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LOCAL STORY A PEOPLE’S HISTORY OF HOMELESSNESS IN DENVER: THE EARLY YEARS BY ROBERT DAVIS HOMELESSNESS AND POVERTY were not new phenomenons in the U.S. when Denver’s first camps formed along the Platte River in 1858. Almost as soon as gold was discovered, land speculators arrived. These speculators then monopolized powers to distribute the land, leaving those who arrived without means to continue living in squalor. In turn, the speculators formed a government and thereby enshrined a system of incentives and punishments that rewards property ownership at the expense of seemingly transient residents. At the same time, Denver’s institutional approach to poverty and homelessness was solidified. The needs of those who are perceived to “pay for” municipal services are held above the needs of other groups like renters and people experiencing homelessness. Despite these events, a flame of reverence for the poor existed within many early settlers, primarily among women and the pious. However, the will of that community was slowly eroded by the forces of industry as the settlement grew to become a city. “PORT IN THE PRAIRIE SEA” Historians Stanley Dempsey and James Fell Jr. described early Denver as the “port in the prairie sea” in their book, “Mining the Summit: Colorado’s Ten Mile District, 1860-1960.” Since only pan gold was found along the Platte River, the city thus became a resource hub for miners. Early businesses in Denver included farms, manufacturers, and supply stores. As a fledgling municipal corporation in 1858, the Denver Town Company established a series of incentives and punishments in its constitution that were meant to lure individuals to the town that could help it prosper. For example, company shareholders (who we would call property owners today) were given the power to elect town officials annually, vote on new taxes and fees, revise the company constitution, and receive donations of land and building materials from the company. They were also given access to two-thirds of the 600 parcels of land in the Denver Town Company’s portfolio. In return, Denver essentially served as an agent for the businesses who operated in the city. The company was responsible for maintaining public roads and infrastructure that helped bring resources into Denver for businesses to use. It was also responsible for all record keeping of shareholder transactions and approving the sale or purchase of company land, according to its charter. However, these benefits were not available to anyone who traveled to Denver. As with most towns in the U.S. at the time, bigotry and racism pervaded the West. Because of this, non-white residents were excluded from accessing Denver’s resources and thereby created generational wealth gaps between white Denverites and all other races that can still be measured today. Individuals who were allowed to become shareholders had to follow strict rules. Shareholders were required to build a 10 DENVER VOICE October 2021 CREDIT: MARKUS PETRITZ, UNSPLASH home or business within 60 days of receiving a donated lot from the company. Otherwise, the company’s charter deemed the lots were vacant and the individual’s shares would become null and void. The company also “assessed” (taxed) businesses to maintain its public infrastructure. People who did not pay these assessments within 60 days of receiving notice lost their land and their ability to participate in the company altogether. Denver assessed $1 on all males between the ages of 21 and 55 years old except those who were employed as miners or farmers. Gambling parlors and saloons were assessed at $2.50 per table. PROSPEROUS PEOPLE Despite stories of vast wealth being created in the Rocky Mountains, the promise of gold proved to be too little to attract people to Denver. So, the city’s early boosters offered to pay for up to $100 in building expenses to those who made the trek out west, according to an early article in the Rocky Mountain News. Historical wage data shows this $100 offer would have equaled two-thirds of an average worker’s annual wages in 1859 in states where Denver settlers commonly emigrated from like Georgia and Iowa. Within six months, the Rocky Mountain News reported that Denver had erected more than 150 homes with another 100 under construction. However, the deal was made available to the wealthy as well as the indigent, which resulted in some well-to-do individuals like banker Edward H. Thomas of the bank Green, Thomas & Co. using the funds to open a bank branch in Denver. Meanwhile, those who moved to Denver found its economy was unstable, at best. Denver’s economy was primarily driven by agriculture and mining — both of which were heavily reliant on technological advances in order to be productive. Early market reports from the Rocky Mountain News show the price of commodities like flour fluctuating by as much as 10 cents per pound over a six-month period. To that end, technology offered farmers the opportunity to produce crops at sustainable economies of scale and helped miners and manufacturers produce their products safer. According to an early directory of town residents, some settlers were also inventors. For example, Samuel Adams, an attorney from Des Moines, Iowa, was credited with inventing an “amalgamator” — a machine that combined mercury with silver to help extract silver more easily. Thomas Fortune of Atchison, Kansas, invented a “steam wagon” that was used on some mine tracks, and Charles Giles invented a stamp mill to refine quartz ore. Local historian Phil Goodstein says the imbalance between Denver’s population and its housing stock came to a head in the 1870s as the city was working to industrialize its economy. He wrote in his book “Denver From the Bottom Up: From Sand Creek to Ludlow” that Denver’s pursuit of railroads to bring more resources into town resulted in “shanties [popping] up” along the railroads and in warehouse districts “leading city hall to dismiss the section as a slum. Floods sporadically washed away homes and businesses.” This area became known as “The Bottoms” which was “a haven for newly arrived immigrants,” according to research in the Western Genealogy Newsletter from the Denver Public Library (DPL). “It would be an understatement to refer to many of these communities as hard-scrabble,” the research says. “Often, whole families suffered brutal winters in poorly constructed, unheated shacks, as they had little to no money for coal or other fuels.” WOMEN AND SOCIAL ORGANIZATIONS While the number of people experiencing poverty and homelessness seemed to climb with Denver’s economic output, women and social organizations led the charge to provide relief. DPL highlights the work of Dr. Laura Bancroft and a group of other women that provided health care and medical services to the city’s poor. Poor people received treatment at places referred to as “poor houses,” according to the library’s research. These houses worked to augment the demand for the city hospital. Another early anti-poverty organization was the Ladies Relief Society. It was formed in 1872 by several ladies of the Trinity Methodist Church and run by Ella Vincent, who was the wife of the pastor, Bethuel T. (B.T.) Vincent. The group aimed to provide milk for infants, reading rooms, and homes for indigent elderly women. One member of the LRS that came to be a major figure in shaping early Denver’s anti-poverty efforts was Frances Wisebart Jacobs. Shortly after joining the ranks, she began canvassing the city and saw just how widespread poverty was in Denver. She then began to stress “soap above everything,” according to Goodstein. Eventually, Jacobs became a “onewoman social work corps” who also helped found Denver’s first free kindergarten, which served as a daycare center for working mothers. Early advocates of public education also sought to instill a culture where parents kept their children from living on the streets of Denver “whether through pride, poverty, or indifference,” according to an early edition of the Rocky Mountain News. The newspaper ran a few articles imploring the community to “help raise the children” when their parents proved incapable. Meanwhile, social lodges such as the Elks, Masons, Woodmen of the World, and Knights of Pythias served as the early social safety net for many settlers. For example, Denver had an especially strong Masonic presence, according to Goodstein. The temple included some of Denver’s most famous settlers such as territorial governor John Evans, William Byers of the Rocky Mountain News, real estate broker Walter Cheesman, and former Colorado Governor John Routt. However, not every race was represented equally among the social lodges, either. Goodstein found that only four or five social lodges catered to Blacks, Asian Americans, or

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