATES.
any time, by a vote of two-thirds of the members elected to cach house, recommend to the electors of the state, to vote at the next general election, for or against a convention to alter and amend this constitution; and if a majority of those voting on the question shall declare in favor of such convention, the gen- eral assembly shall, at its next session, provide for the calling thereof."*
One article of the constitution provided that "The general assembly shall at the first session thereof, and may at any sub- sequent session, enact laws to extend the right of suffrage to women of lawful age, and otherwise qualified according to the provisions of this article. No such enactments shall be of effect until submitted to the vote of the qualified electors at a general election, nor unless the same be approved by a majority of those voting thereon."
The constitution was adopted by the voters on the first of July, 1876, and on the first of August President Grant issued his proc- lamation declaring the state admitted. The fact that Colorado became one of the sovereign states of the American republic on the one hundredth anniversary of American independence gave to it the name of the "Centennial State." At the time of its admission the population was estimated at 125,000, and the value of taxable property was almost forty million dollars. In the state there were 125 school buildings, as reported in 1875, with 180 teachers employed. Of the 14,417 children of school age, 7,456 were enrolled in the schools. Not a dollar of indebtedness was held against the new state, and the restrictions of the con- stitution regarding the question of a bonded debt have been suffi- cient to keep the public finances in a healthy condition.
October 3 an election was held for state officers, the first under the constitution, and the following were chosen: Governor, John L. Routt; lieutenant governor, Lafayette Head; secretary of state, William M. Clark ; auditor, David C. Crawford; treas- urer, George C. Corning ; attorney-general, Archibald J. Samp- son; superintendent of public instruction, Joseph C. Shattuck ; justices of the supreme court, E. T. Wells, Henry C. Thatcher, and Samuel H. Elbert. At the same time James B. Belford was elected member of congress for the unexpired term of the Forty- fourth congress, and at the regular congressional election in
*This provision was amended in 1889 so that the general assembly was given power to pass amendments by two thirds of all the meothers eleried to each house, and that four weeks before the next general cle tion the amendments should be published in one newspaper in each county, and a majority of those voting on the muendments at the general election should secure theft adoption.
421
COLOR.IDO, FROM MCCOOK TO PITKIN.
November, Thomas M. Patterson was elected for the full term of the Forty-fifth congress.
Members of a state legislature were also chosen at the October election and on the first day of November the assembly met at Denver. At noon on the third day of the session the executive officers appeared, were sworn in by Judge Brazee, and the state government was fully inaugurated. A few days later the legis- lature elected Jerome B. Chaffee and Henry M. Teller to the United States senate.
Henry M. Teller was born at Granger, N. Y., May 23, 1830. After acquiring an academic education he studied law and began practicing in Illinois. In 1861 he removed to Colo- rado and from 1862 to 1864 was major general of the ter- ritorial militia. In November, 1876, he was elected to the United States senate. Upon the admission of Colorado as a state, he was elected to the United States senate by the first general assembly that convened November 1, 1876. This being the . first representation of Colorado in the senate, under the rules he and Mr. Chaffee, his colleague, drew lots to determine their respective terms. In the first drawing Mr. Chaffee drew the term of two years and Mr. Teller a blank. On the second he secured the slip which covered the four months ending March, 1877, and Mr. Chaffee the one expiring in March, 1870. Decem- ber 9, 1876, the general assembly re-elected Mr. Teller for the full term of six years from March, 1877. In 1882 President . Arthur appointed him secretary of the interior. Secretary Teller went out with President Arthur's cabinet, March 3, 1885, and the following day again took his seat in the senate, having been elected to succeed Nathaniel P. Hill. He was a Republican from the organization of the party in 1856, but withdrew from the national convention of that party in 1896, because he disagreed with the financial plank of the platform, and supported the Demo- cratic nominee for the presidency. His last election to the senate was in 1903.
