My Colorado Thoughts
Quotes
“Never be limited by other people’s limited imaginations.”--Dr. Mae Jemison, first African-American female astronaut
“Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome while trying to succeed.”--Booker T. Washington
“During Black History Month, I’m reminded yet again of the ways that the struggle for civil rights is interwoven with the struggle for workers’ rights.” --Tom Perez
James Beckwourth
Colorado's first Black Mountain Man. James was born into slavery in Virginia. He was freed by his white father (and master), James was apprenticed to a blacksmith because his father wanted him to learn a trade.
Beckwourth was let go from his apprenticeship after having a fight with his boss. As a young man, Beckwourth joined Gen. William Ashley's Rocky Mountain Fur Company. He worked as a wrangler during Ashley's expedition to explore the Rocky Mountains. In the following years, Beckwourth became known as a prominent trapper and mountain man.
He stayed with the Crow tribe for several years as planned by the Rocky Mountain Fur Company to advance its trade with the Indians. Beckwourth married the daughter of a chief. Marriages between Native Americans and fur trappers and traders were common. Both parties tended to benefit from these alliance.
In 1840, he moved to the Bent & St. Vrain Company. The Bent brothers built Fort Bent on the Arkansas River. Later that same year, Beckwourth became an independent trader. Together with other partners, he built a trading post in Colorado. It was the center of development of the community of Pueblo, Colorado.
Colorado's first Black Mountain Man. James was born into slavery in Virginia. He was freed by his white father (and master), James was apprenticed to a blacksmith because his father wanted him to learn a trade.
Beckwourth was let go from his apprenticeship after having a fight with his boss. As a young man, Beckwourth joined Gen. William Ashley's Rocky Mountain Fur Company. He worked as a wrangler during Ashley's expedition to explore the Rocky Mountains. In the following years, Beckwourth became known as a prominent trapper and mountain man.
He stayed with the Crow tribe for several years as planned by the Rocky Mountain Fur Company to advance its trade with the Indians. Beckwourth married the daughter of a chief. Marriages between Native Americans and fur trappers and traders were common. Both parties tended to benefit from these alliance.
In 1840, he moved to the Bent & St. Vrain Company. The Bent brothers built Fort Bent on the Arkansas River. Later that same year, Beckwourth became an independent trader. Together with other partners, he built a trading post in Colorado. It was the center of development of the community of Pueblo, Colorado.
In 1859, Beckwourth returned to Missouri briefly, but settled later that year in Denver, Colorado Territory. He was a storekeeper working again for Louis Vasquez and was appointed as a local US agent for Indian affairs. In 1864, Beckwourth was hired as a scout, by Colonel John M. Chivington. The Colorado Territory campaign resulted in the Sand Creek Massacre, in which the hostile militia killed an estimated 70-163 friendly Cheyenne men, women and children, who had camped in an area suggested by the previous commander of Fort Lyon as a safe place and they were flying an American flag to show their peaceful intentions. Outraged by his association with the massacre, the Cheyenne banned Beckwourth from trading with them.
James Bedkwourth died in a Crow village while on a scouting assignment and is buried in a Crow graveyard in Laramie, Wyoming.
Good Reading
Two Miles High and Six Feet Under
Murder in the Rockies
www.amazon.com/s?k=Two+Miles+High+and+Six+Feet+Under&i=stripbooks&ref=nb_sb_noss
www.amazon.com/Murder-Rockies-Andrew-Coyle-Eldon/dp/1938467701
Andrew Coyle historical mysteries set in Denver 1883 and Leadville 1896
On Amazon, Kindle and in fine bookstores
Funny Side Up
A diplomat is someone who remembers a woman's birthday and forgets her age.
I told my four year old that sometimes it is normal to poop in your pants, but its nothing to get embarrassed about, but he still teases me.
www.amazon.com/Murder-Rockies-Andrew-Coyle-Eldon/dp/1938467701
Andrew Coyle historical mysteries set in Denver 1883 and Leadville 1896
On Amazon, Kindle and in fine bookstores
Funny Side Up
A diplomat is someone who remembers a woman's birthday and forgets her age.
I told my four year old that sometimes it is normal to poop in your pants, but its nothing to get embarrassed about, but he still teases me.