Following the decline of the fort
there was little to indicate that the little frontier
town of Fort Collins would grow into a prosperous city.
The rustic settlement and the arid climate did not make
attractive inducements for travelers used to a more
cultured society and more temperate climates. The noted
world traveler Isabella Bird, who passed through Fort
Collins in 1873, wrote of the coarseness of the town and
its people.
However, Fort Collins did attract settlers from all over
the country and the world. The event which, perhaps,
established Fort Collins as a town of promise was the
location of an agricultural colony here in 1872. Robert
Cameron directed the town development company which,
encouraged by its' success at Greeley, acquired the
army's reservation land. The Larimer County Land
Improvement Company was formed and the townsite was
surveyed and platted. People of "a good moral
character" were solicited to join the colony.
Prospective colonists were sold certificates entitling
them to tracts of land or lots in town. The first drawing
for lots occurred in December, 1872. The colony
immediately provided hundreds of new people, and many new
buildings and businesses to the town.
In 1873 the Larimer County Board of Commissioners was
petitioned by Fort Collins taxpayers to incorporate the
town. This was done and the board appointed trustees who
were later elected to form the town's first government.
Twenty-three votes were cast in that first election.
Officers included Benjamin T. Whedbee, Henry C. Peterson,
G. G. Blake, and W. S. Vescelius.
In spite of the boost the colony gave Fort Collins, its'
founding did create problems for the developing town.
Since the colony was platted along the compass points
while the original town had been platted parallel to the
river, a physical division between the two communities
resulted. It soon became a political division. In the
winter of 1872-73 Ben Whedbee moved his store from
Jefferson and Linden, the center of "old town,"
to College and Mountain, the center of "new
town." His move began a feud which affected town
politics and hindered development for many years. The
rivalry between old and new town disenchanted prospective
settlers. Political parties and newspapers took sides.
Measures which would have benefited the whole town were
opposed simply because the other side supported them.
There were other factors which dimmed the outlooks of
Fort Collins residents in 1873. The nation's financial
panic of that year caused the town's first bank to fail.
Consequently most of the money in the county was lost. In
the same year the first of the decade's grasshopper
plagues hit the county. Swarms of these insects
devastated the county's crops, making times even harder
for the financially stricken region. These plagues lasted
through 1876 and made it difficult to even obtain barter
to trade for goods and services, a practice which was
necessary during the period of the panic.
But there were also signs of promise to balance the hard
times. In 1870 the territorial legislature chose Fort
Collins as the site of a future agricultural college. The
town's pioneers had fought for this prize and, although
the school got off to a slow start, their efforts would
eventually pay off. The new college's first building, Old
Main, was built in 1878. Although a "claim
building" had been erected in 1874 to secure Fort
Collins' claim to the college, Old Main was the first
building used for classes. College operations began in
1879. The college would help fuel the area's agricultural
growth. And it was upon agriculture that Fort Collins'
economy would be based.
New businesses sprang up following the arrival of the
colonists. Joseph McClelland moved to Fort Collins from
Denver and founded the county's first newspaper in 1873.
He called it the Larimer Express. Another
long-running paper was founded in 1878, The Fort
Collins Courier, by town historian Ansel Watrous, and
Elmer M. Pelton.
The town's first successful bank was opened in 1873 on
Jefferson and Linden by Mr. and Mrs. A. K. Yount. Charles
Sheldon, an employee of the Younts, and William Stover
opened a bank on Jefferson Street in 1878.
Livery stables provided horses for the new settlers.
Horses for every need, from farming to racing, were
supplied. Joseph Mason built a livery stable on Jefferson
Street in 1874. Liveries were considered prestigious
operations.
Fort Collins' first bakery was opened in 1877 by Louis
Dauth, an immigrant from the Rhineland and a veteran of
the Franco-Prussian War.
The liquor business, which prospered in the late 1870s
and early 1880s started slowly in Fort Collins. In 1873
an ordinance was passed which prohibited the granting of
licenses for selling liquor. Sixty-eight citizens signed
a petition in 1874 for the repeal of the ordinance. The
trustees voted against the proposition. Finally, in 1875,
the anti-liquor ordinance was repealed. T. J. Wilson was
granted the first liquor license at a cost of $150.00.
By 1874 there were four hotels in Fort Collins: The
Agricultural, on Mountain and Mason; and the Collins
House, the National, and the Blake on Jefferson. In May
of that year the Agricultural Hotel brought in maple
sugar from Cortland, New York, for a festival.
Henry Peterson and Auntie Stone burned the town's first
kiln of brick in 1870. That same year Peterson and his
family moved into the town's first brick house. It was
located on Lincoln Avenue.
One of the most notable homes built in the 1870s was the
Avery House. Franklin Avery came to Fort Collins with the
colony from Greeley. He surveyed the town's streets and
became county surveyor. His home, built on Mountain
Avenue in 1879, is now one of Fort Collins' most
recognizable landmarks.
School buildings first appeared in Fort Collins in the
1870s. Following the formation of School District Number
5 in 1870, Judge Alfred F. Howes began a movement to
build a schoolhouse. A small frame house was used until
1879, when Remington School was built on Remington and
Oak.
The other "school" built in the 1870s was, of
course, the college's Old Main, built in 1878. Although a
"claim building" had been erected in 1874 to
secure Fort Collins' claim to the college, Old Main was
the first building used for classes. College operations
began in 1879.
While the creation of an agricultural college in what had
been known as "The Great American Desert" was
cause for humor among many, agriculture was the
foundation upon which Fort Collins would grow. The
college would eventually help fuel this growth. But in
Larimer County in the 1870s, knowledge of farming was
gained basically from trial and error. No one was sure
what was best to raise or grow.
The uncertainty of farming in northern Colorado did not
stop the land from being quickly settled as soon as
irrigation was made available. Some enterprising men did
reap rewards from their land. James McClelland planted
the area's first commercial fruit orchard in 1876. He was
not only successful with the business but his farm became
a testing ground for fruit growing in northern Colorado.
Generally, good crops were reported for land with enough
irrigation. Also, some ranchers found stock raising quite
profitable.
Farmers and stockmen welcomed the arrival, in 1877, of
the Colorado Central Railroad to Fort Collins. The
railroad provided them with new markets, plus merchants
were able to obtain better goods faster and at a cheaper
rate. The town was also brought into better communication
with the rest of the world by railroad.
Thus, while the decade of the 1870s was marked by
uncertainty, a new college, a new railroad, and growing
businesses promised prosperity for the years ahead.
BUSINESS/INDUSTRY
EARLY DRUGSTORES-FIRST TELEPHONES
FORT COLLINS YESTERDAYS-Swanson
1879-80
"The pioneer drugstore relied on patent medicine and
whiskey with a few additional frills to attract
customers. Uncle Ben Whedbee had the post office in his
drugstore in the 1870. Frank Stover's store on the Tedmon
House corner prominently displayed the mortar and pestle
symbol of the druggist on a corner post. Stover sold St.
