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An under chief, called Little Horse, brought his band in near Jim Moore’s ranch and camped there nearly all winter. They pretended to be on friendly terms with the ranchers, and often went out on hunting trips, but in reality they were communicating with hostile tribes, to let them know the situation and circumstances of the ranchers. In February they moved camp and took along about fifty head of Moore’s horses and mules and started south. Jim Moore went to Fort Sedgwick and got a troop of cavalry of eighty men under Captain Mix and Lieutenant Arms, to follow the … Read more

No sooner had the command arrived in Denver than A. A. Neiland and Charles Pearson hurried on through Denver not waiting for their discharge papers, and went down to their homes on Henderson’s Bar, fifteen miles from Denver. Here they left their horses and returned to Denver for their discharge papers. They were immediately arrested as deserters and put in jail. When Alston Shaw got into Denver with the horses, one of Neiland’s friends went to him and told him of Neiland’s and Pearson’s trouble and ending by saying, “They will be tried as deserters and suffer the penalty.” “O, … Read more

Jim Reynolds was a miner working at California Gulch, now Leadville. He got permission from the governor of Colorado to go down into Texas, his native state, and raise a regiment for the Union army. When he started for Texas, people believed that he was honest in his object, but on his return they soon learned that his undertaking was not to aid the government, but to take advantage of it during its struggles and help himself. He left Texas with twenty-two men, but only had eight men and nine first class horses with him on the Platte. The following … Read more

By W . S. Coburn During the winter of 1865 I had a man and his wife working for me, and one day in December, just about noon, the lady saw someone chasing the pup around the house and exclaimed, “O, look! here is a squaw.” The supposed squaw heard her and came up timidly to the door and said, “Me no squaw.” It was a white boy, apparently twelve years of age and could not talk English, only a word once in a while. He looked like he was nearly worn out and was carrying a dead raven. We … Read more

As Told by Mrs. John Patterson In 1866 Colorado was rather a dreary looking place, especially in Weld county, near where the town of Greeley is now located. Leaving Coultersville, Illinois, the last day of April, in company with Mr. Isaiah Lemon and family, consisting of his two sons and two daughters, we arrived at the mouth of the Poudre on the fifteenth day of July, being eleven weeks on the road. We could hear of Indians before us and back of us; we passed places where there had been ranches burned just a short time before us. I think … Read more

In presenting this narrative to the public, its object will be to furnish a true history of some of the incidents of the early settlement of the West, and especially of Colorado. Being intimately acquainted with parties cognizant of the facts related, we feel certain of the literal truths of the statements contained in this book. There have been so many publications put upon the market purporting to be true history of frontier life, that utterly fail to convey the faintest idea of the real facts, that this work is undertaken. It is impossible for the rising generations to conceive … Read more

A short distance from the creek was a little gulley, and as Captain Cree was riding past it, he heard sounds of a struggle somewhere in the gully. Turning in the direction of the sounds he saw the Indian chief, Black Kettle, and McFarland, in a hand to hand fight with knives. It was a critical time; each had his knife raised ready to strike; it was a question which would fall, just owing to which knife could be plunged the quickest. Captain Cree took in the situation at a glance, and whirling his horse, darted toward the contestants. Drawing … Read more

In the fall of 1865, twenty-five miners from Alder Gulch, Montana, came down the Platte River on the overland trail, returning to their homes in the states, with a pack train. The least amount of gold dust any one of them had was sixty pounds, and some of them had as much as two hundred pounds; and when one stops to think that four pounds makes approximately one thousand dollars when coined, we can see that they were pretty well fixed. They were well armed with two revolvers and rifles, besides each carried a big hunting knife. They camped on … Read more