COLORADO. 



159 



This affair was followed by another of tho 

 same nature, which became oven more famous 

 than tin- OIK- .just spoken of. Krt'rronceismado 

 to tin- Grand Canon wiir tho fight for the pos- 

 session of the right of way through the Grand 

 Canon of tlio Arkansas the most sublime and 

 torrihlo ;T'>rge in the eastern slope of the Rocky 

 range. This fight has since figured in one shape 

 i>r .mother in nearly all tho State and Federal 

 rourts from tho police court at Gallon City to 

 the Supremo Court of tho United States. It 

 began on the 19th day of April. It was born 

 on the 18th, or perhaps sooner. It is agreed 

 between the parties that there was considera- 

 ble cipher telegraphing, and it is generally be- 

 lieved that the Rio Grande people possessed 

 themselves of the key to the Santa Fe's cipher ; 

 that they sat in their offices at Denver and at 

 Colorado Springs, and became acquainted with 

 the design of the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa 

 F6 company to begin to build a road through 

 the Grand Cafion. While the Raton war 

 was still raging quite furiously, the discovery 

 was made that the Rio Grande people were 

 likely to be attacked at two points at once. 

 Leadville was just then beginning to be an im- 

 portant point for consideration, and the Rio 

 Grande people decided, as between the Grand 

 Cafion and the Raton Pass, to concentrate their 

 efforts on the Cafion. Having ascertained, as 

 above stated, that the Santa Fe people expected 

 to begin operations in that great chasm, the 

 Rio Grande folks attempted to offset them by 

 getting in first, with the idea that if they were 

 the first to obtain possession it would be im- 

 possible to oust them. A spirited scramble 

 ensued. Mr. Strong, General Manager of the 

 Atchison, Topeka, and Santa F6 road, was on 

 April 18th at El Moro, where he heard of the 

 preparations which were going forward on the 

 part of the Rio Grande people to cut him out. 

 He at once made application for a special train 

 to carry himself and men from the spot. The 

 Santa F6 Railroad had not then been completed 

 from La Junta. The Rio Grande people re- 

 fused tho train. Thus he was shut up in that 

 little town, without power to get away, when 

 it was so important that he should be else- 

 where. Nothing was left to do but to call in 

 the assistance of tho telegraph. Engineer 

 Morley of the same road was at La Junta. 

 He was instructed to take a special train to 

 Pueblo and outrun tho Rio Grande people for 

 the Cafion. He came into Pueblo as if on 

 wings, arriving there at 3 o'clock on the morn- 

 ing of the 19th. Ho asked for a train, but it 

 was refused. At the same time the Rio Grande 

 parties were making preparations to send one 

 hundred men, duly equipped, to the site where 

 the interest centered. Morley was in a corner 

 apparently, but he lost no time. He procured 

 the fastest horse that could be found, threw 

 himself astride his back, and turned his head 

 toward the mountains. He had forty-five miles 

 of road before him and a special train to com- 

 pete with. It is needless to say that he rode 



fast. The horse was killed, but the goal was 

 gained. He rode into Canon thirty minutes 

 ahead of the train. He did not have a man at 

 his back, but this was an obstacle of very 

 little importance to him. He found Canon 

 City already in arms against the Rio Grande, 

 and ready to dp anything in tho world to bring 

 another road into the city. They were sick 

 and disgusted with the Rio Grande and its ex- 

 plorations. Almost to a man the citizens threw 

 off their coats professional and non-profes- 

 sional men ; all laid down the shovel and hoe 

 employed in their usual avocations, to take np 

 the pick. When Engineer McMnrtrie of the 

 Rio Grande road arrived on the scene with his 

 hundred followers, he found what was to him 

 a surprising state of affairs. Morley with his 

 one hundred and fifty civilians had taken pos- 

 session of the mouth of the Cafion and had 

 graded a firm piece of road-bed. Thus began 

 the cafion contest, which was unsettled four- 

 teen months afterward. The attorney for the 

 Santa Fe, Mr. Gast, now applied to the county 

 judge of Fremont County, and obtained an in- 

 junction against the Rio Grande parties. The 

 matter was soon brought before the United 

 States Court at Denver. The Atchison, To- 

 peka, and Santa Fe Company then was known 

 technically as the Cafion City and San Juan 

 Company, the name of a local organization. 

 The Rio Grande claimed possession because of 

 a special act of Congress, and the Santa F6 

 people set forth that they had filed the proper 

 plats of surveys as required by law with the 

 Secretary of the Interior, and that the Cafion 

 City and San Juan Company had not done so. 

 Though often enjoined by Judge Hallett of the 

 U. S. District Court from remaining in the 

 canon, the Rio Grande men staid there day after 

 day and week after week. Up to this time no 

 one had ever penetrated the Royal Gorge, ex- 

 cept in winter when the river was covered 

 with ice, and then but very few wont in be- 

 cause of the great danger. Now, however, 

 the Royal Gorge was the home of hundreds of 

 men. They swarmed in there like bees in a 

 hive, climbing about from place to place almost 

 like flies on the wall. There were at one time 

 1,500 men in the canon attached to one side or 

 the other. They had no communication with 

 the outside world except that afforded by rope- 

 ladders suspended over perpendicular walls 

 a thousand feet high. During this time the 

 men were armed, and an open outbreak and 

 bloodshed was at all times imminent. It was 

 feared that there would be war on a great scale, 

 and the militia practically lay on their arms 

 for a fortnight. Several parties were arrested 

 for transgressions of the law. Indeed, the ex- 

 citement ran up almost to the fighting point, 

 and remained there for two weeks. At last a 

 truce was called. Tho white flag was raised. 

 That happened in this way : The Rio Grande 

 people had become so thoroughly offended with 

 the Santa F6 people that they had long since 

 annulled all traffic contracts with that road, 



