Mr. Sedivy's
History Classes:

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- Colorado History -
Colorado's Role in the US Civil War

Colorado and the Civil War
Nathan Coriel, the first man who attempted to volunteer for the Union Army in the Civil War, was from Denver. When the war broke out, most of the U.S. Army was located in the west. During the spring of 1861, almost the whole army was in the West to protect it from Indians.

A US officer and a frontiersman examine the corpe of a hunter scalped by Cheyennes. (The Indian revenge for Sand Creek was so bloody that 8,000 troops were pulled from the Civil War and sent west.)

All of the garrisons out here quickly depleted and headed to their home states to serve in the Confederacy and Union. The enlisted men just went A-W-O-L. To further complicate the situation in the West, the Union was terrified that the South would take over Washington D.C. So the Union called back every soldier they could and the West was left defenseless.

A Union recruiter swears in new Indian recruits.

Fort Garland
Colorado only had two military bases because the Indians (Ute, Cheyenne, Arapaho) were mostly at peace with the white man. The oldest fort (1850s) was Fort Garland in the San Luis Valley.

Fort Garland drawn in 1859 by C. H. Alden, the Surgeon General stationed at the fort.

Fort Garland published in Harper's New Monthly Magazine in 1876.

Thomas Tobin, a scout for the US Army

Thomas Tobin was asked by Colonel Tappan of Fort Garland to bring in the heads of the Espinosas. The Espinosas had been on a killing spree to rid the area of Anglos. Tobin carred out his orders.

Fort Wise / Fort Lyon
Along the Arkansas River east of Pueblo, was Fort Wise. Fort Wise was originally a trading post. Fort Wise was named after the Governor of Virginia (Henry Wise) in hopes that he would stay with the Union. When Virginia joined the South, they renamed it Fort Lyon, after the first Union General killed in the war.

An early sketch shows Fort Lyon with Bent's New Fort on the hill in the background.

US troops stationed at Fort Lyon in 1844.

Fort Lyon, Colorado Territory.

Indians usually made peace in the Fall, camping near forts where government rations, guns, and ammunition where available. But, the treaties were usually broken with the coming of Spring.

Governor Gilpin
Gilpin the first Territorial Governor, was a realist. All of the Southerners in Colorado started buying up guns and ammo, and Southerners were disappearing. It was assumed they were heading south to join the Confederates.

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 |

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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 |

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 |

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