Jacob's oil, a German remedy. He had 'iced compress and
Seltzer Mineral Water on draught' and presumably the
appropriate additives. In September, 1880, he had a
telephone exchange in his house on Linden and Willow with
two connections, one with the drugstore and one with
Mac's Tinnery. It was expected that soon our city will be
traversed by a bewildering maze of these wires! W. S.
Taylor had anticipated him in 1879 by getting a right for
telephones in Laporte where the new invention was
advertised as a convenience for camp meetings and other
large assemblies, though 'there should be one in every
house for it works like a charm.'"
FORT COLLINS YESTERDAYS-Swanson
1870s
Louis Dauth from the Rhineland was a veteran of the
Franco-Prussian War. He came to Colorado in the 1870s and
opened the first bakery in Fort Collins in 1877.
WHEDBEE'S STORE AND POST OFFICE
FORT COLLINS YESTERDAYS-Swanson
1870s
Whedbee took over part of Mason's mercantile business,
ran the livery stable and served as sheriff.
"Whedbee moved his building from Jefferson Street,
the old Denver road in times of the fort, to the
southeast corner of the intersection of Mountain and
College Avenues. Bouton and the newcomers were using lots
on the northwest corner. Whedbee's cooperation with the
development of New Town helped swing sentiment and land
values in that direction though loyalties were strongly
divided between the two contiguous sections for the next
forty years."
As was typical of frontier towns, Whedbee's store and
Post Office served as a place where new ideas were
introduced.
"No better place to be introduced to new concepts
existed on the frontier than the general store and post
office. The public reading room was still one decade in
the future and the public library three."
BANKS
FORT COLLINS YESTERDAYS-Swanson
1870s
The first successful bank opened by Mr. and Mrs. A. K.
Yount in 1873 on the southeast corner of Linden and
Jefferson, across the street from Old Grout. Yount, a
member of the constitutional convention in Denver,
employed Charles Sheldon to manage the bank in his
absence. Yount was accidentally killed in 1876. His wife
ran the bank for awhile.
In 1878 Sheldon joined with William Stover to form the
Stover and Sheldon Bank on the Wilson block on Jefferson.
It had one or two common chairs, a pine table, a borrowed
safe. The bank moved in 1879 to a one-story brick
building shared by Dr. Lee's and Dr. Elstor's Parlor
Drugstore at Linden.
NEWSPAPERS
HISTORY OF LARIMER COUNTY-Watrous
1870s
The Fort Collins Courier was founded in 1878 by
Ansel Watrous and Elmer M. Pelton as publishers and
proprietors. It began as a Democratic paper but changed
to Republican after change of ownership in 1899. It was
located in the second floor rooms of the McConathy block,
where the Antlers Hotel now stands.
Clark Bouton founded The Fort Collins Standard in
1874, the second paper, after the Courier, in Fort
Collins. It folded in 1876.
The Fort Collins Express was founded by Joseph L.
McClelland in April, 1873. It was the first newspaper
printed and published in Larimer County. It started as a
Republican paper, changed to Colorado Silver Republican
party - 1896-1900 - then back to Republican party.
COLORADOAN, No Date
Joseph McClelland started Larimer County Express.
The first issue was four pages long and included local
business announcements, a couple of poems, and a
"questionably humorous" column called
"Expressive."
"The publisher promised to print 'a newspaper ever
on the side of Right, Truth and Justice, a foe to all
monopoly.' "
McClelland set up shop in the 100 block of West Mountain
Avenue on a free piece of land with $500 worth of
equipment. He charged a whopping $2.50 for a year's
subscription."
"Ansel Watrous, a former local store clerk, founded
the Fort Collins Courier, the first competition
for the Express. Forty years later, the papers
would merge and become the Fort Collins
Express-Courier, the forerunner of the Coloradoan.
"The Courier would never achieve the
financial stability that the Express would,
according to (James R.) Miller's account. The Express
had the edge, he said because it was first in town and
because Watrous lacked business acumen."
However, Watrous was a noted writer (wrote HISTORY OF
LARIMER COUNTY) and editor.
Other papers would emerge throughout Fort Collins'
history, but they folded in competition against the Express,
Courier, and the Coloradoan.
FORT COLLINS EXPRESS-COURIER (4/26/1933)
Joseph H. McClelland came to Denver in 1872 following
Horace Greeley's failure to obtain the presidency. He
worked for Rocky Mountain News. He bought a press
in Cheyenne and moved it to Fort Collins and began the
paper on April 26, 1873. It was called Larimer Express.
McClelland secretly printed a copy of the first paper so
that he would get the first issue.
1873 PANIC
FORT COLLINS EXPRESS SPECIAL EDITION, 1894
"Concurrent with the panic went most of the money of
the county. Barter became a necessity, and except where
money was absolutely essential, as in the payment of
taxes, the greater portion of business was done in trade.
Even taxes were paid in trade when anyone had a county
order to turn in."
FIRST BANK FAILURE
HISTORY OF LARIMER COUNTY-Watrous
1873
First bank established in 1873 by Harry Tutton. Panic
sent Tutton to Denver where he had deposited surplus
funds. He never returned. "His bank remained closed
and its' affairs were afterward wound up. This failure
absorbed most of the money in the county, and wiped out
the accumulations of a number of depositors of money they
needed to tide them over until a crop could be raised.
Combined with the grasshopper plagues, it made for hard
times.
STOCK RAISING
HISTORY OF LARIMER COUNTY-Watrous
1870s
Stock growing was an important early industry in the
county in the late 1860s and 1870s.
CATTLE ROUNDUPS
FORT COLLINS EXPRESS SPECIAL EDITION, 1894
1872
"In 1872 the County Commissioners take charge and
specify eight roundup sites in the county. According to
territorial law the County Commissioners took formal
charge of all the roundups. Before that time they had
been unofficially conducted by the men owning the cattle
on the various ranges."
Unbranded calves had been a source of much dispute.
"...it was in an effort to throw the sanction of the
law and authorities over the acts of those in charge that
led to the passage of the law."
Past attempts had been made to use strays to obtain
revenue for the state.
"The Commissioners appointed eight places for
roundup. They will take charge of unclaimed brands and
unbranded stock."
AGRICULTURE
LAND PRICES
MILLER COLLECTION - FORT COLLINS STANDARD
1874
"In the domain of agriculture (in the Cache la
Poudre Valley), there is room for many more. Land can be
procured at prices varying from 5 to 25 dollars an acre,
within three miles of the post office. It is known, of
course, that it is valueless for cultivation without
water, but with judicious irrigation, yields bountiful
crops. Town lots can be purchased at prices varying from
$40 to $200." (Depression made prices low.)
EARLY AGRICULTURE
FORT COLLINS YESTERDAYS-Swanson
1870s
"The whole future of agriculture in the new region
and with new technology was a gamble. What was best to
raise and grow? Fruit, bees, wheat, sheep, cattle,
horses, combinations."
"Fremont's notes in 1843 had reported observations
of abandoned oxen feeding with buffalo and looking
amazingly healthy after a long, hard Wyoming winter. Many
suspected that grazing might be the best possible use of
western grassland but everything was yet to be tested in
the area around Fort Collins in the 1870s. For many
people the rest of the century was simply a period of
trial and error. Most of the land was open country
unfenced, and the system of branding and roundups made
stock raising necessarily a communal enterprise."
