Denver County, History of Colorado, BIOS: SPEER, Robert Walter (published 1918)
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"History of Colorado", edited by Wilbur Fisk Stone, published by The S. J. 
Clarke Publishing Co. (1918)  Vol. II

p. 96, 98-100
photo p. 97


ROBERT WALTER SPEER.

	Robert Walter Speer was a man of vision and the vision 
crystallized in Denver's civic greatness. The great and beautiful city 
of today, with its broad thoroughfares, its magnificent boulevard and 
park systems, its splendid playgrounds, Its great municipal auditorium, 
is the monument to his labors. He was a dreamer of dreams but the 
dreams took form in practical effort that placed Denver in many 
respects in a point of leadership among the great cities on the 
American continent. It was his absorbing passion to make it a city for 
all the people-a city of high physical, mental and moral attainments, 
and while many of his plans came to a tangible realization, he was 
engaged in the development of still other projects for Denver's 
improvement at the time of his death on May 14, 1918, but most of all 
in an effort to make Denver one hundred per cent in its efficiency in 
connection with the world war. A modern philosopher has said: "Not the 
good that comes to us, but the good that comes to the world through us, 
is the measure of our success." And judged by this standard, few men 
have attained the success of Robert W. Speer, who was known through the 
United States as the foremost municipal executive in America. For 
thirty years he was connected with the public life of Denver as an 
officer-years in which he closely studied every problem of the city, 
and when he came to be the head of the city government, his theories 
and his plans were not ill advised but were the outcome of sound 
judgment, broad experience and keen insight.

	A native of Huntingdon county, Pennsylvania, Robert W. Speer was 
born on the 1st of December, 1855, a son of George 'W. Speer, who won 
distinction for gallantry while serving as an officer in the Union army 
during the Civil war. His mother, who bore the maiden name of Jane Ann 
Brewster, belonged to one of the leading families of the community. 
After completing a public school education Robert W. Speer continued 
his studies in the Dickinson Seminary at Williamsport, Pennsylvania, 
and although this ended his school training, he remained throughout his 
life a close student of men, measures, problems and affairs and came to 
be regarded as a man of most scholarly attainments when judged by the 
breadth of his knowledge. It was not the learning that one gains merely 
from books but the learning that qualifies the individual for every 
duty as it comes successively to him. He was ever recognized as a man 
of most courageous spirit and early gave manifestation of this 
characteristic. When quite young, or about the time he attained his 
majority, he leaped into a lake and saved from drowning the lady who 
afterwards became his wife. At this time his health failed and he came 
west, seeking a drier climate. So greatly had his health been 
undermined that when he reached Colorado he was too ill to walk. He 
courageously took up the fight for life, just as in later years he took 
up the fight for principles which led to civic betterment and civic 
greatness. The outdoor life of the cattleman on the ranch restored his 
health, and when he felt it safe to take up indoor occupation again, he 
secured a clerkship in the carpet department of the Daniels & Fisher 
Stores Company, where he was paid a salary of eight dollars per week.   
In the meantime his love of the west grew and in 1882 he returned to 
Pennsylvania, where he wedded Miss Kate A. Thrush, of Lewiston, that 
state, whose life he had previously saved, and they entered upon an 
ideal married relation that covered thirty-six years. With his bride 
Mr. Speer returned to Denver. He had previously given up his position 
as clerk to enter the real estate business and, his ability becoming 
recognized by his fellow townsmen, he was elected to the office of city 
clerk two years prior to his marriage. This constituted his initial 
step In Denver's public life and for thirty years he remained a most 
active and influential factor in municipal affairs.

