M. S. Beach

Information Compiled by LaDonna Gunn

M. S. Beach was an influential individual in the organization and development of Colorado City and El Paso County.

Beginning in 1859, M. S. Beach, along with several other town promoters, met in Denver City and organized the Colorado City Town Company on August 11, 1859, founding Colorado City on August 12. A few days later, on August 15, 1859, Beach and many of the same eager town promoters organized the El Paso Claim Club, a vigilante form of civil government, to record real estate claims and settle land disputes. Beach became the Town Company's clerk and recorder.

After the federal government created the Colorado Territory in February 1861, newly commissioned Territorial Governor William Gilpin appointed M. S. Beach and two other men El Paso County Commissioners. Beach, Henry S. Clark, and A. D. Sprague organized the county government and prepared the county for its first elections in November 1861.

Although Beach held many positions in business organizations and local government, Beach apparently found time to explore the surrounding environment. In 1859, M. S. Beach, Anthony Bott, George Bute, A. D. Richardson, Lewis Tappan, several people from Golden City, and several women hiked to the summit of Pike's Peak, taking several days. At the summit, the hikers found evidence of others having reached the summit. Records indicate that members of the Lawrence, Kansas, prospecting party hiked to the summit in the summer of 1858.

 

 

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