Yale University Library Mini 39002013667697 JAMES OTIS nmnuBKe- YALE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY Gift of the COLORADO ALUMNI COMMITTEE on the YALE LIBRARY AND MUSEUMS Seth of Colorado A Story of the Settlement of Denver BY JAMES OTIS NEW YORK •:• CINCINNATI ¦:¦ CHICAGO AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY Copyright, 1912, by JAMES OTIB KALEE. Entered at Stationerb' Hall, London. beth of colorado. W. P. I 3Kj FOREWORD The author of this series of stories, for children has endeavored simply to show why and how the descendants of the early colonists fought their way through the wilderness in search of new homes. The several narratives deal with the struggles of those adventurous people who forced their way westward, ever westward, whether in hope of gain or in answer to " the call of the wild," and who, in so doing, wrote their names with their blood across this country of ours from the Ohio to the Columbia. To excite in the hearts of the young people of this land a desire to know more regarding the build ing up of this great nation, and at the same time to entertain in such a manner as may stimulate to noble deeds, is the real aim of these stories. In them there is nothing of romance, but only a careful, truthful record of the part played by children in the great battles with those forces, human as well as natural, which, for so long a time, held a vast 4 FOREWORD portion of this broad land against the advance of home seekers. With the knowledge of what has been done by our own people in our own land, surely there is no reason why one should resort to fiction in order to depict scenes of heroism, daring, and sublime disregard of suffering in nearly every form. JAMES OTIS. CONTENTS How I Came to Write my Story Who I Am . My Great Loss . My Worldly Wealth . Plans for the Future The Gold Fever . My Great Disappointment , Cured of the Gold Fever My Opportunity .... How I Might Work my Way Keeping my Part of the Bargain At Pueblo A Welcome Time of Rest . Another Outbreak of the Gold Fever An Opportunity for Money Getting Mr. Mtddleton Agrees with Me Mr. Middleton's Proposition A Settlement of Gold Seekers Land Claims Our Ranch . Building a Dwelling . Corn and Gold . Dreams- of a Harvest 5 CONTENTS Disappointed Prospectors . Returning Evil for Good . Striving to Save our Corn Defending our Own . A Council of War An Interview with the Enemy . The Missouri Miners Make Sport of Us How to Collect the Debt We Take Possession of the Cattle The Night before the Battle . A War of Words The Prospectors Try to Kill Us A Real Battle .... A Truce Trying to Make Terms of Peace The Enemy Surrenders The Prospectors Depart . The Growth of our City . Farming or Mining My Share of the Harvest Mr. Middleton Goes on a Journey auraria and denver . Mr. Middleton Turns Trader . Mr. Middleton's Plan Deciding a Weighty Problem . I Become Mr. Middleton's Partner Preparations for a Change of Homes The Arrival at Auraria . CONTENTS The Town of Denver We Hire a Shop. I Regret having Turned Merchant How we Transported our Goods Mr. Middleton's Advice The Tide of Emigration Finding Goods by the Roadside Gold in Colorado How the Cities Grew A Post Office in Auraria . Letters from Home How our Business Flourished Denver Outstripping Auraria Claim Jumping The Claim Club . The Turkey War The Need of Organized Government The Union of Denver and Auraria What Others Thought of Us The Territory of Colorado Striving for Good Citizenship Civil War Breaks Out Need of a Jail . Denver in Flames Our Loss by Fire Mrs. Middleton Consoles Us Good Resulting from Evil Mr. Middleton's Honesty , 8 CONTENTS PAGE Rebuilding Denver 125 The, Flood .... 126 The Destruction of the Town 128 In Great Peril . 130 The City Destroyed . 131 Our Lives are Spared i33 Fears regarding the Future i34 An Uprising of the Indians 136 Begging for Help i39 A Famine Threatens . 140 Horrors of an Indian War 141 My Duty at Home 144 Beginning over Again i45 My Story is Done i4S SETH OF COLORADO HOW I CAME TO WRITE MY STORY It concerns no one but myself if I choose to spend a portion of my well-earned leisure writing the story of how I happened to come into this country, which is now called Colorado, and of how I have grown up with it from the time it was taken possession of by men from the East, who in their eagerness for gold believed, poor, foolish souls, that they had but to dig in the sands for a few days in order to make them selves rich for life. Some of my friends laughed at me when I told them of my plan, but I am not to be turned from a road, hav ing once decided upon it, and those who have ridiculed the idea that I can make a readable tale out of my 9 10 SETH OF COLORADO experiences need not trouble themselves to find out whether I have succeeded or failed. WHO I AM In order to start properly, as practiced story-tellers do, I suppose I ought first to give some account of my self, so that in case others chance to scan what I have written, they may in that way become acquainted with the writer. In the year 1857 I was living in Lawrence, Kansas, with my father and mother, and a happier lad it would be difficult to find, for my home was a most pleasant one. I had as loving a mother as any boy could desire, and my father, while stern now and then, had a warm place for me in his heart I understood this well when, from time to time, without speaking, he would press me closely to his breast, then turn quickly away, as if ashamed of having shown any token. of love. Even then, before affliction overtook me, there was a strong desire in my heart to become a farmer, although both my father and mother insisted that I should do all in my power first to gain an education, with the idea that it might be possible for me to take my place among men of position in the land. While I was not inclined to any other way of life than that of a farmer, loving outdoor work and finding my greatest enjoyment in seeing the seed I had planted MY GREAT LOSS n spring up from the earth and bear fruit, yet I was obe dient in doing as my parents would have me, believing that they knew best what would be to my advantage. MY GREAT LOSS In those happy days when I would have changed places with no lad whom I knew or had ever heard of, the blow