William Larimer Jr. (October 24, 1809 – May 16, 1875) was a
Kansas state senator, American settler, and land developer who is best known as the founder of
Denver,
Colorado, in 1858. Larimer often went by "General Larimer", having acquired the title in the Pennsylvania Militia.
Biography
Larimer was born in
Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, and made his first fortune in the railroad industry in
Pittsburgh. He became a land speculator in the 1850s in the
Kansas Territory
The Territory of Kansas was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from May 30, 1854, until January 29, 1861, when the eastern portion of the territory was admitted to the United States, Union as the Slave and ...
, founding a homestead in
Leavenworth where he lived with his wife and nine children. In 1858 Larimer helped found the Denver City Land Company with the intention of creating a new city in the western part of the territory.
On November 22, 1858, Larimer arrived at a hill overlooking the confluence of
Cherry Creek and the
South Platte River. The site was across Cherry Creek from the existing settlement of
Auraria, founded by William Greenburry Russell who is credited with starting the Pikes Peak Gold rush. Larimer staked his claim by laying
cottonwood logs along a square-mile parcel of land on the hill. Larimer chose the name "Denver City" to honor the governor of the Kansas Territory,
James W. Denver
James William "Jim" Denver (October 23, 1817 – August 9, 1892) was an American politician, soldier and lawyer. He served in the California state government, as an officer in the United States Army in two wars, and as a Democratic member of th ...
, with the intention that the city would become the county seat of Arapaho County. In a letter dated February 1859, he had declared that "I am Denver City."
Larimer planned the site and aggressively sold tracts to miners and other migrants traveling through the
Rocky Mountains. In the first years, tracts were often traded for grubstakes and in gambling. In 1860, all of the stockholders of Denver City merged with their rivals in Auraria, forming one city under the name Denver. Larimer was instrumental in the formation of the
Colorado Territory in 1861, and in making Denver its capital. He anticipated being named the first governor of the territory, but was disappointed when
Abraham Lincoln gave the appointment to
William Gilpin of
Missouri, in part as a favor to the governor of the state. After this unexpected turn of events, Larimer became a United States commissioner and a judge of probate for the First Judicial District of Colorado. During the Civil War, he became a colonel for the Third Regiment of Colorado Volunteers, and after returned to Kansas.
After serving as a Kansas state senator from 1867 until 1870, Larimer retired to his family farm in Leavenworth, Kansas, where he died in 1875. He is commemorated in the city he helped found by Larimer Street in downtown, as well as
Larimer Square. He is also commemorated by
Larimer County, Colorado
Larimer County is a county located in the U.S. state of Colorado. As of the 2020 census, the population was 359,066. The county seat and most populous city is Fort Collins. The county was named for William Larimer, Jr., the founder of Denver.
...
, in the northern part of the state, and by the
Larimer neighborhood in
Pittsburgh.
References
Bibliography
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Larimer, William
1809 births
1875 deaths
American city founders
History of Denver
Businesspeople from Denver
Businesspeople from Pittsburgh
Kansas state senators
Politicians from Denver
Burials at Allegheny Cemetery
19th-century American politicians
American militia generals
19th-century American businesspeople
Military personnel from Colorado