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 46
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
Nothing was done, however, toward arbitrating the differences until after the inauguration of Governor Adams. Soon after the beginning of his term he went to Leadville, made a personal appeal to both miners and mine operators, and succeeded in bringing about a meeting between them. At that meeting each side made propositions that were rejected by the other. The general assembly, then in session, appointed a committee consist- ing of two senators and three representatives to investigate and report a plan of settlement. While this committee was at work the pumps in the mines on Carbonate hill were stopped and the mines filled with water. On March 9, 1897, a meeting of union miners voted, 1,100 to 300, to declare the strike off. It was said that the reason for this decision was that the strike allowance had been reduced to a basis that would barely sustain life and they preferred earning their living, even at low wages, to living upon the charity of their fellow workingmen. The strike cost the state about three hundred thousand dollars for the militia, while the cost to the miners and mine owners was estimated at five million dollars, to say nothing of the contributions made by other unions to the support of the strikers.
The eleventh general assembly was convened at Denver on the 6th of January, 1897. It was composed of 34 Populists ; 25 Dem- ocrats; 16 regular Republicans; 10 free silver Republicans; 12 of the National Silver party; I Socialist; I Independent ; and I Single Taxer. The lieutenant-governor was the presiding offi-
474
TIIE PROVINCE AND THE STATES.
cer of the senate, with Francis Carney president pro tem., and Edwin W. Hurlbut was speaker of the house. Early in the term Alva Adams was a second time inaugurated governor of Colorado. His inauguration this time was marked by rigorous simplicity. There was no inaugural ball, no parade, not even a carriage to carry the new executive to the capitol. Attended by a few personal friends he walked to the state house, took the oath of office and entered upon the discharge of his executive functions without pomp or display of any kind whatever. It was afterward remarked that the cost of the inauguration was less than five dollars. On January 19 the two houses met in joint session to elect a United States senator. Ilenry M. Teller was elected to succeed himself, receiving 92 votes to 6 cast for George W. Allen.
April 27, 1898, the following order was issued by the Adju- tant General's office : "In compliance with the order of the Sec- retary of War, dated Washington, D. C., April 25, 1898, based . upon the proclamation of the president of the United States, under date of April 22, 1808, calling for 125,000 volunteers to serve for a period of two years, unless sooner discharged, for the purpose of enforcing the provisions of a resolution passed by the Congress of the United States, calling upon the government of Spain to evacuate Cuba, on account of the many outrages perpe- trated on the inhabitants of that island, and the destruction of the battleship Maine, said order specifying as the quota of the State of Colorado one regiment of infantry and two troops of cavalry, the National Guard of Colorado, except the Chaffee Light Artillery, will be mobilized at the city of Denver, Friday, April 29, 1898, to enable the members to volunteer for muster into the service of the United States."
(Order signed by Gov. Alva Adams, and Adjt. Gen. Cassius M. Moses.)
The location of the camp was specified and Brig. Gen. Irving Hale of the C. N. G. placed in command of the camp.
First Volunteer Infantry officers: Colonel, Irving Hale; lieutenant-colonel, Henry B. McCoy ; majors, Cassius M. Moses, Chas. H. Anderson and Clayton Parkhill; assistant surgeons, Capt. L. 11. Kemble, and First Lieut. Chas. E. Locke ; chaplain, Chas. L. Hyde.
May 25, a second call was made. This time for 330 recruits for the First regiment, and one battery of light artillery. Bat- tery A of the National Guard-Capt. Harry J. Parks of the
475
COLORADO, FROM WAITE TO PEABODY.
Chaffee Light Artillery; first lieutenant, John G. Locke; second lieutenant, J. C. Exline, of the Chaffee Light Artillery, and 106 inen were mustered July I.
First regiment reached San Francisco May 23, on its way to the Philippines. Royally received by the people of San Fran- cisco. Led to the organization of the Soldiers' Aid Society of Denver. (See Colorado Miscellaneous pamphlets, Vol. 8).
