History of Colorado United States of America

Coal was first mined in northern Colorado in the year 1864, in Jefferson and Boulder counties. This mining was carried out in a superficial manner by the settlers and the coal, obtained from the outcroppings, was used only for domestic purposes, little or no marketing occurring. In 1872 coal was mined in Weld County for the first time and in the following year Las Animas and Fremont counties became known as coal producers. The two latter counties, one of which is now the greatest coal-producing county of the state, produced 12,187 short tons together in the year 1873. Not until 1876 did Colorado produce as much as 100,000 tons, but from this time until the present the annual production has grown steadily, until now the state ranks seventh in the country as a coal producer.

Coal in southern Colorado was discovered in the fall of i860, near Canon City, by the settlers then building the town and flocking there from the gold diggings to winter. Everyone who sought his horses or oxen in the grazing lands of the foothills on the south side of the Arkansas River, or hunted antelope, discovered in the deep gulches an exposure of coal, cut by the ages of water-erosion. This coal was first used by Anson Rudd, one of the first settlers of Canon City, a blacksmith and gunsmith, who erected the first workshop in the winter of 1860-61. He used this coal in his forge in place of charcoal. No one sought to acquire title to this coal, as there was no commercial market for it. When the settlers began to use it for fuel, everybody dug for himself and took away as much as he could use. This condition existed until the building of the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad from Pueblo to the coal mines. It was found by test that it was a fine locomotive coal and the first of this type in Colorado, as the northern coal fields were all lignitic and little better than wood for furnace purposes.

In the decade from i860 to 1870 much coal was mined for domestic purposes in Golden, Denver, Boulder, Blackhawk and Central City, the principal supply coming from the mines near Golden and on Ralston Creek, ten miles north. The Marshall coal bank first assumed importance in 1865, although previous to that time the ranchmen in the neighborhood had hauled away small quantities of the coal. The completion, in the summer of 1870, of the Denver Pacific Railroad from Cheyenne to Denver, the Kansas Pacific, and the Colorado Central from Denver to Golden, created a large demand upon the mines of Jefferson and Boulder counties. The completion of the Boulder Valley Railroad from Brighton to Boulder in 1873 opened to the market the mines of Boulder and Weld counties.

By 1883 mining in Colorado was yet in its first stages, except in the immediate neighborhood of Golden; no depth had yet been obtained, only surface outcroppings having been worked. North of the divide and east of the mountains, whence Denver drew its principal coal supply, coal was found in Jefferson, Boulder and Weld counties, in which region some twenty mines were being worked. The leading mines of this number were the Marshall, Fox, Welch, Boulder, Valley, Northrop, Stewart, Superior, Mitchell, Garfield, Briggs and the Star. The coal here secured was a free-burning lignite of jet black, high luster and destitute of any fibrous or woody structure. Second to the mines of South Colorado the mines of North Colorado were the greatest producers. The middle division included the counties of Park, Fremont and El Paso. In El Paso County, in 1883, the only mines worked to any extent were those owned by the Denver & New Orleans Railroad at Franceville. The product of these mines had only become available since the completion of the above named railroad in 1882. In Park County the coal mines were at Como and were owned by the Denver, South Park & Pacific Railroad Company. The principal mines in Fremont County were the Oak Creek, Nos. 1 and 2, and the Coal Creek, owned and worked principally by the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad Company and the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe road. The coal from these mines ranked first in the state for domestic purposes and was largely used in Denver, while Canon City and Pueblo also derived their supply from here. The southern division of mines included the counties of Las Animas, Huerfano, La Plata and Dolores and ranked first in Colorado as a producer. The mines in Las Animas, Huerfano and Fremont counties were mainly owned and operated by the Colorado Coal & Iron Company, a corporation closely allied to the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad Company. At this time the coal veins in La Plata County were the largest in the state, varying from twelve to ninety feet in thickness.

By the end of the year 1884 the known and partially developed coal fields of Colorado covered an area of about fifteen hundred square miles. The only anthracite coal then known, as now, to occur in the state was in Gunnison County, on Slate Creek, near Crested Butte, west of Irwin and on Anthracite Creek, a tributary of the north fork of the Gunnison River. The anthracite Mesa mine in Gunnison County was opened in 1882 and the Cow Creek mine, near Ouray and on the branch of the Uncompahgre River, was opened in 1883, but little coal was extracted. The principal mines of Colorado at this time were owned and operated by the various railway companies of the state. Those operating on the largest scale and the corporate name under which they transacted their mining operations were as follows:

