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Chicago-Colorado Colony

    The Chicago-Colorado Colony (1871–73) established the city of Longmont near the confluence of St. Vrain and Left Hand Creeks in 1871. Financed by wealthy Chicagoans and consisting mostly of immigrants from the Midwest, the colony was an agricultural community that emphasized thrift, temperance, and the communal use of resources—most importantly, water.

    Inspired by Horace Greeley’s Union Colony, members of the Chicago-Colorado Colony built a robust irrigation system that allowed Longmont to prosper as a major agricultural hub along the Front Range for nearly a century. Many of Longmont’s streets—including Bross, Collyer, Gay, Pratt, and Terry—are named for colony founders. In addition to establishing some of Colorado’s first public parks, the Chicago-Colorado Colony was also home to the state’s first public library.

    Origins

    Though it eventually adopted the idealistic slogan of “industry, temperance, and morality,” the Chicago-Colorado Colony had somewhat less idealistic origins as part of a scheme to sell railroad land. To encourage railroad building in the American West during the nineteenth century, the US government routinely granted railroads land on either side of their right-of-way; the railroads could then offer the land for sale to pay for railroad construction or to make a profit.

    By 1870 the Denver Pacific Railroad (DP) was looking to sell land along its right-of-way between Denver and Cheyenne. Chicagoan Col. Cyrus N. Pratt was the general agent of the National Land Company, the real estate subsidiary of the DP. Pratt, along with Rocky Mountain News founder and fellow DP investor William Byers, believed an agricultural colony modeled after the Union Colony, established that year in present-day Greeley, made a perfect client.

    With Pratt as secretary, the Chicago-Colorado Colony Company incorporated in Chicago on November 20, 1870. Unitarian minister Robert Collyer served as president, with newspaperman Sidney H. Gay as vice president. Another prominent investor was former Illinois lieutenant governor William Bross. In January 1871, while Pratt helped secure some 300 investors in Chicago, Byers led a committee consisting of former lumberman Seth Terry and several other colony representatives to what was then Colorado Territory.

    During a tour of the Front Range that included a visit to the Union Colony, the committee crossed paths with Enoch J. Coffman, a homesteader near the small community of Burlington, located along St. Vrain Creek. Impressed with Coffman’s wheat harvest, the committee chose the area near Coffman’s homestead—the confluence of St. Vrain and Left Hand Creeks—for the location of the colony. The Chicago-Colorado Colony quickly bought 23,000 acres from the National Land Company and secured an additional 37,000 acres from the federal government and other landowners.

    To recruit new residents for the colony, Byers filled the Rocky Mountain News with advertisements that promised potential colonists bountiful harvests and instant prosperity. The Chicago Tribune published similar ads. Colorado’s climate, said to be a cure for many maladies, already had a sterling reputation in the humid Midwest, so the colony had little difficulty persuading Chicagoans to make the journey across the plains. For $150 plus an initiation fee of $5, colonists received a forty-acre farm, and an additional $50 bought a lot in town.

    First Years

    Once the land was secured, Terry and some 250 colonists took a train to Erie, Colorado, and then wagons to Burlington, arriving at the site of their new home in early March 1871. They built a temporary shelter and set to work digging ditches and building homes. Terry, later elected the colony’s first president, laid out a town and named it Longmont, after the area’s striking view of Longs Peak to the west.

    By the end of May 1871, the colony had 390 members, including 151 from Illinois and another 89 from Colorado. Thirty-six came from Massachusetts. Of the Coloradans who relocated to Longmont, about 75 came from Burlington. Others, including doctors Conrad Bardill and Joseph B. Barkley, came from the Union Colony. Longmont’s first winter was mild, leading Terry to mistakenly believe that the colony would not suffer during the coldest months. The next year’s harsh winter changed the settlers’ perception of the climate, but they were undaunted.

