The Cotopaxi Colony, by Flora Jane Satt

Part III, The Events

The townspeople of Cotopaxi watched the tired and bewildered immigrants get off the train. It was the eighth day of May, 1882. They had gathered at the new Denver and Rio Grande depot, curious to see at first hand these "Jew Colonists" about whose arrival they had heard so much from Saltiel and his partners during the preceding months. Some of them were openly scornful of the newcomers' clothes, language and appearance and made no effort to conceal their hostility. Others felt sympathetic at their looks of terror and awe, caused, no doubt, by the trip through the Royal Gorge and the desolate vastness west of the chasm. The terrain of this entire area is quite forbidding. The land is bare, very rocky, with practically no timber or vegetation. The unimpeded streams which flow into the Arkansas River have cut deep transverse gorges in the black rock formations.1

Saltiel sent a wagon to transport the Jews and their baggage from the railroad depot to this hotel 2 across the public square.3 The twenty families were accommodated in rather crowded fashion in the hotel until they were ready to move to their farms, some of which were eight or ten miles south of the town itself. Several of the men met with Saltiel and two of his many partners, A. S. Hart 4 and Julius Schwartz,5 to discuss plans for their colony, but little could be decided until the colonists could see the location. Hart and Schwartz drove the men of the group up Oak Grove Creek to inspect their future homes.

Saltiel had written to the Hebrew Emigrant Aid Society in October, 1881 6 that the twenty houses were finished and that five large barns would be completed shortly. He listed prices for farm implements and horses, implying that if these prices met with the approval of the Society, the articles would be purchased upon Saltiel's receipt of their reply. Now, more than seven months later, the newcomers found only twelve small, poorly-constructed cabins approximately eight feet square, six feet high, with flat roofs and no chimneys. They had no doors or windows, nor even the jambs or frames into which such might be easily fitted. There was no furniture inside, and only four of the twelve structures possessed stoves for heating or cooking.7

Hart pointed out the twenty divisions of land in the valley. There was supposed to have been 160 acres in each parcel. Twelve of these were located on either side of Oak Grove Creek, the remaining eight farms were marked out beyond a high ridge 8,000 feet above sea-level. These last were in the Wet Mountain Valley itself, but despite the name, there was no water on the lands. No fences or other boundaries separated the colonists' lands, and in the Wet Mountain Valley sections, the sparse grass which had just begun to grow was being grazed by neighboring ranchers' cattle.

On the twelve parcels in Oak Grove Valley there was no sign of any other improvement save the tiny cabins. No wells had been dug, no fences built and no road cleared. Hart drove the wagon up the stream bed itself, not too steep under normal circumstances, but obviously impassable during spring flood stages or the sudden mountain cloudbursts which often transformed a dry arroyo into a roaring cataract for several hours.8 The materials for the twelve structures had been hauled up to the site before winter snows had melted above. McCoy recalls that the stream bed, even in fall, was never too good a 'road' since large boulders and other debris had washed down therein, making rough going even for a single horse or mule. Some years later a wagon road was built through this valley, connecting Wet Mountain Valley with Cotopaxi, but it required considerable labor to clear the alluvial deposits.9

The terrain of the valley precluded the possibility of preparing extensive fields for crops. Less than half a mile in width, there is a definite shoulder mid-way up the canyon walls, indicating the level of the younger steam in past geologic ages. The soil on the lower half is easily eroded due to the angle of tip. Some tough grass grows, as well as sage brush and other native plants, but almost no trees, except for scrub pines. The valley is watered solely by the tiny seasonal creek and it would have required extensive irrigation works to deflect any of this water out onto the tilted shoulders of land designated as "farms" for the Jewish immigrants. Ed Grimes, one of the colonists, stated to a reporter for the Denver Jewish News in April, 1925, "There (Cotopaxi) was the poorest place in the world for farming. Poor land, lots of big rocks, no water, and the few crops we were able to raise, by a miracle, were mostly eaten by cattle belonging to neighboring settlers."10

When the men returned to Cotopaxi following their tour of inspection, they sought out Saltiel for an explanation of the many deficiencies. That gentleman was remembered as being profuse in his apologies and used the labor shortage as the primary excuse for non-fulfillment. He explained that items such as window frames, proper furniture, much of the tools and equipment, even lumber, were impossible to procure in the vicinity and that he had sent to Denver for them. They had been delayed. He would be leaving for Denver soon and would try to expedite delivery.