FIRST ORCHARDS IN THE COUNTY
AGRICULTURE IN COLORADO-Steinel
1876
"Fruit growing in northern Colorado owes its
beginning and development to two outstanding pioneers,
James S. McClelland and Charles Pennock..."
"McClelland planted the first commercial orchard
near Fort Collins in 1876. He gradually increased his
planting to over 100 acres. The McClelland orchard has
been of exceptional value to northern Colorado and to the
Agricultural College. Mr. McClelland attempted the
growing of every variety of fruit, as well as nut trees
and shade trees offered by nurseries. His farm was a real
testing ground for the northern portion of the
state."
TENNEY SOWS ALFALFA
AGRICULTURE IN COLORADO-Steinel
1872
Tenney sowed alfalfa at Fort Collins. It was a
fundamental crop for livestock feed.
COLORADO STATE GRANGE
AGRICULTURE IN COLORADO-Steinel
1873
State Grange resolution 1875:
"Whereas, the water of our rivers and streams should
be kept within the control of the State for the benefit
of the people, therefore,
Resolved, that a clause be inserted in our State
Constitution which shall prohibit our legislators from
ever giving away, selling, bonding or granting charters
to corporations by which they can use or control the use
of said water, except to organized companies of actual
settlers upon whose lands such water is intended to be
used." sp;
WATER RIGHTS
DEMOCRACY'S COLLEGE-Hansen
1874
Fort Collins-Greeley dispute on Poudre River rights,
1874.
Irrigation convention, 1878.
Constitution on river diversion rights, 1876.
Public Control Acts, 1879-81.
Court decision that canals can charge only as public
carrier, 1888.
Traditional riparian water rights used in eastern U. S.,
which received plenty of rainfall to support agriculture,
were not suited to semi-arid Colorado. In the east,
waterways were used primarily for hydraulic power and
navigation and thus landowners along them were given only
limited use to the water. New arrangement needed in
Colorado.
"Adopting a practice that had been followed in
western mining camps, Coloradans came to sanction the
diversion of water for productive purposes by granting
priority of right to the individual who had made the
earliest diversion or appropriation."
The principle was backed in 1876 State Constitution and
endorsed by Colorado Supreme Court in "Coffin, et
al, v. Left Hand Ditch Company," 1882.
"Colorado thus took an historic first step which
other semi-arid states of the Rocky Mountain region soon
followed; the doctrine of prior appropriation became
known as the 'Colorado system.' "
Unprecedented administrative system also developed in
response to water dispute between Fort Collins and
Greeley in 1874.
IRRIGATION DITCHES IN FORT COLLINS-(MILLRACE -
WATER RIGHTS)
FORT COLLINS YESTERDAYS-Swanson
1870s
"The town ditch on Fort Collins Irrigation Canal was
another source of water in the 1870s in addition to the
millrace - laid out in the 1860s. It came out of the
river somewhat west of the millrace headgate and looped
its way south near the western boundary of the early
town. It crossed Whitcomb several times, and entered the
area later and for the campus near Meldrum and
Howes."
"The town ditch was not really owned by the town but
by a corporation formed by some individuals who planned
the colony in 1873." Later it became known as
"Arthur Ditch."
TOWN DITCH (ARTHUR DITCH)
HISTORY OF LARIMER COUNTY-Watrous
1870s
It was built in 1873 by A. R. Chaffee. There were
problems of standing water which were solved by a sewer
in 1886.
MERCER DITCH
FORT COLLINS EXPRESS SPECIAL EDITION, 1894
1870s
It was begun by the members of the Mercer Colony.
LARIMER AND WELD CANAL
HISTORY OF LARIMER COUNTY-Watrous
1870s
In 1879 the Larimer and Weld Canal construction began by
Benjamin H. Eaton and Associates. It tapped the river
about two miles northwest of Fort Collins. It was one of
the largest irrigating canals in northern Colorado. It
caused all lands in Boxelder Valley that could be
irrigated from it to be quickly occupied.
PEOPLE
JUDGE JAY H. BOUTON
MUSEUM (GLENDURA) SCRAPBOOK
1870s
"Presided over the District No. 5 school board for
18 years during the 1870s, 1880s, and 1890s. He was the
town attorney when the town was incorporated in 1873.
He held the elected County Judgeship for three two-year
terms. Then in 1902, the people voted him to the bench of
the Eighth Judicial District Court of Colorado. He served
several years as a city trustee. Involved with the
construction of the waterworks in 1882-1883. He had
several buildings built. His law office was at 100 block
of North College in 1872. He was one of the originators
of the Opera House project. He owned the Bouton-Craine
Hardware store on Mountain Avenue and had an elegant home
built in 1895 at 113 North Sherwood."
INDIAN CHIEF FRIDAY
FORT COLLINS YESTERDAYS-Swanson
1870s
Homeless Arapahos were attacked near Lander, Wyoming,
"in response to alleged depredative attacks on
whites." A. H. Patterson involved--(quote describing
battle.)
Friday scouted for General Crook during Indian campaign
in 1876. Temporarily permitted space at Wind River in
1879. He died there in 1881 at age 60. He was interpreter
there and received $300 a year.
ARTHUR "BILLY" PATTERSON
FORT COLLINS YESTERDAYS-Swanson
1870s
"Arthur H. Patterson, called Billy by friends, was a
freighter and Indian fighter who turned into a town
builder and solid citizen of Fort Collins. In the 1870s
his influence was felt in building the town ditch,
encouraging the Agricultural College by giving land for
the campus, and planting trees along College Avenue to
that site from the tiny town."
CHARLES BOETTCHER
TRIANGLE REVIEW (5/6/1978)
1870s
Charles Boettcher's..."life is usually associated
with great wealth, banking, the Great Western Sugar
Company, and the Ideal Cement Company. His name lives on
in Boettcher and Company, the Boettcher Concrete Hall and
the Boettcher Foundation."
"Immensely rich in his latter years, Charles
Boettcher's early life is a humble story filled with
thrift and hard work." He came to Cheyenne in 1869
from Germany and ended up staying while visiting his
brother.
He opened a hardware store on Jefferson Street in Fort
Collins in 1873 (Empire Magazine 12/7/75). He
married in 1874 and left in same year; apparently he had
been waiting on railroad property. The railroad didn't
reach Fort Collins until 1877. Lack of railroad and
grasshopper problems made his business future uncertain.
He sold door to door to help "make ends meet."
He decided to expand his cement business in 1925 to Fort
Collins area and plant was constructed north of Laporte.
He had a store in March 1874 but moved to Boulder in
September. (Fort Collins Yesterdays-Swanson)
R. O. ROBERTS
HISTORY OF LARIMER COUNTY-Watrous
1870s
He built Forks Hotel in 1875. He was a Livermore rancher.
JOHN C. ABBOTT
HISTORY OF LARIMER COUNTY-Watrous
1870s
With Benjamin H. Eaton, et al, built Lake Canal, Larimer
County Canal #2 and was contractor for the Pleasant
Valley and Lake Canal in 1879-1880.
