Bennett, Colorado
Bennett is a statutory town located in Adams and Arapahoe counties, Colorado, United States. The town population was 2,862 at the 2020 United States census with 2,443 residing in Adams County and 419 residing in Arapahoe County.
History
Bennett was originally known as Kiowa Crossing or Bennett Station. A post office operating under the name Bennet opened on March 16, 1877, named for Hiram Pitt Bennet, a congressional delegate from the Territory of Colorado and Colorado Secretary of State. The spelling was officially changed to Bennett on June 1, 1907.Bennett Station at Kiowa Crossing (1877-1907)
During the late 19th century, the settlement served as a pivotal railroad and ranching hub on the Kansas Pacific Railway line.The Kiowa Creek Train Wreck (1878)
On May 21, 1878, a disastrous flood struck the Kiowa Crossing. Heavy rains caused Kiowa Creek to swell, washing out the railroad embankment and the bridge. A Kansas Pacific Railway train consisting of 25 cars loaded with scrap iron fell into the torrent. Crewmen Frank Seldon, George Piatt, and John Bacon were on board during the accident. A 1914 retrospective by Union Pacific Superintendent Vickroy stated that a guest passenger, a hotel clerk named Peysert, also went down with the engine. While most of the wreckage was recovered, the locomotive disappeared into the sandy creek bed.Eyewitnesses described the flood's force as comparable to Niagara Falls, capable of lifting heavy boulders and iron-like Valmont stone and carrying them downstream. Following the disaster, Colonel Fisher, the division superintendent, quickly constructed a "surface bridge" to replace the lost structure, a method successfully used by the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad to mitigate costs and delays from washouts.
The "Lost Locomotive of Kiowa Creek" became a local legend. While official records identify the engine as #51, the 1914 account claimed it was a new Baldwin No. 73. Public recovery efforts at the time were extensive but futile; Master Mechanic I. W. Nesmith reportedly spent $6,000 probing the creek bed with iron rods and excavating to a depth of 40 feet, but discovered only a pair of car trucks.
The mystery inspired Clive Cussler to write Night Probe!. In 1989, Cussler's National Underwater and Marine Agency attempted to locate the engine but failed. It was later discovered by Union Pacific archivist Lloyd Glasier that the railroad had secretly recovered the locomotive shortly after the wreck, rebuilt it under a new number, and successfully collected insurance money for a "total loss" in an act of insurance fraud.
Ranching and Local Life
The area surrounding Bennett Station was home to extensive ranching operations. Colonel John G. Clopper, a veteran of the Civil War, established the "Living Springs" ranch 12 miles north of the station in 1883. Clopper improved the property, which had been a point of interest on the old overland stage route, by building a race track and breeding Hambletonian and Mambrino trotting horses until his death in 1885. Other prominent stockmen, including Hon. Ed Knott and George C. Mack, utilized the station for shipping cattle and hogs to markets in Denver and the east.Life at the station was occasionally hazardous. In 1898, a sheepherder named Feles Martinez and his dog were killed by lightning on a range south of town. Railroad accidents also claimed lives, including a section hand named Spencer in 1894 and William Epple, the son of a local rancher, who died in 1904 after jumping from a moving train. Criminal activity commonly disrupted the Bennett community, most notably in 1885 when a dispute over mail resulted in the shooting death of Postmaster George W. Smith by Louis Scherrer, who claimed self-defense. Law enforcement also dealt with thefts and property crimes, such as the 1882 recovery of silverware stolen from Bishop Spalding in Denver, the 1900 capture of a horse thief, and an 1898 incident where three boys stole and wrecked a railroad handcar.
Bennett (1907-1909)
Following the official spelling change to Bennett in June 1907, the area became a focal point for the "dry farming" movement in Colorado.The Scientific Farming Boom
Beginning in 1906, the Campbell System of Soil Culture established a 320-acre model farm at Bennett to demonstrate that agriculture could succeed on the arid plains without irrigation. The project utilized a 32-horsepower compound engine capable of plowing, packing, and seeding 40 acres a day.The success of these experiments attracted significant attention. The Denver Chamber of Commerce organized excursions via Union Pacific motor cars to view the fields, and lecturers like Mrs. Louise Palmer promoted the scientific methods. By 1907, local farmers such as John Egelhoff were reporting successful yields of barley and wheat using these dry farming techniques.
Real estate developers heavily advertised the area's potential, selling land for $3 to $20 an acre and touting the "Campbell system" as a guarantee of profit. This agricultural boom brought increased traffic to the town; however, it was not without tragedy. In September 1907, Thomas O'Reilley, a young farmer attending a dry farming convention in Bennett, was killed while attempting to jump onto a moving Rock Island flyer train.
