First Offcial Colorado Promotional
1051. COLORADO TERRITORY. TERRITORIAL BOARD OF IMMIGRATION.
Official Information. Colorado. A Statement of Facts.... Denver: Rocky
Mountain News Steam Printing House, 1872. 35 pp., tables. 8vo, original grey
printed wrappers, stitched. Spine reinforced with black cloth tape, mild staining
to wraps, small chips at two corners, interior fine.
First edition of an early Colorado promotional, being the
first publication of the newly established Board of Immigration. DPL, Nothing
is Long Ago. A Documentary History of Colorado 1776-1976 #104 (illustrated):
“Public agencies have been prominent in the promotion of tourism since the Board
of Immigration, created by the legislature in 1872. Though charged with fostering
immigration, the Board in this first promotional pamphlet also extolled the
attractions of Colorado as a summer resort: ‘grand mountain scenery,’ ‘wonderful
geographical phenomena,’...mineral and thermal springs possessing ‘medicinal
properties of the most desirable nature,’ including ‘curative influence upon
various cutaneous and scrofulous diseases.’ The Board reasonably expected that
some tourists would settle in Colorado.... A portion might also be expected
to invest in Colorado.” Eberstadt 114:240: “Mines and mining, agriculture, timber,
education, public lands, Homestead Law, Preemption Act, colonization, the railway
system, table of distances, etc.” Herd 534: “Rare.” McMurtrie & Allen,
Early Printing in Colorado 162. Wilcox, p. 31. Wynar 5775. Section on
Pastoral Advantages: “Already immense flocks and herds occupy portions of our
territory, and stock men from Texas and elsewhere are driving their herds into
Colorado, convinced of its superior advantages over every other pastoral region
of the continent.” $600.00
1052. COLORADO TERRITORY. TERRITORIAL BOARD OF IMMIGRATION.
Resources and Advantages of Colorado.... Denver, 1873. 47 pp., tables.
8vo, original violet printed wrappers. Ex-library: inkstamps of the State Historical
and Natural History Society in Denver (on upper wrap and title), circular paper
sticker with typed call number on upper wrap. Fragile wraps worn and faded,
upper right corner chipped, some marginal browning, otherwise very good.
First edition of the second promotional issued by the Board
of Immigration. Material from the first publication by the Board (see preceding)
was used, with some revisions and rearrangement; considerable new material has
been added. Eberstadt 114:242: “The second official pamphlet. Lists the newspapers,
retail prices, railways, telegraph lines, irrigation, post offices, etc.” Herd
544: “Rare.” LC, Colorado 118: “Issued to promote rapid settlement and
development with a view to early attainment of statehood. Extolling the climate
and natural beauties, it emphasizes attractions for hunters and fishermen, mineral
wealth, agricultural resources, irrigation, and pastoral advantages.” Wilcox,
p. 31. Wynar 5775n. $300.00
1053. COLORADO TERRITORY. TERRITORIAL BOARD OF IMMIGRATION. Resources and Advantages of Colorado.... Denver, 1873. Another copy, variant wrappers. 8vo, original blue printed wrappers. Ex-library: inkstamps of the State Historical and Natural History Society in Denver (on title and several internal leaves), circular paper sticker with typed call number on upper wrap. Spine worn, moderate foxing to wraps and faint pencil notation on upper cover. $300.00
1054. [COLORADO]. AMERICAN JUNIOR RED CROSS & DENVER PUBLIC
SCHOOLS. Colorado, The Centennial State. Denver: [Smith-Brooks Printing
Co.], 1958. [80] pp., printed in green, numerous illustrations, folding map
in color. Square 12mo, original green pictorial wrappers. Very fine, enclosed
in Centennial Youth Committee envelope, and with program for the 1959 “Rush
to the Rockies” laid in.
Charming illustrations and brief text are devoted to cattle raising
and cowboys. Section on notable people associated with Colorado history includes
Buffalo Bill Cody, Isabella Bird, and John W. Iliff. Events at the Centennial
include the International Stock Show and Rodeo and “Little Britches” Rodeo.
