Batterson Barn and Homestead
The barn and homestead is located in Glacier View Meadows, Gate 2, 603 Mount Moriah Road. The current owners are Judd and Linda Adams. Photo taken Winter 2004.
History Summary
Solomon and Mary Batterson were part of the Westward migration to California, but decided not to continue on. Like others, they first settled in Greeley (1870) until they could find a place to homestead, which they did in 1873, being one of the first families to do so in this area. (John Hardin homesteaded on the upper Lone Pine in the Red Feather Lakes area, near Parvin Lake in 1871).
The historic barn was completed in 1890. It’s dimension are 64 ft wide, 40 ft deep and 25 feet high, and it’s cost was reported to be $800 ($100,000 or so to replace it today). Go to bottom of file for more pictures of the barn.
The historic stage road from LaPorte to the mining community of Manhattan, and places west, ran through the Batterson property, right in front of the barn, as shown in the picture below (2008), which also shows the old lilac bush planted by the Battersons (over 130 years old). Red Feather Lakes Road is behind the willows in the middle ground.
The homestead burned in 1918 from a Kitchen fire when the property was owned by the McNeys. The rock remains are shown in the picture below.
No one lived on the Batterson Ranch for 80 years--from 1918 until 1998. During that 80 year period various persons purchased or leased the land for ranching purposes.
In 1926 Clarence Currie, younger son of John Currie (who purchased the LOX Ranch from Sam Sloan) purchased the Solomon Batterson Ranch from John McNey II and his brother-in-law, W. O. McCullah.
In 1967 The Currie Ranch was sold to Black Mountain Ranch, Inc. a consortium of CSU administrators (Chamberlain, Tyrell, Cook, and Ahlman) who in 1969 sold to Lee Stubblefield, who in turn sold to Don Weixelman, owner of Beaver Meadows and his some 100 investors in 1971. Weixelman divided the property into Glacier View Meadows, Green Mountain Meadows, and Crystal Lakes and several other large parcels. Thus the Batterson barn became part of the small section of Glacier View Meadows on the east side of Red Feather Lakes Road.
Linda Adams prepared the following history based upon a search of newspaper archives in www.coloradohistoricnewspapers.org resulting in 347 "hits" on "S. Batterson". Contemporary photos by Judd Adams.
Historic photos of Solomon and Mary Batterson
Coincidently,
J. Solomon Batterson and Mary Lomira Fassett Batterson were both born (1830 and
1833, respectively) in Hume (
1853 Solomon and Mary, ages 23 and 20, were married. Son William was born on August 28, 1853, followed by two daughters, Alomina and Azubah Ella (5/14/1868). They farmed around the upper Midwest, eventually returning to Clear Lake, Iowa.
1870 Solomon, age 40, and Mary Batterson with teenager Billy, young Alomina and toddler Azubah Ella drove two wagon teams and eight head of cattle West with the "Colony" intending to emigrate to California. (The Colony was a group of homesteaders from the East headed for Colorado to establish a utopian farming community, inspired by New York publisher Horace Greeley, who is famous for the phrase "Go west young man, go west."). They arrived in Fort Collins on August 11 and decided to stay in Colorado.
They liked the Cache La Poudre country very much and chose a site 10 miles west of Old Livermore to settle. They selected the site on the divide between the Elkhorn and Lone Pine for the mild climate, trees, streams and springs, fish and game. They had almost no money, however, so Sol and Billy hunted and sold elk, mountain sheep and venison by the wagon load for 9 cents a pound in Cheyenne, Fort Collins, Greeley, and Denver. Billy also caught and sold trout to parties in Greeley for 5 cents each. They built a log house 16x24, and eventually a 14x16 frame addition, a milk room 12x24 and a large outdoor cellar. Mrs. Batterson was very proud of the house and remarked that it was sound and warm through the night enabling her houseplants to survive winters. The rock foundation, a dense old lilac and an apple tree survive to this day just west of the barn.
