The Union Colony of Colorado (also called the Greeley Colony and The Union Temperance Colony) was a 19th-century private enterprise formed to promote
agricultural
Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating Plant, plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of Sedentism, sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of Domestication, domesticated species created food ...
settlements in the
South Platte River
The South Platte River is one of the two principal tributaries of the Platte River. Flowing through the U.S. states of Colorado and Nebraska, it is itself a major river of the American Midwestern United States, Midwest and the American Sout ...
valley in the
Colorado Territory
The Territory of Colorado was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from February 28, 1861, until August 1, 1876, when it was admitted to the Union as the State of Colorado.
The territory was organized in the w ...
. Organization of the colony began in October 1869 by
Nathan Meeker
Nathan Cook Meeker (July 12, 1817 – September 30, 1879) was a 19th-century American journalist, homesteader, entrepreneur, and Indian agent for the federal government. He is noted for his founding in 1870 of the Union Colony, a cooperative a ...
in order to establish a religiously oriented
utopia
A utopia ( ) typically describes an imaginary community or society that possesses highly desirable or nearly perfect qualities for its members. It was coined by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book ''Utopia (book), Utopia'', describing a fictional ...
n community of "high moral standards". The colony was founded in March 1870 at the site of present-day
Greeley, Colorado
Greeley is the home rule municipality city that is the county seat and the most populous municipality of Weld County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 108,795 at the 2020 United States Census, an increase of 17.12% since the 2010 ...
. Union Colony was financially backed and promoted by ''
New York Tribune
The ''New-York Tribune'' was an American newspaper founded in 1841 by editor Horace Greeley. It bore the moniker ''New-York Daily Tribune'' from 1842 to 1866 before returning to its original name. From the 1840s through the 1860s it was the domi ...
'' editor,
Horace Greeley
Horace Greeley (February 3, 1811 – November 29, 1872) was an American newspaper editor and publisher who was the founder and newspaper editor, editor of the ''New-York Tribune''. Long active in politics, he served briefly as a congressm ...
, a prominent advocate of the settlement of the
American West
The Western United States (also called the American West, the Far West, and the West) is the region comprising the westernmost states of the United States. As American settlement in the U.S. expanded westward, the meaning of the term ''the Wes ...
. The
homesteaded colony greatly advanced
irrigation
Irrigation (also referred to as watering) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow Crop, crops, Landscape plant, landscape plants, and Lawn, lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,00 ...
usage in present-day northern Colorado, demonstrating the viability of cultivation at a time when agriculture was emerging as a rival to mining as the principal basis for the territorial economy.
Background
Horace Greeley had journeyed west in 1859 at the height of the
Colorado Gold Rush
The Pike's Peak Gold Rush (later known as the Colorado Gold Rush) was the boom in gold prospecting and mining in the Pike's Peak Country of western Kansas Territory and southwestern Nebraska Territory of the United States that began in July 1858 a ...
, going from
Denver
Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...
to
Fort Laramie
Fort Laramie (founded as Fort William and known for a while as Fort John) was a significant 19th-century trading-post, diplomatic site, and military installation located at the confluence of the Laramie and the North Platte rivers. They joined ...
via the
Overland Stage Line
The Overland Trail (also known as the Overland Stage Line) was a stagecoach and wagon trail in the American West during the 19th century. While portions of the route had been used by explorers and trappers since the 1820s, the Overland Trail was ...
before continuing on to
California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
. Greeley's route took him up the valleys of the South Platte and Cache la Poudre near the eventual location of the colony.
