Taken from the Diary of Aubrey L. Church, " Pioneers of Colorow" Published in Bits & Pieces of Olathe History compiled by William & Mary Smith and Ollie & Katherine Veirs. Aubrey was the son of Oristus
My father, Oristus Church, was born in Wisconsin in 1857, As a young boy he got a job hauling ail across Oshkosh Lake in northern Wisconsin from Manitowok to Wontoma. In winter they arried mall by sled and in summer by canoe.
Dad came from Wisconsin to Colorado in 1874 by covered wagon. He brought with him nine horses and followed the Arkansas River to Pueblo. From Pueblo, he traveled to Saguache where he was employed by Otto Mears, building roads from Saguache to Gunnison, and from Indian Creek to Ouray. His pay was fifty cents per day for himself, and fifty cents for his team, making a total of one dollar a day for both.
A few months later, he met a young man by the name of John Jennings, who also had a string of horses. They got together and formed a partnership and started to haul supplies from Saguache to Ouray, Silverton, and Durango over the Old Indian Trails.
Dad was an excellent shot with a gun. One time while they were camped near Pagosa Springs, a band of renegade Navajos attacked them. The Indians rode round and round their camp and wagons, getting closer and closer each time around, Finally John said to Dad, "You take the head one and I will take the one in the back. They each got their Indian and another time around they got two more. After that, the Indians gave up and rode away. They'd had enough.
After the encounter with the Indians, John and Dad quit hauling supplies to Durango, but still hauled to Ouray and Sllverton and Telluride. By the year 1875 the Spanish had made a pack trail from Ouray to Silverton, then to the top of Ice Mountain, and down into Telluride by way of Bridal Veil Falls. They received twenty-five dollars for a 100 pound sack of sugar and the same for 100 lbs. of flour. They also hauled a lot of whiskey as it was in great demand in those days.
A soldier at Fort Crawford named Aubrey Lay, took Mother (Talitha McNeil) to a dance near Ridgway. There she met my father, Oristus Church and he was an excellent dancer and she loved to dance with him. Before the evening was over he had proposed to her but she told him that she had not planned to get married yet. Two weeks later they met again at the Ridgway dance and he asked her again if she would marry him and she accepted. The next week she and Oristus and Hiram (her younger brother) rode horseback over to Columbia, which is now Telluride, and they were married by the Justice of the Peace, William Romine, the only Justice in Western Colorado at that time.
(The rest is just a summary of what was included in the article): After getting married they lived on Billy Creek, east of Ridgway and planted the first wheat. Shortly after they moved to Bear Creek Falls above Ouray where they tended a toll gate for Otto Mears. Oristus and his father also build a flour mill there and a hydro-electric wheel at the Ames Power Plant in Ophir. Then they moved to Portland, north of Ouray and lived in a tent beside the teepee of Chief Ouray.
In 1882 when the Uncompahgre Valley opened to homesteading, Oristus, his brother Shep, and Steward Lee all staked claimes northwest of Colorow. (Olathe) Oristus built a cabin and got the family moved in where their son, Aubrey, was born. He was the first white child born in what is now Olathe. They moved to the foot of Keystone Hill in 1885 and kept the toll gate for Otto Mears until 1890. In 1891 they moved into a new house that George Ash (Olathe pioneer) helped Oristus build. They planted acres of garden vegetables which they then hauled by wagon to Telluride. One day in 1897 Oristus became sick and died three days later. He was buried on Aubrey's birthday and was one of the first burials in the Olathe Cemetery.
My father, Oristus Church, was born in Wisconsin in 1857, As a young boy he got a job hauling ail across Oshkosh Lake in northern Wisconsin from Manitowok to Wontoma. In winter they arried mall by sled and in summer by canoe.
Dad came from Wisconsin to Colorado in 1874 by covered wagon. He brought with him nine horses and followed the Arkansas River to Pueblo. From Pueblo, he traveled to Saguache where he was employed by Otto Mears, building roads from Saguache to Gunnison, and from Indian Creek to Ouray. His pay was fifty cents per day for himself, and fifty cents for his team, making a total of one dollar a day for both.
A few months later, he met a young man by the name of John Jennings, who also had a string of horses. They got together and formed a partnership and started to haul supplies from Saguache to Ouray, Silverton, and Durango over the Old Indian Trails.
Dad was an excellent shot with a gun. One time while they were camped near Pagosa Springs, a band of renegade Navajos attacked them. The Indians rode round and round their camp and wagons, getting closer and closer each time around, Finally John said to Dad, "You take the head one and I will take the one in the back. They each got their Indian and another time around they got two more. After that, the Indians gave up and rode away. They'd had enough.
