March 5, 1942 Diary

Thursday, 64th Day - 301 Days to Follow

Written by Margie Arbuthnot

Another nice day with the snow melting fast.

Club met here today.

Marjorie attended the funeral of Mr. Lydia.

Then came out and Una and Duane went back [to Boulder] with her.

Una and Duane went back with her.

This was the birthday of Jennie Keuter.

Got our radio's battery today.

Batchelder's Neighbors Club

Click here for an earlier post about the Batchelder's Neighbors Club.

One of the neighbor young ladies, Helen Anderson, made up a little book for the BNC, dated 1942-1943.  It begins with the role of the officers, but does not list who is in these positions.  The club has a President, Vice President, Secretary-Treasurer, Publications Chairman, and a Program Chairman.  The meetings are held on alternate Thursdays.  The order of business is the following:

• Flag Salute
• Patriotic Song
• Roll Call
• Minutes
• Unfinished Business
• Bills and Communications
• Adjournment

No doubt to enjoy some refreshments upon adjournment.

On this day, Helen recorded that the Hostess was Margie Arbuthnot, with the roll call is song quotations. (Not sure what that really means as a roll call is usually those who were in attendance of the meeting.)  Discussion of the meeting included "bulbs, plants and early spring flowers".  No other details of the discussion is given.  The next meeting will be March 19th.

Batchelder's Neighbors Club
Booklet made by Helen Anderson,
recording the meetings for the years 1942-43.

Last page in Helen's BNC book is a list of the members.

February 20, 1942 Diary

Friday, 51st Day - 314 Days to Follow

Written by Margie Arbuthnot

2 degrees above at 7 A.M.

This has been a real nice day and have been 2 lazy.

Hemmed some tea towels this P.M.

Temp at 8 P.M. is 22 degrees above.

More about George Arbuthnot's home after Nels Anderson purchased it.

In order to move to California, George Arbuthnot (Margie's brother-in-law) sold his house, barn and land along Niwot Rd to a Swedish farmer, Nels Anderson.  Nels had come from Minnesota to establish a cattle ranch.  Nels had a big dream and had brought with him the forms to build a concrete silo. Silos here in the west were built with curved bricks that fit perfectly together to make the round silo.  Nels established his ranch with the purchase of George's one story home, barn and land.  

Nels brought Holstein cattle to the ranch and established a national register for Holsteins, which he kept up to date his entire life. He made many improvements on the farm.  He not only built two silos, but also a Swedish style barn.  These were the first concrete silos to be built west of the Mississippi.  The Colorado state University had heard of these form and what Nels had built.  They convinced Nels to donate the forms to him so that they could help other farmers build concrete silos.  Today, these silos and Nel's unique barn are on the National Register for Historic Places.  Old red brick silos can still be seen in Boulder County, as well as many concrete silos that we have Nels Anderson to thank.

Thank you to Ernie Anderson for sharing the Anderson family photos.

Nels Anderson
The home on the left was what George had built, along with the barn in the middle.
On the right is the Swedish barn and the two concrete silos.

Nels Anderson farm 1943
Nels made many improvements to the home.

Anderson Barn and Silos as they appear today.

February 19, 1942 Diary

Thursday, 50th Day - 315 Days to Follow

Written by Margie Arbuthnot

Warmer today 6 degrees below at 7 A.M.
I didn't go to the Theater party today with club members.
Went for a ride with Don's to Lyons back through Hygiene.
Warmer tonite - 7 degrees above at 8 P.M.
Don and Florence had a letter from Inez Twa today.
Telling that Stephen passed away Jan 18th.
I wrote to Inez tonite.

Stephen Elmer Arbuthnot was the brother of Inez (Arbuthnot) Twa.
Their father, George John Arbuthnot, was brothers with Margie's husband, Fred Arbuthnot.
Like Fred, George was born at Haystack Mountain.
George purchased the land that is now at the corner of Niwot Rd and Brigadoon Dr.
With the help of his brothers, George built a home along with a small barn.  The house is a four square home and was most likely purchased through the Railroad company, where all of the parts for the home were delivered on one railroad car.  This was a very popular style of home at the time, a style that preceded the Sears and Roebuck style of catalog homes.

In 1905 George married a woman from Niwot, Nancy L. Brammeier, and they made their home there.
They had two children that were born in that home, Inez and Ivan.  Ivan was called "Hap" because he was such a happy baby.  Nancy's health was not so good, and opportunities arose so in 1908 the family moved to Manteca, California.  In California, George established an almond farm.