1878 Mr. Batterson was now milking 32 cows, from which he made and sold 3,400 pounds of butter. He was putting up over 75 tons of luxuriant native grass hay and the family was beginning to prosper. Tragedy struck just before Christmas, however, when Azubah Ella died suddenly at age 10. The Fort Collins Courier reported that she died of "intestinal intussusception (a sliding of a portion of a tubular organ into another portion, especially a condition of the bowel in which this happens, creating swelling that leads to obstruction). She was buried on the east side of what is now called Mount Moriah in a sheltered place visible from the home site. Her grave is the first known marked grave in the area, predating both the Adams and Manhattan cemeteries.
Her
beautiful marble headstone is inscribed:
AZUBAH ELLA
DAU.
OF
S.
& MARY L. BATTERSON
DIED
DEC. 17, 1878
AE
10 YS., 7 Ms. & 3 Dys
A voice we loved is stilled.
A place is empty in our hearts,
Which never can be filled.
And the little footstone bears her initials
“AEB.” Over the years the
headstone was broken into several pieces, possibly by animals rubbing on it.
Residents of Glacier View Meadows repaired the stone and built a little
fence around the grave to protect it in the future. Azubah’s grave predates
the Adams,
1879 On August 7 the Fort Collins Courier reported “…by indomitable energy and the exercise of prudence, perseverance and economy, Mr. Batterson was enabled to keep his head above water and to obtain, after nine years hard work, a good start towards a competency. In that time his eight head of cattle have increased to one hundred and forty-six head, including thirty-five calves, besides a great many that have been turned off for beef. He has twenty head of horses, two good wagons and a $300 carriage, harnesses, mower, horse rake and other ranch tools…. There are also on the ranch are about 150 feet of stabling, besides sheds, a granary and corrals. Some eight miles of fence, enclosing about five thousand acres of pasture and meadow lands have also been built. The ranch is most an excellent one for dairying and stock raising. Numberless little parks and glades, and even the hills themselves, covered with a luxuriant growth of nutritious native grasses, afford the best of pasturage. The bottom lands along the courses of the mountain streams are fenced off and kept for meadows. …Mrs. Batterson’s milk room and everything connected with it, from the skimmer to the large Blanchard churn from which the golden carbonates are daily mines, are models of convenience and neatness. The milk is set in common tin pans ranged upon racks extending across the entire side of the room, and from ten to twenty-four hours, according to temperature, are allowed for the cream to rise. It is then churned by hand in one of Blanchard’s largest hand churns. After being salted and cleansed of buttermilk it is put up in small muslin sacks, holding from two to three pounds, and then packed away in a barrel and kept covered with a weak brine. This method of putting it up in small sacks meets with general favor with grocers and dealers. It keeps the butter nice and clean and there is no waste in dealing it out such as follows from hicking it out of a jar with a knife. Mr. Batterson’s milkers are stabled and fed hay in the winter. The rest of his herd very seldom get any hay except in cases of very severe and prolonged storms. Last winter, aside from his milk cows, his herd were not fed a mouthful of hay but picked their own living on the hillsides and in the valleys…. Mr. Batterson seldom employs any help except perhaps a few days in haying. ” By then the house was expanded to include a 14x16 frame addition, a milk room 12x24 and a large outdoor cellar. The old stage road ran right past the house and travelers often stopped for refreshments at the popular Batterson homestead.
1883 January 17 William Batterson and Lillie Aldrich were married at the Windsor hotel in Fort Collins. The Courier reported "The bride was simply though becomingly attired in a toilet of drab." In attendance were some 50 family and friends, including Mr. and Mrs. Ansel Watrous.
Less than a month later, on February 6, William E. Tibbets and Mina Batterson were married at the Batterson Ranch. It was also Mary’s 50th birthday.
In the same year, a Receiver's Receipt for the homestead was recorded in Solomon Batterson's name. He increased his holdings from 160 to 320 and then 640 acres. Eventually the ranch encompassed 800 acres of the finest grazing land in the region.
