Pueblo County CO Archives History - Books .....Chapter 4 The Battle With The Wilderness 1917
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Book Title: Pathbreakers And Pioneers Of The Pueblo Region

CHAPTER IV.
THE BATTLE WITH THE WILDERNESS.

    Ever since the landing of the Pilgrim Fathers on our eastern coast, there
has been waging a battle with the wilderness. In this struggle, the usual
measure of a man-education, wealth and social position-were put at naught by
those more virile qualities of strength, physical bravery and aggressiveness.
Our frontier population has always been composed of the flower of our
civilization; not in the sense that it represented the culture and the education
of the times, but because it stood for the strength, the courage, the virility
of society.

    It has always been true that nations have been obliged to give their best
blood in the defense of their frontiers-not only in war but also in times of
peace. Men of muscle and brawn, of courage and determination, men who were
self-willed and strong in initiative have always been the ones who pushed
forward into the firing line, either in war or peace and became the framers of
the nation's destiny. If perchance a weakling was carried forward by the tide of
battle, he was speedily destroyed or was forced to retire.

    The men who composed the vanguard of our Colorado civilization were no
exception to the rule. In the struggle to gain the mastery of the "last American
frontier," the men were composed of the best blood and courage to be obtained
from the Missouri river region, who in turn were the best of successive waves of
westward immigration extending back to our first frontier^-the Atlantic sea board.

    No danger could daunt these men as they faced the Unknown West and stood
ready to enter with their families, this almost trackless region for the purpose
of establishing themselves on the soil as farmers or on the river banks as city
builders. The call of the West has ever been irresistible to the real red blood
of America; bad roads could not stifle it, dense forests were unable to hold it
in check, blood-thirsty savages were ineffectual in stemming the tide. "A steady
procession of pioneers has marched up the slopes of the Appalachians, across the
trails of their summits, and down the various approaches to the Mississippi
valley."

    The frontier lying beyond the great bend of the Missouri, which was reached
in 1821, proved to be the most stubborn of all and for almost forty years
refused to yield to the determined assaults of the hardy pioneers. A new
difficulty confronted the immigrants at this point. Heretofore, all frontiers
had been conquered by following the navigable rivers, but at the western line of
the state of Missouri, the friendly course of the river forsook the travelers,
compelling them to strike out across the prairie. This, being a new experience,
necessitated a considerable period of delay, and for a period of nearly forty
years the enemy successfully resisted all attempts at invasion.

    In 1858 the enemy weakened and by the year 1860 the great tidal wave of
western immigration advanced into the enemy's territory. The wilderness was
possessed but not conquered.

    Pueblo received her quota of men such as have been described above. Here, to
the forks of the river -at the crossing of the trails, came men whose blood was
hot with the ambition of youth, whose souls were stirred by the possibilities
offered in this western land, whose spirits were undaunted by the dangers and
hardships with which they were confronted as they came with their families to
hew out their fortunes in the valley of the Arkansas.

    In addition to solving the problem of establishing homes for their families
and providing sustenance for them, these men found time to bear arms in defense
of this western region against the Indians and against the forces of disunion;
they found time to lay the foundation of a great city and not a few found time
to become a dynamic force in the building of this great commonwealth. These men
were truly a band of nature's noblemen.

    We have told the story of Fountain City, how it was established by a group
of men who came west as a part of that vast tide of gold seekers-how they
stopped at the mouth of the Fountain river and surveyed the City on the Boiling
Fountain. We shall now record the beginning of the city of Pueblo. It often
happens that the original location of a town is not in the place where nature
intended it to be. This was true in the case of Pueblo. There were many factors
which prevented Fountain City from becoming the nucleus from which should grow
the city of Pueblo. In the first place Fountain City was situated upon low
ground which was in constant danger of overflowing during the summer months, yet
there seemed to be no good reason why the town might not have been laid out on
the higher ground in the region now occupied by the residence portion of East
Pueblo. Again, the character of its population led to the ultimate failure of
the original town. There had drifted into Fountain City, during the summer and
fall of 1859, a class of undesirable citizens-men who were the direct antithesis
of the original settlers. In order to avoid the influence of these undesirables,
a group of citizens, composing the better element, decided to lay out a new
town. Another factor which was a vital force, not only in the location of the
new town, but also in its ultimate success, was the location of the trail from
the north and of the ford across the Arkansas. This trail followed the Fountain
river down its east bank until it reached the vicinity of the present site of
Woodcroft where it crossed over to the west bank and proceeded to the ford of
the Arkansas, which was at the foot of the present Santa Fe Avenue. It was at
this point that the new town had its beginning. In the winter of 1859 and the
early spring of 1860 two or three cabins had been erected in the vicinity of
First Street and Santa Fe Avenue, but it was not until late spring of 1860 that
any definite action was taken toward laying out a new town.