Life seemed to be better for the family in California.  Nancy became pregnant again and in July of 1911, Stephen was born.  Soon after Stephen arrived, Nancy was pregnant again.
But she was not so fortunate this time.  The forth child, a baby boy, died the day he was born.
Nancy died 18 days letter.  They are buried together in California.

George was devastated to loose his wife and child.  His mother, uncle and sister traveled to California to see him, I'm sure hoping to convince him to come back to Colorado.  But he was established now in California and stayed there.  Inez, Hap, and Stephen grew up there and did visit their cousins family in Colorado. Inez eventually lived in Colorado.   Stephen married in 1934 to Mary Belle Blair and had two daughters.  Inez's letter shared that Stephen had died after fighting tuberculosis.

I wish to thank my California cousins, descendants of George J. Arbuthnot, for sharing their photos, homes, time, and love with me.

Click here for Stephen Arbuthnot's Find-A-Grave page.

Nancy [Brammeier] & George J. Arbuthnot
Ivon "Hap" and Inez
1907

Home of George and Nancy Arbuthnot
Photo taken from Niwot Raod
1905

"Happy and Grouchy"
Brothers Ivon "Hap" and Stephen Arbuthnot

February 17, 1942 Diary

Tuesday, 48th Day - 317 Days to Follow

Written by Margie Arbuthnot

Cold this morning - 8 degrees below at 7:30 A.M.

Some more snow last night and this A.M.

I was at Don's today.

Carol Jane has a cold.

Called Marjorie - Una and Duane both have colds.

Cold tonight 18 degrees below at 8:30.

Niwot, Colorado
Since everyone has a cold today, I will share more about the town of Niwot.
Here is the original plat of the town from 1875.  Today, the town is only on the east side of the rail road tracks.  But here you can see how the town was also on the west side of the tracks.  
Where the rail road was split, was where a sugar beet dump was located.  It was elevated and wagon loads of beets would be brought up and then the beets were dumped from the wagon into the train car below.  It made for very quick loading of the rail road cars to take the beats to Longmont to be made into sugar.

Niwot Plat from 1875 showing the lots in the town.
And how the railroad was once split.

February 16, 1942 Diary

Monday, 47th Day - 318 Days to Follow

Written by Margie Arbuthnot

[written at the top of the page is "new time"]

10 degrees at 8 A.M. 

More snow today, about 8 inches on the ground new.

A letter from Nora today.  

Dad and Don to Niwot this A.M.

Dad to see Phillip Harsa to fill out his income tax report.

Niwot, Colorado

Let's talk about the town of Niwot, just east about a mile and a half from where Fred and Margie lived.

Named for the Arapaho Chief who was camped at Haystack Mountain when Fred's father and grandfather would come down from the mountains to stay in a cabin at this same location.  Niwot, meaning Left Hand, was first spelled as two words Ni Wot.  With the Homestead Act and the promised of free land, many of the gold miners settled in this area, East of Haystack Mountain.  With the railroad being laid, there was a need to service the farmers in the area.  In 1873, the town was established by a rail road company.  At first the town was called Modoc because of those who fought the Railroad by pulling up the rails that they had just laid down and this was at the time of the Modoc Indian wars.  So while the town was named Ni Wot, for a short while, the post office was called Modoc.

Early on, Fred's cousins - the Bader brothers - owned a mercantile store, selling all kinds of goods.  Reverend Taylor opened a grocery store and held church meetings in the second story of his store.  There was the Niwot Feed and Grain which is where the family took their grain to be ground.  There was the Niwot Dairy who purchased milk, butter and eggs from the farmers.  There was a blacksmith shop and when it wasn't busy, there would be a horseshoe game with the locals behind the building.  There was a pool hall, which had a bathroom with a bath tub.  And a hotel (which did not have any bath tubs, but you could go to the pool hall if you wanted a bath).  Niwot was a thriving community, yet very small.

Sitting between the larger towns of Boulder and Longmont, the railroad served the farmers and ranchers in this area well.  From hauling beets from the Niwot beet dump, to transporting students into town to attend high school, the railroad served many needs of the community.

In 1873 when the Granges were first established in Colorado, Niwot had one of the first granges, the Left Hand Grange No. 9.  Some of the children who parents had first established this grange decided to establish a new Grange and in 1891, the Altona Grange was established.  In 1896, when the Altona Grange Hall was built, the train had brought coconut, lemons, and oysters to be sold in the grocery.  Items that were used at the Altona Grange to celebrate it's opening and dinners with lemonade, coconut cake and the popular oyster dinners.

