Page images
PDF
EPUB

above it rises the lofty north walls of the Canon. From the east comes through the convenient opening of the Grass Valley, the warm breezes of Eastern Colorado. From the west, through another opening, come hints of the warm breezes of the Pa

cific coast. The only enemy of the climate of Idaho Springs is the gale

from the Sierra Blanca and Pike's Peak, and from this it is protected by the summits of the Santa Fe Mountain. Is it any wonder that snow refuses to remain in the streets of this favored city in the winter, and that sleighing is as much unknown in its. streets as the Tally-Ho Coach in Venice? From the mountain last named

enviable

[ocr errors]

"Among these restless argonauts was George A. Jackson, the original. discoverer of gold placers in Colorado. It was during the winter of 1858, while prospecting the valley of Clear Creek-Vasquey River then calledthat he first strolled into Grass Val

ley, while the river was frozen solid, and following up the stream as far as what is now called Soda Hill, observed a blue mist arising from an adjoining canon, which he at first supposed to be the camp-fires of the Utes.

"Alarmed at his imagined danger, he climbed to the summit of an adjacent hill, wherein the snow lay waist deep and, peering cautiously into the

issue the Hot Springs, which are giv- adjoining valley, ascertained that the ing Idaho Springs an celebrity.

mysterious smoke was the vapor from the hot springs located near by, which, after the discovery of placer gold on the bars above and below them, made the immediate vicinity the seat of a mining camp which rap

"These waters, heated in the alchemy of nature, suggest another parallel. They are of the exact temperature of the famous waters of Aix-le-Baines; one hundred and thir- idly grew into a village and prosperteen degrees Fahrenheit. These are soda, those are sulphur."

It was pleasant to talk with some of the pioneers of Idaho Springs. One of the first-it was the first I believe to make discoveries in the

vicinity, was George A. Jackson. The story of his arrival and the important incidents connected therewith* I learned from the pen of a pioneer-the daughter of Hon. R. B. Griswold :

* Contribution to Rocky Mountain News,

ous town. Jackson relates that at that time hundreds of mountain sheep had gathered about the springs to graze upon the herbage, from which the warm vapors had melted the snows.

"From here he advanced half a

mile up the main creek, built a log heap and started a fire upon what is know as Chicago Bar, where he afterward dug in the thawed ground and was rewarded by finding the rich washings, the news of which soon revived as great an emigration toward

[graphic]

IDAHO SPRINGS, COLO. CENT. BRANCH PACIFIC RY., COLO.

Colorado as the previous decade had attracted to California."

Mr. George A. Patten, a pioneer, and one of the early postmasters said : "I have traveled all over Colorado in the last thirty years, and I have never been in a location where the climate equals this. One pecularity I have often noticed the storms that seem to rise at Gray's Peak, and our storms come generally from that direction, do not sweep down on our city. Old Chief Mountain, south of us and in sight there, seems to be a natural attraction and so is the next point struck, leaving us in the edge, almost untouched."

The reader may not care to learn what I saw from the top of Bellevue Mountain; of the "Outing at Chicago Lakes and the ascent of Mount Rosa

lie; the fishing excursion to Echo Lake; a day at Lake Edith ; amateur prospecting on the ore-pregnant mountains; the Autobiography of a Silver Dollar; of visits to some of the famous mining-camps around the city, such as "The Lamartine," "The "Dove's Nest," "The Early Bird," "The Freeland," "The Plutus," "The Ben Harrison," "The Silver Age," "The Little Mattie" and its wonder

flume, "The Argo" and "Bald Eagle," "The Mary Foster," "The Financier," "The Money Musk," "The Denver City," "The Jo Reynolds," "The "The Humboldt," "The Champion-Donaldson," and many other producers that are daily and nightly contributing to the world's wealth.

Some mention of these attractions to this resort have been and will be made in separate papers for publication in these pages.

The day was going away and the shadows of another evening falling, when Mr. A. H. Colburn tightened the reins of his horses and asked me to take a seat behind the swift pacer, "John," and his many-gaited companion, "Billy." In this way I was borne rapidly over the city and suburban avenues—a most pleasurable ride.

[ocr errors][merged small]
[blocks in formation]

SINCE the American branch of the Griggs family settled in New England over two centuries ago it has never failed to produce worthy representatives in every generation, and its chief representative in this generation is no exception to the rule. Chauncey Wright Griggs is the fourth and next to the youngest son of Chauncey Griggs, born in Tolland, Connecticut, April 10th, 1795, and who, in 1822, married Hearty Dimmock, daughter of Capt. Daniel Dimmock, also of Tolland county. By both lines of ancestry C. W. Griggs is therefore connected with that fine old New England stock "in whose tombs scandal never slept."

