E' I R S T 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT 
 
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 i 
 
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 TTNM COLONY OF COLOUDO/i 
 
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 From its Date op Settlement to the Present Time 
 
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FIRST 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT 
 
 OF THE 
 
 UNION COLONY OF COLORADO, 
 
 INCLUDING A 
 
 HISIORy OF THE TOWN OF GREELE!. 
 
 Prom its Date of Settlement to the Present Time ; 
 
 .\ 
 
 . - V WITH 
 
 y I) E S C lU P 'I' I V ]5 CHAPTERS 
 
 V 
 
 ON 
 
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F7^4 
 Q7Us 
 
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 BOARD OF TRUSTEES. 
 
 Nathan C, Meekee, Egbert A. Cameron, 
 
 E. C. Monk, W. W. Wilcox. 
 
 J. H. PiNKEErON. 
 
 OFFICERS . 
 
 President : — Nathan C. Meeker, 
 
 Vice President: — Gen. Robert A. Cameron 
 Treasurer :^Dr. Chas. Emeeson, 
 
 Secretary : — i RANK M. Babcock. 
 Engineer : — E. S. Nettle: on. 
 Secret •ry Bureau of Statistics and Ii formation, 
 William E. Paboe. 
 
 EXECUTIVE COUNCIL. 
 
 . E. A. "-Iollister, Chairman. 
 N. Holmes. O. Plumb. 
 
 J. C. Shattuck. E. L. Chills. 
 
 E. W. Gueley. E. Nye. 
 
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 SPECIAL NOT.CE. 
 
 Eor information concerning passage . ickets, special rates 
 for freight, routes of travel, etc., acldr ss the Bureau of 
 Statistics and Information, Greeley, Coloi ado. 
 
UIIOI COLOM OF COLOEADO. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 ORGANIZATION OF UNION COLONY. 
 
 In the early part of December, 1869, an article, entitled 
 "A Western Colony," appeared in the Neic-Yvvlc Daily 
 Tribune. We quote the essential paragraphs from it, as 
 follows : 
 
 " I propose to unite with pi'oper persons in the esfcablisliment of a Colony in 
 Colorado Territory. 
 
 " Tlie peri^ons with whom I would be willing to associate must be Temper- 
 ance men, and ambitious to establiah good society. 
 
 '• My plan would bo to mal;e the HOttlcuiont aluiOKt wholly in a village ; all the 
 lots of the village should be sold, that lunds may be obtaineo for making 
 imijrovements for the common good, such as the building of a church, a town 
 hall, a school-house, and for the eslablifshment of a library. Adjoining the 
 village, the outlying tracts could be apportioned, by lot or otherwise, in size 
 accoi'ding to distance from tue village (lenter. Some of the advantages of set- 
 tling in a village will be easy access to schools aud public places, meetings, 
 lectiU'CiS, and the lilie, and society can be had at once. 
 
 " Farmers will be wanted ; nur'sei-ymen, tlorists, and almost all kinds of me- 
 chanics, as well as capitalists, to use the coal and water-power in running 
 machuiory. The first settlers, mtist of course, be pioneers, for houses, mills 
 and mechanic shops are to be built, that families may come with few privations. 
 Wliatever professions and occupations enter into the formation of an intelligent, 
 educated and thrifty cummunity should be embraced hy this Colony, and it 
 should be the object to exhibit all that is best m modern civilization. In par- 
 ticular, should moral and religious sentiments prevail, for without these 
 qualities man is nothing. At the same time, tolerance and liberality should 
 also prevail. One thing more is equally important- — happiness, wealth and the 
 glory of a State spring fioni the family — and it should be an aim and a high 
 ambition to preserve the family pure in all its relations, and to labor with the 
 best efibrts life aud strength can give to make the home comfortable, to beau- 
 tify and adorn it, and to supply it with whatever will make it attractive and 
 loved. 
 
 " I make the point that two important objects will be gained by such a 
 colony. First, schools, refined society, and all the advantages of an old coun- 
 try, will be secured in a few j'ears ; while, on the contrary, where settlements 
 are made by the old methods, people are obliged to wait twenty, forty or more 
 years. Second, witli free homesteads as a basis, with the sale of reserved lots tor 
 the general good, the greatly increased values of real estate, wiJl be for the 
 benefit of all the people, not for schemers and speculators. In the success of 
 this Colony, a model will be presented for settling the remainder of the vast 
 territory of our country. 
 
 " Persons wishing to unite in such a colony, will please address me at the 
 Tribune office, stating their occupation, and the value of the property which 
 they could take with them. (Signed) N. C. Meekeb." 
 
 It is probable that, on the morning the above call ap- 
 peared, its writer had no idea the seed thus sown would 
 spring up rapidly under tne genial influence of the Tribune^ 
 and bring forth an hundred-fold return. But as day follow- 
 
ed day, and eacli incoming mail brouglit scores of respon- 
 ses from persons in all parts of the country and of every 
 condition in life, it became necessary to plan a realization of 
 the idea thus introduced to the community at large. Ac- 
 cordingly, a meeting was called for December 23d, in 
 Boom No. 24, Cooper Institute, New-York city — a room 
 made famous by the weekly discussions of the Farmers' 
 Club, and therefore very appropriately chosen for the pro- 
 posed organization. It was the writer's good fortune to 
 be present on that occasion ; the room was comfortably 
 full, and individuals were present from every Eastern 
 State, from Western New- York, from New-Jersey and 
 Pennsylvania. The Hon. Horace Greeley was appointed 
 to preside, and, on taking the chair, made a few remarks 
 pertinent to the object before the meeting. He believed 
 that there ought to be, not only one, but one thousand 
 colonies — there were multitudes of men working for wages 
 who ought to emigrate. He disliked to see men in ad- 
 vanced life working for salaries in places where, perhaps, 
 they were ordered about by boys. He would like to see 
 them working for themselves. 
 
 Mr. N. C. Meeker followed. He had received over 
 eight hundred letters — their writers represented all trades, 
 professions and pursuits ; many educated ; the majority 
 farmers, and fully one-half church members. It was ne- 
 cessary that a committee be appointed to go and search 
 for a location that will be suited to the greatest variety of 
 pursuits. The plan is certainly an experiment, and for a 
 first colony more natural advantages will be required than 
 for other colonies, having for a guide the experience of a 
 pioneer colony. He named, in the order of their import- 
 ance, what should be sought : healthfulness ; a varied and 
 rich soil ; timber ; coal ; iron ore ; adaptation to fruit ; 
 water-power ; beauty of scenery. The interests of so 
 many families, with the earnings of their lives and the 
 comforts of home, the interests of so many industrious, 
 skiUful, intelligent and well-to-do people should not be 
 put in jeopardy for want of thorough investigation. 
 
 Mr. Meeker was followed by various other gentlemen. 
 
all expressing themselves favorable to a plan of organiza- 
 tion, among them Gen. Robt. A. Cameron, of Elmira, who 
 said he had gone to Indiana when it was a wilderness, and 
 to Chicago when it was a mud-hole, and now he wanted to 
 go to Colorado, for no where in the globe is thei'e such 
 another country as the west. The great mining region was 
 to be developed, and to do this would create a market that 
 oould not be over-stocked. 
 
 It was finally decided to organize as the " Union Colony," 
 with the following named officers : N. C. Meeker, Presi- 
 dent ; Gen. R. A. Cameron, Vice President ; Horace 
 Greeley, Treasurer. An Executive Committee of five was 
 also chosen, and this resolution adopted : 
 
 '■That each member pay 15 for current expenses, and also hold subject to 
 the call of the Treasurer f 150, for a purchase fund for the land to be bought, 
 and that said money shall be refunded if the land is not settled within a reason- 
 able period, to be prescribed by the Executive Committee." 
 
 Fifty-nine members enrolled their names — ^^paid their 
 initiation fee of five ' dollars, and then, amid the greatest 
 enthusiasm and the most perfect harmony, the meeting 
 adjourned, to allow the Executive Committee to prepare 
 the Constitution and By-Lavs of the Union Colony. 
 These, in a few days, were printed in circular form, and 
 distributed. The salient features were as follows : 
 
 The object of the Colony shall be to settle on Govern- 
 ment or other cheap land, to the end that men may engage 
 in various industries and pursuits ; have homes " of their 
 own ; and that churches and schools may be convenient. 
 
 Persons wishing to become members, must be temper- 
 ance men, and of good moral character. 
 
 A Locating Committee to report a suitable location; 
 when found, the Treasurer to purchase and hold the same 
 in trust for the Colony ; said lands to be be deeded in 
 designated parcels to the members, as the Executive 
 Committee shall direct ; deeds for the same to be ex- 
 ecuted, whenever a member, in good faith, enters upon his 
 land to make improvements. 
 
 Four quarter sections or six hundred and forty acres 
 to be located centrally, and divided into business and 
 residence lots ; grounds to be reserved for a plaza, schools, 
 
6 • 
 
 cliurclies, and other public institutions. Tke business and 
 residence lots so laid out to be sold, one of each to eacli 
 member of the Colony, at a fixed valuation, and the pro- 
 ceeds devoted to improvements for the common wellfare. 
 
 Lands adjoining the town plot to be divided into lots of 
 five, ten, twenty, forty and eighty acres, according to their 
 distance from the town center, and deeded one to each 
 member as they may choose or the Committee shall decide. 
 
 It will be seen that in no way is the Colony organized 
 as a " commitnity," in the sense of the term as used in 
 connection with the Oneida community. The impression 
 seems to have gone abroad that such is the case, but 
 nothing is further from the fact. We are an organization 
 for the sole purpose of controlling, by purchase and sale, 
 a large body of land ; all other interests are separate, dis- 
 tinct and entire — as much so as in any town or city in the 
 land. The plot of ground chosen, once deeded to a mem- 
 ber of the Colony, belongs to him, and he has the sole 
 right to its disposal. He chooses his own business and 
 minds it, or neglects it, without interference. His family 
 affairs are as private as they were in his eastern home. 
 His accumulations ai'e his own — to squander or to save, 
 as he may elect. We desire, therefore, that our social 
 position may not be misunderstood, since no element of 
 communism enters into it. We are a Union Colony, in so 
 far as matters relate to our mutual interests, and no 
 further. 
 
 Coupled with the Constitution and By-Laws, were par- 
 agraphs on irrigation, showing that by this means the 
 growth and yield of fruit, vegetables and grain are enor- 
 mous; tha: its cost is but trifling, and, after the system has 
 been once established, farmers need be dependent no lon- 
 ger upon rain falls, as "seed-time and harvest" are sure. 
 
