Happy 150th Birthday, Colorado!
My husband and I each have one set of great-great-grandparents who lived in Colorado when it became a state on August 1, 1876.
Wilburn and Elizabeth Christison (my ancestors) arrived in Cash Creek, Colorado in 1861 after crossing the new state of Kansas from Leavenworth. They traveled in a covered wagon pulled by oxen with their 6 children. Elizabeth and the children were the only women and children in the mining camp when they arrived.
Colorado became a territory on February 28,1861 and my great-great-grandfather voted in the first territorial election.
Wilburn became the Probate Judge in Park County in 1872. So, they were living in Fairplay when Colorado became a state. My great-grandfather, Lewis Christison, was 10-years-old.
Daniel and Susan Epler (my husband's great-great-grandparents) came to Douglas County, Colorado in 1874. They traveled by train with several other early Elbert County pioneers - the Schillinger and Matthews families- from Mount Vernon, Illinois. Susan died following childbirth in 1879 in Douglas County.
Daniel homesteaded what is now known as the Mundy Ranch. He sold it to Vernon Mundy in 1908. The Mundy family was also from Mount Vernon.
He purchased an 80-acre homestead in 1891 and sold it to his son-in-law, George Gresham in 1903. George homesteaded 120 adjacent acres. In 1925, his son, Frank Gresham married Mae Squires and they built a house on the farm. My father-in-law, Warren Gresham, was born in that house in 1931. He purchased the farm from his father in 1965. Warren lived on the farm until his death on January 7, 2026, dying within 20 feet from where he was born. He was 94 years old.
In 2025, the Gresham Farm became one of the Colorado Centennial Farms and Ranches. We are so glad we could celebrate this milestone with Warren. We had a picnic with family and friends to celebrate last August.
John and I own 100 acres of the farm and moved to it on May 1, 2026. We are happy to be able to continue the family farming traditions by raising alfalfa hay and running a small cow-calf herd.
Our roots run deep in Colorado. Happy Birthday, Colorado!
