Alfred George ^{2 3 4 5 6 7 8}

   Cause of his death was heart trouble.¹

  General Notes:

At the time of the 1870 census, he was a farm laborer in Canon City, Fremont, Colorado Territory. At the time of the 1880 census, he was listed as a laborer in Gothic, Gunnison, Colorado. At the time of the 1900 census, he was married with 4 children and owned his own farm in Rifle, Garfield County, Colorado. He continued to farm through 1910, but by the time of the 1920 census, he gave his occupation as none.

Source: "Rifle Shots - The Story of Rifle, Colorado", Compiled by the Reading Club of Rifle, Colorado, published by the Rifle Reading Club of Rifle, Colorado in 1973. Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 72-96950 Nickname: Al . Text follows from pages 64-65...

ALFRED AND CLARA GEORGE By Claude George

Alfred George came to Rifle Creek in 1886, bringing cattle and other livestock. He returned to Grand Junction where his wife was awaiting the birth of their first child, and in March 1887 came back to Rifle Creek with his wife, Clara and their infant son, Claude.

The trip was rough but uneventful until they arrived at Webster Point. The grade on the east side was exceedingly steep. In making the hazardous descent the wagon in which Mrs. George and their three-month old son were riding upset. She had been feeding the baby from a cup, and though the wagon rolled over several times, mother and child were uninjured---and she still held the cup in her hand.

They first lived in the Nathan Worrall cabin, made of logs, dirt floor, and sod roof. Clothing was handmade. Boys wore dresses or "kilts" until quite good size. Claude remembers his first pair of pants. Mrs. George had gone to town and left her son in the care of Greeley Brown. He cut off the legs of a pair of his own overalls, of course they were much too large, but Claude was delighted. Mr. Brown admonished Clara that her son was much too large for dresses and should be clothed in pants, henceforth.

Alfred George and William Reed built the first cow camp on the Flat Tops. Mr. Reed was murdered at the cow camp he helped build, his assailant was never caught. The George cattle, branded 'Lazy E 6' ranged that area until 1957, the brand being handed down in the family, and is now owned by a grandson, though not being used for range cattle.

Alfred George rented land from Greeley Brown and later purchased it. Claude married Clarissa Mallory in 1911 and moved onto the adjacent land owned by his uncle Sam Stevenson. Later he united the Alfred George, Stevenson and Greeley Brown ranches under one ownership.

Clara's sister and her husband, Mr. and Mrs. John W. Armstrong lived in Rifle in a little frame cottage on the site of the present First National Bank. In 1892 Mr. Armstrong purchased an interest in the Rifle Reveille.

George, Alfred, 1905 Bio, Garfield County, Colorado http://files.usgwarchives.org/co/garfield/bio/georgea.txt Donated March 2001 Transcribed by Judy Crook <[email protected]> from the book: Progressive Men of Western Colorado Published 1905, A.W. Bowen & Co., Chicago, Ill.

The career of Alfred George, of the Rifle neighborhood, in Garfield County, is full of interest and valuable suggestions, and his citizenship is of the sterling and useful character which has made the American working man notably one of the controlling factors of modern civilization. Mr. George was born in Calloway County, Missouri, on October 1, 1851, and in that state he was reared to the age of thirteen, then coming with his mother and sister to Colorado in 1864, he has since mingled with the activities in this state, always bearing cheerfully the share of the community's burdens properly belonging to him and preformed faithfully the share of duties which has been incumbent on him. He received a slender common-school education, remaining at home and working in the interests of his parents until death ended their labors, the father dying in 1858, when the son was seven, and the mother in 1872, when he was twenty-one. His parents were Alfred and Margaret (Robinson) George, natives of Kentucky, who settled in Missouri when young where the father died and the mother and children moved to this state in 1864. The Father was a cabinet maker and dealt in real estate, but also made money as a farmer. He supported the Democratic party in political affairs, and with his wife he belonged to the Methodist church. They had a family of eight children, but two of whom are living, Annie, wife of Jasper P. Sears, of Denver and Alfred. The later had the usual experience of country boys of the West, for even the Missouri home of the family was on the frontier, and at an early life became inured to the hardships and privations of pioneer life. The trip from Missouri to Colorado was made over the plains with an ox team and occupied three months. There were Indian troubles before and behind the train, but it suffered no disaster and was not attacked. After the death of his mother, Mr. George rented land and ranched on it until 1886. In the fall of that year he moved to the Roaring Fork, near Emma, and the next spring to Grand Junction. From there he went out on the trail and engaged in raising cattle. In 1887 he settled on East Middle Rifle Creek and for a year was occupied in ranching on shares with H. G. Brown. He then in partnership with G. W. Noble, bought the improvements on his present ranch, which he preempted. It comprised one hundred and sixty acres, and a few years later the land was divided, each partner taking one-half. Mr. George has since sold forty acres of his tract, and is now profitably engaged in farming the other forty with good results, producing large yields of hay, grain, vegetables and fruit, and raising numbers of good cattle and horses. He has a good water right and the land responds generously to skillful tillage. On March 16, 1886, he was married to Miss Clara V. Noble, who was born in Iowa on September 4, 1860, and is the daughter of George W. and Marietta (Woolsey) Noble, the former a native of Pennsylvania and the latter of Iowa. Mrs. George is a sister of Mrs. Charles H. Harris, of this state, and the family record of her parents appears in a sketch of Mr. and Mrs. Harris, which will be found under their names in this family history work. Five children have been born to the George household. One daughter, Annie L., died on April 26, 1901. The living four are Claude A., Harry N., Clara M., and William Jasper. Mr. George has found a fruitful field for his enterprise in Colorado, and is well pleased with the state and is devoted to its best interests in every way. He is well esteemed by its people who know him and withholds no effort due on his part to promote their substantial progress and development and lasting good.