 So was launched the good ship Union Colgn^y op Col- 
 orado, freighted v/ith the fresh hopes, the re-awakened 
 ambitions, the newly kindled desires of hundreds of souls. 
 From near and far they came ; the inlets of Maine sent 
 representatives to join hands with those who came from 
 the lagoons of Florida ; the hardy men of Minnesota stood 
 
slioulder to shoulder with those who grew up under the 
 shadow of the Allegliauy Kange ; and the New-Yorker 
 kept pace with the Virginian, on the broad deck of the 
 good ship, plowing her way westward. 
 
 Twentj-seven States of our glorious Union, sent gallant 
 sons to serve under a gallant leader. Surely, with the 
 successful ventures from the time Cecrops led forth his 
 Egyptian Colony to found Athens, down to the settlement 
 of Virginia by the London Company, this should take 
 honored rank. Strangers all, yet bound by kindred ties ; 
 each with a past checkered by sad experiences and glad 
 mementoes, yet each looking forward to .i future full of 
 promise ; each and all centering their hopes upon one 
 object, and that located afar off, at the foot of the Shining 
 Mountains, on the slopes of the Everlasting Hills. Well 
 may we pause to wonder and while we wonder to admire — 
 
 "Sail on, sail on, oh ship of state ! 
 Sail on, oh Union, strong and great ; 
 
 Humanity with all its fears, 
 
 With all its hopes of future years 
 Is hanging breathless on thy fate." 
 
 CHAPTEE 11. 
 
 LOCATION. — TOWN SITE, — FIEST ARKIVALS. 
 
 On the third dav of February the Locating Committee, 
 consisting of N. C. Meeker, E,. A. Cameron, and H. T. West, 
 set out in search of the promised, land. Of these three, one 
 had resided for tliirtj^-five, another for twenty-five and the 
 third for ten years in the West, and during these periods 
 had visited every Western State from Canada to the Gulf, 
 They were therefore well qualified for the important trust 
 confided to them by the Executive Committee. 
 
 During this trip the Committee carefully explored parts 
 of Kansas, Nebraska, Arkansas, New Mexico, Wyoming 
 and Utah. But it was diificult to select so large a tract 
 of land as the Colony required in one body, and one cause 
 with another operated to decide against Locating . in any 
 one of these States or Territories. 
 
Nebraska's great want was a market for its produc- 
 tions. Arkansas liad its enervating climate, and New 
 Mexico sadly needed suitable railroad accommodation. 
 During their journeyings tbrougli Utali and Wyoming the 
 Committee were particularly impressed with the beauty of 
 Bear Yalley in the yicinity of Evanston, on the Union 
 Pacific Railroad. Here are many and rare advantages 
 for a Colonial settlement of perhaps an hundred families ; 
 coal, iron and wood abound in the neighborhood. This 
 Yalley still lies open for settlement, presenting advantages 
 that need only to be seen to be properly appreciated. 
 But Union Colony, with six hundred families and the pro- 
 mise of four hundred more, needed more room than could 
 be found in Bear Yalley, and so the Committee reluctantly 
 turned their faces from it, and, crossing the Border, en- 
 tered the Territory of Colorado. With great care they 
 explored the Lower Platte, the Great Bend of the Platte, 
 the Platte Canyon, Box Elder Creek emptying into the 
 La Poudre River, near the base of the mountains, the 
 Thompson and the St. Yrains. Box Elder Yalley was 
 found to be one of the finest agricultural valleys in the 
 Territory. It has wood within six miles, with water of ex- 
 cellent quality and sufficient quantity from the Poudre, 
 and lies within easy reach. Crossing the Divide South of 
 Denver they explored Monument Yalley, the Fontaine qui 
 Bouille and the Arkansas. It was also their intention to 
 visit San Luis Park, but snow in the Sangre de Christo 
 Pass prevented. They found the scenery of Monument 
 Yalley very fine and for a few families presented favorable 
 inducements for settlement. But the insufficient supply 
 of water for a large tract of land forbade its selection for 
 Union Colony. 
 
 At last, after a month of journeying in the wilderness 
 they were enabled to send, on the wings of the lightning, 
 the tidings east, that on the 5th day of April, "Union 
 Colony, No. 1, N. C. Meeker, President, and Horace 
 Greeley, Treasurer, located in Colorado Territory, on the 
 delta formed by the junction of the Cache-la-poudre and 
 the Platte Rivers, and on the Denver Pacific Railway, 
 
midway between Denver, Colorado and Cheyenne, Wyo- 
 ming. The new town has been named Greele3^ Houses, 
 mills, stores, churches, and schools are to be erected the 
 coming season. 
 
 So, after mature deliberation, careful examination, 
 and a thorough canvass of the advantages and disad- 
 vantages of this, in comparison with other locations, the 
 final choice was made. 
 
 Of the Cache-la-poudre, in whose valley was chosen the 
 site of the future "City of the Plains," Fitz Hugh Lud- 
 low thus wrote in his "Heart of the Continent:" — "This 
 stream is one of the most beautiful torrents which we saw 
 on our entire journey. It comes from the Everlasting 
 Snow Line of the Peaks about Cheyenne Pass, an^l its 
 entire course to the Platte is broken by no great fall, with 
 a tolerably even grade and considerable winding of direc- 
 tion. It swarms with tine fish and is the most mysteri- 
 ously seductive of streams." 
 
 Mr. E. S. Nettleton, Engineer of Union Colony, gives 
 the fall of the river near the Foot Hills, as the first range 
 to the west of the town is called, at twenty feet to the mile 
 gradually decreasing until immediately opposite Greeley 
 it has but a fall of about eleven feet to the mile. 
 
 It has been truly said that "a city never becomes the 
 leading one of a section unless in addition its geographi- 
 cal position is such that it can become a centre of travel 
 and a point of distribution." In examining the new town of 
 Greeley in this light a glance at the map published in con- 
 nection with this report, shows it to be located at the out- 
 let of a wide agricultural country, which naturally is 
 tributary to it, as it lies opposite the Platte, where it comes* 
 to receive the Cache-la-Poudre, while the vaUeys of the Big 
 and Little Thompson and of St. Vrain open full upon it 
 and from them radiate tributary valleys. In addition to 
 this the Platte Yalley, from two to seven miles wide, will 
 be open to it in the days to come by settlements pushed 
 out, from the Missouri river on the East, by the Kansas 
 Pacific on the South, and by the settlements along the 
 Rocky Mountains on the West. 
 
10 
 
 The Bocky Mountain News in commenting upon tlie loca- 
 tion selected, said : 
 
 "The town site will be in every respect desirable ; Eastward the outlook is 
 down the plain that stretches unbroken to the Missouri River, six hundred 
 miles away, relieved by the groves and fringes of timbers that skirt the Poudre 
 and Platte Rivers and Crow Creek. North and South are rolling prairies, and 
 Westward, tlie same to the Mountain foot, twenty-one miles distant but plainly 
 distinct and in the wonderfully clear, rarified atmosphere, seeming scarce half 
 a dozen miles away. Beyond that line rises the great Rocky Mountain chain, 
 massive and dark with pine forests, rising ridge beyond and above ridge until 
 they culminate in the lofty, snowy range, sixty miles away and with a sweep of 
 at least a hundred and fifty miles. Long's Peak is the nearest and .seems the 
 loftiest in si^ht. It bears southwest by west and is over fourteen thousand 
 feet high. Snow is always visible on the main range." 
 
 The Executive Committee soon officially announced tlie 
 location to the members of the Colony, giving all particu- 
 lars of the site and the country surrounding it. The town 
 site is in Latitude 40 deg. 25 min., North, Longitude ^7 deg. 
 48 min. west of Washington, at an elevation of 4779 feet 
 above the sea. 
 
 It was found necessray to organize under the Territorial 
 Law of Colorado, before the land could be secured and 
 held in trust, and for this purpose an Act of Licorporation 
 of Union Colony of Colorado was framed, entered upon 
 record and a Board of Trustees chosen to represent the 
 interests of the members. Under this charter the Colony 
 holds the exclusive right to construct ditches within the 
 lands possessed, to build roads, to purchase and convey 
 lands, and has other powers usually vested in corporate 
 bodies. This movement, rendered necessary by the pe- 
 cuHar circumstances of the case, in a measure abrogated 
 the powers held by the Executive Committee appointed in 
 New-York. But the power of the latter body was virtu- 
 ally recognized by the new Board of Trustees and the two 
 organizations worked in harmony with each other. 
 
 On the twenty-fifth day of April, the first sod was turned 
 in the new town of Greeley. Mr. Meeker, in the interests 
 of the Colony at once returned to New-York, to supervise . 
 the transpol-tation of members to their new home, while 
 General Cameron, as superintendent of the Colony re- 
 mained on the ground to receive them as they arrived. 
 Arrangements, anri very satisfactory ones, were made with 
 Col. John S. Loomis, President of the National Land Com- 
 pany, in reference to the forwardance of freight for Col- 
 
11 
 
 onists and passage tickets were issued at greatly reduced 
 rates ; the agents of the company at all the piiiicipal cities 
 in the East and West, and on the lines of the leading rail- 
 roads were instructed to look after the interests and care 
 for the comfort of those travelling under these tickets. It 
 gives us great pleasure to place upon record our grateful 
 appreciation of the attentions and courtesies of the officers 
 and agents of the Land Company, from its active and 
 efficient President down to its lowest agent. At Chicago, 
 as the central point for Colonists, Mr. C. N. Pratt, general 
 agent of the Company, was ever at his post of duty, im- 
 parting information, looking after the interests of the trav- 
 ellers, and cheering them forward on their Avay. Agents 
 at all points on the route stood ready to receive and 
 forward Colonists travelhng under the protection of the 
 company ; and to strangers in a strange land (and some 
 of them ladies travelling alone or with young children,) 
 these attentions were particularly welcome and valuable. 
 
 In the early part of May a statement was published 
 showing the quantity of land bought, — who from, — the 
 amount paid, and the proposed division of land. 
 
 We quote from this circular, as follows : — 
 
 " Purchased from the Denver Pacific Railway Company, through the Na- 
 tional Land Companj-, nine thousand three hundred and twenty-four and six 
 hundreth's aci'es, at a cost of thirty-one thousand and fifty-eight dolla»s 
 and fifty-eit;ht cents. 
 
 "Purchased from individuals two thousand five hundred and ninety-two and 
 twenty-three hundreths acres, at an expense of twenty-seven thousand nine 
 hundred and eightj'-two dollars and thirty cents." 
 
