New article on Cotopaxi out today

click here

Released today in the Intermountain Jewish News in the L'Chaim magazine.

An interesting perspective - asking the public to be a jury.  Yet fairly accurate.

He misquoted the website:

cotopaxi-colony.com belongs to Nelson and you will not find the articles there.  You will find his research and his commentary, not mine.

cotopaxi-colony.blogspot.com is this blog where the articles are.  Just look at the home page, down the right side and you will see links to all of the articles I have posted thus far.  (taking a short break and will get back to this in a week or so).

I do not believe I said Saltiel was "guilty as sin" - perhaps "guilty as charged"?  I know I made it clear that I have not and never would call Saltiel a "villain".   And it is not my belief that we are allowed to judge another human.  But we can show the known facts about a situation.  I think the author is attempting to do that here.  Yet much has been omitted that I would definitely want to present to a jury!

I think the greater question is whether this is a "jury" issue?  I still contend that Saltiel simply wasn't in Cotopaxi very much.    And I think the peripheral story is what matters....the fact that Saltiel had just gotten a divorce, married another woman, had small children, was still traveling to NYC and other places, was in court, in jail, dealing with mine transactions and simply not present much when the Colonists were there.

And since the findings are not complete - the story cannot be complete!  Thus the jury cannot convene and the judgement cannot be made.

Ask yourself how you might read this differently if the writer has presented me, representing the Colonists as the defendant?  After all, I suppose my research is to defend the oral histories handed down by the Colonists families.  And that would make the "bounty" side the prosecution....attempting to prosecute the Colonist for their oral histories.  Now that could have been an equally interesting story!

I had to chuckle that I am being portrayed as the prosecution.  There has been no criminal charge made against Saltiel.  I am not attempting to prove anything about Saltiel.  And I do think that's made clear in the article - I'm working to prove the accuracy of oral histories and the facts of what happened.

Yet, overall, a rather interesting take on the story.  What did you think?

I know....you think I need to skip life, finish my research, and get this written down!  OK....next week!  Unless life gets in my way.  :)


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Technology and research

In the past few years, I have given presentations on genealogy, Cotopaxi, and other topics.  Sometimes, the venue doesn't have an overhead projector, so I use 2' x 3' posterboards that I have covered with diagrams.

When I share a family tree, I print out all the pages, trim them, tape them together and create a scroll.

Today, I purchased a small hand-held projector.

It will be perfect for displaying family trees in small settings, and to show the powerpoint presentation on Cotopaxi!  What's even more fascinating is that I can download anything to my iPad, connect that to the projector and use my iPhone as a remote to page through the slides.

The guy at the Apple store didn't know if I could get that to work....so I'm quite pleased with the end results!

Now, when I travel, I just take my iPad, iPhone and this projector with is about the size of 2 iPhones!!!

I can share any family tree in a format up to 100" wide on a white wall or sheet.   When I do craft presentations, teaching techniques,  I can use my iPad camera to zoom down on my hands and share with a crowd any craft technique that I'm doing.  And I can zoom in on a photo and trace it with great detail.

Bottom line....if you want the presentation on Cotopaxi to be given in your home or to a small group....I can now supply everything needed - all you have to provide is a white wall or white sheet!

Isn't technology grand???

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Where was it notarized?

I have been doing genealogy research for years.  I have never bothered to look at the location where a document was notarized!  I think I always assumed the notarization took place where the event occurred!

Sometimes - it can change a story!

For Cotopaxi, we know that Elizabeth Saltiel joined her husband there sometime before the 1880 census was taken.  Oral history claims that she had an affair with the local postmaster, Frank Wood.

Documents tell us that he was the postmaster from May 25, 1880 until July 29, 1880.  And as far as the recorded documents go, he was the first postmaster in Cotopaxi.

On May 10, 1880, Frank Wood sold the Iron Arrow Lode to Emanuel Saltiel.

On June 19, 1880, Emanuel Saltiel created the Colorado Coal & Iron Co - which included the Iron Arrow Lode.

Jan 10, 1881, Frank Wood files a surety bond that is witnessed by Emanual Saltiel and A. C. McCoy

Mar 5, 1881, Frank Wood filed an affidavit of labor on the Cotopaxi Placer Mining Co.

And thus ends the records of Frank Wood in Cotopaxi.

I was reading through some of the other documents and found one dated April 21, 1881 between Elizabeth Saltiel and Charles Lamborn.  It was notarized in New York City.

So now we have evidence that she had left Cotopaxi and was residing in NYC as early as April 1881.

I had always believed that she and her children were living in Cotopaxi in May 1882 when the Colonists arrived.....obviously that was not true.

Next, I went back through all the transactions I have with her name on it.  The most recent was Dec 6, 1880, and it was notarized in Fremont County.  So she relocated to NYC sometime between Dec 1880 and Apr 1881.

