Delta County CO Archives Biographies.....Walker, John September 8, 1849 - ?
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Judy Crook jlcrook@rof.net March 9, 2006, 1:25 pm

Author: Progressive Men of Western Colorado

     John Walker, an active, industrious, progressive and successful rancher and

fruit-grower of Delta county, living four miles and a half up the Gunnison from

the town of Delta, is a native of that great hive of productive industry,

Pennsylvania, where his life began on September 8, 1849.  His parents, Isaac and

Jane B. (Fields) Walker, also were born in that state, and there they passed the

whole of their lives, never leaving the state.  The father was a surveyor and

found profitable use for his knowledge in this line most of the time.  He also

owned a farm, on which he worked when not employed in surveying.  He died in his

native state in the summer of 1889, and his widow died there in 1892.  Their son

John attended the district schools in boyhood and youth and worked on his

father’s farm assisting him also at times in surveying.  He remained at home

until he was thirty-seven, then in 1886 came to Colorado and located in Delta

county, where he now lives.  Soon after his arrival he bought one hundred and

sixty acres of land and moved on it in January, 1887.  He at once began to

improve the place and bring the land to productiveness, but it was five years

before he had water for irrigation, and his progress was necessarily slow.  The

first dwelling occupied by the family on the ranch was nearer the river than the

present one, and when a general system of irrigation was put in operation the

water of his well became strongly alkali and he thereupon built a new residence

further back and sunk a new well.  The dwelling he now occupies is one of the

best in the neighborhood and is modern in every respect.  It was erected in

1899.  Four years prior to this time Mr. Walker set out twelve acres of his land

in fruit, mostly apples, and during the last few years he has been getting good

returns from this enterprise.  In 1903 he sold one thousand boxes of apples at

good prices, and the crop promises to increase in volume and value as time

passes and enlarges the fruitfulness of the trees.  The rest of his place is

devoted to grain and hay.  He has eight-five acres in hay and this acreage

yields about four hundred and fifty tons of first-class product a year, which

sells at four dollars or more a ton in stacks on the place.  Forty acres of the

original ranch have been sold, but Mr. Walker still has enough to occupy all his

time and energy to good advantage, except what he devoted to public

improvements, in which he has always been greatly interested.  He was one of the

leading promoters of the relief ditch in the valley, which was begun in 1890. 

To build it a stock company was formed, of which Mr. Walker was the first

president.  He was later the superintendent and has been a director in the

company ever since it was organized.  The ditch is a good one, never without

water, and has been of great service to the valley.  The company started with

nine men and Mr. Walker owned one-fifth of the stock.  It now has forty-three

stockholders and he owns one-tenth of the stock.  The par value of the stock is

fifteen dollars a share, but it is worth twenty-five on the market and only

three shares are for sale at that price.  A share represents sufficient water

for two and one-half acres of land.  In other respects Mr. Walker has been of

great and continuous service to the community. He was road overseer two years,

and from the time of his arrival in the county he has been very active in the

cause of public education.  He helped to get the first school building erected

in the valley, and from that time on he has spared no effort to advance the

school interests of the county.  He also takes an earnest interest and an active

part in fraternal matters, having helped to organize the first Odd Fellows lodge

at Delta, and he has been one of its main supports ever since.  On November 9,

1874, he united in marriage with Miss Mary B. Martin, a native of Pennsylvania

and the daughter of William and Louisa (Amy) Martin, who were both New Yorkers

by birth.  The father was a millwright.  Both parents have been dead for a

number of years.  Mr. Walker’s father was a captain in the Pennsylvania militia,

and when the Civil war began he was anxious to take the field in defense of the

Union, but was rejected on account of his advanced age.  There were two children

in the family, Mr. Walker and his sister.  Five children have been born in the

Walker household, Archie, Rose A., Bessie M., Fred S. and Heath M.  The oldest

is twenty-eight and the youngest eight years old.  The head of the house is a

Democrat in politics and always has been.  He belongs to the Odd Fellows lodge,

No. 116, at Delta, and Western Slope Encampment, No. 39. 

Additional Comments:
From Progressive Men of Western Colorado.  Chicago:  A.W. Bowen & Co., 1905

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