1885 After 12 years on the ranch, Batterson received a U. S. Government patent signed by President Cleveland. (The Homestead Act provided that any citizen age 21 or older could file for a homestead anywhere in the U. S., build a house, live there and cultivate the land for 3-5 years, and then receive a "patent" from the government.)
1890 The Fort Collins Courier reported on Feb. 27: "Mr. S. Batterson, one of Adams’ prosperous and substantial ranchmen, was in town on Monday after a load of supplies. He has just completed a large frame barn on his ranch, the main part being 30 by 40 and one and a half stories high with leanto’s on each side 16 feet wide and 40 feet long. The structure cost him in the neighborhood of $800."
1890s The stage from Fort Collins to the mining camp of Manhattan and the logging community at Chambers Lake made three round trips per week and changed horses at Owl Canyon, the Livermore Hotel and Solomon Batterson’s. The old stage road can still be seen in front of the barn and the homesite.
1899 Stanley Case in his The Poudre: A Photo History shows Zimmerman’s Stage Line distances and rates from Ft. Collins to S. Batterson’s at 35 miles for $1.75 and Will Batterson’s at 43 miles for $2.50.
The Batterson Barn is considered "one of the prominent landmarks on the upper Gordon Creek drainage" (Evans), "beloved landmark" (This Old Barn), and "a beautiful old barn, one of the most photographed and also one of the most popular painting subjects for artists in the country."
1900 August 16, the Fort Collins Courier reported: “Solomon Batterson…has…a unique way of doing certain kinds of work. An irrigating ditch runs through his corals and across the highway and winds round the hills enabling the mountaineer to water many acres of grass land such as timothy and blue grass. In the spring when the corrals are well supplied with manure which has accumulated all winter, say one hundred great loads, a full head of water is turned on and the ditch runs brimming full. Then two men commence forking the manure into the ditch and the water partly dissolves it and carries it along down the ditch and as it continues on its course spilling over the light banks of the little ditch the manure is gradually scattered over the hay land with the irrigating waters, and so evenly disseminated that no horse, rake or harrow has to be used to scatter it….”
1901 Solomon Batterson (age 61) fell out of his hayloft and broke three ribs, but recovered quickly.
On December 12 the Weekly Courier reported: "…the hospitable mountain home of Mr. and Mrs. S. Batterson of Livermore, was the scene of one of those good, old-fashioned gatherings of neighbors and friends which delight the heart and charm the senses. It was a dinner party and the table fairly groaned beneath its weight of good things for the inner man, proving that, though Mrs. Batterson is nearly seventy years of age she has not forgotten how to provide and cook for one of those delicious old-time dinners…."
1902 Will Batterson filed suit against Katie and Cecil Moon, asking that they be enjoined from using the Elkhorn creek for irrigation purposes and $200 in damages. The case settled out of court.
1903 Solomon (age 73) and Mary Batterson, after 30 years on the ranch, sold the cattle, leased the ranch to their daughter Alomina and her husband William Tibbits for five years, and moved to Fort Collins. They had amassed a comfortable fortune in the cattle business. The Tibbits lived there until moving to their own ranch at the bottom of McNey Hill (Mile 9, south side). Billy had established a ranch on Elkhorn Creek twenty years earlier and become a successful and wealthy young cattleman.
1904 After more than twenty years of married life, Will and Lillie had a son on May 28.
1905 Solomon and Mary built a ten room pressed brick modern residence at 402 E. Oak in Ft. Collins for $3,500 and a brick barn for $700.
Lady Catherine Moon filed a complaint charging William Batterson and William St. Clair with assault and battery.