    Perhaps more important to the colony than anything else were the irrigation ditches, which allowed farming and provided drinking water to Longmont. By the summer of 1871, colonists had dug numerous small ditches in town and near their fields. Initial crops included wheat, strawberries, and pumpkins, and colonists also raised turkeys and cattle for meat and dairy. Illinoisan Jarvis Fox built the colony’s first flour mill in 1872.

    In the summer of 1871, colonists had also begun digging an eighteen-foot-wide primary ditch that they called the Excelsior. The colony soon ran out of money, however, and the ditch was never completed. Improvising, the colonists formed the Highland Ditch Company to build and manage their primary ditch, which was now to be called the Highland. Money from a Chicago investor helped pay for the construction of a headgate at the mouth of St. Vrain Canyon, and water from the St. Vrain began flowing into the eight-mile-long, twelve-foot-wide Highland Ditch on March 30, 1873. From there, it was diverted into numerous other ditches to water crops and to provide drinking water to Longmont.

    The Chicago-Colorado Colony was home to one of Colorado’s first public parks—Lake Park, named for Lake Michigan and completed in 1871—as well as the territory’s first public library, founded in 1871 by Elizabeth Thompson, a philanthropist who lived on the East Coast. The library doubled as Longmont’s first schoolhouse. Seth Terry’s fourteen-year-old son William attended school there and became the first librarian.

    Temperance was enshrined in the colony’s constitution, and anyone caught with alcohol in the early days had to return their land to the colony. However, residents soon put the temperance law to the test, and saloons were allowed as early as 1873. A protracted fight between proponents of drink and of temperance ensued, resulting in periodic bans on liquor between 1875 and 1916, when Colorado instituted statewide prohibition. Legal liquor finally prevailed in Longmont with the lifting of national prohibition in 1933.

    Though the community it founded continued to prosper, the Chicago-Colorado Colony essentially ended with the incorporation of the city of Longmont in 1873. The company continued selling off property until it formally dissolved in 1890.

    Legacy

    The initial work of the Chicago-Colorado colonists—especially the irrigation ditches they built—allowed Longmont to become one of the most agriculturally productive places in Colorado for nearly a century. The Highland Ditch, for example, has been enlarged six different times since its construction and currently irrigates more than 20,000 acres each year. Residents of Longmont maintain the hard-working, pragmatic attitudes of their predecessors.

    Like the Union Colony after which it was modeled, the Chicago-Colorado Colony became a manifestation of communitarian ideals in Colorado. But unlike Horace Greeley’s venture, the Chicago-Colorado Colony was founded on equal parts corporate scheming and utopian idealism. As such, the colony serves as an example of how opposing ideologies of communitarianism and capitalism nonetheless combined to build stable communities in the nineteenth-century American West.

    The Chicago-Colorado Colony (1871–73) established the city of Longmont near the confluence of St. Vrain and Left Hand Creeks in 1871. It was financed by wealthy Chicagoans and consisted mostly of immigrants from the Midwest. The colony was an agricultural community that emphasized thrift, temperance, and the communal use of resources.

    Inspired by Horace Greeley’s Union Colony, members of the Chicago-Colorado Colony built an irrigation system that made Longmont a major agricultural hub. Many of Longmont’s streets—including Bross, Collyer, Gay, Pratt, and Terry—are named for colony founders. In addition to establishing some of Colorado’s first public parks, the Chicago-Colorado Colony was also home to the state’s first public library.

    Origins

    Though it adopted the slogan “industry, temperance, and morality,” the Chicago-Colorado Colony had less idealistic origins. It was part of a plan to sell railroad land. To encourage railroad building in the American West during the nineteenth century, the US government routinely granted railroads land on either side of their right-of-way. The railroads could then offer the land for sale to pay for railroad construction or to make a profit.

