Gunnison news-champion., 1907-12-06


Cosniy lar ssseu.bled Sunday atsrr-
neon IA soiesan couclsve 10 pay p~h-
lac and formal tribute % too OF the
brightest minds and most Lowell
hearts that ever adorned the legal
circles Il the, western slos
Thomas &. Brown and Charles =.
Caswell
As reverent hands turned back
the leaves Of the life histories of
these two men many an eve wsa
dimmed by the tears Of tender W.
collection. The voice of eaIogy
qusvered rs II rec,ssd the instsac~s
OF the hearty hand clssp, the ckser-
full smile. the deed II Kindness and
the words Of encosraSement thsa
stood out in bold relief rs the story
Of the dead WAS told.
J w. Buckln, president of the
bar association delivered the first
Address Of the day lie dwelt At
length upon the early history Of The
western slope snd the part played
therein by the distinguished dead
in whose honor the memorial
services were being held Mr.
Bucklin said
We have met today TO comme,no-
rate the lives nov finished of two of
the most eminent lawyers, citizens
aud empire builders of Westsrn
Colorado, Judges Charles =. Caswell
aud Thos. c. Brown. The period
from 1879, the Meeker massacre, till
1898, when Garfield, Mesa, Delta,
Montrose, San Miguel and Eagle
counties were created, was the period
which gave birth to Western Colo
RADIO. Prior to that time this vsst
empire was occupied by the Indiana.
Prior TO this there WAS a northsrn
Colorado, Southern Colorado, bot
no Western Colorado, and judging
from soos roceat esepts, thssa vsss
some esainsat people in the staae,
who after all these years have not
vet been able to find Western Colo
RADIO on the map. lie that as it may
however, during this period thous-
ands of people went TO Gunnison
awaiting the opening of the reserva-
tion, that they might rush in, occupy
and develop this great empire Of
Western Colorado. As soon o. they
were permitted to do so they over
flowed into this region, and located
these counties, and have since been
important, and often dominating,
factors in our progress and upbuild-
ing.
Among others who settled at
Gunnison City a. this time were a
number Of the most brilliant and
able, although young lawyers of the
state. Such men as the present dis
trict Judge, Judge Shackieford,
Archie Stevenson, since and at pres
ent one of the mos prominent attor-
neys of Denver, Frank C. Goudy,
Theodore Thomas, afterward state
senator and Attorney General Aaron
Helms, now one of the most promi-
nent law lecturers of the University
of Chicago, and many Others. Among
this number of able men was the
late Judge Brown, who at once was
recognized as at the head of his pro-
fession in Gunnison City. which
proud position he continued to oc-
cupy till the day of his death
at is therefore sad affair that
two of the most prominent cities of
Western Colorado. Gunnison and
Grand Junction, should at the same
time be afflicted by the loss of two
of its most prominent empire build
ers, Judge Charles +. CasweL and
Thos. c. Brown.
Hon Sprigg Shackleford, judge of
the district court, gave touching
yet scholarly appreciation OF Tom
Brown, the lawyer. the man and the
father. Judge Shackleford said
Sometimes when | have contem-
plated the extinction of human
hopes, joys, triumphs, disappoint-
ments. and above all, if it be, that
extinction of shining love for kindred
and friends, | have thought that
death was so unnatural, and vet we
all realize that it is the inevitable
tribute we must pay to nature.
What futile effort it is for a
mortal man to reach down into the
Jaws of darkness and attempt to
rescue the name and memory of a
friend from oblivion In the pres
ence of death, how feeble even the
strongest are? The great of the
earth have attempted in vain effort
to perpetuate the memory of the
great. The tread of events and the
remorseless struggle for life cause
me- to foroAt fh> achnov~rx,>ptn cf %,