ABNER TATE is a Civil War veteran who journeys to Colorado Territory after the war to find his family. He learns quickly in struggles with other men and the forces of nature to fend for himself. Battered by a tornado he takes refuge in a gulch which will become his home. AMOS JUDSON is an aging mountainman who adopts a Ute Indian boy and settles down to operate a ferry boat. As he changes from wild to civilized he is reminded that a man must remember how to protect himself when the villainous cousins of a competitor attempt to rob him.
ZACK CLAYTON is a man hardened by the perilous life of a fur trapper in the Rocky Mountains. When Zack's partner is killed by a bear he vows to his share to the next of kin in Cairo, Illinois. Zack encounters horse stealers, river pirates, rogues and romance while fulfilling his promise. His life makes a dramatic change when he meets ANN BELL and later has to rescue her from twin scoundrels who believe he is keeping a fortune in gold from them. Travel back to 1825 when St. Louis was the thriving capital of the fur industry, slavery was an institution, and the trail to the Shining Mountains were long and arduous.
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When it came to labeling cities, towns, counties, crossroads, mining camps, rivers, forests, peaks, and passes, Colorado place namers looked to an array of sources for ideas. Many simply memorialized themselves and their families—Florence, Howard, Lulu City, Dacono (Daisy, Cora, and Nora combined)—or more well-known honorees—Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, Kit Carson, Montezuma, Ouray. Some paid homage to explorers, war heroes, politicians, railroad executives, plants, animals, or landforms. Still others went for the more unusual or creative—Boreas Pass bears the name of the Greek god of the North Wind; Egnar is range backwards; Kim was inspired by the Rudyard Kipling novel; Artesia was renamed Dinosaur in 1965 to capitalize on tourist traffic headed to nearby Dinosaur National Monument; Almont was named for a horse, Gulnare a cow. In 1001 Colorado Place Names, Maxine Benson scrutinizes the most popular, interesting , and unique place names in the state. She discusses how the chosen names originated and what changes they have undergone. Included are Colorado's 63 counties, 716 past and present settlements, and 56 "fourteeners" (peaks more than 14,000 feet in elevation) along with other places known for their historical, geographical, geological, or onomastic significance. Benson also provides pronunciation of unusual names, county locations, post office dates, population figures, and anecdotes galore. The result is a mosaic of information of Colorado history, ethnicity, families, events, politics, settlement patterns, and local lore. Combining previous place-name research and new findings, Benson takes us on a colorful, entertaining, and educational journey through cities and towns, across the plains, and over the mountains.
