The daily sentinel., 1914-03-07
Try EDWIN PRICE,


= taolished in Grand Junction in p
= 1851 Mr. Richard ID. Mobley, =
Z pioneer member of the Grand =
: junction Townsite Company. =
= was appointed postmaster. and -
: clayton J. Nichols. now mana =
! ger OF the Negros Philippine :.
= Lumber Company. Iloilo, Phil Z.
= lppine Islands. was named as /.
= the assistant. The name OF the !,
= postoffice at that time was =
: Ute, Colo. from the fact that =
= this valley was then part OF {.
= the Ute Indian reservation, =
Z which had just been thrown {.
= open for settlement p
L s g 8 s,Ts SgSSSG g
am told by Mr. NJ. f. Fredericks.
who was then the assistant postmas-
ter at Delta, Colorado. that he pre-
pared the papers for the Delta post
master recommending that the first
star mail route to Grand Junction.
should 20 by the way OF Surface
Creek. and over the Grand Mesa, and
down the Plateau Valley via the
hogback" to Grand Junction. He
says that but few trips were made
over this route on account of the
deep SHOWS on the Mesa. Lou n.
Shanks had the contract for carry
ing the mail, and several years later
served as the postmaster at De
Beque. Colo. The route was then
changed, coming down the Gunni-
son river via the old government
wagon road and the railroad grade.
My first advent into Grand Junction
was made over this route. We left
Delta at O'Clock in the morning
and landed here at 1880 p. m. My
brother. VIII II. Price. and James
w. Bucklin We're also passengers.
There was one change Of horses en-
route where We ate our lunch. 1t
was truly a rocky road. and as it
was my first experience on the
frontier. | would gladly have sold
my outfit cheap and returned to
Denver.
Oil 81 Per Gallon.
We arrived on the 18th day of
October, 1882. and on the 2Tth
day of that month l published the
first issue of the Grand Junction
News. We were compelled to do a
considerable bit of night work. and
burned quite lot of oil. | bought
five gallons, all the merchant had,
and paid 81 per gallon for It.
There was not a frame house in
town at that time, all log cabins and
two or three adobe buildings under
course of construction. There were
two tiny two-story hotels, the Hol-
derby, which was afterward named
the Brunswick, and stood where
now stands the Reed block. and the
Randall house, which was built out
OF the first kiln of brick ever burned
in the valley, and II stood where is
now located the Quist drug store.
In April, 1882, r. d. Mobley re-
signed his position as postmaster
and Mr.. owen d. Russell. of the firm
of Russell Bros, was appointed to
succeed him. This firm has a gem
eral stock of merchandise and was
doing the leading business of the
valley. He appointed Mr.. Henry
Nichols, his nephew. as his assistant,
and no doubt Mr., Nichols could tell
us something of his experience In
running postoffice out of dry
goods box, in log cabin. He cher
lshes a picture photo of this cabin
among his large collection of early
day photos. That year this firm
built the first two-story brick build
ed the postoffice and their stock of
merchandise into it, This building
Is now used by X. G. Miller's Candy
Kitchen and the Blackstone Jewelry
Store. In 1884 Mr.. Russell's term
of office expired, and he did not
seek reappointment. There was a
lively contest for the place between
w P. Harbottle and myself, which
resulted in my favor. The United
States senate confirmed my appoint
ment on May Is, 1884. and Presi-
dent Chester A. Arthur signed my
commission on the 3rd day of June,
1854. l appointed Mr.. John d.
Reeder, now manager OF the ]. w.
Hugus Mercantile Company. at Pali-
sade, as my assistant. Mr.. Reeder
was twice elected sheriff OF this
county afterward.
Oeveland's Election.
The presidential campaign OF
1854 resulted in the election of Gro
yer Cleveland, and after holding the
office for fourteen months. re-
signed. Thomas B. Crawford,
nephew OF George A. Crawford. pres
ident of the Town Company. was ap-
pointed to succeed me. and | then
devoted my time to the News. in
conjunction with Mr.. Darwin p.
Kingsley. now president of the New
1Ork Lie Insurance company, WHO
was at that time associated with me
as editor.
Hon. Benjamin Harrison, a Re-
publican, succeeded Mr.. Cleveland.
and John w. Bridges. who was at
that time chief telegraph operator,
was appointed postmaster. During
Mr.. Crawford's term, the Crawford
block. where is now located Win
fields Outing Shop and Hampson
Bros. & Valdez grocery store, was
built, and the postoffice was moved
into the room now occupied by Mr.
Winfield. Mr.. Bridges remodeled
the office fixtures. and established
branch of the Western Union tele-
graph service. in connection with the
postoffice. Mrs. Bridges performed
the duties of assistant postmaster
and operator. But this combined
prosperity was too much for Mr..
Bridges. His love for the gambling
table overcame his sense of respon-
sibility to the government and his
bondsmen. He used several thou