$20.00
1055. [COLORADO]. ARKINS, Edwin G. (ed). Fifth Annual Festival
of Mountain and Plain and State Fair. [Denver: Williamson Haffner Engraving,
1899]. [48] pp., many photographs and color illustrations. Small oblong 12mo,
original highly decorative pictorial wrappers in gold and colors, stapled. Fragile
wraps a bit worn, otherwise fine. Ephemeral. No copies reported in OCLC or RLIN.
First printing of an unusual Colorado imprint documenting
one of the first public rodeos in the United States. DPL, Nothing is Long
Ago. A Documentary History of Colorado 1776-1976 (listing the program for
the first Festival of Mountain and Plain, 1895): “In the two or three decades
before World War I, conventions and expositions accounted for a very large part
of tourist travel to Colorado.... The most grandiose...was the Festival of Mountain
and Plain.... The week-long celebration of Colorado’s productivity was in part
a kind of state fair and mining exposition. But it was also an unrestrained
carnival somewhat after the pattern of the New Orleans Mardi Gras.... There
were sporting contests in bicycle racing, fire runs, and rock-drilling, and
one of the first public rodeos in America.... The Festival of Mountain
and Plain remains unchallenged as the most unusual program of community entertainment
that Colorado has ever known.” This is one of the more bizarre imprints we have
encountered, in design, illustration, and content. It consists of three pages
of text listing the events of each day (including the rodeo), numerous documentary
photographs (including “A Typical Group of Western Cowboys”), and mind-boggling
color illustrations of fair scenes and highly imaginative parade floats.
$275.00
Large Photogravures of Colorado
1056. [COLORADO]. Art Work of the State of Colorado.
Oshkosh, Wisconsin: Art Photogravure Co., 1900. 12 parts (all published), 102
large photogravure plates (some with two images per plate), ranging in size
from approximately 18.0 x 23.5 cm to 12.0 x 17.2 cm, each part with leaf or
two of text at end. 12 vols., folio, original gilt-lettered stiff brown wrappers
with faux alligator texture. Some of the fragile wraps have mild to moderate
nicking and rubbing; covers are detached from Parts 1, 2, and 4; Part 3 has
a bookplate affixed to front cover; Parts 8 and 9 are lightly water-stained
(not affecting images). Despite the flaws, most of which are due to the fragile
nature of the wrappers, a very good to fine copy, the images very fine and fresh.
These valuable documentary oversize view books published by the Art Photogravure
Company are difficult to find in collector’s condition and complete in all their
parts. The present set is complete, and the images are very fine.
First edition. Wynar 8364. This rare illustrated work on
Colorado contains stunning photogravures that offer an invaluable record of
Colorado at the turn of the century. Images include town and city views, cattle
ranches, architecture, mining operations, railroads, and, most of all, majestic
scenery. $1,375.00
Item 1056
1057. [COLORADO]. BAUMGARTEN, Idelia & Middle Park Times.
Golden Jubilee of Kremmling, 1904-1954, Hereford Capital of the World, Official
Program [wrapper title]. N.p., [1954]. [28] pp., photographic illustrations.
8vo, original white printed wrappers with illustration of a Hereford, stapled.
Text age-toned, otherwise fine.
First edition. Ephemeral Colorado local history. Includes
photograph of Kremmling, Colorado, in 1905 when it was “just a sprawling, scattered
cow town.” $40.00
1058. [COLORADO]. BEECHER ISLAND BATTLE MEMORIAL ASSOCIATION.
The Beecher Island Annual...Ninety-Third Anniversary of the Battle of Beecher
Island September 17, 18, 1868. Beecher Island: Beecher Island Battle Memorial
Association, [1960]. [2] 121 [3] pp., text illustrations (mostly photos). 8vo,
original beige printed wrappers. Fine.
First printing. Series of articles by various authors on
the Battle of Beecher Island, sparked by rustling and other depredations by
Sioux warriors in the Platte River area. $30.00
1059. [COLORADO]. [BRIGHAM, Lillian Rice]. Story of Colorado.
[Denver: American Association of University Women of Denver, 1929]. 16 pp. 12mo,
original tan decorated wrappers, stapled. One corner lightly creased, else very
fine, with a few contemporary ink corrections.
