Mr. Sedivy's
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More Features:

- Colorado History -
The History of Littleton, Colorado

Littleton in the 1860s:
First School Teacher - Lewis B. Ames,
Rough and Ready Mill and Other 1860s Buildings,
Indian Troubles in Early Littleton

1860s
Lewis B. Ames was born in Canton, New York and worked his way westward as a farm boy, teacher, clerk in a recorder's office, and running a shoe business in Decorah, Iowa before he caught gold fever. Ames had spent five years mining near Blackhawk and also ran a quartz mill near Blackhawk.

Laura Ames and Lewis B. Ames, Littleton's First School Teachers

Ames settled his farm, somewhat south of Richard Little's claim, and became a noted farmer. "He has conclusively demonstrated that horticulture can be successfully carried on in Colorado," read one report. Ames boasted of his "apples, pears, plums, grapes, raspberries, blackberries, strawberries, cherries, gooseberries and currants growing in profusion, and of the finest quality." Lewis B. Ames and his wife, Laura, were the first two teachers in Littleton. Ames also served as the local Justice of the Peace from 1869 to 1882.

1864
The creation of Colorado's School District #6 - A meeting to organize Littleton's School District was held in Richard Little's cabin in 1864. It was decided to build the first school in the area, a log structure constructed in 1865 - 66 for $65. The first school was located near Brown's bridge (about a mile and a half north of today's downtown Littleton).

Lewis B. Ames taught fifteen students in the first log schoolhouse the next year, earning a salary of $40 per month. His wife, Laura, took his place the next year, teaching only three students for $50 a month. Within a few months, a frame school house was also built just west of the Platte River on Lilley's ranch.

1867
The first "Rough and Ready Flour Mill" was built. Richard Little founded the mill along with Joseph Bowles, John Lilley, Peter Magnes, John McBroom and others. The first brand of flour was labeled "Rough and Ready."

Little later recalled,
"I commenced improvement on my land claim and had a good success in raising garden stuff and some small grain. ... The water still flowed through the ditch to where it wasted over the rocks that Byers raved over when he first visited me in '61. One day it occurred to me that here was a site for a water power (wheel) and just the place for a flour mill."

Constructed for $25,000, the mill was capable of producing a hundred barrels of flour each day by the 1880s. Littleton's flour headed to market labeled "Snow Drift," "White Cloud," "Blue Goose," Legal Tender," and "Standard Patent." Of the successful mill, Richard Little later said, "farmers quickly found a good market in Denver and the mountain towns for every sack of flour we could grind."

1868
Julius P. Hill opened his General Store, just east of the mill.

1868
Troublesome Indians still plagued the Littleton area farmers. Occasionally, bands of Arapaho or Cheyenne raided farms and ranches, stealing livestock, and terrorizing the area settlers. On September 14, 1868, the Rocky Mountain News reported that the remains of Nicholas O'Camb, aged 22, had been brought to Denver from Plum Creek, just south of Littleton. O'Camb had been shot in the head, stabbed and scalped, and a nearby rancher lost 46 of his 92 horses. The Rocky Mountain News wrote that Colorado's citizens needed to "take to the Indian war-path in earnest." The newspaper further urged that a militia be formed to go after those Indians in force.

The Rocky Mountain News article continued:
"And if any man will do it, and will present fifty Indian scalps at his office within a year, we promise to use our influence to send him to Congress, to elect him Governor, or to any other high office he may want, regardless of his politics."

An Arapaho Warrior's Shield

1869
By 1869, most of the Arapaho had agreed to remain in Oklahoma, in accord with the Treaty of Medicine Lodge. The remaining Arapaho joined with the Cheyenne and moved northward to Wyoming. Gradually, the friendlier Utes were forced to remain in western Colorado.

April 8, 1869
The United States Postal Service A United States Post Service designated Littleton as an official post office. Richard Little became the first postmaster.