After the encounter with the Indians, John and Dad quit hauling supplies to Durango, but still hauled to Ouray and Sllverton and Telluride. By the year 1875 the Spanish had made a pack trail from Ouray to Silverton, then to the top of Ice Mountain, and down into Telluride by way of Bridal Veil Falls. They received twenty-five dollars for a 100 pound sack of sugar and the same for 100 lbs. of flour. They also hauled a lot of whiskey as it was in great demand in those days.
A soldier at Fort Crawford named Aubrey Lay, took Mother (Talitha McNeil) to a dance near Ridgway. There she met my father, Oristus Church and he was an excellent dancer and she loved to dance with him. Before the evening was over he had proposed to her but she told him that she had not planned to get married yet. Two weeks later they met again at the Ridgway dance and he asked her again if she would marry him and she accepted. The next week she and Oristus and Hiram (her younger brother) rode horseback over to Columbia, which is now Telluride, and they were married by the Justice of the Peace, William Romine, the only Justice in Western Colorado at that time.
(The rest is just a summary of what was included in the article): After getting married they lived on Billy Creek, east of Ridgway and planted the first wheat. Shortly after they moved to Bear Creek Falls above Ouray where they tended a toll gate for Otto Mears. Oristus and his father also build a flour mill there and a hydro-electric wheel at the Ames Power Plant in Ophir. Then they moved to Portland, north of Ouray and lived in a tent beside the teepee of Chief Ouray.
In 1882 when the Uncompahgre Valley opened to homesteading, Oristus, his brother Shep, and Steward Lee all staked claimes northwest of Colorow. (Olathe) Oristus built a cabin and got the family moved in where their son, Aubrey, was born. He was the first white child born in what is now Olathe. They moved to the foot of Keystone Hill in 1885 and kept the toll gate for Otto Mears until 1890. In 1891 they moved into a new house that George Ash (Olathe pioneer) helped Oristus build. They planted acres of garden vegetables which they then hauled by wagon to Telluride. One day in 1897 Oristus became sick and died three days later. He was buried on Aubrey's birthday and was one of the first burials in the Olathe Cemetery.
Taken from the Diary of Aubrey L. Church, " Pioneers of Colorow" Published in Bits & Pieces of Olathe History compiled by William & Mary Smith and Ollie & Katherine Veirs. Aubrey was the son of Oristus
My father, Oristus Church, was born in Wisconsin in 1857, As a young boy he got a job hauling ail across Oshkosh Lake in northern Wisconsin from Manitowok to Wontoma. In winter they arried mall by sled and in summer by canoe.
Dad came from Wisconsin to Colorado in 1874 by covered wagon. He brought with him nine horses and followed the Arkansas River to Pueblo. From Pueblo, he traveled to Saguache where he was employed by Otto Mears, building roads from Saguache to Gunnison, and from Indian Creek to Ouray. His pay was fifty cents per day for himself, and fifty cents for his team, making a total of one dollar a day for both.
A few months later, he met a young man by the name of John Jennings, who also had a string of horses. They got together and formed a partnership and started to haul supplies from Saguache to Ouray, Silverton, and Durango over the Old Indian Trails.
Dad was an excellent shot with a gun. One time while they were camped near Pagosa Springs, a band of renegade Navajos attacked them. The Indians rode round and round their camp and wagons, getting closer and closer each time around, Finally John said to Dad, "You take the head one and I will take the one in the back. They each got their Indian and another time around they got two more. After that, the Indians gave up and rode away. They'd had enough.
After the encounter with the Indians, John and Dad quit hauling supplies to Durango, but still hauled to Ouray and Sllverton and Telluride. By the year 1875 the Spanish had made a pack trail from Ouray to Silverton, then to the top of Ice Mountain, and down into Telluride by way of Bridal Veil Falls. They received twenty-five dollars for a 100 pound sack of sugar and the same for 100 lbs. of flour. They also hauled a lot of whiskey as it was in great demand in those days.
A soldier at Fort Crawford named Aubrey Lay, took Mother (Talitha McNeil) to a dance near Ridgway. There she met my father, Oristus Church and he was an excellent dancer and she loved to dance with him. Before the evening was over he had proposed to her but she told him that she had not planned to get married yet. Two weeks later they met again at the Ridgway dance and he asked her again if she would marry him and she accepted. The next week she and Oristus and Hiram (her younger brother) rode horseback over to Columbia, which is now Telluride, and they were married by the Justice of the Peace, William Romine, the only Justice in Western Colorado at that time.