Bennett (1910-1919)
During the 1910s, Bennett continued to develop as an agricultural hub while serving as a key transit point on the "Ocean to Ocean" highway route.Agriculture and Infrastructure
The region faced volatile agricultural conditions early in the decade. In January 1912, a severe winter caused starvation among cattle herds in eastern Colorado; reports from Bennett indicated that while most ranchers fed their stock, authorities had to intervene in cases of neglect. By 1914, however, dry farming efforts had matured. Civil engineer O. G. Emery reported that winter wheat crops were thriving, prompting a Denver milling concern to plan the construction of a grain elevator in the town.Bennett also became a waypoint for early transcontinental automotive travel. In 1911, the Omaha-Denver Good Roads Association met with the Denver Chamber of Commerce in Bennett to promote a coast-to-coast highway. By 1918, the ownership of this highway became the subject of a legal battle between Adams County and the Union Pacific Railroad. The railroad filed suit to enjoin the county from using the road, claiming it sat on their 400-foot right-of-way granted by the Congressional Act of 1864. The county argued that the road's continuous public use for twenty years and the railroad's failure to assert ownership immediately after the passage of the 1912 Norris Act validated the county's claim.
Accidents and Tragedies
The town's location along major rail and road arteries led to several high-profile accidents. On April 25, 1916, a fatal automobile wreck occurred two miles east of Bennett involving the family of Gordon Jones, president of the United States National Bank. A tire blowout caused their vehicle to overturn and catch fire. Jones's son, Gordon Jones Jr., and his son-in-law, Richard Turner Jones, were killed; his daughter was severely burned after being pinned beneath the burning car.Railroad fatalities continued to occur near the station. In 1910, ranch hand H. W. Underwood was struck and killed by a freight train, and in 1912, Union Pacific brakeman Frank B. Young died after falling from a boxcar. Financial hardship also took a toll; in 1916, local farmer and hotel keeper J. F. Hay committed suicide by stepping in front of a train in Byers following the failure of the Strasburg bank and his inability to secure a loan.
Crime
Lawlessness remained a challenge for the community throughout the decade. On July 4, 1918, "yeggmen" blew open the vault of the Bennett State Bank using tools stolen from the Union Pacific. They escaped with between $4,000 and $5,000 in Liberty bonds and War Savings stamps, though they failed to breach the inner safe containing the cash.Other notable incidents included a 1912 domestic dispute in which George W. Hill chased his wife, who had kidnapped their children, by automobile from Bennett to Aurora, firing a pistol to try and stop her. In 1914, resident Mrs. William McIntire made news when she killed a coyote with an axe after the animal attacked her dog in her chicken yard. Additionally, the town dealt with various thefts, including a 1917 burglary of $1,000 worth of tires from a local garage and the capture of teenage joyriders in 1919.
Bennett (1920-1929)
Throughout the 1920s, Bennett remained a center for dryland agriculture and ranching, though the decade was marked by frequent criminal activity.Economy and Infrastructure
By 1921, the joint Adams and Arapahoe School District No. 29, centered in Bennett, reported a population of 1,000 and an assessed valuation of over $1.7 million. The local real estate market saw significant activity, with large tracts of land changing hands, including the 1920 sale of an 8,000-acre ranch to a Nebraska investor and the 1929 bankruptcy sale of the 3,860-acre Mackinzie estate. Infrastructure improvements continued, with the state highway department letting a contract in 1927 for a new bridge across Kiowa Creek.Civic life was active; in April 1925, Bennett hosted the annual meeting of the central district of the State Federation of Women's Clubs, welcoming delegates from across the region.
Crime and Prohibition
The Bennett State Bank was a repeated target for thieves during the decade. In April 1921, robbers used nitroglycerin and crowbars to breach the vault but failed to open the inner safe. In April 1923, thieves managed to punch a hole in the bank's wall but only escaped with $40 in pennies. A more dramatic attempt occurred in March 1925, when a bandit kidnapped Denver taxi driver John Grant, tied him up, and left him in a snowbank near town. Grant freed himself and telephoned a warning to the bank; the forewarned staff locked the doors, forcing the bandit to flee when he arrived.Violations of the Volstead Act were common. Federal agents frequently raided stills in the area, and local rancher William Minshall became a fixture in the courts, facing acquittal on liquor charges three times in as many months during late 1925 and early 1926. Other crimes included the 1928 armed robbery of the Tom Service filling station by two youths and the theft of lumber and livestock.