Greenhorn Chronology by Joanne West Dodds
Note: Key events in United States, Colorado and Pueblo history are listed to help clarify events and do not have citations because of the nature of the information.
Physical features: Greenhorn Peak is 12,347 feet, the tallest in the Wet Mountains; North Peak (commonly called Baldy and sometimes Turtle Mountain) is 12,220 feet.13,000 B. C. to A. D. 1900 - Native American occupation and trails included Prehistoric cultures such as the early to late Folsom and people making parallel-flaked points, Archaic, Woodland, and Panhandle. Later tribes included Plains, Apache, Cheyenne, Ute, Arapaho, Comanche, Kiowa and Pawnee.
Source: Glenn R. Scott. “Historic Trail Maps of the Pueblo 1◦ x 2◦ Quadrangle, Colorado. Washington, D. C.: Department of Interior, United States Geological Survey, 1975.
1541-1779 - Spanish explorers whose routes passed through what is now Pueblo County included Francisco Vasquez de Coronado (1541), Don Juan de Archuleta (1664), Diego de Vargas (1696), Don Juan de Ulibarri (1706), Gov. Antonio de Valverde (1719), Col. Don Pedro de Villasur (1720), Gov. Juan Bautista de Anza (1779).
Source: Glenn R. Scott. “Historic Trail Maps of the Pueblo 1◦ x 2◦ Quadrangle, Colorado. Washington, D. C.: Department of Interior, United States Geological Survey, 1975.
1779 - On Sept. 3, Gov. Juan Bautista de Anza led a series of attacks on the Comanche tribe led by Cuerno Verde (Green Horn). The Spanish won. Just one year earlier, in 1778, Anza had founded the colony of San Francisco in California.
1787-1788 – Gov. Juan B. Anza established San Carlos de los Jupes as a settlement for the Comanche who had been defeated at the Battle of Greenhorn in 1779. Spain provided workmen, tools, farming implements, live stock and seed. It is believed to have been located just west of the confluence of the Arkansas and St. Charles River. It was part of Spanish colonial policy to “civilize” the native population. The site was abandoned within the year following the death of a member of the tribe.
Sources: Martinez, Wilfred O. Anza and Cuerno Verde Decisive Battle. Pueblo, Colorado: El Escritorio, 2001, Thomas, Alfred Barnaby. Forgotten Frontiers: A Study of Spanish Indian Policy of Don Juan Bautista de Anza, Governor of New Mexico 1777-1787. Norman: University of Oklahoma, 1932 and Dodds, Joanne. Pueblo, A Pictorial History. Norfolk Beach, Virginia: Donning Company, 1982 and A Guide to Historical Marker for the City and County of Pueblo, Colorado. Marker 50.
1803 - With the Louisiana Purchase the United States acquired a portion of what is now Pueblo County.
1815-1860 - Fur trappers and traders traveled most streams and trails.
1820s - Numerous Native American tribes lived in the Colorado area. The Ute’s lived in the mountains, the Cheyenne and Arapahoe resided on the plains from the Arkansas to the Platte Rivers, and the Kiowa’s and Comanche’s lived south of the Arkansas River. The Pawnee tribe hunted buffalo along the Republican River and the Sioux sometimes hunted in the outskirts of the Cheyenne and Arapahoe lands.
Source: Colorado State Archives Chronology.
1821 - The Republic of Mexico gained its independence from Spain.
1836 - Texas becomes an independent republic and claims a narrow strip of mountain territory extending northward through Colorado to 42nd parallel.
Source: Colorado State Archives Chronology.
1840's - Mexico made land grants to part of the Arkansas Valley and in the San Luis Valley hoping to secure claims against Texas or America.
1842 - Fort Pueblo was established by former fur trappers and traders including Alexander Barclay, Joseph Doyle, James Beckwith, George Simpson and others.
1843 - Mexico granted lands in the Arkansas Valley to Gervacio Nolan on Nov. 14 and Cornelio Vigil and Ceran St. Vrain on Dec. 8 to protect their northern border.
Source: Colorado State Archives: Spanish and Mexican Land Grants.
1845-1853 - Greenhorn Settlement and trading post was established by John Brown where the Trappers Trail to Taos (a.k.a. Taos Trail) crossed the Greenhorn Creek in 1845. In January, 1847, Englishman George Ruxton arrived over the pass from Taos and described Brown’s adobe home and 2 or 3 Native American lodges. Brown, dressed in deer skin with long fringes on the arms and legs, greeted him on horseback with a rifle over the horn of his saddle. John Brown’s account book for 1845-48 records goods ranging from ribbons, scissors, and stationery to axes and hoes. Sycamore or Siccamo, Tom Autobees companion, sold moccasins to the store. In 1846, a grist mill to process his wheat crop was built. John Brown left what was to become Colorado for the gold fields of California. People remained in the region until 1853 (Fort Pueblo massacre.)
Source: Aschermann, Arla; “Winds in the Cornfields of Early Pueblo County,” Pueblo County Historical Society, 1982.
1846-1848 - The Mexican-American War began on April 25, 1846 and ended on Feb. 2, 1848.
1847 - Taos Pueblo uprising occurred.