 "Paid preliminary fees for the occupaticn of sixty thousand acres of Govern- 
 ment Land to the ammint of nine hundred and thirty dollars. 
 
 "In addition to the al)f)ve the Colony holds a contract with the Denver Pa- 
 cific Railway to purchase at any time within three years, from May 1st, IfeTO, 
 fifty thousand acres of laud at prices vai'ying fiom $3 to $i per acre, with inter- 
 est from date of contract. It will thus be observed that, though actually own- 
 ing but about twelve thousand acres of land, the Coiony controls, in addition, 
 one hundred and eleven thousand acres of land, acknowledged to be the bcist 
 in the Territory, with chartei^ for ditches covering the entire area.'" 
 
 An apportionment of lands was also made as follows : 
 Town lots :— For business, 520, size, 25x190 ; for residence, 
 673, ranging in size from 50x190 to 200x190. Beside these 
 there were reserved for Schools, Churches, Town Hall^ 
 Court House, Seminary and otlier public purposes, 277 
 lots. Members to be allowed to purchase a town lot for 
 residence or business purposes, either or both, at the min- 
 imum price of lifty dollars for corner and twenty-iive dol- 
 lars for inside lots. 
 
12 
 
 Farm lands were divided into plots from five to forty 
 acres, and as high as 120 acres on certain conditions, ac- 
 cording to distance from the town centre, each member to 
 be entitled to one of these plots as he might select, for his 
 colony certificate. The land to be furnished with water 
 for irrigation and only liable to assessment for the cost of 
 keeping the irrigating ditches in repair. The lands thus 
 subdivided lying up and down the Cache-la-Poudre, on 
 both sides of the river for several miles. 
 
 A contract was at once given out for Ditch No. 3, ten 
 miles long, and capable of being extended two miles fur- 
 ther ; fifteen inches deep ; average width, eight feet ; car- 
 rying twenty-five hundred inches of water, and capable of 
 irrigating five thousand acres, including the town site. 
 By the lOtli of June, this ditch was completed and water 
 running through all the streets of the town. A Plaza or 
 Square of ten acres was laid out in the centre of the town 
 and two miniature lakes, one called Lunar and the other 
 Auricular, from their respective shapes, constructed and 
 filled with water. Trees, brought from the Phoenix Nur- 
 series, at Bloomington, Illinois, were set out in the Plaza 
 and through the public streets, and orders issued for the 
 construction of a School House suitable for a primary 
 sfthool. To the north west of the town an island in the 
 river gave ample ground for a public park, and this land, 
 comprising about forty-eight acres was reserved and de- 
 nominated "Island Grove Park." 
 
 Meanwhile families and heads of famihes were arriving 
 on the ground. The first member who slept on colony 
 ground was Mr. J. F. Sanborn, who pitched hjs tent on 
 the river bank east of the town, on April 18th ; on the 19th 
 of April, Mrs. Agnes A. G. Benson, the first lady member 
 of the Colony, stepped on the soil of Greeley. On the 30th 
 of the same month Mr. L. W. Teller of Mt. Kisco, N. Y. 
 with a family of wife and five children arrived. At this 
 time there was but one house on the ground, and from 
 data kept we find that in a few days forty-two persons, of 
 whom twelve were women, found lodgings in six small 
 rooms in this one house. 
 
13 
 
 But comfortable shelter was soon provided. Six tents 
 were borrowed from Fort Russell, three piirchased at 
 Cheyenne, and a building, costing thirteen hundred and 
 fifty dollars, was moved from Cheyenne and placed just 
 west of the depot. It was dubbed Hotel de Comfort, and 
 though now it is irrevently termed the Barracks, Castle 
 Garden, and Hotel dis Comfort, at that time it was as an 
 Ehm with its palm trees and wells of water to the travel- 
 ler over the Arabian Desert. It was an ark of refuge, a 
 sure and safe abiding place, and never a day but there 
 was room for one more, no matter how crowded its condi- 
 tion. Early in May the stream of active emigration set in ; 
 with some discouragements, it is true, for many and vari- 
 ous were the difficulties to be contended with, and there 
 were days when the shadowo from the mountains to the 
 west of the site of the town, seemed to rest upon the hopes, 
 the hearts, the ambitions of the new comers. One can 
 easily imagine the situation ; the ground was perfectly 
 unbroken for miles, and the winds of unnumbered centur- 
 ies had blown off the light soil, leaving a gravelly coating 
 over the surface not covered by grass or cacti. The grass 
 was short and brown and presented to the eye none of its 
 nutritious qualities. And the cacti, at that time had not 
 its variegated blossoms to commend it to the eye, whil^ 
 its prickly armor in no way commended it to the touch. 
 
 General Cameron who was constantly on the ground 
 looking after the welfare of the colonists, and whose broad 
 shoulders bore without bending the weight of odium 
 placed upon them by the dissatisfied, reports that one day 
 sixty-two persons arrived, and two days thereafter eighty- 
 three additional presented themselves. Hardly any of 
 these brought with them provisions, tents, blankets or any 
 of the necessaries of life. They could not be protected 
 from the cold winds or the colder night air. No ditches 
 had been dug, no water was running and in all the town 
 of Greeley there was but one well, and two unfinished, 
 rough and impromptu buildings. 
 
 These were Greeley's dark days. Some there were who 
 forgetting that it was the work of the colony to create a 
 
14 
 
 city, expected one already built, witli houses and stores, 
 mills and factories, and all tlie adjuncts of a settled civili- 
 zation. Disappointment set their teeth- upon edge and 
 kindled bitter feelings of animosity in their bosoms- 
 Tongues wagged and not wisely nor well. Accusations of 
 fraud, deception, were freely bruited about. The vocabu- 
 lary of crime was ransacked, and no criminal whose 
 heart was of the blackest type, received more opprobium 
 than the leaders of the colony movement, from the lips of 
 these disappointed and dissatisfied ones. They came to 
 colonize, but without waiting to investigate— to examine 
 the location — to test the capabilities of the soil — they 
 remained to curse only so long as the next train east de- 
 layed its coming. Then, shaking the dust of Greeley from 
 their feet, they "went to tkeir own place." 
 
 Time passed; a survey was soon made, and locations 
 chosen by those who, having ventured thus far, had suffi- 
 cient wisdom to see that the experiment was but at its be- 
 ginning, and that success lay at its ending. The top of 
 the ladder was not to be reached at one bound, even in 
 Colorado. One by one the rounds were to be trodden, 
 and b}'' feet made weary by the upward way. 
 
 But soon Ditch No. 3 was completed, and the water 
 came dancing through the flumes like a ministering angel, 
 (as indeed it was,) scattering blessings all along its path. 
 It ran over the parched land, and blade and blossom 
 awoke to a new beauty, and the birds sang their welcome 
 early and late to the new-comers whose destiny had 
 brought them to these late desolate but now blooming 
 prairies. Trees were planted, and active, earnest, true- 
 hearted men, women and children went to work with a 
 spirit that deserved and achieved success. The cloud 
 passed away; the sunshine took its place, and thencefor- 
 ward cheered, warmed and lighted the hearts of all. 
 
 But before tracing further the history of the Colony, or 
 presenting statistics of its present condition, it may be well 
 to present a chapter upon the agricultural resources of 
 the valley in which we have found a home, and to which 
 we invite the attention of all who contemplate creating 
 new homes on the slopes of the Bocky Mountains. 
 
15 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 AGKICULTURE AND lEEIGATION. 
 
 Time was when these plains were designated the Great 
 American Desert. There are books of geography yet in 
 use in the schools of this territory, in which they are so 
 described. And so they were to those wlio, having eyes, 
 saw not. 
 
 But, as in the poem of the Sleeping Princess in the Woods, 
 who waited but the coming of the Fortunate Prince, 
 whose passionate kiss should awake her to life, and all 
 about her to activity, so the slumbering Princess of the 
 Plains but waited the coming of the Fairy Prince, the 
 touch of whose magic wand should kindle into a beauty 
 unknown before the charms lying hidden in her veiled bo- 
 som. And at the magic touch of water, lo ! the powers 
 lying dormant for unnumbered ages suddenly awoke, and. 
 from out the lap of nature flowed abundant evidence that 
 these were fertile instead of sterile plains. 
 
 Irrigation is no new thing. To those accustomed to the 
 rain-falls east of the Missouri river, it may become, at 
 first, a power misapplied, because unknown ; but adapta- 
 tion to circumstances is one of the peculiarities of tl]^ 
 American mind, and not for any length of time is there 
 any " new thing under the sun." 
 
 Old in theory and practice, in the lands of the East, to 
 this source must we trace the wonderful fertility of the 
 valley of the Nile, whose narrow belt of 3,000 miles, ex- 
 tending through six degrees of latitude, for centuries sup- 
 ported a population so vast, that even China's countless 
 hordes dwindle into insignificance. Not Egypt alone, nor 
 China, but nearly all the lands of the Orient have availed 
 themselves of this all-powerful adjunct to agriculture, and 
 thus supported a population that would otherwise have 
 depended upon distant countries for the necessities of ex- 
 istence, and so lost their main source of growth and 
 strengtli; for agriculture is the true mother of the nations, 
 and from her exhaustless bosom they receive the nourish- 
 ment that sustains their life. 
 
16 
 
 Before giving special information connected with the 
 results of irrigation in and about Greeley this last sum- 
 mer, we desire to group together certain facts of general 
 interest. We are indebted in the main for them to Wm. 
 N. Byers, Esq., of the News, whose heart has been these 
 many years in these highlands, whose home for twelve 
 years past has been here, and whose able pen has done 
 so much to develop its resources, encourage its settle- 
 ment and cheer the hearts of those who come thou- 
 sands of miles to build up new homes. Some very im- 
 portant statistics have ~ also been culled from the able 
 and exhaustive address of William E. Thomas, Esq., 
 of the News, before the Territorial Agricultural Fair of 
 1869; and we also acknowledge our indebtedness to Gov. 
 McCook's address in September of this yenr. 
 
 The agricultural area of Colorado is a little less than 
 18,000 square miles, comprising about 11,500,000 acres, all 
 highly productive, but in the main requiring irrigation — 
 " a savings bank crammed with riches since Noah's flood" 
 — and ready, therefore, to honor drafts to an unlimited 
 amount ; for " irrigated land never wears out," as the ex- 
 perience of eastern nations testifies. Ihere are three 
 main sections of this agricultural area, each well supplied 
 ■^one by the Ai'kansas, one by the Platte, and the third 
 by the Bio Grande — ^with water ; and from their tributa- 
 ries branch valleys, whose fertility Eastern farmers may 
 dream of, but never realize, in the sterile, overworked soils 
 of the Atlantic coast. 
 