    On the 22nd of May, 1860, a meeting was called for the purpose of
considering the organization of a town.

    According to the records of the Southern Colorado Pioneers' Association, the
following persons were present at this meeting: Jack Allen, John Kearns, Albert
Bercaw, W. H. Ricker, Dr. Catterson, Wesley Catterson, Ed Cozzens, A. C. Wright,
Mrs. A. C. Wright and Mrs. Mary Simms. These records further state that it was
on July 1, 1860, that the town was formerly "laid out" and named Pueblo in honor
of the old fort which had stood for so many years on the opposite bank of the
Arkansas, a single prophecy of "things yet to be."

    The town site was surveyed by Buel and Boyd, two surveyors from Denver.
These surveyors presumably had a vision of a great city judging by the extent of
the original survey. In the words of an early writer, it was encompassed by the
following boundaries, "from the river back (north) two or three miles toward the
divide, and from the Fountain on the east to Buzzard's ranch on the west. Near
the mouth of Dry Creek was an extensive city park, filled with serpentine drives
and walks, rare shrubbery and exotic flowers, amid which the alkali dust was
gently subdued by the spray of a dozen refreshing fountains."

    It has caused keen disappointment to those who have attempted to record the
development of Pueblo during its first decade of existence, to find that no
records exist to corroborate many of the events which took place during this
embryonic stage of the city's growth. Even the date of the formal laying out of
the townsite is somewhat in doubt, although the date of July 1 is generally
confirmed by pioneers still living.

    The rich gold strike in California Gulch, now Leadville, in the spring of
1860, was a fortunate event for the newly born town. First indications pointed
to a discovery which would rival that of the Clear creek region, hence it was
very reasonable to suppose that Pueblo would probably become the metropolis of
the entire Pike's Peak region. It soon became evident, however, that if Pueblo's
only hope of growth was dependent upon the success of the gold strike in
California Gulch, she was doomed to an early death, for in a short time the
hopes of the prospectors went glimmering, and an exodus of people took place
which seriously affected Pueblo.

    For seven long years Fate seemed to be against this struggling little
village. During the years 1861 to 1865 the Santa Fe trail became almost
impassable and during 1864 was practically abandoned, owing to Indian outbreaks
and to bands of Confederate guerillas operating in the Kansas region. Thus
Pueblo and the entire southern part of the state were almost entirely cut off
from communication with the east. This condition together with the general
exodus of disappointed gold seekers from the entire Pike's Peak region, was a
serious blow to the prosperity of the town.

    As late as July, 1864, one of these guerilla bands, composed of twenty-one
Texans under one Reynolds, a former resident of Colorado, caused great
excitement in the Arkansas valley. After robbing several wagon trains on the
Santa Fe trail, in the eastern part of the state, the band proceeded up the
Arkansas, and leaving Pueblo unmolested, entered South Park where they began
plundering ranches throughout that entire region. They were pursued by a band of
determined citizens who succeeded in killing four of the band and capturing the
others. The prisoners were sent to Denver where they were turned over to the
military authorities. From Denver they were ordered sent to Fort Lyon under a
heavy guard. In a short time the entire military guard returned, stating that
the prisoners had been killed while attempting to escape. The fact was that the
prisoners were taken to the head of Cherry creek and killed by the guard in
order to be relieved of the journey to Fort Lyon.