Interesting what you can learn by looking at where and when a document was notarized.

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"My mind's made up - don't confuse me with the facts!!"

"My mind's made up - don't confuse me with the facts!"  That's how so many of us are.  But for some reason, my DNA is quite different.  I say - "Show me the facts so I can make up my mind!"

I wrote about Esther Young before, but I need to re-write this to make some clarifications, add images, and show us that if we look for the documents, and use genealogy, we are able to show that facts can change what we think we knew in our minds!

If you visit the cemetery in Cotopaxi, be sure to look to the hill to the north of it.  Yes, a completely separate hill with a small ravine between it and the cemetery, in fact, there's a road at the bottom.  On that hill (to the north east), there is another grave.  Nelson has it pretty well documented here:

Cotopaxi Cemetery - Ester L. Young

Why was she buried on a separate hill?

Her headstone:

Our Mother
Though out of sight to memory dear
Esther L. Young
born in Rutherford Co, Tenn
June 18, 1809
Died in Cotopaxi Colo
Dec 9 1898

Note it does spell her first name with an "h" - it is left out of some of the writings.

Local lore has it that she was a woman of color:

When I started my journey of creating family trees for the gentile families who were at Cotopaxi in the early days, I discovered who Esther L. Young really is!  She is a caucasian woman!  She was T. Witcher's grandmother-in-law.  But what was her relationship to Charlie McCoy?  And why would he make the above statement about her?

This is the family tree I was able to build from census records:

James B. Young, born 1800, married Esther Lamira Moore born 1809.

They had:

Alex Young b 1827

Sarah Young b 1834

Mary Young b 1842

Lamiar J Young b 1846

Sarah Young married Joseph Hardin and they had:

Mary Belle Hardin, b 1860

Willie Hardin b 1862

Mary Belle Hardin b 1860 married T Witcher b 1842 and they had

Otis W Witcher b 1881

going back to the first family of James B Young b 1800, married to Esther Lamire Moore born 1809, their daughter

Lamiar J Young b 1846 married Jeremiah D. Hylton b 1838 and they had

Thomas Hylton b 1868

Lucy Hylton b 1870

Mary Hylton b 1870

So, Esther L. Young, born 1809 was the grandmother-in-law to T. Witcher, the mother-in-law of J. D. Hylton, and the grandmother of Thomas Hylton.

We can then prove this with census records;

In the 1850 Census, Esther L. Young, widow, is living in Blue Township, Jackson County, MO.  Her mother, Sarah Moore, is living with her family.  Her children are Martha 20, Sarah 16, Mary 8, Lamira J. 4.

In the 1860 Census, Esther L. Young, widow,  is living in Blue Township, Jackson County, MO, born in TN.  Her children are Mary 18, Lamira 13

In the 1870 Census, Esther L. Young, widow,  is living in Lees Summit, Jackson County, MO with Sarah Hardin who is now widowed, age 36.  Sarah's children:  Mary is 10 and William is 8.

In the 1880 Census, Precinct 5 of Fremont County:  (Cotopaxi was Precinct 7 at that time)

Sarah Hardin, age 46

Lamira Young, age 70, (b 1810) mother 

T. Witcher, age 37, son-in-law

Belle Witcher, age 20, daughter

Willie Hardin, age 18, son

Therefore, Esther Lamire Young was now known as Lamira Young (her daughter Lamiar J. Young would have been known as Lamiar J. Hylton).  

T. Witcher was living with his mother-in-law AND his grandmother-in-law!!

Did they love here so much that they gave her a separate burial ground with a wood picket fence around it?  Go back and look at the headstone - "Our Mother  Though out of sight to memory dear" She lived with her children - they must have loved her!

Her obituary in the Canon City newspaper:

which I have transcribed for easier reading:

Mrs. Lamira Young died at the home of her daughter, Mrs. L. J. Hylton, Cotopaxi, last Friday morning in the ninetieth year of her age. Mrs. Young was the sister of Rev. B. Frank Moore of this city. She leaves three children: Mrs. Sarah Hardin, this city; Mrs. M. C. Gelknap, Hillside, Colo. and Mrs. L. J. Hylton. She was born in Bedford co., Tenn, June 19, 1809. In 1831 she married Mr. William Stokes, who died in 1833; shortly after this she and her family moved to Missouri, where she married in 1840, Mr. James Young, who died in 1846.Mrs. Young crossed the plains seven times, making her home finally in this county, and the last year of her life with her daughter, Mrs. Hylton. She became a christian at the age of 12 years, uniting with the Cumberland Presbyterian church and faithfully served God for 77 years of her life. She was a noble woman, always ready to respond to a case of need; a true friend, who in her long life did the good that came to hand, with kindly word and hand ministering to all. The fragrance of her memory is sweet and she still lives in the influence of her beautiful example. Our loss is her gain, for she hath now entered into the glorious rest of the children of God, where we shall again meet her.The funeral services were celebrated by the Rev. W. J. Fisher, Pastor of the Cumberland Presbyterian church of Canon City, at Cotopaxi, Dec 10, 1898.