 Colorado vegetables are now sold east of the Missouri 
 river, and flour and grain reach all the States. The crops 
 of the current year have been carefully estimated as fol- 
 lows : Wheat, 750,000 bushels ; corn, 700,000 bushels ; 
 oats and barley, 650,000 bushels; vegetables and pota- 
 toes, 500,000 bushels ; — while the hay and dairy product 
 will have a market value of not less than four milhons of 
 dollars. Ninety-seven bushels of wheat have been raised 
 on one acre of land on the South Platte, within forty miles 
 of Greeley. Oats have reached the same number of bush- 
 els to the acre ; and Governor McCook is our authority for 
 
17 
 
 the statement tliat 250 bushels of onions have been raised 
 on JiaJf an acre. These, of course, are exceptional cases 
 and the result of high ciiltivation ; but the average of 
 crops may thus be stated : Wheat, 30 bushels ; oats, 55 ; 
 corn, 30 ; j)otatoes, 250 ; onions, 300 ; beans, 30 ; Ruta 
 Baga turnips, 30 tons; beets, 30 tons. These^ figures may 
 be relied upon as being, if anything, helo^v the average. 
 
 In this connection, we may observe that farmers here 
 have no difficulty in turning the soil. Two horses or a 
 pair of cattle plow the ground with the greatest ease, and 
 two acres can be plowed by one man in a single day. 
 
 A few words in relation to beets. The growth of sugar 
 beets here is simply enormous. The soil seems peculiarly 
 adapted to their cultivation, and hundreds of acres could 
 be profitably grown if some far-seeing and enterprising 
 capitalist would but invest a few spare thousands of dol- 
 lars in the erection of a beet sugar mill. Here we have 
 all the essential elements of success. Soil and chmate are 
 favorable ; there would be an abundance of supply, and a 
 home market ready to absorb all that could be produced. 
 What seems to have been a failure at Chatworth, Illinois, 
 in Greeley would be a magnificent success ! 
 
 At the Denver Fair, this year, turnips were on exhibi- 
 tion, and curiosity impelled us to measure the largest ; it 
 -was/o^iy-two inches in circumference. Cabbages weigh- 
 ing fifty pounds were too common for especial mention ; 
 and we could easily credit the story of the prudent house- 
 keeper, who sent her child to market for the smallest head 
 he could find, and he came home bending under the 
 weight of a lourteen-pounder, ha\dng searched vainly for 
 one of less weight. 
 
 That grapes will thrive, we had evidence — some choice 
 Isabellas were on exhibition — and that small fruits will 
 flourish is beyond a doubt. We have seen with our own 
 eyes an acre of Wilson strawberries yielding eighteen 
 hundred quarts of the largest and finest quality of fruit. 
 The time will come, and that in the not far-distant future, 
 when vast establishments for canning fruit will be scat- 
 tered over the Territory ; and the berries of Colorado 
 
18 
 
 be the delight of the epicure and the never-f aihng resource 
 of the careful housewife, whose " sweetmeat" days will be 
 among the events of the past. 
 
 Farming, of course, on account of the lateness of arrival, 
 could not be extensively carried on about Greeley, Even 
 vegetable gardening, to a great extent, was impeded and 
 delayed by the late supply of water. But the result of 
 rough turning the prairie sod, even under these discourag- 
 ing circumstances, was surprising. We have seen radishes 
 allowed to grow as Specimens on the town lot of E. W. 
 Gurley, Esq., nieasuring twenty-eight inches in circumfer- 
 ence and thirty-one inches long. . Potatoes have been 
 grown jBfty tubers to one stalk of a size that might be 
 termed medium, having been planted late in July. Pota- 
 toes on the lot of Captain David Boyd have yielded an 
 average of one hundred and forty bushels to the acre. 
 Beets, carrots, salads, cabbages, tomatoes, turnips, squash- 
 es, corn (as sweet and toothsome, tender and succulent as 
 any ever eaten in the east), beans — in fact, in our wonder- 
 fully prolific soil there is no vegetable that will not grow 
 and yield an hundred fold as a reward for the labors of 
 the agriculturist. Sweet potatoes, too, can be grown here? 
 as we know, having, through the courtesy of Mr. J. H. 
 Pinkerton, eaten some very fine ones raised on the St. 
 Vrain, a few miles back of Greeley. 
 
 But even irrigation is not a necessity in our fertile valley. 
 There are bottom lands that have been cultivated this year 
 by ranchemen, in the vicinity of the town, where no water, 
 save what has fallen from the heavens, has been used; 
 and vegetables of all kinds, and of infinite productiveness, 
 have been raised. Early in the summer season our' entire 
 supply came from this source, and it is an undeniable fact, 
 thajt the small grains can be grown here successfully with- 
 out one inch of irrigating water being used. 
 
 Thousands of strawberry plants have been set this fall 
 and after next season this luscious fruit, averaging seven- 
 ty-five cents per quart in Denver this present season, will 
 be within the reach of all, while hundreds of crates will 
 find ready market along the line of the Union Pacific and 
 
19 
 
 the Kansas Pacific, reaching even the St. Louis and the 
 Omaha markets ; and we have faith that the day is not far 
 distant when we shall rival California in our grapes, plums, 
 cherries, apricots and pears. 
 
 Of stock raising, we have but space to touch briefly.- 
 The vast ranges are too well known. This and the neigh- 
 boring territories of Wyoming, Montana and Utah must^ 
 for generations to come, supply and control the beef, mut- 
 ton, wool, hide, cheese, butter and horse markets of the 
 United States, and simply because they can produce these 
 articles cheaper and better than any other portion of our 
 countr3^ The percentage of loss is less than wintering in 
 the States on corn and hay, and here we feed nothing, 
 herding stock on the dry gama or bunch grass of the 
 plains ; the air is so fine that these grasses cure on 
 the ground, losing none of their nourishment, and the 
 climate is so mild and genial — a very Italian climate — 
 that stock can range and feed all the winter, and 
 keep in excellent condition. Alexander Majors, of 
 Nebraska City, late of the freighting firm of Majors, 
 Russell & Waddell, giving his experience, sums up the 
 whole matter as follows : " I say, without hesitation, 
 all the country west of the Missouri river is one vasfli 
 pasture, afi'ording unequalled summer and winter pastur- 
 age, where sheep, horses and cattle can be raised with 
 only the cost of herding." 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 MOUNTAIN SCENEKY, CLIMATOLOGY, FLORA, &C., &C. 
 
 We are indebted to Mr. E. Fussell, artist, for the ac- 
 companying graphic description of Estes Park, and the 
 mountain scenery in the immediate vicinity. Mr. Fussell 
 has executed some very fine pictures this present season, 
 and during the winter will finish some mountain scenes, 
 sketches of which were taken during one of the journeys 
 described in his letter. 
 
20 
 
 To tlie tourist who wishes to start from Greeley to 
 view the beauties of the mountains there are two places 
 that offer great advantages, Estes Park and the Great 
 Canyon of the Big Thompson. There is not at present 
 much accommodation for such, but those will not be found 
 wanting to supply it when needed. 
 
 A line of stages is projected from Greeley to Estes 
 Park next summer, but for the trip to the Big Canyon 
 private conveyances must yet be depended upon. The 
 distance is some fifty-five miles ; the first part of the 
 route lies in the Valley of the Cache-la-Poudre with its 
 picturesque groves of cottonwood. Seen near sunset on 
 such days as are frequent during the summer season, this 
 part of the drive brings forcibly to mind those lines of 
 Burns : 
 
 " The winds blew hollow frae the hUl, 
 By fits the sun's departmg beam 
 Shone brightly on the yellow woods 
 That wared by Sugar's winding stream." 
 
 And it is well to take a " last, long, lingering look" at these 
 yellow woods that their image may remain upon the mind 
 to relieve the tedium of the long drive across the plains. 
 These treeless plains are the thorns to the roses that are to 
 come. Here, too, we are struck with the deceptive appea:p- 
 ances of distances. You are willing to assert upon oath, if 
 needs be, that yon bluff is but half a mile off, but unfortun- 
 ately you find that many undreamed of little valleys, gullies 
 and mounds intervene ; but steady-jogging horseflesh in 
 good time overcome all these and bring us to the foothills — 
 those peculiar abrupt upheavals of stratified rock, on all 
 prominent points of which may be found old Indian hid- 
 ing places or lookouts; now, since "poorLo!" has been 
 forced to search for pastures new, of no use save as mat- 
 ters of curiosity. These foothills have a gradual slope 
 towards the east ; but towards the west are very abrupt, 
 especially near the top, where there is generally a perpen- 
 dicular cliff, ranging from a few feet to two or three hun- 
 dred. They give ample opportunity for those who wish 
 to prepare themselves for the sterner duties of climbing 
 steeper grades, and also of learning something of the 
 
21 
 
 power tliere is in gravitation by the simple process of pry- 
 ing huge boulders from their place and letting them roll 
 thundering into the valley below. This for pleasure 
 seekers ; but for seekers after the truths of geology, these 
 bluffy heights o£fer rare' and peculiar advantages. Here 
 are to be seen strata upon strata broken off by some strong 
 convulsion of nature, exposing the laj'^ers that the mighty 
 sea of the olden time has made to the view of roving mor- 
 tals so plainly that it scarcely needs an Agazziz to read 
 them. 
 
 The old red sandstone is the most conspicuous to the 
 casual observer, giving its hue to all the country round. 
 
 There are two Canyons on the Big Thompson, separated 
 by a narrow, picturesque valley ; the lower and lesser one 
 is peculiar, inasmuch as it runs through a cleft in granite 
 rock, which overlies red sandstone. The sides are steep 
 and abrupt, in many cases being perpendicular from the 
 the water's edge. The adventurous climber may from 
 either end reach to nearly the same point, but there he 
 will find his onward way checked, and be forced to climb 
 to the top. Eocky forms of the grandest description, 
 checkered and stained by the exposures of many centuries 
 are on all sides, while whistling eddying httle rapids make 
 the place one in a thousand f6r those who enjoy the beau- 
 tiful in nature. 
 
 The larger canyon is longer, with sides steeper and 
 higher, and in many places impassable, except in winter, 
 when the frozen cascades make the granduer grander, and 
 at the same time a secure bridge by which to round the 
 otherwise impassable promontories. All parts of the can- 
 yon may be seen in summer by climbing over the moun- 
 tains on either side and down ; a rather severe ordeal for 
 one who is not used to it, but one that is amply repaid by 
 ever varying and ever new forms of rock and rippling, 
 dashing water, with here and there rugged pine or spruce 
 set in some rocky crevice and adding greatly to the pictur- 
 esqueness of the whole. 
 