suddenly came which left me orphaned. Within one week both my father and mother died of a fever, and it was as if the sun had been blotted out from the heavens. I could see no ray of light anywhere, and young though I was, my one de sire was to join my loved parents, for it seemed as if this world held no place for Seth Wagner. There were many in Lawrence who befriended me in that time of sorrow, and the one who tried the hardest to comfort me was Mrs. Middleton, a dear soul who had boys of her own, although they were younger than I. I believe she was all the more tender to me because 12 SETH OF COLORADO of asking herself what her little sons would do if, in the short space of a week, they should be deprived of both father and mother. Kind though she was, and doing her best to lighten the sorrow which hung about me like a black cloud, there was small consolation for me from words ; but in time I became accustomed in a certain measure to the loss which had befallen me. MY WORLDLY WEALTH To carry out the plan which my father had formed for me, and by gaining an education to take up the practice of law or of medicine when I was older, had now become an impossibility. When all my father's property had been sold and the debts paid by Mr. Middleton, who did everything in his power to guard my interests, I had one hundred and sixty- one dollars as the sum total of my father's estate. With this small amount I must make my way in the world until I should stand on a solid foundation. PLANS FOR THE FUTURE 13 Had there been money enough left to me, I should have bought a farm near Lawrence, and there have set myself to work laying up sufficient of this world's goods to provide me with the necessaries, if not the comforts, of life. It may be you will say that a youngster of my age would not naturally look so far ahead into the future as to realize that he must make provision against what people call a "rainy day"; but bear in mind that grief sometimes ages a lad wonderfully. When the sharpest edge of my sorrow had been worn away by time, it was as if I had all at once become a man, with a clear sense of all that I must do in order to win a footing in the world. In a night, as it were, I had added twenty years to my twelve. PLANS FOR THE FUTURE My first resolve was that my tiny patrimony should be. put carefully away, where it might earn me some what in the way of interest, and at the same time be kept as a "nest egg," so that when I found opportu nity for investing a small sum to good advantage it would be ready to hand. Next came to my mind the fact that I must be up and doing, instead of living upon the bounty of Mr. Middleton, as I had been since that dreadful day when 14 SETH OF COLORADO I was led away from the last earthly resting place of my dear parents. It was not practicable for me to find steady employ ment in the town of Lawrence, eager though I was for work, and in order to gain sufficient money to support myself, I always stood ready and anxious to turn my hand to what ever opportunities came my way. Thus it was that during the winter of 1857 and 1858 I worked at what ever was offered me, some times sawing and splitting wood, or doing chores around one of the stores, running errands, taking care of cattle while the owners were away from home, and, in fact, acting as jack-of-all-trades until the time came when the townsfolk of Lawrence were attacked with what seemed like a regular fever, because gold had been dis covered beyond the western boundary of Kansas, in the unsettled territory which we know now as the state of Colorado. THE GOLD FEVER 15 THE GOLD FEVER It was somewhere near Pikes Peak, as I remember, that our people of Lawrence believed they might find, after a few days' search, enough of the yellow metal to make them wealthy beyond their wildest dreams. The entire population, men, women, and even children, talked of gold and dreamed of gold. They seemed, in deed, to have given up every desire in life save the one of taking from the earth vast riches. It is not to be supposed that I failed to catch this fever. When I heard rumored wondrous tales of those who had gone into that country and found more gold than they could carry away, the thought came to me that here was my opportunity : that I might go out there and after digging a few weeks, or perhaps months, get enough gold to carry out my father's plans for my future. Our people of Lawrence were making it a costly undertaking to journey as far as Pikes Peak. They outfitted themselves with huge wagons, drawn by three, four, or even five yoke of cattle, and large enough to carry all their household goods. For me such an outfitting was of course an impos sibility, and for a time I was busy devising schemes by which to become a regular member of one of the com panies, believing that there was no other way by which SETH OF COLORADO — 2 i6 SETH OF COLORADO a lad of my age could succeed in winning his way so surely and so speedily to the goal he had set. MY GREAT DISAPPOINTMENT With a heavy heart I saw two of the companies start forth from our town, their faces set toward Pikes Peak, with the intention of traveling thither by what was known as the Arkansas Valley trail. I am ashamed to say that I shed bitter tears because of not being allowed a place with one or the other; first, because I was looked upon as too young to do a man's work, and again, owing to the fact that even though I gave up all my inheritance, it would not be sufficient to pay my proper share of the expenses. As the days wore on, there came straggling back by way of our town of Lawrence man after man, and com pany after company of the gold seekers, who had CURED OF THE GOLD FEVER 17 turned homeward in discouragement, having wasted all they had in their useless ventures. Their stories of the disappointments of gold digging, and the knowledge that there was no truth in the tales of wealth gained by a few days' work, helped to cure me of that fever which I had caught from the people with whom I had come in contact. Fi nally it became clear to my mind that who ever would set him self to perform honest labor, whatever it might be, would succeed in earn ing more money than he could hope to gain by gold hunt ing. CURED OF THE GOLD FEVER I realized, of