First edition. Wynar 3. This brief history includes sections
on cattle and stockraising. “There were no cattle on the plains when the emigrants
came except for the long horned cattle in Texas. Then it happened that one freighter
outfit was caught here by the winter with no grain for the oxen which were turned
loose to starve. The oxen, however, weathered the cold winter, fat and flourishing,
living on standing dried grasses. This led to the ‘trailing’ of the long horns
up from Texas” (pp. 12-13). $20.00
1060. [COLORADO]. CANON CITY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE. Canon City,
Colorado, “Out Where the West Begins”.... [Canon City]: Canon City Chamber
of Commerce, [ca. 1920]. [38] pp., profusely illustrated, mostly photos, many
full-page. Large 4to, original grey pictorial wrappers (with circular photograph
of an auto on a winding mountain road, surrounded by engraved images of agricultural
bounty, a horse on left, and a Hereford on the right), stapled. Fragile wraps
lightly worn and with a few stains, pencil notation on upper wrap, a few leaves
detached, otherwise very good. Very scarce.
First printing. A well-justified and vivaciously designed
bit of boosterism for admittedly one of the most gorgeous spots in the United
States. The subtitle “Out Where the West Begins” is a reference to Chapman’s
noted poem (see item 876 herein). This profusely illustrated, oversize local
history contains valuable documentary photographs, including a bird’s-eye view
of Canon City from Skyline Drive, Royal Gorge, Phantom Canon Highway, Main Street,
railroad depots, public and private architecture, mining, and agricultural and
pastoral pursuits. Includes a photograph entitled “Stock Raising, One of the
Leading Industries of Fremont County,” showing a herd of cattle being guided
by men on horseback. Wynar 968. $140.00
1061. [COLORADO]. CENTRAL CITY OPERA HOUSE ASSOCIATION. The
Glory That Was Gold: The Central City Opera House, a Permanent Memorial to Colorado
Pioneers.... Denver: Central City Opera House Association, [1936]. 160 pp.,
frontispiece. 12mo, original blue boards, gold printed labels on spine and upper
cover. Minor creasing to upper right front board, otherwise fine. Contemporary
ink inscription, “To a good friend, Clem Yore from Martha Goddard. August 10,
1936.”
Third edition, with addenda (first published in 1932). Wilcox, p.
23: “Irregularly issued from time to time; additional material sometimes incorporated,
sometimes appended in the form of supplements. Short biographical sketches of
pioneers and others for whom chairs in the Opera House have been named.” Wynar
126. The fairly detailed biographies include several individuals involved in
early ranching enterprises: Governor William H. Adams, Frank G. Bloom, John
B. Cosgriff, H. W. Hildebrand, etc. $30.00
1062. [COLORADO]. CENTRAL CITY OPERA HOUSE ASSOCIATION. The
Glory That Was Gold.... Denver: Central City Opera House Association, [1936]
[supplements 1938 & 1939]. 21 + 160; 64 pp., frontispiece. 12mo, original
gold-flecked tan boards with accordion-style folded d.j. with 21 pp. supplement
stapled in. Upper joint split and spine loose, else fine. Some misguided soul
has erased the pencil ownership inscription of Agnes Wright Spring, noted scholar
and librarian par excellence.
Third edition, with addenda and second and third supplements bound
in. $50.00
1063. [COLORADO]. COLORADO HISTORICAL SOCIETY. Bent’s Fort
on the Arkansas. Denver: State Historical Society of Colorado, 1954. [56]
pp., map, text illustrations by Harry G. Miller, Jr. 8vo, original green pictorial
wrappers. Fine.
First edition. This well-illustrated popular history has
brief mention of “Uncle Dick” Wootton and his famous drive of 2,000 sheep to
California; One-Eyed Juan, the celebrated Mexican vaquero and a fixture of the
Fort, whose sole occupation was to break wild horses; and Lucien Maxwell’s vast
Beaubien Miranda land grant. $30.00
1064. [COLORADO]. DAUGHTERS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION, SARAH
PLATT DECKER CHAPTER. Pioneers of the San Juan Country. Colorado Springs:
Out West Printing and Stationery Company; Durango: Durango Printing Company,
[1942-52]. 192 pp. + 198 pp. + [10] 175 pp., photographic plates, maps. 3 vols.,
12mo, original blue, tan, and green printed wrappers. A very fine set.
