Boggsville, Cradle of the Colorado Cattle Industry

These pages do not contain the history of Boggsville, Bent County, and the Arkansas Valley, but they have been designed as an introduction to it. In brief, we have attempted to answer the questions most frequently asked by our own people, by tourists, and by students of history, regarding men and events that made up the story of this area, during the last half of the nineteenth century.

In delving into these things, we catch a vision that is “out of this — world”, as we are dealing with an age that is passed. Gone is the red man and the cowboy too. Our story is of courageous individuals who were the advance guards of civilization; pioneers who were the builders of an Empire. Mighty men they were who built better than they knew, framing the destiny of the West and making smooth the way for all who would follow in their train. Their task was the mastery of the wilderness on the frontier. They lived in a physical world. The West that they knew was a land of adventure, wild and stirring.

From the vantage point of a century, we begin to comprehend something of the value of our heritage from the pioneers. They took the would in giant stride without complaining, and without thought of turning back. Our realization of how well they played the game lends enchantment to the scene and adds appreciation of the lot that is ours. .

It all happened here. In all Colorado, no county excels the County of Bent in richness of the romantic story of pioneer days. Boggsville was the pivot point on the most wonderful frontier, in the most interesting period, of all the story of the west.

Boggsville, Cradle of the Colorado Cattle Industry

Table of Contents

1. The Romantic Story of Las Animas and Boggsville, p. 1
   The Louisiana Purchase, The Spanish Fort – El Cuartelejo, Boggsville, Thomas O. Boggs.
2. John W. Prowers, p. 7
   The Cattle Industry
3. An Experiment in Irrigation, p. 10
   Mr. John S. Hough, L. A. Allen, Charles L. Rite, Mr. P. G. Scott.
4. Kit Carson, p. 13
   When Mr. P. G. Scott first saw fresh scalps, The Kit Carson House, When the Utes came to visit Mrs. Prowers at Boggsville, the death of Thomas Kimsey, When the Cheyenne Indians made a raid on Boggsville.
5. Boggsville in Retrospect, p. 19
6. Mr. E. R. Sizer, p. 22
   The father of the culture of alfalfa in the Arkansas Valley.
7. Woman’s Life on a Ranch at Boggsville, p. 25
8. The Indian’s World, p. 28
   Earth Wisdom by Gene Lindberg.
9. Big Chief of the Arapahoes was “Little Raven” p. 33
10. What Did We Burn? p. 34
11. A Tribute to the Pioneer Women, p. 35
12. When Two Boys Entertained a Stranger, p. 37
13. Mrs. Marcellin St. Vrain, p. 39
    The Sioux Indian Woman with Bent St. Vrain and Company.
14. The Baby Left in the Wagon, p. 42
15. The Chivington Massacre, p. 43
16. The Rescue of Laura Roper, p. 48
17. Mrs. Lynn is Captured by Indians, p. 50
18. Tragedy on the Trail, p. 53
19. Bent County Divided, p. 54
20. Fort Bent, p. 54
21. Fort Wise, p. 58
22. Fort Lyon, p. 60
23. The Romance of a Cheyenne Maid, p. 63
24. The Building of the Santa Fe Railroad, p. 66
25. The Range Cattle Industry, p. 69
26. The British Influence in the Cattle Business, p. 73
27. The J. J. Cattle Ranch, p. 76
28. The Prairie Cattle Company, p. 80
29. The Twenty-Four Circle Ranch, p. 83

Source

Hurd, C. W., Boggsville, Cradle of the Colorado Cattle Industry, Boggsville, Colorado : Boggsville Committee, 1957.