By Kami Collins, Mountain Valley News staff
One hundred and thirty years after Enos Throop Hotchkiss first came to the North Fork Valley with the intention to build a homestead and establish a town, the National Register of Historic Places and the Colorado State Register of Historic Properties have recognized his efforts and heritage. His homestead was placed on the registers on Dec. 15, 2011. It was accepted for the historic architecture as well as the history of the homestead. Today, his great-grandson, Dick Hotchkiss, lives with his wife Janice in the house Enos built.
The history of the community, and Enos’s place in it, is fascinating. He first scouted the North Fork Valley in the fall of 1879, coming through Montrose and Delta from Black Mesa. In the early summer of 1881, he camped out on Curecanti Creek with the intention of settling the valley once the government removed the Ute Indians.
On Aug. 31, 1881, Enos’s friend George Duke wrote a letter that read, in part, “…Hotchkiss and I walked up the valley as far as that point where the cemetery is. We sat on that point for a long time to see if there were any Indians in the valley. Hotchkiss pointed out where he wanted his ranch. That is where it is now.” The area was not open for settlement until Sept. 4, 1881.
He paid $800 for 160 acres of land for the first homestead patent in Hotchkiss. He and his wife Elizabeth built a log cabin on the property, and in 1882, had a housewarming party, to which every single valley resident was invited, and attended: 36 people.
Historical lore says that Enos wanted to name his settlement Red Rock, but when his friend George Duke filled in the application for the post office, he wrote down “Hotchkiss.” Duke would become the first postmaster of Hotchkiss; the post office was located in Enos’s home.
In 1885, Enos hired Harry Bopp to build a barn on the homestead. The 40-foot by 100-foot barn was built using locally made red bricks. The beams were 39-foot-long tree trunks. “I would have liked to see them build it,” Dick said. “I bet it took quite a crew.”
By the fall of 1886, the barn was complete, and Enos and Elizabeth hosted a celebration in conjunction with the fall harvest; that celebration would become the predecessor to the Delta County Fair. The couple hosted many dances in their barn. They lived there until their much bigger, two-story brick house was complete in 1889, and the family moved in on New Year’s Day.
“It was a post office for a bit, and a funeral home, and just about anything that happened in the community for a while,” Janice explained.
Enos set right to work on his 160 acres. He moved cattle into the area in the spring, lost some calves due to theft, and hired a man nicknamed The Killer to scare other cattlemen into not stealing his cows, which was a successful business move. He registered the IX brand, one of the first, if not the first, brands in the area, in 1882. In 1888, he brought sheep here from Utah as payment for a debt. In 1893, he sold all his cattle and began raising sheep.
Enos was one of the first Delta County Commissioners, named so in 1883, along with Samuel Wade and Albert Kirkbride; in 1885, he was one of the directors of School District No. 2. He built several ditches, was one of the incorporators of the Anthracite Railway Company in 1891 and served as president of the Bank of Hotchkiss. He deeded 18.05 acres to the Hotchkiss Cemetery Company in 1897.
He died Jan. 20, 1900, from pneumonia and heart failure. He is buried in the Hotchkiss Riverside Cemetery. The Town of Hotchkiss was incorporated just months after his death, on May 7, 1900.
A descendent of Enos Hotchkiss has lived in his brick home since his death. “It’s always been a Hotchkiss living here,” said Janice. She and Dick began living there in 1968. It’s quite a legacy, Janice acknowledged. “I guess it is,” she laughed. “We know why they all died of pneumonia… this old, cold house.”
In 1993, the Hotchkiss ranch holdings were given the Colorado Centennial Ranch designation, which is given to ranches that have been in the same family for at least 100 years. Today Dick’s sons Zach and Ted handle most of the cattle ranching.
On Aug. 19, 2010, on Janice’s birthday, a microburst storm blew through town and damaged the 126-year-old barn, tearing off nearly a third of the roof and damaging some of the wall structure. She and Dick were at their mountain property when the storm blew through, so they knew nothing of the devastation until their sons called them.
“We couldn’t believe it,” Janice said. “You don’t think this kind of thing will happen. We were lucky it was just the barn and not the house.”
When Dick and Janice first assessed the damage, they thought about razing the barn and building a brand new brick one, she said. They decided against that option, though, and their sons cleaned up the mess, salvaging what they could of the historic materials. About a week after the storm, Janice and Dick were in the barn, clearing out the spoiled meat from the deep freezer they kept there. It was in the middle of this chore that Paonia architect Bob McHugh stopped in and told them, “You’ve got a mess.” He wanted to begin the process of putting the barn on the state register of historic landmarks in an effort to secure funding to repair it.
At that point, Leigh Ann Hunt, a local archeologist, became involved. “I knew that it was a historical treasure and I knew we needed to see if we could get the family some resources.”
She called the Colorado Historic Preservation Society to begin the process. McHugh said he initially thought only the barn should be put on the register, but the state encouraged them to put the entire homestead up for designation. “The total property really displays the history,” he said.
The barn is unusual, McHugh explained, because it was built from brick instead of wood. When Enos hauled in brick from Montrose, and then later when his nephews began making brick, it led to an industry in Hotchkiss. Many of the town’s buildings were built using that brick, McHugh said.
The brick was so prevalent and plentiful in the development of the town that remnants can still be found today. “Every place you dig in our yard — to plant a tree or bury a dog — you hit old red brick,” Janice said.
Now that the homestead has been officially designated, Hunt, McHugh and the Hotchkisses are figuring out their strategy to get the barn repaired. Dick and Janice’s insurance policy did not even begin to cover the damage to the barn; initial estimates place the price tag at $300,000, but everyone involved in the designation process thinks it could cost much more. If they apply for grant funding, they’ll have to come up with matching funds. Thankfully, the historical designation means that the Hotchkisses are eligible for tax credits and have access to special grants and loans.
McHugh said likely the group will start with applying for an assessment grant this spring, which would aid in being able to explore funding opportunities and getting an estimate for the work. “We have to get down to the nitty gritty and figure this out,” he said.
“I’m glad,” Dick said, of the designation. “We sure appreciate all that Bob’s done.”
“We sure want to see it fixed,” Janice added. “It’s a neat old building. This was a good place to raise four kids.”
“It’s just really important that a landmark like this barn is kept as a historical landmark,” Hunt said. Another interesting aspect of the project that has come up is that Hunt is in the process of talking to other statewide historical preservation societies about getting a Delta County Historic Landmark entity formed.
“We’ve got a long road ahead of us to get something done, but we’re going to give it a try,” she said. If someone wants to help with the process, they are welcome to call her at 874-6691.
