Pueblo County, Colorado
Van Daniel Boone

Contributed by Karen Mitchell and Jean Griesan. Photo by Floyd Kelling.



Van Daniel Boone 1814 – 1871
Boone was a grandson of frontiersman Daniel Boone. He was born in Howard County, Missouri, and lived in Jackson County Missouri before coming to Pueblo County with his brother Albert Gallatin Boone, in about 1860. They settled on a ranch, and the town of Boone was named after them. Albert Gallatin Boone had been a licensed Indian trader before coming to the Pueblo area and later was a government Indian agent. Van Daniel, who remained on the ranch, died from pneumonia on March 4, 1871, at the age of 57.


Contributed by Jean Griesan.

Boone, Van D., Mary A., and Albert G. (arrived in Colorado in 1860)

Van D. and Mary A. Boone were natives of Kentucky and direct descendants of the famous frontiersman Daniel Boone.

Van D. was a leading stockman in western Missouri, coming to Colorado with his family in 1860 and settling in Pueblo County. There he took up government land 18 miles east of Pueblo. He devoted the remainder of his life to farming and stock raising. His death occurred on his ranch when he was 87 years of age. *

His wife was a sister of William Randall of London, Kentucky, who was a member of Congress for several years and a distinguished citizen of Kentucky.

To Mr. and Mrs. Boone were born seven children: Albert G.; Emma H., Mrs. Lewis Barnham, whose son Lewis Barnham, Jr., was adjutant general of Colorado; Charles R. of Archuleta County; Zurelda E. of Pueblo; Harriet B., wife of T. R. Jones of Pueblo; Benjamin F.; and Jesse M. of Pueblo County.

Albert G. Boone was 15 years of age when he came with his parents to Colorado in 1860. He being the eldest child had charge of the farm and business affairs. In 1883, he went to New Mexico where he engaged in raising stock for 3 years, which he ranged on the plains of the territory. From New Mexico he came to Archuleta County in 1886 and homesteaded a quarter section of land 16 miles south of Pagosa Springs; he has since made many valuable improvements and engaged in raising stock.

He has served as county commissioner for several years. As a school director he organized school district No. 6 in his county.

While he has had many reverses, they did not discourage him, and in spite of them he worked his way forward to a position of independence and influence among the substantial men of the country.

In 1876 Mr. Boone married Miss Susie H. Fosdick, daughter of Henry M. Fosdick of Pueblo County, a civil engineer who laid out the town site of Pueblo. To this union were born six children: Dan D., Henry A., Elsie B., Jesse, Elliott, and Esther.

* Editorial Note: Van Daniel Boone actually died in 1871, when he was 57 years old.

Extracted from "The Real Pioneers of Colorado," by Maria Davies McGrath, published in 1934 by The Denver Museum, retyped with added notes by Jane P. Ohl, in October 2001.



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