Progressive Men of Western Colorado

John C. Cook, one of the leading citizens of the Rifle section of Garfield county, this state, is a native of Dearborn county, Indiana, born on October 29, 1838, and the son of Elisha and Charlotte (Briddle) Cook, the father born in the state of New York and the mother in Maryland. They settled in Indiana in very early days and remained in that state until 1852, when they moved to Iowa, locating in Wapello county. There the father became a successful and prosperous farmer. He was an ardent Republican in political allegiance, and both he and his wife were […]

Jens J. Clausen, a progressive and successful stock and ranch man of Garfield county, who is now living in the city of Rifle, and who through hard knocks and diligent toil well applied has risen to consequence and won a substantial estate, is a native of Slesvig, Denmark, now a part of Germany. He was born on August 20, 1843, where his parents, Jens and Marelane (Raven) Clausen, were also born and reared, and where after long and useful lives, they were laid to rest in their natal soil, the mother dying in 1848 and the father in 1887. The

George A. Clark, the leading hotel keeper of Rifle, where he owns and conducts a house that pleases the commercial tourists and the general public in its appointments and the manner in which its accommodations are served, is a native of Hartford county, Connecticut, where he was born on October 11, 1844. His education was secured by a limited attendance at the public schools and a term or two at Lewis Academy. At the age of fourteen he went to work in a shoe store, and from that time until 1865 he was so occupied in his native state and

Born in Geauga county, Ohio, in the region which slopes away peacefully to Lake Erie, reared on a farm in Illinois, taking a turn in the commission business when he was but nineteen, burned out by a disastrous fire when he was conducting a prosperous hotel enterprise, living in the midst of alarms at the time of the border war in Kansas, traveling back and forth overland across the plains, buying and selling ranches in Colorado, frequently whirled about in the maelstrom of politics, I. W. Chatfield, of Garfield county, this state, whose home is at Rifle, has had an

William Chapman, the junior partner in the ranching and cattle firm of Chapman & Son, doing business near Glenwood Springs, is a native of Michigan, born near Saginaw on January 14, 1862, and the son of Simpson and Julia (McAlpin) Chapman, natives of Canada, the father being born and reared near Niagara Falls. They farmed in their native land with moderate success and, thinking to better their condition, moved to Michigan where the father turned his attention to the lumber business, becoming a contractor, with saw-mills in the woods. He was thus engaged four years, then passed five in association

The life story of this enterprising and successful stock-grower and ranchman of Garfield county, if told in detail, would differ little in incident and feature from that of thousands of others who came into this western wilderness when the territory was young and unsettled, and with strong and sinewy hand grappled with its hard conditions and bade them stand ruled and deliver up their resources for the benefit of mankind and the onward march of civilization. Yet, trite and well worn as the recital might seem, it is of enduring interest as a part of human history essentially spectacular and

Born and reared far from the scenes of his present labors, and occupying the years and energies of his younger manhood in vastly different pursuits from those in which he is now engaged, the native force and adaptability of Charles A. Chadwick, of Garfield county, this state, are such that he turned readily and successfully to his present occupations, and has made them profitable and well worthy of his own continued application and the general esteem in which his management of them are held. He is a native of Kennebunk Port, Maine, where his life began in 1845, and is

Born and reared far away in the Southland, and when the dread cloud of civil war overspread the country following his convictions through the terrible struggle, facing death on many a hard-fought field and enduring untold hardships and privations in camp and on the march, Henry C. Carter, of Garfield county, this state, one of the prosperous and progressive ranch and cattle men in the neighborhood of Newcastle, knows much of our great country’s history from actual experience and observation under circumstances most likely to make lasting impressions and heighten the pleasures of peaceful enjoyment of its boundless opportunities and