She was a good woman.  

So, how did Charlie McCoy come to make the statement that he did?  Was he also related to her?  Let's look at Charlie's family tree:

Charlie's sister, Minnie is married to Thomas Hylton.  If you go back up to the Hylton tree above, you will see that Thomas Hylton is the son of Lamire Young Hylton.

Thus Charlie McCoy's sister is the granddaughter-in-law of Esther L. Young.  And in such a tiny community, Charlie would have known her and known that this woman was caucasian!  Did he start a rumor because he didn't like her?  I'm not sure we will ever know, but it's something to keep researching.

Charley McCoy was born in 1860.  He was 38 in 1898 when Esther L. Young died.

A little logic and reasoning here.  If Esther L. Young was not caucasian, then her children and her grandchildren would not have been caucasian.  That means Thomas Hylton would have been a colored man because he was her grandson.  Yet he wasn't.  Neither was his mother, Lamar Young Hylton.

In this family tree, I have connected the Youngs, McCoys, Hiltons, Witchers, Mullins, Hendricks and Carrolls.  One big tree for sure!

And at this point - I believe we can change the oral histories to show that Esther L. Young was a caucasian woman - she was an honorable woman.  I would go one step farther and state that she was most likely buried on a separate hillside because her children loved her so much, they wanted her separated out.

But if your mind is made up after 100+ years of oral history, don't let me confuse you with the facts!


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Phil Helfrich tells the story of Cotopaxi on KHEN radio in Salida - now online for you to hear.

Phil Helfrich conducted an interview with myself and Nancy Oswald about the Cotopaxi Colony.  You can listen to it here:

Cotopaxi Story

He did his own research and he did a great job.  Not too many people get the story as accurate as Phil did!  Thanks!



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Index to the essential documents in the "argument" about Cotopaxi

This is a start.  It does not include everything I have posted....but it does include all of the newspaper items, letters and reports concerning the colony.  I call these the "essential" documents as they are essential to making an accurate decision about what really happened in Cotopaxi.

• This is the ONLY colony that was established at an altitude above 1000 ft.
• E. H. Saltiel is the ONLY person responsible for promoting this location to HEAS in NYC.  You will find him to be defensive about any objection to this location even though he later describes it as "one of the wildest parts of the Rocky Mountains of Colorado."
• Schwarz was young and overly optimistic about the conditions.
• Kohn/Witkowski were probably leaning too much in the other direction.
• There is no question that everyone had an opinion about the conditions at Cotopaxi!

You can go directly to my homepage and find this same list down on the right hand side of the page.  Hope it helps!

July 1, 1844 Saltiel’s father - bigamy case

July 1, 1844 Saltiel’s father - bigamy case - part 2 - Saltiel raised in an Askhanezi home 

1866   Saltiel at Ft Laramie, dishonorable discharge from Union Army. 

The remainder of these documents were referenced in Flora Satt's 1950 Thesis on Cotopaxi. There are absolutely no "new" discoveries, each of these documents was located by Flora Satt - proof that her research was incredible.  I am posting the documents, in a typed format, so you have access to them. You can then click on the link and read each blog.  The peach colored text is the actual document transcribed.  Nothing has been added or omitted.  If you would like to see the jpg image of any of these, just email me 

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June 29, 1882  To HEAS from Julius Schwarz. The first report we have on the Colony

July, 1882 Cotopaxi had an Ark, a Torah and a Synagogue

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Oct 6, 1882 Morris Tuska report from his 7/30/1882 visit to Cotopaxi

Oct 27, 1882 Saltiel’s response to Tuska’s report

Oct 27, 1882  A longer reply from Saltiel to the American Hebrew

*****************

Oct 23, 1882  Schwarz Report Part 1

Oct 23, 1882  Schwarz Report Part 2

Oct 23, 1882 Schwarz Report Part 3

Nov 17, 1882 Jewish Messenger comments on the Schwarz Report

Dec 22, 1882 Jewish Messenger’s report on the Colony, author unknown

Dec 27, 1882 Saltiel’s response to the Jewish Messenger’s report (see above)

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Jan 30, 1883 The Kohn & Wirkowski report on Cotopaxi - a rebuttal of the Schwarz Report.

Feb 8, 1883  Myer Hart's rebuttal to the Kohn & Witkowski report

Feb 11, 1883  Denver Republican interview with Kohn, Witkowski, others

Feb 11, 1883  HEAS response to the Kohn & Witkowski report

Mar 2, 1883  Julius Schwarz rebuttal to Kohn & Witkowski

Mar 10, 1883  Philip Nussbaum visit to Cotopaxi in response to Schwarz and Kohn/Witkowski

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Nov 17, 1882 letter from HEAS to Jewish Messenger on Schwartz report.

