Setting the record straight - Dissecting the Westwood article line by line

Westwood published an article about the Cotopaxi Colony this week.  There were a few mistakes and I am attempting to correct them line by line in this blog.

This article went to print with Nancy Oswald's name as Nancy Osborne.  The online version has been edited, but the printed version is incorrect. 

"They lie fenced off from the other 211 bodies buried in the cemetery" 

There would be no fence if it wasn't for  Nelson, and his family.  They did the work of cleaning up this abandoned part of the cemetery, got the funding to erect the fence, the marker, and the memorial headstone. A ton of hard, physical labor.

today serves as a center for the ranching families in the area. 

Most of the land has been taken over by developments and you need to go quite far away to discover any working ranches these days.  Locals will joke and say, "if you blink your eyes, you will miss it!"  Cotopaxi is not a "center".

These gravestones are the last vestige of an agricultural colony that was once here;

There were no gravestones in 1882.  The Youngs  have kept the cemetery records since the earliest days.  A funeral home placed a metal maker stating "Russian Jews Graves" on the ground. 

with May 31 the deadline for proof of Emanuel Saltiel’s innocence.

With the amount of evidence that already exists, Emanuel Saltiel was not innocent. 

a retired investment-bank director and securities analyst,. 

left out the credentials of others that were interviewed.  Why?

 Lowe, who’s lived in the Cotopaxi area for 42 years 

My father purchased the Cotopaxi Texaco gas station in 1973.   I first moved to Canon City in 1974 and yes, I have been going to Cotopaxi ever since.  I lived there for 3 short months in 1975 and I also lived in the mountains south east of Cotopaxi for 3 years in the 1980s.  But I also lived in San Diego for 9 years and the Denver metro area for 15 years.

Miles is a distant cousin. 

Of note, while Miles claimed to be a "distant cousin", he has a completely different DNA haplogroup from E. H. Saltiel's descendants.  In order to descend from the same biological grandparent, on would need to have identical DNA.  Miles allegations show that the closest possible relationship would be 3rd cousin 4 times removed.  But DNA disagrees with that allegation.  Even without DNA, we can prove that Miles does not descend from E. H. Saltiel who was in Cotopaxi.  

a state historical marker offers what had previously been the generally accepted version of what happened to the colony

This article shows ONE person who is questioning that history.  History that has been accepted for the last 134 years. 

who takes issue with it on his meticulously researched and ever-expanding website dedicated to unearthing a more balanced account

This website has assembled articles on Cotopaxi,   purged them of their original footnotes and bibliographies where they did exist and added personal thoughts to them.  This is not research.  It is the opinion of a single person.

discovered in research he commissioned, 

Flora Satt referenced these documents in her 1950 thesis.  By wiping out all of her footnotes and bibliography, he can now state that he is the person who discovered these in his research.   Flora Satt found all of these documents.   I have had all of them in my possession since the early 2000s.  Anyone can find them by visiting the Denver Public Library, the Colorado History Center, the Fremont County History center, or Beck Archives at Denver University. 

and even offers a speculative economic model of what happened. 

SPECULATIVE is defined as "based on conjecture rather than knowledge"

 irked both Jennifer Lowe and Miles Saltiel

I had explained to this writer that the article by Adam Rovner was filled with fallacies.  Adam started the article by calling Jacob and Nettie Milstein a "one-eyed farmer and his fallen bride."  This is not an accurate picture of Nettie Milstein.  I have never used the expression “irked."

Miles so much so that he was spurred to offer bounties for missing documents  

“Bounties" tends to conjure up the idea that you are in search of a criminal.

“I explained that I told the story based on the record I had. 

No research done for that article

That started our relationship.  

Is this a paid partnership?  Adam has been hired to review documents to be submitted to Miles.

he has nominated me as someone who is impartial, who is willing to be honest.

Yet he stated that my research is not professional.  That would make him partial.

historical debate and personality battle between him and Jen.  

I avoid Miles Saltiel to the extent I can.   I have never had a debate with him.  I simply state the facts when asked a question.

She blames [Emanuel Saltiel] for duping the poor Jews.  

I have never said that.  Do I question the motive of E. H. Saltiel for bringing the Jews to Cotopaxi - of course I do.   Do I blame Saltiel?  I have never said that.

Even though he’s biased, I very much applaud his search — it’s a real historian’s impulse.”

Adam Rovner clearly tells us that Miles Saltiel is biased.  Yet he applauds his research. He identifies him as a "real historian."  On what basis?

Sixty-three colonists, many from interrelated families, arrived at Cotopaxi on May 8, 1882.

Only 50 people arrived and it was on May 9, 1882. 

witnessed by the 200-odd residents of the railroad town at the time;  

The 1880 census for Cotopaxi shows us there were 77 people living in Cotopaxi.  I do not believe that it grew by another 133 people before the colonists arrived in 1882.   The 1882 city directory confirms this.

On their way to the colony site, the immigrants let their oxen loose to graze the first night and lost them — forcing them to pull their wagons themselves the next day

More likely they were stolen by the local cattle rustlers.  Common in that area at that time.

farming anything in the dry scrublands of Colorado at 6,280 feet above sea level 

Cotopaxi's altitude is 6380'.  The farms were located at 8000' or higher.

