THE COLORADO MAGAZINE Published Bi-Monthly by the State Historical Society of Colorado
THE COLORADO MAGAZINE Published bi-monthly by The State Historical Society of Colorado Vol.XVIII Denver, Colorado, September, 1941 No. 5 John Taylor-Slave-Born Colorado Pioneer* D. B. McGuE "Yes, sub-yes, sub, I wuz de fust white man to settle in de Pine ribber valley ob sou 'wes 'rn Colorado.'' ''That's right, John,'' chorused a group of a dozen or more grizzled white men, gathered at an annual reunion of San Juan pioneers-those argonauts who came to the region before 1880. My eyes bugged out like biscuits. The first speaker was a black man. A short, chunky block of glistening granite black. John Taylor. One of the most interesting characters ever to ride the wild trails in the wild southwest and across the border into Mexico before he settled in southwestern Colorado . .John Taylor was born at Paris, Kentucky, in 1841, according to his army record. He was the son of slave parents. ''Cos I doan 't 'membah much about de fust, two, free yea 's ob my life,'' John declared. ''But I 'spect I wuz lak all de odah pickaninnies. I suah does 'membah clat as soon as I wuz big 'nuf to mock a man at wo'k, I wuz sent into de cawn an' baccy fiel's, an' 'til I wuz twenty-free I wuz raised on de hamlle ob a hoe." ''And then what happened, John?'' ''I becomes a runaway niggah, '' John chuckled. On August 17, 1864, John Taylor enlisted in the first negro regiment recruited by Union army officials in Kentucky.
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