1847-1848 - San Carlos was located in a grassy valley hemmed in with limestone bluffs. In late 1845, several men from the Arkansas settlements ran a winter horse camp there. When George Ruxton passed through in early 1847, he reported that the settlement was an easy day’s ride from the Greenhorn settlement. That summer Charles Autobees, Sycamore (his Arapaho companion who was identified as Sickamore in the store ledger) and his half-brother Tom Tobin (also known as Tom Autobees) farmed in the area along with hired hands (Salvador Avila, Antonio Chavez, Levin Mitchell and ? Trujillo). John Brown’s store account book recorded purchases from Charles Autobees and Sycamore. The farmers only remained one season. By 1848, San Carlos was deserted. Others lived in the area for short intervals. After the attack on FortPueblo most of the settlers on the Arkansas (except Autobees) moved south to the relative safety of New Mexico. Later the crossing became the site of a stage station called San Carlos.
Source: Aschermann, Arla; “Winds in the Cornfields of Early Pueblo County,” Pueblo County Historical Society, 1982.
1848 - The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, Mexico ceded to United States most of that part of Colorado not acquired by the Louisiana Purchase.
Source: Colorado State Archives Chronology.
1850 - U.S. purchased all Texas claims of Colorado lands and the present day boundaries of the state of Colorado were established.
Source: Colorado State Archives Chronology.
1853 - Capt. John W. Gunnison explored the area for a possible railroad route from the Mississippi to the Pacific. Assistant Commander Lieutenant E. G. Beckwith described the Greenhorn settlement: “The six New Mexican families had built an irrigation system to divert the water from Greenhorn Creek to water their crops of corn, wheat, beans and watermelon. The homes were built of adobe which stood shoulder to shoulder and were surrounded by a close fence of high pickets.” They also had corrals for the safe keeping of their stock.
Source: Smiley, Jerome C. “Semi-Centennial History of the State of Colorado. Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1913.
1854 - During a Christmas celebration, Ute Indians, who had been allowed to enter Fort Pueblo, massacred most of the residents and abducted others on Dec. 25.
Source: Lecompte, Janet. Pueblo, Hardscrabble, the Upper Arkansas, 1832-1856. Norman: The University of Oklahoma, 1978.
1858 - Gold was discovered at Cherry Creek near Denver, Colorado. This event led to the 1859 gold rush, when throngs of people came searching for this precious metal. Some found gold and prospered, while others took up ranching, farming and lumbering. Source: Colorado State Archives Chronology.
1859-1874 - Hicklin Station and Ranch was north of Greenhorn Creek, probably near the site of John Brown’s store. The Hicklin ranch house site is now Colorado City’s shopping center.
Alexander, “Zan,” Hicklin was a former teamster for St. Vrain. He married Estefana Bent on October 20, 1855. He brought his young wife and their infant son, Alexander, Jr., from Taos to Greenhorn in 1858. (Note: Hicklin and his family are recorded as residing in Taos in 1860. Hicklin was often inconsistent with personal information. In the 1860 census he reported that he was 45 and Estefana was 21. In the 1870 census he said he was 50 and Estefana 27.)
Estefana’s father was Charles Bent, former partner of Ceran St. Vrain and governor of New Mexico. He was murdered in the Taos Revolt on January 19, 1847. On March 11, 1844, Charles Bent had received a signed deed of conveyance for one sixth of the St. Vrain and Vigil Las Animas grant. After his death his family inherited the land claim.
The Hicklin’s prospered in the valley where John Brown, Marcelino Baca and others had lived. An old grist mill was located on the property (probably Brown’s). The family settled on land that was part of the Vigil-St, Vrain land grant. By 1866, a comfortable adobe home had been built. Hiring Mexican workers, Hicklin had 380 acres under cultivation with wheat (75), oats (75), beans (40) and buckwheat (15) plus wild hay on the grasslands. In the mid- to-late 1860s, Hicklin ran a swing station at the ranch for the Denver-Trinidad mail stage. He was a good host and an avid joker. Hicklin aided a Confederate regiment hiding in Beulah valley with information and supplies during the Civil War.
In February 1874, Estefana (Bent) Hicklin was awarded 5,118.73 acres of land from the Vigil and St. Vrain Grant in Ranges 66 and 67 West, Township 24 South, just ten days after the death of her husband. The grant had been confirmed by Act of Congress on June 21, 1860. The title was not confirmed immediately. Squatters moved in and filed claims. In December 1871, the “Pueblo Chieftain” reported that 35 families had settled in the vicinity of the Greenhorn since spring.
In September 1878, Richard Phillips shot and killed 19 year old Alexander Hicklin, Jr. and injured 16 year old Thomas Hicklin in a dispute over a hayfield. Little by little Estefana lost the ranch lands. By 1892, the entire acreage was gone and only her son Alfred was still alive. She died penniless in September 1927.
Their long adobe ranch house stood a little above Greenhorn Creek near the Crow post office until the 1930s. When development of Colorado City began in 1964 the Hicklin graves were moved to a hill to the northwest.
Thomas Hicklin married Emmaline Shan on Oct. 24, 1881.
Sources: Aschermann, Arla; “Winds in the Cornfields of Early Pueblo County,” Pueblo County Historical Society, 1982; Broadhead, Edward, Ceran St. Vrain, 1802-1870. Pueblo, Colorado: Pueblo County Historical Society, n.d.; Connor, Daniel Ellis. A Confederate in the Colorado Gold Fields. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1970; Huerfano County Marriage records; Steinel, Alvin T. History of Agriculture in Colorado: 1858-1926 and United States Census for 1860 and 1870.