 Those who come here expectmg to see the picturesque 
 nooks, the overhanging trees, the verdure that makes the 
 
22 
 
 charm of the eastern monntaiii scenery will be disap- 
 pointed. The Eocky Mountain scenery has a character 
 peculiarly its own ; it is of the rocks, rocky. There are 
 trees, it is true, but the mountain sides are steep, and the 
 trees generally not of the largest, so that the top of the 
 lower scarcely reaches the root of the higher ; thus a mass . 
 of foliage is not seen, except on the brow of hiUs and 
 level places between. But the rocks themselves are of so 
 many forms and so many colors that this want is not • 
 scarcely felt. 
 
 In the rocks near the water's edge is seen the power 
 of rushing water in the smooth polished surfaces, in the 
 wearing a\V-ay of the softer portions, leaving many furrows. 
 In many places you mark the course of on old-time eddy 
 in a semi-circular abrasion in. the sohd rock. In one place 
 these water-marks are to be seen thirty or forty feet above 
 the present water-level, showing that at some time there 
 has been some obstruction in the narrow gap below. From 
 the mountain to the light of the Canyon, a fine view 
 can be had of the vaUey below, and to the westward of 
 Bald Mountain with its dreamy ghosts of forests that 
 are no more, of Storm Peak rearing its rocky front 
 before the snowy range, of James Peak its snowy head 
 towards the clouds as if asserting its right to be con- 
 sidered one of the chosen ones — and indeed it lacks 
 but little of being as high as its better known rival. Long's 
 Peak, while in the massiveness of its surroundings, the 
 mountain cannot surpass it. 
 
 Fishermen and hunters have followed up the creek to 
 Estes Park, but at present the only available route to that 
 place is by a trail running £rOm St. Train's Canyon. Up 
 hill and down hill the road leads, but not as the old roads 
 wind "Now to the church and now to the mill" — such 
 things are left far behind ; it is rather a bUnd following 
 of the old deer trails, for now we are entering upon the 
 favorite haunts of the Great Elk, whose branching horns 
 may be seen on every side whitened by rain and sun. 
 Ebtes Park is situated at the base of Long's Peak, from 
 which it extends in a northeasterly direction about ten 
 
23 
 
 miles. The Park is divided by a mountain that is waiting 
 for a name into two sections ; through the northermost 
 one the Big Thompson finds its way ; this stream is said 
 to abound in that finest of fish, the speckled trout, but 
 like all our wild western creations, his education has been 
 a little neglected. He won't bite an artificial fly. Fortu- 
 nately a substitute and the one that he understands is 
 generally near at hand in the shape of a grasshopper. 
 
 The tracks of elk and deer may also be seen on every 
 side, which generally is as exciting as if the animal itseK 
 were there, for it is the old question answered here — the 
 pursuit is nearly as pleasant as the possession. 
 
 Here are opportunities for any one desirous of naming 
 points, lakes and canyons innumerable. There is Mount 
 Olympus with its rocky front looking as sternly severe as 
 Jove himself might have looked, almost a solid rock whose 
 summit is eight thousand feet above the sea's level. There 
 to the right is Black Canyon, with its sombre shading of 
 trees and its bold sharp sentinels of rock guarding its en- 
 trance. To the left is seen Lily Mountain, twelve thou- 
 sand feet high, with its bold face looking fi-owningly at 
 Long's Peak, as if angry because that mountain dared to 
 hold its head six thousand feet higher. And then at the 
 foot of Long's Peak is a wonderful chasm with a perpen- 
 dicular side running clear up to nearly the top of the 
 Peak. Then there are the lakes that duplicate the moun- 
 tains and rocks on either side. There is the little moun- 
 tain brook half hidden among the massive rocks it tumbles 
 over, ofiering a cool retreat from the heats of summer, and 
 at every step a pleasing picture. There are valleys branch- 
 ing off from the main park that would undoubtedly amply 
 repay exploration in the many new and varied forms they 
 might present ; there are detached rocks of huge size up 
 and down which the Rocky Mountain sheep jumps and 
 runs with a swiftness that forbids pursuit. 
 
 There are many other points that might be enumerated, 
 but these must sufiice. A word to the wise is sufficient, 
 and all these charms of scenery and beauties of natui-e 
 are within two. days drive of Greeley. '' These we have 
 always with us," and they will remain " a joy forever." 
 
24 
 
 Touching tlie flora of the Yalley of the Cache-la-Poudre, 
 we present the accompanying article from the accom- 
 plished pen of A. J. WiLBEE, Esq. : 
 
 In the early days of Greeley, when cattle paths were all 
 the paths we had, and we could shoot antelope and rabbit 
 from our cabin doors, the new comer's first impressions 
 were most certain to be of the flora ; and the conclusion 
 was quite as certainly reached that the cactus was at 
 least the tyrant if not the type of this flora. 
 
 Later, the splendor of their bloom went far to compen- 
 sate 4or their former ugliness. The cacti have all ^he 
 brilliant colors, though none of the more delicate. The 
 round one is the most beautiful, with scarlet blossoms, 
 sometimes a dozen clustered in one mass and lasting a 
 long time ; finally succeeded by the fi'uit, which, with the 
 form of the plant, make it as interesting as before. When 
 the fruit ripens, it has a close relation to the gooseberry 
 in taste. Not so with the pricklj pear cactus. The fruit 
 of this species is so poor one must be very hungry to eat 
 it, but its fiowers are more various and equally beautiful. 
 
 Long ere the cacti begin to show their beauty there are 
 little gems that rival anything to be seeii in the east, in 
 garden or out, and would no doubt produce a pleasant 
 sensation there. Two of the overgracae, or evening prim- 
 rose family are delightful for their sweetness and modesty. 
 One is the dehcate pink flower which chooses the dryest sit- 
 uations, and by its fragrance puts to flight the supposition 
 that the flowers of the plains are without odor. The other 
 is the lovely white flower that borders all the ditches. It 
 sprang up early, and when irrigation began in June had 
 nearly flnished blossoming, but at the advent of water on 
 our streets, they welcomed it with a new shower of blos- 
 soms which they have renewed daily ever since ; while 
 their comrades on the dry plain have long been sleeping. 
 I am sure one plant has borne over four hundred blossoms 
 this year. The seed pods are hidden under the leaves by 
 the ever-recovering stems. The malvacea has a represen- 
 tive more beautiful than the hoUyhock, though only four 
 or five inches high. It is found along the edge of the 
 
25 
 
 overland stage route, but rejoices in cultivation. There 
 are several evergreen herbs of rare beauty ; one with its 
 delicate flower is beautiful for borders. Tlie euphoi^biacece 
 is represented by several species ; the most noticeable is 
 the " snow on the mountain," with its broad white leaves. 
 A porfalacacefp resembles a huge purslain, and has a bunch 
 of white blossoms resembling the snow-ball. Another 
 with white tiny blossoms has seed-pods that look at a dis- 
 tance like a pink rose. Two species of spider-flower — 
 deonos — cultivated in the gardens east of the Mississipjai, 
 grow everywhere, sometimes six feet high. The Spanish 
 bayonet is the most conspicuous plant. 
 
 All these and many more flowering plants have their 
 home on " the barren plains," and grow as if they love to 
 dot it with their freshness and beauty. 
 
 My acquaintance ^sdth the flora of this vicinity is by no 
 means so complete as I wish it to be. So far, all the 
 plants with which I have become familiar find a place in 
 the orders, and even the genii of the flora east of the Mis- 
 sissippi ; the difference being confined entirely to the 
 species. A text-book on botan)^ for our schools her© 
 would require, then, merely an addition to the species of 
 the Manual used in the schools and colleges east of the 
 Mississippi. 
 
 I do not know that there is a text-book suited to this 
 region. Though not embodied in a work, the plants pro- 
 bably have all been examined by scientific men. Their, 
 classification and names could, doubtless, be gathered 
 from the United States Survey of the Pacific Railroad, 
 Fremont's Explorations and other sources. 
 
 In May, the river bottoms became bright with fresh 
 soft grass. The cottonwood put on tlie richest green that 
 nature has in her dye room. The air was filled with fra- 
 grance, the breath of the bursting leaf and flower-buds of 
 the sweet briar ; later they were resplendent with bloom, 
 and now with bright red buds, which, mingled with the 
 white wax berry, produce a fine contrast, and the clumps 
 of green ash and soft maple make the whole seem a gar- 
 den of rare richness. Near by, the wild plum and cherry, 
 
26 
 
 witli hazel and willow, compose thickets over which the 
 virgin's bower — clematis — loves to throw its beautiful white 
 spray ; all having a fine background in the small cotton- 
 woods whose leaves show all of autumn's tints. The wild 
 hop and many other vines tangle the whole into a mass in 
 which the rabbits hide. Thickets of wild sunflower fur- 
 nish shelter and food for grouse. Among the open growth 
 the beaver has made his mark, and gone where he may 
 live with the savage, the white man being too grasping for 
 him. Here are the stumps of many trees he has cut — one 
 over two feet in diameter. 
 
 But this wildness is the exception, the rule of this flora 
 being to produce the eifect of a great landscape garden, 
 where the outlines of the hills are toned down, and reduc- 
 ed to rule and beauty by the gray, the brown and the 
 green of the everywhere prevailing grass — the rich grass 
 -of the plain, at present its most valuable production. 
 
 This will please the reflective, loving soft beauty ; but 
 if the mind is attuned to wildness, seek the mountains, 
 where the small plants, the vines, the deciduous and ever- 
 green trees cluster and cling around the huge rocks and 
 make fitting home for mountain lion or panther, or anon 
 leave mountains of stone in desolate grandeur. 
 
