The New Empire of the Rockies: A History of Northeast Colorado BLM Cultural Resources Series (Colorado: No. 16)

Farmers came to northeastern Colorado to make their fortunes from this land's natural wealth. They did not have dreams of instant riches as miners and cattlemen did, but they did have an optimistic sense that with work, the land could be transformed into an agrarian paradise. The sodbusters moved onto lands along major watercourses and into valleys along the front range. Once these places filled with people, newcomers made faltering attempts to till the arid plains. By the end of the nineteenth century these dryland efforts had yielded marginal success. Yet farm settlement, despite occasional setbacks, peopled most of northeastern Colorado.

While intense agricultural use of the region came after the Civil War, some individuals were farming as early as 1840. As fur posts developed along the South Platte, their occupants needed food. Because of the forts' isolation the occupants were forced to supply themselves. Some employees were put to work planting fields and gardens near the sites. Lands located along the South Platte were fertile and did not need water artificially brought to them. What irrigation that was used was done by hand, without elaborate ditches. [1] As the fur business declined, some trappers stayed in the region and took up farming. They built cabins and laid out fields. These earliest agrarians also tended small numbers of livestock and milk cows. However, most of their meat was supplied by hunting. The area also attracted a few new settlers. Some were travelers to Oregon who ended their journey in northeastern Colorado, while others were those who had heard of trappers' adventurers in the West and wanted to share in it. A few newcomers were mountain men that arrived during the fur trade's final decline and were forced to farm to survive. The most famous was Elbridge Gerry, relative of the Massachusetts politician of the same name. Gerry arrived on the South Platte during the 1840s and prepared to live a life of relative seclusion. He married a native woman to ensure his safety. Gerry and other farmers along the South Platte formed a thin line of outposts for the first Fifty-niners as the human flood hit Colorado. [2]

The gold rush changed farming in northeastern Colorado almost overnight. Miners needed supplies and at first, depended upon foodstuffs imported from the Midwest. Flour cost as much as $50 a barrel here but hungry miners were more than willing to pay these inflated prices. Further, because many of the Fifty-niners had farming backgrounds they turned to agriculture after they were unable to survive in the mines. These people found the mountain meadows and lands along the foothills fertile and they took up farms in those places. Farms did not spread very far out onto the plains. Farmers did not plant crops for survival but rather to sell. At this point agriculture in northeastern Colorado changed from subsistence to commercial farming. As fast as native title was extinguished by treaties, farmers filed claims. [3] During the later nineteenth century Federal land policy was liberal and allowed the settlers numerous devices to secure farmsteads. When the first Fifty-niners arrived only one law was in effect; the Preemption Act of 1842. It allowed a claimant to secure title to 160 acres at $1.25 an acre. Many of the area's first settlers used this statute to purchase land, a trend that continued throughout the nineteenth century. By 1862 the Republican Party, now in power, felt the Preemption Act did not go far enough in peopling the West with farmers. As a remedy Congress passed the Homestead Act of 1862. It allowed a settler to exchange five years of living on public land for 160 patented acres, with the only cost being patent and survey fees. The Pre-emption and Homestead Acts allowed a number farmers to get a start in northeastern Colorado.

During the 1870s, as these two laws were utilized, Congress took further steps to encourage settlement of the Great Plains. They enacted the Timber Culture Act of 1873 and the Desert Land Act of 1877. Both were experiments at meeting the needs of plains farmers, especially the lack of rainfall. The Timber Culture Act encouraged tree planting in exchange for more land while the Desert Act required new irrigation systems. Neither law functioned as intended and ranchers, as well as farmers, took advantage of the loose phraseology for their own benefit. Nevertheless, these four basic acts were used to take up land in northeastern Colorado during the later nineteenth century. Some settlers said, years after the fact, that without "liberal" Federal land policy they could not have been successful in farming the prairies. [4] Civil War limited the number of settlers who relocated until nearly 1870. At that point Native Americans were no longer a problem. Other changes that would affect land use patterns in the region took place. From 1860 until 1868 the South Platte Trail was northeastern Colorado's primary transportation route but by the latter year it was nearly abandoned. The construction of the Union Pacific Railroad through to Julesburg eliminated the need for a wagon road along the South Platte because now settlers could travel by rail to Sidney, Nebraska or Cheyenne, Wyoming and then from those points they found the trip much shorter into the area. Usually they used newly established roads linking Denver to the railroad. Equally, as both the Kansas Pacific and Denver Pacific moved toward Denver during 1869 and 1870 access to locations away from the old trails was made easier. These shifts in transportation patterns led to a redistribution of population. [5]