1859-60 - Pueblo was founded
1860s - What was to become Rye was settled. The primary occupations were farming, stock raising and lumber for the settlers’ homes.
Source: Malone, Daisy Robert. “Pueblo Mountain Range, Three Peaks and a Creek Named for Comanche Indian Warrior,” in Early History of Pueblo County. Collection of articles by the author some published in The Pueblo Chieftain others in manuscript form. Pueblo City-County Library District Collection.
1861 - Because of rapid growth, the United States created Colorado Territory. Pueblo County was created on Nov. 1. At that time part of the Greenhorn area was part of Huerfano County.
1861 - The "Homestead Act" was enacted and settlers poured into Colorado Territory with the promise of land. It was not until May 20, 1862, that the free Homestead Act was finally passed and signed by President Abraham Lincoln. The law took effect on January 1, 1863.
1862 - Stage coach travel required frequent changing of the horses. Meals and beds
were offered at some of the stops. A new direct stage route from Denver to Trinidad opened in April 1862. The next year William Craig won the contract. New stations were established at San Carlos, Muddy Creek and Greenhorn.
1864 - Sand Creek Massacre occurred.
1864-1878 - Hermosilla (Beautiful Place) was the name of William Craig’s land grant ranch. He was an 1853 West Point graduate who met Ceran St. Vrain while serving at Fort Burguin, a temporary fort outside of Taos. In December, 1843, Cornelia Vigil, a justice of the peace in Taos, and Ceran St. Vrain, prominent trader and naturalized Mexican citizen, petitioned the Mexican government for the Las Animas land grant. The grant was made in January 1844. In 1847, Vigil was killed in the Taos Uprising and his share of the grant was passed to her heirs. St. Vrain became responsible for the management of the land grant. Following the war between the United States and Mexico in 1846, the area became part of the United States. The threat of Indian raids hindered the settlement of the grant land. St. Vrain requested military aid in 1855 and was subsequently commissioned lieutenant colonel of a regiment of New Mexico volunteers. Lt. William Crain was assigned the duty of assisting him in the training of the volunteers at St. Vrain’s request.
On June 16, 1860, St. Vrain conveyed to Craig a one-fourth interest in the grant for his services against the Indians in 1855. Congress passed the bill confirming the Las Animas grant on June 21, 1860 and on July 1, 1860 the land along the Huerfano was deeded to Craig. He was transferred back to New Mexico in 1862 and served as quartermaster at Fort Union. On December 31, 1862, Craig received the power of attorney for the Las Animas grant from St. Vrain. As St. Vrain’s agent for the land grant, Craig arranged for a new survey of the grant, hired men, purchased stock and implements, and began cultivating the land. In 1863, Craig acquired more land. In April 1864, Craig left the Army and moved his family to Hermosilla along the Huerfano River. It was situated on the new route from Denver to Fort Union. Hermosilla had postal service from 1870 to 1872. Soon the ranch was famous for its hospitality. Craig’s two-story home of stone and adobe burned on the evening of Oct. 25, 1878.
In the 1870s, P. T. Barnum (of circus fame) and David W. Sherwood purchased two ranches, the Las Animas Altos and Corral de Torres on the upper Huerfano from George W. Schofield who had homesteaded the land ( Township 25s, Sections 2, 3, 4,5 and 6) in 1878 The two ranches adjoined Craig’s ranch on the south. Sherwood was interested in developing a large Colorado cattle ranch. In an effort to do this, the Colorado Cattle Company was formed. William Craig, Phineas Barnum and David W. Sherman sold their ranches to the Colorado Cattle Company in 1878 for $320,000. By 1881, it had 30,000 head of cattle. Many of the investors were from Bridgeport, Connecticut. The enterprise was not successful and in 1880, the company was in court in foreclosure proceeding.
Benjamin F. Butler was appointed the trustee by the courts. A public auction and sale for the entire ranch was held on August 3, 1886. Butler purchased the mortgage for $40,000. This included 81,003 acres. In this public sale, Allen J. Beaumont, a Pueblo attorney, was appointed by the courts as special master. The Butler family owned the ranch for over a century although Butler never visited the site. A series of cattlemen oversaw the operation of the ranch. He later formed the Union Land and Cattle Company.
Butler had been a general in the Civil War.
Today the predominately adobe and stone main house, at 6916 Broadacre Rd, is a one-story structure with a gable roof and was built on the foundation of Craig’s home that burned. The complex consists of five buildings and is included in the National Register.
Sources: Butler House National Register Application, Aschermann, Arla, “Winds in the Cornfields of Early Pueblo County,” Pueblo County Historical Society, 1982, Hayes, Augustus Allen. New Colorado and the Santa Fe Trail. London: C. Kegen Paul and Company, 1881 and Simonich, Edward J., “The Ben Butler Ranch” in Pueblo Lore, April 1984, vol. 10, no. 4.
1866 - The Greenhorn post office was established with Alexander Hicklin as postmaster. Greenhorn had postal service from 1866 to 1896 and from 1897 to 1911.
Sources: Malone, Daisy Robert. “Greenhorn Region Steeped in Early Pueblo County History”. Collection of articles by the author some published in The Pueblo Chieftain others in manuscript form. Pueblo City-County Library District Collection and Bauer, William H., James L. Ozment and John H. Willard. Colorado Post Offices 1859-1989. Golden: Colorado Railroad Museum, 1990.
