The Claim Club

Now because there came up, day after day, complications caused by this claim jumping, a number of men of Denver banded themselves together in what they called a Claim Club, the members being bound to defend the original settlers of the land against the squatters.

There was no written law in all this matter, because we had as yet no regularly organized government; but people took affairs into their own hands, settling the claims as if they really constituted a court of law, and in this way trouble was as a rule averted.

Mr. Middleton made a point of joining this club, so that there might be no danger of the claim which he had bought in the Denver settlement being disputed by claim jumpers.

To those who have never gone into a new country, the idea that a man's land may be taken from him by force seems almost ridiculous, and yet such wrong was often done, so that to us on the banks of Cherry Creek it was of the utmost importance that we should have some semblance of law.

Before coming to Colorado I had never realized how sorely people need the machinery of government. It had always seemed to me that a governor, a legislature, a sheriff, and judges were of no great importance to peaceable citizens, except as they served to make up what we call a state. Perhaps I looked upon a government as an ornament, rather than as a necessity.

But once I came to a place where there was no one authorized to assure equal justice to all, I began to understand that the machinery of a state was fully as necessary as churches and schools. In fact, I learned for the first time what is meant by government; how nearly it affects the least among us, and how exceedingly difficult it is for a community to get along without certain forms as the means of enforcing good behavior upon its citizens.