Colorado was well represented at the Trans-Mississippi expo- sition at Omaha, Neb., in the summer of 1898. Space was secured for exhibits in several departments, as follows: In the horticultural building 2,000 square feet; in the agricultural building 4,000 square feet ; in the mining building 4,000 square feet; and in the manufactures and liberal arts building 3,000 square feet. By an act of the legislature authorizing a board of managers Gov. Alva Adams was made president ex-officio. The other members were Anton Ellis, Miss Grace E. Patton, E. F. Bishop, John H. Barrett, Mrs. M. A. Shute, Charles A. Ward and A. T. McDonald, of Denver; C. B. Schmidt and Mrs. A. E. Thayer, of Pueblo; Harry E. Lee, of Ouray ; R. E. Goodell, of Leadville; M. I .. Allison, of Grand Junction; J. B. Swan, of Loveland; and W. J. Bennett, of Saguache. In the organiza- tion of the board A. T. McDonald was elected secretary, Mrs. Shute assistant secretary and E. F. Bishop treasurer. In the appointment of these commissioners a majority of the members were chosen from the city of Denver, for the reason that some exigency might arise that would require prompt action and a quorum, by this arrangement, could be quickly secured. The various sections of the state were well represented, however, leading citizens taking a great interest in the work and co-oper- ating with the board of managers. The result was that the Colorado exhibits ranked among the highest in attractiveness and in the winning of awards.
On Thursday, September 8, the political campaign of 1898 was opened by a fusion convention, composed of Democrats, Populists and Free Silver Republicans, at Colorado Springs. One wing of the Free Silver Republicans was opposed to fusion and a stormy time ensued. The fight began on Wednesday morning, over the question as to which faction should have pos- session of the opera house, in which the convention was to meet the next day. One wing asked the court to decide which side was entitled to the use of the house but the court declined to entertain the question, and an appeal was made to force of arms to settle the dispute. Over a hundred shots were fired during
476
THE PROVINCE AND THE STATES.
the melee, one man being killed and three wounded. The coro- ner's jury, in its finding at the inquest, incidentally decided that the Teller or fusion wing was entitled to the opera house. The "straight" wing then withdrew from the contest, inet in another hall, and nominated the following ticket; For governor, Simon Guggenheim; lieutenant-governor, Ira Bloomfield; secretary, Joseph Millsom; auditor, John A. Wayne; treasurer, Harry Mulnix; attorney-general, H. M. Hogg; superintendent of pub- lic instruction, Miss Mayme Marble; regents, E. J. Semple, J. W. Gunnell and J. H. Pershing.
The fusionists met in the opera house and nominated Charles S. Thomas for governor; Francis Carney for lieutenant-governor ; Elmer Beckwith for secretary; George W. Temple for auditor ; John F. Fesler for treasurer; F. C. Campbell for attorney-gen- eral; Helen L. Grenfell for superintendent of public instruction ; Harold Thompson and D. M. Richards for regents. The plat . form reaffirmed the demand for the free and unlimited coinage of silver at the ratio of sixteen to one; declared in favor of Cuban independence, and the retention of all other territory taken by the American forces in the war with Spain; and urged the necessity of a reform in the state tax laws.
The Republicans held their state convention on September 15. Henry R. Wolcott was nominated for governor; Charles E. Noble for lieutenant-governor; W. H. Brisbane for secretary of state; George S. Adams for auditor; Frederick O. Root for treasurer; C. C. Goodale for attorney-general ; Mrs. Lucy E. R. Scott for superintendent of public instruction ; H. B. Gamble, 1 .. C. Greenlee, and Mrs. Jennie G. Caswell for regents of the state university. The two following resolutions were the prin- cipal declarations in the platform adopted by the convention : Ist, "In the future, as in the past, Republicans who represent Colorado at the national capital will be found working for the restoration of silver." 2d, "We are unqualifiedly in favor of keeping forever in place the American flag wherever it has been unfurled to the breeze, whether as a result of conquest or peaceable agreement." The fusion ticket was elected by large majorities in November. The vote for governor was 94,274 for 'Thomas to 50,880 for Wolcott.
Charles Spalding Thomas, the eleventh state governor of Colo- rado, was born at Darien, Ga., December 6, 1849, but in his boy- hood be removed with his parents to Michigan. He attended the university of that state and graduated with honors from the law department. Soon after graduating he went to Denver, Col.,
477
COLORADO, FROM WAITE TO PEABODY.
and afterward to Leadville, where he practiced law for a time. Returning to Denver he finally became the head of the law firm of Thomas, Bryant & Lee. The firm soon acquired a high stand- ing at the Colorado bar, won a large clientage and practiced in all the state and federal courts. For twelve years he was the Colorado member of the Democratic national committee, and took a prominent part in several campaigns as a public speaker. Since retiring from the governors' office he has devoted himself to hiis large law practice.
