Union Colony of Colorado facts for kids

The Union Colony of Colorado was a special group started in the 1800s. It was also known as the Greeley Colony or The Union Temperance Colony. This group aimed to create new farming towns in the South Platte River valley in what is now Colorado.

The idea for the colony began in October 1869. A man named Nathan Meeker wanted to build a community with strong moral values. The colony was officially founded in March 1870, where the city of Greeley, Colorado is today. A famous newspaper editor, Horace Greeley, supported the colony financially. He believed in settling the American West. The Union Colony helped develop new ways to bring water to farms, called irrigation. This showed that farming could be a big success in Colorado, just like mining.

Why the Colony Started

Horace Greeley, the newspaper editor, traveled west in 1859. This was during the time of the Colorado Gold Rush. He visited places like Denver and Fort Laramie. His journey took him through the same valleys where the Union Colony would later be built. He saw the potential for new settlements there.

Nathan Meeker's Vision

In 1869, Horace Greeley sent Nathan Meeker to the Colorado Territory. Meeker was the agricultural editor for Greeley's newspaper, the New York Tribune. His job was to find a good spot for a new colony. Meeker returned to New York City in the fall of 1869. He reported that the South Platte Valley was a great place for the new community.

In October, Meeker started organizing the colony. On December 14, 1869, he put an advertisement in the Tribune. He asked for people to join his new project. Meeker specifically looked for people with good character. They also needed to be able to read and write. He wanted people who supported the Temperance movement, which promoted a lifestyle of self-control and high moral standards. Joining the colony cost $160. More than 3,000 people replied to the ad. Meeker chose 700 people, but 90 of them later decided not to join.

A former Union general, Robert Alexander Cameron, became an important leader. He served as the first vice president and later president of the colony. He also managed the colony's daily operations. Cameron later became president of another colony in Fort Collins in 1872.

Building the New Community

With the money collected from members, Nathan Meeker and two other leaders traveled west in the spring of 1870. They bought a large piece of land in Weld County. This land was near where the Cache la Poudre and South Platte Rivers meet. Here, they started their new settlement.

Growth and Challenges

At first, the Union Colony grew quickly and did very well. It attracted other settlers to the area. However, not everyone liked the colony's strict rules about moral standards. Some settlers decided to move to other nearby lands. For example, a man named Jacob Flowers was one of these people.

In 1872, the success of the Union Colony inspired its leaders to start another colony. This new settlement was built upstream on the Poudre River, in Fort Collins. The city of Greeley itself officially became a city in 1886.

Fame and Legacy

During the 1870s, the Union Colony became famous for its advanced use of irrigation. Visitors noted that almost everyone in the community helped maintain the irrigation ditches. These ditches brought water from rivers to the farms.

Nathan Meeker was killed in western Colorado in 1879 during an event known as the "Meeker Massacre". The irrigation system built by the Union Colony is still very important today. It helps farmers grow crops in the area. However, as more towns grow, some of these valuable farmlands are disappearing.

Lasting Influence

The Union Colony's impact on the region's history is still recognized. For a long time, Greeley was a "dry municipality." This meant that selling alcohol was not allowed there until 1972. Because of this, some nearby towns grew faster. They offered places to buy drinks to people from Greeley. Two small towns, Rosedale and Garden City, were even created for this purpose. They served the needs of students and teachers from the nearby University of Northern Colorado.

Today, the fire department in Greeley is called the "Union Colony Fire Rescue Authority." Also, a large city building complex is named the "Union Colony Civic Center." These names show how important the original colony was to the area's history.