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Albert Washington McIntyre, governor of Colorado, was born in Pittsburg, Pa., Jan. 15, 1853; son of Joseph Phillips and Isabella A. (Wills) McIntyre, and grandson of Thomas McIntyre, who was engaged in the transportation business in Maryland and served as an officer of volunteers in the war of 1812. His first ancestor in America came from Ayreshire, Scotland, about 1745. Albert W. McIntyre was graduated from Yale, A.B., 1873, LL.B., 1875, and was admitted to the Connecticut bar in June, 1875, and to the Pittsburg bar, November, 1875. He removed to Conejos county, Col., in December, 1876, where he practised law. He established a stock ranch in the San Luis valley in 1880. He was judge of the county court, 1883-86, and adjudicator of the water rights of the 20th Colorado district, 1889-91. He was district judge of the 12th judicial district of Colorado, 1891-95, and was Republican governor of Colorado, 1895-97. At the close of his gubernatorial term he devoted himself to the development of his gold-mining interests and to the breeding of fine stock. He was married, July 16, 1873, to Florence, daughter of William Sydney Johnson, of New York city; and secondly, Jan. 26, 1899, to Dr. Ida Noyes Beaver.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

Benjamin Harrison Eaton, governor of Colorado, was born in Coshocton county, Ohio, Dec. 15, 1833; son of Levi Eaton. He was graduated from West Bethford academy in 1852 and taught school until 1854 when he removed to Louisa county, Iowa. He engaged in mining in Colorado, 1859-61; resided in New Mexico, 1861-64, and in 1864 removed to Greeley, Col., where he became one of the most prosperous farmers in the state, winning his success chiefly through a system of irrigation. He served in both branches of the state legislature and was elected governor of Colorado in November, 1884, by a majority of 3132 votes over Alva Adams, Democrat, serving, 1885-86.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

John Evans, governor of Colorado, was born near Waynesville. Ohio, March 9, 1814; son of David and Rachel Evans; grandson of Benjamin and Hannah (Smith) Evans, and great-grandson of an early Quaker settler of Philadelphia. He removed to Philadelphia in 1835 and entered. Clermont academy. He received his M.D. degree in 1838 from the medical department of Cincinnati college. In 1839 he was married to Hannah, daughter of Joseph Canby, and removed to Attica, Ind. He resided in Indianapolis, Ind., 1842-45. He held the chair of materia medica in the Rush medical college, Chicago, Ill., 1845-56, and later edited the Northwestern Medical and Surgical Journal of Chicago. He founded the Illinois general hospital of the Lakes, and was prominent in establishing the Methodist book concern in Chicago. He was the chief instrument in founding the Northwestern university, in a suburb of Chicago which was named Evanston in his honor. and he endowed the chairs of Latin and mental and moral philosophy in that institution with $100,000. He was a delegate to the Republican national convention in 1860, and in 1862 was appointed territorial governor of Colorado, serving until 1865, when he was removed by President Johnson. In 1863 he was influential in building Colorado seminary, which afterward became the University of Denver, and to which he presented about $150,000. He was organizer and president of several railroad companies and other enterprises. He was married in 1853 to Margaret P., daughter of Samuel Gray of Maine, and their daughter Josephine became the wife of Gov. Samuel Hitt Elbert of Colorado. Governor Evans died in Denver, Col., July 3, 1897.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

Frederick Walker Pitkin, governor of Colorado, was born in Manchester, Conn., Aug. 31, 1837; son of Eli and Hannah M. (Torrey) Pitkin; grandson of Eleazur and Mehitabel (Cone) Pitkin, and a descendant of William and Hannah (Goodwin) Pitkin. William Pitkin came from London, England, to Hartford, Conn., in 1659, where he was a school teacher, and also attorney general, treasurer of the colony, and member of the Colonial assembly and council. Frederick W. Pitkin was graduated at Wesleyan university, Conn., in 1858, and at the Albany law school in 1859, and was admitted to the bar in 1859. He was married to Fidelia M., daughter of John James of Lockport, N.Y., and in 1860 settled in practice in Milwaukee., Wis. He visited Europe, spent the winter of 1873 in Florida in quest of health, and from 1874 to 1878 camped in the mountains of southern Colorado, and engaged in mining. He began practice in Denver, Col., in 1877; was Republican governor of Colorado for two terms, 1878-82, and during his administration quelled the uprising of the Ute Indians at White river, and the riots of the miners at Leadville. He was defeated as candidate for the U.S. senate in 1883. The county and town of Pitkin, Col., were named in his honor. He died in Pueblo, Col., Dec. 18, 1886.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

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