Before Colorado Became a State -Zebulon Pike

 

Post (C) Doris McCraw

aka Angela Raines

An early photo of Pikes Peak

I've been talking about Colorado, and on August 1, 2026, we celebrated 150 years as a state. In this post, I'll be looking back to before Colorado was even conceived.

Zebulon Montgomery Pike: Born in January of 1779 in Lamington, New Jersey. His father, Zebulon Pike Sr., was an Army officer who began his career in 1775 during the Revolutionary War. Pike Senior achieved the rank of Major and moved from New Jersey to Illinois, Pennsylvania, and other western areas. He died in Indiana in 1834 at the age of 82.

Pike Jr. enlisted at the age of 15. In 1805, he was sent out on an expedition to find the source of the Mississippi River. He erroneously said the river began at Leech Lake. The actual source was Lake Itasca, twenty-five miles further.

Of course, 1806 was his journey into the 'Southwest' and the failed attempt to climb the mountain that now bears his name. He was arrested in 1807 by the Spanish for entering their territory, in what is now Southern Colorado, and taken to Santa Fe.

He continued his military service through the southern portion of the United States, and when the War of 1812 started, then-Brigadier General Pike led a successful attack on York (Toronto) but was killed in 1813 in the same area when a powder magazine exploded.

He also eloped with his cousin Clarissa Brown in 1801. Of their five children, only one child, a daughter, lived to adulthood.

When he was captured by the Spanish in 1807,  they confiscated his journals and other papers. They were returned by the Mexican government in 1907.

I had the privilege of viewing and photographing Pike's saber and journal. Enjoy.

All images are the property of Doris McCraw

(This is a modified version of another post)

Until next time:

Stay safe - Doris

Angela Raines - Amazon

Doris A. McCraw - Amazon

The ""Electric" Physician

 Post (C) Doris McCraw

aka Angela Raines

Image (C) Doris McCraw

The following is taken from an earlier post.

I have spoken of Dr. Harriet Leonard before, but I felt she deserved for folks to know more about her.

She was born in New York in 1829 and died in Colorado in 1907 at the age of 79 (?). She was married to John Leonard, and they had seven children, four of whom survived to adulthood, according to the 1900 census. John died in 1895/6.

Along with Julia E. Loomis, the first woman doctor in Colorado Springs, Harriet Leonard was the first woman doctor in Manitou Springs, Colorado. Her advertisement appears as early as July of 1878. Her ad read: "Mrs. H. A. Leonard M.D. ELECTRICIAN. Special attention given to nervous and chronic diseases. Office in the Mineral Bath House. Manitou." This form of treatment was not that unusual in the 1870’s. You can read more at: http://blog.nyhistory.org/electric-medicine/

Dr. Leonard was the proprietor of the Bath house in Manitou Springs, a rather unusual position for a woman. Nonetheless, Harriet was constantly working and learning. There is some indication she may have gone to Truth or Consequences, New Mexico (originally known as Hot Springs) for a time, but no definite proof has been found. It would not be out of the question, as the town has numerous hot springs. The springs in Manitou are mineral, not hot springs. It would make sense, given her history, that she would spend time there. She was in Denver when she first arrived in the area, according to Denver City Directories.

Another difference between Dr. Leonard and the other female physicians was that she was an allopath, whereas Dr. Loomis and others were homeopaths. Dr. Leonard graduated from the Keokuk College for Physicians and Surgeons. Dr. Loomis, a graduate of the Cleveland Homeopathic College for Women, as were the two other women doctors who joined these two early pioneers.

When she fell and broke her leg, she declined quickly and passed away in September 1907, and is buried in Evergreen Cemetery in Colorado Springs, CO.

If you want to learn more about Harriet and the other women doctors, you can check out the ebook "Under the Stone" at this link: "Under the Stone"  

Until Next Time,

Stay Safe and Enjoy Life

Doris

Katherine Slaughterback AKA Rattlesnake Kate

 

 I've been in Colorado over 50 years. I lived in Keenesburg near Hudson, and I've visited Greeley several times, yet only recently did I learn of Rattlesnake Kate. 

