History - 1907 Souvenir of Wray and Vernon, Yuma County, Colo Donated by LuJean Zion , Sep 24, 1998. Scanned by Lee Zion. Before copying this document, see the USGenWeb Archive notice at the bottom of the text. SOUVENIR OF WRAY AND OF VERNON, COLORADO By Fred Raymond Marsh Published as a booklet By the Wray Gazette June 1, 1907 FOREWORD The reason for the existence of this Booklet will be found in its name, it is a souvenir of Wray and of Vernon. The one object in view has been to preserve in tangible form scenes and incidents that have passed or that will soon live only in the memory of those who have witnessed them. Only indirectly, if at all, is the book an advertisement of the country. I have nothing to sell. I have never owned any land here; I own none now; and I do not think I should wish to sell if I were a land owner at the present time. In many accounts of the West the figures seem to rise with the altitude. The photographs in this Booklet do not lie; I have kept harmony in this respect between the facts and pictures. A growing wheat field is a beautiful sight, but I have made no attempt to describe the oceans of tossing green that greet the eye of the traveler across the Flats. Information has been secured from every source that was available; generally the authority will be found to be given. The business firms advertised are all personally known to me. They are conducted by men of enterprise and of integrity. They will be found worthy of the confidence of those who may do business with them in the lines they represent. I desire to express my heartfelt thanks for the generous assistance rendered and the hearty encouragement given by all in this community. Especially are my thanks offered to Mr. W. B. Coston, our photographer, to whose skill nearly all the pictures bespeak a higher praise than any words of mine can do; to Mr. T. C. Birmingham of Chicago, who settled in this country in 1882, but whose name does not appear on the Pioneer List, since his residence is no longer here, for his check, unsolicited, for $50; to Robert Lynam, editor of the Beecher Island Annual for the use of several cuts; to Mr. Frank T. Hawks, editor of the Wray Gazette, under whose management the work has been issued, for his many helpful suggestions and constant cooperation; and to the Business firms whose advertisements have this publication possible. Throughout this Book it will he noted that simplified spelling has been adopted with reference to one word at least. The word "Arikaree," from long custom, is generally spelled locally "A-r-i-c-k-a-r-e-e." The spelling used in this book is on the authority of the Standard Dictionary and the Report of the United States Board on Geographic Names. With this word of explanation, the Souvenir of Wray and of Vernon is sent forth with my sincere hopes, based on deep conviction that days of past and of present are only the promise of far greater things for the loyal people of Yuma county. FRED RAYMOND MARSH, Pastor First Presbyterian Church. Wray, Colorado, June 1, 1907. HISTORICAL SKETCH It was in the year 1867 that a Massachusetts man who was traveling from Omaha to Denver by stage described the region from Fort Kearney to Denver as "four hundred miles of uninhabitable space." Just forty years have passed since what is now the granary of the world was noticed in such uncomplimentary terms. Herds of cattle graze the pasture of the vanished buffalo, sage brush and buffalo grass have given place to fields of waving grain. The white man on his journey to the setting sun has built huge cities where Indians, a generation ago, pitched their frail tepees. In the western half of this region of erstwhile "uninhabitable space" lie the Plains of Colorado. Rising almost imperceptibly from ten to twenty feet a mile, with rolling prairies broken by a chain of sandhills and bordered by ribbons of flowing water, they form an inclined plane extending to the foothills of the Rockies. Situated in the extreme eastern part of Colorado, in the Plains Country, and adjoining the state lines of Kansas and Nebraska, is Yuma County. This County is forty miles wide east and west, sixty miles long north and south, and contains 1,532,760 acres of land. It has three streams: the North Fork of the Republican, the Arikaree or Middle Fork, and the South Fork, all fed by springs and furnishing water the year around. Besides these there are also innumerable small streams. The first settlers in the country, after the Indians, were the cattlemen. Large companies took possession of the streams, and the unwritten law of the Plains allowed each outfit ten miles of open water and the valley adjoining it, and from the stream half way to the nearest open water on some other stream. In the early '80s the tally books of the various outfits of cattle which ranged eastern Colorado made a total of nearly half a million head. The first cattle company to locate in this region was the 21 outfit which came from Corpus Christi, Texas, in 1873. The company had three camps: one on the Dry Willow, near the present location of J. H. Rosencrans' ranch; one in 21 gulch, which is the first gulch west of the Nebraska line just south of Thomas Ashton's and one at the head of Chief creek. This creek in early days was called Papoose, from the fact that a papoose had been found buried there, wrapped in buffalo hides and placed on a scaffold, according to Indian custom. A few years following saw the entrance of many other outfits. Ranging the South Fork were the Benkelman's, the Bar T company, and many others. On the Arikaree were located the American Cattle Co., Birmingham, McGavock & Co., the Middy Cattle Co., and various smaller outfits. In the year 1876 J. W. Bowles located his cattle ranch on the head of the North Fork above Wray. Soon after, W. J. Campbell started the C-C on the same stream near the Nebraska line. Daniel Holden, from Elbert county, located on the same watercourse. These were the pioneer ranches in this vicinity. In 1877-78 I. P. Olive took up a ranch just east of the present town of Wray, near what is now Olive lake. Following this era came the wave of settlement. The C., B. & Q. railroad, then the B. & M. was built in the summer of 1882. The hard winter of 1885-86 destroyed many cattle on the range. In the same year an order was issued by President Cleveland ordering all fences on public land to he taken down. This, with the incoming rush of settlers, caused most of the large cattle companies to go out of business. The incoming tide of immigrants reached its height in the spring and summer of 1886 when those who had preempted land the preceding fall now returned with their families, and when many came for the first time to settle. With indomitable courage, men and women from the crowded East built their sod houses on the prairies and started in to make their fortunes from the virgin soil. There was not much of a settlement at Wray at that time. as a glance at a view taken in the summer of 1886 will show. Pioneers will readily locate the old station, Porter's store, the Rattler office, the Land Office, Hayes' livery barn, George and Fisher's store, and, of course, the Sod Hotel. Talk with any one of the settlers of the late 80s in this section and ask him how many buildings there were in Wray on his arrival, and it is quite certain his face will break into ripples of a smile as he begins: "Well, there was a sod hotel." Here it was our pioneers took their first meals, and tradition says they were good meals. From its windows, they surveyed the land they had come to possess. From this point, they made their start. At first it was all sod, but later a frame structure was added. This old hotel exists now only as a memory. The sod being dust, has returned to dust; the frame building is used at present as an office for Klugh & McGinnis. The guests have scattered far and wide, some to their last resting place in the great sod itself. Old things have passed away. Numerous other hotels have been built. We are now planning for an up-to-date brick concern, with electric lights and modern conveniences, but-peace be with the Old Sod Hotel! At the time of the settlement of the country, the claims were covered with bones of generations of buffalo. These bones were gathered by the carload by the settlers, who sold them for from $5 to $12 per ton, to be