New routes through northeastern Colorado, by making access to the area easier, encouraged settlers to populate the place. Some came as individuals while others moved as part of a group effort. These were called colonies. A few survived while others simply disappeared. Each had its own purpose and objectives beyond simple farming. Some were founded as temperance colonies, others for religious reasons, and a few to provide homes for people with similar ethnic backgrounds. Colonizing efforts began in the late 1860s and their numbers flourished during the next decade. However, by the turn of the century most colonies disappeared as they were swallowed up in a greater wave of agricultural settlement throughout northeast Colorado. [6]

Among the first, and most famous, of these communities was the Union Colony of Colorado, more commonly known as Greeley, Colorado. In 1869 Horace Greeley, editor of the New York Tribune and a Western booster, with help from Nathan C. Meeker, a 19th century reformer, organized the "Colony of Colorado", soon renamed the Union Colony. They envisioned a liquor free agrarian Utopia, built on the high plains. Representatives of the colony were sent to Colorado to find land. Greeley and Meeker worked to perfect the constitution of the colony. It was organized so that each member purchased shares and entered into a covenant in return for a farm site and building lot in town. The most outstanding feature of this agreement was prohibition of liquor within the colony's boundaries. By the end of summer, 1869, land was found in Colorado and membership rolls grew. [7] In May 1870 the first trainloads of colonists began to arrive in Colorado territory. The land chosen was near the junction of the South Platte and Cache la Poudre Rivers. It was also along the Denver Pacific Railroad. The emigrants set about plowing fields, building shelters and constructing irrigation ditches, hoping to be established by fall of the first year. Over the summer work continued at a rapid pace as more people arrived. Most of these early emigrants came from the east coast, but a few Midwesterners also joined the colony. They moved to Colorado for many reasons, the primary being a promise of prosperity and the chance to fashion their own society as outlined in promotional literature. Once relocated, colony farmers faced hard work to ensure their community's future. Foremost was construction of an irrigation system to bring water to nearby fields. Meeker and his assistant General Robert A. Cameron, planned such a system once the tract was selected. They made the canals communal property and ownership of shares in the water project came with possession of land. The Union Colony effort was the first major irrigation undertaking in northeastern Colorado. Yet, as early as 1859 Euro-Americans artificially brought water to their fields. That year David Wall started a vegetable farm near Golden, Colorado, and to water it he built a small trench from Clear Creek into his fields. Others copied his practice and by the time the Union colonists arrived on the South Platte, irrigation as a method was well established. The Greeleyites brought water from the Cache la Poudre River to 60,000 acres after only one year of work. The success of large scale irrigation at that settlement encouraged others to do the same. The project proved that water systems could cover hundreds of acres efficiently. The apparent prosperity of the Union Colony led others to copy these methods. [8]

One settlement that became the foundation of another permanent community was the Colorado-Chicago Colony, commonly called the Chicago colony. It was founded in Illinois in late 1870 with the purpose of purchasing land and relocating to northeast Colorado. During 1871 representatives of the company visited Denver, and the front range, searching for suitable locations. While inspecting the St. Vrain valley they were impressed with what they found and in May a site was chosen; members of the colony were already arriving in Colorado. The land was near Old Burlington, but because the colonists wanted a temperance society they founded their own village, Longmont. Like Greeley, each member or family paid an initiation fee in exchange for a farm plot, rights to water and a town lot. Longmont filled rapidly with Midwesterners and became another "instant" city in northeastern Colorado. [9]

