On this date...February 17, 1880

February 17 - On this date 143 years ago, Nathaniel T. Dodge and family left their home on South Gardiner, Maine and moved to Buena Vista, Colorado. There are two newspaper articles that pinpoint the exact date Nathaniel and his family left Maine. They are The Kennebec Reporter from February 14, 1880, and The Gardiner Home Journal from February 18, 1880. 

The Kennebec Reporter (Saturday, February 14, 1880) reads: 'Mr. N.T. Dodge and his family with Mr. Jacob Host will leave here next Tuesday for Buena Vista, Col., where they expect to give their whole attention to farming. Mr. Host’s family will remain here for the present. They will carry with them the best wishes of many acquaintances and friends, and may the time be not far distant when we may hear of their prosperity, and learn that fortune has crowned their efforts.'

The Gardiner Home Journal (Wednesday, February 18, 1880) reads: 'N.T. Dodge and family left So. Gardiner, yesterday, for Buena Vista, Colo. Mr. Jacob Host accompanies them.'

Prior to moving to Buena Vista, Colorado, Nathaniel had been living in Gardiner, Maine with his wife, Fannie, and their two young sons, Sherman and Alfred. Nathaniel had been working at a sawmill in Gardiner with his brothers, Curtis & Asa Dodge, during his time in Gardiner. Prior to 1880, two of his sisters, Mary, and her husband, Ezekiel Bray, and Sarah, and her husband, Benjamin Bray (Ezekiel and Benjamin were brothers), had already left Maine and settled in Buena Vista. They had arrived in Colorado during the early 1870's and were involved in farming, ranching and mining. Perhaps they had convinced Nathaniel to come West for a better opportunity than just being a Maine mill laborer.

So, nearly fifteen years after the Civil War and just over a decade since the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad, Nathaniel and his family left Maine for Colorado. Nathaniel’s parents had both passed away just a few years earlier. Fannie’s parents were still alive and living in Pittston (just across the Kennebec River from Gardiner), but were in failing health. Her father, John B. Stevens, sacrificed his health while serving in the Civil War. He would pass away in 1884. Her mother, Eliza Ann Butland, would pass away in 1889. Had they been in good health, I believe they would have joined their daughter and son-in-law in the journey to Colorado.

The cross-country trip would have been by rail and would have probably taken seven to ten days to travel from Gardiner, Maine to Buena Vista, Colorado. I don’t know the route they would have traveled (as train passenger records are not available), but it likely they would have traveled through Portland, Maine; Boston; New York; Philadelphia; Pittsburgh; Columbus; Cincinnati; Louisville; St. Louis; Kansas City and Denver before probably taking a stage to Buena Vista, or taking the first rail line to Buena Vista, which opened in March of 1880.

Two years later, Nathaniel, Mary and Sarah would be joined by their brother, Curtis Dodge, in Colorado. The Kennebec Reporter from March 4, 1882 (Saturday) reads: ‘Mr. Curtis Dodge and Jacob Host leave Monday for Colorado, where they will seek their fortune and we hope will be successful.’ In January of 1883, Curtis signed as a witness for a Mining Deed between Benjamin and Sarah Bray. Curtis Dodge's stay in Colorado was short-lived. The Kennebec Reporter from January 5, 1884 (Saturday) reads: ‘Curtis Dodge, who has been absent in Colorado about one year and a half, arrived home on Wednesday of last week.' Curtis spent the remainder of his life in Massachusetts and Maine.

Nathaniel and Fannie remained in Buena Vista, along with his sisters and their families. Nathaniel was involved in local politics and was elected as Justice of the Peace during the 1880's as well as in 1906 and in 1924. He owned a 40-acre homestead just a few miles west of Buena Vista and farmed and ranched there. Eight more children were born to Nathaniel and Fannie after they settled in Buena Vista: John Edward; Clara Belle; Rachel Elizabeth; Frances Cleveland; Dwight Hector; James Robert; Ann Hazel & Mildred. They endured the loss of two of their children; Mildred, who passed away as a young girl during the early 1900's, and Alfred, who disappeared in March of 1902 while working as a stage driver at St. Elmo and was never found. Each of their surviving children eventually left Buena Vista to pursue their lives and fortunes away from home.

Fannie passed away at the family home in Buena Vista in May of 1919. Nathaniel passed away at the Rio Grande Hospital in Salida in April of 1926. They were both buried at Mt. Olivet Cemetery in Buena Vista. Placer stones had been placed around Fannie's grave following her death and burial. However, their graves remained without a gravestone until 2009, when their descendants purchased a gravestone and had it placed at their gravesite.