I thought I was posting in date order, but I found a couple more articles stashed in my files.  This one is from an unknown author, published in the Jewish Messenger, Nov 17, 1882.  From the content, though, it appears this was someone from the Hebrew Emigrant Aid Society in NYC.

The Jewish Messenger1882 Nov 17p 2, c 3

The Russian Emigrants
There was quite a large attendance of Directors of the Aid Society, at the regular meeting held on Monday evening, and an amount of Important business was transacted.  Mr. Edward Lanterbach presented an interesting report of his action while in Europe, representing the Society, and at its conclusion, the following was adopted:

“Resolved, That the thanks of this Society are due and hereby tendered to our worthy colleague, Mr. Edward Lauterbach, for the kind and valuable services he has rendered us during his presence in Europe, not only by representing us at the different aid societies, and vindicating our past course, but also by advocating our cause at the Vienna Convention, and procuring for us Important financial aid, whereby this society has been enabled to carry on its labors.”

Various communications were received and acted upon, among others one from the officers of the United Hebrew Charities, expressing their willingness to cooperate with the society in the work of providing relief to the Russian refugees, in the city.  Mr. E. S. Hart of the Cotopaxi Colony, submitted a flattering and encouraging report of its conditions, stating that the males are earning from two to three dollars a day, and the entire number of colonists are happy and contented, and in good health.

We have not found this report from E. S. Hart.  It would have been written to HEAS prior to November 1882...so before the first crop failed.  If you recall, Hart, and Ashkenazi Jew as the colonists were, owned the store at Cotopaxi.  He was a 1st cousin, once removed to E. H. Saltiel, a Sephardic Jew who owned/controlled the mines at Cotopaxi.

The number of refugees on Ward’s Island are gradually being reduced in number, mainly by distribution among the various colonies, under the management of the society.  There are now between five and six hundred persons on the Island, and peace and harmony on the whole prevails.  All the children are to be sent to the school maintained by the City on the Island, and applications wil be made to the Board of Education, for additional teachers. 

Mr. Julius Schwarz has prepared a detailed and comprehensive report of the Cotopaxi Colony, in which he pays the following compliments to the good qualities of the refugees:
“Your folks are first-class workers,” that is what I was pleased to hear about the laboring capacities our our people.  There is no doubt that the refugees have shown that they are not the lazy mob for which they were taken.  Under favorable circumstances they have done more than could have been expected.  Only one who knows what it means to break up virgin ground with a common shovel, can appreciate the industrious efforts of the refugees.  They have broken up the ground with a shovel, they have done the hardest part of the work required to make a wagon bridge; they have filled the ditches with rocks, which they have been compelled to cut and hew from the mountains; they went up to their throats in the swift Arkansas River, to make a foot bridge, to enable them to reach their lands; they worked in dark, damp mines, as good and as perserveringly as trained miners; they worked on the railroad giving entire satisfaction to their employers; they carried lumber on their shoulders, to spread the erection of their houses; they walked often twenty miles a day to chop wood in the forests for the purpose of putting fence posts around their farms.

This report can be seen here , and then the following 2 posts as it is in 3 parts.

They left out several paragraphs of the original report, but continue here:

Where these are facts, no theories are needed.  The argument of facts conjuers all other arguments.   The facts are, that the Colony in Cotopaxi is a success, the facts are, that those who advocated the idea that a Hebrew cannot make a farmer, have been refuted   They brought forward opinions, weapons of eloquences and of phrases, which we encounter with the weapons of facts  Facts speak.  Sixty Russian refugees left New York as paupers, five months ago.  Today they are self-supporting citizens.  They had been colonized, thus they became self-supporting; that is the logic of facts.  Do not spend lavishly your money for the purpose of distributing it to a desperate mob—-the mob will ever remain a mob—even if you give each individual the amount he gets now.  The system of money distribution mitigates the pains of the wounds, but does not heal the wound.  Colonize them, give them land, settle them, give them a home, and the mob will become a class of peaceful citizens, who love the spot to which their faith has tied them.  There is a great and sublime principle in colonization.  The principle of the qualification of Judaism.  There never was a better opportunity to show the never dying perseverance of the Jewish race, never a better chance to prove to the world that agriculture is not adverse to the Jewish feelings and inclinations, whereby can be utilized the ? power of the soil.  Distribute money, spend thousands of dollars for supplying daily wants, and you will breed and raise paupers and beggars; colonize and you will make self-supporting men.

All of this is a copy of the Schwartz report.

No author listed

This would be our evidence that HEAS had a copy of the Schwartz report by at least November, 1882.  

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