1866-1876 - San Carlos Stage station, also known as St. Charles Station, had postal office until 1876 and from 1876 to 1881. (Note: The repeat of 1876 indicates different contracts and interruptions in service.) It was also a swing station on the mail-stage route which were every 10 to 15 miles for changing teams. Mail contracts were bid annually and locations changed frequently. Located (probably) at the junction of the Greenhorn and St. Charles rivers (later the site of Lime).
Sources: Source: Aschermann, Arla; “Winds in the Cornfields of Early Pueblo County,” Pueblo County Historical Society, 1982 and Bauer, William H., James L. Ozment and John H. Willard. Colorado Post Offices 1859-1989. Golden: Colorado Railroad Museum, 1990.
1867-1875 - Muddy Creek stage station and post office. Probably at the junction of Muddy Creek and the Greenhorn River. Kept by Mr. and Mrs. George R. Miller, the station was known at the time at one of the best eating places in the area. It is unknown whether the post office was as the Millers’. In the 1870s Jacob Saylor reportedly had the Muddy Creek post office, a stage stop and store a little above the junction of Muddy Creek and the Greenhorn River. The Muddy Creek post office provided service from Dec. 8, 1870 to Nov. 19, 1886. It may have been at several locations over the years. Some of the locations were also called Greenhorn.
Source: Aschermann, Arla; “Winds in the Cornfields of Early Pueblo County,” Pueblo County Historical Society, 1982.
1867 – Greenhorn stage station was at Alexander Hicklin’s ranch on the Greenhorn.
1869 - Old Baldy was named for C. H. Sefton whose nickname was “Old Baldy.”
Source: Malone, Daisy Robert. “Pueblo Mountain Range, Three Peaks and a Creek Named for Comanche Indian Warrior,” in Early History of Pueblo County. Collection of articles by the author some published in The Pueblo Chieftain others in manuscript form. Pueblo City-County Library District Collection.
1869 – The Pattersons were the first members of the Georgia Colony to settle in the Rye area followed by the William Green Russell family in 1870, and others in 1871 and 1872.
1870 - On Feb. 11, the Colorado legislature changed Pueblo County’s borders reducing Huerfano County’s boundaries.
1870 - Muddy Creek had postal service from Dec. 8 until Nov. 19, 1886.
Source: Bauer, William H., James L. Ozment and John H. Willard. Colorado Post Offices 1859-1989. Golden: Colorado Railroad Museum, 1990.
1872 - Denver and Rio Grande Railroad extended into Pueblo from Colorado Springs.
1872 - Gold was discovered at Rosita
1873 - Barbed wire was invented. By about 1915 cross-country travel was no longer possible.
1873 - William T. Carlile settled on what later became known as Hatchet Ranch on Greenhorn Creek near Crow. With his sons, James N. and William K, he filed homestead claims. His son, Walter came about two years later. The family raised stock. Their adobe headquarters was the “21-Mile House” which had been a stage coach stop. By 1887, James N. Carlile was living in Pueblo. He was described as a “fancier of blooded stock and was a dealer in horses and cattle” and real estate developer. With his brothers he raised stock on their 21-Mile Ranch. In 1879, there was a serious flood that destroyed the ranch house. In February, 1880 the brothers sold their ranch.
Source: Malone, Daisy Robert. “St. Charles River Basin Settlement History Goes Back to Civil War Days,” in Early History of Pueblo County. Collection of articles by the author some published in The Pueblo Chieftain others in manuscript form. Pueblo City-County Library District Collection.
1873 - John Graybeal came to Rye to ranch. Hiram Graybeal, his former slave, was the only African American in the community.
Source: Wilbar, Mrs. William P. “History of Rye, Colorado, From 1868 to 1900.” Unpublished manuscript in Pueblo City-County Library District collection. Note: Mrs. Wilbar was the daughter of Jacob Sayler.
1874 - The Southern Methodist Church at Rye was organized.
Source: Malone, Daisy Robert. “Pueblo Mountain Range, Three Peaks and a Creek Named for Comanche Indian Warrior,” in Early History of Pueblo County. Collection of articles by the author some published in The Pueblo Chieftain others in manuscript form. Pueblo City-County Library District Collection.
1874 - Captain Pritchard Meredith settled on a homestead that became the site of most of current Rye.
Source: Rye Home United Methodist Church. Faith and Apron Strings: Stories and Recipes by Rye Home United Methodist Church Building Preservation Committee. Kearney, Nebraska: Morris Press Cookbooks, 2013.
1875 - Lebanon had postal service from April 16 until June 6, 1876.
Source: Bauer, William H., James L. Ozment and John H. Willard. Colorado Post Offices 1859-1989. Golden: Colorado Railroad Museum, 1990.
1876 - On August 1st, 1876, Colorado was admitted to the Union as the 38th state.
1876 - The Table Mountain school was organized as Pueblo County School District No. 13. It was later renamed Rye School.
Source: Malone, Daisy Robert. “Pueblo Mountain Range, Three Peaks and a Creek Named for Comanche Indian Warrior,” in Early History of Pueblo County. Collection of articles by the author some published in The Pueblo Chieftain others in manuscript form. Pueblo City-County Library District Collection.