converted into buttons, knife handles, combs, and fertilizers. The land received its first, and practically only, serious setback, in the years 1893 and 1894. The former year is remembered as a time when panic pervaded almost the entire business of the United States. In Yuma County it was a year of drought. The succeeding year was a repetition of the former -- no rain and a complete failure of crops. People left the country by the scores, though hundreds stayed, and many have since returned. From that time to this harvests have been plentiful and the people are prosperous. YUMA COUNTY Yuma County was established by an act of the General Assembly, approved March 15, 1889. To it was added the east part of Adams county, May 12, 1903. The county seat was moved from Yuma to Wray by vote of the people in the autumn of 1902. Yuma is the third county in the state in cattle raising, and its assessed valuation for 1906 was $2,026,289. Besides Wray there are numerous towns and settlements scattered through the county. YUMA - Located in the western part of the county on the C., B. & Q. Railroad, and in the cattle district. LAIRD - Also on the railroad in the eastern part of the county near the state line. VERNON - A flourishing village in the farming community fourteen miles south and west of Wray. IDALIA - Situated on the divide between the South Fork of the Republican and the Arikaree. The town was laid out in the spring of 1888. It is thirty-two miles southwest of Wray, and is the center of an extensive farming and cattle country. Besides these there are also: Armel, Lansing, Newton, Hale, Kirk, and Eckley, all having general stores except Eckley. WRAY - The county seat, was laid off July 27, 1886, by the C-C Laud and Cattle Co., by William Campbell, president, and Amos Steck, secretary, the plat being filed July 31. Another plat of the town, surveyed by A. B. Smith in August, 1886, signed by the president and secretary of the Lincoln Land Co. and by the C-C Land and Cattle Co., was filed October 7, 1886. Sheriff Lovell, according to Hall's History of Colorado, is the authority for the statement that the town was named for Mr. John Wray, formerly cattle foreman for I. P. Olive. SOIL The country in this vicinity falls into two natural divisions: sandhills and the Flats. The sandhills at Wray are just across the Republican River. They follow the form of a bent bow, running from the northeast to the southwest. The North Fork of the Republican is for some miles the backbone of the bow. The Middle Fork, or Arikaree River, is the string. The country lying between constitutes the Flats, or divide, which is today covered with prosperous farms. Speaking of this divide, Bulletin 77, February, 1903 of the Agricultural Station of the Agricultural College of Colorado at Fort Collins, says "The region between the Arikaree and the North Fork of the Republican river, lying east of the sandhills, appears like a piece of country taken from two hundred miles east of its present location and set down in eastern Colorado." The land is thus considered by experts to be similar to the best land of Kansas and Nebraska. These sandhills exert considerable influence on this particular region. They serve to protect the country from the hot winds which are often found in other places. Bulletin 89, June, 1904, from the same experiment station, observes: "The Vernon divide is protected from the ravages of hot winds by the sandhills that lie on the northern and western sides of it. The influence of the sandhills dwindles rapidly as the location is farther to the south and east. By the time Burlington is reached the influence of the sandhills is nothing. . . These sandhills absorb all the water that falls on them. They also receive in addition the drainage from about as large an area as they cover, which lies west of them. . . This moisture influences the humidity of the area which the hills partially surround, and while the rainfall is practically the same at Wray as at Cheyenne Wells, the air is more humid and so does not absorb the water from soil and from the vegetation so rapidly as does the air in less protected localities." It will thus be observed that, besides serving as a barrier against hot winds that sweep across the prairies, these sandhills are natural reservoirs of water. No matter how prolonged the drought, the sand a few inches below the surface is always moist. This moisture, by its constant evaporation, keeps the air humid. It is a well-authenticated fact that rain clouds follow watercourses. It would seem, therefore, that these sandhills exert no little influence in producing that rainfall which is found to a greater degree in this vicinity than in the surrounding country. Wray and Vernon are in what is known as the rain belt, and no irrigation is employed except on the river bottoms. The land on the plains is mostly all good. It is the presence or absence of water which makes it valuable or worthless. Wray, Colorado: "Little Drops of water, on little grains of sand, Make a mighty difference In the price of Western land." If water be plenty the land is good for farming. If water be scarce, it is good only for grazing or for nothing. Below is a table showing precipitation for the last seven years, as taken by I. C. Tuomey, Voluntary Observer, at Wray, Colorado: 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 January .16 .00 .40 .25 .00 .04 .55 February .00 1.07 .90 1.98 .58 .05 .62 March .38 2.51 1.15 .16 .63 3.10 1.88 April 2.50 4.62 .74 .54 2.28 5.12 4.59 May 1.51 1.44 7.00 1.75 2.02 2.59 3.20 June 2.35 3.44 5.69 1.55 6.25 3.19 2.57 July 4.53 2.05 3.33 5.16 2.10 2.98 1.62 August 2.64 5.36 2.71 1.48 1.26 .93 3.57 September .15 2.11 3.73 .69 1.14 2.19 1.71 October .03 .43 1.05 .34 1.10 1.64 1.43 November .20 .00 .16 .25 .05 .60 .53 December .40 .00 .59 .00 .20 .60 .29 Total... 14.80 22.43 27.45 14.15 17.61 22.43 23.09 A study of the above table will show that we have our greatest precipitation during the spring and summer months, and that the average for the past seven years has been 20.28 inches. WRAY, THE COUNTY SEAT I hear the tread of Pioneers Of nations yet to be The first low wash of waves where soon Shall roll a human sea. The rudiments of Empire here Are plastic yet and warm; The chaos of a mighty world Is rounding into form. -Whittier. The city of Wray is located on the headwaters of the Republican river, 165 miles east of Denver, 375 west of Omaha, at an elevation of 3,600 feet, on the main line of the Burlington railroad. On the north it is protected by a long stretch of sandhills, and on the south by a picturesque line of buttes, seamed with many a gulch and canyon, leading up out on the Flats. These rocks are quite precipitous in places and rise about 175 feet above the level of the river. One of the most prominent, overlooking the city and the Republican for miles, is popularly called Flirtation Point. Strangers are quick to see the point. From these rocks the purest spring water is obtained and piped to many residences of the city. Fine water is secured on the Flats from wells varying from 100 to 150 feet deep, and every house has its windmill. It is but fair to say that the first impressions of a stranger, when he steps off the train at the station at Wray are not always favorable. The town is yet young, and has not entirely passed through the awkward stage. A visitor from the East will at first be struck by the absence of trees in the country. Trees there are, and many of them, but they do not grow as readily as in other portions of the United States. However, each year sees quantities set out, and they shade many of our streets and a lot our prairies with clusters of green. Cowboys, with their high-heeled boots, chaps, and clanging spurs, are becoming less common as the country develops into a farming community. Western manners and provincialisms are common. The Easterner says: "I guess"; the Southerner: "I reckon." Two characteristic phrases of the West are these: "You bet" (strong affirmation) and "Hit the Pike" (hike, which being translated, means, Get out"). There is a story of a burglar who at midnight climbed up to a chamber window and cautiously opened it. The occupant, who chanced to be awake, crept softly to the window, and, just as the robber's face appeared, presented the muzzles of two revolvers, with the order, "You