Throughout history, we find stories of people who needed to go beyond the boundaries of civilization to seek out unknown lands. Even before the United States was a country, many people explored the North American continent for many different reasons. Some wanted to find a waterway connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Some sought to make their fortune by trapping animals, or finding gold. Others wanted to teach the Native Americans about their religions. A few of these travelers simply wanted adventure. In May of 1804 President Jefferson sent out a group of men, headed by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, to gather information about the land the United States had acquired through the Louisiana Purchase. This was a huge amount of land; doubling the size of our country. Hardly anything was known about it. What was it like? Who lived there? What kind of animals and plants were there? These were the questions that needed to be answered. When the expedition returned two years later to report their findings to Jefferson, the public read of these new lands and some people were interested in seeing for themselves.
In the history of the state of Colorado,
the names of several explorers stand out. In 1806 Zebulon Pike led a military
expedition to explore this area, and had a mountain named after him. Sixteen
years later, Major Stephen Long did the same. Both men shared their experiences
through their writings. Other adventurers wrote reports and books about this
beautiful area, and one of the most famous is George Ruxton.
George Augustus Frederick Ruxton was born in England on July 14, 1821 to John
and Anna Hay Ruxton. He was the third of six sons. His family was of Irish and
Scot descent, and many of his ancestors were renowned as soldiers and adventures.
As a child, George was uninterested in school, but he enjoyed reading, especially
the Leatherstocking Tales of James Fenimore Cooper. These stories of Native
Americans and the American frontier set his imagination on fire. Following his
family tradition of military service, he enrolled in the Royal Military Academy
at Sandhurst. He spent most of his time exploring the grounds of the school,
and he was often in trouble for disobeying the rules. He was expelled after
2 years and when he was only 15 years old he traveled to Spain, where at that
time civil war was raging. At first Ruxton was an observer, but he enlisted
in a British regiment fighting on the side of the Spanish Queen Isabella II.
He fought bravely, and was knighted by her. During his time there he learned
the Spanish language, an ability he used in later life. He returned to England
when he was 17, but did not stay. The call of new experiences was always very
strong to Ruxton. He was only to live another 10 years, but within that time
he visited Africa twice on behalf of the Royal Geographical Society in an attempt
the correct mistakes made on the maps of the time. He was stationed in Ireland
and Canada as a British soldier. He especially enjoyed his time in Canada where
he hunted extensively with his Chippewa friend, Peshwego. Upon his leaving the
army, he went to Mexico during the Mexican War, and made his way through that
country and the territories that would later be known as New Mexico and Colorado.
It was in the winter of 1846 that George Ruxton entered the area that is now
southeastern Colorado. He journeyed along the Arkansas into the San Luis Valley
and then on to South Park. During part of the trip, Ruxton was accompanied by
a servant guide, his horse and burros. Mostly he preferred to travel alone,
but he enjoyed meeting and spending time with the mountain men and trappers
he met along the way. For several weeks he camped in the area of present day
Manitou Springs. He hunted all types of game: bears, antelope, buffalo and fowl.
He observed at close range the behavior of wolves. He encountered the native
inhabitants of the area, the Utes and Arapahoes. He survived a prairie fire
and a blizzard. He wanted to climb Pikes Peak, but was unable to do so due to
weather conditions. When he returned to England in the spring of 1847, he wrote
several articles which were serialized in a newspaper and later published as
his book on mountain men titled In the Old West (sometimes called Life in the
Old West). He then completed his last book, Adventures in_Mexico and the Rocky
Mountains. Although he had little formal education, George Ruxton was an accomplished
writer. His ability to remember and then describe his experiences makes for
exciting reading to this day.
In 1848, Ruxton's health began to fail. He had suffered a fall during his time
in Colorado, which resulted in a spinal injury and gradually it began to cause
him considerable pain. He felt that a return to the healthy climate of the American
West would cure him, so he planned a trip to the area around the Great Salt
Lake. He only made it as far as St. Louis, MO. In his already weakened state,
Ruxton fell ill during a dysentery epidemic and died on August 29, 1848. He
was 27 years old.
In his short life, George F. Ruxton accomplished a great deal. He traveled through
many countries and continents. Wherever he was, he observed all aspects of the
life surrounding him, and then wrote about it. Although he only spent a short
time here, he helped make famous the Rocky Mountain region of the United States.
The name of Ruxton is well remembered in our area. Ruxton Creek, and the route
to the summit of Pikes Peak that follows it, bears his name, as does a main
street in Manitou Springs.
Sources:
Painted by: Kathy Barnes
Written By: Darcy Mazel