As colony fever spread across the United States and the successes of Greeley and Longmont were publicized, promoters turned their eyes to the region. They were encouraged by Coloradans like William N. Byers. In addition to his career as editor of the Rocky Mountain News, he also was an agent for the National Land Company. This corporation was formed to advertise northeastern Colorado and more specifically, to sell lands granted the Denver Pacific Railroad by Congress. Byers wrote pamphlets, canvassed parts of the Midwest and took prospective buyers on tours of the region. Colony agents were among his most ardent customers. More importantly, work of people like Byers encouraged settlement in northeast Colorado; either individually or as members of communal organizations. [10] St. Louis-Western Colony was one group that Byers helped to find land in this region. Organized in Missouri during 1871, the company chose lands along the Denver Pacific at Evans, Colorado, south of Greeley. The organization bought 1,600 acres and by the end of the first year had 600 residents. Its covenants were more relaxed than those of the Union Colony, especially regarding the regulation of liquor sales. The St. Louis venture succeeded, but Evans failed to grow because Greeley merchants captured most local trade. [11] Another organization founded in 1871 and that purchased land from the National Land Company, located itself at Platteville, Colorado. This venture's backers saw colonies as a tool for land speculation and little effort was made to help settlers. Those who did move to Colorado found themselves on their own. Some eventually left Platteville while others stayed to farm. [12] Further south, along the South Platte River, another entrepreneur, Colonel David S. Green of Tennessee, established a colony known as Green City. He set about, in Memphis, to find immigrants. Green had flyers printed showing Green City as a bustling river city with steamboats at wharves, marble buildings and so forth. Thousands in the war ravaged South were interested in a new start and believed this propaganda. When they arrived in Colorado immigrants found desolate stretches of plains from which they scratched out farms. Others from the same part of the nation settled at what later became Sterling using a semi-communal organization prior to taking up individual farms. [13]

During the early 1870s colonies spread across much of Colorado and one man, General Robert Cameron, became the undisputed leader of this movement. He began his career with the Union Colony. After it became successful he left the organization and in 1872 started his own operation, the Agricultural Colony. This place was located near old Fort Collins. In 1869 another group of immigrants from Pennsylvania settled there as the Mercer Colony but when Cameron moved in, earlier efforts were quickly absorbed by the General's project. [14] Within two years Cameron was busy on yet another settlement—the Fountain Colony of Colorado Springs. By then he was a recognized expert at community planning and growth. The Fountain Colony was founded earlier by General William Jackson Palmer as part of his program to develop lands along his new Denver and Rio Grande Railroad. Despite Palmer's support, the project faltered. Cameron was able to succeed and soon Fountain joined the ranks of Colorado's growing communities. [15] The colony method became a popular way for land companies, and individuals, to settle this region. Without colonies and their access to considerable amounts of capital and labor, agriculture would have developed slowly in northeastern Colorado. After the colony craze passed, most water project construction was carried out by irrigation companies that built systems hundreds of miles long. [16]

Irrigation ditches were the lifeblood of northeast Colorado. Photo by S. F. Mehls.

The white church on the plains served as a beacon of civilization for settlers. Photo by J. Perry.

Because of the size of their work forces as well as a need for water, colonies were not only able, but were forced, to develop large irrigation systems. Spreading water diversion led to conflicts between users in the region, especially over how much water each should be allowed. During wet years there were few problems but during dry times water disputes occassionally sparked threats and violence. 1874 was such a year along the Cache La Poudre River, which then served as a water source for both Fort Collins (Agricultural Colony) and downstream Greeley. The upriver irrigators took what they needed, leaving Greeley's share greatly diminished. This upset farmers and they threatened to raid Fort Collins and destroy that town's canal system. Equally, Fort Collins residents vowed to protect their property to the last man. Fortunately the matter was turned over to the territory's legal system and legislature. Agreements were eventually worked out but, more importantly, the Cache La Poudre conflict made it clear that some type of rules were needed to deal with water questions in Colorado's arid environment. The English common law system of riparian rights was not adequate, so Colorado's Constitutional Convention addressed the matter as the Territory prepared for statehood in 1876. Out of these debates came a Colorado system that provided for definite claims to specific water amounts based on the principle of "first in time, first in right" so far as reasonable; but short of monopoly. The law also included a set of priorities for ranking uses like domestic and agricultural under which more important use took precedence over lesser need. Colorado's "doctrine of prior appropriation" was copied throughout the West. [17]

Water was but one of many problems faced by pioneer farmers in northeastern Colorado during the late nineteenth century. The environment proved greatest enemy to these people. Uncertainties of weather plagued them (and still does) much as nature had hurt cattlemen. Blizzards delayed plantings or killed young crops that were seeded too early. Summer droughts and extremely hot weather could wither vegetation in just a matter of days. Dust storms could denude fields. Severe thunderstorms were common to the area and had accompanying hail, high winds or tornados that could ruin an entire year's crop within moments. [18] If a farmer was fortunate enough to survive these hazards, nature still had one further way to break him. Periodically, under favorable climatic conditions, grasshopper populations would multiply and to find sustenance these insects ate everything they could find. At times they were so dense that their droves resembled clouds of dust rolling along the ground; thick enough to blot out the sun. When they arrived "hoppers" just ate until there was no more and then they moved on. Reports of chickens exploding after gorging themselves on the hoppers, or calves with their eyes eaten out were commonplace. [19]