    By 1870 the Denver Pacific Railroad (DP) was looking to sell land along its right-of-way between Denver and Cheyenne. Chicagoan Col. Cyrus N. Pratt was the general agent of the National Land Company, the real estate subsidiary of the DP. Pratt, along with Rocky Mountain News founder and fellow DP investor William Byers, believed an agricultural colony modeled after the Union Colony, established that year in present-day Greeley, made a perfect client.

    The Chicago-Colorado Colony Company incorporated in Chicago on November 20, 1870. In January 1871, while Pratt helped secure some 300 investors in Chicago, Byers led a committee to what was then Colorado Territory.

    During a tour of the Front Range that included a visit to the Union Colony, the committee crossed paths with Enoch J. Coffman, a homesteader near the small community of Burlington. Impressed with Coffman’s wheat harvest, the committee chose the area near Coffman’s homestead—the confluence of St. Vrain and Left Hand Creeks—for the location of the colony. The Chicago-Colorado Colony quickly bought 23,000 acres from the National Land Company and secured an additional 37,000 acres from the federal government and other landowners.

    To recruit new residents for the colony, Byers filled the Rocky Mountain News with advertisements that promised potential colonists bountiful harvests and instant prosperity. The Chicago Tribune published similar ads. Colorado’s climate was said to be a cure for many maladies, so the colony had little difficulty persuading Chicagoans to make the journey across the plains. For $150 plus an initiation fee of $5, colonists received a forty-acre farm. An additional $50 bought a lot in town.

    First Years

    Once the land was secured, some 250 colonists took a train to Erie, Colorado, and then wagons to Burlington. They arrived at the site of their new home in early March 1871. They built a temporary shelter and set to work digging ditches and building homes. They laid out a town and named it Longmont, after the view of Longs Peak to the west.

    By the end of May 1871, the colony had 390 members, including 151 from Illinois and another 89 from Colorado. Thirty-six came from Massachusetts. Of the Coloradans who relocated to Longmont, about 75 came from Burlington. Others, including doctors Conrad Bardill and Joseph B. Barkley, came from the Union Colony. Longmont’s first winter was mild, colonists to mistakenly believe that the colony would not suffer during the coldest months. The next year’s harsh winter changed the settlers’ perception of the climate.

    More important to the colony than anything else were the irrigation ditches. The ditches allowed farming and provided drinking water to Longmont. By the summer of 1871, colonists had dug numerous small ditches in town and near their fields. Crops included wheat, strawberries, and pumpkins. Colonists also raised turkeys and cattle for meat and dairy. Illinoisan Jarvis Fox built the colony’s first flour mill in 1872.

    In the summer of 1871, colonists had also begun digging an eighteen-foot-wide primary ditch that they called the Excelsior. The colony soon ran out of money, however, and the ditch was never completed. Improvising, the colonists formed the Highland Ditch Company to build and manage their primary ditch, which was to be called the Highland. Money from a Chicago investor helped pay for the construction of a headgate at the mouth of St. Vrain Canyon. Water from the St. Vrain began flowing into the eight-mile-long, twelve-foot-wide Highland Ditch on March 30, 1873. From there, it was diverted into other ditches to water crops and provide drinking water to Longmont.

    The Chicago-Colorado Colony was home to one of Colorado’s first public parks—Lake Park. The park was named for Lake Michigan and completed in 1871. The territory’s first public library was founded in 1871 by Elizabeth Thompson. The library doubled as Longmont’s first schoolhouse.

    Temperance was enshrined in the colony’s constitution. In the early days, anyone caught with alcohol had to return their land to the colony. Residents soon put the temperance law to the test, and saloons were allowed as early as 1873. A protracted fight between proponents of drink and of temperance ensued. This resulted in periodic bans on liquor between 1875 and 1916, when Colorado instituted statewide prohibition. Legal liquor finally prevailed in Longmont with the lifting of national prohibition in 1933.

    The Chicago-Colorado Colony essentially ended with the incorporation of the city of Longmont in 1873. The company continued selling off property until it formally dissolved in 1890.

