Montrose County CO Archives Biographies.....Alerton, Henry 1848 - ?
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File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Judy Crook jlcrook@rof.net November 5, 2005, 4:07 pm

Author: Progressive Men of Western Colorado

      Born and reared in the midst of the highest civilization, with all the

blandishments and enjoyments of cultivated life around him, as manhood opened

before him with radiant promise, Henry Alerton nevertheless did not hesitate to

turn away from it all and seek a destiny of toil and hardship in the western

wilds of this country, and with manly and intrepid spirit met all its burdens,

braving extremes of heat and cold, of drought and flood, of loneliness and

hunger, in order that he might in his own way work out a career without the aid

of adventitious circumstances or fortune’s favors, and gratify a love of

adventure that was inherent in his nature.  He was born at Lockport in western

New York in 1848, the son of John and Hannah (Newboldt) Alerton.  His father, a

native of England, settled in that portion of the state when a young man and

there followed the business of a merchant tailor until his death, in 1857, at

the age of forty-five.  His wife died when her son Henry was but two years old,

leaving nine children, of whom he was next to the last.  He was reared by his

uncle, George Reading, a boot and shoe manufacturer of Ontario, Canada, and when

he was eighteen went to work in a grocery store and bakery to remain two years.

 At the end of that time he returned to Lockport and learned photography under

F.B. Clench, of that city.  He then started westward without any settled

destination, but eager to see the country and find if he could a desirable

location wherein to establish himself and accumulate a competency.  In the

course of two or three years he reached Trinidad, this state, just in time to

take part in what is known locally as the Trinidad war, a short and sharp

conflict between Americans and Mexicans.  His first occupation in this part of

the country was driving cattle for Loring & Goodnight, cattle kings of that day,

in whose service he made a trip to Texas.  After that he hauled saw logs to the

mill to be sawed into lumber for use in the construction of the new Fort Lyon,

and after the logs were all in he went into the mill and helped to saw them,

continuing at this work until the contract was fulfilled, which occupied about

six months.  From there he went to Denver and took employment as clerk for the

Tucker Lumber Company, and remained in their service six months, then going to

Cheyenne, Wyoming, where he worked for the Union Pacific Railroad until it was

completed, when he went to California, and from there made his way to the

Comstock mine in Nevada.  During the next five years he worked in Sutro Tunnel,

then made a trip from Virginia City, that state, to Colorado, traveling a

distance of three thousand two hundred miles through California, New Mexico and

Arizona to Alamosa, this state, crossing the desert in July when the thermometer

registered one hundred and twenty degrees and going over the mountains when it

was forty degrees below zero, making the whole trip with a team and wagon. 

Locating at Lake City, he remained five years conducting summer resorts on the

lake, then transferring his base of operations to the Uncompahgre valley, he

engaged in the cattle business, taking up a part of his present ranch at the

mouth of Happy Canyon in 1886.  The land was covered with sage brush and all his

acquaintances who knew the conditions prophesied that he would fail to make the

place productive or continue to live on it.  His work was difficult here and

full of discouragements.  But he persevered until now he has one of the best

ranches in this part of the state, having succeeded in his venture beyond all

expectations.  He has added one hundred and sixty acres to his original tract

and has that also in a good state of cultivation.  For some years he was

extensively engaged in the dairy business, raising Shorthorn and Jersey cattle

and making large quantities of butter, but of late he has given his attention

mainly to fruit culture, having a very prolific orchard and raising the finest

varieties and best quality of fruit, his “Flaming Tokey” grape being

unsurpassed, single clusters weighing as high sometimes as fifteen pounds.  He

also has a fine residence and beautiful flower gardens.  He was married in 1869

to Miss Eliza Furst, a native of Troy, New York, who ably seconds all his efforts.

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

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