Even if all these obstacles were overcome, life was still not easy for an agrarian in northeast Colorado during the later nineteenth century. Once crops were planted and growing, wandering cattle (or buffalo) often found their way into fields eating and/or trampling plants. To stop these incursions farmers erected barbed wire fences and on occasion would shoot an errant cow. At times this led to conflicts with local ranchers. [20] Barbed wire was used to fence due to a lack of wood on the plains. Timber common in the midwest was unavailable, except at high cost, in most of northeastern Colorado until at least 1900. Wood traditionally provided settlers in other parts of the nation with shelter, fuel and fencing material. On the plains new sources were required. Barbed wire was one example of necessary invention. Another was the use of sod for housing material. Blocks cut from prairie turf made good shelter; warm in winter, cool in summer, even if a little dirty. The mark of success on the plains by 1900 was to build a real wooden house to replace an elderly "soddy". The matter of fuel was handled with equal imagination. When specially constructed stoves were invented to burn grass, hay or even "buffalo chips" (dried Manure), they were widely adopted but only proved temporary curse with the final solution coming after railroads arrived and local coal then became available. [21]

The last and most difficult problem settlers had to overcome was the isolation of the plains. In colonies this was a lesser problem, but as people moved from these places it often became acute. Many farms were located at distances that required at least an overnight trip to get to the nearest town and return. The starkness of the high plains, the oppressing silence and lack of human contact as well as the severe climate all weighed heavily on settlers. There were numerous reports of people going mad; often committing suicide, or killing others. Women, in particular, suffered from depression. Despite these drawbacks northeast Colorado continued to attract newcomers throughout the late nineteenth century. [22] Settlers that moved to the region from 1860 to 1900 to farm came from all across the United States. The northeast, and New England, sent numerous settlers to northeastern Colorado. They came for land and farms. They took up farming after working years in the factories of New England. They tried to live out Henry David Thoreau's philosophy of returning to the land. Others moved to Colorado, after serving in the Civil War, because they found it impossible to return to their old lives for various reasons. [23] The Old South's sons found Colorado particularly attractive for the same reason. Discouraged citizens sought to escape oppressive Republican Reconstruction governments and the social revolution that took place in the South between 1865 and 1876. Some blacks from the South moved to Colorado during those years looking for the "promised land". The West offered a lure to nearly all sections of the nation. [24] These same attractions interested foreign immigrants in the possibilities offered by northeastern Colorado. Descriptions of the area made it sound like a land of "milk and honey" with riches there for the taking. These perceptions were reinforced by legends of success and wealth in the mining and livestock businesses. Further, land ownership carried considerable status in European society. In America all one had to do was move to the West and claims his or her 160 acres. To many in the Old World the possibility of property ownership, even if it meant a voyage of thousands of miles, was enough to convince them to move. Immigrants came to northeastern Colorado from all countries in western and northern Europe between 1860 and 1900 adding to the area's further development. Two of the most represented nationalities were the English and Swedes, followed closely by German settlers. [25]

Just as thousands Europeans were prepared to emigrate, the United States was rocked by its first post-Civil War economic upheaval, the Panic of 1873. Caused by severe fluctuation of gold markets and the failure of Jay Cooke's banking house, the depression temporarily halted the construction of irrigation projects and hence settlement in the area. However, by 1876 the delay had passed and people again began pouring into this region. Many of those who planned to move to northeastern Colorado before the Panic could now afford to and did so at once. [26] As farming expanded crop types changed and diversified. Originally most farmers of the 1860s grew fruits, vegetables, and wheat; commodities demanded by Colorado's mining camps. Cultivation was limited by a lack of machinery and the cheap labor to operate larger farms. During the early 1870s this trend continued because the growers needed products that generated quick cash to meet debts for both land and irrigation projects.