By the 1960's the train was no longer stoping in Niwot and the town was deteriorating, but with the establishment of IBM, many people new to the area settled in and around Niwot.  The town  was reborn.  Local business and property owners as well as the area descendants of the pioneers established the main street of Niwot as a protected historical district.  Today, the town has still not been incorporated, yet, the community members are more personally invested in keeping their town unique, historic, and fun.

Click here for more information on the Niwot Historical Society

Click here to visit the town of Niwot

February 11, 1942 Diary

Wednesday, 42nd Day - 323 Days to Follow

Written by Margie Arbuthnot

Four degrees above at 7 A.M.

Not very warm all of today.

Dad and Don took grain to Niwot to have ground.

I made apple jelly & jam today.

Myrna Dodd stopped on her way to Niwot.

Temp 20 degrees above at 9 P.M.

Apple Jelly

3 lbs apples
3 cups water
2 cinnamon sticks
3 whole cloves
½ teaspoon nutmeg
3 cups sugar
1 tablespoon lemon or orange juice

Core and chop up apples.  Place in a pot with water, cook down and mash.
Barely cover fruit with water and add the spices.
Bring to a simmer and cook until apples are soft,  Mash the apples.
Make sure you don't boil but simmer the apples.
Wet down a jelly bag and strain the apple mixture using a jelly bag.
Don't squeeze the bag or your jelly won't be clear.
Apples can sit over night to strain well.

Take four cups of that apple juice and add three cups of water and the lemon or orange juice.
Stir this as you bring it to a boil just to melt the sugar.
Have your jars washed and ready to go.  Ladle warm jelly into he warm jars.
Wipe the rims clean.  Seal and can using a water bath method.
Make sure that your jars are sealed before putting in the cellar to store.

February 6, 1942 Diary

Friday 37th Day - 328 Days to Follow

Written by Margie Arbuthnot

Temp at 7 A.M. 15 degrees above - 28 degrees at 8 P.M.

Not much doing today.

Dad and Don hauled hay this A.M.

Dad took four doz eggs to Niwot this P.M.

Got 25 cents a doz.

Read in the Niwot Tribune today that Eileen Jones and Leonard Nelson were married

Jan 24, '42.

The building in Niwot as it looks today
where the Niwot Tribune was published.
At the corner of Franklin and Second Streets.

January 9, 1942 Diary

Friday, 9th Day - 356 Days to Follow

Diary of Margie Arbuthnot

Didn't do much today, but cleaned up the house.

Not as warm as yesterday.

Had letters from Dorothy & Mrs. Clarke.

Feeling rather tired this A.M.

Thawed some today but cold this P.M. and evening.

Mail Delivery

The mail would arrive each day, delivered by a Niwot Resident, Altona Grange Member, and friend to the Arbuthnot family, Clarence Conilogue.  Mr Conilogue had delivered the mail to those in the Niwot rural area since you was a young man.  He first delivered using a horse and cart.  When the Post Office provided him with the first vehicle for the job, Mr. Conilogue walked into Longmont from Niwot and drove home.  It was his first time ever behind the wheel of a car.  

Mr. Conilogue also kept daily diaries, usually recording the weather for the day as he went on his route.  I'm sure those interested in weather patterns today would find his recordings very interesting.

Besides being the postal carrier, Mr Conilogue played the fiddle.  He provided much entertainment and music for the local square dances.

Clarence Conilogue providing some fiddle music at
the Altona Grange No. 127, where he was an active member.

January 8, 1942 Diary

Thursday 8th Day - 357 Days to Follow

Warmer today.

Letter from Mass.

I went to club with Burkes, at Johnsons.

Eleven there.  Mable Kirkmeyer as visitor.

Dad and Don to Rehwalts for a pig [and] saw Alice Campion, bot brooder for $10.

Temperature 4 [degrees] above this P.M.  NE wind this evening.

Club met with Glayds Johnson

Started on skirts.  Those taking Mrs. Agnes Kenter, Mrs. Brown, Mrs. Thames, Miss Baker, Helen A. two, Athelda Burke, Gladyes J., 

Fred and Mae Atherton, Francis Hill - from Oklahoma arrived at 8o'clock at Hills.