A. K. YOUNT
HISTORY OF LARIMER COUNTY-Watrous
1870s
He opened a bank with E. B. Yount in 1874. "Money at
that time commanded two per cent interest per month and
the bank did a good business."
In 1875 Yount was a member of the State Constitution
Convention.
JACOB FLOWERS and BELLVUE
HISTORY OF LARIMER COUNTY-Watrous
1870s
He started a colony from Kansas in Bellvue. He platted
Bellvue in Pleasant Valley.
FRANKLIN C. AVERY
HISTORY OF LARIMER COUNTY-Watrous
"He has been a leader and has aided by his means,
his example and his influence those projects, public and
private, which were designed to promote the growth of
town and county and to add to the welfare of the people
and advance their prosperity. Progressive plans have been
promoted by his willing cooperation, and local interests
have always received his fostering care."
He was founder of Larimer County Bank (First National) in
1880; founder of Water Supply & Storage Company; and
surveyed the first city plat map.
BENJAMIN H. EATON
HISTORY OF LARIMER COUNTY-Watrous
1870s
"In addition to his ranching and stock raising
pursuits, Mr. Eaton early became contractor and
constructor of irrigating canals and reservoirs, through
the building of which he greatly promoted and advanced
the agricultural interests of the counties of Larimer and
Weld."
In 1878 he began the Larimer & Weld Canal (Eaton
Ditch). Later, the Windsor Reservoir and Sand Creek
Ditch.
JACK DOW
MILLER COLLECTION--COLORADOAN
1870s
He was the surveyor for Old Town and various irrigation
canals i.e., Arthur, Pleasant Valley and Lakeland, and
Larimer County Canal Number 2.
MR. AND MRS. BOLIVAR S. TEDMON
FORT COLLINS YESTERDAYS-Swanson
1870s
"Bolivar S. Tedmon and his wife came to Fort Collins
in 1878 and the next year he took over the management of
the Metropolitan House from Auntie Stone who retired at
seventy-eight from the hotel business. Mrs. Tedmon had a
millinery shop on Linden where she trimmed hats and
bonnets to order at short notice in the latest styles and
at reasonable rates. She also took orders for goods,
patterns, and magazines from any of the eastern cities.
From this small beginning grew the ambitious plan for the
construction of the Tedmon House in 1880, an elegant
hotel which dominated Fort Collins' business area for the
next thirty years."
AUNTIE STONE
FORT COLLINS YESTERDAYS-Swanson
1870s
During the 1870s she had the mill with Peterson--sold it
in early 1870s: Her cabin was moved in 1873; she
continued her career as cook; ran the Blake/Metropolitan
House until 1879; retired from hotel business in 1879 at
age 78.
ANTOINE JANIS
FORT COLLINS YESTERDAYS-Swanson
1878
Men in Laporte with Indian wives had to part with them or
go with them to the reservation. Antoine Janis went to
Pine Ridge Agency in Dakota Territory with Mary (or
"First Elk Woman"), but kept his property in
Laporte for awhile.
GOVERNMENT/CITY DEVELOPMENT
IMMIGRANTS
FORT COLLINS YESTERDAYS-Swanson (from "Town
Description")
1870s
"In spite of the drawbacks, representatives of
counties all over the world came to seek their fortunes,
establish temporary or permanent homes and participate in
town building. They provide an international flavor which
has endured as a characteristic of the community."
Immigrants mentioned: Louis Dauth, Germany; Hugh Barton,
Australia; Joseph Murray, Ireland; Father Francis Byrne,
a British subject and Episcopal minister.
TOWN LOT AUCTION
FORT COLLINS EXPRESS SPECIAL EDITION, 1894
1872
"In the Fall of 1872 the members of the Union
Colony, located at Greeley, encouraged by the success
attending that enterprise, formed the Larimer County Land
Improvement Company to locate the Agricultural Colony at
Fort Collins."
FORT COLLINS COLONY
COLORADO STORY-Hafen & Hafen
1872
"Promoters and town development companies took up
the colony name and launched a number of settlements. The
most successful of these companies was the one organized
by General Robert A. Cameron. It acquired the reservation
land when the military post of Fort Collins was abandoned
in 1872. Persons of good character were invited to join
the "colony" by purchasing membership
certificates which entitled the holders to city lots and
farming land. Homeseekers came in 1873. They dug a town
ditch and erected houses and business buildings. A
newspaper, a bank, and a town government were started the
first year. Surrounded by rich agricultural land the
settlement prospered."
AGRICULTURAL COLONY
HISTORY OF LARIMER COUNTY-Watrous
1872
"Perhaps the most notable event in the early day
history of Fort Collins was location here in the Fall of
1872 of what was known as the 'Agricultural
Colony.'"
Project originated with General R.A. Cameron. (Officers
and trustees listed in article.)
Anyone of a "good moral character" could join
the colony by purchasing variously priced certificates
entitling the member to town lots and/or outlying tracts
of land. (List of what town had and what it needed in
article.)
"The immediate effect of this Colony movement was
the infusion of new blood by the addition of several
hundred people to the population of the town, the
erection of many buildings, an increase in business
enterprises and an improvement in the tone of society in
general."
INCORPORATION OF TOWN
HISTORY OF LARIMER COUNTY-Watrous
1873
A petition was presented by the taxpayers of Fort Collins
asking that the town be incorporated. Since two-thirds of
the taxpayers apparently signed, the Board of
Commissioners ordered Fort Collins to be incorporated.
(Trustees and county officers are listed below.)
FIRST TOWN GOVERNMENT
HISTORY OF LARIMER COUNTY-Watrous
1873
Board of Commissioners granted the citizen's petition for
town government.
Trustees appointed by the board: B. T. Whedbee, G. G.
Blake, H. C. Peterson, W. C. Stover, and W. S. Vescelius.
The trustees elected Whedbee president; Joseph E.
Shipler, Town Clerk; Daniel O. Davis, Constable.
"The first important piece of business transacted by
the board was to authorize the making of a road from the
north end of College Avenue to the river, provided the
County Commissioners built a bridge over the river at the
intersection. Later the Commissioners appropriated $1,200
for the bridge and the road was built.
The same trustees were later elected in the town election
and J. E. Shipler, Town Clerk; Albert Yale, Street
Supervisor; E. L. Peterson, Constable; and L. R. Rhodes
was appointed by the Trustees to be Town Attorney.
AGRICULTURAL COLONY
FORT COLLINS YESTERDAYS-Swanson
1870s
Organized by Greeley leaders.
Streets of early Fort Collins settlement paralleled the
course of the river (SE).
Survey of new town was governed by compass points.
First drawing for lots was December 1872. Lawyer Jay H.
Bouton had first business structure on new main
street--College Avenue.
"The next few years after the new streets were laid
out were times of real testing and decision-making for
many individuals in the Poudre Valley. Would the town
grow and prosper and make a pleasant setting for a home
or were chances better in one of the communities popping
up elsewhere in the Rocky Mountains?"
The 1875 population was estimated at 500 people.
