{"id":6440,"date":"2017-05-15T17:00:24","date_gmt":"2017-05-15T21:00:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/genealogygals.com\/blog\/?p=6440"},"modified":"2017-05-15T15:58:09","modified_gmt":"2017-05-15T19:58:09","slug":"a-pioneer-story-pioneer-days-part-6-into-the-colorado-mountains","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/genealogygals.com\/blog\/a-pioneer-story-pioneer-days-part-6-into-the-colorado-mountains\/","title":{"rendered":"A Pioneer Story: Pioneer Days, Part 6, Into the Colorado Mountains"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>
By J. S. Fillmore (Library of Congress \u2013 Maps Division) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons<\/figcaption><\/figure>The tent city outside Denver was a diverse little city including\u00a0 a minister and his family, gamblers, musicians, a saloon, and dens of \u201cgambling and revelry of all sorts\u201d.\u00a0 Only a few days there were enough for the Booth family and they continued to search for habitation elsewhere.\u00a0 They soon found a house \u201cjust outside of town that could be had by finishing up some work, such as laying a floor, hanging doors, etc.\u201d\u00a0 J.W. was willing to agree and so they moved to this country place which was more peaceful and quiet.<\/p>\n

In July they were approached by a party of Indians who camped in their yard.\u00a0 Laura, who had a fear of being scalped, was not happy but J.W. took the position that they were peaceful and only needed a good place to camp and rest for a few days.\u00a0 This they did and then left on their trek to the mountains.\u00a0 As Laura reported: \u201cI could never quite rid myself of the idea that Indians were not the most desirable people to have around.\u201d<\/p>\n

J.W., meantime, was seeking information about the mining being done from everyone he could talk with.\u00a0 As it happened, they were visited by a stranger looking for a drink of water, who had just come from the mountains.\u00a0 His two sons were mining on Clear Creek and he was going to return to them in a few days.\u00a0 While he was conducting his business in Denver the Booths discussed going to the mountains to spend the winter.\u00a0 Although there were numerous horrible things or hardships which might occur, J.W. wanted to try if Laura was willing.\u00a0 Plans were therefore made with their new friend, Mr. Roberts, to accompany him.\u00a0 The Booths sent for their teams from the ranch where they had been staying since the trip West, and the wagons loaded.\u00a0 On a cool October morning they started out.<\/p>\n

Three or four days of travel brought them within a day\u2019s drive of their destination as the roads became increasingly precipitous and Laura found them \u201ctoo frightful to think of riding over\u2026we often take occasion to stop the wagon and alight preferring to walk over such roads.\u201d\u00a0 The last day with 6 miles still to travel, Laura and the children, who had been persuaded to ride the rest of the way, panicked at a \u201crickety looking bridge over a deep canon\u201d that had no side supports and she insisted on stopping the wagon and getting out to walk across.\u00a0 As it turned out, the driver of their wagon failed to make a turn in the road and the wagon went over a 6 foot embankment and landed upside down.\u00a0 J.W. hadn\u2019t been aware that his family had gotten out to walk and feared the loss of his wife and children, crushed beneath the wagon.\u00a0 He was mightily relieved to discover that they were safe.<\/p>\n

They left the wagon to retrieve another day and went on to Mr. Roberts\u2019 cabin where they would share his hospitality until they could build a place of their own.\u00a0 The area was called the Spanish Bar, a small mining community which boasted a log house hotel and half a dozen miner\u2019s cabins.\u00a0 The miner\u2019s cabin was about 12 by 14 feet, with a \u201chuge black log used as a foundation for the structure\u201d which was stepped over to enter.\u00a0 There were two bunks along one side of the room, a few wooden stools, a rough table, and an improvised cupboard made of boxes for the cooking utensils.\u00a0 They brought in clean pine boughs\u00a0 for mattresses on the bunks and their bedding from the wagon and were comfortable for the night.<\/p>\n

After a day\u2019s rest, the other wagon was retrieved and they set about adding to the cabin\u2019s comforts.\u00a0 They had filled the box of the wagon\u00a0 bed with all manner of household goods and found material for covering the cabin walls, a mirror, some bric-a-brac, a few pictures.\u00a0 Laura sewed a floor covering of gunny sacks that was fastened over the dirt floor with wooden pins.\u00a0 There was even a cook stove (which had survived the overturned wagon) and was set in one corner giving them a kitchen.\u00a0 Their neighbor across the way called it luxurious and \u201ctoo cozy for anything\u201d.\u00a0 It was quite a transformation of the cabin.<\/p>\n

During the ensuing winter they accumulated certificates on claims to be developed in the spring, and J.W. proceeded \u201cto erect a home for us in a beautiful spot on the sunny slope of the mountain.\u201d\u00a0 Their belated mail and news caught up with them finally, and the big news was the election of Abraham Lincoln as president.<\/p>\n

\u201cLincoln! Lincoln!\u00a0 Who is he? Must be a dark horse.\u00a0 He was not the regular nominee of the Republican party.\u00a0 Later the news is confirmed.\u00a0 There can be no mistake now and Abraham Lincoln, the Rail Splitter of Illinois is to be our next president.\u00a0 Next come mutterings of discontent.\u00a0 Our united country shows signs of disruption.\u00a0 The South is dissatisfied and who can tell what the outcome will be?\u00a0 We await developments and in the meantime proceed with our building operations in this mountain county, far away from the scenes of the political struggle.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The tent city outside Denver was a diverse little city including\u00a0 a minister and his family, gamblers, musicians, a saloon, and dens of \u201cgambling and revelry of all sorts\u201d.\u00a0 Only a few days there were enough for the Booth family …<\/p>\n

A Pioneer Story: Pioneer Days, Part 6, Into the Colorado Mountains<\/span> Read More »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[369,289,368,367],"class_list":["post-6440","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-misc","tag-colorado","tag-laura-denman-booth","tag-mining","tag-spanish-bar"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/genealogygals.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6440","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/genealogygals.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/genealogygals.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/genealogygals.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/genealogygals.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6440"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/genealogygals.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6440\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6445,"href":"https:\/\/genealogygals.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6440\/revisions\/6445"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/genealogygals.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6440"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/genealogygals.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6440"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/genealogygals.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6440"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}