Source: Carbondale Pioneers, Edna Sweet - 1947

Alfred George came to Colorado in 1864 from Missouri. It took three months to make the trip which was on the frontier. The journey was made by ox team with Indian troubles all the way. In 1886 he settled at Emma and married a sister of Mrs. Charles Harris, Clara Noble. Before her marriage she proved up on the famous El Jebel ranch. In 1887 he, with Horace Greeley Brown and others started westward again. These intrepid pioneers pushed on down the Grand River below Glenwood Springs, they came to a high promontory. The river entirely filled the narrow canyon. They had to take their wagons apart and use ropes to haul them over the perpendicular side of the rock before they could pursue their way. They located near what is now the town of Rifle.

Source: The Rifle Telegram, June 7, 1928

Alfred George, son of Mr. and Mrs. Alfred George, was born in Fulton, Missouri, October 1, 1851 and passed away last Friday evening, June first, his age being 77 years 8 months. His last illness began last October as heart trouble developed.

He received his early school training in Missouri, and at the age of 12 years came west with his folks, driving one of the ox teams across the plains to Canon City in 1863. To us this seems quite a feat for a boy of 12. But we look back with interest to those pioneer children as well as their fathers and mothers, for they were very brave, industrious and sturdy. The children early took their places in the great army that conquered the extensive wild area of this mighty land. He came to the Rifle Creek Community in March 1887. Here he lived continuously ever since. So for more than forty years he has taken manfully his place in the building up of this most excellent part of the state of Colorado.

Mr. George was united in marriage with Miss Clara V. Noble at the El Jebel ranch eight miles above Carbondale on March 18, 1886. To this union five children were born. Of the children one daughter, Annie L. passed away at the age of 12 years.

He is survived by his wife and four children and sixteen grand children. The children are Claude A., Harry N., Mrs. Margaret Brosius and Jasper, all of Rifle Creek. It is noteworthy that all his family was with him the last day of his life.

Mr. George had followed agriculture as a life work. Like most of our worthy pioneer group, he loved nature and God's great out-door. He was a man of kind and even temperament, ever ready to lend a helping hand, or give a cheering word. He was a true and loyal friend and greatly loved as husband and father. He will be mourned and missed by his community as well as his loved ones.

Funeral services were held at the Christian church Monday afternoon at 2:30 o'clock with Rev. A. N. Martin officiating. Mesdames J. Whitt and Harry Harp and Messrs Harold McKee and Claude Graham sang with Mrs. Eph Preontain at the piano. Interment is Rose Hill cemetery by Mortician Fred Sayer. Mr. George's funeral was one of the largest held in Rifle for some time.

Source: Sketch of Alfred George of Rifle Colorado by Gene Homer George, 1980

One hundred twenty-nine years ago Alfred was born in Fulton, Calloway Co., Missouri into a family of above average financial and social position. He was raised in an environment of slave servants and ample money, with the family members, including the adolescent children having charge accounts at the local stores. He was to have said he knew little of his father other than that the old man around the place, was his father. His father was fifty-one when he was born. The death of the father and the Civil War caused the changes that led to the trek to Colorado Territory.

He traveled from Missouri with his mother, Margaret, sister Annie Love, half brother, John Anderson, two Negro women who had been slaves of his father, and a man named Jack Wiley, known as Uncle Jack. The trails end was in Canon City. This was in 1864, twelve years before Colorado became a state.

Facts about the time between arriving in Colorado and his marriage are hard to find. It is thought he drove a freight wagon for a time and for near certain he was a drover for Tom Goodnight. Whether or not he ever trailed a herd from Texas over the Goodnight trail is not known. In the summer of 1871 he was with a herd of cattle that was being ranged in the Tabernash area. This herd was to be taken to the Utah desert for the winter. When they started down the Yampa River they were caught in an early snow storm and stranded. With the feed all buried the drovers cut cottonwood trees for the cattle to feed on as they worked their way out. Considerable loss of the herd was incurred. It was during this time that his mother passed away in Denver and due to his predicament he was not aware of her death for many months. These were supposedly Goodnight cattle. By his statement, in The Progressive Men of Western Colorado story, for the next few years he rented land and ranched. Also in this story he stated his father and mother had eight children. This makes no sense to me. I find children by his parents totaling thirteen (counting half brothers and sisters) and if his parents had eight, six must have died young and the total would be seventeen. The next record I find is the 1880 census where he is in a gold camp at Gotham, in the company of Jack Wiley. The record says they are camped along the river.