The pluses for the town were: a drugstore, newspaper,
livery stable, bank, three hotels, three sawmills nearby,
one church building and three or four congregations, and
a flour mill. The minuses were: the first bank failed in
the national panic and grasshopper plagues.
TOWN DESCRIPTION (Isabella Bird)
FORT COLLINS YESTERDAYS-Swanson
1870s
"The shops, frame buildings with gables toward the
street like Whedbee's, or with false fronts like Bouton's
law office, opened on broad sidewalks dotted with
hitching posts along the dusty roads. That intrepid world
traveler, Isabella Bird, stressed the drab qualities of
the whole crop of new western towns in 1873. Cheyenne was
'an ill-arranged set of frame houses and shanties."
The odor of the offal from recently butchered antelope
and deer contaminated the air. Her hotel room in Greeley
came complete with bedbugs and flies. The one in Fort
Collins had fewer bugs and more flies. The tone of Fort
Collins was characterized by coarse speech, coarse food,
coarse everything, nothing wherewith to satisfy the
higher cravings if they exist.' The lack of trees and the
sandy ground dotted with prairie dog holes repelled those
accustomed to more luxuriant natural growth in areas of
greater rainfall."
FORT COLLINS EXPRESS-COURIER (9/30/34)
1873
" By the time we reached Fort Collins I was sick and
dizzy with the heat of the sun, and not disposed to be
pleased with a most unpleasing place. It was a military
post, but at present consists of a few frame houses put
down recently on a bare and burning plain. The settlers
have 'great expectations' but of what? The mountains look
hardly nearer than from Greeley; one only realizes their
vicinity by the force of their higher peaks. This house
is freer from bugs than the one at Greeley, but full of
flies. These new settlements are altogether revolting,
entirely utilitarian, given up to talk of dollars as well
as to making them, with coarse speech, coarse food,
coarse everything, nothing whatever to satisfy the higher
cravings if they exist, nothing on which the eye can rest
with pleasure. The lower floor of this inn swarms with
locusts in addition to thousands of black flies.'"
"The Bird record is a series of letters the young
woman wrote to her sister in England--letters that were
later printed as a book of travels. Miss Bird previously
had visited India and other eastern lands, and her
letters were most entertainingly filled with incidents
and relations of her experiences."
FORT COLLINS PLATTED/OLD-NEW TOWN
FEUD
FORT COLLINS EXPRESS-COURIER (4/30/1939)
1860s - 1870s
"Old town was laid out in 1867 when Jack Dow,
assisted by Captain N. H. Meldrum and others, surveyed
and platted it parallel with the course of the river.
"
"The new town platted in the agricultural colony was
laid out 'square with the world;' its streets ran east
and west and north and south. When the two towns were
hitched together, a good many sharp angles appeared on
the plat, and the trouble making triangle was
formed."
"Jefferson and Linden Streets were the center of Old
Town; College and Mountain Avenues the center of New
Town. When 'Uncle Ben' Whedbee moved his store building
and public hall from Jefferson and Linden Streets to
College and Mountain Avenues, his desertion of old town
started the rivalry, which continued for many
years."
"In the struggle the whole town took sides, and the HISTORY
OF LARIMER COUNTY says that colonization was retarded
for some time because of the altercation, prospective
colonists not wishing to become involved by deciding
which town to move into.
"Competitors joined sides, as did political parties
and newspapers. The history says, 'The feeling was so
strong that measures intended for the public good
inaugurated and supported by the old town were opposed by
the new town, and vice versa, through jealousy.' "
HISTORY OF LARIMER COUNTY-Watrous
1870s
Ben Whedbee's business move to "new town"
ignited sectional feud between old and new town. Affected
town issues for 25 years. Retarded growth of the town.
LIVERMORE POST OFFICE
FORT COLLINS EXPRESS SPECIAL EDITION, 1894
1872
In 1872 Livermore had only a dugout for a residence and
Post Office.
FORT COLLINS POST OFFICE
FORT COLLINS YESTERDAYS-Swanson
1865
The Post Office was first in Joseph Mason's sutler store.
Billy Patterson took the job over from Mason. Moved
across Linden to Whedbee and McClanahan's Drugstore when
McClanahan took the job over. Moved in 1873 with
drugstore to Mountain and College.
"For many years the job of postmaster was a
part-time one combined with other work and done wherever
the man had his office. When Joseph McClelland was
postmaster in 1879 he used the office of his newspaper,
the Express."
FORKS HOTEL BUILT
HISTORY OF LARIMER COUNTY-Watrous
1870s
Built by R.O. Roberts and predecessors.
FIRST BRICK HOUSE
HISTORY OF LARIMER COUNTY-Watrous
1870
First brick house built 1870 and occupied by Peterson
family until 1882.
AUNTIE STONE'S CABIN
FORT COLLINS YESTERDAYS
1873
Cabin moved from location on south side of Jefferson and
east of Linden.
EARLY HOTELS
FORT COLLINS YESTERDAYS-Swanson
1873
"When Isabella Bird stopped over in Fort Collins in
1873 on her way to climb Long's Peak, she found her hotel
revolting and she omitted any mention of its name. The
first floor was swarming with locusts. She may have been
describing the Agricultural Hotel, for Marcus Coon built
that in 1873 at the corner of Mountain and Mason. He
moved the Auntie Stone cabin over from Jefferson to give
additional work space.
"In 1874 there were three other hotels besides the
Agricultural; the Collins House on Jefferson; the
National across from it; and the Blake House nearby.
Accommodations were much improved and 'the boys no longer
slept three deep.' Every coach arrived with new
customers. The Agricultural Hotel arranged a maple sugar
festival in May with that delicacy imported from
Cortland, New York. "
"D. M. Harris bought the Agricultural in 1877, moved
it to the southeast corner of College and Walnut, and
changed the name to Commercial."
FRANKLIN AVERY AND AVERY HOUSE
FORT COLLINS YESTERDAYS-Swanson
1870
Came west from New York in 1870. Surveyed Greeley's
streets, joined New Colony at Fort Collins and surveyed
its streets. Became the County Surveyor. House built in
1879 and added onto it in 1893.
STATE CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION
HISTORY OF LARIMER COUNTY-Watrous
1875-76
Larimer County represented at Convention 12/1875 to
3/1876 by William C. Stover and A. K. Yount of Fort
Collins, who represented both Larimer and Weld Counties.
STAGE ROBBERIES
FORT COLLINS EXPRESS SPECIAL EDITION, 1894
1870s
In 1870 "At the January meeting the following
resolutions were passed; 'It was further ordered by the
board that a reward of $250 be given by Larimer County to
any person or persons who will apprehend and deliver over
to the authorities of Larimer County the late robbers of
the mail coach running between Cheyenne and Denver.' This
offer is ordered posted in three places in the county, so
the 'late robbers' might be apprehended, and to be
published in the weekly Rocky Mountain News."
CHUBBUCK MURDER
HISTORY OF LARIMER COUNTY-Watrous
1875
The murder occurred as a result of a cattle dispute.
Before dying, Chubbuck took the blame for the incident.
Fort Collins lawmen frustrated Big Thompson (where
incident occurred) people's attempt to take gunman, who
was later found not guilty at Larimer County's first
murder trial.