course, that now and again there might be found a man who had been extraordinarily success ful and had made himself suddenly rich in a few hours ; i8 SETH OF COLORADO but, fortunately, I had common sense enough to grasp the fact that it was all a matter of chance. Thus I made rapid recovery from the fever, and no longer indulged in foolish dreams of journeying to that Tom Tiddler's ground of Colorado, where a fortune could be picked up for the taking; but I resolutely worked at such tasks as came to hand, saving up every penny I earned that was not needed to pay for my food and cloth ing. Gradually I had come to believe that all my life would be spent in the little town of Lawrence; that my humble part was to be that of one who earns his daily bread by what the Bible calls the "sweat of his face." One day Mrs. Middleton surprised me by the an nouncement that she and her husband, with their children, and forty or more of their fellow-townspeople, had made up their minds to journey into the land of MY OPPORTUNITY i9 gold, not with the intention of digging, but with the hope of finding in the Colorado country a better farm than could be had in Kansas, "for a small expenditure of money. There were in the company, however, some who were bent only on mining; but, as Mrs. Middleton made clear, her husband had no such idea. After having explained, as far as she knew, what they hoped to accomplish, she ended by saying, in her kindly way, putting her arms about my neck much as my own mother would have done : — "Why not go with us, Seth ? You say you want to be a farmer, and with the money which you have put away, I believe it might be possible to buy land enough to be called a real farm."MY OPPORTUNITY I replied that such a plan was impossible, because even if I gave up all the money I had, it would not be sufficient to pay my share of the cost of the journey; but at once she went on, showing how long and how carefully she had been thinking out this plan to help me : — ¦ "I am certain that if you will agree to aid Mrs. Holmes and me in caring for the children, and will do your share of driving the cattle, you can go with us, if you wish, free of expense." Again the Colorado fever seized me; but this time 20 SETH OF COLORADO there came with it no vision of sudden riches. The suggestion appealed to me strongly, boy though I was, that in a wild country like that I might be able to buy a fair-sized claim of land with perhaps no more than half my savings, and have the remainder to spend for tools and stock. Or I might, thought I, venturing far away from the others, at the risk, to be sure, of being wiped out by the Indians, enter a claim of my own at no larger cost of purchase than the government demanded, and thus be forehanded at the start. HOW I MIGHT WORK MY WAY It was an absorbing dream which came upon me thus suddenly, and so deeply was I engrossed with it, that I hardly heeded the good woman's question, which she put again and again as % f to whether I should like to go as helper to HOW I MIGHT WORK MY WAY 21 Mrs. Holmes and herself, doing my full share of tending the cattle during the journey. What answer I gave her at last is easily guessed, but for the. purpose of my story, I need not go into the details of our preparations and of the journey itself. For a long time emigrants had been crossing our country on their way to the Far West, and every one of us had become well informed as to what an outfit consisted of, how the journey was made, and what were the hardships or dangers that might be expected. We of Lawrence, going over the Arkansas Valley trail, would have but a short distance to travel, as com pared with those people who had started from the Mis souri River to make their way to Oregon or to Cali- 22 SETH OF COLORADO fornia, yet we realized it wOuld be a laborious journey, tedious and wearisome. KEEPING MY PART OF THE BARGAIN Mr. Middleton and Mr. Holmes had, as I learned, already agreed to my going with them as servant, and certainly I lived up to my share of the bargain, striving from early dawn to the late hours of the night to perform more work than was required of me, in order that my employers might not think they had made a bad trade in taking me. That I succeeded in my purpose, which was to show that even a lad of barely thirteen years of age could do a man's work, was made clear again and again when Mrs. Middleton praised my industry, or thanked me for little acts of thoughtfulness which I had been able to perform. AT PUEBLO When we arrived at Pueblo, the first settlement of any size we had come to since leaving Lawrence, I supposed that we had reached our journey's end, and a feeling of disappointment swept over me as I gazed about me, for it was by no means the kind of a country I had expected to find. Although I could not call myself an expert farmer, I knew that the soil which we had left behind us AT PUEBLO 23 in Lawrence was much more fertile than the sandy bottom lands about Pueblo, and I began anxiously to debate the question as to how any one could earn a living in such a forlorn place. As Mrs. Middleton told me, shortly after we came to a halt, this settlement had been established by the Mexicans, who later had prac- jj tically abandoned it, although there were still four / L or five "^fe^; families living in the less ruinous of the houses. The buildings were all made of sun dried brick which the Mexicans call adobe, but the greater number of them had fallen into a state of decay. Some of the houses were roofless; the side walls or chimneys of others had tumbled in, and only now and then might one find a dwelling that would come somewhere near to being weather tight. It was a scene of ruin and desolation, and in despair I asked myself whether, after struggling so hard to 24 SETH OF COLORADO reach this wretched spot, I could do better than to find some means of retracing my steps, long and weari some though the journey had been. It was foolish of me to borrow trouble concerning this place, as I soon came to know. The leaders of our m ^MWM company had stopped there only to decide upon some definite course, for, as I learned then, they had left their homes without any clear plan of action, save that they were all of one mind as to their intention of reaching