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Charles L. Richardson
We know that Mr. Richardson, at one time, owned a
piece of what became known as the Haystack
Ranch (1868). This is where he had his homestead, located almost
directly west of the Perry Park Ave. and west of Perry Park road –
legal description is Township 9s, Range 68w, and part of Section 36.
He was a member of the G.A.R., Grand Old Army of the Republic, meaning
that he served from the north in the Civil War.
We also know that Charles Richardson raised crops; some of them may
have been for feed for the cattle. At one point the praise of his
potato crop was close to being silly referring to one potato as too
large to fit into a sack. This cattle rancher raised beef cattle and
bought hogs for his meat market which was in Castle Rock on Perry
Street in the 1880s to the late 1890s, called the Castle Rock Meat
Market.
In 1888 the Castle Rock Journal reported that C. L. Richardson was
elected as a trustee, a position which he was elected to for three
years. His house in Castle Rock was also reported of in the Castle
Rock Journal. It was not odd for ranchers to have a house in town,
especially if they had children going to the high school, but we have
no record of a marriage for Mr. Richardson, let alone children.
The 1891 Castle Rock Journal of September 2nd had
a short article called “The Long and Short of It”, which gives us a
glimpse into Mr. Richardson’s playful side and where an ad for
baseball players went like this – “We the undersigned, not belonging
to any organized ball club, and not being over 5’6” tall, do hereby
challenge any nine men of Castle Rock who do not belong to any
organized ball club and are 5’9” tall, or taller, to a game of base
ball, to be played at Castle Rock on September 12, 1891 at 2 P.M.
sharp, the defeated nine to pay for the balls, broken bats, etc. C. L.
Richardson – Captain…”
In 1895 Mr. Richardson closed (up delete?) his market for good and
moved to Victor, Colorado, where he was engaged in mining. The paper
reported that Mr. Carr Lamb and Mr. M. M. Noyes “will continue to
dispense the necessities of life at the old stand.”
Richardson still owned his ranch in the county in 1904, as he had
hired a Mr. W. J. Down to plant crops and the irrigation ditches were
prepared for the season. Besides having had property in Perry Park, he
owned land in Greenland.
In March of 1906 Mr. Richardson died in his home in Victor, he was 75
years old. His body was brought back to Castle Rock where he was
buried, with G.A. R. honors, in the Castle Rock Cemetery. The
Castle Rock Journal reported; “The funeral services of Chas. L.
Richardson was held in the district court room …The beautiful
ritualistic services of the G.A.R. was held, conducted by post
Commander J. W. Farrell and comrade W. I. Whittier, Comrade A. G.
Webster spoke on the life of the deceased soldier and citizen…He
served two years in the Civil War and proved himself a faithful
soldier as well as an exemplary citizen.”
Thanks to the Colorado Historic Newspaper
Collection, BLM land patent records, U.S. Census and Ida May Noe
History Collection.
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