1870 CENSUS
HISTORY OF LARIMER COUNTY-Watrous
1870
The first federal census taken in the county reported the
population at 838 people.
SALOONS AND LIQUOR LAWS
FORT COLLINS YESTERDAYS-Swanson
1870s
"Many of the prime movers in the colony were
temperance men who approved of the ideals Greeley was
trying to maintain. The clash of the ideal with the
practical on this theme divided the town as it did the
nation for almost a century. Sheldon Jackson, the
Presbyterian missionary, wrote in 1874: 'The saloonist
(sic) is in the advance of our civilization in the West.
He has time to ruin scores of men before the advance
guards of the Church arrive.'"
"...no saloons in Fort Collins only meant more
prosperity for those in Laporte. The idea of a saloonless
year in 1874 was supported by William Stover, Billy
Patterson, and Henry Clay Peterson on a trial basis. This
was opposed by the owner of the Agricultural Hotel,
Marcus Coon. Finally in 1875, Fort Collins yielded to the
practical and eventually tried to limit the number and
character of such establishments by charging a high
fee."
The treasury of the town gained by this policy. T.J.
Wilson received the first license, made enough money to
provide a good building for a saloon with an auditorium
on the floor where the famous Hutchinson family,
temperance supporters, performed in 1879.
HISTORY OF LARIMER COUNTY-Watrous
1873--An ordinance passed prohibiting granting of
licenses for sale of liquor.
1874--A petition signed by 68 citizens was presented to
repeal liquor law. It was voted down by the Trustees.
1875--The anti-liquor ordinance was repealed. A license
was given to T.J. Wilson who had the first legalized
saloon in Fort Collins. The license cost $150.
COLLEGE/UNIVERSITY
AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE
DEMOCRACY'S COLLEGE-Hansen
1870s
Harris Stratton, originally from Massachusetts, and a
veteran politician from the Kansas free-soilers, opposed
any plans to abandon the fort. Realizing the economic and
political advantages of having a government agency in
Fort Collins (after Fort abandoned) Stratton seriously
considered "introducing a bill to establish a
land-grant, agricultural college at Fort Collins during
his term as a legislator in 1868-69." But he didn't
go through with it because he thought federal legal
technicalities would not allow it.
However, in 1870 Representative Matthew S. Taylor, Fort
Collins attorney, pushed through an act establishing
"an agricultural college to be called and named the
'Agricultural College of Colorado' to be located 'at or
near Fort Collins.' " Bill was signed by Governor
Edward McCook on February 11, 1870.
Larimer County politicians moved on this act despite not
having support from the Morrill Act, possibly assuming
they would receive such support when Colorado achieved
statehood.
Also, other "political plans" such as the
university in Boulder, the penitentiary in Canon City,
and the capital were being claimed and delay might cause
Fort Collins to miss out altogether.
"The presence of a college in a community was
generally deemed to be desirable. Why? Because it was
felt to promote '...enhanced prestige as a center of
culture, an enlarged and refined population, and a
variety of economic rewards.' A crude, frontier town that
could evoke the image of supporting learning and
refinement might have the advantage in attracting
settlers who valued such qualities. Economically, the
presence of students represented the expenditure of
outside money in the community. The construction and
maintenance of a campus would hopefully produce local
employment opportunities."
Trustees were given sweeping powers but received no
appropriations. Some land was donated by Robert Dalzell
in 1871, and by the Larimer County Land Improvement
Company in 1872, but college really not any closer to
actuality. Also, Greeley was still trying to acquire
Colorado's land grant school in spite of legislative
enactment.
However, in 1874 the legislature allocated $1,000 to aid
in erecting a building and making other improvements. The
grant required the trustees to match it. Norman Meldrum
credited with getting the appropriation. If this is true
he must have acted as a lobbyist as he was not yet a
member of the legislative assembly. The matching sum was
obtained through donations by individuals, businesses,
and organizations. Consequently, a building was erected
in 1874, called the Claim Building. The structure was
supposed to be "evidence of the good faith on the
part of those interested in locating the college at Fort
Collins..."
Initially this building was used to store farm tools and
the first crop of wheat planted by the Grangers. It later
housed the first president--Elijah Evan Edwards.
When Colorado became a state in 1876 Harris Stratton,
elected Sergeant-at-Arms of the Senate, designed a bill
based on the Michigan law regarding agricultural
colleges, and gave it to N. H. Meldrum who introduced
it--Meldrum then a member of the senate. The bill passed
and the Michigan State Agricultural College's statement
of purpose was used verbatim.
It stated the school's purpose was "to afford
thorough instruction in agriculture, and the natural
sciences connected therewith; to effect that object most
completely, the institution shall combine physical with
intellectual education, and shall be a high seminary of
learning, in which the graduate of the common school can
commence, pursue, and finish a course of study,
terminating in thorough theoretic and practical
instruction in those kindred industrial pursuits."
The law of 1877 also established the eight-member State
Board of Agriculture, which also followed the Michigan
example. The governor and college president were
ex-officio members.
Land grant money under the Morrill Act was not available
until 1879 as the General Assembly did not accept its
provisions until that time.
1878--Old Main built
1879--College operations began.
Basic academic subjects were first courses offered;
arithmetic, English, U. S. history, natural philosophy,
farm economy, and horticulture. This was necessary to
compensate for the lack of secondary education available
in the state.
FORT COLLINS YESTERDAYS-Swanson
1870
"Territorial legislature selected Fort Collins as
the site of the future agricultural college. This was a
boost to morale during shaky years following the decline
of the fort."
"The town's prosperity depended upon
agriculture-related industries. Education was one of
them. the Agricultural College showed signs of being some
help in the 1880's though it got off to a slow start. the
school was the pioneer's own prize, fought for in the
territorial legislature and kept from Greeley competitors
by the erection of a 'claim' building long before there
was any provision for faculty or classes. A.K. Yount,
founder of an early bank, drew the sketch for this little
structure. A.H. Patterson, John Mathews, Henry Clay
Peterson and Joseph Mason were among the settlers who
donated land for the campus. Patterson planted trees to
line the road that led from the tiny town past his land
to the site then out in the country."
"In 1875, one year after the 'claim building' was
erected, the newly-organized grange decided to plow up
the land and raise a crop to start a local fund for
college support. Alexander Barry, John G. Coy, Andrew
Ames, Harris Stratton, A.R. Chaffee, and Peter Green
Terry were all in on the project. Chaffee had a span of
broncos weighing under a thousand pounds each. They
pulled a ten-inch breaking plow through the virgin soil.
One observer recalled:
We knew the first furrow was the
toughest to break so we said: Chaffee, head up to the
foothills." Twenty others followed. Terry later
harvested the crop with his McCormick reaper, the
grain was threshed and put in the brick shack, and
later sold to the mill.
Fort Collins leaders not only gave the
land for the campus and plowed and planted for a crop,
but they lobbied in Denver for appropriations and served
on the Board of Agriculture created in 1877 to govern the
college. N. C. Alford in the House in 1877 worked long
into the night persuading a representative from Pueblo to
support a college appropriation. The weary man finally
agreed, but retorted: 'I feel as if it is throwing money
away, for you never can make Colorado an agricultural
state. It is only fit for a cow pasture and for
mining.'"