1906 The verdict in the Batterson-St. Clair case was "not guilty" because intent could not be proven.
1908 Billy Batterson died suddenly at age 55. The Weekly Courier reported: His ranch, cattle, horses and home were always well cared for. He usually kept a large supply of grain on hand to feed his stock, and several years ago, when he was in his granary, a large pile of grain that was in sacks fell over on him, injuring him severely, and he has never seen a well day since. Late in November he contracted typhoid pneumonia, and this, with uraemic poisoning, terminated his life." He was buried at Livermore Pioneers Cemetery with a beautiful headstone, still in tact. His wife, Lillian (Aldrich – 9/1861-11/36), and son William A. (5/28/1904-1939) are also buried there. An unmarked grave is in the same grouping.
1909 May, Solomon Batterson accompanied by his nephew, Lewis E. Dean, went up to the ranch to fix the ditches and fences as the place was unoccupied since the Tibbitts moved to their own ranch on Rattlesnake Hill.
On June 15, Miss Azubah Tibbitts, eldest daughter of Alomina and William
Tibbitts, married Edward A. Boyce of
In July, Solomon and Mary came back up to the ranch to “look after the putting up of hay. Mrs. Batterson sends us heads of timothy ranging from six to eight inches in length. Mr. Batterson’s ranch has long been noted for the fine quality of the product of its meadows” (Weekly Courier).
In November, 1909, Wm. Donovan, who managed the Bell dairy for three years, leased the Batterson Ranch and moved his family up there.
1910 Solomon Batterson petitions authorities to get after dandelions. June, Mary Batterson passed away and was placed in a tomb in Grandview Cemetery.
1910-1911 Lilly and Will St. Clair are spending time together. She kept the ranch on the Elkhorn and visited with her mother there.
1911 Bert and Alta Bush lived on the Batterson Ranch while their new place above Batterson Hill was being fixed up.
1916 John McNey purchased the Solomon Batterson Ranch "comprising 800 acres of the best grazing land in the Livermore district. It joins the McNey home near Livermore and gives this prominent rancher control of over 1,200 acres of the finest land for stock raising in this part of the country..." (Weekly Courier, April 7, 1916).
1917 "The old Batterson place, west of Livermore was the scene of much fun and jollity last Friday evening when neighboring friends to the number of 90 gathered to enjoy a hard-time dance. The costumes were very ludicrous and created much fun…. Mr. Ray Stouffer took the prize for the worst dressed gentleman. At midnight a delicious oyster supper was served. The proceeds of the evening will be used to buy seats for the schoolhouse" ( Weekly Courier, March 2).
1918 Lillie Batterson is now Mrs. Will St. Clair, but the marriage did not make the papers(!) Solomon is very ill at his home in Fort Collins.
"M’NEY HOME BURNED TO GROUND LAST NIGHT. The home of Stewart McNey…was burned to the ground last evening. Mrs. McNey started a fire in the kitchen range and a few minutes later the roof of the kitchen was in flames….The home was entirely destroyed and members of the family are now housed with neighbors. This was the old Batterson place which for years has been a landmark…. The Batterson house had stood at the foot of Batterson hill for over forty years and was considered a landmark on the Zimmerman road. Mr. and Mrs. McNey are preparing to move into a smaller house near where the old home stood" (Weekly Courier, July 12).
"Mr. and Mrs. Stewart McNey are moving this week from the Batterson place to the Lincoln place at Livermore now owned by C. Zimmerman" (Weekly Courier, October 1).
1919 SOLOMON BATTERSON AGED 88 IS DEAD (Fort Collins Courier, Mar. 24, P. 1).
"Grandpa" Batterson, as he was known to hundreds of people in this vicinity, is dead and in his demise there is removed from this city one of the oldest residents both in age and length of residence.
"Solomon Batterson died early this morning from the infirmities of age and from inroads made by an ever-growing cancer…. His wife died in 1910 and five years ago he married Mrs. Fanning, who with Mrs. Mina Tibbitts of Livermore survive him…."
