Among the numerous pioneer and homesteader stories that form the collective narrative of Northwest Colorado, the story of Henry Davis stands out.

The trajectory of his life during one of the most tumultuous periods of American history, along with his relentless pursuit for his part in the American dream, creates the portrait of an individual determined to claim not only his freedom, but also his future. 

Davis was born into slavery in 1836 in Henry County, Tennessee. In September 1862, he enlisted in the Union army as a member of the 1st Regiment in the Kansas Colored Infantry, which was attached to the 7th Army Corps.

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The details of how Davis transitioned from slave to freeman, and how he came to arrive in Kansas, are unclear, though some records indicate his ownership being transferred several times prior to his enlistment. 

The 1st Regiment saw action in an array of engagements in the western theatre of the Civil War, including battles at Poison Springs, Honey Springs and Jenkins Ferry. 

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At Poison Springs, the 1st Regiment suffered 182 casualties. Wounded men, as well as those who were trying to surrender, were killed by Confederate soldiers, leading to the battle that became known as the Poison Spring massacre.

In December of 1864, they were reorganized into the 79th Regiment of the United States Colored Infantry (USCI), where Davis received a promotion to Sergeant. 

After the war ended, Davis joined a stream of Americans moving west, eventually becoming a pioneer and homesteader on the Williams Fork, south of Craig.

It was at this point that records regarding Davis’s life increased, primarily due to the government challenging his eligibility for benefits related to a lung condition which Davis said he contracted during the war. 

Many of those records, which form a remarkable narrative regarding his life in what would become Moffat County, are housed in Craig’s Museum of Northwest Colorado.

“He was born a slave, and his very existence was recorded in the National Archives because of his later pension claims,” said Museum Director Dan Davidson.

After the war, Davis seized on the opportunity offered by the Homestead Act of 1862, which promised “free land” to settlers willing to work for it. For Davis, whose early life had been defined by a lack of freedom, the Homestead Act represented a second emancipation — the right to own a piece of the American frontier.

In 1882 or 1883, Davis arrived in Routt County, in an area that would become Moffat County in 1911. Davis and his wife, Susan, was one of the first families to settle the rugged terrain along the Williams Fork, a tributary of the Yampa River. 

“He was one of the first homesteaders on the Williams Fork,” Davidson said. “The land was extremely difficult to settle. If you had water, you had a chance. But this was a hard, remote country where homesteaders, regardless of race, had to work together to survive.”

The Davis family began the task of turning the untamed homestead into a viable farm and cattle operation. The early pioneers in the region, regardless of their heritage, had little choice but to rely on each other. Together, they constructed irrigation ditches, built rudimentary roads and even cooperated on threshing crews. 

“It made people far less prejudiced because you needed each other to survive together,” Davidson said.

Davis’s pioneering efforts, however, were not limited to just one parcel of land. The Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Homestead Act of 1872, which was an amendment to the original Homestead Act, granted additional land to veterans of the Civil War. As a result, Davis was able to obtain a second parcel on the Williams Fork, expanding his total acreage to 320.

The second lot, according to Davidson, was necessary due to the arid, rocky and steep conditions along the Williams Fork. 

The local community in the area was one of stark contrasts, where harsh living conditions met with the deep commitment of pioneerism. As Davis faced the challenges of building irrigation systems, and maintaining his homesteads in a region notorious for its rough roads and limited water access, he became a noted figure in the community.

“I’d say that Davis was an integral part of that Williams Fork neighborhood because of what he put into the community,” Davidson.

He also noted that Williams Fork neighbors often worked side by side in barn raisings and cattle branding. This, in turn, led to the creation of a social fabric where community survival outweighed prejudice based on the individual. 

Despite his successes, personal tragedy and the toll of hard labor overshadowed Davis’s later years. 

His wife, Susan, died in 1887. For five years, he worked the land alone before remarrying to Louvina Davis, of Georgetown, in 1893. Despite the fact that she had three children to help with the Davis homestead, the union ended in 1895. 

The following year, his long-standing lung condition led to him selling his homestead to the influential Coulter family of Georgetown. This led to one last transition in Davis’s life, as he applied for residency at the Soldier’s Home in Monte Vista — a facility established as a safety net for veterans who could no longer care for themselves.

“He was finally taken in by the government, a recognition of his years of service and sacrifice,” said Davidson. 

Davis spent his final years in a stark contrast to his earlier life seeking freedom through relentless labor and self-reliance. 

Davis passed away on March 14, 1903, at the Soldier’s Home in Monte Vista.

Davis’s story is more than a tale of personal triumph over adversity. It is a lesson in the power of community and the enduring value of hard work. His life, which originated within the cruel economics of slavery, evolved into one marked by the hard-won dignity of land ownership.

Homesteading acts, combined with hard work and enduring dedication, allowed a man once deemed property to claim a future by owning his own property as a settler.

“Tenacity is the only word I can think of that describes his journey,” Davidson said. “Imagine going from being bought and sold to owning land. You really have to be tenacious to set out on that dream.” 

Amid the present reconstruction of diversity and inclusion, Davis’s story is a testament to the transformative power of freedom, hard work and community spirit. His life challenges of the past force us, in the present, to consider our similarities more than our differences.

It also compels us to understand how hard and communal work can lead people to abandon prejudice in a remembrance of the value of every individual contribution to the fabric of a community. 

In a modern world that seems to often forget the sacrifices made in the name of collective freedom, the individual story of Henry Davis reminds us of what can be achieved when tenacity meets opportunity.

The author would like to thank Ed Peck, as well as the Museum of Northwest Colorado and Dan Davidson, for their support and contributions with this article. This article is dedicated to the late Dr. Ed Crowther, of Adams State University, as well as the late Dr. Haan of Hartwick College.