"A Look Back"

The Stories presented here are about people and events during the early days when this corner of Colorado was first settled.

Architect turned homesteader – L. A. Heard
By Shannan Koucherik for the Museum of NW COLO

A third generation architect by trade, Lucas Allen Heard grew up in Cleveland, Ohio where he was born on August 22, 1846.

He married Harriet C. Lewis in 1873 and the couple began their family as L.A. built his reputation as an excellent designer of both public and private buildings. Their first son, Richard B, was born in 1874, followed by Allen M. who was born in June 1875 and Clarence Lewis was born in 1878.

By 1881, L.A.’s health was failing so like so many others, he headed to Colorado in hopes that the crisp, dry air would help him. He and his wife enrolled their sons in a military academy and L.A. continued his work.

In 1882, he was commissioned to design an addition to the first building on the Colorado School of Mines in Golden. His addition more than doubled the original building, designed by W.H. Nichols in 1879. The building was known as Chemistry Hall and later as the Old Chemistry Building. The building was demolished in 1970 to make room for the present Hill Hall.

By 1883, Heard had decided that he needed to change his occupation and his location. He and Hattie moved to a homestead on the Little Snake River in Routt County, now Moffat County, and several years later he applied for a new post office, to be housed on their ranch.

When Heard filled out the application to open a new post office below the Two Bar Ranch , several miles south of Highway 318, the first thing he had to do was, “Select a short name for the proposed office, which, when written, will not resemble the name of any other post office in the State.” He chose the name Escalante. (Post Office Department application 25 May 1889) Heard obviously knew a bit about American history when he chose the name for his prospective post office and village. The name went back to the same year that the War of Independence was being fought and won in America. “There are many locations on the Colorado Plateau bearing the name ‘Escalante’ – the Escalante Ruins of western Colorado, the town of Escalante, Utah, the Escalante River which runs through the town and the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. “All are named after Father Silvestre Velez de Escalante, a Spanish Franciscan missionary-explorer, who in 1776-77 along with his superior Francisco Domínguez, set out on an expedition seeking a northern route to Monterey in California from Santa Fe Father Escalante chronicled this first European exploration across the Great Basin desert. “Escalante's plan, which Governor Mendinuetta approved, called for an expedition of 14 men to travel north until they were above the Grand Canyon, unfriendly Indians and the deadly deserts they knew to lie due west, then in as straight a course as possible to head west for California.” (www.desertusa.com) The men left Santa Fe on July 29, 1776, just days after the Declaration of Independence was signed nearly a continent away. The party made their way through western Colorado, documenting the Anasazi ruins for the first time and continuing north until they were exhausted and near death. They met a group of Utes who fed them and took them to their camp near today’s Rangely. They continued into Utah and were helped along their way by more tribes of Utes. They never made it to California, but returned to Santa Fe by the end of the year. They had lost or eaten most of their horses and mules and experienced the extreme weather of the region. Although Escalante’s party never traveled to northernmost Colorado, they came close enough to make their journey a significant part of the area’s history. When asked the location of the nearest post office, Heard entered “Lay.”

Escalante was ten miles northwest of the mail route between Maybell and Lay, most likely near today’s town of Sunbeam. George C. Meserole was the official carrier on the route, delivering mail twice a week to the settlers in western Routt County. The new post office would guarantee him an increased income and longer hours in the saddle.

Although there are no official records, Heard must have had plans for a community around his homestead. When asked, “If a village, state the number of inhabitants,” his answer was “A settlement of from twenty to thirty.” (Post Office Department application 25 May 1889)

Heard’s application was endorsed by A.G. Wallihan, the postmaster of Lay and shortly afterward the Escalante, Colo. post office became official on September 19, 1889. Perhaps he was following Wallihan’s lead in starting a community and making his home the center of it.

In April 1893, L.A. Heard sent his family to Denver, presumably for a visit. One day while they were gone, he harnessed his team and headed out to the Yampa River. He found the ford was washed out, but still decided to attempt a crossing. The spring runoff proved too much for the team and he was thrown into the river. The team and wagon were found washed up on a sandbar a few days later, but Heard’s body was not found until July 11, 1893, in Lily Park.

His family quickly returned to the ranch to take up vigil and the dream of a new town was quenched. Just months after his death, the post office at Escalante was decommissioned.

Harriett Heard died August 18, 1914 from Bright’s disease and is buried in the Maybell cemetery.

All three Heard sons graduated from the military academy and two returned to Northwest Colorado. Allen M. served in the Spanish American War before taking up ranching and his brother Lewis worked on area ranchers as a cowpuncher. Records of the third brother are not available.

Clarence Lewis Heard married Florence Munch October 6, 1908. Their son Enos Burton Heard was born August 10, 1909. Lewis died after being kicked by his saddle horse on April 10, 1924 at the age of 45 and was buried in the Maybell Cemetery.

Allen Heard spent the rest of his life living on the Escalante ranch. He never married, but was known by his neighbors as someone who would help anyone at any time.

“If a neighbor needed a doctor, Mr. Heard was the first one they would call to go for aid; a stockman with a shortage of feed and money could turn to Mr. Heard for help and be sure to (get it.)

“Being a bachelor, he was a good cook, and delighted in going out and getting wild fruit, making it into jams and jellies and then taking some to his neighbors.

“His home, a regular bachelor’s quarters, contained many relics of past days, such as old valuable furniture, and together with his many books made the place a veritable museum.” (Craig Courier October 16, 1940)

Allen M. Heard died on September 29, 1940 at his home on Little Snake River and was buried in Fairview Cemetery in Craig.

Although the Heard family left few heirs to carry on their dreams, they did leave some interesting history to add to the rich tapestry of Northwest Colorado.