The immigrants had brought only the most personal of household equipment yet it was decided among them within the first week after their arrival that they must move into the available cabins and improve them as best they could themselves, for it was most imperative to begin the preparation of the soil for planting. By the middle of May the Jews were able to borrow Hart's wagon and moved their baggage and families up to the colony, making the trip on foot themselves, carrying some of their belongings on their backs.

A few days later, Saltiel left Cotopaxi for an extended business trip, leaving the problems of the colonists to be settled by his partners, Hart and Schwartz. They gave what little help and advice they could, and permitted the Jews to borrow the necessary plows and horses, seed and other equipment. Hart, as the proprietor of the General Store, extended credit to the colonists for food staples and other necessities. Four additional stoves were obtained and carted up the valley. The men themselves built mud chimneys for the four remaining stoveless cabins.

There was much discontent and anxiety among the members of the colony, yet they had determined to remain at Cotopaxi. They had no alternative, really, since the expenses of the previous winter in New York City and the trip west had consumed what little cash they had had, and there seemed to be no one to whom they could turn for advice or assistance in their efforts to secure the promised items from Saltiel. The language barrier, also, proved quite a handicap in their attempts to correct what they believed to be an error on the part of Mr. Saltiel, since even that gentleman was quite limited in his knowledge of Hebrew and the immigrants were then barely intelligible in English. When Saltiel left Cotopaxi, their only avenue of communication was the young partner, Julius Schwartz. Later, the colonists met their German neighbors in Wet Mountain Valley. These people proved quite helpful as most of the immigrants spoke German fluently and even those who spoke only Yiddish were able to communicate easily with the German farmers. The latter were sympathetic concerning the plight of the Jewish colonists and assisted them wherever possible. The women of the colony went regularly to visit them, obtaining milk and eggs for the children, and some meat and vegetables. The men sought agricultural advice from the Germans and this was gladly given, even though it was already too late to remedy the delay and mistakes made that first spring sowing. It had been the first of June before the Jews had gathered together the necessary supplies and implements and had cleared the few acres for crops. They planted corn and potatoes and their methods proved a source of much amusement for the people of Cotopaxi. The "greenhorns", as they were called, had much to learn about high altitude farming in arid country, where even with the most favorable weather, the growing season is less than four months for most crops. They did not attempt any hay or grain crops the first year, since clear, level land was at a premium and they had no animals to feed.

Despite the help of their German neighbors and the credit extended to them for food by Mr. Hart at Cotopaxi's General Store, two new-born babies died soon after coming and the young son of David Korpitsky died of blood poisoning incurred by stepping on a rusty nail with bare feet. The babies were all buried in the village cemetery of Cotopaxi, in unmarked graves 11 separated from the rest by a small wooden fence.

In mid-June Jacob and Nettie Millstein left Blackhawk where they had lived for six months and joined the colony, thus becoming the twenty-first "unit". Although some of the family units had doubled up to share the shelter of the twelve cabins, two families set up canvas tents while the men prepared and constructed more houses. One family made their own house from cut sod, while Mr. and Mrs. Herschel Toplitsky, assigned to one of the sections across the ridge in Wet Mountain Valley, found an abandoned Indian dugout cave which they used as a house for the first year. The young Millstein couple were most welcome in the colony, despite their unorthodox marriage, for they both spoke English fluently and were able to teach the others. Benjamin Zalman Milstein, Max Tobias,12 and David Korpitsky were the leaders of the colony.

