The Coach Competition:
A new stage line establishes direct route
between Trinidad
and Denver in 1867
In
April of 1867, a Rocky Mountain News reporter showered
praise on the newly formed Denver & Santa
Fe Stage Line that connected Trinidad with Denver.
He was most impressed by the line's good horses and the
fact that the running time of the trip between the two points
had been cut by two thirds to a mere 36 hours.
The reporter also described his stay at the stage's Trinidad
hotel, the Davis and Barracough, by calling it the finest
he had had since leaving Denver.
It
was this spring in 1867 that competition between stage
lines providing service to Trinidad began to
heat up. Previous
to the Denver and Santa Fe Stage Line, the only stage
route between Denver and Trinidad was the Barlow, Sanderson & Company
line that passed through Bent's Fort some ninety miles
north east.
It
was a rather indirect route and two Denver businessmen
had an eye to change it. The Denver & Santa
Fe Line was begun by Abraham Jacobs, a Denver clothing
merchant, and
his partner William Jones. In the beginning of 1867
they started establishing the stops on their route.
At
the end of February the same year, a young civil war veteran
from Boston made his way into Trinidad
to set up
shop for the new Denver & Santa Fe Stage Line.
His name was Joseph Davis, and upon arriving he settled
in for a stay at William R. Walker's hotel which was located
on the corner of what is now the southeast corner of Main
and Maple Streets in Trinidad. The Walker place was the current
stop of the Barlow, Sanderson stage coach.
Davis had it in mind to buy the hotel from Walker so that
he could set up shop for the new line and displace the old
one at the same time. But Walker balked at Davis' offer of
$500 to purchase the place and instead demanded $700.
Davis passed on the offer and instead rented a place a few
blocks west on what is now the southeast corner of Main and
Beech Streets for forty dollars a month. This was the house
and stable that belonged to William Hoehne that, under Davis,
became the stop for the new stage line which was 100 miles
shorter than the previous route.
A former boarder at Hoehne's house was Henry A. Barraclough,
who had worked for the Post Office in Denver. Barraclough
joined Davis and together they ran a combination stage station,
store, and hotel in the building.
by Bryan Zug,
June 30, 1997
Sources:
Trinidad, Colorado Territory by Morris F. Taylor, published
by Trinidad State Junior College, 1966.