 In reference to the climate, mineral productions, and 
 other minor matters, we extract the following from an arti- 
 cle on the colony, published early in April in the Rocky 
 Mountain News: 
 
 The temperature in the warm days of summer ranges 
 from eighty-four to ninety- six degrees above zero in the 
 shade. The sun shines very warm some days, but in the 
 shade the air is always pleasant, fresh and cool. Sultry, 
 hot nights are unknown. In winter, the common range of 
 the theremometer is from thirty to sixty degrees above 
 zero, but in most winters the temperature at two or three 
 periods and for one, two or .three nights at each time, falls 
 below zero. The prevailing winds, the year round, are 
 from the northwest, ranging all the way between north 
 and west. Northeast winds bring snow in winter and rain 
 
27 
 
 in spring and summer. There are occasional wind storms, 
 but no tornadoes. Fogs are unknown. The average fall 
 of rain in spring and summer, from the most reliable data 
 at hand is six inches ; of snow in winter and spring, from 
 twenty-five to thirty inches, giving five inches of water, 
 and a total for the year of eleven inches. The first snow 
 usually comes in October (this year October 16th), and the 
 last in April or the first of May. There is seldom more 
 than three or four inches on the ground at a time, though 
 two or three falls of ten inches each have occurred in the 
 last eleven years. Rain comes in showers through April, 
 May and June, and occasionally in July and August, after 
 which there is seldom any rain until spring. Bain never falls 
 in the winter months. Owing to the firmness of the sur- 
 face soils, roads seldom get unpleasantly muddy or dusty. 
 For natural excellence as highways they are doubtless the 
 best in the world. The best evidence that late spring 
 frosts do not kill fruits is the fact that the native wild 
 fruits never fail to produce full crops. 
 
 As regards health, Colorado is far above the average of 
 "healthful covm tries," so called. The invigorating air 
 gives remarkable tone and elasticity to the nervous sys- 
 tem. In that respect none^ other is known to excel it. 
 Agues and other miasmatic fliseases are unknown. Asthma 
 is quickly cured. Pulmonary diseases and bronchitis 
 never originate here, and unless firmly seated are greatly 
 reheved or entirely cured by a change hither. A long list 
 of diseases, to which females are ^ peculiarly liable, are 
 greatly mitigated in their severity. There is nothing that 
 can be termed a " prevailing disease of the country." 
 
 Touching mineral productions — sandstone may be found 
 in the vicinity. Lime or plaster is found in the higher lands 
 adjacent to the town and has been used for building. Coal 
 has not been developed as yet in veins of sufficient depth 
 to justify the working, but the new road in contemplation 
 to Boulder will bring us in direct communication with the 
 mining district. Along the foot of the mountains, twenty 
 miles west of Greeley, and bordering on the lands belong- 
 ing to the colony, there is abundance of iron — consisting 
 
28 
 
 of Lematite, bog and magnetic ores — coal, gypsnm, Kme- 
 stone, freestone and granite, are in close proximity. It is 
 also well known that the mountains pierced by the Cache- 
 la-Poudre abound in rich mines of copper and silver. 
 Specimens have been on exhibition in the Colony office 
 during the summer, furnished by Judge Sherwood, of 
 Fort Colhns. 
 
 As regards timber, there are inexhaustible supplies from 
 thirty to sixty miles west along the Cache-la-Poudre in 
 the mountains. It consists of white, yellow, black and 
 pitch pine, white, yellow and red fir, spruce and cedar. It 
 can be floated down the stream, and Ditch No. 1 is to be 
 so constructed as to allow the floating of millions of logs 
 down into the interior of the farming lauds of the colony. 
 
 Of beasts, birds and fishes there are native to the coun- 
 try and upon the plains, antelope, deer, foxes, badgers, 
 prairie dogs, rabbits and a number of smaller animals. To 
 the mountains, elk, white and black tail deer, antelope, 
 grizzly, cinnamon and black bear, mountain sheep, moun- 
 tain lions, wolves, foxes, martins, mink, mountain badger, 
 beaver, weasel, cony, &c., &c. Birds are abundant — all 
 the water fowls, four or five variety of grouse, including 
 the prairie hen, sage hen and ptarmigan and a great variety 
 of singing birds, including lark, robin, mocking-bird, blue- 
 bird, oriole, thrush and blackbird. Quails have been in- 
 troduced the past winter. Of fish there are trout, river 
 whitefish, suckers and a number of others, and there are 
 wholesome territorial laws protecting at certain seasons 
 fishes, birds and game animals. 
 
 We might add that our immediate markets wUl be 
 Denver, fifty-two miles south ; Cheyenne, fifty-four miles 
 north ; both reached by the Denver Pacific Railway, and 
 the mining regions and towns of Gilpin, Clear Creek, and 
 Boulder counties, from fifty to one hundred miles distant, 
 over good wagon roads or by rail to Denver, and thence by 
 wagon for thirty-five to fifty miles ; as well as all the towns 
 on the line of the Union Pacific Railroad. The develop- 
 ment of the gold, silver and other mines — as yet in their 
 infancy — will always secure a reliable and a growing 
 
29 
 
 market, whicli will doubtless test to its full capacity, if not 
 entirely outstrip, not only the agricultural facilities of the 
 Colony, but of the entire tenitory. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 PEESENT CONDITION OF UNION COLONY. 
 
 From the month of May down to the present date, the 
 growth of Greeley has been steadily progressive. Scarcely 
 a day has passed but some member of the colony has ar- 
 rived on the ground, selected his lots and lands, and set 
 about erecting a home for himself and his family. Some, 
 unable at present to remain, have located their claim and 
 gene East, intending to return in the spring with their 
 families. By May, 1871, there is not a doubt but that the 
 full number of colonists holding certificates of member- 
 ship will be on the ground, their present and their future 
 interests all fully identified with Greeley. Success, there- 
 fore, seems assured. We have no soil to " subdue" in the 
 sense generally used by Western pioneers. We have but 
 to ask, and the fruitful earth, waiting this call for centu- 
 ries, yields from her abundance more than we ask. The 
 wand of Fortunatus is at our command. We have but to 
 wave it, and gather in " the abundant harvest of re- 
 ward." 
 
 As can easily be imagined, the current of our prosperity 
 has not always run smooth. Twice have the waters been 
 troubled by the spirits of discontent, disaffection and 
 doubt. But the deep under-current of popular sentiment 
 dormant so long as danger did not menace, has ' ever 
 proven able to guide the good ship Union through the 
 storm that swept around it. 
 
 Late in the month of May last, the first disaffection 
 came to the surface in a motion requesting the then act- 
 ing officers to resign, Prompt came the response, and on 
 
30 
 
 June IStli, an election was lield for a new Executive Com- 
 mittee. It resulted in tlie clioice of a majority of tlie old 
 board to serve in tlie new, including tlie old President, 
 Vice-President and Secretary, by a vote so decisive that 
 the growlers were completely routed, " borse, foot and dra- 
 goons." The strength of the colonial organization was 
 tested, and it resulted in showing by conclusive proof that 
 we were not a " myth" only, but had " a local habitation 
 and a name." 
 
 During the month of June a Board of Education was 
 appointed at a colony meeting, to provide for the educa- 
 tional needs of the town. It consisted of Nathan C 
 Meeker, J. H. Pinkerton, William E. Pabor, A. J. Wilber, 
 John R. Long. A subscription list was at once started, 
 as it was found that the school, for the summer session at 
 least, must be supported by voluntary contributions. 
 Early in July a small building, furnished by the colony, 
 and capable of holding about fifty scholars, was formally 
 opened, with Mrs. Y. R. Guiney, of Urbano, Ohio, as 
 teacher. Her report, submitted to the Board of Educa- 
 tion at the close of the summer session ending September 
 29th, showed as follows : Number of scholars enrolled, fif- 
 ty-four ; average daily attendance, thirty-seven ; number 
 of days taught, sixty -two. Branches taught: Reading, 
 Writing, Spelling, Geography, Arithmetic, English Gram- 
 mar, Object Lessons, Mental Exercises. We quote : " It 
 will be seen by this statement that the daily attendance 
 was large. We labored under many difficulties in organ- 
 izing a school, from the fact that the children were strang- 
 ers, bringing a variety of text books, and for weeks we had 
 but two Spellers, six different series of Readers, and as 
 many different Arithmetics and English Grammars. From 
 such a medley of confusion, we succeeded in establishing 
 order and good feeling among the children, and we trust 
 also in obtaining the approval of the parents." 
 
 On the first of September two prizes for the best im- 
 provement in reading were 'offered by Wm. E. Pabor, of 
 the Board of Education. One, a copy of the " Swiss 
 Family Robinson," in words of one syllable, to be awarded 
 
31 
 
 to the best reader under eight years of aga. The other, a 
 copy of Webster's High School Dictionary, to the best 
 reader over eight and under fourteen years of age. At the 
 close of the session the first prize was awarded to Miss 
 Nellie Euthven, and the second to Master Charles W. 
 Pinkerton. 
 
 As regards educational facilities during the winter sea- 
 son, we can state that arrangements have been made for 
 the establishment of three schools, to be supported by a 
 county school fund. These will come under the supervi- 
 sion of the regular Dii^trict School Board of Weld County, 
 assisted by an advisory board selected by the Executive 
 Council of the colony, and will amply supply the needs of 
 the town during the winter, A private school for youth 
 of both sexes has been established by Mr. Edgar Strunk, 
 late a principal of one of the pubhc schools in New 
 York Citj. In the spring we shall probably be formed 
 into a separate school district, and will then elect our 
 own board of directors. An enumeration taken October 
 1st showed one hundred and seventy-nine children in 
 Greeley between the ages of five and twentyone years. 
 We add in this connection that there are three reserved 
 plots of land set aside for school buildings, in addi- 
 tion to plots for seminary and other educational purposes. 
 
 June 18th, 1870, will be memorable as the natal day of 
 the first child born in the new settlement. The happy pa- 
 rents were Herbert antl Agnes Dickinson, and the child 
 was appropriately named Hokace Greeley Dickinsgn. It 
 is understood that the Board of Trustees, who stood spon- 
 sors to the young babe, deeded a town residence lot 
 in trust to his parents, for the benefit and use of the new 
 comer. 
 
 The first Fourth of July in Greeley, of course, was ap- 
 propriately celebrated. Every heart beat high and fast 
 with enthusiasm. A committee of arrangements prepared 
 the following progi-amme : 
 
 Opficeks of the Day- -Preaideut : N. C. Meeker. Grand Marshal : Geueral 
 R. A. Cameron. 
 
 At Bunrise the National flag to be floated from the pole on the town plaza. 
 
 On the an-ival of the excursion^ trains from Denver and Cheyenne a proces- 
 
32 
 
 sion to be formed, headed by the Ninth Infantry Band from Fort Russell, and 
 marched to Island Grove Park, where the following exercises are to take place : 
 
 Opening Prayer by Eev. Wm. Baxter. 
 
 Singing, " My country, 'tis of thee," by the Greeley Glee Club. 
 
 Eeading Declaiation of Independence by Hon. E. C. Monk. 
 
 Music by the Band. 
 
 National Ode, written by William E. Pabor. Read by James G. Cooper. 
 
