Year: 1861




promised to give you the result of diff
ficulty existing between certain parties
that were going to shoot each other, l
will embrace this present opportunity to
inform you that it all ended in smoke.
We have had but few disgraceful quar-
rels since my last There has been but
three men shot, but quite good supply
Of cutting.


Last Tuesday there was fuss near
the old site of the Denver Hall, between
two fast bloods, and IN the scrape one
poor negro was shot through the heart,
He was standing of about fifteen feet,
looking on, and one of the men meant to
shoot the other, but by accident pulled
the trigger before he got his revolver in
range of his victim. The ball passed
through the crowd and hit the poor ne
gro. He was a slave, and had just paid
S400 to his master-the last payment on
his freedom. This last payment | sup
pose will satisfy his master. The negro
was kind, peacea5!e man, and men here
that have known him for twelve and ff-
teen years say better negro has not been
born


Another case OF shooting was between
two Dutchmcn-onc got shot in the leg,
and thus ended that fuss. The other
case l never learned the particulars, and
in fact it excites no great curiosity in
any one to hear of man being killed,


Our city is still on the mend, both
in morals and public Improvements
There has been several large brick build.
ings put up this winter, and l can safely
say that building has not been stopped
more than two weeks all winter on ac.
count of weather.


1t has been very pleasant, with scarcely
any snow, and when VIC had snow i, last
ed bu. few days. Grass is growing
fine and it looks quite green at the roots
of the old grass. Cows begin to make
yellow butter. Farmers have been plow-
ing nearly all winter, and am ready to
coufcss that this metropolis Of tho Rocky
Mountain region is destined to become
the largest inland city on the v Nosteru
continent. No city in the world has
ever possessed more substantial elements
for a rapid and prosperous development
than our own; and no ety-rot even
San Francisco-has ever in two years
from its first settlement progressed so
steadily and surely. We have suffered a
great d.a! from the misrepresentation
and evil reports set afoat by those who
came out expecting in few short weeks
to amass fortunes, and returned home dis
appointed. But in spite Of these d,sad-
vantagcs, the city has advanced with a
celebrity that elicits the admiration end
excites the astonishmcnt of every person


We have just passed through a winter
during which the mining operations Of
the mountains were almost entirely sus-
pended, and general sta-nation of bus
mess operations in this city was the nat
ural consequence. Through these months
Of gloom and depression, you may bet it
made some of our merchants shake IN
their boots and some of them shook out
of their boots-but the greater part of
us held on, waiting and hoping for the
good time which all now feel satisfied is
close at hand


No better. evidence is needed of the
permanency and stability of our growth
than the numerous buildings now in pro-
gress of construction within our city
limits, (Which is very large; they say
that there is over twelve hundred acres
in Denver alone, say nothing of the num-
erous additions, which are as large as
Denver proper, aud some even larger
A low estimate believe will place the
number above $50, and preparations are
constantly going forward for additional
improvements. Well defined streets are
now visible where ten months ago only
here and there scattering cabin could
be seen, and many temporary buildings
which were erected year ago and at that
time considered respectable in appear
ance, are being removed to give place to
more substantial buildings.


We have churches and schools, and so.
cieties with charitable objects and aims,
and, altogether, the social status of the
inhabitants of Denver is to-day not be-
hind that of any of the frontier cities
and towns of the Border States. Acts of
violence and b'ood, although of frequent
occurrence, are not near SO frequent as
former times, and the restraining infu-
ences of wholesome laws are everywhere
felt and acknowledged. Already there
are large number of families here whose
eastern associations, whose refinement
and intelligence give them all the social
attributes so desirable in a new settlement.
The footprints Of respectability, of per-
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