Foundation Stones

FOUNDATION STONES Compiled and Edited by EMMA SHEPARD HILL Copyright 1928 EMMA SHEPARD HILL PRESS OF THE BRADFORD-ROBINSON PRINTING CO. DENVER, COLORADO INDEX Baker, Nathan A. Brush, William Byers, Frank S. Crowley, William Daly, Peter Doze, Joseph Duncan, Elisha Elliott, U. A. Hauck, Robert King, George Lafrenz, W. H. Reithman, F. G. Robb, J. W. Schinner, Adolph Shepard, L. H. Smith, Henry A. Teats, Eugene H. Wade, M. R. Washburn, John E. 2 LEST WE FORGET The ox team; the covered wagon; the long trek; the hair- breadth escape from hostile Indians; the log house; the forts for defence; the many privations, these brief personal sketches will remind us of our obligation to the Old Pioneer 3 F O R E W O R D The realization that the old Pioneer is fast disappearing from our midst, and that with his passing much valuable history will be lost, is the inspiration for presenting to your notice this little volume. It has been impressed upon our mind that a history should be written, not of the more notable events, -- the outstanding achievements of the few which already have been written many times, --but of the more intimate little happenings of the individual or family of less prominence, who also suffered the same peril and hardships when they adventured into the far West. Many shining lights, names closely identified with the upbuilding of this great Commonwealth, have received honor and praise, from a grateful succession. This was their just due, but also there are many lesser lights along the trail who have given of their best, but who have been unhonored and unsung in the hurrying March of Progress. It is our purpose therefore to ring before you, some of these hitherto unmentioned and unnoticed families, feeling sure that you will recognize their right to a place in the foundation, which was laid, even though rejected, as corner stones. Naturally a similarity exists between these stories. The section traversed; the mode of travel; the perils encountered; the year of grace, are much the same, but each Pioneer visioned these things from a different angle and from his own viewpoint, ―In the mouth of two or three witnesses, shall every word be established.‖ Should discrepances in dates occur we trust they will be overlooked for it is possible that after the lapse of more than three score years some memory may be at fault. – Emma Shepard Hill. 4 I N T R O D U C T I O N Fifty years ago a few hardy pioneers – driven westward by the hard times in the East resulting from the great Panic of 1857 – left the beaten route of the old Santa Fe Trail – used by so many thousands of ―49‘ers‖ in their rush to the California gold fields – and found their way northward to the little trading camp established on the banks of Cherry Creek by a certain John Smith. This little party of less than one hundred men, women and children, formed the nucleus of what is now the city of Denver – the Queen City of the Plains. With rare foresight they looked into the future and saw the junction of Cherry Creek and the Platte River as a flourishing commercial center. This in their opinion being insured by its geographical position and by the beauties of the surrounding country, the mountains, and Pikes Peak showing in the background on one side and the endless prairies stretching away as far as the eye could see on the other. The first settlement was known as Auraria and was situated on the west side of the Platte, but before the fall of 1858 had passed one hundred and twenty-five houses – the first one built by General Larimer, were situated on the eastern side of the Platte, between what are now Blake and Wazee Streets and the settlement was known as St. Charles. A month or two later it was renamed Denver in honor of General James W. Denver, the governor of the Territory of Kansas of which Denver was a part. Foresighted strong-minded men almost immediately set about instituting some form of government with the result that in October of 1859, R. W. Steele was inaugurated as the first provisional governor of the Territory of Jefferson, this settlement not being able to secure recognition as a territory from the United States government. There were less than two thousand people here at that time. In 1861 Congress passed an act creating the Territory of Colorado, and the first Governor of the new Territory was General William Gilpin, appointed by President Buchanan. At that time the population of the Territory of Colorado was 25,331 according to the census taken by order of Congress. Central City was declared the first Capital of Colorado as a Territory but in the following year the executive offices were located at Golden where they remained until 1868 when Denver was made the Capital. In 1881, five years after Colorado was admitted to Statehood, the people of the state voted for Denver as the permanent Capital of the Centennial State. From New Year‘s Edition Denver Republican, 1909. 5 ―THE PIONEER HOME‖ The log house in the valley was plain, drab, and bare. The dust from the roadway whirled by on the air. The walls of the cabin were only rough hewed, And a box for a cupboard in the far corner stood. The chairs were good boxes turned up on their end, Rough boards made the table, the dishes were tin. The larder – well filled – there was plenty of fish, And a venison steak made a nice tempting dish. A kettle of beans brought on piping hot – A cup of black coffee from the big coffee pot – And dried apple sauce served up on the side, With “sour-dough” biscuits, the cow-puncher’s pride. Both cow-boy and stranger, each met with good cheer Round the bountiful table of the Old Pioneer. ILA V. HOLLOWAY GREELEY, COLORADO 1926 6 Ila V. Holloway Joseph Doze Should this story of the family life of one Pioneer Settler be read with interest, my effort will not have been in vain. My grandfather was a soldier in Napoleon‘s army, and after the General‘s defeat, he, with his wife and five children emigrated to America – about 1828 – and located in a little French village near Cincinnati, Ohio. The family name was Doze. Here in Ohio two more children were born, one Joseph – the youngest – was, many years later my father. As a youth my father spent his spare time around the sugar camps near his home, and with his trusty rifle and a good hunting dog, he brought down many a fat deer for the family larder. As a man he attained to six feet one inch in height, was strong in proportion and an expert marksman. The family moving farther into the West finally made their home in Decater County, Iowa. My mother‘s parents – her family name being Johnson – were Kentuckians of Scotch-Irish descent, and strict Presbyterians. Her grandfather was by trade a weaver and made the famous Kentucky Jeans. Tribes of Indians roamed through the country, some were friendly, others were not. In her grandfather‘s large log house was a wide stone chimney and on cold winter days groups of Indians would gather around the fireplace to warm themselves, and also to watch the weaver at his work, for on the loom was a large web of cloth. One young squaw in particular with her papoose would sit nearly all night in the warmth and seemed grateful for the privilege. Toward spring when the cloth was nearly done, she warned the weaver that the Indians were plotting to kill all the pale faces including himself, and to steal the web of cloth. The alarm was sounded; the cloth was cut from the loom, and the people gathered at the Block House in sufficient numbers to resist the attack which was attempted, as the squaw had foretold. Her grandfather also owned a considerable number of slaves, but when about 1830 the family moved farther north into Indiana, he set them free, and with one exception they went their own way. This exception was old Aunt Judy, the cook, who remained with the family as long as she lived. It was in 1840 that my mother was born. In 1852 the family moved farther west into Iowa where my grandfather bought a large tract of prairie land; built a fine house and helped in establishing the Presbyterian church near his home, and was an Elder in the church until his death in 1890 at the ripe age of eighty-nine years. My father also when a young man bought prairie land, eighty acres in Iowa, and with a yoke of oxen turned the first sod on his own quarter section, and broke the ground for others in the neighborhood, thus accumulating sufficient capital to improve his own eighty. Later he cut timber on Little River, splitting it into rails; fencing his own fields, and building a log cabin of one room. In February, 1855, at the age of twenty-three this young ranchman took unto himself a wife – Mary Johnson (my mother, only fifteen years old) much against her parents‘ wishes. Although so young, mother was well educated, in books as well as in many useful arts essential to the pioneer housewife, being expert in spinning and weaving and knitting. Late in November of this same year, I myself entered this family circle and was in due time christened Ila Vilena.

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