 Singing, " Star-Spangled Banner," by the Glee Club. 
 
 Oration by General E. M. Lee, of the Wyoming Iribune. 
 
 Music by the Band. 
 
 Doxology by the entire company. 
 
 Benediction by Rev. Wm. H. ScheU. 
 
 The above programme was very generally carried out. 
 Large numbers of vi.-itors were witli us, and the day was 
 truly a ^a?a day for Greeley. In the evening there was a 
 gorgeous display of fireworks, and a ball concluded the 
 entertainment. 
 
 Through July and August an era of quiet enabled the 
 ofiicers of the colony to conduct their business in good or- 
 der and to the satisfaction of all concerned. Colonists 
 generally engaged in cultivating the soil and constructing 
 houses for themselves and their families. But early in 
 September some discontent arose in reference to the non- 
 appearance of a repoit upon the finances of the colony ; 
 and at a meeting held for that .purpose, a Committee of 
 Examination was appointed to audit all the accounts of 
 the colony, and report in full its financial condition. The 
 meeting named as such committee : William E. Pabor, E. 
 T. Nichols, David Boyd, James H. Johnson, William 
 Eoote. One week of careful and thorough research en- 
 abled the committee to present a detailed statement of 
 the affairs of the colony. The accounts were found to be 
 substantially correct ; exhibits were prepared, showing 
 the amounts paid for specific purposes, and a very satis- 
 factory report presented. We quote : Cash assets to date 
 of examination, $100,160.14. Cash payments : Original 
 cost of land, $61,882.68 ; survey of land, $1,80415 ; cost of 
 Ditch No. 3, $5,966.24 ; cost of bridges, $263.59 ; survey 
 of Ditch No. 2, $453.67 ; fuel, shelter and sundries, 
 $3,125.31 ; expense account to July 9th, $1,198.39 ; cost 
 of town survey, $762,45 ; town improvements, $2,557.05 ; 
 
33 
 
 tree account, $1,490.90; Town Hall, $1500; New-York 
 general expense account, $2,595.41 ; Greeley general ex- 
 pense account, $3,819.38 ; sundries, $395.65. An inventory 
 of colony property, aside from the lands still owned, 
 showed in favor of the colony to the amount of $3,640.00. 
 The finances of the colony at the date of this writing (Oc- 
 tober 25tli) show a balance in the hands of the Treasurer 
 of $9,038.66. Amount due from colonists for town lots 
 and water rights attached to eighty acre tracts, and pay- 
 able between date and Aprir5th, 1871, $34,985. From this 
 must be deducted the cost of building Ditch No. 2, the 
 contract for which, in thirteen sections, amounting to 
 twentj^-six miles, was given out about August 27th, at an 
 estimated cost of $20,000. This ditch, capable of irrigat- 
 ing some fifty thousand acres of land, is progressing 
 rapidly, and under contract to be finished by January 1st, 
 1871. 
 
 During the month of September, the second "upheav- 
 ing of the waters" 9e6ur^(|^^^(a^^story of the colony. 
 A movement, originally organizid!ltjiK^iJace the, Board of 
 Trustees in posseSfeion of its legal rignw,\s defined by the 
 Act of Incorporation-,^nd make the Execmive Committee 
 an advisory and initiSL^^ body, passed 4mv of the hands of 
 those initiating it, and ctii^JKgg^ilWJlOT "af excitement re- 
 sulted in the passage of resolutions calling upon the Board 
 of Trustees and the members of the Executive Committee 
 both to resign. This each promptly did, and a new elec- 
 tion, held October 5th, resulted in the choice of the pre- 
 sent Board of Trustees and the Executive Council of 
 twelve ; four of the latter body sitting in joint session with 
 the former. These now act in harmony with each other. 
 
 The statistics that follow are compiled from the official 
 records of the colony, and therefore, at this date (October 
 25th), are authentic and reliable. Persons abroad who de- 
 sign visiting or locating here will see at a glance the 
 prospect before them, and can act accordingly. 
 
 Business lots in town 520 
 
 Kesident " 673 
 
 3 
 
34 
 
 Eeserved for churches, schools, town hall, seminary, 
 court house and other public purposes, 277. 
 
 Of business lots, none remain unlocated. That is to 
 say, they are all held on certificates by members of the 
 colony. All claims not improved by April 5th, 1871, lapse 
 back to the colony on refunding the amount originally 
 paid for membership. On some of these a business lot 
 may have been taken, and eventually be thrown open to 
 those who have not secured one. 
 
 Of resident lots, sixty-three are unlocated, and there- 
 fore open to new comers. These comprise all the lots 
 proper in the town of Greeley not taken up. They are 
 mainly in the east and north section of the town, and are 
 desirable locations for residence. 
 
 Of outlying tracts yet open for selection, there are as 
 foUows : 
 
 13 blocks of about 4^ acres each. 
 56 plots of 5 acres each. 
 85 " 10 
 23 " 20 
 21 " 40 
 
 to be taken, one on each certificate of membership. 
 
 Of government and raOroad lands under Ditch No. 2, 
 now in process of construction, there are open to colonists 
 under certain specified conditions the following : 
 
 6 lots of 10 acresfeach. 
 21 " 20 " 
 
 59 " 40 
 101 " 80 
 
 We desire to call the special attention of all who con- 
 template casting in their future lot with us, to the desira- 
 bleness of ?the lands to be irrigated by this ditch. So 
 many thousands of acres of a quality unsurpassed in the 
 world in one" location, present an opportunity seldom of- 
 fered to farmers. A town market at home, and quick rail- 
 road communication east and west, those farming lands 
 can be made the homes of hundreds of thriving families.^ 
 
35 
 
 Stock, too, can run at large and have an unlimited range 
 of pasture over and outside this ditch. 
 
 In addition to the above, the Board of Trustees hold a 
 charter for Ditch No. 1 capable of irrigating over 200,000 
 acres. These lands are government and railroad lands, 
 and are actually controlled by the colony. 
 
 If other evidences of growth are needed than those we 
 have already given, we call attention to facts and figures 
 such as these. 
 
 There are built, or in process of building, in the town 
 and immediate vicinity, three hundred and fifty-two 
 houses, from one-story adobe, or humble frame, to the more 
 pretentious cottage or mansion, including several blocks of 
 adobe, with brick fronts. A bank building of concrete is 
 occupied by a firm doing a successful business, and there 
 are seventeen stores of various kinds ; also three black- 
 smith and wagon shops, three lumber yards, one printing 
 office and one livery stable. November 16th the first 
 number of the Greeley Tribune, edited and published by 
 N. C. Meeker, made its appearance. 
 
 The amount of freight received here from May 6th to 
 October 15th foots up nine million eight hundred and fif- 
 ty-three thousand nine hundred and eighty-eight pounds 
 on Avhich has been paid $25,925.82. The number of cars 
 average, both unloaded and despatched, fifty per month. 
 For these statistics we are indebted to E. H. Abbott, Esq., 
 freight agent of the Denver Pacific Railway at this place. 
 
 The two lumber yards transacting business in this place 
 show an exhibit of sales of lumber amounting to one mil- 
 lion one hundred and ninety-two thousand feet. To this 
 must be added a large amount of lumber brought fi'om the 
 mountains by private parties. 
 
 The colony hall is in Exchange Place, and was projected 
 during the turbulent times of the month of May ; it is one 
 of the best structures in the town, and the upper part of 
 the building, by a contract between its owner and the 
 Board of Trustees, is held by them for the sole use of the 
 colony for two years, when it reverts back to the owner 
 under certain specified conditions. 
 
36 
 
 There are in the town of Greeley two of the best water 
 powers in the country — one of them capable of driving 
 both a woolen and a grist mill or a paper mill ; the other, 
 one of either ; while above the town there are innumera- 
 ble water powers only awaiting the advent of enterprise, 
 ability and capital to set the wheels of industry in motion. 
 All along the banks of the Cache-la-Poudre we hope soon 
 to see the evidence that our internal resources are in active 
 development, and to hear the hum of traffic resounding 
 up and down the mountain road. 
 
 As an evidence of the literary tendencies of our com- 
 munity, we record the fact that 115 New York Weeldy 
 Tribunes are taken ; 63 Rocky Mountain News, 35 Colora- 
 do Tribunes, and over 200 miscellaneous papers, published 
 aU over the country. The highest number of letters sent 
 out from the post-office in any one day was 253, and $312 
 worth of stamps were sold during the quarter ending Oct. 
 1st. This would give about ten thousand dollars for that 
 period. We have a post-office that would put to the blush 
 towns that number thrice the years that we do months. It 
 has 350 private boxes, of which two-thirds are rented. 
 Two mails are received and sent each day in the week to 
 all points of he country. 
 
 Our railroad communication with the East, now that 
 the Kansas Pacific is completed to Denver, is now com- 
 plete. We have choice of a northern and southern route 
 to and from the East, and a person can step in the cars 
 here, and in four days land in New-York city, making but 
 three changes of cars on the route. The Denver Pacific, 
 connecting at one end with the Union Pacific, and at the 
 other with the Kansas Pacific, thus gives us ready and 
 prompt communication with all points. We will also soon 
 be a junction town, the new road projected from Pine 
 Bluffs to Ralston, six miles below Golden City, being a 
 continuation of the Colorado Central, striking Greeley on 
 the south. This road will be of immense advantage to us, 
 giving us close connection with the coal mines at Boulder 
 and also a market in the mining regions for the agricul- 
 tural products of our glorious valley. 
 
37 
 
 As may not be generally known to the public, the Union 
 Colony was founded on temperance principles. The first 
 call of Mr. Meeker stated that those with whom he would 
 be willing to associate must be temperance men. Expe- 
 rience has shown us how difficult it is to wholly ward off 
 the insidious wiles of the tempter; we have had some 
 trouble, but the policy of the colony has been so deter- 
 mined, and its members have been so prompt and effi- 
 cient in caiTying out the principles embodied in our con- 
 stitution, that we fear no danger ; the town of Greeley is 
 now and is to be a temperance town. In each and every 
 deed given for land there is inserted this clause, " that it 
 is expressly agreed between the parties hereto, that intox- 
 icating liquors shall never be manufactured, sold or given 
 away in any place of public resort as a beverage, on said 
 premises ; and that in case any one of these shall be bro- 
 ken or violated, this conveyance, and everything herein 
 contained shall be null and void." 
 