The first real school building, "Old Main," was
a solid two-story brick structure with a tower. The
cornerstone was laid in 1878 and construction completed
in 1879. It was a landmark on the south as was the Hottel
mill on the north. People could easily walk from the
country campus to the city near the river. On muddy days,
many chose the path of the railroad which ran behind Old
Main and brought much excitement and encouragement for
business after its completion in 1877. "The grounds
look beautiful, a mass of living green" ran the
report in August, 1889. Apple trees given by a New York
tree farm were planted in front of the building, and the
boys were working hard keeping up the flowers, stock,
balsam, pansies, and pinks.
The first president of the Agricultural College was E.E.
Edwards, a preacher who also filled the pulpit of either
Methodist or Presbyterian churches on occasional Sundays.
Since he failed to grasp the purpose of the college, the
practical town leaders got busy themselves. In 1880 they
decided the college should offer a Farmers' Institute.
C.C. Hawley and George E. Buss, both old soldiers from
the days of the fort, with A.I. Emigh, W.F. Watrous, John
G. Coy, and John Sheldon formed the committee for that
project.
George Clover was only fifteen when he enrolled in
November, 1879, and even though the class was small he
suffered the usual panic of the freshman student. He
thought Lelia Loomis and Elizabeth Coy, coeds he saw
outside his window, looked so much more sophisticated,
though he had come to college in his first ready-made
suit of clothes, that he stayed in his room for two days.
Then President Edwards came down searching for him and
insisted he join the others. He graduated in 1884 in the
first class. Just before Commencement, J.W. Lawrence, who
married Elizabeth Coy, also one of the four graduates,
came to Glover's room. Plans for advanced study for the
promising young man were simple:
"I've heard you would like to take a course in
veterinary at Ames, Iowa, but are unable to do so because
of financial matters. I thought I'd take a chance on you
and loan you the money. Would you care to go?"
Glover took advantage of the offer, received the
training, and returned in time to serve as inspector of
Texas cattle being trailed north. He soon paid off the
loan. In 1899 he joined the faculty and in 1907 he
organized a division of veterinary science.
HISTORY OF LARIMER COUNTY-Watrous
1870s
Colorado Agricultural College located at Fort Collins by
act of Territorial Legislature in 1871. Confirmed by
State Constitution in 1876. First appropriations for
buildings made in 1877. Until then the Board of
Agriculture had no means to prepare for opening of
school. It wasn't until 1878, when money became
available, that the site could be significantly improved.
AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE "A JOKE"
AGRICULTURE IN COLORADO-Steinel
1877
"W.F. Watrous, the first president of the board
/State Board of Agriculture/, several years later, in a
letter addressed to Dr. Alston Ellis, made the following
interesting comment; 'When an article was agreed upon,
locating the State Agricultural College at Fort Collins,
representatives from other localities did not consider
their loss irreparable or Fort Collins' involvement
beyond compare. The affair was looked upon as something
in the nature of a burlesque. A school for the promotion
of agricultural science and the mechanic arts, located in
the Great American Desert, with nothing in sight more
suggestive of enlightened civilization than dry prairies,
dotted with cactus patches, bestrewn with bleaching bones
of departed buffalo, and inhabited by prairie dogs,
coyotes and buzzards, with only here and there a little
oasis along the creek bottom was an enterprise that was
considered both amusing and pathetic.' He states,
however, that several years later, after its importance
began to be appreciated, it required considerable 'alert
watchfulness' to prevent it from being removed
elsewhere."
MANUAL LABOR AT COLLEGE
DEMOCRACY'S COLLEGE-Hansen
1870s
"The manual labor requirement /two hours a day/ had
been included in legislation establishing the
agricultural college as a State institution. It was a
common stipulation at most land-grant colleges and
reflected the 'narrow gauge' view that practical training
should be emphasized. Too often, however, this labor was
not coordinated with course work and offered little,
except, perhaps, the opportunity for students to earn
five or ten cents an hour."
COLLEGE SITE PLOWED BY GRANGE
DEMOCRACY'S COLLEGE-Hansen
SPRING 1874
"Claim building" erected.
OLD MAIN
DEMOCRACY'S COLLEGE-Hansen
1878
Narrative capturing excitement of cornerstone laying.
Photo of Old Main and town after cornerstone laying
ceremony.
FARMERS' INSTITUTE
DEMOCRACY'S COLLEGE-Hansen
1879
"College involvement with the community...had some
highly positive aspects. One was an effort by the school
to extend useful knowledge beyond the confines of the
campus to the entire state of Colorado..."
"The farmers' institute was the precursor to the
Cooperative Extension Service and represented an effort
of 'democracy's college' to serve the entire community.
It reflected the tradition of such American
self-improvement institutions as the lyceum and the
Chautauqua and perhaps drew from the European 'university
extension' movement as well. Its purpose was to serve the
needs of society generally, but it also proved useful as
a public relations device in winning the confidence of
farmers who viewed the opinions of college professors
with skepticism."
First session held November 26 & 28, 1879, had
disappointing attendance but considered worthwhile.
CIVIC
CATHOLIC CHURCH
FORT COLLINS YESTERDAYS-Swanson
1870s
"Mass was celebrated in the Old Grout building in
1878. Then the Catholics, led by Frank Michaud, raised
the sum of $500 to purchase the school, replaced by the
new Remington School built in 1879. It was used
twenty-two years until the dedication of St. Joseph's in
August 190l.
EPISCOPALIAN CHURCH
FORT COLLINS YESTERDAYS-Swanson
1875
Father Francis Byrne was assigned to Fort Collins in
1875. He held services at various sites in the area.
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
FORT COLLINS YESTERDAYS-Swanson
1876
"The families of John Mandeville, George Bass, and
Henry Clay Peterson, oldtimers along with Vescelius and
Stover, newcomers of the 1870s, gave chicken suppers to
pay for the organ, red upholstered high Gothic type
pulpit chairs and brand new carpet."
"The elaborate gifts which were received at the
three church Christmas trees in 1879 suggest that the
church rather than the home was the center both for such
decoration and exchange."
Building served Presbyterians until 1914, then used by
several other denominations until 1974, when it was
demolished.
METHODIST CHURCH
FORT COLLINS YESTERDAYS-Swanson
1873
"Joseph Mason and Alfred Howes selected the first
site for a church building in 1873 on the southwest
corner of Laporte and Mason facing Mason. A frame
building, 30 x 40 feet, built by Henry Clay Peterson, was
dedicated in 1876. When Colorado and Southern tracks came
through in 1877 on Mason, A.L. Emigh gave the church two
lots at 252-254 East Mountain and the building was moved
there where it served the congregation's needs until
1898."
MOUNTAIN HOME CEMETERY
HISTORY OF LARIMER COUNTY-Watrous
1870s
Military cemetery at present Oak and College intersection
abandoned in 1873; new cemetery, "Mountain
Home", developed southeast of town. Bodies
transferred from post burial ground to new site.