1926 Clarence Currie, younger son of John Currie (who purchased the LOX Ranch from Sam Sloan) purchased the Solomon Batterson Ranch from John McNey II and his brother-in-law, W. O. McCullah. (Clarence continued to increase his holdings for over 40 years, which eventually became one of the largest in the area, totaling around 16,000 acres. This included much of the area from the Boy Scout Ranch of today, east down both sides of Red Feather Lakes Road to the bottom of McNey Hill, land on both Lone Pine Creek and Elkhorn Creek, plus a large part of Black Mountain Ranch northwest of Red Feather Lakes, which became Crystal Lakes.)
No one lived on the Batterson Ranch for 80 years--from 1918 until 1998.
1959 Evidently the timbers and siding were rotting as inscriptions in wet concrete show that substantial structural repairs were made October 8-9, 1959. New concrete footings for internal posts and concrete foundations for both east and west walls were poured.
1967? The Currie Ranch was sold to Black Mountain Ranch, Inc. a consortium of CSU administrators (Chamberlain, Tyrell, Cook, and Ahlman) who in 1969 sold to Lee Stubblefield, who in turn sold to Don Weixelman, owner of Beaver Meadows and his some 100 investors in 1971. Weixelman divided the property into Glacier View Meadows, Green Mountain Meadows, and Crystal Lakes and several other large parcels. Thus the Batterson barn became part of the small section of Glacier View Meadows on the east side of Red Feather Lakes Road.
1972 Glacier View Meadows Protective and Design Covenants were filed. Glacier View Meadows contained about 6,000 acres, from which over 1,000 lots and numerous greenbelts eventually were made in twelve filings.
1973 Before development could proceed, however, Don Weixelman and his partners needed to obtain sufficient water to serve the area. An application was filed with the Colorado Water Court in the summer of 1973.
1975 The Water Court granted a water decree of seventy-five shares of underground water from the Cache la Poudre River in the Elkhorn and Gordon Creek drainages through the Mountain and Plains Irrigation Company. This "Water Augmentation Plan" turned out to be a landmark decision, both for the Water Court and for developers in Larimer County.
1976 GVM Fifth Filing platted (Lots 11, 12 (barn), 14, 15 (house), etc.). Batterson Lake was created around this time. Don Weixelman remembers working all night with heavy equipment to save the unfinished dam from rapidly rising water by raising it enough to engage the spillway. The four rail post and dowel fence was built around the 10 acre Batterson Barn pasture to distinguish it from the rest of GVM, which was fenced with buck and rail.
1978 Donald and Viola Yount bought Lot 12 (the Batterson Barn and 10 acres with Gordon Creek running through it). Yount planned to convert the barn into a house and removed the hayloft in the middle section. He also owned lot 11 (east across the creek) and purchased lot 15 (where the current house stands) from Kenneth and Patricia Jan and Betty Baskin, who were the original GVM owners.
1995 Terry and Linda Mulligan bought lot 12 (barn) from Don Yount, who had become ill. The barn was sagging without the structural support of the loft. Mulligans had an engineer design guy supports to strengthen the structure.
1996 Terry and Linda Mulligan bought Lot 15 (house lot) from the Younts.
1998 April, Mulligans began construction of house and lived in a camper on the property.
1999 January, Mulligans combined lots 12 and 15 and removed the utility easement separating the two lots. In July the Certificate of Occupancy was granted.
2003 August, Judd and Linda Adams purchased the Batterson Barn and house from Terry and Linda Mulligan. The following year Adams purchased the two adjoining lots preserving the 20-acre parcel the Mulligans had created.
Photos of barn
Interior center part of barn
Linda is giving a talk about the barn and the Batterson's to a group from the Livermore School, 2006.
Stalls
There were six stalls on each side of the barn. Each stall was large enough to accommodate horses and may have been the practice quite frequently; the evidence being two holes drilled in the top board in the manger which could be used to hold the horses in place while eating. In this photo the dividing boards have been cut, by the previous owners, to make a very large space where are two horses can eat side-by side.
At Azuba's grave
Visiting Azuba's grave always has an emotional impact for the kids, and is most frequently mentioned when they write their thank you letters to Linda.