Chaffee County CO Archives Biographies.....Nachtrieb, Charles 1833 - October 3, 1881 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/co/cofiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Judy Crook jlcrook@rof.net February 28, 2006, 3:08 pm Author: Progressive Men of Western Colorado The late Charles Nachtrieb, of Chaffee county, whose home was in the neighborhood of the village of Nathrop, where his business career in this state mainly developed, and whose untimely death on October 3, 1881, at the early age of forty-eight, was a native of Germany and came to this country in boyhood with his brother and sister. He was born in 1833. After his arrival in the United States he lived for a time in Boston, then moved to Chicago, in both places working in butcher shops. In 1860 he became a resident of California gulch in Chaffee county, this state, and there he mined and kept a store, it being prior to the birth of Leadville. In 1865 he took up the ranch on which his widow now lives and secured a right to water from Chalk creek. This was one of the first ranches started in that valley, and now it is one of the best and most productive. The next year he built a mill on the land, and from that time to his death made the place his home, carrying on a good ranching and cattle business, operating the mill and keeping a store. He also had saw mills in other places, and was extensively engaged in business. He was a prominent man in the community, but he never took an active part in political contentions. He was successful in his ventures after many reverses and hardships, and at his death left a considerable estate to his family. He was married on August 20, 1871, on Browns’ creek in Lake county, to Mrs. Margaret (Tull) Anderson, a native of Iowa, born and reared near the city of Burlington. She was educated in the schools of that city, and remained in her native region until she was nineteen years old, when she was married to a Mr. Anderson and with him moved to Fort Scott, Kansas. This was in the region wasted by the border warfare just before the Civil war, and everybody’s life was in perpetual danger. The dwellings were built without windows and no one opened a door after dark through fear of being shot. While living there Mrs. Nachtrieb saw old John Brown and his gang in their raid through the section, his followers camping within a mile of her home. She endured the horrors of this life of hazard and apprehension a year and a half, and then the family moved to California gulch, this state, where Mr. Anderson engaged in mining. When they arrived in the gulch it had a floating population of about ten thousand and, like all wild mining camps, laid upon its inhabitants heavy burdens of hardship, privation and danger. In time its boom was over and the population shrunk to its normal size of about five hundred, among them only nine women. Mrs. Nachtrieb and a Mrs. Catlin, of South Cannon, are the only ladies living who were in the gulch in 1860. From 1865 to 1871, when she was married to Mr. Nachtrieb, this resolute and heroic woman, whose life has been full of adventure and exciting incident, lived on a ranch in the Arkansas valley. Since her last husband’s death she has continued to make her home on his old ranch. She settled up his estate as administratrix and became guardian of their three children, serving as such until they became of age. They are Charles, who is now in Mexico, but who was for some years a stock man in this state, his mother buying him out in 1903; Josephine, a graduate of the medical department at the Michigan State University, and during the last four years a practicing physician at Pueblo; and Chris, who is living at home with his mother and looks after her stock. She owns nearly one thousand acres of land and is extensively engaged in raising cattle. Since her husband’s death she has always leased out the mill on her place. The ranch is located eight miles from Buena Vista, thus giving her a good market of easy access for the products of her ranch. She is an excellent business woman and manages her affairs with great vigor and success, making the most of her opportunities, and maintaining the high position she has won in the confidence and respect of the community. Additional Comments: From Progressive Men of Western Colorado. Chicago: A.W. Bowen & Co., 1905 File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/co/chaffee/bios/nachtrie209gbs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/cofiles/ File size: 4.7 Kb