EDITOR’S NOTE: This fall will mark the 140th anniversary of the official founding of the Town of Meeker (and this newspaper).
Charles Sheldon Attix was born in Elgin, Kane County, Illinois, on May 27, 1852, to William Attix and Cordelia Brown. He enlisted on Jan. 2, 1877, in Chicago, Illinois, at the age of 25. The recruiter described him as 5 feet 7 inches, with gray eyes, dark brown hair, and a fair complexion. His occupation was listed as soldier, so this may have been a reenlistment.
In the 1880 Federal Census, Charles Attix was First Sergeant for Company L, 3rd U.S. Cavalry at Ft. D.A. Russell (Cheyenne). He was discharged in January 1882 at Ft. Russell.
Why is that significant? In 1881, 50 men of the 3rd Cavalry, Company L, were part of the garrison at Camp on the White River. Charles Attix was probably here as well. Charles was also in the same company as William Cavanaugh, who was the soldier murdered in September of 1881 here at the Camp on the White River. Cavanaugh’s memorial gravestone is on the White River Museum campus east of the Garrison.
Another member of the same company was 4th Sergeant Rinehart Miller. I can’t prove it, but I suspect that this is the same person as “R. Miller” mentioned in the “This What I Remember” book. R. Miller was the person Miller Creek is allegedly named after. R. Miller was reported to have been part of the 1879 Ute Expedition. I am going to assume that Attix was also.
This was General Merrit’s force that was sent to the White River area after the Milk Creek Battle. Both Attix and Miller had ample opportunity to explore the White River area while it was still controlled by the military.
Charles S. Attix was part of the original 1883 Meeker Townsite Company. In February 1884, Charles was one of 21 Meeker citizens who contributed to a disaster relief fund. 57 miners had been killed in a Crested Butte Mine explosion. On Nov. 22, 1885, Charles married Julie Annette Hansdaughter Bergh (born 1862 in Norway) in Meeker. Annette was the sister of H.R. Bergh, another “Founding Father.”
Charles had one daughter, Mary Starr Attix, born in Meeker on Jan. 22, 1888.
Charles Attix and H.R. Bergh owned a blacksmith and wagon-making shop in Meeker in 1886. In May of 1887, the Meeker Herald published a Dissolution Notice of the firm of Attix and Bergh. Charles and Hagen Rudolph Bergh had been business partners.
In April of 1889, Charles S. Attix and Pleasant P. Harp formed a partnership in the real estate business. That same year, Charles was elected County Commissioner of the newly organized Rio Blanco County. Charles must not have liked the job, because he resigned the chairmanship in February of 1890. It could be that Charles was a bit busy with being appointed Postmaster of Meeker on Jan. 20, 1890.
The Meeker Herald, in the March 8, 1890, issue, announced the arrival of Harry S. Attix, formerly of Cookston, Minnesota, brother of Charles. The two brothers were going together in the drug, stationery, and notion business. They advertised orange cider, soda, and lemonade, fine cigars, and tobaccos sold at the Post Office.
Charles liquidated his ranch stock in 1894 and left for Arizona. He had mining interests in Dos Cabaozas for a while and then moved on to mines in Pima, Arizona, where he died on July 20, 1906, at the age of 55.
Sources: Rio Blanco Historical Society; This Is What I Remember books; Federal Census; Army Post Returns, Camp on the White River; Meeker Herald archives; Helen Reichert; Coloradohistoricalnewspapers.org; Ancestry.com; Federal Census 1880, 1900.