hit the pike." "You bet," replied the housebreaker, as he tumbled to the ground and took to his heels. Hospitality is the first virtue. The stranger bent on a peaceful mission is made as comfortable as means will permit, and he is always assured of plenty of fine provisions. On May 17, 1907, Frank T. Hawks, editor of the Wray Gazette, and the writer made a house-to-house canvass to determine as exactly as possible the present population of the town. In the summer of 1903 the city was reincorporated, the limits at present being a few acres less than a section of land. Since that time various estimates, but all purely estimates, had been made as to the number of Inhabitants. The results of a careful investigation, which may be relied upon as being exact are that the population of Wray is 1,012. These figures include only those living within the town limits. Of course many families living adjacent could be added, and thus largely increase the practical number. Compare this sized town and the figures for the business done in the freight office and postoffice, as given elsewhere, and one has no doubt that the community is alive. There are no houses for rent in Wray, nor have there been any vacant houses for rent for several years. The town has never been a boom town. Its growth has been gradual, but steady. In the past four years, by actual count, ninety-one entirely new buildings have been erected. Besides this, in that time, sixteen brick places of business have been put up, and five frame and metal business houses have been built. At the present time, June 1907, eleven new houses are in course of construction. These figures do not include additions or alterations, of which there have been many. The following figures will give a clear idea of the interests of the town: 58 business houses. 7 general merchandise stores. 1 grocery store. 1 shoe store. 6 churches. 2 banks. 4 hotels and restaurants. 1 flouring mill. 3 grain elevators. 4 grain buyers. 3 lumber yards. 2 drug stores. 2 hardware stores. 1 clothing store. 1 harness shop. 1 bakery and confectionery store. 4 coal dealers. 3 dealers in implements. 1 poultry depot. 2 attorneys at law. 5 real estate firms. 2 shoemakers. 2 tin shops. 2 undertakers. 3 loan brokers. 2 abstract firms. 3 milliners. 2 furniture stores. 1 electric light plant. 2 weekly newspapers. 3 livery barns. 1 meat market. 1 photographer. 2 blacksmith and machine shops. 1 brick yard and cement rock factory. Also headquarters of The Wray Telephone Co. According to figures furnished through the kindness of N. D. Beaver, manager, this company has in the county 120 miles of poles, 290 miles of wire, 24 exchanges and 400 phones. The valuation is $100,000 The business is good in all branches, and merchants derive trade from a distance of forty to fifty miles south, twenty-five miles north, and ten miles east and west. Among other things it may he noted that Wray has no steam laundry. It is believed one here would pay. The writer believes that an electric line run from Wray to Vernon and thence through the farming community south would be a paying enterprise. Here is a business opening which would repay investigation by a business firm of integrity. One need of the town is for a good system of waterworks. It will also be noted that there are no saloons in Wray. For some years past there have been two. In the summer of 1903 a town board was elected by considerable majority on a temperance platform. The present town board, which began its duties May 7, 1907, was elected by an increased majority on the same principles. There are now no licensed saloons in Yuma county. The following figures regarding the business done by the freight office of Wray were furnished through the courtesy of Mr. C. W. Hudgel, agent: Freight received for the year ending April 30, 1907: Emigrants, 28 cars. Coal, 94 cars. Lumber, 146 cars. Oil, 46 cars. Furniture, 2 cars. Farm implements, 24 cars. Lime and plaster, 14 cars. Stock, 9 cars. Wire, 4 cars. Miscellaneous, 59 cars. Pounds of local freight received, 5,518,172, or about 150 carloads. Freight forwarded for the same period: Grain, 201 cars. Flour, 19 cars. Cattle, 319 cars. Hogs, 87 cars. Horses and mules, 11 cars. Miscellaneous, 13 cars. The figures for the business of the postoffice were furnished through the kindness of Mr. C. D. Pickett, postmaster. For the year January I to December 31, 1906, the money order business amounted to $38,800. Add to this $3,100 for stamps, etc., and the total is about $42,000. undoubtedly the business of the postoffice is a good thermometer of prosperity. From these figures one gets an accurate idea of the amount of business done in Wray. The following is an abstract of the assessment for the city for the year 1903, as kindly furnished by W. T. Fair, county treasurer: Valuation Town and city lots .................. $ 29,945 Improvements on town and city lots .. 52,975 Total net assessment ................ 535,794 CHURCHES OF WRAY Among the early settlers of this country there were many Christian men and women. A Sunday School was organized and regular meetings held, in a sod schoolhouse, the remains of which are still to he seen across the road south of Arley Cuney's place. The first sermon preached in Wray was delivered in the sod hotel on July 25, 1886, by Rev. Moses Anderson, now of the M. E. church of McCool Junction, Nebraska. Until the building of their church the Catholics held services in private houses. Protestant meetings were later held in the little frame schoolhouse which is now used by the city fathers for their deliberations. Among the early comers Holy Joe, whose name the lake north of town bears, Opino, and many others are recalled by the pioneers. From time to time itinerant missionaries passed through the country, but even the roughest of the cowmen treated with respect those who came among them, and who strove sincerely to teach and live a better life. Tradition speaks of one who held one meeting only in the frame schoolhouse, and who, disregarding the customs of the Plains in early days, came arrayed in a stiff hat, which he ostentatiously placed on the table at his side. He had already fallen into a merited disfavor with the cowboys, but this last affront was more than even western courtesy could stand. The hat was riddled with bullets, the meeting broke up in confusion, and the owner of the skypiece, if accounts are to be believed, fulfilled literally the scriptural command in his departure from the town, by shaking the dust from his feet. The town in its earliest and wildest days was never a "tough" town. Today its citizens as a rule are law-abiding, and its leading people are Christian men and women of culture and refinement. There are at present in Wray six churches. The data given in regard to them has been secured through the kindness either of the pastors, or of some leading officer of the church. They are considered in the order of their organization. PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH On April 17, 1887, in the frame schoolhouse, the First Presbyterian Church of Wray was organized with fourteen charter members. In 1892 the church erected a house of worship that cost them about $1,500. On February 1, 1896, letters were granted to fifteen members of the church to unite in organizing the church at Vernon. In 1900 lots were purchased and a manse built at a cost of $1,400. Finally, in the fall of 1906, the old church property was sold and a new brick church begun on the manse property. This building, which is the finest of any denomination in eastern Colorado, cost about $8,000, and was dedicated June 2, 1907. It is conveniently arranged with class room, library, and pastor's study; lighted with electricity and heated by furnace. The four memorial windows were given by Mrs. Flora Hendrie, in memory of Collier Hendrie; by Enos N. Vaughn, in memory of Thos. and Hannah Vaughn and by William Heindel, in memory of Hetwig Heindel. The first pastor of the church was Rev. Wm. Marshall, now living in Haughton, Washington; the present pastor is Rev. F. R. Marsh. The church has a total membership of about 120. CATHOLIC CHURCH The next church building to be erected in Wray was built in 1888 by the Catholics. In it the congregation has worshipped regularly up to the present time. The parish is not able to support a resident