After his marriage to Clara, he bought a herd of cattle and trailed them down the Colorado River to Rifle and summered them on the Flat Tops. He told of camping one night under the big red rock west of New Castle. Whether or not Greeley Brown was with him, as stated by Edna Sweet, I don't know but I think not. In the fall of 1886 this herd was trailed to the DeBeque area to be wintered. This herd was branded Lazy E 6 and the brand was registered to Clara V. George. He walked from the herd to Grand Junction, going around the toll gate on the Rhone Toll Road through DeBeque Canon, because he didn't have the money for the toll. The trip to Grand Junction was to be with his wife who was waiting the birth of their first child. Clara was staying with L. B. Johnson. (I will say more about the Johnsons in Clara's history.) This herd was mostly lost to the winter. Funds to buy the herd must have come from the sale of the El Jebel. In the spring of 1887 they headed for Rifle much as the previous stories have stated, living in the Worral cabin first. (The Worral cabin was located at a 1980 address of about 1700 Hwy. 325.) What cattle were left were grazed that summer on the Flat Tops. The next year he homesteaded on Middle Rifle Creek but didn't prove up. Greeley Brown did prove this property. It was about this time that Will Reed joined them and in partnership he and Will built the cow camp on the Flat Tops. This camp was on the upper end of a stream now know as George Creek. As before mentioned it was at this camp Will was murdered. Al was questioned as a suspect, being a business partner, and was unable to prove he had been at the lower place all day. The Sheriff was later able to determine where the shot had been fired from and decided Al's eyesight was so bad he could not have fired a shot from that distance with enough accuracy to do the job. He was pretty blind even this early in life. Clarence Reed, Will's son, being a boy at that time and with no mother, lived with Al and Clara mostly until grown.

To back up a little in time, in August of 1887 the Aspen militia was dispatched to Rio Blanco to aid in putting down some Indian problems. Al and Lige Parker must have been well known in the Aspen area because as the Militia passed through the area they looked them up and took them along as civilian assistants. The job of the civilians was to round up the Indian ponies while the Militia took care of the Indians. The prize in the horse herd was an Indian race horse they called Colorow. Lige Parker managed to catch and keep him and raced him around the state for many years. Al caught one he called Indian Mike that his children rode while they were growing up.

In 1890/1 G. W. Noble, Clara's father, purchased the land on lower Rifle Creek. (1980 address about 0170 Hwy. 325) It was on this place the children were raised. They farmed and raised cattle and horses. By 1906 they were raising sugar beets as a cash crop. A few seasons potatoes were raised, being bankrolled by his cousin's husband, Dr. George Hill, and friends from Denver. In 1892 G. W. Noble sold part of the farm to A. D. Raynard and in 1903 deeded his remaining interest to Clara V. George. It must be noted Al never had his name on the title of this land. Things went bad for them a number of years later and the farm was lost to creditors. They held a cattle and horse permit on the forest and there was a time when they had nothing in the way of stock to hold it with. A friend, McCamble, stocked this permit for a few years, but the permit was finally lost. (McCamble will be explained in the history attached to Clara).

During the years the family was growing up, he took out numerous hunting parties of Denver sportsmen. One summer was spent with him and the two oldest boys trailing a herd of milk cows north to the White River, through Axel Basin, east of the Yampa, over the top and down to the Colorado River and then back home to Rifle Creek. They milked the cows, selling milk and butter along the way. Another summer was spent skidding [splitting?] railroad ties out of the timber in the area top of Vail Pass. Claude and Harry were also with him on this trip and were about 12 and 7 years old. They rode the horses doing most of the actual skidding and Al cared for the camp for them and some other men. As the family grew and married there was little left of the farming operation except a few horses and some cows. This livestock was still in Clara's name and was cared for in partnership with the three sons. From this time on they lived in a number of houses up and down Rifle Creek, with his favorite one being the Wilder place.

(1980 address about 11466 Hwy. 325.)

The Wilder ranch, to him, was the most perfect place on earth to spend your life. During the later years of his life he became completely blind from cataracts and had never seen his grand children until after an operation about 1923. His hair was extremely curly, which he said was caused from nursing a mammie, and he cut it himself by pulling out the curls and cutting them off. He was very social and a fun lover, causing ridicule from his rather proper wife, but his response to her was "no fool-no fun". He seemed not to be a good manager but his life's experiences, if all known, would surely make a western TV series. ⁸

  Additional Information:

• Alt. Death, 1 Jun 1928. ¹

• Descendant Narrative Report: here.

Alfred married Clara Vincent Noble, daughter of Rev George Washington Noble and Marietta Woolsey, on 18 Mar 1886 in El Jebel Ranch, El Jebel, Eagle County, Colorado.¹ (Clara Vincent Noble was born on 4 Sep 1860 in Albia, Monroe County, Iowa,⁸ died on 12 Mar 1942 in Rifle, Garfield County, Colorado ⁸ and was buried in Rose Hill Cemetery, Rifle, Garfield County, Colorado ^{8 10}.)