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• 1 2018-08-02T18:31:31-07:00 Homesteaders 30 plain 2024-06-20T10:16:44-07:00 The Homestead Act of 1862 enabled US Citizens to file for up to 160 acres of public lands in the “unclaimed” lands of the American West. Potential settlers could receive land for a nominal fee by constructing a residence on the property, living there for five years, and improving the land through farming or ranching. Claimants could also acquire the deed for the property in only six months by providing "slight improvements” to the land and paying $1.25 per acre. The Homestead Act enabled settlers to claim land, thereby increasing western settlement and providing an occupational alternative to unsuccessful miners from the Colorado Gold Rush. Vague wording and minimal oversight, however, left the Homestead act open to exploitation by unscrupulous land speculators. 
  
  This image shows a portion of Hanna Ranch land that was acquired by homesteaders between 1862 and 1888. The parcels shaded in blue were claimed by two men who formed a business partnership in the 1860s; Swedish merchant Andrew Lincoln and Massachusetts farmer James Woodbury. Both of these men became prominent local businessmen, and Woodbury was elected El Paso County Commissioner in 1873. Click here for a comprehensive list of area homesteaders, or scroll down for information on some of the more prominent ranchers and businessmen who first settled in the region. 
   
  The Cotten Family
  Oliver M. Cotten was born in Indiana and received his education at Olivet College, after which he engaged in teaching. With the news of the discovery of gold in Colorado, he decided to try his fortune in the great mountain regions of the west. He drove across the plains in 1959 with a team of horses, following the Platte River and making his way to Gregory Gulch near Central City. He and his brothers owned an interest in the famous Bobtail mine, and later purchased another mining property at California Gulch near Leadville. In 1860 he traveled east for his wife, and upon his return he homesteaded a ranch on the Fountain Creek and started a cattle herd. He continued his mining interests for several years, but repeated attacks of rheumatism forced him to discontinue mining and settle down to life of farming and ranching. He constructed a number of ditches to irrigate his land, one of the first in the region to do so. Politically, he was a radical Republican who took an interest in public affairs, and he was well known among the pioneers of El Paso County. He was appointed the first postmaster of El Paso County, and continued to work in the office until his death. As a member of the school board he assisted in the organization of county school districts and in the construction of needed buildings, and he spent a number of years as county commissioner. Oliver Cotten died 1886 at the age of fifty-nine, and he is buried at Wilson Cemetery adjacent to the Hanna Ranch property. 
  Oliver's father, William Cotten Sr., was the son of a Revolutionary soldier from Virginia who established his home on a farm in Berrien County, Michigan. Oliver's brother, William Jr., was a member of the Third Colorado Cavalry during the Civil war. He took part in the battle of Sand Creek, also known as the Sand Creek Massacre. 
  
  Oliver's wife, Nancy, was from Mocksville, N. C., and her father Joseph served as a captain in the Black Hawk war. She had seven brothers and sisters; Sarah, Elizabeth, Caroline, William, Isom, Calvin and J. Newton.  Her son Edwin died at only four years old, her daughter moved to Denver, and her son Frank stayed in the Colorado Springs area and became a successful businessman. Nancy died on October 30, 1897.
   

  Frank Cotten, one of Colorado Springs' most progressive businessmen, spent his entire life in El Paso County, and was born at his father's home in the Buttes area on June 5, 1863. From sixteen to nineteen years of age he was a student at Colorado College, after which he spent one summer mining for gold near Leadville and one year cultivating the family farm. For three years he taught school in his home district, and then accepted a position as deputy county assessor, a capacity in which he served for eight years. 
  Like many other business men in Colorado at the turn of the century, Frank Cotten attempted to make his fortune in gold mining. He had an interest in the Theresa mine on Bull Hill, Cripple Creek, which was considered valuable property, and he also held some other claims in other parts of the state. In addition to his mining interests Frank operated his own real estate business  (Irvine, Cotten & Jones) as well as a loan and insurance business. He was a member of the El Paso County Pioneers' Society, Lodge No. 38 of the I.O.O.F., the Y.M.C.A., and the Second Presbyterian Church, of which he was also president of the board of trustees. Frank married Sarah McShane from Monument, Colorado, who was also a member of a pioneering family. They had two children, Chester and Frank Jr., and the family lived at No. 9 Boulder Place in Colorado Springs.
  Sources: Portrait and Biographical record of the State of Colorado, 1899 and Find a Grave volunteer Ronald West.
  