the gold country. When we turned our backs on Lawrence I had under stood that nearly all the people with whom I journeyed were looking forward to tilling the land, believing that the soil of Colorado would be found to be more gener- A WELCOME TIME OF REST 25 ous than that of Kansas ; but now that we had actually come into the land of treasure I soon gathered that there had been aroused in the minds of many of the men a keen desire to try gold digging, while but few, and among them Mr. Middleton, still held firm to the resolution they had made before setting out. A WELCOME TIME OP REST We had reached the settlement, or perhaps I should say the ruins, of Pueblo shortly before noon, and when the cattle had been fed and I had received my portion of the dinner which Mrs. Middleton pre pared in one of the tumbledown shacks, I promised 26 SETH OF COLORADO myself a good rest during the remainder of the day. It was indeed a happy change to be able to stretch one's self at full length on the sun baked sand, knowing that one might lounge idling there four and twenty hours, if he wished, without being forced, at a given signal, to plod off by the side of the patient oxen, di recting their way ; but, even if one dislikes work, which I did not, idleness soon becomes monotonous and wearisome, and hardly more than two hours had passed when I was eager once more to be up and doing. Before sunset those who were fascinated by the notion of delving in the earth for gold received tidings which were not to their liking. A company of seven men, who had been prospecting, straggled into the village thoroughly disheartened and inclined to believe that all the stories of wealth taken from the soil were falsehoods. I heard one of them say that during the past three months they had worked industriously throughout nearly every hour of daylight and failed to find traces of gold. Then I reasoned that the would-be gold seekers of our company, hearing such stories told by men of experience, would give up their dreams and join us in tilling the land, if we chanced to come upon soil that gave promise of richness. Instead of being turned from their purpose, however, all treated the account given by these returned pros- ANOTHER OUTBREAK OF THE GOLD FEVER 27 pectors as of no value, saying to one another that if the men had gone here or gone there; if they had worked a little harder on a certain day, or done less on another, they might have been successful. ANOTHER OUTBREAK OF THE GOLD FEVER It was as if we had but just arrived at Pueblo when the gold fever broke out anew, and our people could hardly wait to make the necessary preparations for going over the same ground and for taking the same J^^N^^^^^^^^k chances of dis- .«sJBBH^^ciR>$^£^E'-H'.- appointmentas had the prospectors «H~- - • mmmMr^^^^mk • to whose stories we had listened. That evening after supper, while the women were doing their best to make some of the ruins habitable, that they might sleep inside four walls instead of on the narrow beds of the wagons, the men began again to discuss the situation. While they were thus engaged, a second company, 28 SETH OF COLORADO consisting of four travel-stained, discouraged looking men, came up, and the stories which they had to tell were the same as had been heard from the other party. Their recital of hard work, baffled hopes, and severe hardships made it appear that there was not enough gold in the earth thereabouts to satisfy the most modest wants of one man. AN OPPORTUNITY FOR MONEY GETTING I listened with no very keen interest to the tales of disappointment, for I was entirely cured of the gold fever; but when I overheard some of the men com plaining that they had been forced to pay ten cents a pound for corn, and from thirty to fifty cents a pound for potatoes, I pricked up my ears. Eagerly I asked Mr. Holmes how many people he reckoned were roaming about searching for gold, and he answered in all seriousness that they might be numbered by thousands, for he knew of many very large companies which had gone into the diggings. It was undoubtedly true, he said, that a steady stream of men had been flowing into Colorado ever since the first reports had been spread abroad that gold was to be found there. It would be folly for me, thought I, to dream of turning back simply because the soil around Pueblo was not to my liking. There must be other places MR. MIDDLETON AGREES WITH ME 29 where one could count on getting fair crops. If those gold hunters were so numerous, why might it not be possible, I asked myself, for me to turn their madness to good account ? I was burning with eagerness to set out in search of some place where I could plant corn and potatoes, even though I should be no more than a squatter on the land. By this I mean that I should be tilling soil which did not belong to me and without the con sent of the rightful owner. MR. MIDDLETON AGREES WITH ME Late that night, after the unsuccessful miners had finished "swapping" their tales of woe and had gone to sleep, I confided to Mr. Middleton what I had been pon dering over, ; and clap ping me on the ^ . shoulder in his friendly fash ion, he said heartily : — "Ah, now you have got at the root of the matter, my boy ! Did you think that I would wander hither 30 SETH OF COLORADO and yon over this country looking for gold when I could make a home for my wife and children and find more wealth here than I could gain if I became a suc cessful miner? We'll settle down as soon as we come to a favorable spot, and there you and I will make the beginnings of a town, while we raise corn and po tatoes for those crazy dreamers who are shirking honest work, and hope to become suddenly wealthy by some lucky stroke of the pick or shovel." Mr. Middleton went on to tell me that, after halt ing at Pueblo only long enough to rest the cattle, he, with four or five of the other men, had already laid plans to push on until they should reach a region where the soil gave good promise, taking care, mean while, to keep along the trail over which the gold seekers were coming and going. Then, without delay, even before spending the time to build houses, — we could live in the wagons for a while longer, — seed was to be put into the ground. MR. MIDDLETON'S PROPOSITION I, thinking