	In 1885 Mr. Speer was appointed by President Grover Cleveland to 
the position of postmaster of Denver and in 1891 Governor Routt 
appointed him president of the Denver fire and police board. From 
Governor Adams he received appointment to the position of president of 
the board of public works and became thereby ex officio member of the 
fire and police board. He was also appointed to the same position by 
Governor Thomas and so continued to serve until 1904. All through this 
period of office holding Mr. Speer was a diligent student of municipal 
government. He searched out the best principles utilized in the 
government of larger cities, read every authority upon municipal 
problems and when he was called to the mayoralty in 1904, he entered 
upon the duties of his position with high ideas and ideals, many of 
which were regarded as revolutionary but which through his practical 
efforts became tangible assets in the city's development and 
upbuilding. He was an indefatigable worker and he eagerly grasped his 
first real opportunity to carry out his vision. For two consecutive 
terms he continued as Denver's mayor and transformed a straggly and 
somewhat unsightly western town into a city beautiful. Utility, 
sanitation, comfort and beauty all figured as dominant features in his 
plans. His labors resulted in the building of the Twentieth street 
viaduct and he was the first to suggest construction of the Colfax-
Larimer viaduct. His efforts led to the paving and graveling of many of 
Denver's streets and his initiative brought about the building of 
extensive sanitary and storm sewer systems. He established the 
boulevard and parkway systems and he felt that not only utility but 
beauty must be considered and that the city's development should be 
upon a plan that would produce a harmonious whole. He therefore created 
and planned the civic center, regarded as one of the most beautiful and 
inspiring works of man. He carried forward a system of tree culture 
that won the plaudits of artists and horticulturists throughout the 
world. An unsightly dumping ground was transformed into beautiful 
sunken gardens and Cherry Creek, which for years had remained an 
unsolved problem of other city heads, was curbed by him through the 
building of a great retaining wall, along one side of which was 
constructed a beautiful driveway that the city fathers named in his 
honor. Beauty entered into his plan for city lighting and unsightly 
telephone and telegraph poles were placed in alleys. He opposed the 
construction of buildings more than twelve stories in height because 
such would obstruct a view of the mountains; and to Denver's parks he 
turned his attention, establishing new parks and boulevards, from which 
he discarded the signs "keep off the grass." He also opened many 
playgrounds, especially in the more congested districts, that the 
children might have opportunity for healthful fun. He was also 
instrumental in establishing the museum at City park, one of the finest 
and most complete in the world, and also in establishing the public 
bathhouses. His initiative resulted in the building of the Welcome arch 
and one of the public improvements in which he personally took greatest 
delight was the Auditorium, which will ever stand as a monument to his 
public spirit. "His greatest pleasure," said the Denver Times, "was had 
when the big building was thrown open free to the public for some great 
concert or other entertainment. Then, always, Mayor Speer, his 
expansive and genial smile spreading over his face and his eyes aglow 
with the joy he could not conceal had he tried, was to be found 
hastening here and there about the entrances, seeing that none was 
turned away." Free Sunday afternoon concerts were inaugurated at the 
Auditorium, held through the winter season, with summer concerts in the 
parks during the summer, and one of his chief delights was the fact 
that he persuaded Madame Schumann-Heink to give a free concert in the 
building, singing to fourteen thousand persons who otherwise could not 
have afforded to hear her. His orders on such occasions were that the 
boxes were to be reserved for the old and the feeble, the crippled and 
the ill, and he personally saw to it that such orders were carried out 
and that such guests were made comfortable. The story is told of him 
that on the occasion of the holding of a municipal Christmas tree and 
celebration at the Auditorium in 1916 the place had already become 
filled with a crowd of happy children and that the mayor 
surreptitiously slipped several through the entrances after the doors 
had been closed. Fearing for the safety of the little ones, the fire 
chief complained of this, whereupon the mayor acquiesced, promising not 
to open the doors again, but it is said that a few moments later a 
friend of his found him on the outside distributing dollars to thirty 
or more disappointed youngsters whom he had called into the alley for 
the purpose, instructing them to "spend it all for candy." With the 
building of the Auditorium he felt, too, that a great pipe organ should 
be installed and ere he had completed his second term in office he had 
seen fifty thousand dollars set aside for that purpose, but after his 
retirement from the mayoralty the money was used in other ways. For 
four years he was out of office and then at the demand of his fellow 
townsmen was recalled to the position, and still with the determination 
to have that organ for Denver, he personally raised more than thirty 
thousand dollars toward its purchase, after which the Rotary Club took 
up the work and raised the rest of the money needed, the city paying 
only for the installation of the organ. He built Inspiration Point in 
order that citizens might study nature in a three-hundred-mile view of 
the Rockies. He encouraged land and water sports and proposed Mount 
Evans as a national park so the worker might enjoy Sunday outings. He 
also looked to the most practical phases of life and established a 
bureau whereby coal was furnished at cost when fuel prices soared and 
brought hardships to the consumer. It was Mr. Speer who originated the 
phrase "Give while you live," inducing many of Denver's wealthy men to 
bestow gifts upon the city that have resulted greatly in civic 
betterment.

	With the outbreak of the world war Mr. Speer recognized how 
closely his city should cooperate with the national government and put 
forth every effort to that end. He it was who originated the plan of 
paying the premium on a thousand dollars insurance for every boy who 
enlisted and it was his constant aim and purpose to have the city do 
its full duty in every respect in relation, to the war. It was 
therefore in keeping with his views and purpose that when he passed 
away Mrs. Speer requested that no flowers be sent but that the money be 
given instead to the Red Cross. It was after a brief illness that Mr. 
Speer passed away. Almost to his last hour he was planning and working 
for the city. Civic improvements were not his sole achievement, 
however. He systematized the municipal business of Denver and brought 
the city's government to the highest state of efficiency. It is seldom 
that such absolute recognition of one's worth comes to the individual 
as did to Mr. Speer. In 1912, after two terms' service as mayor, he 
retired from the office without asking reelection and went abroad. 
While in Europe he closely studied every form of municipal government, 
but during his absence commission government in Denver had become a 
chaotic thing and it was a universal feeling that a mistake had been 
made. The business men, the political leaders and in tact the whole 
city felt that desirable conditions could be restored only by one man 
and that was Robert W. Speer. It was therefore with the support of both 
parties that he was returned to the office in 1916. When he felt that 
he would have to accede to the public demand for reelection he 
undertook to draw up the present city charter, embodying all that he 
believed best of the many kinds of government he had studied. This 
resulted in giving Denver a charter that allows the mayor or city 
manager greater power than is had by the chief executive in any other 
city, but at the same time checks his public acts and makes him 
responsible for the work of every city department. In choosing his 
coworkers Mr. Speer did not regard party lines. The members of his 
cabinet were chosen two from the democratic ranks and two from the 
republican ranks. With his return to office he again took up the plans 
for the civic center which he had formulated in his second term and it 
was then that he said: "What finer use could wealthy citizens of Denver 
make of their money than to spend it making Denver more beautiful, in 
erecting monuments to themselves that will be of benefit and bring joy 
and light into the lives of others?" And -with this thought in mind he 
at once approached numerous philanthropic and wealthy citizens, many of 
whom he found eager to cooperate with him, with the result that Denver 
secured statues and art works worth hundred and hundreds of thousands.

