EDITOR’S NOTE: This fall will mark the 140th anniversary of the official founding of the Town of Meeker (and this newspaper). In light of that upcoming event, we’ll be sharing town history and stories about the town’s founders in the coming weeks.
In the fall of 1883, the White River Valley had no town. The buyers of an Army surplus building became business owners without owning the land beneath them. Someone suggested “Meeker” as the name for the budding community, and it stuck.
A gentleman named D.M. Richards rode into town and organized the Meeker Townsite Company. Keep in mind that the town government wasn’t officially incorporated until 1885 — which is why all our T-shirts say “est. 1885.” D.M. Richards was named president of the newly formed corporation. The plan was to acquire land from the U.S. government, develop it, lay out streets, and sell lots at a profit.
In all the records, Richards is referred to only as “D.M.” That was common at the time. Using initials in print saved space and ink and gave names an air of importance — which is helpful for newspaper editors, but maddening for genealogists, especially when the surname is common.
The following is my research and reasoning.
My first step was to narrow down where D.M. Richards may have been living in 1883. The earliest mention I found was in the *Weekly Register-Call* of Central City, Colorado, dated Nov. 2, 1883. It was a press release written by P.P. Harp, secretary of the Meeker Townsite Company. Richards was named president at a meeting on Oct. 19. Incorporation papers were filed in Garfield County and with the secretary of state.
The next clue came from the *Laramie Weekly Boomerang* in its Nov. 22, 1883, edition. It included a brief note: “D.M. Richards, a Denver gentleman who has stock and real estate interests in Meeker…” The article concerned the shooting death of Charles Dunbar, one of the Meeker Townsite shareholders, along with his partner Mrs. S.C. Wright. Richards had apparently brought news of the incident to the Laramie newspaper. Dunbar’s family was known in Laramie, and Richards may have been in Wyoming to promote Meeker. After all, if you wanted to sell town lots, you had to convince people to move there.
I then looked for any D.M. Richards living in Denver around 1883. Several men fit the initials, but one stood out: David M. Richards, a bookseller and stationer who did business under the name D.M. Richards.
He arrived in Denver in 1860 during the gold rush, along with his brother, John W. Richards, and a friend, L.R. Crane. By 1861, the trio was mining in Russell Gulch near Central City. The Civil War interrupted their plans. David and L.R. Crane continued working the claim while John enlisted. They held John’s share until his return. In 1865, David and Crane owned mining interests and a bookstore in Central City. The next year, John used his share to homestead land north of Denver and dig what became known as the Wheat Ridge Ditch — a wise investment.
By 1875, David had moved his bookstore to Denver. His business interests diversified: mines in Leadville (1879), a block of business space in Leadville (1881), early stockholder in the Alliance Insurance Company, regent at the University of Colorado, and owner of land south of Denver — what later became Cherry Hills Farm.
His 1905 Denver obituary noted that he had been blind for the last five years of his life but did not mention any involvement in Meeker real estate. However, it did say he was “one of the pioneers in the Routt County coal fields.”
Based on the timeline and connections, I believe D.M. Richards, president of the Meeker Townsite Company, was David M. Richards (1836–1905) of Denver. While there’s no definitive statement confirming this, the circumstantial evidence is strong. My theory is that Richards bowed out of the Meeker project before 1885, once it became clear that securing clear title to the lots would be a drawn-out process. He had more lucrative opportunities elsewhere. Still, he played an instrumental role in promoting early Meeker to the outside world — much of the interest came from wealthy Leadville merchants and others like them.
Sources: coloradohistoricnewspapers.org; Obituary of David M. Richards (1905); Obituary of James W. Richards