In 1899 a general agitation in favor of tax reform was inaugu- rated. Governor Thomas, in his inaugural address, stated as his opinion that the taxable property of the state was worth six hundred million dollars, yet it was valued at only two hundred million dollars for tax purposes, and pronounced such a condi- tion as "a libel on the State." In his report the state auditor said: "Notwithstanding the large increase in population and rapid accumulation of wealth in the last few years, which are the pride of every citizen of the State, the value of the taxable property of the State, as returned by the assessors, has fallen off from two hundred thirty-eight million seven hundred twenty- two thousand four hundred seventeen dollars in 1893, to one hundred ninety-two million three hundred twenty-four thousand and eighty dollars in 1898. . Assuming that the value of the taxable property in the State is not greater than in 1893, this indicates a loss to the general revenue of one hundred four thousand seven hundred ninety-three dollars, and to each of the educational and charitable institutions of the State of over nine thousand dollars annually."
The report was referred to a committee of the legislature of 1899, which met on January 4, but nothing was done in the way of tax legislation at that session. While it was in session a tax reform convention was held at Colorado Springs, and the following resolution was unanimously adopted: "Resolved, That it is the sense of this convention that such immediate action as may be constitutional should be taken by the Legislature at its present session which shall require of the State Board of Equal- ization the exercise of a supervisory function over the several counties : shall further, if possible, provide some form of appeal by the several counties from the decisions of said board to the proper courts of the State of Colorado." 'At the next session, in 1901, a thorough revision of the tax laws was made, placing a heavier burden upon the wealthy corporations of the state, and correspondingly relieving many individual taxpayers who had
478
TIIE PROVINCE AND THE STATES.
previously been the victims of an unjust discrimination in the matter of assessments. Since that time the tax laws of Colo- rado have been regarded as being among the most equitable of the country. During the session of 1899, Lient. Gov. Francis Carney presided over the deliberations of the senate and W. G. Smith was speaker of the house. In 1901 the presiding officer of the senate was Lient. Gov. D. C. Coates, and the speaker was B. F. Montgomery. Two counties were created by the session of 1901, viz. : Adams and South Arapahoe.
In August, 1899, a fire at Victor destroyed about two million dollars' worth of property. The town had been built during the boom days of 1893, the buildings were chiefly constructed of pine lumber in the most flimsy manner, and the people were powerless to stay the progress of the flames. Immediately after the fire the work of rebuilding was begun and the new town of Victor was of a more substantial character,
Early in the year 1900 a new educational institution, the first of its kind in the world, was opened in the Shenandoah valley about four hundred miles southeast of Denver. It was called the "National Rough Riders' Military Academy." Gen. E. V. Sumner was placed in charge, with Lieut. E. S. Farrow as the principal instructor. The institution sprang at once into popu- larity, and numerous applications for admission were filed. Among the students were graduates of Yale and Harvard and about fifty came from England. The course of study included rough riding, scouting, deciphering trails, reading Indian signs, etc. The cost of attendance was fixed at five hundred dollars a year, which included horse, clothing, and board, but all applicants for admission were required to pass the regular United States army examination.
In October, 1900, the capitol building was pronounced finished. It was begun in 1886 and the corner stone was laid on July 4, 1890. The building was constructed of Colorado granite, at a cost of about three million dollars, and stands on a site that was donated by Henry C. Brown. The dome rises 256 feet above the sidewalk below, and from the statue on the top the Rocky mountains can be seen for many miles. On a clear day Long's Peak, eighty miles to the northwest, and Pike's Peak, one hundred miles to the south, are clearly visible.
During the year 1900 several cases of mob rule occurred. In January four convicts, led by a man named Thomas Reynolds, murdered the night guard, Capt. W. M. Rooney, and escaped from the penitentiary. Reynolds was pursued and captured near
479
COLORADO, FROM WAITE TO PEABODY.
Florence. While his captors were returning with him in a wagon to the prison, a mob at Canon City overpowered the guards and hanged Reynolds to a convenient tree. In May, a negro assaulted and murdered two little girls at Pueblo. An indignant populace did not wait for the law to take its course but, as soon as the negro was apprehended, took the law in their own hands and meted out summary punishment by hang- ing the culprit. A similar case happened in November. A negro named Preston Porter outraged and murdered a little girl near Limon, Lincoln county. He was pursued and captured by a mob, taken to the scene of his crime and burned at the stake, the little girl's father applying the match. The press of the coun- try denounced the burning, but it is a significant fact that no similar crime has been committed in that section of the country since.
