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322:, once known as the Eaton Ditch. The Larimer and Weld Irrigation Company was incorporated on March 10, 1879. The company's board of directors were James Duff, Hyde Sparkes, Benjamin H. Eaton, Thomas B. Dunbar, and Aaron J. Eaton. The capital stock, $ 200,000, was divided into two thousand shares at $ 100 each. This was the largest and longest irrigation canal in the state, irrigating 50,000 acres. In 1879 he built the High Line Canal in
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known as
Larimer County Canal No. 2, which watered large areas of land west, south, and southwest of Fort Collins. Competition for water between Fort Collins Agricultural Colony and the Greeley became desperate and in 1874 almost led to gunfire. Ben Eaton and a few others calmed Greeley colonists with a commitment to divide the water according to need and a promise to deliver it. The promise was not necessary because it rained.
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In 1870 Eaton met Nathan Meeker, whom newspaperman Horace
Greeley had dispatched to Colorado to pick the Union Colony site. Eaton suggested the land southeast of his place, at the confluence of the South Platte and Poudre Rivers. Eaton promised to assist the ditch construction that would be critical
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Eaton expanded his operations from farming into contracting, specializing in the building of irrigation canals and reservoirs, a business he heavily promoted as a means of bringing growth and wealth to
Larimer and Weld Counties. In 1873, in association with John C. Abbott, he built what later became
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to the colony's farms. Bankrolled by Horace
Greeley, the Union Colonists secured 60,000 contiguous acres. On March 15, 1870, the executive committee named the town "Greeley." Gophers continually thwarted the 35-mile Canal No. 1 but, according to Union Colony minutes, Eaton would not give up.
233:, the second of eight children born to Hannah (née Smith) and Levi Eaton. His maternal grandmother was Mary (née Yarnall) Smith, whose great grandfather, Francis Yarnall, emigrated to the Penn Colony in 1683.
302:, serving in that capacity for nine years. For six years, he served concurrently as a county commissioner. Eaton and Rebecca Hill had three children: Lincoln Eaton, Bruce Grant Eaton, and Jennie Bell Eaton.
162:(December 15, 1833 – October 29, 1904) was an American politician, entrepreneur and agriculturalist in the late 19th and early 20th century. Eaton was a founding officer of the
244:, where he taught school for two years. He returned to Ohio in 1856 where he married Delilah Wolf. His wife died in 1857 after giving birth to a son, Aaron James Eaton.
255:. Later that year, Eaton went to Iowa for the second time. The following year in 1859, at the height of the Colorado Gold Rush, he moved from Iowa back to Colorado. He
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in the New Mexico
Volunteers. In 1863, he built a farm on the present location of Windsor, Colorado. (Mike Peters, Greeley Tribune, "How Weld Towns Got Their Name").
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with his second wife that year and settled in Weld County along its western border with
Larimer County, establishing a
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He returned to Louisa County, Iowa in 1864 and married
Rebecca J. Hill, his second wife. Together they crossed the
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Eaton is among
Colorado's sixteen notable pioneers who are depicted in stained glass on the rotunda of the
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counties, at one time owning over ninety 160 acre (0.6 km²) parcels, all watered from
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The Man Who
Thought He Owned Water: On the Brink with American Farms, Cities and Food
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393:(1st ed.). Boulder, Colorado: University Press of Colorado. p. 31.
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of his own construction. His projects were influential in helping turn the
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and taught school there as well. In 1854, at the age of 21, he moved to
422:(First ed.). Athens: Swallow Press/Ohio University Press. p.
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investors. He later built the
Windsor Reservoir near present-day
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Colorado State Archives-Benjamin Harrison Eaton Collection
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raising operation. He was an early prominent citizen of
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The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States
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Written in Water: The Life of Benjamin Harrison Eaton
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governor". He was one of the largest land owners in
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and was instrumental in the establishment of modern
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247:After emigrating to Colorado in 1858 during the
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170:farming to Northern Colorado. A member of the
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59:January 13, 1885 – January 11, 1887
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214:in western Weld County is named for him.
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933:Politicians from Fort Collins, Colorado
913:Republican Party governors of Colorado
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318:In 1878 he began construction of the
414:Norris, Jane E. and Lee G. (1990).
344:History of Larimer County, Colorado
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298:there. In 1866, he was elected as
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943:Military personnel from Colorado
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219:Colorado State Capitol Building
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928:People from Windsor, Colorado
374:. Govt. Print. Off. pp.
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923:People from Coshocton, Ohio
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278:Benjamin and Rebecca Eaton.
176:fourth Governor of Colorado
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459:Party political offices
236:Eaton went to school in
368:Gannett, Henry (1905).
160:Benjamin Harrison Eaton
320:Larimer and Weld Canal
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206:region in the state's
559:Governors of Colorado
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510:Governor of Colorado
476:Governor of Colorado
300:Justice of the peace
47:Governor of Colorado
938:Union Army officers
242:Louisa County, Iowa
174:, he served as the
16:American politician
887:American Civil War
503:James Benton Grant
495:Political offices
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265:American Civil War
249:Colorado Gold Rush
238:West Bedford, Ohio
229:Eaton was born in
200:South Platte River
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569:(1861–1876)
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517:Succeeded by
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400:978-1-60732-495-9
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117:December 15, 1833
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102:Personal details
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251:he settled in
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210:. The town of
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634:(since 1876)
567:Territorial
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474:nominee for
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306:Later career
292:Fort Collins
284:Great Plains
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204:agricultural
159:
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132:(1904-10-29)
87:Succeeded by
54:
908:1904 deaths
903:1833 births
253:Weld County
80:James Grant
75:Preceded by
897:Categories
818:Vanderhoof
803:E. Johnson
793:W. Johnson
763:E. Johnson
520:Alva Adams
514:1885–1887
472:Republican
355:References
269:Kit Carson
261:New Mexico
257:prospected
225:Early life
196:reservoirs
168:irrigation
148:Republican
113:1833-12-15
92:Alva Adams
64:Lieutenant
875:Biography
808:McNichols
773:T. Ammons
728:E. Ammons
288:livestock
55:In office
798:Thornton
758:W. Adams
723:Shafroth
713:McDonald
708:A. Adams
688:A. Adams
683:McIntire
663:A. Adams
588:Cummings
351:(1911).
338:See also
861:Portals
733:Carlson
718:Buchtel
703:Peabody
332:Windsor
328:British
208:economy
188:Larimer
838:Ritter
783:Vivian
768:Talbot
753:Morley
738:Gunter
693:Thomas
668:Cooper
648:Pitkin
632:State
608:McCook
603:Elbert
598:McCook
578:Gilpin
430:
397:
324:Denver
192:canals
180:farmer
139:, U.S.
122:, U.S.
848:Polis
833:Owens
828:Romer
788:Knous
748:Sweet
743:Shoup
698:Orman
678:Waite
673:Routt
658:Eaton
653:Grant
643:Routt
613:Routt
583:Evans
823:Lamm
813:Love
778:Carr
593:Hunt
481:1884
428:ISBN
395:ISBN
194:and
186:and
184:Weld
127:Died
107:Born
45:4th
424:126
376:113
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111:(
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
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