First edition. Guns 1246 (vol. 3 only). Wilcox, p.
36. Wynar 563 (noting that a fourth volume was published). Short articles by
many different authors including “A Cattleman’s Yarn” by C. E. Hampton, “The
Oldest Range Man” by Senator George E. West, “‘Billy’ Adams, Colorado’s Cowboy
Governor” by Genevieve E. McDermith, and “Stockmen—Heathers and Ent” by Mary
C. Ayres. There is so much good material in these modest volumes, and much of
interest for social history, army wives, and women in the cattle country, including
the “Life Story of Victoria Sophia Folck Day” (Vol. I, pp. 83-99) in which Day
tells of her experiences at Chipeta Ranch (on the Uncompahgre River near Ouray).
Day and her husband bought Chipeta Ranch in the 1880s. “I managed the one hundred
sixty acre ranch, and I made a success of it.... I built a dancing pavilion
on the ranch, at a cost of $500 and bought a $600 pianola for it. The Camp Bird
boys would phone down— ‘Can you give us a dinner and a dance tonight?’ And I
would get up a fried chicken dinner...and play the pianola until two or three
in the morning” (p. 96). $110.00
1065. [COLORADO]. DENVER POST. This Is Colorado. Denver:
Denver Post, 1959. 384 pp., profusely illustrated (many color photographs),
maps, numerous ads. Large 4to, original color photograph wrappers. Light edge
wear, otherwise fine.
First edition. Wynar 27. The special “Gold Rush Centennial
Edition” magazine section of the Denver Post. Contains sections covering
the historical spectrum of ranching in Colorado, from early sheep wars and the
Lake County War to rodeo and modern-day dude ranches. Includes a photograph
of Theodore Roosevelt at Glenwood Springs. $30.00
1066. [COLORADO]. FLORENCE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE. Beautiful
Florence: Its Resources. Its Attractions. Its Possibilities [upper wrapper
title] ...A Conservative Statement of the Advantages Offered the Investor
and Home Seeker [lower wrapper title]. [Pueblo: Chieftain Press for] The
Chamber of Commerce, Florence, [ca. 1904]. [20] pp., profusely illustrated (mostly
photographs), maps. Tall thin 8vo brochure, original pictorial self-wrappers
with map, stapled. Wrappers slightly soiled and worn along fold, a few short
marginal tears, overall very good. Laid in is a 4-page leaflet updating the
brochure. Rare (RLIN locates one copy—Yale; and OCLC reports copies at SMU,
Pikes Peak Library, Yale, and Western Reserve University).
First edition? Similar to entries in Wynar (959) and Wilcox
(p. 44); the Denver Public Library centennial exhibit catalogue lists a similar
title dated ca. 1905 ([48] pp.). A rare promotional with a good section on cattle
and livestock in Fremont County accompanied by related documentary photographs.
This work is probably more important for the history of the oil and gas industry
than ranching. “In Colorado, as in most of the western states, petroleum has
come to be the king of minerals.... Although Colorado is by no means a major
oil state...its oil industry is the second oldest in the country.... Until the
1890s when wells were opened in Boulder County, the Florence field supplied
the only oil produced between Texas and California, filling the meager illumination
and lubrication needs of the entire Rocky Mountain region. The Florence field
is described in [this] early promotional pamphlet” (DPL, Nothing is Long
Ago. A Documentary History of Colorado 1776-1976, pp. 81-82 & #82).
$495.00
1067. [COLORADO]. FORT COLLINS COURIER. Sunlight Views of
Fort Collins and Surroundings [wrapper title]. [Fort Collins: Courier Printing
and Publishing Co.], [ca. 1908]. [5] pp. (text), 43 photographic plates, one
foldout (panorama looking north on College Avenue and Linden Streets). Oblong
8vo, original black printed wrappers with red string tie. Agnes Wright Spring’s
copy. Fine. Scarce (not in OCLC; RLIN locates two copies, Yale & Colorado
State University).