Settlers in Greeley and other similar colonies began planting orchards to meet that cash flow need. They also started growing large quantities of potatoes, corn, and wheat. After the Panic of 1873, crop diversification increased as farmers opened land that was not easily irrigated. In these areas they grew buckwheat, wheat, corn and a new crop, alfalfa. Some production of these varied crops was exported from the region but most was sold to local ranchers as livestock feed. This trend continued as cattlemen used more and more blooded animals. In addition to grain products, many farmers started herds, especially dairy, for commercial purposes. Even as the agrarian frontier expanded onto the plains few settlers entered the arena on a subsistence basis. Most grew crops to sell, due, in part, to the fact that by 1882 most of northeast Colorado was connected to the nation's market places by rail. [27]

The iron horse played a decisive role in the area's agricultural frontier; second only to land policies of the times. When the Denver Pacific and Kansas Pacific railroads built across northeastern Colorado both from and toward Denver during 1869 and 1870, lands along the rights of way interested settlers. Existence of transportation systems allowed newcomers to reach their farms easily and offered them steel highways to various markets. As in the case of Greeley, the railroad allowed settlers to relocate to Colorado without the hardships of a wagon trip across the Great Plains. Further, since some rail companies received land grants that they needed to sell. They worked through land agents and sold these properties to settlers using attractive prices and easy credit. Promoters and salesmen were hired to recruit buyers. These sales practices continued throughout the late nineteenth century by the various railways that penetrated the region. [28] During the early 1880s, as new railroads entered northeastern Colorado, efforts to sell land on the plains took on new intensity. The Union Pacific Railroad, the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy and the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific [Rock Island] all established subsidiary land companies to attract people to the West. These operations included publication of information booklets, touring exhibits of Colorado's products, personal contacts with prospective immigrants and similar other activities. Each land company portrayed northeastern Colorado farmland as the richest available, claiming everything from a cornucopia to the Garden of Eden rediscovered. Competition for buyers intensified and the companies broadened their horizon, first to the East Coast and, by the middle of the 1880s, to Europe. Brochures and flyers were translated into varied languages. Offices were opened throughout much of northern and western Europe. Assistance in making travel arrangements was provided and land in America's West was purchased sight unseen. Efforts like these not only sold railroad land but further increased interest in northeast Colorado. [29] Railroads accelerated this process once immigrants reached the Missouri River. Each company offered low priced fares; even free one-way passages to farmlands. If a prospective settler purchased other lands or decided to take up government land along the railway, the companies provided special services to move the new farmer, his family, and his goods in trains assigned for that purpose. The railroad cars were called "Zulu cars", because of their primitive condition. Nevertheless, thousands of people took this opportunity to move into northeastern Colorado. [30] To reinforce the work of railroads land agents in territorial and, later, state governments became involved in promotion of agriculture throughout the state. The state Board of Immigration published reports, offered brochures and helped arrange travel and financing for new residents. These efforts began in the 1860s and continued under various names until the early decades of the twentieth century. The state information board showed how best to secure land, and while less optimistic than railroads, they did encourage those who were timid about relocating. All these advertising campaigns did much during the 1880s to convince farmers that arid plains could be tilled much like the humid Mississippi Valley. [31]

Scientists of the period were also busy working on theories about agriculture in the dry lands of the "Great American Desert". As the more watered areas were occupied and as settlers moved into arid zones, thinkers determined that as dry lands were put to the plow, rain would follow. This "pluviculture" theory was popularized during the 1880s by promoters of northeastern Colorado. The idea gained followers among those seeking new farms as they moved, like a tidal wave, westward across Kansas, Nebraska and into northeastern Colorado. In something of "pincer movement" other settlers moved east from the front range and the two waves met on the high plains of eastern Colorado. [32] The late 1880s witnessed rapid expansion of farming in the region. Because of promotion and alleged "scientific" studies about agricultural possibilities, "boom" psychology developed. This was reinforced by the successes of irrigators who proved the richness of plains soils. As the mania spread, marginal land was plowed up with little regard for the environment. In many cases to support their farms, the husband took a second job, possibly with one of the railroads on the plains, while other would be farmers moved west as part of rail construction and then stayed while keeping a job with the company as a section hand or the like. The dryland farming phobia became all consuming for these people. [33]