only of myself, asked what part I would have in this scheme, and he answered that he would willingly pay me fair wages, in fact twice as much as I could have earned in Lawrence ; but if such a plan did not please me, I might go farther and take up a claim of land for myself. MR. MIDDLETON'S PROPOSITION 3i This last did not appear to me to be practicable, for a lad like myself would not be able, unaided, to do all the heavy work necessary. Besides, I had neither cattle nor tools, and my small inheritance would not go very far toward providing me with the necessary implements in a land where everything was so ex pensive, if one might judge by the extravagant prices which the gold seekers were paying for food. During the greater portion of that night I kept turn ing the matter over and over in my mind, unable to sleep very long at a time because of excitement, and by sunup I had fully determined to join with Mr. Middle- ton until I should have earned enough money to start out properly for myself. We remained at Pueblo four or five days, and weary enough were all of us of that desolate place and its few Mexican inhabitants. SETH OF COLORADO- 32 SETH OF COLORADO A SETTLEMENT OF GOLD SEEKERS Then we broke camp once more, traveling in the direc tion of Pikes Peak until we reached a small settlement of both Americans and Mexicans. Hardly more than fifteen people had settled at this place, the greater num ber planning to use the village simply as headquarters, whence they could go in search of gold, leaving be hind them a roof to cover their heads when they returned for an interval of rest. Here also were small buildings made of sun dried bricks. Two or three were of logs, the roofs formed by covering poles with sods, and an odd sight it was to see grass grow ing thickly around a chimney base, or waving over what , in a regularly built house, would have been the eaves. LAND CLAIMS 33 We had now penetrated into a section of the country which looked to me more promising, and Mr. Middle- ton was of much the same mind, for after we had been at this place for two or three days, and some of our com pany had already left for the diggings, he informed me that we were to set off at once toward the Ute Pass, where he and the others who were bent on farming had decided to make their first attempt at a settle ment. LAND CLAIMS I learned then for the first time that a newcomer into this cpuntry was allowed to take up what is called a land claim, that is, he could stake out a given num ber of acres and enter claim to them at the office of the nearest government land agent, without paying more than the regular fees which, at that time, amounted to about twenty-five cents an acre. The whole sum might be paid by installments within a certain number of years, in case the settler was not able to complete the transaction at once. The question rose again in my mind as to whether I might not start out for myself at once, venturing all the little money I had in cattle and seed, and perhaps in the hiring of one man, for I could not hope to do all the work without help, if I cultivated many acres. Once more I decided that it would be better to serve Mr. Middleton, at least until we had proved whether 34 SETH OF COLORADO our plan of selling our crops to the gold seekers was feasible, for there would be no other way of disposing of them, and I had grave doubts as to whether the prices for corn and potatoes, which we had been told were willingly paid by the miners, would continue to hold. Our project appeared to me so much like a speculation that I judged it a wise plan to remain un der Mr. Middleton's wing. It was well I did so, as will speedily be seen. Out of our entire number, there were but five men who held to the original agreement not to waste their time gold hunting. This small company — Mrs. Mid dleton being the only woman, and her children and my self the only young people — set off once more on our OUR RANCH 35 travels, journeying by slow stages until we came to a river with the odd name of Fontaine qui Bouille, the boiling spring, where all of us believed we had found what we were looking for. OUR RANCH The soil was rich and not so heavy but that we could easily dig ditches from the river into our cornfields, for you must know that in this land to which we had come very little rain falls, and if one would cultivate the ground, he must find some means of keeping it well moistened. If we settled along this river, we could plant many acres and keep them watered at no other expense than that of ditch digging. There was not one of the com pany who was not hopeful that we had arrived at our journey's end, and when we came to a place where the land sloped gently away from the river bank, and the leading team came to a stop, there was no need of any discussion. Before anything had been done except to turn the cattle loose to feed upon the lush grass, we busied ourselves with staking out claims. From this time on, until we had a fair acreage plowed and corn planted, there was no rest for any of us dur ing the hours of daylight ; meanwhile we lived in the wagons as we had done during the journey from Law rence. Once the planting was over, Mr. Middleton 36 SETH OF COLORADO lost no time in building a house for himself. He took pride in doing so, for, as he said to me, it was his be lief that our settlement would grow into a town of ^Sfe^ ' considerable size, perhaps big enough to be called a city, and he wanted to get the credit of having erected the first building. BUILDING A DWELLING I had laughed at those houses in the settlement we came upon after leaving Pueblo, with their roofs of green sods, but when Mr. Middleton and I set about planning the family homestead, we were glad enough to use the same humble material for our roof, because it could be put on more quickly than any other. In order to save the labor of felling and shaping as many trees as would be needed for high walls, we dug down into the earth four or five feet, so that, as one BUILDING A DWELLING 37 of the children said, our house was hardly more than a hole in the ground. The floor was beaten hard by the aid of short lengths of logs which we held upright with pegs for handles, raising and dropping them until the earth was so solid that one's footprints made no mark. The walls were raised five feet above the top of the excavation, making the height from the floor to where the roof began not less than ten feet on the side which we intended for the front, through which we cut a doorway and window openings. 