    The necessities of life commanded fabulous prices during this period of
isolation and only such food as was raised in the region could be purchased at
any price. Flour brought $50 a barrel while corn and other grains were sold
regularly for ten cents a pound. Eggs sold for $1.00 to $1.50 a dozen and butter
at $1.00 to $1.50 a pound with other supplies in proportion. Strenuous measures
were often adopted to procure the necessities of life. Judge Stone, for many
years a resident of Pueblo, recounts the following incident which occurred
during this time:

    A certain Pueblo citizen, Squire Fowler by name, had loaded his ox-wagon
with Mexican corn, which he had raised on the Fountain, and having hauled it to
Joe Doyle's mill on the Huerfano had it ground into meal, intending to take the
meal to California Gulch, which place was facing a famine through their
inability to purchase supplies. The usual trail to that place led through Canon
City, which was entirely out of both flour and meal. Certain citizens of Canon
City, learning of the contents of the Squire's cargo, halted him in the middle
of the street and demanded that he sell his entire load of meal in their town,
threatening to take it by force if he refused. Fowler gladly sold his entire
load at a good figure and returned to Pueblo where he loaded his wagon as before
and proceeded to California Gulch. At this place the Squire sold his load of
meal for almost its weight in gold dust.

    The temporary abandonment of the southern trail threw all western traffic
into Denver by way of the Oregon Trail and the South Platte, and as all arrivals
in Denver were told that "there was nothing worth seeing south of the divide,"
the isolation of Pueblo became complete.

    After Pueblo was laid out Fountain City ceased to prosper and by autumn of
1860 its population was less than it was the year before. In spite of the death
blow which had been dealt it by the new town, however, its inhabitants continued
their agricultural efforts, bringing under irrigation a constantly increasing
area from which very profitable returns were realized. Although the greater part
of its population gradually drifted away, a few families continued to reside in
the vicinity of Fountain City for several years.

    Judge Stone arrived in Pueblo in the winter of 1861-62. At that time he
remembers seeing but three cabins, that of Jack Allen at the foot of Santa Fe,
on the banks of the river: The principal business of Jack was "the sale of
bacon, flour, coffee, Mexican frijoles and Taos lightning." Jack also kept a
tavern, his guests being required to provide their own blankets, the landlord
furnishing space on the dirt floor for their beds. There was also an adobe
cabin, built by Col. Albert Galletin Boone, a grandson of Daniel Boone of
Kentucky, and on the east side of Santa Fe Avenue near Second or Third Street
was a two-room cabin of cottonwood logs. Aaron Simms was the first postmaster
and Daniel J. Hayden was the second one.

  As has already been intimated, the growth of Pueblo during the sixties was
very slow. Its population was constantly shifting. In 1867 there were only
twenty or thirty houses, but during the next three years its population showed a
substantial increase as the United States census of 1870 credited the town with
a population of 666. An interesting account was given the writer by Eugene
Weston, who, as county clerk took the first county census. This census was taken
in 1866 and showed a population in the county of 800 persons. Mr. Weston states
that out of this entire number there were but six unmarried females over
fourteen years of age and four of these were Mexican girls.

    Uncle Dick Wooten was one of the historic characters of Colorado long before
Pueblo had its beginning. Having given up his former life as a trapper, he
settled at the mouth of the Huerfano river in 1853, where he engaged in farming.
He removed from this place eight years later, according to his "autobiography,"
and located on the Fountain nine miles above Pueblo where he continued his
agricultural pursuits until floods and grasshoppers caused him to abandon the
farm for more lucrative employment. On leaving Pueblo he took up his abode south
of Trinidad on the Raton Pass where he built a wagon road, the toll from which
provided a comfortable income for him during the remainder of his life.

    Mr. Wooten built two houses in Pueblo in 1861, in one of which he conducted
a mercantile business. Uncle Dick had been quite familiar with the Pueblo region
for a great many years, having traversed it before there were any evidences of
civilization in this locality. His own story of the "buffalo farm," which he
conducted on the present site of Pueblo is interesting and well worth recounting
even though one chooses not to believe it.

    In 1840, when Uncle Dick was engaged in supplying meat to Bent's Fort, he
succeeded in capturing two buffalo calves, whose mothers had been killed. He
placed the two orphans in a corral with a milch cow but "bossy" stoutly
protested against any such abuse of her motherly office although she finally was
induced to submit The calves thrived and grew to maturity. This gave Uncle Dick
an idea; he began capturing buffalo calves wherever he could procure them, his
entire accumulation amounting to forty-four. He then built a corral at the
present site of Pueblo, in which were placed a sufficient number of cows to
minister to the physical wants of these little strangers. According to his story
his experiment was entirely successful, the calves soon becoming so tame that
they could be turned out on the range with the cows. He kept them until they
were three years old when they were sold to New York parties to be placed in
zoological gardens and in traveling menageries. He drove them overland to Kansas
City, and two of the buffalo being hitched to a wagon at the start were well
broken by the time their destination was reached.