    Legacy

    The work of the Chicago-Colorado colonists allowed Longmont to become one of the most agriculturally productive places in Colorado for nearly a century. The Highland Ditch has been enlarged six times since its construction. It currently irrigates more than 20,000 acres each year. Residents of Longmont maintain the hard-working attitude of the colonists.

    The Chicago-Colorado Colony (1871–73) established the city of Longmont. It was paid for by wealthy Chicagoans and made up mostly of immigrants from the Midwest.

    Members of the Chicago-Colorado Colony built an irrigation system that made Longmont a major agricultural hub. Many of Longmont’s streets—including Bross, Collyer, Gay, Pratt, and Terry—are named for colony founders. The colony established some of Colorado’s first public parks. It was also home to the state’s first public library.

    Origins

    The Chicago-Colorado Colony was originally part of a plan to sell railroad land. To encourage railroad building in the American West, the US government granted railroads land on either side of their right-of-way. The railroads could then sell the land to pay for railroad construction or to make a profit.

    By 1870 the Denver Pacific Railroad (DP) was looking to sell land along its right-of-way between Denver and Cheyenne. Chicagoan Col. Cyrus N. Pratt was the general agent of DP's real estate subsidiary. Pratt, along with Rocky Mountain News founder and fellow DP investor William Byers, believed a farming community modeled after the Union Colony in Greeley would work.

    The Chicago-Colorado Colony Company was formed in Chicago on November 20, 1870. In January 1871, Byers led a committee to what was then Colorado Territory.

    During a tour of the Front Range, the committee crossed paths with Enoch J. Coffman, a homesteader near the small community of Burlington. The committee was impressed with Coffman’s wheat harvest.  They chose the area near Coffman’s homestead for the location of the colony. The Chicago-Colorado Colony bought 23,000 acres from the National Land Company. They secured an additional 37,000 acres from the federal government and other landowners.

    To recruit new residents for the colony, Byers filled the Rocky Mountain News with ads that promised large harvests. The Chicago Tribune published similar ads. Colorado’s climate was said to be a cure for many illnesses. That meant the colony didn't have trouble persuading Chicagoans to come. For $150 plus an initiation fee of $5, colonists received a forty-acre farm. An additional $50 bought a lot in town.

    First Years

    Some 250 colonists arrived at the site of their new home in early March 1871. They built a temporary shelter and set to work digging ditches and building homes. They laid out a town and named it Longmont, after the view of Longs Peak to the west.

    By the end of May 1871, the colony had 390 members. There were 151 from Illinois and another 89 from Colorado. Thirty-six came from Massachusetts. Of the Coloradans who moved to Longmont, about 75 came from Burlington. Others came from the Union Colony.

    The most important part of the colony was the irrigation ditches. The ditches allowed farming and provided drinking water to Longmont. By the summer of 1871, colonists had dug numerous small ditches. Crops included wheat, strawberries, and pumpkins. Colonists also raised turkeys and cattle for meat and dairy. Illinoisan Jarvis Fox built the colony’s first flour mill in 1872.

    In the summer of 1871, colonists had begun digging a primary ditch that they called Excelsior. However, the colony ran out of money, and the ditch was never completed. The colonists then formed the Highland Ditch Company to build and manage their primary ditch. The ditch was to be called the Highland. Money from a Chicago investor helped pay for the construction of a headgate at the mouth of St. Vrain Canyon. Water from the St. Vrain began flowing into the eight-mile-long, twelve-foot-wide Highland Ditch on March 30, 1873. From there, it went into other ditches to water crops and provide drinking water to Longmont.

    The Chicago-Colorado Colony was home to one of Colorado’s first public parks. Lake Park was named for Lake Michigan. It was completed in 1871. The territory’s first public library was also founded in 1871 by Elizabeth Thompson. The library doubled as Longmont’s first schoolhouse.

