Keeping track of Thompson towns, pioneer passes, Berthoud, and Loveland

A man drives a mule drawn wagon on a dirt road through Berthoud Pass (Clear Creek County), Colorado. Photo by Harry H. Buckwalter.

 Miles apart and muddled lines

By Rob Carrigan, robcarrigan1@gmail.com

It seems to me, that having both a Colorado mountain pass, and up-and-coming city or town named for you — can be the kiss of obscurity, or at least confusion.

For example, most folks know that Loveland and Berthoud did something with the railroads — but maybe one in ten could tell you which railroad, and precisely what it was they did. 

Berthoud, the small, but growing berg in Larimer County was named for Capt. Edward I. Berthoud, chief civil engineer for the Colorado Central Railroad when the line reached here. 

Capt. Edward I. Berthoud

 
"Berthoud was also the discoverer of Berthoud Pass," according to research done in the 1930s for the Colorado Writers' Project by the Works Progress Administration, and rail records, and other sources.

The settlement earlier was known as "Little Thompson," with a post office opening in the spring of 1875. Capt. Berthoud, during the Civil War he served as a lieutenant and captain in the 2nd Colorado Infantry and 2nd Colorado Cavalry. Berthoud became one of Golden's most prominent citizens, serving as Speaker of the Colorado Territorial Legislature in 1866, County Surveyor from 1875 to 1878, and Golden Mayor in 1890. He surveyed and supervised construction of many railroad lines in Colorado and the West, primarily for the Colorado Central Railroad. Berthoud was an early supporter, faculty member, and board member of the Colorado School of Mines, and an amateur scholar of history, botany, and ornithology.

W.A.H. Loveland

 Loveland, of course, was named after W.A.H. Loveland, president of the Colorado Central Railroad, (he was Berthoud's boss) and prominent in state affairs. The townsite was platted on the farm of David Barnes — later known as the "father of Loveland" — and who declined to have the town named for him. Loveland's name also graces 11,992-feet Loveland Pass and the nearby ski area on the Continental Divide.

"The earliest settlement in the Big Thompson Valley underwent many name changes but was eventually called Namaqua," writes Kenneth Jesson in "Thompson Valley Tales, (1984)." The story of Namaqua, of course, began with the arrival of mountain man Mariano Medina, who first arrived in the area with french trappers, Nicholas and Antoine Janis,  along with Spanish  Jose' de Mirabel.

"The location Namaqua was immediately west of Namaqua Park on County Road 19E by the Big Thompson River. Jose' de Mirabel settled on this site. A brief report of the new settlement appeared in the March 1860, edition of the Rocky Mountain News. The town was said to be named in honor of "Joe Merival."  Somehow the name of Mirabal was transformed into Miraval in the article, and later, the settlement became known as Miraville," says Jessen.

"Miraville was not mentioned again after 1860 because the community had simply changed names," notes Jessen. "Many of the mountain men moved on, and some sttled in Colona (now called La Porte.) Mariano Medina remained along with the Jose' de Mirabal and Tim Goodale. Mariano recruited several Mexican famlies from the Taos, New Mexico, area to live on the ranch and help with the chores. The small settlement then became "Marianne's Crossing." It later was called "Big Thompson Station," with a stage stop, which was later combined with Washburn's Crossing, and later saw the development of the community known as St. Louis. Most of St. Louis moved to Loveland when the Colorado Central rails came through and located on David Barnes wheat farm. 

Some effort to name the new town "Barnesville" was circumvented by David Barnes who chose "Loveland " instead, after his friend William Austin Hamilton Loveland, the president of Colorado Central Railroad and one of the founders of Golden. He also ran for Governor of Colorado but was defeated by Pitkin and eventually became owner of the Rocky Mountain News.

Colorado Central Depot in Loveland, built in 1877, shows the rectangular side gable brick building with a water tank and the Loveland Elevator Company building in background. Photo by Nathaniel H. Talbot, 1894.