The babies' deaths and other misfortunes and disappointments of the colony must have caused them to turn to religion for solace. They had not been considered a particularly religious group, at least by European standards, but soon after the burial ceremonies, the group felt they must establish some sort of a "spiritual organization". With the first letter they sent back to New York went a request for a "Torah".13 HEAS sent one immediately and by the 23rd of June, 1882, the Jews were able to dedicate their new synagogue, which they had converted from an abandoned cabin behind the General Store, the only building available.14 David Korpitsky served as rabbi and performed two weddings that first summer. The first united Max Shuteran and Hannah Milstein and the other was the religious ceremony which finally, even in the eyes of the most orthodox, sanctioned the civil union of Jacob Millstein and his cousin Nettie. The reminiscences of the colonists recall these events as rare occasions for joy and celebration. Hannah Shames Quiat 15 can still remember the precious canned peaches, the fresh-caught trout and sugar cakes which were served at the wedding reception.

Saltiel himself was absent from Cotopaxi most of the summer and fall but his young partner, Julius Schwartz, a Hungarian Jew, joined with the Russian immigrants in their religious observances and was chosen Secretary of the Congregation.16 Schwartz had been educated in New York and served as Saltiel's lawyer. It is obvious from letters and remarks of the colonists that they did not connect this young man with the lawyer Michael Heilprin had commissioned to investigate the original offer made by Emanuel Saltiel in September, 1880. None of the group had been in New York, except Jacob Millstein, when Heilprin had sent Schwartz to Colorado for a report on the proposed colony location.

The festivities that summer, Schwartz's help in the absence of Saltiel, and the agreeable summer climate were perhaps the last pleasant memories the Jews had of Cotopaxi, for with the arrival of autumn their position became most uncomfortable. Saltiel returned and refused to fulfill any of the neglected obligations and even denied them further credit at the General Sore, in which he had a half-interest. He expressed no regret or surprise at their inability to sow adequate crops on the stony hillsides, nor did he deem his failure to provide the necessary farm equipment as contributing to their difficulties. In addition, this part of Colorado suffered an exceptionally early frost the autumn of 1882 and when the Jews attempted to harvest their potatoes, they found most of them frozen.

The colonists were faced with the problem of providing, without money, fuel for heating their drafty shacks, and clothing for the bitter cold mountain winters. They had few possessions they could sell for food, medicine and shoes. The lack of fuel was dramatized by the menace of large bears which prowled about their cabins, looking for food before going into hibernation. The immigrants were terrified and were forced to use what little wood they had been able to gather during the summer to build big bonfires each night to frighten the bears away. As none of the cabins had had doors when they moved in, the men were able to make only the rudest sort of covering with what few tools they possessed, and none of these doors had locks or bolts. A hungry bear could easily push through the flimsy barrier which might bar his way into a cabin.17 Furthermore, the men were without protection in the way of firearms. Only a few owned revolvers and none could afford ammunition, since they were of European make and required a bullet not available in the area.

Again and again, delegations of men would tramp eight miles to town through the deep snow to appeal to Mr. Saltiel. He had received altogether, by October of 1882, close to $10,000 which the Hebrew Emigrant Aid Society sent from New York. Part of this was payment for a bill of $5,600 he had tendered the Society the preceding year. This sum was to “cover the cost of building twenty fine homes at $280.00 each.”18 Since the colonists found only twelve cabins which could not possibly have cost Saltiel even $150.00 apiece, they felt that on this one item alone they should receive some rebate. Two saw-mills were in operation in the immediate vicinity at this time and “first-class lumber sold for $22.50 per thousand.”19 Now the Jews realized they had no means of forcing Saltiel to fulfill any of his neglected promises, as they themselves possessed no written agreement, no contract, no bill of sale and not even a title, deed or lease to the land they were then occupying. That winter they petitioned HEAS for aid and counsel in how to regain their lost money, believing that organization had documents on file which could intimidate Saltiel.20

The weather was unusually severe that year, with blizzards which isolated their farms for weeks at a time, below-freezing temperatures which froze their hands and feet, unprotected by boots or gloves, and caused much suffering. To add to their misery, small bands of Ute Indians appeared from time to time, begging food and the frightened immigrants gave them what little food they had.21

The only recourse open to the desperate Jews was to go to work as laborers in Saltiel’s mines. His foremen were glad to hire even the inexperienced Jews as the supply of workers had dwindled even further during the winter months. They promised the Jews $1.50 for the day shift and $2.50 for the night shift, the Cotopaxi and Enterprise Mines being worked constantly and producing well. Despite this the colonists recall they received not a penny in cash for all the work done in the mines. Instead, they received vouchers for credit at the General Store owned by Saltiel and Hart. This system, however unfair, did enable them to buy a few sacks of flour and other necessities.