The letter from Mass. indicates that Margie got a letter from her eldest son Ken, who worked for MIT.  He had a degree in entomology from Colorado State University.  More on him and his family later.

Margie's very last line refers to the Aunt (Mae Atherton) and brother (Francis) of her daughter-in-law, Florence (Hill) Arbuthnot.  Francis was a cattlemen in Oklahoma and did not move to Colorado when the rest of the family moved to Niwot.  Every year at this time, Francis brought cattle Denver to be shown and sold at the annual Stock Show.  He always stopped by to see his sisters, Florence and Marjorie Knaus on these trips.

Francis M. Hill in January 14, 1956, at the home of his sister Florence Arbuthnot.
Francis is holding his niece, Donlyn Arbuthnot - author of this blog.
Boulder, Colorado

Batchelder Neighbors Club

The club that Margie refers to is the Batchelder Neighbors Club (BNC), a club for the women who lived in the Batchelder School District area.  This club began in 1941 and met for 50 years.  There were 17 founding members including:  Margie Arbuthnot, Una Albert (Margie's daughter), Helen Anderson (later Bloom then Berryman), Elsie Baker, Mable Brown, Ethelda Burke, Carrie Burke Scott, Myrna Dodd, Lettie Ereckson, Daulton Ereckson, Lucille Jones, Ethel Johnson, Gladys Johnson Martin, Jennie Keuter, Agnes Keuter, Eileen Nelson, Grace Thorn.

The club met on alternate Thursdays and had a President, V. President, Sec-Treasurer, a publications chairman and a program chairman.  I don't have the names of who filled these offices in 1942.  The order of business for their meetings was:

Salute to the American Flag,

Patriotic Song,

Roll Call

Minutes of the last meeting

Unfinished business

Bills and Communications

Adjournment

The source for this information is a little booklet that Helen Anderson put together that covers meetings from March 5, 1942 to Dec 10, 1942.  

Basis for this meeting came from a book published in 1929 titled:  A Manual for Club Women, by Anna Steese Richardson - Director of the Good Citizenship Bureau of the Women's Home Companion.  Published by Smith and Corona Typerwriters Inc, New York, NY.

There is no indication how the club came to own this book, but it is preserved along with the club accounts book.

I wish to thank Helen Anderson Berryman's nephew,  Ernie Anderson, who gave to me a box and scrapbook filled with the spiral notebooks and other information that his Aunt had collected and neatly organized about this club.  He entrusted this to me to "do something with it."  This year is my opportunity to do so.  As Margie makes reference to the club in her diary, I shall be taking notes from these documents on what occurred on these dates.  Unfortunately, those notes don't begin until March 5, 1942.  Until then, let's recognize the 50th Anniversary party that these women gathered to celebrate.  I'm sure Margie was there in spirit.

July 31, 1991
50th Anniversary celebration of the Batchelder Neighbors Club
Original Founding Members.
L to R Una Albert, Gladyas (Johnson) Martin, ?, ?, Helen (Anderson) Berryman

Members and guests of the Batchelder Neighbors Club
50th Anniversary Party - July 31, 1991

Photographer unknown.  Taken at the home of Helen Raben

Those in attendance at the NBC 50th Anniversary Party were:

Helen Berryman

Gladys Martin

Hazel Van Cleave

Edith Hornby

Lorrnia Lydin

Sharon Lydin Ruby

Ruth Charlosen

Edris Heldt

Ruth Heldt

Dorothy Zimmerman

Ethelda Thorne

Helen Axelson

Carol Burke Dale

   & son Kelly

Helen Aldrich

Edna Maul (Daughtea)

Florence Arbuthnot (Margie's daughter-in-law)

Helen M. Raber (Hostess)

Una Albert (Daughter of Margie Arbuthnot)

Marjorie (Arbuthnot Campion) Hawn  (Daughter of Margie Arbuthnot)

LaVern M. Johnson*

Pearl Williams 

*Special thanks to LaVern Johnson for helping me to identify some of these guests.
LaVern, you are always such a joy to work with.

January 7 1942 Diary

Wednesday, 7th Day - 358 Days to Follow

Some warmer today.

Don had car trouble so was late for chores today.

I hasn't done much today.  Too lazy.

Wrote to Dorothy this morning.

Happy home late coming.

Carol Jane here this evening.

This is Viola's birthday.

I ironed today.