On his father's side the chain of descent is : 1. Thomas Griggs, at Roxbury, Mass., in 1639. 2. Joseph, youngest son of foregoing (16251715), lived at Muddy Brook, then a part of Boston, was selectman of the town two terms; served as member of town committees, etc.; eight children. 3. Ichabod, youngest son of foregoing (1675-1718), lived in Brookline and Roxbury; married Margaret Bishop, of Ipswich, Mass.; nine children. 4. Ichabod (1718-May 9, 1790), lived at Norwich, Connecticut; removed to Tolland, Connecticut, about 1744; deacon of the church there;

representative in the General Assembly three sessions; selectman five years; three children. 5. Ichabod, second child of foregoing (June 7, 1744-September 30, 1776); ensign in the war of the revolution; died and was buried in New Rochelle, New York; married Mary Hatch, daughter of Joseph Hatch, Jr.; home in Tolland, Connecticut; five children. 6. Stephen, third child of foregoing (October 3, 1769-December 14, 1856); married, March 18, 1792, Elizabeth Lathrop, daughter of Solomon Lathrop, of Tolland; selectman one year; captain of a militia company; home in Tolland; six children. 7. Chauncey (C. W. Griggs' father), second child of foregoing; lived till late in life in Tolland; removed thence to Detroit, Michigan, where he had living two sons and a daughter, and where he died December 11, 1866, at the home of his daughter, widow of Gurdon O. Williams, a wealthy and respected citizen of Detroit; representative in General Assembly two sessions; judge of the Probate Court for the district of Tolland two years, and hence often called Judge Griggs; also, for fourteen years a justice of the peace; captain of a militia company formed for service in the Dorr rebellion,

On his mother's side the chain of descent is as follows: I. Elder Thomas Dimmock, first settler of that name, and common ancestor of the Dimmocks of New England; through him they trace their kinship to the Dymockes, of England, a name applied to the hereditary champion of English kings, and through him. also C. W. Griggs is one of the heirs to the Dimmock estate of some £19,000,000, now held in the Bank of England; died at Barnstable, Massachusetts, 1658; "he was identified with the early history of town (Barnstable), the leading man, and in some way connected with all of the acts of the first settlers; assistant justice of the County Court; one of the Council of War, lieutenant of the militia, ruling elder of the church, the town's first representative" (see Amos Otis in his "History of Barnstable"). 2. Deacon Shubael Dimmock (1644-1732); select man and deputy of the County Court of Barnstable for two years; also ensign of the militia; later, selectman, deacon, and otherwise prominent in Windham, Massachusetts, where he died. 3. Capt Thomas Dimmock (1664-1697), killed in the French and Indian wars at battle of Canso, Sep. tember 9, 1697, a gallant and fearless officer. 4. Ensign Thomas Dimmock (1698-1741), died in the king's service at Cuba. 5. Desire Dimmock, who married her cousin, Timothy Dimmock, of South Coventry, Connecticut. 6. Capt. Daniel Dimmock (1767-1833), lived at South Coventry;

married Anna Wright, of Mansfield. 7. Hearty Dimmock, December 24, 1794, C. W. Griggs' mother.

After about 1750 the Griggs family was identified with the history of Tolland, Connecticut, as was the Dimmock family with that of South Coventry. Both families were prominent in the civil, military and ecclesiastical life of their times and places, so much so that we expect to find C. W. Griggs, as by right of birth, at worthy civilian, a prominent churchman, and a soldier, and such he is in history.

It was in Tolland county that C. W. Griggs passed the earliest years. of his life, where he received a rudimentary education in the public school. Even as a child he displayed amazing industry, and as he advanced in years his genius for mathematics was the wonder of his teachers. At the age of fourteen he became a clerk in an office in Ohio, but later on he was sent to Monson to continue his education. He then became a teacher at Palmer, Mass., where by his tact and kindliness he endeared himself to all with whom he came in contact. But the quiet and laborious life of a teacher did not suit the enterprising spirit of young Griggs. He desired to follow a business career, and to prepare for it he repaired to Detroit, Mich., where in an incredible short time he graduated in the business college of that city. When leaving college he foresaw that his best business chance would be

« PreviousContinue »