    Pueblo County was organized in 1862 and included the entire south-eastern
part of Colorado, embracing in addition to its present territory, the counties
of Bent, Baca, Otero, Prowers, Huerfano, Las Animas and Crowley. The first Board
of County Commissioners was composed of R. L. Wooten, W. H. Chapman and O. H. P.
Baxter, Mr. Wooten being chairman. The first meeting of this board was held on
February 17th and its most important action was the formal location of the
county seat, the selection of a site for a court house and adopting
specifications for a county building.

    These specifications called for a log house 18 feet by 24 feet and 10 feet
high, with a roof composed of three inches of mortar covered with four inches of
dirt. The contract for this pretentious edifice was awarded to Aaron Simms for
$300. The most interesting fact about this building is that it was never
erected. The county records are silent as to the reason for failure to erect
this building although it is probable that funds were not available and that the
amount of county business was so insignificant as to make any expenditure of
money for a building, unnecessary. Rooms were rented for office purposes until
1866, when the building now standing at Third and Santa Fe, known as No. 228 N.
Santa Fe, was purchased from Stephen Smith. This building was occupied until
1872 when a new and very imposing brick structure was erected on the present
Court House Square.

    Many people have wondered why the old court house building at Third and
Santa Fe was built in the street. Mr. Smith, its original owner and builder,
gave the writer the following account of its erection:

    Not long after the organization of the new town, lots were assigned to those
who were instrumental in laying it out. Although Mr. Smith was one of the first
residents of the town, his claim to a lot was overlooked owing to his absence
from the town at that time. Finding, upon his return, that the desirable lots
had all been assigned and that nothing remained for him, he erected this
building in the middle of Third Street.

    The first revenue of the new county was derived from a license tax of $2.50
to $5.00 a month levied on all business firms. The first regular tax levy which
was made some months later was as follows: "3 mills on the $ levied on all
property assessed for territorial purposes. Also that there shall be a tax of 1
mill on the $ for county purposes, also % mill on the $ for school purposes." At
this time Col. A. G. Boone, grandson of the famous Daniel Boone, was chairman of
the board, one of the original members having resigned.

    Following are some interesting extracts from the county commissioners' records:

    "August 10, 1862, Resolved: That the clerk be empowered to rent a certain
house known as William Kroenig's, at a rent of not more than $10 a month, to be
used for County purposes."

    "September, 1865, Resolved: That the room occupied by the County Clerk in
the house of P. K. Dotson, be rented for County purposes at $10 per month."

    "July, 1866, Resolved: That Messrs. Keeling and Thomas be ordered to procure
a license for running their ferry boat across the Arkansas river, and that the
fee be placed at $25."

    In October, 1867, the records disclose the fact that the county sheriff was
ordered to procure a load of wood for the use of the-county during the October
term of court.

    On July 7, 1869, the commissioners received a communication from the
Arkansas River Ferry Company asking the county authorities to fix rates of toll
across the river. In accordance with this request the following rates were
established:

    For foot passengers                  $0.25
    One or two horse vehicles             1.00
    Four horses or mules                  2.50
    Three yoke of oxen                    2.50

    An interesting picture of Pueblo as it appeared to a traveler in 1866, is
found in an old volume, long since out of print. "The town is composed of some
fifteen or twenty houses, three stores, a tavern, and an immense sign board
which has evidently seen better days in some more metropolitan locality. The
sign in question bears this 'strange device': EL PROGRESSO.

    "Behind and under it is a saloon, making the prospective 'progress' for
Pueblo of a dubious and questionable character  *  *  *  landed on the south
bank (of the Arkansas), we camped near a magnificent grove of large
cottonwoods-one of them measuring sixteen feet in circumference."

    If the writer of the above lines were to visit Pueblo now he would doubtless
be pleased to note that after fifty years of the "El Progresso" type of
prosperity, she has finally abolished the "big sign" and the "strange device"
from her midst and that her prosperity is based upon a higher type of business
than that mentioned above.

