Bricks to the Past Traditional Cache

This cache is placed near a historically significant location in Hotchkiss, Colorado. Since there is no informational placard near the site, I have compiled a brief history of the area. Please read the information before visiting or while at the cache site.

Enos Throop Hotchkiss was born March 29, 1832 in McKean County, Pennsylvania. Among other talents, he was an entrepreneur, prospector, rancher, owner of a sawmill and gristmill, a postmaster and a justice of the peace. He came to Colorado in 1859 with his brother, Preston.

In 1879, Enos travelled alone to scout the North Fork Area. He camped near Delta and the next morning followed the Gunnison River, crossing it near the site of the present-day state bridge in Austin. He then travelled across Rogers Mesa. Upon arriving at the edge of the mesa on August 15, 1879, he camped near the spot where he would make his home: “a small plot cleared in the brush by the Indians for corn.” (Reference #1 ‘And That’s the Way It Was’) Enos then returned home to Gunnison, CO.

Then, on March 6, 1880, Chief Ouray signed a treaty at the Ute Delegation in Washington that would effectively remove all of the Utes from Colorado forever. “In…1881…the Utes made their sad trek to the reservation in Utah. This opened of the valley to settlement.” (Reference #2, Introduction)

In 1881, Enos left Gunnison for the North Fork Valley traveling with brothers George H. and William H. Duke and Dave Platt. “George Duke and Enos Hotchkiss sat on a hill of the west side of the present town, in an area where the cemetery is now. They were making sure there were no Indians in the area. Enos looked down below, pointed to an area, and announced ‘This is where I want to live.’” (Reference #2, page 9)

In the beginning, Enos and his wife Elizabeth lived in a log cabin north of the present day brick house. In a September 1882 article in the Delta City News, it was reported that the Hotchkiss’s hosted a housewarming party. The entire population, numbering 36, was present.

This fledgling settlement needed a name: Enos suggested the name Red Rock. However, George Duke wrote down the name of his friend, Hotchkiss, and so the town was named in 1882. The first post office was in the home of Enos with George Duke serving as postmaster.

Enos’s son, Monette, paid $200 for 160 acres in 1884. In a 1986 article of the North Fork Times, it was written that on September 2, 1885 “Harry Bopp secured the contract for building the new brick barn (40 by 100 feet) of Enos T. Hotchkiss. The next fall [1886] a celebration was held [in the barn] in conjunction with the harvest- the predecessor of the official Delta County Fair.” (Reference #3, page 75) Monette then sold the property to Enos in 1888 for $800. Finally, in 1889 the brick house was built using bricks from Montrose, Colorado.

Sadly, Enos died in January 1900, only several months before the town bearing his name would be incorporated on March 19, 1900 with a population of 261.

Today, decedents of Enos still live and work the ranch he homesteaded over 100 years ago. However, on August 19, 2010 a weather event known as a microburst tore through the town leaving a wake of damage in its path. Unfortunately, the property that sustained the most damage was the historic Hotchkiss Barn. The damage to the barn can be viewed from the cache site. 

There are various places to park near the cache site. The bridge is very narrow, so I suggest parking on the East or West side of the bridge and walking to the cache site. Happy Hunting!

References:

1. Hotchkiss and Crawford 1880-1910. Hotchkiss, Crawford Historical Board.
2. North Fork Valley. Kathy Addams McKee and Claudia Sutliff King. Copyright 2012.
3. In the Footsteps of the Hotchkiss Brothers. Mary Hotchkiss Farmer and Lee McMurty Farmer. Copyright 2009.