Women Settlers on Fountain Creek along the Old Cherokee Trail

Name: Women Settlers on Fountain Creek along the Old Cherokee Trail
Start: 2025-04-11T11:00:00-06:00
Location: 1 S. 24th St., Colorado Springs, CO, United States, Colorado 80904

Schedule

Fri, 11 Apr, 2025 at 11:00 am

UTC-06:00

Location

1 S. 24th St., Colorado Springs, CO, United States, Colorado 80904 | Colorado Springs, CO

Program: How many stories have you heard about “the first white child born here?” Quite frequently the father gets credit, but the mother’s given name is missing.
This presentation will look at journals, newspaper accounts, census and other official records to learn more about the women who came down the Cherokee Trail in the pre-Territorial days. Life on the trail and life along a busy “highway” presented special challenges, and special opportunities to women like Mrs. Emma Middleton, Mrs. Laura Silsby Young, and Mrs. Lizzie Jenks in the original Fountain City, Wood Valley and Canon City. The comings and goings of families in what became Fountain and Old Colorado City will add depth to what it was really like to settle here.
One example, details of Lizzie Jenks life are alluded to in the Gold Rush Journals of Daniel Jenks when he describes Lizzie’s discomfort as their small caravan moved west in early spring 1859. We only learn that Lizzie was pregnant when Daniel reports she gave birth at a stop in Fountain City. She was fortunate that there were two other young mothers available to help out when they arrived.
Presenter: Nancy K. Prince delights in investigating “rabbit holes” to learn about family dynamics and migration patterns. She grew up on the St. Charles mesa east of Pueblo, knowing Boone and Chivington as place names, not knowing the pioneers behind the names. As she researched the stories of her Bohemian immigrant ancestors who settled near Pinon in 1865, it was exciting to find that they had settled along the Old Cherokee Trail.
The research skills acquired during her career as a geologist, environmental cleanup manager and family genealogist/historian helped her learn more about the lives of her family and their neighbors. The reward is sharing the excitement of discovery in social history publications and presentations.
Currently Nancy enjoys “the best volunteer gig in Colorado Springs.” As a Pioneer Museum volunteer, she mines 50-year-old Gazette newspapers for contributions to the Gazette Back Pages history column.
Doors open at 10:30
Program starts at 11:00
OCCHS Members - FREE
Non-Members - $5