Only one of the colonists had farming experience.  

We know that there were at least 5 farmers in this group. The ships manifests show us that Max Shuteran, Solomon Shuteran, Joseph Nudelman and Isaac Schames were farmers.  We know that the Milsteins were farmers in Ekaterinoslav before arriving.  

(then again, he also turned out to be Schwarz’s uncle)

an allegation that has never been proven. 

And a makeshift synagogue in Cotopaxi was dedicated on June 23, 1883, as reported in the Jewish Messenger:

Nowhere does this article identify it as a "makeshift" synagogue.   It is a small synagogue.

Two marriages took place there

  I have 3 marriage certificates, all 3 signed by Rabbi Krupitsky.

a welcome change from the children’s deaths of the previous year. 

The 3 children's deaths and the 3 weddings all took place in 1882 - the same year.

Rio Grande. 

To be more accurate, it was the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad

In a 2005 piece, Miles says his ancestor 

E. H. Saltiel is not an ancestor to Miles.  

Per above, we know that E. H. Saltiel is not an ancestor of Miles.

“planned an act of high-profile benefaction. It is far more in accordance with Jewish business conduct that a prosperous entrepreneur at the heart of a local Jewish community should seek prestige from public works than he should court public disdain by abusing his coreligionists.”

This is purely conjecture on the part of Miles.  E. H. Saltiel made the arrangements for them to come to Cotopaxi,  hired E. S. Hart to build their houses, and was off traveling across the country as had been his pattern in years before and after the Colony.

That a get-together thirty years after the failure of the colony would be termed something that grim is telling.

The get-together was in 1925 and the Colony disbanded in 1884, this was 41 years later, not 30 years!

“I’ve plucked all the low-hanging fruit, as it were.   

 meaning everything that's available online which had already been found by Flora Satt.

without any Emanuel Saltiel figure. 

 Nancy left him out of her book.  It’s the story about a little girl who was part of the Colony.  There was no need to reference Saltiel.    It is a fictional history book.  Does not require the facts.

Moore’s site, started in 2001, is notably hostile to both Emanuel and Miles. “No smooth talking is going to get in the way of history on this site,” it pronounces, referring to Miles Saltiel’s website as “last and least.” 

The "last and least" comment references additional information on the cotopaxi-colorado.com, a different site from cotopaxi-colony.com  Both of these sites are owned by Nelson.  Neither one of these sites reference or link to Miles' site.  This information was posted long before Miles created his near site.   Miles chose his identical site name in order to create confusion.Nelson states in many locations, "do not be upset with Saltiel."

“I thought, this just doesn’t hold water.”

This was said to discredit Nelson's research and work.    If you read everything on Nelson's website, you will find that it is well documented.  The information, including Flora Satt's thesis is preserved in it's original format.  Nothing has been taken out or edited.

“I don’t know of a truly legitimate historical researcher who would not reveal documents to other researchers for review. 

An attempt to discredit my research.  I have an MBA degree.  I have been doing genealogy research for at least 40 years.  I do not share my findings because I have not published them yet.

For her part, Lowe says she intends to share the new information when she presents on “Mayhem and Meshuganah for Jewish Settlers in Cotopaxi, Colorado” on August 10 at the International Conference on Jewish Genealogy in Seattle. 

I said that I was presenting the story of Cotopaxi at the conference in Seattle.  In a later discussion, I said that when I have published my findings, I will donate all of my documents to the History Center here in Canon City.

could be related by marriage to the colonists through his wife 

Miles knows we are not related to the colonists yet he still continues to raise the question.  

But Miles Saltiel has a backup explanation for why Lowe and Moore could be pursuing their research.  

There are many people who enjoy researching the history of an area that they live in or have ties to.  My family has lived in the Cotopaxi area for over 4 decades.  Nelson has always lived there.  I now live 35 miles away.  I wonder why this is an issue for Miles?

Miles continues: “I can’t stop people thinking what they want to think. If the descendants of the settlers wish to believe that Saltiel was a villain, I can’t stop them. 

Nor can anyone stop Miles from trying to make the Saltiel name as clean as possible. 

I just want to know what really happened 

We already know what really happened.  It has been well documented.

Mills: “You are a Jew, Mr. Saltiel.”
Saltiel: “Yes, sir. I am one of the only two ancient Jews in Denver.”
Mills: “Come now, Mr. Saltiel.”
Saltiel: “Yes, this is true, the others are mongrels.”

 E. H. Saltiel himself, is calling everyone else a mongrel.

one that makes no mention of Saltiel,  

The story of Cotopaxi is not about Saltiel.  He was one man.  There were 71 colonists.  This is the story about the Jewish immigrants, their struggle to farm in near impossible conditions.  Seventeen families who gave up everything to come to this country, to flea the terrorism they were enduring under the Russian pogroms at that time.  This is the story about their faith in God, their customs and traditions, their ernest desire to farm this land. It's about documenting their history to the point that is possible.

And now, a man who states he is a distant cousin,  who does not descend from Saltiel or any of the colonists, who lives in England,  who has no connection to Cotopaxi itself,  who is not a US citizen, is wanting to alter past American history.   History that has stood it's ground for the last 134 years.  One must surely question why.

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