Mining in deep underground shafts and tunnels is never pleasant work but in wintertime it is particularly disagreeable and hazardous. Since the labor shortage extended to other fields as well, the Jews found they could have employment with the railroad instead of with Saltiel. The Denver and Rio Grande Railroad was then building its line west of Salida to connect the booming mining camps along the Continental Divide and Western Slope.22 the railroad was only too happy to employ the Jews as track laborers and even permitted them to take Saturday as their day off, instead of Sunday. Nearly every man in the colony worked that winter for the Denver and Rio Grande, and received cash wages of as much as $3.00 per day, with which they managed to support the entire group of sixty-three persons.23

The colony had another reason to be grateful to the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad that winter. The women had been accustomed to scour and comb the tracks in the area for bits of coal or wood dropped by passing trains. Sympathetic engineers and firemen, noticing them, learned of their plight and then would regularly toss down as much coal and wood as they could, thus enabling the women to obtain enough fuel to keep them alive that winter.24

Word of the colony’s predicament reached Denver and they were visited by several interested groups. First, the Jewish community of Denver sent as much help as they could, including warm winter clothing, food, medicine and other necessities. Three prominent men from Denver came down to investigate at first hand. On their return they framed still another appeal to the Hebrew Emigrant Aid Society, explaining Saltiel’s actions and describing his reputation.25 Then, a number of reporters from the Denver newspapers appeared and interviewed the immigrants and the townspeople. They had heard of this unusual agricultural experiment in Denver and had come down to check certain reports of mismanagement and illegalities.

The Denver Republican played up the story, emphasizing Saltiel’s responsibility and the HEAS’s gullibility in investing such a large sum in so novel an experiment, without proper investigation before-hand. They exposed Saltiel’s entire plan as a “vile atrocity” and described the colonists’ sufferings in minute detail. This newspaper took the opportunity of divulging at the same time, other of Saltiel’s deals and schemes, as well as his unsavory personal reputation.26

The Rocky Mountain News tended to play down the whole story, reminding its readers that all pioneers must endure some hardship and compared conditions in other outlying districts with those at Cotopaxi, making the lot of the Jews there seem ideal, even better than most.27

The colony did manage to survive the first winter, but they faced the coming spring with determination not to make the same mistakes nor rely on Saltiel for any further assistance. They observed their first Passover at Cotopaxi that April of 1883, and immediately after the rites were concluded, again borrowed seed and equipment and sowed their second crop. But nature seemed to conspire against them, for scarcely were the seeds in the ground when a late spring blizzard ruined a large part of them. These late storms are common in Colorado but to the struggling and discouraged colonists, it seemed a special punishment directed at them alone.

Again they wrote to the Hebrew Emigrant Aid Society for advice. Up to this time, the directors of that agency in New York could do little but counsel patience and fortitude, but by the late summer of 1883, the pressure of immigration had subsided in New York, due to the Czar’s temporary retirement of Ignatieff,28 and the new director found time to write to the unhappy farmers in Colorado. Michael Heilprin had been forced to retire that same summer, due to illness, and his successor was not as familiar with the whole story. Also, the emergency funds had been exhausted and the great need for the Society’s existence not as apparent, so there were plans for its dissolution. Late that summer, the colonists received a second letter from HEAS 29 recommending that they use the money that would be sent them to remove to another area; in Colorado, perhaps, but out of the Cotopaxi region, since the legal complications involved in land claims were too difficult to handle at long range. In October, 1883, more than a year after their first appeal and the report made by the Denver investigators, the colonists received $2,000.

As their harvest in 1883 was no better than the first, several families prepared to leave as soon as they received their share of the removal funds. For the remaining families, help and encouragement during their second winter was again supplied by their friends from Denver.