priest, but Rev. Father Froegel of Brighton is pastor in charge, holding regular services once a month. The congregation has both a good church building and a comfortable pastoral residence with no debt, and is steadily growing in membership. They hope in the near future to have a resident priest. METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH The next church to be organized in our community was the Wray Methodist Episcopal Church, which dates from 1892. Services were held in the Presbyterian Church for some years, but in 1900 the church erected a beautiful building of its own at a cost of $2,200. In 1902 a new parsonage was built, and this in 1906 was considerably enlarged. The church is a typical product of western soil, climate, zeal, fortitude, and enthusiasm, consisting at first of a large circuit of seven points - - the farthest being twenty-two miles distant -- and a wide range of buffalo grass partially dotted with squatters' cabins and dugouts. Many strong-hearted, brave, courageous, and God-fearing men have served this circuit. In 1905 the field was divided, Wray and Laird forming one charge. This charge bids well for the future, having many young people within its borders, a strong and encouraging Sunday School, a wideawake Epworth League, and a growing congregation. During the past year the church has increased the pastor's salary and purchased a fine $500 reed pipe organ. The present pastor is Rev. 0. S. Card. LATTER DAY SAINTS The Wray branch of the reorganized church of the Latter Day Saints was organized in June, 1892, with a membership of eighteen. The first pastor was Elder E. D. Bullard, who served the church until 1902, when he was succeeded by Elder A. E. Tabor, present pastor. Elder J. B. Roush, who had been president of the Eastern Colorado district of this organization, assisted until the time of his death in 1905. For several years the congregation met in schoolhouses in the vicinity of Wray, but in 1901 their present house of worship was erected at a cost of $800, and dedicated free of debt in September of that year. This branch of the Latter Day Saints has no connection with the Utah Mormon church, being a distinct organization both in government and in doctrine. The present membership is seventy. SEVENTH DAY ADVENTTSTS The Seventh Day Adventist Church was organized on December 22, 1900, with a membership of twelve. On March 9, 1902, the new church building was completed and dedicated free from debt. The membership at present is forty-nine. B. E. Parkins, is first elder; A. M. Dorman, deacon; Lily Dorman, clerk; S. J. Ness, librarian; A. M. Dorman, superintendent of the Sabbath School; Cora Dorman, secretary. There is an average attendance of about twenty-five. CHRISTIAN CHURCH By suggestion of the Colorado Christian Missionary Convention, Evangelist J. P. Lucas of Colorado Springs, Colorado, was secured to hold a series of meetings at Wray. and began his services on Lord's Day, April 23, 1901. Meetings were held in the Methodist Church. During these meetings scattered disciples, and others by letter, statement and baptism, to the number of thirty, covenanted together as a Church of Christ in Wray, to be known as the Christian Church of Wray. On April 28, 1901, an organization was effected. The new and beautiful house of worship, built at a cost of $2,500 was formally opened on Lord's Day, June 22, 1902. Since then brethren H. K. White, G. C. Johnson, Charles Coleman, and Walter Carter have served as ministers. The church now has a membership of sixty, with a good working Sunday School, Ladies' Aid Society, Ladies' Missionary Society, a Senior and a Junior Christian Endeavor Society. It is gradually growing in numerical and spiritual strength, and is an active moral and religious force in the community. SCHOOLS The statistics for the schools were furnished through the kindness of Prof. F. B. Williams, county superintendent. The number of schools in Yuma county for 1906 was 81; school districts, 62; and pupils, 1,688. The amount paid out for school purposes was $24,233.58 and the average wages for teachers was $40 per month. Within the past two years uniformity in the use of text-books in all the schools of the county has been practically secured. The schools of Wray employed in 1907 seven teachers, enrolling 244 pupils. There is a four-year high school course in connection with the grades. The term is for nine months. In the fall of 1906 the county voted for the establishment of a county high school. On April 27, 1907, the county high school committee met in Wray to consider bids for the site for the school. After a careful survey of all places, the committee decided on a tract 300 feet square just west of the residence of Daniel Jackson in Wray. This is a fine location with a splendid view, and accessible to the town and railroad. It is expected that the high school will open in the fall of 1907. SECRET ORGANIZATIONS The social life of Wray is a prominent feature of the community. The benevolent orders and secret societies are represented by the following fraternal organizations: Wray Post No. 70, G. A. R., Department of Colorado and Wyoming, was organized January, 1889, with eleven charter members. On April 18, 1900, the name was changed to Fred H. Beecher Post, in honor of Lieut. Fred H. Beecher, who lost his life at the battle of Beecher Island on September 17, 1868. The Post is now in a flourishing condition with about thirty members. Masonic Lodge. Odd Fellows. Modern Woodmen of America. Woodmen of the World. Maccabees. Rebekah Lodge. Eastern Star. Women of Woodcraft. Besides these organizations there is a flourishing Woman's Club -- the Tuesday Afternoon Study Club, which meets each week at the home of one of the members. The Club once a year has a special meeting for invited guests, which is always an event of interest. There are about twenty members. THE BRICK PLANT The capacity of the plant is 8,000 bricks per day. The clay is found a short distance south of the kiln, is of good quality, and makes fine bricks. Last year over 500,000 were burned here. The two kilns have a capacity of 75,000 and 100,000 respectively. In connection with the brick yard is a cement block machine with a capacity of 125 blocks per day. Some houses have already been built of these blocks and they are being used quite extensively for foundations. The evolution of a brick house seems to be through the stages of sod and frame. Wray has passed through the first stage and many of the houses recently built, or now in construction, are of brick from our home brick yard. The plant gives employment in all of its departments to about eighteen men. THE WRAY MILLS The Wray Mills, which are located on the Republican river in the eastern part of the city, were erected by J. W. Pickle and L. M. Butts in 1892, the city having donated them a considerable bonus for the establishment of the industry. The power is supplied by the Republican, which here has a fall of 32 feet a mile. The minimum flow of this stream is fifty cubic feet of water a second, and it is never affected by the most prolonged drought. The grinding capacity of the mills is fifty barrels a day. In 1906 a grain elevator, with a capacity of 30,000 bushels, was erected. ELECTRIC LIGHT PLANT The work on the light plant was begun in the fall of 1906. It is of brick, and cost about $8,000. It is run by a sixty horse-power engine, and has a capacity of twelve hundred lights. PIONEERS OF YUMA COUNTY Following is a list of persons who settled within the limits of the present Yuma county prior to 1890, and who are still living here. Every effort has been made to get the names and dates correct. It is known that the list is not complete by any means, but the fact that so large a number have lived here so long a time speaks well for the farming and cattle interests of the country. The writer has taken pains to see nearly every one of the persons here named. Where he has not done so the information has been secured from reliable sources. The postoffice address of all is Wray, Colorado, except where otherwise indicated. Should any one desire further information than is given in this booklet regarding Yuma county, these persons, from their long residence here are well qualified to furnish it, and doubtless would answer cheerfully any inquiry which might be made. The date given here is in most cases the date of actual settlement: 1876. Frank Reeck, August. Chas. Reeck, August. 