1876 - The Denver and Rio Grande Railroad built a narrow gauge railroad and established stations at Lime, San Carlos and Graneros.
Source: Wilkins, Tivis E. Colorado Railroads: Chronological Development. Boulder, Colorado: Pruett Publishing Company, 1974.
1878 - The first meeting of the Greenhorn Stock Association was held.
Source: Rye Home United Methodist Church. Faith and Apron Strings: Stories and Recipes by Rye Home United Methodist Church Building Preservation Committee. Kearney, Nebraska: Morris Press Cookbooks, 2013.
1879 - Table Mountain had postal service from Sept. 12 until Oct. 4, 1880. Charles T. Fisher, who arrived in 1869, was the first postmaster.
Sources: Bauer, William H., James L. Ozment and John H. Willard. Colorado Post Offices 1859-1989. Golden: Colorado Railroad Museum, 1990.
Malone, Daisy Robert. “Pueblo Mountain Range, Three Peaks and a Creek Named for Comanche Indian Warrior,” in Early History of Pueblo County. Collection of articles by the author some published in The Pueblo Chieftain others in manuscript form. Pueblo City-County Library District Collection.
1880 - The residents of Rye represented many faiths. Realizing that erecting churches for each faith was not economically feasible they decided to form a community church that would operated under the auspices of one faith. Consequently, the Methodist Episcopal Church South was reorganized and called The Home Church by the community.
Sources: Malone, Daisy Robert. “Pueblo Mountain Range, Three Peaks and a Creek Named for Comanche Indian Warrior,” in Early History of Pueblo County. Collection of articles by the author some published in The Pueblo Chieftain others in manuscript form. Pueblo City-County Library District Collection.
Rye Home United Methodist Church. Faith and Apron Strings: Stories and Recipes by Rye Home United Methodist Church Building Preservation Committee. Kearney, Nebraska: Morris Press Cookbooks, 2013.
1880 - The Salt Creek post office was established. It was discontinued in 1893. Eleven years later it was re-established in 1904 and discontinued in 1908. Mail was sent to Graneros.
Source: Malone, Daisy Robert. “St. Charles River Basin Settlement History Goes Back to Civil War Days,” in Early History of Pueblo County. Collection of articles by the author some published in The Pueblo Chieftain others in manuscript form. Pueblo City-County Library District Collection.
1880 - Agate had postal service from April 7, 1880 until April 15, 1881. In 1885, Agate was listed as an agricultural and stock-raising community three miles south from St. Charles and five miles west of Greenhorn station on the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad.
Source: Bauer, William H., James L. Ozment and John H. Willard. Colorado Post Offices 1859-1989. Golden: Colorado Railroad Museum, 1990 and Crofutt, George. Crofutt’s Grip-Sack Guide of Colorado. Omaha, Nebraska: The Overland Publishing Company, 1885.
1880s – Rye became a popular retreat/summer home to avoid the heat of summer in Pueblo.
1880s - A small settlement called Jerusalem was in the vicinity of what is now San Isabel Lake.
Source: Malone, Daisy Robert. “Some of the State’s Earliest Farming was in Pueblo County,” in Early History of Pueblo County. Collection of articles by the author some published in The Pueblo Chieftain others in manuscript form. Pueblo City-County Library District Collection.
1880s - Frank Benham, who arrived in 1872, operated a sawmill between Beulah and Rye. The Benham and Cox sawmill prepared lumber for many of the early settlers and ties for the construction of railroads. Hamilton Thomas Ashley later had a lumber yard near Rye.
Sources: Malone, Daisy Robert. “Some of the State’s Earliest Farming was in Pueblo County,” in Early History of Pueblo County. Collection of articles by the author some published in The Pueblo Chieftain others in manuscript form. Pueblo City-County Library District Collection.
Rye Home United Methodist Church. Faith and Apron Strings: Stories and Recipes by Rye Home United Methodist Church Building Preservation Committee. Kearney, Nebraska: Morris Press Cookbooks, 2013.
1881 - On March 7, Table Mountain post office’s name was changed to Rye, a locally grown grain, at the request of postal authorities because of the length of the name. The post office was more than two miles northwest of the present Rye on the homestead of David Nichols.
Sources: Bauer, William H., James L. Ozment and John H. Willard. Colorado Post Offices 1859-1989. Golden: Colorado Railroad Museum, 1990.
Malone, Daisy Robert. “Pueblo Mountain Range, Three Peaks and a Creek Named for Comanche Indian Warrior,” in Early History of Pueblo County. Collection of articles by the author some published in The Pueblo Chieftain others in manuscript form. Pueblo City-County Library District Collection.
1881 - James G. Thomas and George Sears purchased an uncompleted building owned by the Baptists and moved it to what became the intersection of Main and Boulder Streets. It was the first grocery story and post office in Rye. The land that housed the town of Rye was part of the homesteads of Captain William Meredith and Major Daniel Sheets.
Source: Malone, Daisy Robert. “Pueblo Mountain Range, Three Peaks and a Creek Named for Comanche Indian Warrior,” in Early History of Pueblo County. Collection of articles by the author some published in The Pueblo Chieftain others in manuscript form. Pueblo City-County Library District Collection and Cheryl Huban.