Agrarians who moved into northeast Colorado's high plains were fortunate during the late eighties for in those years more than average precipitation fell and it appeared as if the theories about rain were indeed correct. New advances in farm machinery and the use of steam powered tractors allowed larger acreages to be operated by a single individual. As early arrivals made the prairies bloom, others were encouraged to follow. By 1889 indications of permanent agricultural settlement were visible across the region. As the same time, cattlemen experienced catastrophic winters and declining prices forcing them to retrench. As this occurred eager farmers quickly plowed up the range to grow corn and wheat. [34] The boom continued unabated until 1890. That year, as farmers continued to overextend by buying more land and machinery, spring rains did not come. Seedlings dried up in the field, water holes evaporated and rivers ran dry. Late rains provided enough moisture for survival. Most settlers stayed on their farms, assuming that the worst had passed. However, the next year the rains did not come and, even worse, prices fell. The dry weather caused near panic as frantic measures were used to find moisture. Deep wells were dug with limited success, but other remedies like rain makers failed to produce results. As starvation became likely settlers on the high plains talked of returning East. By 1893 and the national depression of that year, the situation was so desperate for plains farmers that some abandoned their lands and a mass exodus ensued. Many said later that only those who had no money and could not afford to leave stayed. [35] The Panic of 1893 and dry years in the early 1890s also slowed the development of irrigated farms in northeastern Colorado. As banks felt money supplies tighten they called in loans which placed farmers in a precarious position as crop prices dropped and they were forced to sell parts of their holdings. [36]

The drought of the early 1890s and the Panic of 1893 ended rapid expansion of farming in northeastern Colorado. From 1870 to 1893 settlers plowed under thousands of acres in the region and they planted numerous crops. Farmers hoped to make their fortunes from the land and build a future for themselves. Colony communities became the nuclei for settlement and some of these places evolved into permanent towns. Other people moved here because of the promotional efforts of land companies, railroads and state agencies. Initially farms were subsistence type but after 1860, agriculture quickly became commercial. Rapid expansion of railroads between 1870 and 1890 further accentuated cash farming as northeastern Colorado was connected to national markets. Technological innovations in farm methods during this period led to increased acreage production. Both irrigated and dry land farming were attempted during this time, however, dry land producers found themselves defeated by the environment. The successes and failures of farmers in northeastern Colorado between 1860 and 1890 not only put new lands into production but, more importantly, brought a larger, more stable, population to the region which then served as the basis for permanent development in the years that followed.

Chapter V: Notes

¹Nell Brown Propst, Forgotten People, A History of the South Platte Trail, (Boulder: Pruett Publishing Co., 1979), pp. 14 and 21-24, hereafter cited: Propst, Forgotten, and Elbridge Gerry Chronology, Civilian Works Administration, Colorado State Historical Society, volume 343, hereafter cited: CWA, CSHS.

²Platteville, Colorado documents, CWA, CSHS, vol. 343; Gerry, CWA, CSHS, and Propst, Forgotten, pp. 50 and 63.

³Robert G. Athearn, The Coloradans, (Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1976), pp. 107-109, hereafter cited: Athearn, Coloradans. Propst, Forgotten, p. 38, and W.L. Hays interview, CWA, CSHS, vol. 341.

⁴Roy Robbins, Our Landed Heritage, (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1976), pp. 215-220, Cal Chearis interview, CWA, CSHS, vol. 341, and Fred Johnson interview, CWA, CSHS, vol. 352.

⁵Emma Burke Conklin, A Brief History of Logan County, Colorado, (Denver: Welch-Haffner Printing Co., 1928), pp. 60-62, hereafter cited: Conklin, Logan; Propst, Forgotten, p. 127; and L.E. Huffsmith interview, CWA, CSHS, vol. 343.

⁶Athearn, Coloradans, pp. 113-119, and Mrs. J. Lucas interview, CWA, CSHS, vol. 343.

⁷Ibid., pp. 113-115; See: James F. Willard, "Union Colony's First Year." in: A Colorado Reader, Carl Ubbelohde (Ed.) (Boulder: Pruett Publishing Co., 1962), hereafter cited: Willard, "Union," and A. A. Woodbury interview, CWA, CSHS, vol. 343.

⁸Athearn, Coloradans, p. 107, Willard, "Union," pp. 166-167, and A.K. Clarke interview, CWA, CSHS, vol. 343.

⁹Athearn, Coloradans, pp. 116-228; "Old Burlington" interview, CWA, CSHS, vol. 253, and Seth Terry interview, CWA, CSHS, vol. 345.

¹⁰Willard, "Union," p. 166, and F.L. Ketley interview, CWA, CSHS, vol. 343.