38 SETH OF COLORADO The roof poles were put on slanting, for it was to be a shed roof, the rear wall of the house being only about seven feet high, and the slope of the top not less than three feet, while the width of the building was only ten. Our covering of sod would serve, on so steep a pitch, to shed water admirably. In wet weather we did not suffer from the dampness because of our lack of glazed windows, for a blanket hung up in front of the openings served to keep us com fortable, and it was only occasionally that we had to shield ourselves from the outer air, so friendly was the climate. CORN AND GOLD We did not allow ourselves to be so occupied with building that we neglected the land. Only at odd times when there was no pressing work to be done in the fields did we work at home making, CORN AND GOLD 39 and it so happened that on the very day when the first tiny blades of corn pricked up through the brown clods, Mrs. Middleton moved her household goods from the wagon into this shanty which we called a house. It must not be supposed that we had ceased con stantly to hear rumors of finding gold. It had been reported in Lawrence that the gold fever had spent itself and that the time had come for those who desired homes in the Colorado country to be on the spot; but we were no sooner settled, or in the way to being so, on the bank of the river, than the feverish excite ment broke out afresh. We heard from those who passed through our set tlement on their way to the mines, that large quan- 40 SETH OF COLORADO tities of gold had been located here, there, and one might almost say everywhere, and if you could believe all the wild tales that were flying about, you would fancy the entire soil of Colorado was veined with the yellow metal. A company of men from Chicago, under the leader ship of George Johnson, had come upon what they claimed was the richest find yet discovered, and the mine had been named the Chicago Bar. We learned of this from the throngs of men who passed us at our work, the greater number of whom ridi culed us for being content with such laborious tasks when we might go along with them and reap an un sown harvest of riches. DREAMS OF A HARVEST Time and again did those gold-frenzied dreamers laugh us to scorn because we were content to spend our energies building log shanties when we might be handling pick and shovel, and more than once did Mr. Middle- ton say grimly to me : — "Let them laugh! We shall see who has the best of it when autumn comes. The more there are of them, the greater will be the demand for food, and if corn is worth ten cents a pound now, it will surely bring fifteen by wintertime, for some of those fel lows, who are counting on taking something from the DREAMS OF A HARVEST 4i earth instead of putting anything into it by the way of seed, are likely to go hungry." How carefully we watched over the corn as it came up, and how astonished we were by the rapidity and luxuriance of its growth! Never before had I seen corn shoot up at such an amazing rate, and I was more than ever convinced that the wealth of this land of Colorado lay in the adm hands of the farmer rather than under the shovel of the miner. We dug ditch after ditch, bringing water down across the land which Mr. Middleton had staked out as his own, until every single square yard of it was irrigated as it should be, and well were we rewarded for the labor, weari some and severe though it was, by seeing the green stalks springing minute by minute, higher and higher, and .stouter and stouter. We had in all six acres covered with the waving grain, and giving promise 42 SETH OF COLORADO of a yield even more valuable than that from the rich lodes of the Chicago Bar mine. DISAPPOINTED PROSPECTORS When the corn was in tassel, the ditches dug and filled, and a breathing space had come when we might wait more at our ease for the returns from our venture, there appeared at the bank of the river a company of nineteen gold seekers from Missouri, who, having failed in their quest, were now bound home ward, worn out and disheartened. Their cattle were lean almost to the verge of star vation from having hauled the heavy wagons so many miles over rocky hills and sandy plains, and the men themselves looked as if they had been on the tramp half a dozen years. News of their coming to camp on our side of the river spread quickly, and all our company, including Mrs. Middleton and the children, went out to welcome them, taking bread and bacon, for we had had ex perience before of the appetites of disappointed miners. Hungry? They were near to famishing, and al though it appeared to me as if we carried them plenty of food, every crumb disappeared so suddenly that it seemed as if magic were at work. Even then the travel-worn prospectors looked at us wistfully, their tired eyes asking dumbly for more. RETURNING EVIL FOR GOOD 43 We ministered to their wants that night to the best of our ability, giving them food which should have been kept for ourselves, and never thinking of asking a penny in return. RETURNING EVIL FOR GOOD I believe that all of us went to sleep happier for hav ing fed the hungry Missourians; but when we arose at daybreak next morning and looked out on our broad acres covered by a forest of cornstalks swaying to and fro in the summer breeze, our hearts were filled first with amazement and then with hot anger. 