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Jim Reynolds and His Gang

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 […]

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John Patterson

John Patterson

John Patterson was born April 1st, 1841, in the northern part of Ireland. At the age of six years he came to Phoenixville, Pennsylvania, with his parents. They remained in Pennsylvania two years, then moved to Iowa. After a short stay here, they crossed the plains and settled at Plattsmouth, Nebraska. John Patterson by this time had grown into young manhood and decided to follow the continual move westward. In the spring of i860 he landed in Denver, which at that time was the frontier country. He immediately engaged in the freighting business and made twenty round trips across the

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My First Introduction to Colorado

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

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Indian Charley

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

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True History of Some of the Pioneers of Colorado

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

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Incidents of the Sand Creek Fight

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

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Gold Miners Returning form Montana

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

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Chief Yellowhair

Flight of General Forsyth

In the year of 1868, General Forsyth, assisted by Lieutenant Beecher and Scouts Grover and McCall, had charge of fifty-one men in the eastern part of Colorado. They were certain of an attack and had no more than completed their preparations for a defense than young Chief Roman Nose, a perfect specimen of a savage leader, being six feet and three inches tall and sinewy and slim, and carrying himself with a daring and reckless movement, led his band of a thousand warriors just a little beyond rifle range of the soldiers. Two squads of these were placed at each

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My First Trip across the Plains

By W. S. Coburn After several months in business in Omaha, Nebraska, my partner, Silas Reena, took sick with typhoid fever and died, and after closing and settling his estate, I determined to come west to Colorado. Accordingly I rigged up a four mule team and loaded with goods for Denver, accompanied by fifteen other teams. When we arrived at Fort Kearney, about two hundred miles west of Omaha, we were notified by the officers at the fort that we could proceed no further until enough emigrants and freighters came along to make a party of one hundred well armed

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Fight with Eagle Claw

Fight with Eagle Claw

On the north side of the Platte River there was a distance of three hundred miles where there were no roads or settlements. There was plenty of good grass on the north side, owing to there being no travel, and for that reason Arthur Lewis went down the north side and camped, June 3, 1867, across from the Spring Hill ranch, twelve miles below Mr. Coburn’s ranch. Mr. Coburn tells the following story about their fight with Chief Eagle Claw: One of our cows had run away, and I went down to the Spring Hill ranch after it. I stayed

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