¹¹Lucas, CWA, CSHS; See: James F. Willard, "Evans and the Saint Louis Western Colony," The Trail vol. 11 (March 1919): 5-11, hereafter cited: Willard, "St. Louis."

¹²Platteville, CWA, CSHS.

¹³Athearn, Coloradans, pp. 118-119; James McDonald interview, CWA, CSHS, vol. 343; T.K. Propst interview, CWA, CSHS, vol. 341; and Eugene Williams interview, CWA, CSHS, vol. 341.

¹⁴Evadene A.B. Swanson, Fort Collins Yesterdays, (Ft. Collins: Swanson, 1975), pp. 9-11, hereafter cited: Swanson, Ft Collins.

¹⁵Amanda May Ellis, The Colorado Springs Story, (Colorado Springs: House of San Juan, 1975), pp. 9-14, hereafter cited: Ellis, Springs Story, and "Colorado Springs Pioneers," CWA, CSHS, vol. 345.

¹⁶A. Cutler, CWA, CSHS, vol 350, and Jonathan Lengel interview, CWA, CSHS, vol, 350.

¹⁷See Robert A. Dunbar, "The Origins of the Colorado System of Water-Right Control," The Colorado Magazine vol. 27 (October 1944): pp. 241-262; Robert A. Dunbar, "Water Conflicts and Controls in Colorado," Agricultural History vol. 22 (July 1948): pp 180-186; and Donald Wayne Hensel, "A History of the Colorado Constitution in the Nineteenth Century," (Ph. D. Dissertation, University of Colorado, 1957), pp. 60-66, hereafter cited: Hensel, "Constitution."

¹⁸W. H. Delbridge interview, CWA, CSHS, vol. 343, and A.F. Sanford interview, CWA, CSHS, vol. 343.

¹⁹Lucas, CWA, CSHS, and J.A. Dawson interview, CWA, CSHS, vol. 351.

²⁰Thomas H. Sisk interview, CWA, CSHS, vol. 343, and Williams, CWA, CSHS.

²¹Glen Bolander interview, CWA, CSHS, vol. 352; Joseph P. Dillon interview, CWA, CSHS, vol. 342; George E. McConley interview, CWA, CSHS, vol. 341; and Luella Bell McKenzie interview, CWA, CSHS, vol. 350.

²²Willard, "Union," p. 260, and Seth Terry, CWA, CSHS.

²³Neville, CWA, CSHS. vol 353.

²⁴Cutler, CWA, CSHS, and "Davis Family Reunion," CWA, CSHS, vol. 341.

²⁵John Ross interview, CWA, CSHS, vol. 354; Charles A. Yersin interview, CWA, CSHS, vol. 350; J. Daniels, CWA, CSHS; and "Old Burlington," CWA, CSHS.

²⁶Hensel, "Constitution," p. 93.

²⁷S. R. Smith interview, CWA, CSHS, vol. 351; J. Dawson, CWA, CSHS, and E. Williams, CEA, CSHS.

²⁸G.F. Brownies interview, CWA, CSHS, vol. 351, and Clarke, CWA, CSHS.

²⁹Richard C. Overton, Burlington West: A Colonization History of the Burlington Railroad, (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1941), pp. 410-412; Winfield Morris interview, CWA, CSHS, vol. 341, and Delbridge, CWA, CSHS.

³⁰J. Oliver Graham interview, CWA, CSHS, vol. 352; F.A. Neville interview, CWA, CSHS, vol. 353, and N. Buchanan, CWA, CSHS.

³¹Lyle W. Dorsett, The Queen City, A History of Denver, (Boulder: Pruett Publishing Co., 1977), pp. 55-58.

³²C.L. Morgan interview, CWA, CSHS, vol. 351; and Athearn, Coloradans, p. 141.

³³Propst, Forgotten, pp 151-154; N. Buchanan, CWA, CSHS, and McConley, CWA, CSHS;

³⁴Anna Homm interview, CWA, CSHS, vol. 350; Graham, CWA, CSHS, and McKenzie, CWA, CSHS.

³⁵McKenzie, CWA, CSHS; Wells, CWA, CSHS; Bolander, CWA, CSHS; and Homm, CWA, CSHS.

³⁶James Edward Wright, The Politics of Populism, Dissent in Colorado, (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1974), pp. 98-99, and Wells, CWA, CSHS.