The Beginning of Weld County**
October of 1869, Horace Greeley, founder and editor of The New York Tribune, sent his agricultural editor Nathan C. Meeker out west on an assignment. Meeker visited several states and the Territory of Colorado. This is when he met with some Denver residents who were promoters and businessmen. Meeker was astonished by Colorado’s friendliness and hospitality. He also had an opportunity to purchase or homestead productive land with magnificent views of the Rocky Mountains. Meeker with this thought was inspired to organize a new town. His idea, “A Western Colony,” was published in The New York Tribune on December 14, 1869. In this article, he inspirited self-controlled individuals with high moral standards and money to contract him if they were interested in joining his proposed western utopian colony.
Meeker received more than 3,000 inquisitions. He started the Union Colony of Colorado, a joint stock colonization company. Horace Greeley, the first treasurer, collected $155 from each participating member. A committee was created for locating land to buy/ homestead. The committee and Meeker arrived in the Territory in February 1870 to select and buy a piece of land to start a colony. The committee had found and purchased a fertile 12,000 acre piece of land. It was west of the Cache la Poudre and south of the Platte Rivers. The land was owned by the Denver Pacific Railroad. This homestead was purchased for $3.00 to $3.50 per acre, which amounts to be being around $40,000.
Greeley was the third modern town established in the United States founded on the concepts of religion, education, agriculture, irrigation, cooperation, and family values. More than 700 individuals became members; however some never settled in these towns but rather were investors only.
The original colonists spent a decade adjusting to an environment that differed greatly from what they were accustomed to in the east. In the 1870s they survived four plagues of locusts and numerous hard winters. Through the economic hardships they built a school, graded streets, established parks and a cemetery, built two irrigation ditches, and erected 50 miles of fence to detour the long horned cattle from evading the town’s lawns and gardens. They also constructed hotels, banks, markets, pharmaceutical markets, butcher shops, lumber yards, and a flour mill flourished in the colony. Monk’s Boots and Shoes and the Emerson and West Bank were the first businesses built epitomizing the colonists’ two utmost needs to see the agricultural triumph: boots and capital.
It is estimated that 200,000 to 300,000 buffalo roamed between the South Platte and Republican Rivers. Buffalo meat was a must have in local markets. The meat was so popular because of it being known for its exotic flavors and the leanness of the meat. There also were buffalo hide tanning factories that represented the town’s first industry from 1872-1878. The Colorado Business Directory for 1877 noted the rapid demise of the great herds proclaiming Greeley the “buffalo robeopolis capital of the county.”
**Source: Greeley, Colorado: the Historical Picture Album. Portland, OR: Pediment Pub., 1997. Print
Timeline of Weld County
Important Dates
1803: The United States acquired most of eastern Colorado as part of the Louisiana Purchase.
1806: Zebulon M. Pike explored Colorado.
1848: Mexico ceded western Colorado to United States.
1858: Gold discovered in Denver.
1861: Congress established the Colorado territory.
1867: Denver chosen as permanent capital.
1870: Railroad connections established with the East.
1876: Colorado became the 38th state on August 1st.
1899: First beet-sugar refinery began operating at Grand Junction.
1906: Denver Mint issued its first coins.
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Colorado County Organization Timeline
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The original 17 Colorado counties were organized by the First Territorial Legislature on November 1, 1861. That initial organization lasted only six days and then changes to county names and boundaries were started. This listing attempts to summarize those changes.
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· 1861
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* Feb 28 - Colorado Territory authorized by Congress.
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* Nov 1 - Original 17 counties organized: Arapahoe, Boulder, Clear Creek, Costilla, Douglas, El Paso, Fremont, Gilpin, Guadalupe, Huerfano, Jefferson, Lake, Larimer, Park, Pueblo, Summit, and Weld. (Of these, only Clear Creek and Gilpin still have their original borders.)
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* Nov 7 - Guadalupe renamed Conejos.
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· 1872
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* Feb 9 - Platte created from Weld.
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· 1876
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* Aug 1 - Colorado becomes a state with 26 counties.
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· 1887
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* Feb 9 - Washington created from Weld.
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* Feb 25 - Logan created from Weld.
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· 1889
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* Feb 19 - Morgan created from Weld.
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· 2001
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* Nov 15 - City and County of Broomfield created from part of Adams, Boulder, Jefferson, and Weld.
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Colorado History: Colorado Timeline –
Provided from ColoradoHistory.com
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