Acting Board of Trustees for new town government
determined old grounds were a "nuisance."
"Later when Oak Street was being leveled off to
grade, the bones of several bodies interred in unmarked
graves, were plowed up. These grim reminders of early day
deaths were gathered up and properly buried in what is
now the old cemetery, Mountain Home." Names and
their history were unknown.
SCHOOL DISTRICT #5
HISTORY OF LARIMER COUNTY-Watrous
1870
The District was organized in 1870. Before that, Mrs.
Elizabeth Keays taught school in the winter of 1866 and
private school during the summer of 1865 in the Stone
Cabin. In the Fall of 1866 Mrs. Keays was hired to teach
school in the former officer's quarters at the Fort.
After the district was organized, the first school
building was erected at Peterson & Riverside--now a
residence. The frame building cost $1,100 and was built
by Henry Clay Peterson. By 1870 the county school
population was 203 students. After the arrival of the
colonies and before Remington School was built, school
accommodations were crowded.
Judge Howes started the movement for the first school
building in 1879. It was a small frame building on
Riverside near corner of Peterson. This school cost
$1,100 and was used until 1879 when it was sold to the
Catholic Church. Remington School opened in 1879.
EARLY SCHOOLS
TRIANGLE REVIEW (9/23/1981)
1870s
School age census went from 134 in October 1878 to 234 by
May of the next year.
Professor J.W. Baines and his wife taught at
Riverside--classes were very overcrowded. Baines resigned
and was replaced by three teachers who began in Fall of
1879 in new Remington School.
REMINGTON SCHOOL
FORT COLLINS YESTERDAYS-Swanson
1879
"Completion of every building was a cause for
celebration. The city hired J.W. Jordan of Cheyenne to
build the two-story brick school building with its
imposing tower on Remington and Oak. In January, 1879,
the adults met there, fifty couples who were 'the elite
of Fort Collins, to chase the fleeting hours with nimble
feet to the inspiring strains of the Collins String Band
till past twelve when all repaired to their homes and
virtuous couches.' "
FORT COLLINS MASONS
MUSEUM (GLENDURA) SCRAPBOOK
1870s
"Mason's Play Traditional Role"
The Fort Collins or Collins 19 Masonic Lodge formed in
1870. They were the nucleus of several historic
cornerstone laying ceremonies in the area. Traditionally,
Masons were those men skilled in building, architecture
and stone work.
They often placed a time capsule or casket in the
cornerstone of buildings. The Masons are the only
organization to perform this rite.
Their normal costume consists of a business suit and a
white apron. The apron is the badge of the Masons and
symbolizes purity of life and conduct.
FIRST WOMEN'S CLUB
FORT COLLINS EXPRESS-COURIER (9/19/1928)
1878
The first Fort Collins club for women was organized by
Lucy McIntyre. It was called the Chautauqua Circle since
Mrs. McIntyre's childhood home was near the
"Mother" Chautauqua near Jamestown, New York.
Lack of literary interest in the community led her to
start a program of study.
I.O.O.F.
FORT COLLINS EXPRESS-COURIER (8/4/1937)
1874
The Independent Order of Odd Fellows was organized in
November, 1874. Its purpose: "Mutual assistance, aid
to the aged and distressed, bury the dead and education
of orphans."
FIRST BASEBALL TEAM
FORT COLLINS EXPRESS (5/1923, Agricultural College
section)
1870s
"Just about these days, 1877-1878, the first
Baseball team was organized."
"Our regular stand-by players were Will and Jay
Bennett, pitcher and catcher with Eph and Jim Love as
relief. Charlie Sheldon and Frank Avery took turns at
short stop. I held down the first base. To fill the nine
at the time of the game we would pick up one or two from
the crowd."
"Our circuit was Cheyenne, Greeley and Loveland.
When we played out of town we usually went in a 'hay rack
wagon'."
"When 'Bunnies' interfered with the game, 'business'
was cut out and we played ball. There is no record that
we lost a game."
Frank P. Stover writing for the Express
NATURAL PHENOMENA
GRASSHOPPER PLAGUE
FORT COLLINS EXPRESS SPECIAL EDITION, 1894
1873
"Right on the heels of the panic came the
grasshoppers. The gloominess following the inability to
get money was intensified by the possibility of having
nothing to trade for money. As the swarms of hoppers
spread over the farms, they devoured every living thing,
they filled the air with the heat generated by so much
animal matter, and the pain of loss to the pocket was
aggravated by loss of sleep through hot nights. It is not
necessary to write further to recall to memory of old
times the scenes of that disastrous invasion, and no
amount of description could convey to others the least
idea of them. But the progress of the country suffered
most fearfully though people continued to arrive and make
their homes in the Cache la Poudre Valley."
GRASSHOPPER PLAGUE 1873
HISTORY OF LARIMER COUNTY-Watrous
1870s
Grasshopper plagues and financial panic of 1873 made
outlook grim for county--retarded development of area.
Plagues afflicted area for three years--no more since
1876.
MILITARY ACTIVITIES/WAR
CUSTER MASSACRE
FORT COLLINS EXPRESS SPECIAL EDITION, 1894
1876
Those who had Indian wives in the valley knew of big
events before they had reached news channels--Sand creek
and Little Big Horn.
HEALTH/MEDICINE
DOCTORS
FORT COLLINS YESTERDAYS-Swanson
1870s
Dr. Timothy Smith was the town's first doctor. He was in
Fort Collins from the 1860s and practiced through the
1870s. He moved east after his wife gave birth to twins
in 1881--he was 65 years old. He was County Treasurer for
a term beginning in 1872.
A Dr. Miller operated on Jacob Flowers' daughter for a
tumor in May 1879. He had help with the anesthetics from
pioneer Captain Post, and from the patient's
sister."
TRANSPORTATION
LIVERY STABLES
FORT COLLINS YESTERDAYS-Swanson
1870s
"Then there was the problem of getting horses to
supply the growing demand as settlers came in. The livery
stable served as the local source. There were work
horses, the cowboys' riding horses, spirited race horses
for the tracks, and fancy matched teams for drawing
carriages as some individuals prospered and sought this
as evidence of their elevated status. Running a livery
stable was really a prestige occupation. Joe Mason built
his on Jefferson in 1874."
COLORADO CENTRAL RIGHT OF WAY
HISTORY OF LARIMER COUNTY-Watrous
1877
In June of 1877 the Board of Trustees passed an ordinance
granting Colorado Central Railroad Company the right of
way along Mason Street. While being built, the railroad
employees caused problems.
The arrival of the construction train on depot grounds
was cause for a big celebration.
The first freight merchandise was for W.C. Stover and
coal for A.H. Patterson.
"The advent of the railroad marked the beginning of
a new era in the history of Fort Collins and Larimer
County. It opened communication by rail with the outside
world and brought the town in touch with the rest of
creation. It afforded the farmer and stockman a
opportunity to ship out their surplus products and fat
cattle to wider and better markets. The home merchants
could also get in their stocks of goods in better time,
in better condition and at a cheaper rate, consequently
the producers and consumers were all benefitted."
There was also an influx of settlers following completion
of the railroad."
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