I should mention that I am not changing my Grandmother's spelling as it's says much about who she was as while she was considered educated, the education lacked much back then.  I will ad comments as needed to help in understanding her posts.  These comments will be in [brackets].

My sister Carol Jane, mentioned in today's entry, is the eldest of Don and Florence (Hill) Arbuthnot's four children.  She and my brother Darold lived with our parents on a farm on Niwot Road, west of where my Dad's parents (Fred and Margie Arbuthnot) lived.  Dad was not sent off to college like his brother Ken was, because his parents didn't want him to leave as they needed him to help out on the farm.  Poor dad was deathly allergic to alfalfa and in 1944, left farming and moved into Boulder, just in time for Carol Jane to start school.  She began in Kindergarten at Whittier Elementary in the fall of 1944.  Ms. Anderson was her teacher.  She was a special teacher as she was the only teacher in all of our 13 years in Boulder schools who had all four of us kids, including Dale and myself.

Fred and Marge's grandchildren in 1939.
Wallace holding Carol Jane, Duane, Donnie, Darline.
Photo taken on the Fred & Margie Farm on Niwot Rd.

Source no. 9

January 6, 1942 Diary

Tuesday, 6th Day, 360 Days to Follow

Not so cold today, 7 below at 6:30 this morning.  Marjorie & Baker came.  Una, Darline  Duane to Boulder to stay.  Marjorie to Mr. Dovali funeral this P.M.  

Am writing a letter to Viola tonight.

Warmer today. 

Not a very good wash day clothes didn't dry

and paid Grange dues today.

Also $4.40 Grange Insurance dues.

$6.40 in all.  [Grange dues were $2.00 and paid quarterly.  The total dues for the year would have been $8.00 in 1942.]

Source No. 9

January 5, 1942 Diary

5th Day - 360 Days to Follow

Diary of Margie (Coe) Arbuthnot

Another cold morning, 20 below at 7 o'clock this morning.  We did a little washing on the board(?).  Don and dad to Niwot this A. M. got car repairs.  
Una sewed, 
Don and dad to Daniel's in P.M.  Got car repaired.  
Lath Jones brought us a tank of water.  
Darline last day of school at Batchelder.  
Had a letter from Lettie today.  
Jones last tank of water this evening.

1923 Students of the Batchelder School
Kindergarten through the 8th Grade
Margie's son Don is the second from the left.

Batchchelder School, Boulder County School District No. 20.
It was when Margie was a student here that she met Fred Arbuthnot, a member of the School Board.
All of the Fred and Margie's children and some of their grandchildren attended school here.
Photo curiously of the Carnegie Branch Library for Local History, Boulder Public Library.

Source No. 9.

January 4, 1942 Diary

4th Day - 361 Days to Follow

Grandmother's family had come to Colorado for her father's health.  Her parents were born in Canada, but due to some kind of banking scandal (or so we have been told), the family had to leave Canada and settled in Wisconsin.  The family acquired the land where IBM is located today.  They lived in a home on 63rd, across from where Coot Lake is today.  The walls of that home were a foot thick, making the home warm int eh winter, and cool in the summer.

L to R - Margie, Carrie Lulu, Jessie, Viola

Margie had many siblings, including sisters Eva, Carrie who went by Lulu, Nora, Jessie, Viola, and Sadie.  She had three brothers Floyd, Fred, and Billie.  By 1942 none of her family lived in Boulder County, which I'm sure, was very sad for Marjorie as she was very close to all of her family.

Here is today's entry:

Another cold morning.  23 below at 6:45 A. M.
Pump engine on the bum
Don got it fixed
Dad [her husband], Donnie, Darline and myself went to Marjorie's for a duck dinner.
Una and Duane came home with us.
Don had car trouble and late going home from chores.
This is Jessie's birthday.

Jessie Iona Coe was born in 1884 and was married to Harry Hagerman.  They lived in Wheatland, Platte County, Wyoming at this time.

Source No. 9

January 3 1942 Diary

3rd Day - 362 Days to Follow

Written by Margie Ann (Coe) Arbuthnot

Very cold.  23 below at 6:45 A. M.
A blizzard during the A. M.
Don and dad to Niwot.

One wonders why they went the two miles into town on such a cold, snowy, and no doubt, windy day.
And no wonder Grandma didn't write very much on this day.  I wouldn't get out from under the covers in that kind of cold.  Would you?