1880 - Carl Stanley purchased the 21-Mile Ranch from the Carlile brothers. The Carlile’s adobe 21-Mile ranch house was washed away in an 1879 flood. Stanley’s brand, a hatchet, became the new name for the old ranch. He later sold to The Hatchet Land Co.
Source: Malone, Daisy Robert. “St. Charles River Basin Settlement History Goes Back to Civil War Days,” in Early History of Pueblo County. Collection of articles by the author some published in The Pueblo Chieftain others in manuscript form. Pueblo City-County Library District Collection.
1884 – The plat for Rye, north of the Greenhorn River, was filed on Oct. 10th. The streets were Main and Boulder.
Source: Pueblo County Courthouse Records Department.
1885 - Rye was prospering. Local businesses included a bachelor hall, meat market, shoe shop, hotel, general store, livery stable and corral. The Mountain View Hotel was built by James Thomas and had ten rooms. Later Mr. and Mrs. Saylor bought the hotel and ran it for many years.
Source: Rye Home United Methodist Church. Faith and Apron Strings: Stories and Recipes by Rye Home United Methodist Church Building Preservation Committee. Kearney, Nebraska: Morris Press Cookbooks, 2013.
1885 - The Ringstrom family’s dairy, near San Isabel, sold butter to the mining camps.
Source: Rye Home United Methodist Church. Faith and Apron Strings: Stories and Recipes by Rye Home United Methodist Church Building Preservation Committee. Kearney, Nebraska: Morris Press Cookbooks, 2013.
1885 - Crow had postal service until 1891 and again from 1896-1907. Calvin Goss was postmaster. He named the post office in honor of his friend, Matt Crow, postmaster of the Pueblo office. The post office and store were built on the Hayden/Hicklin Ranch near present day Highway 165 and Crow Cutoff.
Sources: Bauer, William H., James L. Ozment and John H. Willard. Colorado Post Offices 1859-1989. Golden: Colorado Railroad Museum, 1990.
1886 - Crow School, District 35, was a one-room school built in 1886, a short distance west of Crow store. It consolidated with Rye School, District 13, in 1921.
Source: Malone, Daisy Robert. “St. Charles River Basin Settlement History Goes Back to Civil War Days,” in Early History of Pueblo County. Collection of articles by the author some published in The Pueblo Chieftain others in manuscript form. Pueblo City-County Library District Collection.
1885 - Crofutt’s Postal Roads listed the following routes in the Greenhorn area:
No. 76 – From Pueblo, southward 22 miles to Muddy Creek, and 10 miles to Greenhorn: total 32 miles, three times a week. Hack (This refers to a vehicle versus a horse route.)
No. 77 – From Greenhorn, northwest 15 miles to Osage; 6 miles to Beulah, and 18 miles to Greenhorn. Total 39 miles Three times a week. Hack
No. 78 - From Greenhorn, west 6 miles to Rye’ north 7 miles to Chilcott, and west 10 Fairview. Total 23 miles. Three times a week. Hack
Source: Crofutt, George. Crofutt’s Grip-Sack Guide of Colorado. Omaha, Nebraska: The Overland Publishing Company, 1885.
1887 - Schools at Rye and Graneros serve the area.
Source: Malone, Daisy Robert. “Pueblo Mountain Range, Three Peaks and a Creek Named for Comanche Indian Warrior,” in Early History ofPueblo County. Collection of articles by the author some published in The Pueblo Chieftain others in manuscript form. Pueblo City-County Library District Collection.
1888 - There are standard gauge railroad stations at San Carlos (a.k.a. St. Charles), Graneros, Huerfano and Apache in Huerfano County.
Source: Wilkins, Tivis E. Colorado Railroads: Chronological Development. Boulder, Colorado: Pruett Publishing Company, 1974.
1889 - A one-room school was built in Rye. Another room was added later.
Source: Rye Home United Methodist Church. Faith and Apron Strings: Stories and Recipes by Rye Home United Methodist Church Building Preservation Committee. Kearney, Nebraska: Morris Press Cookbooks, 2013.
1891 - Abbey (Same place as Muddy Creek) had postal service until 1914.
Source: Bauer, William H., James L. Ozment and John H. Willard. Colorado Post Offices 1859-1989. Golden: Colorado Railroad Museum, 1990.
1893 - The first creamery was built on the Duprez Ranch. By the 1900s the Rye Cooperative Creamery had been established. They manufactured Mountain Valley brand butter.
Source: Rye Home United Methodist Church. Faith and Apron Strings: Stories and Recipes by Rye Home United Methodist Church Building Preservation Committee. Kearney, Nebraska: Morris Press Cookbooks, 2013.
1898 - Lime had postal service until 1943.
Source: Bauer, William H., James L. Ozment and John H. Willard. Colorado Post Offices 1859-1989. Golden: Colorado Railroad Museum, 1990.
1898 - A new wood schoolhouse was built in Rye which had a bell in the steeple. Students attended through the 8th grade.
Source: Rye Home United Methodist Church. Faith and Apron Strings: Stories and Recipes by Rye Home United Methodist Church Building Preservation Committee. Kearney, Nebraska: Morris Press Cookbooks, 2013.
1902 - San Isabel National Forest was established on April 11.
Source: United State National Park Service website.
1903 - Verde had postal service until 1912.
Source: Bauer, William H., James L. Ozment and John H. Willard. Colorado Post Offices 1859-1989. Golden: Colorado Railroad Museum, 1990.