1883. T. C. Jennings, April 15. J. H. Rosencrans, June. 1884. G. H. Baker, July 15. C. M. Webster, August. 1885. Josephus Brown, March. Allen Smith, March. T. W. Smith, March. Joseph Keenan, August. L. L. Corwin, September 29 W. J. Dorman, October, F. M. Sisson, October 1. Charley Briggs, November. Judge J. S. Hendrie, November 9. Isaac R. Hendrie, November 9. Mrs. Byron Groves, November 9. D. A. Murdock, Laird, Col., November 20. A. D. Murdock November 20. Byron Groves, November 25. O. G. Bolander, December 6. Charley Bolander, December 6. 1886. Dr. E. J. Bales, February 15. Samuel Parker, March 1. W. C. Grigsby, March 1. J. W. Smith, March 10 W. C. Conway, March 12. S. Carlson, March, 12. J. H. Shumaker March 13. J. L. Shumaker, March 13. C. A. Schafer, March 16. A. S. Smith, March 18. J. D. Jordan, March 16. Mrs. J. H. Shumaker, March 20. Mrs. Howard Klugh, March 20. J. A. Hildreth, March 27. Mr. and Mrs. Alonzo Coston, March 29. W. B. Coston, March 29. Mr. and Mrs. Henry Osmus, March 29. Urias Morton, March. Mrs. L. B. Dorman, March. A. F. Grier, March. Lillian A. Kester, March. John Parker, April 1. Ben Shire, April 2. W. S. Callaway, April 8. J. A. Kimber, April 9. Thos. Loyd, April 14. Mrs. Mary Courtney, April 16. Charley Courtney, April 16. Ray Courtney, April 16. Wm. Courtney, April 16. Otis H. Courtney, April 16. W. F. Wolfe, April 17. A. E. Tabor, April 19. Mrs. Wellman Grigsby, April 19. C. L. Long, April 20. D. H. Cumley, April 22. Chas. Glaser, Sr., April 25. Harvey Zion, Vernon, Col., April 20 Fred Bireley, April. Will Sisson, April. S. D. Karns, April. Jeff Cox, May 1. Mr. and Mrs. Jacob Cox, May 5. E. L. Ambler, May 10. John Heaston, May 25. W. T. Fair, May. Henry Wells, May. R. M. Reed, May. F. D. Johnson, June 1. Manuel Boyes, June 17. Mr. and Mrs. Silas Moore, Armel, June. J. P. Coston, June. Alfred S. Kester, June. C. B. Hoppin, July 6. J. J. Grigsby, July 11. Howard Klugh, August 1. C. G. Galbreath, September 12. J. W. Ellis, September 19. Ed Ellis, September 19. Mrs. Lemon Brown, September 19. Mrs. Chas. Briggs. September 19. J. F. Wales, Vernon, Col., September. Amos Carl, September. C. V. Nordahl, September. Mrs. S. B. Wolfe, September. W. D. Johnson, September. Chas. Bullard, September. Robt. F. Brady, Vernon, Col., October 9. Alvin Parker, Vernon, Col., October 11. Miss Critendon Parker, October 11. Charley Kellar, October 22. M.D. Funk, October 23. Mrs. Eliza Loyd, September 29. Edger Loyd, September 29. C. D. Pickett, September. C.F. Hendrie, October 26. C. C. McGinnis, October 27. F. A. Greatsinger, Armel, Col., October. G. W. Lamb, October. Mrs. Chas. Glaser, October. Chas. Glaser, Jr., October. Henry Glaser, October. Miss Clara Glaser, October. Mrs. Lydia Garten, October. Daniel Jackson, November 9, Ben Daniels, November 9. John Toner, November 18. Geo. Akey, December 10. C. N. Moore, December 22. Warren Bowen, December. 1887. A. M. Dorman, January 1. Frank Lewis, January 1. Timothy Burns, January 16. Mrs. Cordelia Hoppin, February 16. P. M. Cuney, February 17. John Heindel, February 15. D. S. Thomas, February 19. Frank Akey, February. Robt. Tippin, March 1 John Tuomey, March 4. Mrs. J. A. Kimber, March 4. Mrs. P. M. Cuney, March 13. Mrs. Nanny Roberts, March 13. W. W. Cunningham, March 15. Clyde Cunningham, March 15. Cash C. Cunningham, March 15. J. T. Rightsell, March 20. Wm. Heindel, March 27. W. E. Jordan, March. Mrs. Henry Wells, March. Mrs. C. F. Hendrie, March. Mrs. Robert Tippin, April 1. Enos H. Vaughn, April 7. R. S. Pike, Laird, Col., April 19. H. S. Leonard, Vernon, Col., April. John Tippin, May 13. William Pyle, June 1. Mrs. C. D. Pickett, June 5. W. J. Weller, June 26. Rev. David Foreman, Vernon, Col., June. Mrs. W. T. Fair, July. Chas. H. Moore, August 2. Geo. Weaver, September 13. L. C. Blust, September. M. C. Blust, September. C. J. Barber, Armel, Col., September J. H. Dickson, Vernon, Col., October 7 Mrs. John Tippin, October 24. Mrs. Wm. Pyle, November 25. 1888. 0. P. Dyar, February 15. W. L. Willis, February 16. D. B. McGinnis, March.11. Mrs. Sarah McGinnis, March 11. W. D. McGinnis, March 11. H. D. Boyes, March 11. A. W. Lawrence, March 13. Galveston Leaman, March 24. Mrs. H. D. Boyes, March 27. C. W. Hudgel, April 1. Henry Hitchcock, April 1. Mr. and Mrs. John Byers, April 26. Percy Byers, April 26. Harvey Byers, April 26. J. B. Beckwith, May 1. Mrs. M. R. Fisk, June 17. Will Fisk, June 17. Harry Fisk, June 17. Myron Fisk, June 17. Arthur Fisk, June 17. Walter Fisk, June 17. Peter Campbell, November 3. John Spiers, November 16. Harvey Spiers, November 15. Ed Porter, November. John J. Smith, December 22. 1889 R. D. Hadlock, Vernon, Col., February 20. J. 0. Graham, February 24. J. E. Graham, February 24. 0. E. Graham, February 24. Milt. Briggs, February. Joe Prickett, Vernon, Col., March 1. J. A. Miller, Vernon, Col., March 19. Arch J. Miller, Vernon, Col., March 19 Asa J. Miller, Vernon, Col., March 19. C. C. Chadwick, Vernon, Col., March 20. F. H. Furneaux, October 4. Conrad Renzelman, October. Garrad Renzelman, October. Wm. Renzelman, October. DRY FARMING The conditions for farming on the Plains are vastly different from what they are in the East. The proverb says: "When in Rome, do as the Romans do." For years eastern farmers have employed eastern methods on western soil and under western conditions. What has been done in the past is, therefore, no standard of what may he or will be done in the future; and yet, even under crude methods, the results have often been astonishing. According to the report of the National Bureau of Agriculture, all products of the soil in Colorado show a greater yield per acre than any other state in the Union. In 1893, the farmers of Colorado were called upon to make exhibits at the World's Fair at Chicago, as were the farmers of all the agricultural states. These exhibits revealed the fact that in this state 277 varieties of wheat were grown, fifty varieties of oats, and 125 varieties of native grasses. Twenty-five awards were given to the wheat exhibit alone of Colorado; the largest number received by any state or country whatsoever. In the past the best results have been obtained through irrigation. Within recent years farmers in eastern Colorado have begun to experiment with the Dry Farming System, or, as it is often called, from its chief exponent, Prof. W. H. Campbell, of Lincoln, Nebraska, "The Campbell System." Experience elsewhere has shown that it is possible to mature crops on a rainfall of twenty inches a year, though a larger amount is to be desired for the best results. It is practical to farm successfully in a country having no more than twelve inches of rainfall in twelve months by the storage of water in the soil through the Dry Farming System. The principles of this farming are the conservation of moisture and intensive methods of culture. The first step in Dry Farming is deep plowing at the proper time. The ground plowed should be packed the same day to prevent evaporation, by a subsurface packer -- an implement with ten wedged-shaped wheels which cut the soil and press it together. Then the ground is to be smoothed down by a harrow. After every rain the field is again harrowed, forming a dry blanket of earth and preventing evaporation. Thus all moisture that falls is conserved, and as it rises by the capillary attraction is available for absorption by the growing plants. So much as to the theory. The question rises, How does it work? Preceding figures have shown how Colorado as a state stands among the grain countries of the world. What place does Dry Farming hold in Colorado? The answer can be found in the records of the Colorado State Fair for 1906. At that fair Dry Farming was awarded first prizes for the following exhibits: for the best spring wheat; for the best field corn; for Early Ohio potatoes; for Irish potatoes; for Peach Blow potatoes; for broom corn; for onions. Second prizes were given to Dry Farming for Australian corn and Early Rose potatoes. In this country it has been customary to take land on which corn has grown, go over it with discs and sow the wheat without plowing. When once the farmer understands his soil it would seem that the average yield would be at least doubled. A specific