44 SETH OF COLORADO Those miners from Missouri, who had come to us almost starving and had had their wants supplied freely, had actually turned all their cattle into our cornfields, and there the beasts were feeding ravenously, as they trampled down the stalks. I was the first out of our shanty that morn ing, and it was fully two minutes before I could per suade myself that people whom we had so befriended were capa ble of playing us such a mean trick. The truth was, however, forced home to me, and I called loudly for Mr. Middleton. Such an uproar did I make in my anger and ex citement, that not only Mr. Middleton but his wife and children rushed out to learn what was happening, and then, like myself, they stood in STRIVING TO SAVE OUR CORN 45 open-mouthed astonishment, gazing at the scene of destruction. Suddenly we heard distant shouts of anger from up and down the river bank, where the neighboring homesteaders had their fields planted, and, roused from our trance, we all set about trying to drive the hungry beasts from among our growing corn. STRIVING TO SAVE OUR CORN It had been many a long day since the poor cattle had come upon such rich fodder, and they were, of course, unwilling to leave it, doubling back and forth when we attempted to drive them along the furrows, and trampling down hill after hill of the stalks in their efforts to remain in so bountiful a pasture. If we had been astounded at seeing the beasts ruin ing our fields, we were dumb with angry amazement when those men from Missouri, discovering our efforts to save our crops from destruction, came up with weap ons in their hands, barefacedly demanding that we cease to disturb their cattle. Our people could not stop to argue with them, for all the time the beasts were devouring more and more of the corn. Then it was that the Missourians loudly threatened that they would shoot us down, if we dared persist in driving out the marauders. 46 SETH OF COLORADO DEFENDING OUR OWN It is not possible for me to set down all which was said at that time, nor is it well that I should do so, for the air was thick with anger, and we who were being thus abused were not, as you may well suppose, tender in our words when we reproached those people. At first a fight seemed unavoidable, for Mr. Middle- ton at least was ready to defend his property with his life. DEFENDING OUR OWN 47 After having been driven back by four or five of the men, he rushed into the shanty, and I, following and see ing him load his rifle, caught frantically at his arm and begged him to con sider whether we could stand up against so many. It was as if the distracted man had not realized until that mo ment how strong the enemy was as compared with our own force. There were not less than nineteen of them, while we had but five men, six if you choose to count me, and in case of a struggle what chance had we farmers against so many desperate miners? On every other farm in the neighborhood a similar contest was going on, for the miners had told off three or four men to confront each claim holder, so that we might be frightened into submitting to the depredations SETH OF COLORADO — 4 48 SETH OF COLORADO of the cattle. Sud denly realizing that he could not safely offer armed resistance, Mr. Middleton bade me hasten and call all our people together into his shanty. "Make them come here at once, Seth ! " he cried furiously. " Tell them it is useless for us to resist single-handed. We must join together and form some plan for mutual protection." A COUNCIL OF WAR Every moment was precious, for those hungry cattle were making short work of our corn. Breathless with excitement and haste, I ran from claim to claim until I had repeated to each farmer Mr. Middleton's message. It was a full hour before I could bring all the men to realize that it was folly to oppose the miners until we had formed some plan for defense. Finally the task was accomplished, but when our people had assembled in front of Mr. Middleton's shanty, it was exceedingly difficult for a speaker to hold their attention, so great was the rage which possessed them. AN INTERVIEW WITH THE ENEMY 49 I was not near enough to hear what plan was first determined upon, for I had been sent to drive our horses farther up into the timber, lest the Missourians seize them ; but when I got back, Mr. Middleton was on the point of setting out for the river bank, where the men from Missouri had gathered. I followed him, curious to know why he was going out alone and unarmed to confront those who had so plainly shown themselves to be our enemies. AN INTERVIEW WITH THE ENEMY The Missourians seemed bewildered at our sudden change of plan, and they waited our coming massed in a little company, watching curiously all that went on, while at the same time they were sure that their oxen were allowed to continue the ravages among the corn. I expected that Mr. Middleton would use violent language ; therefore my surprise was great when he 5° SETH OF COLORADO began in a mild tone as if addressing friends, but at the same time he spoke firmly, demanding that they allow us to rid our fields of their cattle, or else repay us for the damage as much money as the corn was then worth. I cannot remember now his exact words; but the substance of it was that he demanded half as much as he counted on receiving for the ripened crop. THE MISSOURI MINERS MAKE SPORT OF US He had hardly finished speaking when the Missouri miners laughed long and loud, behaving as if it were impossible for them to speak for amuse ment, and all the while Mr. Middle- ton stood calmly facing them, deter mined, but unable to enforce his de mands by so much as a hair's breadth. Presently one of those fellows we had fed so generously only the night before, swaggered up to Mr. Middleton like a bully, and shaking his fist savagely, shouted that their cattle must have fodder ; that they would take as much of our corn as they THE MISSOURI MINERS MAKE SPORT OF US 51 wanted ; perhaps at the end of three days they would be off and trouble us no more. At the end of three days ! Long before then every blade of green would have been devoured. He might as well have said plainly that he would go when there was nothing left, and had I been in Mr. Middleton's place I would have told him without mincing words that they were thieves. "Mind, you shall pay us for our corn," Mr. Middle- ton repeated calmly. "The price will be less, if you take your cattle away now ; but you will certainly have to give us a fair return for what has been eaten." "And when do you expect to get the money?" the leader of the Missourians asked with a rude laugh which exasperated me more even than the mirth of 'the others. 