	It is said that Mr. Speer was an authority upon the laws of the 
city and the state and that he could quote many legal decisions upon 
any point that came up for debate. It was his custom to spend an hour 
or more each evening at his home reading books on municipal affairs or 
studying the city and state statutes. He was as mayor a strict 
disciplinarian with his assistants and held the head of a department 
more closely to his tasks than any subordinate because of the fact that 
more responsibility devolved upon him. Though a strict disciplinarian, 
he was also most genial and it was his wish that every member of his 
cabinet would speak freely upon any subject under discussion, desiring 
that each should express his individual thought. Speaking of his 
personal characteristics, one who knew him well said: "Mr. Speer never 
forgot a friend, and I prefer to remember him as that kind of a man. 
His was a personal magnetism seldom seen in this world. In the words of 
Shakespeare, 'he grappled his friends to him with hoops of steel,' and 
where you found a friend of his you found a man who would die for him. 
If he was your friend he'd go to the utmost limit for you, and the more 
you met with adversity, the more you were attacked, the more you were 
condemned, the more trouble you were in, the tighter he clung to you 
and the harder he worked to help you. He was a leader of men. It was 
this loyalty and steadfastness that made him a leader. There never has 
been a man in Colorado who held his party in so firm a grip, and never 
a man who succeeded in drawing the two great parties together for the 
common good of the city."

	In an editorial the Rocky Mountain News said: "This community has 
suffered an irreparable loss in the death of Mayor Robert W. Speer. He 
made service to the city his life work. Denver's present commanding 
place with the outer world is due to his incessant labors for its 
upbuilding. He was childless. What he might have given to a family he 
gave to Denver. No other interest, outside of his devotion to his wife, 
was permitted to interfere with his life work-In truth his absorption 
in Denver's civic affairs for many years crowded out business and money 
making and political preferment. Money he cared nothing for so long as 
it left him free to work out his plans. Time and again he refused 
offers of high place away from here so that he might be free to live 
and work for the city that gave him a longer life than he was led to 
expect when a young man, for he, too, was one of the number that came 
here to seek health. Mayor Speer was known throughout the United States 
as the foremost municipal executive in America. He was a student of 
municipal affairs and was also a man of exceptional executive ability. 
Besides, he had a magnetic, persuasive personality, initiative and 
unlimited courage. Those who came to meet him in public affairs and in 
politics learned to love him as well as to admire him and were bound to 
him by chains of steel. * * * Mayor Speer's place in Denver and 
Colorado is not to be filled today or tomorrow. He towered above his 
contemporaries. He died as he lived, thinking of his city and planning 
to the last moment to make Denver count in the great national 
undertaking."

	The Denver Times said: "Two qualities were outstanding in Mayor 
Speer-modesty and faithfulness to his friends. As he came more and more 
into the limelight as an authority on municipal affairs, he bent more 
humbly to his work. The things that had been done were not worth 
talking about-it was the bigger things just ahead that occupied his 
attention. All the detail of city management, in addition to the broad 
planning which occupied most of his hours, could not have been attended 
to if Mayor Speer had not had the faculty of picking the right men for 
his assistants. When once a man had won his confidence, and had proved 
himself to Mayor Speer's own satisfaction, all the outside criticism in 
the world could not make the mayor abandon that friend. He saw the good 
in men from all walks of life. His appointees stepped into office in 
overalls and in broadcloth. But first they had to convince this shrewd 
judge of human nature that they were animated, like himself, with an 
honest desire to serve the people. 'Service' in fact was the Speer 
motto. He never grew so absorbed In his work that he drifted far from 
the everyday folk tor whom his most ambitious plans were made. Mayor 
Speer could have done for any other city what he has done for Denver. 
There is no municipality in the country that would not have been the 
better for his directing influence. It is fortunate for Denver that, in 
its hour of need, it found such a man to lay the foundations for future 
progress. On the things that Mayor Speer has built, and along the plans 
that he has laid out, Denver cannot help but advance. The people of 
this city will never be content with a man who does not measure up In 
some degree at least to the Speer ideals. In the power of his example, 
as well as in the wonderful things he built for us in a material way. 
Mayor Robert W. Speer will live on in Denver."

	No more fitting epitaph could be written of Robert W. Speer than 
the words of one of his lifetime friends, "Denver is and always will be 
his monument."