Five state tickets were nominated in the campaign of 1900. Again the Democrats, Populists and the Free Silver Republicans united in the selection of a ticket. James B. Orman was nomi- nated for governor; D. C. Coates for lieutenant governor ; D. A. Mills for secretary of state; C. W. Crouter for auditor; J. N. Chipley for treasurer ; C. C. Post for attorney general; Helen L. Grenfell for superintendent of public instruction; R. W. Steele for justice of the supreme court ; W. II. Bryant and F. E. Ken- drick for regents. The Republicans nominated F. C. Goudy for governor; P. S. Rider for lieutenant-governor; J. W. Millsom for secretary; J. S. Murphy for auditor; O. Adams, Jr., for treasurer ; R. T. Yeaman for attorney general; Ione T. Hanna for superintendent of public instruction; G. C. Bartels for jus- tice of the supreme court; C. R. Dudley and W. A. Packard for regents. The Prohibition ticket was as follows: For governor, J. R. Wylee; lieutenant governor, T. C. Chamberlain ; secretary, Mary L. Henderson; auditor, Joseph Harvey ; treasurer, W. H. McClure ; attorney general, James Miller ; superintendent, Eliza- beth Smith; justice of the supreme court, F. I. Willsea ; regents, W. E. Tetzel and B. D. Sanborn. The Social Democratic ticket was headed by S. B. Hutchinson, and the Social Labor ticket by D. C. Copley. A Union Labor ticket was nominated but was afterward withdrawn.
The vote for president was as follows: Bryan, Democrat, 122,733; MeKinley, Republican, 93,072; Woolley, Prohibitionist, 3,970; Debs, Social Democrat, 654; Barker, Populist, 387; Maloney, Social Labor, 700. For governor, Orman received 121,995 votes; Goudy, 93,245; Wylee, 3,786; Copley, 694, and
480
THE PROVINCE AND THE STATES.
Hutchinson, 642. An amendment to the constitution, giving the legislature the power to propose six amendments at one time, instead of only one, was adopted. The legislature of 1901 con- sisted of 52 Democrats, 21 Silver Republicans, 15 Populists, and 12 Republicans. The session of this legislature began on the 2d of January, 1901. Thomas M. Patterson, Democrat, was elected United States senator to succeed Edward O. Wolcott. Besides the acts already mentioned the thirteenth assembly established a state normal school at Gunnison, and made an appropriation of twenty thousand dollars for an exhibit at the St. Louis expo- sition in 1904.
James B. Orman, thirteenth governor of Colorado, was born in Muscatine, Ia., November 4, 1849. His primary education was obtained in the public schools of Chicago. In 1866 he went to Colorado. When the era of railway building opened in 1869, in company with an eller brother he took a contract on the Kan- sas Pacific railroad between Sheridan and Denver. From this time forward his fame as a railway builder extended over the entire field of railway construction in Colorado and neighboring states. Mr. Orman was identified with nearly all the railways that have been constructed in the West. He was an extensive owner of real estate in Pueblo, where he erected several of the fin- est buildings in that city, including his residence at a cost of about fifty thousand dollars in one of its suburbs. He was one of the organizers of the South Pueblo National bank (later changed to the Central National) created in 1881, and for a time was engaged in stock growing, and various lines of manufacturing. His administration of the executive office was in most respects accept- able to the people of the state. On retiring from public office he immediately resumed his profession of railway building, taking large contracts on what is known as the Moffat Short line from Denver to Salt Lake City.
Senator Thomas M. Patterson was born in the county of Car- low, Ireland, November 4, 1840. In his childhood he came with his parents to America. The family located in Indiana, where Thomas attended the common schools, DePauw university and Wabash college. Though he did not graduate, he acquired a good practical education and took up the study of law. Soon after being admitted to the bar he went to Denver and opened an office. In 1874 he was city attorney of Denver, and from 1875 to 18;6 was the delegate in congress from the Territory of Colorado. Upon the admission of Colorado into the Union, he was nominated for representative to the forty fourth and
481
COLORADO, FROM WAITE TO PEABODY.
forty-fifth congress, but was defeated for the unexpired term of the forty-fourth congress by J. B. Belford. He was nominated for the forty-fifth congress, and a long contest followed in which Patterson finally won, Belford being unseated in December, 1877. In 1890 Mr. Patterson purchased the Rocky Mountain News, of which he was the editor at the time of his election to the sen- ate. For many years before he had been prominent in politics as a delegate to national conventions, and in 1896 was one of the presidential electors on the Democratic ticket.