instance of what is being done in this vicinity is an illustration of what, perhaps, all could do. William S. Callaway, living twelve miles southwest of Wray, and near Vernon, has tried successfully the summer fallowing system of Dry Farming. Following is part of a letter written by Mr. Callaway to the Ranch and Range, a farming paper published in Denver, 401-2 Commonwealth building, under date of February 15, 1907: Vernon, Col., Feb.15, 1907. Editor Ranch and Range, Denver, Colorado: In giving you my experience as a farmer, I shall commence from the beginning, which dates back to the spring of 1886. Coming from eastern Nebraska to this, what was then a trackless waste of prairie, with not enough money to live on over two or three months like a good many more in those times, we were compelled to hunt buffalo bones for a living. We tried farming as we were accustomed to doing back East, which was the cause of several successful failures, but like grim death we held on through thick and thin. Some years very good crops; only one year in twenty have we made a complete failure, which was the year 1894, one load of corn fodder being all we had to show for our summer's work. Will say here that we have made our living since coming here by farming. In farming the old or common way our crops have run in spring as follows: Wheat, from 13 to 27 bushels; oats, 20 to 65 bushels; barley, 20 to 45 bushels; and corn, 8 to 27 bushels. A living can be made with these results if one is contented to plod away with no other aim in view aside from a living. Having read some on the Campbell system, I determined to try it as a side issue or experiment, besides keeping up the old way of farming. A review of his experiment, and the results as given in the Beecher Island ANNUAL for 1906, are as follows: Mr. Callaway had 64 acres in one field which he prepared and planted by three methods, which will be considered separately -- each piece being a little over 21 acres. The first piece, or the Campbell method of cultivation as we shall term it, was first listed in May, 1905, as if corn was to be planted; however, no seed was put in. Then in June this ground was re-listed, that is, the ridges of the former listing were split. The ridges of the second listing were then leveled down with a disc cultivator, then dragged and disced. After this the ground was disced after a hard rain and harrowed after a light rain until September 10, when it was sown to turkey red wheat with a press drill, at one-half bushel per acre. Nothing more was done with this piece of wheat until it was cut and bound from the 8th to the 10th of July, and threshed out of shock on August 4. The yield, machine measure, was 56 1/7 bushels per acre, which overrun 6 pounds per bushel and tested 64, which made a yield by weight of 61 2/3 bushels. The same method employed in 1905 yielded 48 bushels per acre, while spring wheat grown beside it only turned out 7 1/2 bushels per acre. The second piece of wheat, same seed, and on ground beside the first piece, was on fall plowed ground, drilled in at the same time as the first piece, sown one-half bushel per acre, cut and bound from July 8 to 10, threshed out of shock August 4, yielded 27 bushels per acre, machine measure, overrun 5 pounds per bushel, tested 63, making a yield of 29 bushels by weight per acre. The third piece was double disced twice, or disced four times, harrowed and planted with press drill in stubble ground beside the above pieces in September, cut and bound July 8 to 10 and threshed out of shock August 4. Yield per acre was 21 3/4 bushels, machine measure, overrun 5 pounds per bushel, test 63, making a yield per acre of 24 bushels by weight. Here you have a fair test of the so-called Campbell system, although not fully carried out (the wheat not being harrowed or cultivated while growing) as compared with other methods on the same kind of ground, same seed, and same care from date of planting, the yield of 24, 29, and 61 2/3 bushels per acre by weight being the result. This wheat received no irrigation, but was raised by the summer fallow or "Campbell System" of farming, by William S. Callaway, Vernon, Colorado. Twenty acres of this wheat yielded 56 1/7 bushels per acre, machine measure, which weighed 66 pounds to the bushel and tested 64 pounds to the bushel, making an actual yield by weight of 61 2/3 bushels. State of Colorado, County of Yuma. I, William S. Callaway, do on oath depose and say that I raised the wheat above described this season and the statements and weights as above given are correct. WM. S. CALLAWAY. Subscribed in my presence and sworn to before me this 14th day of August 1906. MADISON FINCH, (SEAL) Notary Public. ALFALFA Alfalfa is grown mostly in the river bottoms where irrigation is possible, but this year twelve of the enterprising farmers of Wray have begun a series of experiments with non-irrigated, high altitude, Turkeystan alfalfa seed, planting this on the divides above irrigation. The result of these experiments is being looked forward to with great interest. The word alfalfa is derived from the Arabic, which means "the best sort of fodder." Three or four crops a year, and from three to six tons per acre, represent the harvest. Alfalfa is the best fat producer for stock; it is a nitrogen gatherer, and by rotation of crops fertilizes the soil. It produces a rich harvest for the bee. At the World's Fair at St. Louis the grand prize for both comb and strained honey was given to Colorado, and the honey was alfalfa honey. J. H. Rosencrans, sixteen miles southeast of Wray, has 300 acres in alfalfa and many others have smaller acreage. FRUITS AND VEGETABLES The early settlers experienced considerable difficulty in getting fruit trees to grow. Within recent years cherries, peaches, plums, apples, etc., have been raised in small quantities. John Spiers, west of Wray told the writer that a year ago he raised between sixty and seventy bushels of peaches, about forty-five bushels of cherries, and some plums. The fruit in this section is all of a fine flavor, and most of the farms now have their orchards, which ought, with care, to furnish an abundance of fruit in two or three years. Vegetables and melons of all kinds grow to perfection. The writer has lived many years in the south, which is sup posed to be the home of the melon, but he never saw or tasted finer than are grown in this section. HOGS The raising of hogs is a neglected industry in Colorado. The city of Denver requires over 100,000 for pork every year. According to statistics for 1907 in the Ranch and Range, the Denver packing-houses can use this number every month. Last year only 17,000 were received from Colorado. The neighborhood around Wray is remarkably well adapted to the raising of swine. No diseases are known, and the alfalfa and corn are abundant. Milt Briggs, three miles south of Wray, raises hogs more abundantly perhaps than any in the section. Last year Mr. Briggs captured two first prizes, two seconds, and one third. He raises the Chester White. HUNTING AND FISHING In the early days these prairies swarmed with buffalo, and in riding over the Plains one may yet see scores of old buffalo wallows in the depressions. The early settlers found antelope and wolves, but these have disappeared. Coyotes are plentiful, and a chase with a pack of hounds is an experience never to be forgotten. Prairie chickens, sage hens, and grouse abound and may be shot from August 20 to October 1. Quail are also quite plentiful, but there is no open season for hunting them. Wild ducks in great numbers come in the fall and spring and feed on the river and adjacent lakes. They may be shot from September 10 to April 15. Wray boasts an enterprising hunting club which has leased a number of the better ponds. For three years the hunters of the town have appointed captains who choose sides for a rabbit hunt. Each jack rabbit killed counts ten points, and each cottontail twenty points. The losing side entertains the winners at a banquet. Thirty hunters took part in the contest this year. The annual banquet was held on February 7, 1907, at Shield's hotel. Good fishing is found in the lakes and streams. There are seven fish hatcheries in the state, which "plant" in the public streams in all sections of the country approximately 15 million trout a year. Trout are plentiful in