Jerome B. Chaffee was also a native of New York, having been born in Niagara county in 1825. In his youth he emigrated to Michigan, and later to Missouri, where he became interested in the banking business. In 1860 he went to Colorado and with Eben Smith erected the Smith & Chaffee stamp-mill in the Gilpin county goll mines. In 1865 he established the First National bank of Denver. He was twice in the territorial legislature, and in 1863 was speaker of the house. In 1870 and again in 1872, he was elected delegate to congress. He served but one term in
422
THE PROVINCE AND THE STATES.
the senate of the United States, after which he devoted his atten . tion to his large business interests.
During the summer of 1874 W. H. Jackson, of the photo- graphic and naturalist division of the United States geological survey, visited the southwestern part of Colorado, and gave to the world the first authentic account of the cliff-dwellings found in the canons of that section. In 1875 he made another visit and gave a detailed report of his discoveries. The report attracted wide-spread attention. The ruins of that ancient and long extinct civilization were found over an area of about 150,000 square miles in Southwestern Colorado, and the adjoining corners of Utah, Arizona and New Mexico. In the Mancos canon, in Montezuma county, Col., were found some of the most distinctive and best preserved of the cliff-dwellings, though the largest ruin was found about twenty miles from Phoenix, Ariz. . All through the country, once inhabited by this prehistoric people, were noted the ruins of acequias, or irrigating canals, indicating that the country was once in a state of cultivation. The faces of the rocks were found to be covered with hieroglyphs ; pottery of curious designs, and stone implements were found in abundance ; cotton cloth was found in a few of the ruins, but nothing was discovered to show that the original occupants of these peculiar structures were acquainted with the use of metals. There is a tradition that they had a written language. A book of skins is said to be kept in the Zuni Pueblo. Its pages are covered with strange characters, in various colors, though the last man who could read it died a long time ago, and it is now preserved only as a sacred relic of a long lost civilization. Ethologists and antiquarians have found a rich field for their investigations in the cliff-dwellings of Colorado, along the Rio Mancos, and in the Hovenweep, McElmo, LaPlata, Las Animas, and Montezuma canons. Numerous expeditions have been made to these canons, each adding new discoveries to those of its predecessors. A fine collection of relies, taken from the different ruins, is in the possession of the Colorado Historical society, in Denver.
One of the early settlements of Colorado was that made at California gulch in the fall of 1861 and named Oro City where very rich placer mines had been discovered. Ten years later the postoffice was removed to new diggings farther up the gulch, and the original Oro city was abandoned. Placer mining was still carried on there, however, and a ditch was constructed by Stevens & Leiter for the purpose of furnishing water to the sluices. For some time it was noticed that the sediment and small
423
COLORADO, 'FROM MCCOOK TO PITKIN.
bowlders in the sluice boxes were too heavy for the current to move. One day it occurred to W. HI. Stevens, the manager, to have. an assay made. Taking samples of the heavy rock to an assayer it was found to be lead carbonate, carrying from twenty to sixty ounces of silver to the ton. A search was at once begun for the main body of the ore, from which the bowlers had become detached, and it was found on Dome hill. Similar deposits were found on Iron hill, and at other places in the vicinity. Two shoemakers named Hook and Rische, grub-staked by H. A. W. Tabor, discovered the Little Pittsburg mine, which soon yielded fortunes to its owners. Tabor was a third owner of the Little Pittsburg, and from keeping the post office and a small store at Oro City became a millionaire. News of the dis- coveries spread, as such news always does. The city of Leadville was founded and within a twelvmonth became "the richest mining camp in the world." During the fifteen years immediately fol- lowing the carbonate discoveries one hundred and eighty million dollars was taken from the mines. Three years afterward there were fifteen large smelting works in operation and the population was about 20,000. Hotels, theaters, banks and hospitals that would reflect credit on many an older city were established, water and gas works undertaken, and a number of fine residences built. And all this withont railroad communication, for the Denver and Rio Grande branch to Leadville was not completed until August 1880.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.