 A stringent policy has been adopted in reference to the 
 sale of liquors for medicinal purposes, and no druggist is 
 allowed to dispense such as medicine without authority 
 and under strict regulations. The Executive Council ap- 
 points such agents as seem desirable, and none are al- 
 lowed to keep even the " bitters" so popular for medicinal 
 purposes elsewhere. These are wholly interdicted. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 CHURCHES, SCHOOLS, SOCIETIES, &C., <fec. 
 
 Of societies, churches and kindred organizations, there 
 are no lack, as will be seen from the lists we append : 
 
 Methodist Church. — Thirty-five members. Organized 
 August. Dr. J. S. Scott, Class leader : E. Annise, Stew- 
 ard. Regular services in Colony Hall. Rev. Mr. Brooks, 
 Circuit Preacher. Church lot 100x190, located on Pine 
 
38 
 
 street, between Jackson and Grant streets, donated by 
 tlie colony. 
 
 Baptist Church. — Society only, organized July 24tli. 
 E. J. Nicliols, Eussell Fisk, J. F. Sanborn, Trustees. Eev. 
 Samuel Brown, of Loda, 111., to assume pastoral charge in 
 the spring of 1871. Churcli lot 100x190, located on Chest- 
 nut street, between Monroe and Adams streets, donated 
 by the colony. 
 
 Presbyterian^ Church. — Ten members. Organized Au- 
 gust 21st. L. W. Teller, Presiding Elder. L. Hanna, J. 
 Lemmon, Harvey Piatt, Deacons. Services in Colony 
 Hall. Church lot, 100x190, located on Spruce street, 
 between Monroe and Adams streets, donated by the 
 colony. 
 
 Congregational Church. — Thirty-seven members. Or- 
 ganized September 1st. J. L. Dunham, Moderator. C. L. 
 Nettleton, Stephen Spencer, Deacons. William E. Pabor, 
 Clerk and Treasurer. Services in Colony Hall. Church 
 lot, 100x190, located on Chestnut street, between Monroe 
 and Adams, donated by the colony. 
 
 First Covenanter Society op Greeley. — ^^Organized in 
 September, 1870. Members of the Society, 40. J. H. Pin- 
 kerton, Samuel Ferris, John Adams, Charles McElvey, J. 
 S. Simmon, Trustees. Church Jot, 100x190 on Spruce 
 street, between Jefferson and Madison, deeded by the co- 
 lony. 
 
 Occidental Lodge op Free and Accepted Masons. — Fif- 
 ty members. Preliminary arrangements have been made 
 for obtaining a charter and organizing a lodge. A hall 
 has been leased for a lodge room, and a city lot donated 
 by John E. Long, Esq., on which to erect a masonic tem- 
 ple. F. L. Child has been elected Master. E. W. Gurley, 
 senior Warden. Henry Lee, Junior Warden. 
 
39 
 
 Union Choir. — Organized June 20tli. 27 members. 
 Leader, J. L. Dunham ; Organist, E. L. Dunham. Twelve 
 ladj members ; ten sopranos, two altos, ten bass and 
 five tenors. The choir meets weekly for practice, use 
 the Jubilate of Dr. Emerson, and conduct the choral 
 services for the three denominations, holding regular meet- 
 ings — Methodist, Congregational, Presbyterian. 
 
 Good Templars. — La Poudre Lodge No. 29, of Greeley 
 Independent Order of Good Templars, instituted August 
 22d. P. S. MilUner, Special Deputy. Eighty-four mem- 
 bers. Meets weekly with the following officers : F. L. 
 Childs, W. C. T. ; Mrs. E. B. Annis, W. Y. T. ; W. W. 
 Pmgh, W. S. ; F. M. Babcock, W. F. S. ; Miss Amanda 
 Hanna, W. T. ; S. B. Wright, W. M; Jno. Clark, W. C. ; 
 Miss Mattie Baxter, W. I. G. ; James Lackey, W. A. G. ; 
 Miss Fanny Guiney, W. A. S. ; Mrs. B. F. Childs, W. D. 
 M. ; Mrs. Emma Hall, W. R. S. ; Miss Gussie Nichols, W. 
 L. S. ; J. Herbert Jones, W. W. C. S. 
 
 The Greeley Union Sunday School. — Organized on 
 the third Sunday in May, 1870. A temporary board of 
 officers served until the last Sunday in June, when an 
 election was held and the following persons chosen : 
 Superintendent, J. Herbert Jones ; Assistant Superinten- 
 dent, E. B. Annis ; Secretary, A. L. Wait ; Treasurer, 
 Fred. Feezer ; Librarian, L. W. Teller ; Teachers, H. M. 
 Law ; C. L. Nettleton ; L. W. Teller; E. B. Annis ; Mrs. 
 Mary F. Wright ; Mrs. Mattison ; Miss Mary Meeker ; 
 Miss Ella Fisk ; Miss West. Present membership one 
 hundred ; average attendance eighty. 
 
 Greeley Silver Cornet Band. — C. W. Sanborn, Leader- 
 Thirteen pieces — two drums — two cymbals. Cost $775. 
 Bought of Lyon and Healey, Chicago ; made originally 
 for their show case window. The finest set of instruments 
 outside of the manufactory at Boston, 
 
40 
 
 Greeley Lyceum — Organized October 22d, E.W. Gurley, 
 President; A. J. Wilber, Yice President; W. Edgar 
 Strunk, Secretary ; N. 0. Meeker, Treasurer. Pirst pub- 
 lic discussion on the evening of October 27tli, in Colony 
 Hall. 
 
CHlCAfiO & NORTHWiSlRN RAILWAY 
 
 IS THK 
 
 PIONEER LINE 
 
 AM) IS 
 
 The Direct Route from the East to 
 
 COLORADO. 
 
 Colonists going to Greeley will find this the Quick- 
 est and Most Comfortable Route. 
 
 gki^pittji |^crachf5 mil ^otel fipavs 
 
 Are Attached to all Express Trains. 
 
 Two Trains leave Chicago daily, eoiinectiiig at Omaha 
 "sv-itli the Union Pacific Eailiio.vd for all points in Colo- 
 rado, Wyoming, Utah, Montana, aud the Pacific Coast. 
 
 Through Tickets for sale at all the principal Ticket 
 Offices in the United States, and at the Company's Office, 
 
 Southeast cor. Clark and Lake Streets, 
 
 O H 1 O A @ O , 
 
 And at the General Eastern Office, 
 No. 229 Broadway, Netv-York City, 
 
 Where all information in regard to passage, 
 freight, etc.. may be obtained of 
 
 a. T. NUTTER, 
 
 General Eastern Ag(;nt, New- York City. 
 
 H. P. STANWOOD, General Ticket Agent, Cliicago. 
 JOHN C. GAULT. General Superintendent, " 
 
GREELEY DRUG STORE, 
 
 FLOWER & CAMERON, 
 
 DEALEBS IN 
 
 PAINTS, VARNISH, BRUSHES, 
 
 NOTIONS, STATIONERY, TOILET 
 ARTICLES, GLASS, PUTTY, &c. 
 
 COLONY AGENTS 
 
 FOE THE SALE OF 
 
 PURE WINES, 
 
 ' For Medical Purposes Only. 
 
 POST OFFICE, 
 
 MAIN STREET, GREELEY, COLORADO. 
 
 Greeley Real Estate llgency 
 
 N. C. MEEKEB & WM. E. FABOE, 
 
 MANAGEKS. 
 
 Office of the "Gre eley Tribune." 
 
 Colony LumlDer Yard. 
 
 0. W. SANBORN, 
 
 Wholesa'e and Retail Dealer in 
 
 Eastern & Western lumtier, 
 
 TIMBER, PLANK, PLOW BEAMS, 
 WAGON TONGUES, FELLOES, Ac. 
 
 Plastering Board, Tar, Felt and Roofing Ma- 
 terials. Kock Spring and Boulder Coal. 
 
 Ogi'-e and Ward oh Jtlaple Street, near 
 Itepot, Greeley, Colorado. 
 
 A. Z. SOLOMON, 
 
 DEALER IN 
 
 Boots, Shoes, Hats, Caps, 
 
 QUEENSWARt, GLASS, 
 Grroceries, &c. 
 
 WHOLESALE AND RETAIL. 
 
 Gooda sold at Chicago rates, with a 
 small advance. 
 
 Main St., next door to Post Office, 
 
 GREELEY, COL )RADO. 
 
 017 064 945 fl 
 IN. U. IViHiJdJi^ijjii, 
 
 Maple Street, Greeley, Col. 
 
 Terms, in Advance. — One year, $2.50 ; 
 six months, $1.50. 
 
 PROSPECTUS. 
 
 1st. To give full particulars of what- 
 ever relates to the Union Colony, of 
 which the Town of Greeley is the cen- 
 ter, and to show the advantages of colo- 
 nization upon our plan. 
 
 2d. To call attention to the attractions 
 and wonderful resources of the Rocky 
 Mountain country, of which little, as yet, 
 is known by the American people. 
 
 3d. To teach that the highest power 
 which man can exhibit grows out of 
 mental culture, and, at the same time, 
 out of well-established habits of indus- 
 try, connected either with the cultiva-i 
 tion of the soil or with some mechanical 
 pursuit. 
 
 4th. To enforce the doctrine that the 
 foundation of all prospeiity, whether of 
 nations or of individuals, is based on the 
 family relation as maintained in civilized 
 countries, and that the highest ambition 
 of a family should be to have a comfort- 
 able and, if poesible, an elegant home, 
 surrounded by orchards and ornamental 
 grounds, on lands of its o^vn. 
 
 DEALERS IN 
 
 «i.TS¥l -LflMBEE, 
 
 OFFICE AND YARD, 
 Main St., east of Depot, Greeley, Coir 
 
 Lowest market rates for Lumber 
 kinds and qualities. 
 
 Orders by mail or otherwise careful 
 and promptly fiUed. 
 
 E. B. NETTLETON & CO., i 
 CIVIL ENGINEERS AND SURVEYORS. 
 
 Special attention given to locating j 
 Government and other land, advantage- | 
 ously, for parties resident or abroad. j 
 
 Maps can be s'^en at the office of all ; 
 the valuable lands in Colorado, and we I 
 are prepared to advise understandingly j 
 in regard to localities favorable for Irri- j 
 gation. Maps, Plans, Specifications and ; 
 Estimates *urnishf d for all kinds of work | 
 connected with the profession, and all \ 
 business and work done promptly and j 
 with accuracy. ' ' 
 
 Office with Secretary of Union Colony, < 
 or address by mail to Greeley, Colorado, i 
 
 L. HANNA, 
 
 AGENT FOB 
 
 W. H. HOLLIDAY & CO., 
 
 Jl