Chief Creek and the Republican. They are the rainbow, speckled trout, and salmon. C. C. McGinnis of Wray caught one trout last year which dressed weighed slightly over three pounds, but this size is not seen often. Curator Will C. Ferril and Mr. Horace C. Smith, Museum Assistant, of the State Historical and Natural History Society of Colorado, have made several visits to Yuma county collecting birds, mammals, wild flowers, reptiles, etc., for the museum in the State House at Denver. The ornithological collection of the county has been catalogued by Mr. Smith, and is the largest and most complete in the State, near the Kansas line, and contains many rare Colorado birds. Among other specimens is a Baltimore oriole with nest and eggs; also specimens of the orchard oriole, the bell vireo, the Western blue grosbeak, the blue jay, and dickcissel. A species of the hairy woodpecker is found here. One can not ride far on the prairies without hearing the clear note of the meadow lark, and visitors from Dixie will stop at the sweet strains of an old friend, and "listen to the mocking bird." CLIMATE Colorado has long been known as a national sanitarium for the sick. Frequently the writer has seen robust men describing their former ailments, and the question is not uncommon, "What was your disease?" The altitude at Wray is 3,600 feet -- scarcely high enough to affect any but the most sensitive, and yet high enough to give a dry, crisp, exhilarating atmosphere. There is but very little snowfall and often for weeks at a time one lives with open doors and windows. The reports show about three hundred days of sunshine. The following statement is taken from a report furnished by F. H. Brandenburg, District Forecaster, U. S. Weather Bureau for the Denver Chamber of Commerce: "Discarding fractions of a degree, the mean annual temperature at Denver is 50 degrees, as against 48 at Chicago, 49 at Boston, 55 at Washington, 56 at St. Louis, and 69 at Jacksonville. During the last thirty-two years 100 degrees or higher has been touched just thirteen times in Denver-seven times in July and six in August. While these high temperatures were maintained only for a few minutes, readings in the 90'S are common during every summer month. For July, the warmest month, the average temperature is 72 degrees, and the average daily maximum, or afternoon reading, is 87 degrees. Pretty high, it is true, but, on the other hand, the average minimum, or night temperature for July is 59 degrees, which all will agree is very comfortable for midsummer. "The average relative humidity is slightly below 50 per cent. It is highest in February, 55 per cent, and lowest in June, which has an average of 46 percent. Twice during my residence of twenty-one years in the State have observed a humidity as low as 1/2 percent. The annual relative humidity at St. Louis is 70 per cent, Boston 72, Washington 73, Chicago 77, and Jacksonville 80, and for the warmer months-June, July, August, and September-at St. Louis 66 per cent, Chicago and Boston 74, Washington 76, and Jacksonville 82. It will be observed that in the Atlantic states the humidity during the warm mouths is greater than the annual, just the reverse of that which obtains at Denver. "In brief, our summers are characterized by warm days and cool nights, the heat of the day not attended by the usual debilitating effects; our winters by an abundance of sunshine, and the general absence of snow and of severe and long continued cold." The roads both winter and summer are fine, and mud is almost unknown. Two drawbacks to the climate impress the stranger, particularly if he arrives in the spring of the year. One is the prevalence of winds, which though strong, never do any damage. No souvenir of Wray would be complete without the following classic, in reference to the winds: A dapper stranger, stepping one day from the Continental Express for a look about, while the engine was taking coal, happened to meet a gale of wind, blowing freshly across the prairies. Holding carefully on to his hat with one hand and clinging to his flying coat with the other, he approached our townsman, Jacob Cox, with the inquiry, "Does it always blow here this way?" "No," was Uncle Jake's reply, "it sometimes blows the other way." A second drawback is an occasional dust storm, which lasts sometimes several hours. The nights in Colorado are uniformly cool, and needless to say that the days filled with sunshine are most delightful. VERNON The town of Vernon is situated nine miles south and five miles west of Wray, on the Vernon divide, in the center of a most populous farming country. It was laid out in the spring of 1892 by a town site committee composed of the following persons: T. A. Willson, president; F. M. Boatman, secretary and treasurer; W. H. Hadlock, J. D. Clark, and Frank Gant. Each member of the committee proposed a name for the new town, and the one given by Mr. Willson was agreed upon. The rolling prairies, dotted with farm houses, checkered with fields of grain, stretch away from the village for miles on every hand, and in the clear, pure air the view is beautiful. The town is not large in size, but it does an enormous amount of business. It has two general stores, two hotels, and three churches : the Presbyterian, Lutheran, and Christian. The number of scholars in the Vernon school last year was 45. BEECHER ISLAND Beecher Island, which is the scene of perhaps the most determined fight against overwhelming odds ever put up by white men against the Indians on the Plains, is an island in the Arikaree river about seventeen miles to the south of Wray. The island and the battle both take their name from Lieut. Fred H. Beecher, 3d United States Infantry, who was a nephew of the great Brooklyn preacher, and who was killed in the first day's fight. In August, 1868, General Sheridan, then in command of the Department of Missouri, in response to a call from Acting Governor Frank Hall, of Colorado, for assistance, issued orders for an independent expedition to be sent out against the Indians. The party consisted of fifty scouts and frontiersmen under the command of Col. Geo. A. Forsyth. The expedition reached Fort Wallace the night of September 5, without finding any trace of Indians. While remaining there word was brought from Sheridan, a little village sixteen miles to the east, that the enemy had attacked a Mexican haying outfit that was there putting up hay for the Government. At this point the scouts picked up the trail, which led to the northwest. It was followed across the prairies until indications pointed to the fact that they were close to the Indians. At 4:00 P.M. on the night of September 16 the party went into camp on the north side of the Arikaree river, about forty rods north of Beecher Island. This island was about 250 feet long, dotted with clumps of small cottonwood trees, and surrounded by a shal1ow stream some fifteen feet wide. The river bottom on either hand recedes to high buttes and desolate hills. Early in the morning of the 17th the Indians attempted to stampede the stock of the scouts, and partially succeeded in the attempt, capturing two horses and five pack mules. The scouts took up their position on the island and by sunrise the Indians began pouring from up the river by the hundreds. In all there were about one thousand warriors from a band of Cheyenne Indians, assisted by the Ogallala, the Brule Sioux, and Dog Soldiers. The Indians were commanded by the Cheyenne Chief, Roman Nose. General Fry, in his book, "Army Sacrifices," gives a graphic description of this celebrated Indian: "The shock of battle and scenes of carnage and cruelty were as of the breath of his nostrils. About thirty years of age, standing six feet three inches high, he towered giant-like above his companions; a grand head, with strongly-marked features, lighted by a pair of fierce black eves a large mouth with thin lips, through which gleamed rows of strong white teeth; a Roman nose, dilated nostrils, like those of a thoroughbred horse, first attracted attention, while a broad chest, with symmetrical limbs on which the muscles under the bronze of his skin stood out like twisted wire, were some of the points of this splendid animal. Clad in buckskin leggings and moccasins elaborately trimmed in beads and feathers, with a single eagle feather in his