1869
A thirty-room hotel was built to house workers and to serve stagecoach passengers along the Denver to Pueblo route. In 1876, this hotel became known as the Harwood Inn, when Angeline Little's parents, John and Mary Harwood, became the owners.

The Harwood in was located just west of Bowles and Santa Fe

The History of Littleton, Colorado
1. | History of Littleton: Prehistory - 1859 Colorado Gold Rush |
2. | Littleton in the Early 1860s / Founding Fathers |
3. | 1860s: Lewis Ames, Littleton's First Teachers and School,
Indian Troubles and Early Buildings in Littleton |
4. | Littleton 1870 - 1879: Railroads, 1st Church, Highline Canal |
5. | Littleton in the 1880s: Avery Gallup, First Newspaper |
6. | The City of Littleton in the 1890s: First Mayor, Pickletown |
7. | 1900s: South Arapahoe County, Littleton Named County Seat |
8. | Littleton 1910 - 1920s: Town Improvements / Industry |
9. | Littleton, Colorado in the 1930s and 1940s |
10. | The Boom of the 1950s and 1960s in Littleton, Colorado |
11. | Littleton: 1970s to Present, Concrete Pods and All |
12. | Littleton Trivia and Stuff You've Always Wondered About! |

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- Colorado History In Depth -
Lecture Notes, Reading, and Information:

| The Cheyenne Migration to Colorado |
| The Gratlan Affair, Massacre, Fort Laramie Treaty |

The Cheyenne Social Club
| A Cheyenne War Story: Wolf Road, the Runner |
| Cheyenne Traditions and Beliefs, Sacred Stories |
| Horses, Warriors, War Pipe, Sweatlodge Ceremony |
| Cheyenne War Parties and Battle Tactics |
| The Scalp Dance and Other Cheyenne Dances |

Fort Union
| The Sante Fe Trail and Fort Union |
| Sumner - Ninth Military Department / The First Fort Union |
| Early Arrivals to Fort Union, Daily Life at Fort Union |
| Captain Grover - The New Fort Union, the Confederate Threat |
| Fort Union Arsenal, William Shoemaker, End of Fort Union |

Americans from the East
| Thomas Jefferson, the Louisiana Purchase |
| The Expedition of Zebulon Pike |
| Pikes Peak or Bust / Colorado Gold Rush |

Colorado's Role in the US Civil War
| The Civil War, Fort Wise / Fort Lyon |
| Mace's Hole, Colonel Canby, F.C.V.R. | Fort Weld |
| The Pet Lambs, John Chivington |
| General Henry Sibly, Battle of Valverde, Fort Union |

Cripple Creek District Labor Strikes
| The Western Federation of Miners / State Militia |
| The 1893 - 1894 Strike | The Strike of 1903 - 1904 |
| The Mine Owners Association |
| Crimes and Military Rule in the Cripple Creek District |
| Marshall Law in Cripple Creek District / End of the Strike |
Early Cripple Creek District
| Photos, Fire, and Life in Cripple Creek |
| Other Colorful Towns in the Cripple Creek District:
Gillett - Colorado's Only Bullfight, Victor, Independence |
| A Guide to the Miners' Gritty Lingo |

More Colorado History Information
| Bent's Fort Photos, Personalities, Plans, and More |
| What Was Easter Like at Bent's Fort? |
| Colorado Trivia, Miscellaneous Old Photos,
Western Personalities, Forts, and More |
| Lullabies for Jittery Cows - Cowboy Ballads |
| Heraldry of the Branding Iron |
| Project Aims to Clear Infamous Cannibal, Alferd Packer |
| Lead Gives Alferd Packer's Story More Weight |
| Legendary Colorado Love Stories: Baby Doe Tabor & More |
| Colorado Pioneer Women: Elizabeth Byers |
| Early Denver Jokes / The History of April Fools' Day |
| History of the US Memorial Day Holiday |

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