DillinghamД¬olonel William Gilpin was also appointed to the office of Territorial Governor by President Lincoln, and immediately sought to address the Southern threat to the newly created Colorado Territory.В The regionвЂ™s earliest gold seekers were from Georgia, and though many new-comersВ with city-building in their hearts were mid-Western Yanks, there were some notable residents supporting the rebellion, including Mayor Moore and Postmaster McClure. The best image remaining of the camp is this sketch by J.E. Unfortunately, heВ expiredВ in a hospital on the Appomattox from exposure and an unrelenting cold in January 1865, (Hafen, 1942). Evidently an able officer, WeldВ was promoted to Major, then Lt.Colonel of the 41st Colored Infantry, participating in battles at Deep Bottom and Russell Mills. Weld was a prominent abolitionist, and likely influenced his nephewsвЂ™s decision to returnВ east and join the Union Army as Captain of the 7th Regiment U.S. Like Governor Gilpin, he served briefly as an able and respected administrator, though unlike him, had little to do with the camp itself. Invested with significant responsibilities, it was considered a prominent appointment in the day.В Originally arriving in DenverВ in 1860, Weld soon after sought the leadership position in Washington after becoming frustrated by the lack of a justice system here in which to practice law, andВ was named to the post by President Lincoln. The Camp was named for the first Territorial Secretary, Lewis Ledyard Weld. Immediately in front, after passing in, is the Guard House, a commodious building, standing isolated from the main range of barracksвЂ¦Running entirely around the enclosure, and twenty-five feet from the buildings, a top rail fence is being constructed,вЂќ The building space occupied by each company is 180 feet, divided into mess rooms which are 30 by 18 feet, with huge fireplaces at either end, and sleeping apartments of the same size, capable each of accommodating 25 menвЂ¦The main entrance to the camp enclosure is on the eastern side. вЂњThe enclosure embraces about thirty acresвЂ¦The buildings, which consist of officersвЂ™ headquarters, quarters for soldiers, mess rooms, guard house, hospital, etc., occupy four sides of what is nearly a square, and built in the most substantial and comfortable manner. From an account in the October 24th Rocky Mountain News, the author elaborates on the camp layout: BuildingsВ were positioned to surround the central square where the volunteer troops could practice their drills, which the townspeople would come to watch for a bit of evening entertainment. It was built along the PlatteвЂ™s East bank, then about two miles southwest ofВ the city. So much has changed from the early years, that it is hard to picture the military camp that once stood there. Then, oneВ thoughtful soldier staked a homestead claim on the landВ and raised his family in the last standing section of вЂњOfficerвЂ™sВ Row.вЂќ HeВ planted orchards and built fish ponds on the acreage, operating aВ market and picnic ground for many years afterward.

After two damaging fires, the remaining timber from the camp would find better useВ elsewhere in town, and the defenders were dispersedВ toВ more imminent threats throughout the territory. However, the glory earned at Glorieta Pass in New Mexico would be forever obscured by the Third CavalryвЂ™s shameful legacy, the hundreds of Cheyenne and Arapahoe women and children slain in the Sand Creek Massacre.

ColoradoвЂ™s First Volunteer regiment is credited with beating back the TexanВ advance, and ending the ConfederateВ ambition of acquiring the mountains ofВ wealth in the West. Situated wellВ on the outskirts of town, just beyond US MarshallВ HuntвЂs homestead, the camp was used to organize and train troops for the defense of the Union. Once located on thirty acres east of the Platte and north of todayвЂ™s 8th Avenue bridge, it was built on the insistence of 1st Territorial Governor Gilpin in 1861 to help protect the TerritoryВ from Southern attack. and Colorado history, than the site of Camp Weld. With regard to the history of the La Alma-Lincoln Park neighborhood, there is no lost monument more significant to both U.S.

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