scalp-lock, and with that rarest of robes, a white buffalo, beautifully tanned, and soft as cashmere, thrown over his naked shoulders, he stood forth the war chief of tbe Cheyennes." The scouts had no time in which to make preparations, for their retreat to the island had been hurried. The horses were tied to the cottonwoods, which gave very scanty protection, and every man dug up, as best he could in the sand, a little barrier. Soon the last horse was killed. Most of the scouts were wounded, and while dismounted Indian warriors crawled as close to the island as they dared, and the hills to the north were covered with their women and children, chanting war-songs and filling the air with whoops and yells, the mounted warriors began to form for the furious charge which proved to be the climax of the battle. The scouts knew the crisis was at hand. Each Spencer repeating rifle was charged with six shots in the magazine and one in the barrel. The guns of the dead and mortally wounded were loaded and lay close at hand. For a few moments the galling fire of the dismounted Indians rendered it impossible for any of the scouts to expose themselves. Thus, to the chanting of war-song and the crack of rifle and the yell of Indian warrior, and the moans of their wounded comrades, American scouts awaited the charge. In his description of that attack General Forsyth says: "We had not long to wait. A peal of the artillery bugle, and at a slow trot the mounted warriors came partially into view in an apparently solid mass at the foot of the valley, halting just by the mouth of the canyon on the opposite side of the river from which we had emerged the preceding day. "Closely watching the mounted warriors, I saw their chief facing his command and by gestures evidently addressing them in a few impassioned words. Then, waving his hand in our direction he turned his horse's hea4 towards us, and at the word of command they broke at once into a full gallop, leading straight for the foot of the island. "As Roman Nose dashed gallantly forward and swept into the open at the head of his superb command he was the very best ideal of an Indian chief, mounted on a large, clean-limbed chestnut horse. . . He was a man over six feet three inches in height, beautifully formed, and except for a crimson silk sash knotted around his waist and his moccasins on his feet, perfectly naked. His face was hideously painted in alternate lines of red and black and his head crowned with a magnificent war bonnet, from which, just above his temples and curving slightly forward, stood tip two short black buffalo horns, while its length of eagle's feathers and heron's plumes trailed wildly on the wind behind him. "Turning his face for an instant toward the women and children of the united tribes, who literally by the thousands were watching the fight from the crest of the low bluffs back from the river's bank, he raised his right arm and waved his hand with a royal gesture in answer to their wild cries of rage and encouragement as he and his men swept down upon us; and, again, facing squarely toward where we lay, he drew his body to its full height and shook his fist defiantly at us; then, throwing back his head and glancing skyward, he suddenly struck the palm of his band across his mouth and gave tongue to a war cry that I have never heard equaled in power and intensity. "Scarcely had its echoes reached the river's bank when it was caught up by each and every one of the charging warriors with an energy that baffles description. "On they came at a swinging gallop, rending the air with their wild war whoops, each individual warrior in all his bravery of war paint and long braided scalp-lock, tipped with eagle's feathers, and all stark naked but for their customary belts and moccasins, keeping in line almost perfectly, with a front of about sixty men, all riding bareback with only a loose lariat about the horses' bodies, about a yard apart, and with a depth of six or seven ranks, forming together a compact body of massive fighting strength and of almost resistless weight. "Riding about five paces in front of the line, and twirling his heavy Springfield rifle about his head as if it were a wisp of straw probably one of those he had captured at the Fort Fetterman massacre, Roman Nose recklessly led the charge with a bravery that could only be equaled but not excelled, while their medicine man, an equally brave but older chief, rode slightly in advance of the left of the charging column." The handful of heroic men stopped and drove back in confusion the oncoming horde of howling savages. The first volley brought down an Indian from every gun; the second made them falter, and the five succeeding ones turned them back pell mell, leaving the ground strewn with the dead and wounded braves and horses. Among the killed was their great chieftain, Roman Nose, who went down at the fifth volley. The big medicine man was killed by the fourth volley. The loss of their leaders and their surprising and unaccountable repulse disheartened them. General Forsyth says of the scene that followed: "In the meantime the valley was resonant with the shrieks of the women and children, who from their coign of vantage on the hills had safely but eagerly watched the result of Roman Nose's desperate charge and now as their fathers, sons, brothers, and lovers lay dead on the sands before them, their wild wails of passionate grief and agony fitfully rose and fell on the air in a prolonged and mournful cadence of rage and despair. And as for a short time many of the Indians rode circling around yelling and waving their arms over their heads, hither and yon, apparently half dazed at the death of the medicine man and their great war chief, as well as distressed at the disastrous failure of their charge, the whole scene, combined with the steady crack of the rifles of the Indians in ambush, the reply of the scouts, the smoke of the powder, and the view of the dead warriors and horses lying on the sand before us, seemed for a moment or two almost uncanny, and weird in the extreme." That night two scouts, Jack Stillwell and Pierre Trudeau, were sent to Fort Wallace to inform Colonel Bankhead of the condition of things. On the third night two more scouts were dispatched for assistance. In the meantime the fighting continued, but in a desultory manner, the Indians apparently settling down to starve out the besieged. For eight days the scouts remained on the island, suffering all the hardships possible to a wounded band, without food or medical relief, but on the morning of the ninth day assistance came when a troop of the 10th Cavalry, under Lieut. L. H. Carpenter, arrived. During the battle five of the Americans were killed and were buried on the island. Their names are: Lieut. Fred H Beecher, 3d U. S. Inf., Surgeon J. H. Mooeres, and scouts Louis Farley, G. W. Culver, and William Wilson. In the year 1899 the Beecher Island Memorial and Park Association was organized. In 1902 a bill passed Congress and was signed by the President granting to the incorporation three quarters of land composing the battlefield. In 1903 the legislature of the state of Colorado granted to the Association a tract of 120 acres, which the State owned adjoining the island. Finally, in 1904, the states of Colorado and Kansas appropriated $5,000 to be used in the erection of a suitable monument. This monument is eighteen feet and one inch high. It was unveiled on September 18, 1905, General Forsyth and four of the old scouts being in attendance. Every year since 1901 reunions have been held, and people come by the hundreds to these gatherings. Full accounts of these meetings are given in the Beecher Island ANNUAL, published every year by the Association, and to be obtained for 10 cents of Robert Lynam, editor, Wray, Colorado. The Association has planted trees on the island, and in a few years the scene of this conflict will be a beautiful park. Contributed for use by the USGenWeb Project (http://www.usgenweb.org) Archives and by the COGenWeb Project Archives (http://www.usgwarchives.net/co/cofiles.htm) USGenWeb Project NOTICE: In keeping with our policy of providing free information on the internet, data may be used by non-commercial researchers, as long as this message remains on all copied material. 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