    Temperance was in the colony’s constitution. In the early days, anyone caught with alcohol had to return their land. However, saloons were allowed by 1873. The fight over alcohol continued for several years. There were some bans on liquor between 1875 and 1916. In 1916, Colorado passed statewide prohibition. Liquor become legal in Longmont when national prohibition ended in 1933.

    The Chicago-Colorado Colony essentially ended with the creation of the city of Longmont in 1873. The company continued selling off property until it dissolved in 1890.

    Legacy

    The work of the Chicago-Colorado colonists made Longmont one of the most productive farming communities in Colorado for nearly a century. The Highland Ditch has been enlarged six times since its construction. It currently irrigates more than 20,000 acres each year. Residents of Longmont maintain the hard-working attitude of the colonists.

     

    The Chicago-Colorado Colony (1871–73) established the city of Longmont. It was paid for by wealthy Chicagoans and made up mostly of people from the Midwest.

    Members of the Chicago-Colorado Colony built an irrigation system that made Longmont a major farming community. Many of Longmont’s streets are named for colony founders. The colony established some of Colorado’s first public parks. It was also home to the state’s first public library.

    Origins

    The Chicago-Colorado Colony was initially part of a plan to sell railroad land. The US government wanted to encourage railroad building. The government gave railroads land on either side of their tracks. The railroads could sell the land to pay for railroad construction or to make a profit.

    By 1870 the Denver Pacific Railroad (DP) was looking to sell land between Denver and Cheyenne. Chicagoan Col. Cyrus N. Pratt and Rocky Mountain News founder William Byers wanted to build a farming colony in this area.

    The Chicago-Colorado Colony Company was formed in Chicago on November 20, 1870. In January 1871, Byers led a committee to what was then Colorado Territory.

    During a tour of the Front Range, the committee met Enoch J. Coffman, a homesteader near the small community of Burlington. The committee was impressed with Coffman’s wheat harvest. They chose the area near Coffman’s homestead for their colony. The Chicago-Colorado Colony bought 23,000 acres. They secured 37,000 acres from the federal government and other landowners.

    To get new residents, Byers filled the Rocky Mountain News with ads that promised good harvests. The Chicago Tribune published similar ads. Colorado’s climate was said to be a cure for many illnesses. That meant the colony didn't have trouble getting Chicagoans to come. For $150 plus an initiation fee of $5, colonists got a forty-acre farm. An additional $50 bought a lot in town.

    First Years

    Some 250 colonists arrived in early March 1871. They set to work digging ditches and building homes. They laid out a town and named it Longmont, after the view of Longs Peak to the west.

    By the end of May 1871, the colony had 390 members. There were 151 from Illinois and another 89 from Colorado. Thirty-six came from Massachusetts. Of the Coloradans who moved to Longmont, about 75 came from Burlington.

    The most important part of the colony was the irrigation ditches. The ditches allowed farming and provided drinking water to Longmont. By the summer of 1871, colonists had dug many small ditches. Crops included wheat, strawberries, and pumpkins. Colonists also raised turkeys and cattle for meat and dairy.

    The colonists formed the Highland Ditch Company to build and manage their primary ditch. The ditch was to be called the Highland. Money from a Chicago investor helped pay for the construction. Water from the St. Vrain began flowing into the eight-mile-long, twelve-foot-wide Highland Ditch on March 30, 1873. From there, it went into other ditches to water crops and provide drinking water.

    The Chicago-Colorado Colony was home to one of Colorado’s first public parks. Lake Park was named for Lake Michigan. It was completed in 1871. The territory’s first public library was also founded in 1871. The library doubled as Longmont’s first schoolhouse.

    The Chicago-Colorado Colony essentially ended with the creation of the city of Longmont in 1873. The company continued selling off property until it dissolved in 1890.

    Legacy

    The work of the Chicago-Colorado colonists made Longmont one of the most productive farming communities in Colorado for nearly a century. The Highland Ditch has been enlarged six times since its construction. It currently irrigates more than 20,000 acres each year.