Those who stayed on that winter earned their living expenses by working in neighboring mines and on the railroad. The colony celebrated its second Passover at Cotopaxi in 1884, shortly after which a number of families left for new locations. Only six families decided to remain and plant a third crop, but when another late blizzard destroyed it, too, they at last recognized the futility of persevering in this spot and made plans to abandon the site. Each head-of-family had paid a fee of $50.00 into a common fund back in New York for the filing of deeds. When they prepared to depart the county, they checked with the county clerk in Canon City and could find there no record whatsoever of any such deed or conveyance. They had simply been “squatters” or perhaps at best, “tenant farmers” on corporation town-site land. They had wasted almost three years on Saltiel’s “colony” when they could have filed on public domain nearby as homesteaders.

By June of 1884 the colony, as such, was formally dissolved and a final report submitted to Heilprin’s successors in New York. The Cotopaxi Colony had been a failure. But it had served to give its members valuable lessons in pioneering, and had taken them out of the crowded ghettos in the eastern cities and given them a glance at what was available on other farm lands in the West.

Of the twenty-two families who lived through the bitter but edifying experience at Cotopaxi, only two failed to remain in the West. These were Samuel Shradsky, and Sholem Shradsky, his eldest son, both widowers. The elder Shradsky was a very old man and wanted to return to Europe to be buried alongside of his long-dead wife. His son accompanied him and died there before he could return to the United States. The rest used their hard-won knowledge to try farming on better lands in the West.

Saul Baer Milstein had come to Denver in 1883 with is wife Miriam and the seven younger children. He went into the cattle business with two partners. As soon as he was able, he bought grazing lands near Denver and by the time his younger sons were grown, had built a stock-yard and packing house. His brother Benjamin Zalman Milstein bought a farm near Derby, Colorado. His youngest brother, Isaac Leib Shames, took his wife to Salt Lake City, where they lived for many years before moving back to Colorado. Shames’ son Michael moved to Denver and joined his uncle in the cattle business and also bought a farm near Westminister, Colorado. Shames’ daughter Hannah married Philip Quiat and another daughter, Rachel, married Henry Singer. His eldest daughter, Yente, had been but a young bride when she and her husband, Joseph Washer, came as colonists to Cotopaxi. They had no children. Mr. Washer died soon after leaving Cotopaxi. His widow remarried Moses Altman of Denver.

Saul Baer Milstein’s eldest daughter Nettie, whose marriage to her first cousin Jacob had been so bitterly opposed by her father, eventually won his forgiveness. She and her husband were the most enthusiastic and successful of all the new farmers. Their first homestead was some four miles northeast of the city of Longmont in Boulder County. They later moved to a larger farm near Broomfield, which latter productive acreage they sold in 1935, for $18,000 to the Savery Savory Mushroom Company.

Jacob Milstein, Saul Baer’s eldest son, later moved to Seattle, Washington. Both he and his cousin and brother-in-law, Jacob Millstein, had been Colorado Volunteers during an Indian disturbance in 1887. 30

The Prezants, the Shuterans, David Korpitsky and his daughters, and the Toplitskys moved to Denver, where they entered various fields of business and soon prospered. Several of the men served on the Denver Police Force and Fire Department.

For some years the Tobias family lived in Cheyenne, Wyoming, where they ran a hardware store.

The Schneider family, including the sons-in-law Morris and Newman, moved to a farm near Omaha, Nebraska, and the Needleman and Moscowitz families homesteaded in South Dakota. The younger Shradskys moved to California from Cotopaxi.

Soloman Shuteran participated in the Cripple Creek gold rush in 1892 and established a comfortable family fortune by profitable real estate investments in that region.