Don't worry, not all of her entries are like this one.  In time, they get more interesting.  I realized that I am only a year younger than my Grandmother when she wrote these entries.  I can relate to how she doesn't get much done in the cold.  But 23 degrees below zero?  Wow!  I wonder if it's been that cold here since this day 77 years ago.

Source No. 9

January 2, 1942 Diary

Margie's post from Friday, January 2, 1942,  Niwot, Boulder County, Colorado
2nd day - 363 days to follow.

"another cold day, 14 below at 7 o'clock A. M.
Don and F[lorence] leave to Boulder.
Florence got glasses.
Took Duane in - 
Darold stayed here.
All here for supper."

Margie was a good grandmother to her many grandchildren, including Duane and Darold.  Her other grandchildren included Wallace, Donnie, Darline, Carol Jane, Roy, Jim, and after 1942, Dale and myself - Donlyn, the last of her grandchildren.

Also, I should mention, that I will be posting Grandmother's entries as she wrote them, misspellings and all.  Any additions to her post, I will place in [brackets].

Source No. 9

Oct 29, 1955  Fred and Margie Arbuthnot,
holding their last grandchild, Donlyn Ann (author of this blog).

Diary of Margie (Coe) Arbuthnot, Jan 1, 1942

Margie Arbuthnot looks on.  Lined up in birth oder are her children
Ken, Marjorie (married to Wallace Campion), Una Albert, Don

A Christmas gift that my Grandmother received in 1941 was a small diary. It contained many reference pages and a blank page for each day of the year.  Dutifully, my Grandmother filled it out.  At the time she wrote this, she had four grown children, and several grandchildren.  Along with her husband, Fred Arbuthnot, she lived on a farm on Niwot Road, just east of 63rd, in Boulder County, Colorado.  All of her children were born on this farm.  While her son Ken lived out of state, the others lived near by.  Marjorie and Una in Boulder, and Don and his wife and children lived west on Niwot Road, on a farm he rented from the Erickson family.  All were members of the Altona Grange No. 127.

Now, 77 years later, I am sharing what her daily postings included for that day.  One post a day.  Here is her post for Jan 1, 1942:

"A cold day, 18 below at 7 o'clock A. M. Marjorie, Wallace, and Baker here for the day, Una went home from work then. Grange [Altona Grange] had a New Years dinner at hall. Marjorie had car trouble so all had dinner here. Had planned on going to the Grange Hall for N. Y. dinner."

Source No. 9

First White Gold Seekers October 17, 1858

At the base of the Red Rocks, on the western edge of what today is Boulder Colorado, and near where the rocks are green, called the Green Rocks, the Arapaho Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution placed a plaque. The DAR placed it there on June 14, 1938.  It was this party of men who first found gold up Four Mile Canyon, Boulder County, Colorado.  They found gold 12 miles up the hill that established the "Gold Run" mining area and up the hill a little further, the first mining camp was established called the Gold Hill Mining District No. 1.  The plaque reads:

Original Gold Seekers Party

October 17, 1858

Alfred A. Brookfield

Captain Thomas Aikins

Daniel Gordon and brother

William Dickens

Theodore Squires

Wheelock Brothers

Captain A. K. Yount

Charles Clouser

Thomas Lorton

Samuel J. Aikins

John Rothrock

L. O. Aikins

It is these first "Gold Seekers" who were camped at the mouth of Boulder Canyon where they were met by Chief Ni Wot (Left Hand).  After coming into the Aiken's camp to negotiate peaceful co-exhistance, the Arapaho Chief shared with the Captain that he had a vision in his dream. Ni Wot had dreamed that the land where he lived was covered by a great flood, swallowing his tribe, yet the white men survived.  He interpreted this to mean that he could do nothing to stop the flood of gold seekers that was about to come to where he lived.  Where the U.S. Government had designated in signed treaties in 1851 (Treaty of Ft. Laramie) that this was "Indian Territory".  Yet, Chief Ni Wot knew that there was little that he could do to stop the flood of those seeking a new place of riches.

Article five of the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1851 establishes the land boundaries where the Cheyenne and Arapaho lived.  The following is this portion of Article five.

The territory of the Cheyennes and the Arapahoes, commencing at the Red Butte, or the place where the road leaves the north folk of the Platte River; thence up the north fork of the Platte River to it's source; thence along the main range of the Rocky Mountains of the head-waters of the Arkansas River; thence down the Arkansas River to the crossing of the Santa Fe road; thence in a north westerly direction to the forks of the Platte River, and thence up the platte River to the place of beginning.