Mr. Sedivy's
History Classes:

More Features:

- Colorado History -
Colorado Trivia, Miscellaneous Old Photos,
Western Personalities, Forts, and More

Santa Fe Trail and Western Personalities

Early settlers relaxing at the end of a day's travel on the Sante Fe Trail.

Cowboy Poetry
"I'm a bullwacker far from home.
If you don't like me just leave me alone;
Eat my grub when hungry, drink when dry.
Whack, punch, swar, then lie down and die."

Left: Oliver Perry Wiggins. Center: Jedediah Smith. Right: Dick Wootton.

Oliver Perry Wiggins enjoyed the distinction of being "one of the biggest damned liars who ever straddled a horse or ate beaver tail." Wiggin's favorite yarns were about Kit Carson and his mountain men in the 1830s.

Jedediah Smith was a Bible toting frontier scout. He obtained his fame on the Oregon trail, but was killed by Comanches on the Santa Fe Trail.

Richens Lacy "Uncle Dick" Wootton left Virginia and came west in 1836. Wootton joined the firm owned by Bent and St. Vrain at Independence, Missouri then traveled to Bent's Fort. Dick Wootton was a scout, freighter and Indian fighter. He trapped and traded in the Rockies and scouted for the US military during the Mexican War. He was best known for the toll road he built over Raton Pass on the Santa Fe Trail in 1865.

Pictured left to right: Arapahoe Joe, Wild Bill Hickok, Buffalo Bill Cody,
J. B. (Texas Jack) Omahundro, and "Colorado Charlie."

Fort Collins / Fort St. Vrain

Fort Collins military establishment in 1865.

An early 1860s artist's portrayal of Fort Collins.

Dedication of the St. Vrain monument at the site of the fort in 1911.
The woman wearing the white blouse is Mary Sopris, the daughter of Marcellus St. Vrain.
Later, the Fort St. Vrain nuclear plant was built just south of the site where the original fort was.

Sand Creek

(Mr. Sedivy lectures extensively about the events at Sand Creek, but his lecture notes are not available online at this time.)

Left: Amache was a Cheyenne who married John Prowers, after whom Prowers County is named. Her father, Ochinee, was killed at the battle of Sand Creek. Right: Early artist's depiction of the battle at Sand Creek.

Indian Wars

General Philip Sheridan.

It was under Civil War Cavalry hero Sheridan, appointed commader of the Army's huge Division of the Missouri in 1869, that the final subjugation of the Plains Indians was carried out. General Philip Sheridan was the Army's top Western commander during the Indian Wars, and has been credited with the phrase:
"The only good Indian is a dead Indian."

But, Sheridan later expressed another opinion:
"We took away their country, broke up their mode of living... introduced disease and decay among them, and it was for this and against this that they made war. Could anyone expect less?"

General Philip Sheridan is pictured with Union soldiers.

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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, Lingo |
| 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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