1. The description of the Jews' arrival at Cotopaxi on May 8, 1882 was given the writer in a personal interview by Charles H. McCoy on August 15, 1948. McCoy was an eye-witness to the events recounted above. He was twenty-two years old at the time of the Jews' arrival and remembers vividly the unusual events surrounding the establishment of the "Colony". McCoy still lives in Cotopaxi, having come there as a small boy. He, and his father before him, first tried farming in the small valleys of the region, before giving up and turning to mining and railroading as more profitable vocations. McCoy knew Saltiel, Hart and Schwartz and had been a close friend of Henry (Gold Tom) Thomas. (Thomas was shot and killed on the steps of the Cotopaxi Hotel by A. Hart on May 23, 1883.) McCoy had transported a small load of lumber across the Arkansas River and up Oak Grove Creek to the site of the proposed colony and had helped with the construction of the twelve small cabins which Saltiel ordered built there.
2. Saltiel owned the Cotopaxi Hotel together with A. Hart, a partner.
3. A central plaza or park surrounding the flagpole, often referred to as "Saltiel Park". See Rocky Mountain News, December 2, 1880.
4. Hart, A. S., Rocky Mountain News, November 16, 1880, p. 2. (See also supra, p. 10.)
5. Schwartz, Julius, See supra, p. 30.
6. Saltiel's letter to Michael Heilprin, October, 1881. (Cited in Spivak Report, now in Jewish Agricultural Society files, New York, N. Y.) The Spivak Report is an account of the Cotopaxi Colony, together with what correspondence concerning it was assembled in the early 1920's. It was sent to the Jewish Agricultural Society at the request of its president, Dr. Gabriel Davidson. The report was drawn up by the Denver Jewish Council, which was then headed by Dr. Spivak.
7. Description from Mr. McCoy, interview, August 15, 1948, and from surviving members of colony, Mrs. Hannah Quiat and Mrs. Rachel Singer, interview, August 15, 1949. The writer saw two of these structures in August, 1948, while in the area.
8. Baskin, O. L., History of the Arkansas Valley, Colorado, Chicago, 1881, p. 700.
9. Mr. McCoy described the difficulty in building this road, completed in 1887. Interview August 15, 1948.
10. Denver Jewish News, April 6, 1925. (Reminiscences of Cotopaxi Pioneers)
11. A Jewish law prohibits erection of a headstone until one year after burial.
12. Mr. Tobias was the only colonist not recruited in Russia, having joined the group in New York during the winter of 1881. He and his wife had been in the U. S. since 1877 and spoke English better than most of the others.
13. Torah: Holy Law (Law of Moses).
14. Denver Jewish News, April 6, 1925.
15. Hannah Shames (Milstein) Quiat. Interview, August 6, 1949, Denver, Colorado.
16. Roberts, D., op. cit., p. 128, refers to citation from the Jewish Messenger, 1882. (The Jewish Messenger was a weekly newspaper, published in English, in New York City, beginning in 1857. Abraham Isaacs, brother of the founder and publisher, was the correspondent who 'covered' the story at Cotopaxi. The paper is no longer printed, having been sold in 1903.)
17. Denver Jewish News, now Intermountain Jewish News, April 6, 1925. (The pages on which the reminiscences were printed is missing from the files of the Jewish News.)
18. Saltiel’s letter to Michael Heilprin, September 19, 1880, see supra, p. 26.
19. Rocky Mountain News, December 2, 1880, p. 2.
20. Spivak Report (Letter to Jewish Agricultural Society) on file in JAS, New York City. See supra, p. 36.
21. Hoffman, Mosa Heller, “Story of Cotopaxi,” Intermountain Jewish News, September 15, 1944, pp. 16-17.
22. Logan, P. S., “History of the Denver and Rio Grande Railway”, M. A. Thesis, University of Colorado, 1931, pp. 99-112.
23. Reminiscences obtained from interviews with Mrs. R. Ornstein, Mrs. H. Quiat, August, 1949.
24. Charles McCoy’s Interview, August 15, 1948.
25. Contained in Spivak Report, (now on file at JAS) supra, p. 36. (The men who prepared the appeal were G.H. Kohn, A. Strauss and L. Witkowski.)
26. Denver Republican, February 13, 1883. (Clipping from Dawson Scrap Book, Colorado State Historical Museum, XXXIII, p. 464.)
27. Rocky Mountain News, February 13, 1883, p. 8, Col.4.
28. Pollack, G., op. cit., p. 210.
29. From family materials collected by Mrs. Harry Tarkoff. See also Roberts, D., “Jewish Colony at Cotopaxi”, Colorado Magazine, XVIII, p. 130.
30. Morris Kadish, of Boulder, has an old photograph of the Boulder County Volunteers and both Milsteins are in the group.