52 SETH OF COLORADO "Before you break camp we shall receive our pay, and you are to decide whether the account shall be closed now, or shall run on until we bankrupt you." HOW TO COLLECT THE DEBT Again the miners held their sides with mirth, which was their way of showing that they believed us power less to mend matters, and having said his say, Mr. Middleton turned sharply on his heel and walked slowly away, I following closely behind him, in the direction of our shanty. I made bold at last to pluck at his sleeve and inquire by what means he counted on getting from the miners, who doubtless had spent all their money, the price of our corn, and he answered with a grim smile, which had in it more of anger than of mirth : — "Follow me, Seth, and you shall hear our scheme for collecting the debt, for you must have a hand in putting it through." As a matter of course, I followed him, and at our cabin door we found the other settlers awaiting our return with stern, set faces. This was ample evidence to me that they intended to resist the Missourians at any cost, even of their lives. The plan outlined was a simple one; but whether it could be carried into execution was quite another question. It consisted simply in our hovering around WE TAKE POSSESSION OF THE CATTLE 53 the cornfields, and at every opportunity, when safely out of sight of our foes, driving off their cattle, one by one, until all the beasts had been taken beyond the settlement, where we had a common pasture for our ani mals. Once all the beasts were within an inclosure, so Mr. Middleton declared, we would hold them at the muz zles of our guns until their owners had paid for the damage done to the corn. WE TAKE POSSESSION OF THE CATTLE Much to my surprise, the Missourians did not keep a very strict watch upon us. They appeared satis fied with the assurance that we were taking no direct action to drive the cattle out of the fields, and what 54 SETH OF COLORADO had promised to be a difficult task proved to be quite simple. By good fortune I was one of the first to make a capture, and under cover of the standing grain I drove one of the oxen out past Mr. Middleton's house and back into the pasture, where three of our men were standing guard with loaded weapons. From then on, throughout the day, we were kept on the jump, and when night fell we had half of the oxen cor ralled without the Missourians apparently being any the wiser. The darkness made our task still easier, and by two hours before midnight the fields were cleared of trespassers, although the crops which had promised us so rich a return were sadly shorn of their beauty. The greater part of our corn had been either trampled down or cropped close to the roots, and I thought sorrowfully that even if we kept the cattle, taking in addition all the wagons and stores these robbers had with them, their value would not be equivalent to as much, or half as much, as we had counted on receiving for the harvested crop. A WAR OF WORDS 55 THE NIGHT BEFORE THE BATTLE That night our people slept securely, believing the Missourians would not guess what we had done un til daylight revealed it ; but you may count it as very certain that before there was the faintest sign of color in the eastern sky, every man, and I reckoned myself as one, stood on the alert, ready to defend his rights. It was nearly sunrise before the miners discovered how the farmers they had supposed helpless had tricked them, and they remained a full half hour discussing the matter before making any move toward regaining possession of their cattle. A WAR OF WORDS As the first broad shafts of light were striking across the fields, the Missou rians came on in warlike array, every man of them with a loaded rifle in his hands. Our people, meanwhile, had taken station midway between the cornfield and the 56 SETH OF COLORADO pasture where there were trees in sufficient number to afford shelter, in case it should be necessary to fight. Mr. Middleton checked the advance of the Mis sourians by stepping out from behind his covert and demanding by what right they were attacking us. Then began a battle of words, for the prospectors attempted to carry matters with a high hand, and threat ened that if their cattle were not allowed to go back into our cornfields without delay, they would open fire upon us, shooting down every man as if he were a dangerous beast. Mr. Middleton unquestionably gave them as good as they sent, for in reply to this unreasonable and un just demand he repeated his declaration of the night before, that the cattle would be held until we received fair payment for such of our crops as had been de stroyed, and wound up with the bold statement that every one of us was determined to stand to his gun while life remained.THE PROSPECTORS TRY TO KILL US Mr. Middleton had hardly finished speaking when one of the miners fired at him point blank, but, for tunately, without taking careful aim. Before another weapon could be discharged, he was behind a tree, screened from view, ready to use his rifle in self-de fense. A REAL BATTLE 57 You may be sure that I had already sought shelter behind one of the trees. In fact, when the Missourians' openwere first came in sight I took good care not to expose myself to a stray shot, although the idea never occurred to me that those lawless miners would actually fire upon us, when it was they and not we who in the wrong. A REAL BATTLE Within five minutes after the first shot, we of the settlement were engaged in a bloody fight, and al though I was as frightened as a boy well could be, I was very careful to make every bullet tell. Now and then I could hear' Mr. Middleton shout out, not only to me but to the men, that we must 58 SETH OF COLORADO make every missile count, now that we were certain that these lawless men had no other thought than that of shedding blood wantonly. Strange as it may seem, I cannot set down of my own knowledge very much concerning that battle, which lasted nearly three hours. I was like a person in a dreadful nightmare, not realizing what I did and hav ing always before me the terrible fear that in another moment I would be sent into the Beyond, or be crip pled for life by a Missouri bullet. Everything before my eyes was the color of blood. The smell of gunpowder must have mounted to my A TRUCE 59 brain, for I did not grasp any thing clearly save that the barrel of my musket was growing hot from having been discharged so rapidly, and that my store of