1904 - Colorado’s high mountain air was believed to cure those with lung disorders. The Idlywild, located in Rye just past the top of main street on the left side of Park Road, had 12 beds by 1904 and continued to grow over the years. Patients lived in house-tents to maximize their exposure to the fresh air. A portion of the site evolved over the years into a summer home destination.
Source: Huban, Cheryl Johnson, “Idylwild in Rye,” Pueblo County Historical Society Newsletter, The Pueblo Lore, v. 38, no. 5, May 2012, page 19.
1905 – The Hatchet Ranch is a combination of at least two large holdings (homesteads) and is located northeast of the Highway 165 exit off of Interstate 25. By 1873, James Carlile owned the 21-mile house and ranch area. He sold it to Carl Stanley in 1880. In 1905, Mahlon Thatcher, John Thatcher and Mahlon Everhart families purchased Stanley’s Hatchet Cattle Company which included what is known today as the Hatchet Ranch. Over time the ranch grew to 225 acres with water rights from Greenhorn Creek.
Source: Dodds, Joanne West. The Thatchers: Hard Work Won the West. Pueblo, Colorado: The Thatcher Foundation, 2001.
1905 - The Hayden Reservoir was dug. When Colorado City was developed it was renamed Lake Beckwith.
Source: Rye Home United Methodist Church. Faith and Apron Strings: Stories and Recipes by Rye Home United Methodist Church Building Preservation Committee. Kearney, Nebraska: Morris Press Cookbooks, 2013.
1906 - Frank Buckley and Henry McElwain purchased an unprofitable mine that had been founded in 1879 on the property of Zina Fairchilds. Hoping that newer technology would make it a success, they named it the Marion Mine. It closed in 1915.
Source: Rye Home United Methodist Church. Faith and Apron Strings: Stories and Recipes by Rye Home United Methodist Church Building Preservation Committee. Kearney, Nebraska: Morris Press Cookbooks, 2013.
1908 – The plat for Idylwild in Rye was filed on Nov. 9.
Source: Pueblo County Courthouse Records Department.
1910 - The Wilson House, with 26-rooms, was built by Lowdena Ashley and Hubert Wilson along Greenhorn Creek on Boulder Street in Rye.
Source: Cheryl Huban
1911 - The Denver & Rio Grande and Colorado & Southern railroads built a standard gauge line between Pueblo and Walsenburg. Stations were San Carlos, Marnel, Brooks and Williams in Pueblo County. Apache was just over the border in Huerfano County.
Source: Wilkins, Tivis E. Colorado Railroads: Chronological Development. Boulder, Colorado: Pruett Publishing Company, 1974.
1912 - Cedarwood had postal service until 1943. Cedarwood School opened in 1917. Cattlemen drove their herds to the Cedarwood railroad station to ship them to market.
Sources: Bauer, William H., James L. Ozment and John H. Willard. Colorado Post Offices 1859-1989. Golden: Colorado Railroad Museum, 1990.
Rye Home United Methodist Church. Faith and Apron Strings: Stories and Recipes by Rye Home United Methodist Church Building Preservation Committee. Kearney, Nebraska: Morris Press Cookbooks, 2013.
1913 – The non-profit Cuerna Verde Association was incorporated on Feb. 17. Membership was set at 16 members with the Association owning the land. The 200 acre Depp Ranch was purchased. Members drew lots for the land for their summer homes. All of the cottages were stained brown, had green roofs and had to be connected to the sewer.
Source: Bertholf, John, “The Cuerna Verde Association,” Pueblo Lore, vol. 39, no. 8, August 2013.
1915 - Most of Rye’s north side of Main Street burned including the Mountain View Hotel, the Hayes Drug Store and the Livery Stable Building.
Source: Rye Home United Methodist Church. Faith and Apron Strings: Stories and Recipes by Rye Home United Methodist Church Building Preservation Committee. Kearney, Nebraska: Morris Press Cookbooks, 2013.
1917 - Raphael and Concetta Fossceco, from Italy, purchased The Shady Greenhorn General Merchandise and Bar Service. Located on Highway 85, it was advertised as the “gateway to Rye and San Isabel Forest”. Over time they expanded to include a liquor store, restaurant, filling station, garage, wrecker service and cottage camps. Their well provided cool artesian water for people and cars at a time when radiators overheated easily.
Source: Rye Home United Methodist Church. Faith and Apron Strings: Stories and Recipes by Rye Home United Methodist Church Building Preservation Committee. Kearney, Nebraska: Morris Press Cookbooks, 2013 and Arrowhead. The Rye High School Annual for 1938-39. Rye: Colorado. Issued by the Rye Consolidated Schools District 13. 1939.
1919 - Construction of the Rye High School began. The first graduate was in 1925.
Source: Rye Home United Methodist Church. Faith and Apron Strings: Stories and Recipes by Rye Home United Methodist Church Building Preservation Committee. Kearney, Nebraska: Morris Press Cookbooks, 2013.
1920s - The Snyder family moved to Rye. Mrs. Snyder began making cottage cheese on the back of her wood cook stove. In 1927, she built a cheese factory near the Greenhorn Creek in Rye.
Source: Rye Home United Methodist Church. Faith and Apron Strings: Stories and Recipes by Rye Home United Methodist Church Building Preservation Committee. Kearney, Nebraska: Morris Press Cookbooks, 2013.