(The rest is just a summary of what was included in the article): After getting married they lived on Billy Creek, east of Ridgway and planted the first wheat. Shortly after they moved to Bear Creek Falls above Ouray where they tended a toll gate for Otto Mears. Oristus and his father also build a flour mill there and a hydro-electric wheel at the Ames Power Plant in Ophir. Then they moved to Portland, north of Ouray and lived in a tent beside the teepee of Chief Ouray.
In 1882 when the Uncompahgre Valley opened to homesteading, Oristus, his brother Shep, and Steward Lee all staked claimes northwest of Colorow. (Olathe) Oristus built a cabin and got the family moved in where their son, Aubrey, was born. He was the first white child born in what is now Olathe. They moved to the foot of Keystone Hill in 1885 and kept the toll gate for Otto Mears until 1890. In 1891 they moved into a new house that George Ash (Olathe pioneer) helped Oristus build. They planted acres of garden vegetables which they then hauled by wagon to Telluride. One day in 1897 Oristus became sick and died three days later. He was buried on Aubrey's birthday and was one of the first burials in the Olathe Cemetery.
My father, Oristus Church, was born in Wisconsin in 1857, As a young boy he got a job hauling ail across Oshkosh Lake in northern Wisconsin from Manitowok to Wontoma. In winter they arried mall by sled and in summer by canoe.
Dad came from Wisconsin to Colorado in 1874 by covered wagon. He brought with him nine horses and followed the Arkansas River to Pueblo. From Pueblo, he traveled to Saguache where he was employed by Otto Mears, building roads from Saguache to Gunnison, and from Indian Creek to Ouray. His pay was fifty cents per day for himself, and fifty cents for his team, making a total of one dollar a day for both.
A few months later, he met a young man by the name of John Jennings, who also had a string of horses. They got together and formed a partnership and started to haul supplies from Saguache to Ouray, Silverton, and Durango over the Old Indian Trails.
Dad was an excellent shot with a gun. One time while they were camped near Pagosa Springs, a band of renegade Navajos attacked them. The Indians rode round and round their camp and wagons, getting closer and closer each time around, Finally John said to Dad, "You take the head one and I will take the one in the back. They each got their Indian and another time around they got two more. After that, the Indians gave up and rode away. They'd had enough.
After the encounter with the Indians, John and Dad quit hauling supplies to Durango, but still hauled to Ouray and Sllverton and Telluride. By the year 1875 the Spanish had made a pack trail from Ouray to Silverton, then to the top of Ice Mountain, and down into Telluride by way of Bridal Veil Falls. They received twenty-five dollars for a 100 pound sack of sugar and the same for 100 lbs. of flour. They also hauled a lot of whiskey as it was in great demand in those days.
A soldier at Fort Crawford named Aubrey Lay, took Mother (Talitha McNeil) to a dance near Ridgway. There she met my father, Oristus Church and he was an excellent dancer and she loved to dance with him. Before the evening was over he had proposed to her but she told him that she had not planned to get married yet. Two weeks later they met again at the Ridgway dance and he asked her again if she would marry him and she accepted. The next week she and Oristus and Hiram (her younger brother) rode horseback over to Columbia, which is now Telluride, and they were married by the Justice of the Peace, William Romine, the only Justice in Western Colorado at that time.
(The rest is just a summary of what was included in the article): After getting married they lived on Billy Creek, east of Ridgway and planted the first wheat. Shortly after they moved to Bear Creek Falls above Ouray where they tended a toll gate for Otto Mears. Oristus and his father also build a flour mill there and a hydro-electric wheel at the Ames Power Plant in Ophir. Then they moved to Portland, north of Ouray and lived in a tent beside the teepee of Chief Ouray.
In 1882 when the Uncompahgre Valley opened to homesteading, Oristus, his brother Shep, and Steward Lee all staked claimes northwest of Colorow. (Olathe) Oristus built a cabin and got the family moved in where their son, Aubrey, was born. He was the first white child born in what is now Olathe. They moved to the foot of Keystone Hill in 1885 and kept the toll gate for Otto Mears until 1890. In 1891 they moved into a new house that George Ash (Olathe pioneer) helped Oristus build. They planted acres of garden vegetables which they then hauled by wagon to Telluride. One day in 1897 Oristus became sick and died three days later. He was buried on Aubrey's birthday and was one of the first burials in the Olathe Cemetery.
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