History
In 1869 Greeley sent Meeker, then employed as the agricultural editor of the Tribune, to the Colorado Territory to seek out a location for a colony to promote settlement in the West. Meeker returned to
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
in the autumn of 1869, reporting that the South Platte Valley presented a good opportunity for the colony. In October, Meeker began organizing the enterprise, and on December 14, 1869, he placed an advertisement in the Tribune calling for volunteers to join him in the new venture. Meeker's advertisement specifically sought volunteers of high moral standards, who were
literate
Literacy in its broadest sense describes "particular ways of thinking about and doing reading and writing" with the purpose of understanding or expressing thoughts or ideas in written form in some specific context of use. In other words, huma ...
and adherents to the tenets of the
Temperance movement
The temperance movement is a social movement promoting temperance or complete abstinence from consumption of alcoholic beverages. Participants in the movement typically criticize alcohol intoxication or promote teetotalism, and its leaders emph ...
s. The cost of membership for those accepted to the colony was set at $160. Of the more than 3000 people who responded, Meeker selected 700 applications as prospective colonists, ninety of whom later backed out.
Former
Union
Union commonly refers to:
* Trade union, an organization of workers
* Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets
Union may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment
Music
* Union (band), an American rock group
** ''Un ...
general
Robert Alexander Cameron
Robert Alexander Cameron (February 22, 1828 – March 15, 1894) was an American soldier and newspaper publisher. He served as a Union general during the American Civil War. During the war he was made a brigadier general and after the war was ...
served as the first vice president and later president of the colony, as well as the colony's superintendent. Cameron would also become president of the
Fort Collins colony in 1872.
Establishment
With the collected membership fees, Meeker journeyed west in the Spring of 1870 with two other officers. They purchased a tract of land in
Weld County
Weld County is a county located in the U.S. state of Colorado. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population was 328,981. The county seat is Greeley, Colorado, Greeley.
Weld County comprises the Greeley, CO Metropolitan Stati ...
, near the confluence of the
Cache la Poudre
The Cache la Poudre River ( ), also known as the Poudre River, is a river in the state of Colorado in the United States.
Name
The name of the river () is a corruption of the original Cache à la Poudre, or "cache of powder". It refers to an ...
and South Platte Rivers and founded the settlement. Initially, the colony thrived and expanded, attracting other
homesteaders
The Homestead Acts were several laws in the United States by which an applicant could acquire ownership of government land or the public domain, typically called a homestead. In all, more than of public land, or nearly 10 percent of th ...
to the area. The religious nature of the colony was not agreeable to all the settlers, however, so a portion of them spread out to other nearby lands in the area.
Jacob Flowers, for example, was one of these. In 1872, the success of the colony inspired some of its officers to found
another colony upstream on the Poudre River at
Fort Collins
A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...
. The city of Greeley itself was incorporated in 1886.
Notoriety
During the 1870s, the colony became known for its heavy use of irrigation, with one visitor reporting that nearly every person in the cooperative was involved in the maintaining of at least one irrigation ditch. Meeker was killed by
Ute
Ute or UTE may refer to:
* Ute (band), an Australian jazz group
* Ute (given name)
* ''Ute'' (sponge), a sponge genus
* Ute (vehicle), an Australian and New Zealand term for certain utility vehicles
* Ute, Iowa, a city in Monona County along ...
s at the "
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 western Colorado in 1879. The irrigation system built by the Colony remains an important part of the area today, although growing urbanization threatens more and more of the productive croplands the irrigation systems allowed to be utilized.
Significance and legacy
The Colony's influence is recognized in the region's history. Greeley remained a
dry municipality until 1972. As a result, several nearby towns grew more rapidly as a source of liquor; and at least two small towns,
Rosedale, and
Garden City, were established and incorporated largely to allow saloons, bars, and liquor stores to feed the demand of nearby
University of Northern Colorado
The University of Northern Colorado (UNC) is a public university in Greeley, Colorado. The university was founded in 1889 as the State Normal School of Colorado and has a long history in teacher education. The institution has officially changed ...
students and faculty.
Fire protection services for the City of Greeley are today provided by the "
Union Colony Fire Rescue Authority". A major city building complex is located at the "Union Colony Civic Center."
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Union Colony Of Colorado
History of Colorado
Weld County, Colorado