   There is a museum and a huge amount of information "out there" on Kate, so I'll hit the amazing highlights, which I'm sure will spur you on to doing more reading and research. 

 Kate (1893-1969) was an independent lady, and progressive for the time. Married and divorced several time, she loved shooting guns and working hard, and had been a trained nurse and taxidermist. Rumor has it that she was also a bootlegger.

    On October 28, 1925, Katherine McHale Slaughterback  was out with her 3-year old adopted son Ernie. They were on horseback and headed toward a lake near her farm in Hudson, Colorado 

                                       (restored residence)

   She'd heard what sounded like hunters, and was riding to a pond with Ernie, to gather any wounded ducks left by hunters so they could have them for dinner.

 Climbing down from her horse to unlock the gate, she saw the first snake. Hundreds of migrating rattlesnakes followed. Kate fired her .22 Remington rifle until no bullets remained. Having disturbed and agitated the snakes, they soon surrounded Ernie, Kate and her horse.

   Out of ammunition and terribly worried about Ernie and her horse, Kate grabbed a nearby sign—ironically it’s believed to have been a “No Hunting” sign. Equipped only with this wooded weapon, she began killing the rattlesnakes, one-by-one, until all were dead.

     According to Kate, “I fought them with a club not more than 3 feet long, whirling constantly for over two hours before I could kill my way out of them and get back to my faithful horse and Ernie, who were staring at me during my terrible battle not more than 60 feet away." 

A neighbor saw her soon after she got home. She had blisters on her hands and her face was swollen from the heat. The neighbor went back to the pond with Kate. The battle had been a tough one, and they picked up 140 snakes collected in three large washtubs then hung on a line to dry.

The neighbor told other people about Kate's adventure. Soon reporters came to hear Kate's experience which made her famous. Newspapers carried the story all over the world. The story was retold for many years and she was known as the world champion rattlesnake killer.

   Handy at taxidermy, Kate knew how to cure animal skins so they could be kept. She used over 50 of the skins to make a flapper style dress on display at the Greeley City Museum. She also used snake skins for a pair of shoes and a neck band.

 But it wasn't all killing snakes and no fun out there on the prairie. There was a long distance romance in her life, the other party being Buckskin Bill Randolph, the poet of the plains.

They might not have shared the touching romance of his poetry, but they did share a friendship through correspondence that spanned almost 40 years. 

       There came a 23 year silence between them when WWII came about. Buckskin Bill married and was a guard at the Rock Island Arsenal. Kate became a Red Cross nurse stationed in Pusan, Korea and Nagasaki, Japan. Later, Bill attempted to write a biography of Kate, to seal a place for her in the history of the Wild West.

 Kate would wear the dress to many functions. She later kept it inside a trunk where curious family members would sneak peeks at it. She would not allow it to be photographed because she thought it would lessen the dress' value.

   In 2022, a play about her premiered at the Wolf Theater in Denver, and quickly became a global sensation. 

   Three weeks before she died, at age seventy-five, she left her dress to the Greeley Museum along with other artifacts related to her rattlesnake legacy. By request, she's buried in Platteville, Colorado.  

Visitors can see the original dress,

 which is kept in an air-tight, 

climate and light controlled case 

at the Greeley History Museum.

 714 8th Street, 

                       Here is share link to Greeley Museum

Western Romance: Break Heart Canyon * Undercover Outlaw * Cowboys, Cattle and Cutthroats * A Cowboy’s Fate * Special Delivery. 

Contemporary Romantic Thriller: Fatal Recall

Medieval Romance: The Dragon and The Rose * Iron Heart                                 *Promise Me Christmas. 

Victorian Romance: Lady Gallant * Victorian Dream 

Fantasy: The Fae Warriors Trilogy: Solace * Bliss * Portence 

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