  Andrew Lincoln
  Andrew Lincoln was a Swedish merchant who obtained numerous parcels of land along Fountain Creek from the US government following the passage of the homestead act in 1862, land that would eventually become part of the Hanna Ranch. Mr. Lincoln was involved in a number of business endeavors in addition to being a land speculator. The Lincoln Trading Post was opened near the Little Buttes station of the D&RG, which was also located on his property and housed a telegraph office, post office, and a stagecoach station. He sold various goods such as flour, grain, hay, and gems with "intense lustrous reflex" at a shop called the Huggins Store on Pikes Peak Ave. He was an agent for Bain Wagon, Walter A. Wood Harvesting Machines, and Wisner Lock-Level Rakes selling ranching and farming equipment, and he partnered up with a man named Mathias Lock to form the Lincoln-Lock Ditch Company, which helped to irrigate the entire Fountain Valley region.   
  
   
• 1 2018-08-02T16:24:01-07:00 The Cotten Family 3 plain 2018-08-02T18:33:22-07:00 Oliver M. Cotten
  Oliver M. Cotten was born in Indiana and received his education in Olivet College, after which he engaged in teaching. With the news of the discovery of gold in Colorado, he decided to try his fortune in the great mountain regions of the west. He drove across the plains in 1959 with a team of horses, following the Platte River and making his way to Gregory Gulch near Central City. He and his brothers owned an interest in the famous Bobtail mine, and later purchased another mining property at California Gulch near Leadville. In 1860 he returned east for his wife, and upon his return he homesteaded a ranch on the Fountain Creek and started a cattle herd. He continued his mining interests for several years, but repeated attacks of rheumatism forced him to discontinue mining and settle down to life of farming and ranching. He constructed a number of ditches to irrigate his land, one of the first in the region to do so. Politically he was a radical Republican who took an interest in public affairs, and he was well known among the pioneers of El Paso County. He was appointed the first postmaster of El Paso County, and continued to work in the office until his death. As a member of the school board he assisted in the organization of county school districts and in the construction of needed buildings, and he spent a number of years as county commissioner. Oliver Cotten died 1886 at the age of fifty-nine, and he is buried at Wilson Cemetery adjacent to the Hanna Ranch property. 
  
  Oliver's father, William Cotten Sr., was the son of a Revolutionary soldier from Virginia who established his home on a farm in Berrien County, Michigan. Oliver's brother, William Jr., was a member of the Third Colorado Cavalry during the Civil war. He took part in the battle of Sand Creek, also known as the Sand Creek Massacre. 
  
  Nancy Cotten
  Oliver's wife, Nancy, was from Mocksville, N. C., and her father Joseph served as a captain in the Black Hawk war. She had seven brothers and sisters; Sarah, Elizabeth, Caroline, William, Isom, Calvin and J. Newton.  Her son Edwin died at only four years old, her daughter moved to Denver, and her son Frank stayed in the Colorado Springs area and became a successful businessman. Nancy died on October 30, 1897.
  
  Frank Cotten
  Frank Cotten, one of Colorado Springs' most progressive businessmen, spent his entire life in El Paso County, and was born at his father's home in the Buttes area on June 5, 1863. From sixteen to nineteen years of age he was a student in Colorado College, after which he spent one summer in mining at Leadville and one year in cultivating the family farm. For three years he taught school in his home district, and then accepted a position as deputy county assessor, a capacity in which he served for eight years. 
  
  Like many other business men in Colorado at the turn of the century, Frank Cotten attempted to make his fortune in gold mining. He had an interest in the Theresa mine on Bull Hill, Cripple Creek, which was considered valuable property, and he also held some other claims other parts of the state. In addition to his mining interests Frank operated his own real estate business  (Irvine, Cotten & Jones.) as well as a loan and insurance business. He was a member of the El Paso County Pioneers' Society, Lodge No. 38, I.O.O.F., and the Y.M.C.A. In the Second Presbyterian Church, of which he was also a member and president of the board of trustees. Politically he was a Republican.
  
  Frank married Sarah McShane from Monument, Colorado, who was also a member of a pioneering family. They had two children, Chester and Frank,  and the family lived at No. 9 Boulder Place, in Colorado Springs.
  
  Sources: Portrait and Biographical record of the State of Colorado, 1899
  Find a Grave volunteer Ron West