First printing. Wynar 1196. Scarce promotional viewbook,
with valuable photo-documentation (Colorado Agricultural College, city and wilderness
views, resorts, activities, public and private architecture, industry, agriculture,
stockraising, horses and horse racing, etc.). At least one of the photos (“The
Great Western Sugar Company—Fort Collins Factory”) shows a large smokestack
belching clouds of black smoke into the atmosphere; strange though this image
may seem for a promotional, such evidence of industry was a typical touting
device of the time. Photographs of stockraising interest include Davy’s Ranch
on the Laramie River, Brown’s Mountain Ranch (near Livermore), and lamb feeding
near Fort Collins. $140.00
1068. [COLORADO]. GEORGETOWN COURIER. Among the Silver Seams
of Colorado [wrapper title]. [Georgetown]: Georgetown Courier, [1886].
20 pp., numerous engraved text illustrations. 8vo, original blue pictorial wrappers,
sewn. Very fine. Rare
First edition. Wynar 766. This rare and beautiful little
promotional touts the Georgetown-Middle Park region of Colorado as an ideal
location for a holiday, a lifetime, or profitable investment. Imaginatively
entitled Among the Silver Seams, the anonymous author apparently possessed
a silver tongue: “Variety in occupation is the only rest that an active, pushing
man dare seek in these times of tremendous competition and marvelous industry.
Even his holiday must contribute to the dominant spirit of the times.... He
comes from the hot, dusty cities of the eastern and middle states to find in
the cool, dry, bracing air and clear sunlight of Colorado new life and strength,
and in her mines, her ranches, her coal fields, her quarries, all the elements
of substantial fortune.” As for the author’s opinion on the prospects for stockraising
in the region: “The hay and agricultural lands along the streams [of Middle
Park] are rapidly preempted and the grazing lands support thousands of beef
and cattle stock” (p. 18). The charming engraved illustrations include a bird’s-eye
view of Georgetown, mining operations, Devil’s Gate, “On the Road to Berthoud
Pass,” Mount of the Holy Cross, Gray’s Peak, Green Lake, and “A Rocky Mountain
Nook” (angling scene). $375.00
1069. [COLORADO]. History of Clear Creek and Boulder Valleys,
Colorado. Containing a Brief History of the State of Colorado.... Embracing
Its Geological, Physical, and Climatic Features; Its Agricultural, Stockgrowing,
Railroad, and Mining Interests; an Account of the Ute Trouble; a History of
Gilpin, Clear Creek, Boulder and Jefferson Counties, and Biographical Sketches.
Chicago: O. L. Baskin & Co., 1880. 710 [1, misnumbered 713] pp., a profusion
of engraved and lithographed plates (portraits and views), text illustrations,
map. Thick 4to, original three-quarter brown sheep over brown cloth gilt, spine
gilt, a.e.g. Moderate outer wear (especially to the fragile cheap sheep on the
spine and corners), upper hinge cracked (but strong), otherwise very fine and
bright, the plates pristine.
First edition of a bedrock book for Colorado history. Herd
528, 2409: “Scarce.” Wilcox, p. 60. Wynar 594. This weighty, well-illustrated
tome has a section on “Stock-raising in Colorado” and many pioneer cattlemen
are found among the biographies (these biographies in themselves constitute
a mug book within the larger history). From the chapter on stockraising: “Enough
has already been said in this work to indicate that the pastoral resources of
Colorado are second only to the industry of mining in point of profit if not
of production. The net profit of stock-growing exceeds that of agriculture every
year. Probably during the decade preceding the eventful year when the mines
of Leadville began to yield up their hidden treasures, the net profit of mining
over and above the expense incurred in its prosecution, was not much greater
than the net profit of the stock business. This is a startling statement....
The magnitude of business under the new development is something astonishing.
Next to Texas, Colorado probably produces more beef than any other State in
the Union, and probably, more sheep and wool than any other State except New
Mexico. The business is not confined to any one section of the State, but extends
everywhere, even into the Indian Reservation.... Few cattle ranches on a large
scale are enlivened by the presence of the gentle sex.... The life of a cattle-herder
is wild, roving, adventurous. His headquarters, and his hindquarters, too, are
always in the saddle, and he soon learns to ride like a Centaur. No finer sight
of the kind can be seen anywhere, than a ‘cow-boy’ mounted on his fleet but
sure-footed pony, giving chase to a young and lively Colorado steer, as full
of dash and undaunted mettle as the man himself.... To the stranger in Colorado,
nothing connected with the cattle business can be more interesting than a general
round-up on the plains, where the cattle are abundant. It is not unusual to
see 10,000 head gathered together in a compact but moving, animated mass—a forest
of horns and heads, tossing up and down like the troubled waves of a sea.” (pp.