About the middle of July, 1901, a game warden found a man fishing in the Grand Mesa lakes, in Delta county, without hav- ing first obtained the proprietor's permission. In the altercation that followed the warden's order to leave the premises, the tres- passer was shot and killed. On the 17th the friends of the mur- dered man gathered in considerable numbers about the hotel and demanded that the warden be turned over to them. Upon being refused, they became desperate and fired the hotel, which, with several other buildings, was burned to the ground. The warden . was afterward convicted of manslaughter.
In 1902 the Democrats made Henry M. Teller their candidate. Although prior to the renomination of William McKinley at St. Louis he had been a Republican, he left the National conven- tion in which he was a delegate, opposing the financial policy of the party, and thereafter acted and voted with the Democrats. Ex-Senator Edward O. Wolcott, Republican, came into the field as a candidate for Teller's place in the senate, but the opposition to him in his own party was so pronounced no majority could be obtained for him in the legislature. Although several other Republicans were named it was impossible to secure sufficient votes for any one of them to elect. As the result of a protracted contest, the anti-Wolcott members in order to end the strife united with the Democrats and thereby elected Mr. Teller.
At the election in 1902 the Republicans carried the state, elect- ing their entire ticket, which was as follows: Governor, James H. Peabody ; lieutenant governor, W. A. Haggott; secretary of state, James Cowie; auditor, John A. Holmberg ; treasurer, Whit- ney Newton; attorney-general, N. C. Miller; superintendent of public instruction, Helen L. Grenfell. Six state tickets were in the field, the vote for governor being as follows: Peabody, Republican, 87,512; Stimson, Democrat, 80,217; Reinhardt, Pro- hibitionist, 4,022; Provost, Socialist, 7,562; Knight, Social Labor, 1,132; Owen, Populist, 6,5544-
IV -- 31
482
THE PROVINCE AND THE STATES.
James H. Peabody, fourteenth governor of Colorado, was born August 21, 1852, in Orange county, Vt. His earlier years were passed upon a farm, working during the summer months and attending district school in winter. He went to Colorado in October, 1872, locating in Denver, where he was employed as a clerk in dry goods stores for two years. In February, 1875, he settled in Canon City, Fremont county, where he soon engaged in mercantile business on his own account. After eleven years he retired from trade to engage in banking, as president of the First National Bank of that place. He was twice elected mayor of the city. In 1902 he was nominated for governor by the Republican party, and elected by a considerable majority. This was the first important political campaign in which he had ever been engaged. Well educated, a thorough business man, of honest, upright character, he is held in high esteem by his fellow citizens.
483
COLORADO, COMMENTS AND STATISTICS.
CHAPTER VI
Comments and Statistics
J UST one hundred years after the old bell in the tower of Independence Hall, in Philadelphia, rang out its tidings of liberty to the American colonies, Colorado, "The Centennial State," came into the Union as the thirty-eighth state of the American federation. The territory comprising the State of Colorado was acquired by the United States from three different sources. That portion lying north of the Arkansas river and east of the Great Divide was a part of the territory ceded by France, by means of the Louisiana Purchase, in 1803. West and south of this, extending to the Rio Grande del Norte and a line drawn due north from the source of that river, the territory came into possession of the United States by the annexation of Texas, in 1845, while the extreme western and southwestern portions were obtained from Mexico by the treaty of Guadaloupe Hidalgo in 1848.
At the time the last acquisition was made, and for ten years afterward, the whole state was one unbroken wilderness. The discovery of gold, in 1858, brought the pioneers of civilization, and three years later the territory of Colorado was organized, with the same boundaries that mark the state today. These boundaries enclose an area of one hundred and three thousand nine hundred and twenty-five square miles, which makes Colorado the fifth largest state in the Union, being exceeded only by Texas, California, Montana and Nevada.
To the average man the mention of Colorado brings the sug- gestion of gold and silver mining. It is true that the mining interests of Colorado exceed those of any other state. She pro- duces one-third of the gold and silver output of the United States.
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.