1920 - Preseren, a Slovenian men’s organization limited to 100 men built a recreational facility located in Rye.
Source: Slovenian History and Culture in Pueblo. A brochure with no date, issued by St. Mary Slovenian Library-Museum in Pueblo, Colorado.
1920 - Arthur H. Carhart was a landscape architect and the first recreational engineer for the U.S. Forest Service beginning in 1919. He authored the USFS road less land proposal that same year, and completed a recreation plan for Colorado's San Isabel National Forest in 1920. Carhart left the Forest Service in 1922 to do freelance landscape architecture and writing.
1924 - The Denver & Rio Grande railroad line was removed from Graneros.
Source: Wilkins, Tivis E. Colorado Railroads: Chronological Development. Boulder, Colorado: Pruett Publishing Company, 1974.
1924 – The Speer Subdivision in Rye was filed on April 18.
Source: Pueblo County Courthouse Records Department.
1929 - The Wilson Hotel, 2118 Main Street, Rye, was built by Edythe Ashley and Alfred Wilson. It included 26 rooms, restaurant, croquet courts and a miniature golf course.
Source: Cheryl Huban oral interview, June 2013.
1930s - During the Depression, young men were employed by the Civilian Conservation Corps to built Lake Isabel dam (with lumber and stones) and other conservation projects at San Isabel National Park. The CCC was open to young men primarily between the ages of 17 and 23 whose families were in special need. The enrollees had to agree to allot the majority of their pay to their families. The San Isabel soil conservation field camp identification number was F-59-C.
Source: George Williams and Pueblo Lore and Colorado State Archives.
1937 – Ashley’s Subdivision, in Rye, was filed on July 20.
1937 – Rye, Colorado is incorporated on Nov. 20.
Source: Pueblo County Courthouse Records Department.
1930s - Pueblo’s YMCA opened Camp Crockett. It was named for E. I. Crocket. Later his daughter, Catherine Walters, was on the committee that selected the site for the Girl Scout’s Lazy Acres Camp.
1947 - Rye Consolidated School District was created from nine schools in the area. Source: Malone, Daisy Robert. “Pueblo Mountain Range, Three Peaks and a Creek Named for Comanche Indian Warrior,” in Early History of Pueblo County. Collection of articles by the author some published in The Pueblo Chieftain others in manuscript form. Pueblo City-County Library District Collection.
1947 - Idylwild Outdoor Life in the Mountains was a popular summer home destination that had originated as a sanitarium for those with lung diseases.
Source: Huban, Cheryl Johnson, Idylwild in Rye,” Pueblo County Historical Society Newsletter, The Pueblo Lore, v. 38, no. 5, May 2012, page 19.
1947 – The Graham Subdivision, in Rye, was filed on Sept. 19.
Source: Pueblo County Courthouse Records Department.
1948 - The McClelland Library (Pueblo City-County Library District) began providing bookmobile service to Rye.
Source: Dodds, Joanne West. Pueblo Library District: Celebrating a Century of Service. Pueblo: 1991.
1954 – The San Isabel Mountain Park plat was filed on Sept. 22.
Source: Pueblo County Courthouse Records Department.
1956 – The Graham Subdivision, in Rye, was filed on April 24.
Source: Pueblo County Courthouse Records Department.
1963 – The Colorado City plat was filed on June 20. It was amended on Oct. 28,
Source: Pueblo County Courthouse Records Department.
1964 - Colorado City postal service began. The real estate development was located on the historic Hicklin Ranch.
Sources: Bauer, William H., James L. Ozment and John H. Willard. Colorado Post Offices 1859-1989. Golden: Colorado Railroad Museum, 1990.
Rye Home United Methodist Church. Faith and Apron Strings: Stories and Recipes by Rye Home United Methodist Church Building Preservation Committee. Kearney, Nebraska: Morris Press Cookbooks, 2013.
1965 - The first issue of The Colorado City Sun was published in March and continued to November 1973.
Source: Crispin, George. Colorado’s Greenhorn Valley, Fact and Folklore, 1788-200. Colorado City, Colorado: Benchmark Book Craft, 2003.
1965 - The first issue of the Greenhorn Valley News was published in April and continued until Dec. 2000.
Source: Crispin, George. Colorado’s Greenhorn Valley, Fact and Folklore, 1788-200. Colorado City, Colorado: Benchmark Book Craft, 2003.
1965 - Interstate 25 was the first mainline Interstate to be completed in Colorado. Construction of Interstate 25 from Colorado City to Pueblo was completed in 1965. Source: www.Colorado@AARoads – Interstate 25.
1968 - Construction of Interstate 25 from Colorado City to north end of Walsenburg was completed in 1968. Source: www.Colorado@AARoads – Interstate 25.
1968 - Great Western Cities was incorporated. The Colorado City development was on land owned by Holly and Dot Duell. It was marketed as a “Recreational Retirement Community.”
Source: Charles K. Copeland. “God’s Country, Colorado City, Colorado. Self-Published, 2002. The author provided access to his online copy.
1969 - The last segment of Interstate 25 completed in Colorado was between Walsenburg and Trinidad in 1969. It was dedicated Sept. 21, 1969. Source: www.Colorado@AARoads – Interstate 25.
1969 - Jim Bishop started what is now known as Bishop’s Castle along Colorado State Highway 165.