Frederick Walker Pitkin (August 31, 1837 – December 18, 1886), a U.S.

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politician, served as the second Governor of

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the ...

, United States from 1879 to 1883.

Life and career

Frederick Pitkin was born in Manchester, Connecticut. He graduated cum laude from

Wesleyan University Wesleyan University ( ) is a private liberal arts university in Middletown, Connecticut. Founded in 1831 as a men's college under the auspices of the Methodist Episcopal Church and with the support of prominent residents of Middletown, the ...

in 1858, and earned a law degree from

Albany Law School Albany Law School is a private law school in Albany, New York. It was founded in 1851 and is the oldest independent law school in the nation. It is accredited by the American Bar Association and has an affiliation agreement with University at Al ...

in 1859. Following graduation, he moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin to establish the law firm of Palmer, Hooker, and Pitkin. In 1872, he resigned from the firm due to illness, and set sail for Europe in search of a cure. Returning to the United States in 1874, he settled in southwestern Colorado, where his health stabilized, and resumed his career as an attorney. In addition, he invested in the mining industry. Utilizing his contacts in the mining industry, he announced his candidacy for Governor of Colorado in 1878, and won. During his two terms as governor, he dealt with a number of crises including the railway feud involving the Atchison, Topeka-Santa Fe, and the Denver-Rio Grande rail companies. He ordered the suppression of the

Ute Indian Ute () are the Indigenous people of the Ute tribe and culture among the Indigenous peoples of the Great Basin. They had lived in sovereignty in the regions of present-day Utah and Colorado in the Southwestern United States for many centuries unt ...

uprising at the Milk Creek Battle or

Meeker Massacre Meeker Massacre, or Meeker Incident, White River War, Ute War, or the Ute Campaign), took place on September 29, 1879 in Colorado. Members of a band of Ute Indians ( Native Americans) attacked the Indian agency on their reservation, killing th ...

in 1879. In 1880, he declared martial law during the mining strike at

Leadville The City of Leadville is a statutory city that is the county seat, the most populous community, and the only incorporated municipality in Lake County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 2,602 at the 2010 census and an estimated ...

. He was an unsuccessful candidate for U.S. Senate in

1882 Events January–March * January 2 ** The Standard Oil Trust is secretly created in the United States to control multiple corporations set up by John D. Rockefeller and his associates. ** Irish-born author Oscar Wilde arrives in ...

. Following his retirement from public office, he settled in Pueblo, Colorado and resumed his law practice and mining business. He died in Pueblo and was buried in Riverside Cemetery in Denver, Colorado. Later, his remains were moved to Fairmount Cemetery in Denver. He and his wife Fidelia James, a native of Lockport,

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, had three children: Robert James Pitkin, Florence Pitkin, and George Orrin Pitkin.

Entities named after Pitkin

* Pitkin County, Colorado * Pitkin, Colorado * Pitkin Avenue,

Saguache, Colorado Saguache (suh-WATCH ) is a Statutory Town in and the county seat of Saguache County, Colorado, United States. The population was 493 at the U.S. Census 2010. History Saguache is a small historical village in an agricultural area in southern ...

* Pitkin Street, Fort Collins, Colorado * Pitkin Avenue, Glenwood Springs, Colorado * Pitkin Avenue,

Grand Junction, Colorado Grand Junction is a home rule municipality that is the county seat and the most populous municipality of Mesa County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 65,560 at the 2020 United States Census, making Grand Junction the 17th mo ...

* Pitkin Avenue,

Pueblo, Colorado Pueblo () is a home rule municipality that is the county seat and the most populous municipality of Pueblo County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 111,876 at the 2020 United States Census, making Pueblo the ninth most popu ...

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pitkin, Frederick Walker 1837 births 1886 deaths Republican Party governors of Colorado People from Pueblo, Colorado People from Manchester, Connecticut American mining businesspeople Colorado lawyers Wesleyan University alumni Albany Law School alumni Burials at Fairmount Cemetery (Denver, Colorado) 19th-century American politicians 19th-century American lawyers 19th-century American businesspeople