59-67). Stockraising is but a slice of this meaty volume, which covers every
aspect of Colorado’s history and its prospects. Special strengths are found
in mining, Native Americans, railroads, and biography. The illustrations are
outstanding, with charming Victorian views and many lithographed portraits taken
from photographs (great exhibit potential). $800.00
1070. [COLORADO]. History of Clear Creek and Boulder Valleys,
Colorado.... [Evansville, Indiana: Unigraphics Inc., 1971]. 710 [1, misnumbered
713] pp., profusely illustrated. Small 4to, original green cloth. Very fine.
Facsimile reprint of preceding. $110.00
1071. [COLORADO]. [History of Clear Creek....]. GLADDEN,
Sanford Charles. An Index to “History of Clear Creek and Boulder Valley
[sic], Colorado (1880).” [Boulder], 1970. [4] 1 [1] 37 pp., double-sided
mimeograph. 8vo, original tan printed wrappers, black cloth backstrip. Very
fine.
First edition. Assists in opening up for research the massive
History of Clear Creek and Boulder Valleys. $40.00
1072. [COLORADO]. History of the Arkansas Valley, Colorado.
Chicago: O. L. Baskin & Company, 1881. 889 pp., frontispiece, numerous
engraved and lithographed plates (portraits and views). Thick 4to, original
three-quarter brown sheep over brown cloth gilt, spine gilt, a.e.g.
First edition of an essential regional history of Colorado.
Guns 2272: “Contains chapters on the vigilantes and outlaws of Colorado.”
Herd 527, 2408: “Scarce.” Howes A314 (aa). Wilcox, p. 60. Wynar 539.
This fat volume is another of the fine Baskin publications, presenting a dense
history and mug book with outstanding iconography of Colorado. The publisher
engages in some acceptable historical recycling, in that the first two sections
on the history of Colorado and railroads as well as the section on “Stock-raising
in Colorado” are identical to that found in History of Clear Creek (see
item 1069 herein). Additional ranching material is found in the volume, including
a section on ranches in Fremont County and the livestock, cattlemen, horse owners,
and roundups in Custer County. There is a fine lithograph of “Cattle ‘Round-Up’
of James C. Jones, Bent County Colo.” (following p. 852) and a lithographed
portrait of him (following p. 430). James C. Jones grew up on the frontier of
Texas, and he and his brothers commenced stockraising in Texas after the Civil
War. In 1869 the brothers drove 4,200 of their herd to Purgatoire Creek, and
in 1870 they made another trail drive to take their remaining cattle to Colorado.
According to the author of this section, at the time of publication, Jones’
herd numbered more than 15,000 and his ranch had enlarged to 8,000 acres. Also
discussed are Jones’ experiments with Texas longhorns crossed with short-horn
cattle. Jones is not in the Handbook of Texas Online. In these Colorado
regional histories published by Baskin, one often finds valuable information
not available elsewhere on Texas ranchers and cowboys who moved or extended
their operations into Colorado. $1,100.00
1073. [COLORADO]. History of the Arkansas Valley, Colorado.
[Evansville, Indiana: Unigraphics, Inc., 1971]. 889 [3] 29 (index) pp., frontispiece,
illustrations (portraits and views), ads. Small 4to, original green cloth. Very
fine.
Facsimile reprint of preceding, with added index. $125.00
1074. [COLORADO]. LARIMER COUNTY STOCKGROWERS ASSOCIATION. The
Larimer County Stockgrowers Association, 1884-1956 [wrapper title]. [Fort
Collins]: Larimer County Stock Growers Association, 1956. 108 pp., folding map,
text illustrations, brands, ads. 12mo, original spiral-bound tan printed wrappers
illustrated with the brand of the Association. Very fine. Scarce.
First edition. Not in Herd. Wynar 6289. Bylaws and
history of the Association; brands of the members; brief history of the ranches;
and a map showing location of operation headquarters of the Association members.
$65.00
| <Back to Table of Contents | Home | <View previous group of items | View next group of items> |