    On November 25, 1867, the board of county commissioners, consisting of G. H.
Puntenny, J. P. Murray and P. D. Moore, passed a resolution which was of far
reaching importance, financially to the county. This was a resolution
authorizing Mr. George A. Hinsdale, (the name of Mr. Mark G. Bradford being
substituted later), acting as trustee for Pueblo County, to make application to
the Federal Land Board at Denver, for a quarter-section of land lying between
what is now 7th Street and 15th Street, the proceeds of this land to be used for
a county building. This action was taken under the federal statutes permitting
counties to preempt land not otherwise appropriated, the proceeds to be used as
stated above.

    This venture proved unusually successful. As the town began to grow, several
public auctions of lots were held by the commissioners, the total proceeds, up
to the sale of April 13, 1872, amounting to $35,225. Other sales were held by
the commissioners subsequent to this, and quite a number of lots were sold
during the year 1876, while Charles Henkle was chairman of the board.

    Before 1862 there was no regular mail service to Pueblo, the only means of
receiving mail being through the more or less irregular arrivals of parties from
Denver. Although Denver enjoyed daily mail service as early as the summer of
1860 it was not until two years later that a government route was established in
the Pueblo region, the service being weekly. Later the service was extended to
three times a week, Mr. A. Jacobs of Denver being the carrier. Mr. Jacobs at the
same time put into operation a fine stage line between Denver and Trinidad. Mr.
Jacobs was succeeded by Barlow and Sanderson, who in 1870 inaugurated a daily
service between the above points which was maintained until the building of the
Denver and Rio Grande railroad in 1872.

    During the summer of 1863 a company of the First Colorado Cavalry was
stationed at Pueblo for the purpose of escorting the stage up and down the
valley, a regular stage line having been established between Kansas City and
Fairplay, via the Santa Fe trail, by Barlow and Sanderson. Mr. Charles Henkle,
one of the oldest residents of Pueblo, was a member of this company, and states
that their headquarters were at the present site of Lannon's foundry, which was
then south of the river.

    The federal government at this time was straining every nerve in its
struggle against the forces of disunion and as a consequence the troops were
withdrawn from Pueblo, thus leaving the trail unprotected.

    According to their usual custom the Indians who had been on the war path,
signed a treaty of peace as winter approached and were given the usual
government bounties of food, blankets and ammunition. The murderous savages were
thus placed in comfortable winter quarters and provided with a liberal supply of
ammunition for another campaign in the spring-and all at government expense.

    Again, true to their usual custom, with the opening of the spring of 1864,
the plains Indians went on the war path, keeping the entire region from Denver
to Pueblo in constant terror Details of the threatened attack of Pueblo by the
Indians and the erection of a stockade and block-house, will be given in a
subsequent chapter.

    In 1862 the first flour mill was erected in Pueblo. Eugene Weston, now of
Canon City, secured the assistance of an Illinois company, the machinery being
brought to Pueblo only by the greatest difficulty. The timbers which composed
the lower part of this three-story structure, were hauled from Mace's Hole in
the region of what is now known as Beulah, the sawed lumber being hauled from a
sawmill on the divide near Palmer Lake. This mill, which was located about
thirty or forty yards south of the present asylum grounds, was looked upon as a
thoroughly modern structure. It seemed for a time that there was to be added to
Pueblo's industries one that would be of vital importance to the entire region,
but Fate had decreed otherwise, for no sooner had the building been completed
and the machinery installed than the entire structure took fire and burned to
the ground. The plant was a complete loss.

    No further steps were taken to establish the milling industry in Pueblo
until 1865, when Mr. Jewett erected the mill that stood for so long a time on
the present site of the Federal building. The old mill ditch will be remembered
by pioneers as running through the property where the Rood Candy Company's plant
now stands; traversing that section of town lying just south of the Hinsdale
school, it ran in a southerly direction after leaving the mill and joined the
river near the vicinity of First and Main Streets. It should be remembered that
at that time the river approached the city to the vicinity of Eighth and West
Streets at which point it took a bold turn south to First Street. It crossed
First Street at about the place occupied by the Traction Company's Triangle Block.

    The flour mill was purchased the following year by O. H. P. Baxter and later
was operated by the firm of Thatcher and Baxter. This mill became the Mecca for
farmers in all directions from Pueblo, wheat, in some instances, being hauled a
distance of seventy-five miles.


Additional Comments:

Extracted from:

Pathbreakers and Pioneers of the Pueblo Region
Comprising
A History of Pueblo from the Earliest Times
By MILO LEE WHITTAKER
THE FRANKLIN PRESS COMPANY 
1917


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