by Charles W. Bowman

Biographies

   Among those who sought an early residence in Bent County, the name of R.M. Moore stands prominently. In June, 1860, he settled within twenty-five miles of Fort Wise, afterward changed to Fort Lyon. He was born in New Haven, Huron Co., Ohio, August 26, 1833, where he spent his early boyhood. He is a direct descendant of Sir John Moore, of Glasgow, Scotland, for a long term of years the only Moore family in that country. At the age of fourteen, he went to Fredericktown, Knox Co., Ohio, as a clerk in a country store. A portion of the time he spent at school at Ashland and Norwalk, Ohio. In 1853, he went to Cleveland, where he entered and graduated the same year from the Cleveland Commercial College, one of the oldest commercial colleges in the United States. For two years after his graduation, he was employed by the Great Western Indian Company at Niagara Falls, a company that dealt largely in Indian goods. Tiring of the life of a clerk, he sought other fields of occupation, which he found in the town of Hastings, Minn., twenty-five miles south of St. Paul. It was at a time when land speculation ran high, and capital and capitalists were pouring in by the boat-loads from the East, eager to invest. Mr. Moore, with many others, was ready to assist them. By strict attention to business during the three years he remained in Hastings, he accumulated a small fortune for a young man at that time, having started with only a meager capital. In 1858, he removed from Hastings, with the full determination of visiting Oregon, but circumstances changed his plans, and for the following two years was engaged in business in Kansas City, Mo. In April, 1860, he was married to Miss Mary E. Bent, the only daughter of Col. William Bent, for whom the county of Bent, Colorado, was named. Col. Van Horn, the editor of the Kansas City Journal of Commerce, speaking of the wedding, says: "It was such a wedding as could only be given on the western frontier of Missouri, and at the mansion of Col. Bent." The following incident of the occasion is worthy of quotation: "For the first time in years, the host was surrounded by a party of his old companions and sharers of the toils and dangers of mountain life, and, to bring back the reminiscences of early years, they met in solemn Indian council, and, passing around the pipe of friendship, renewed once more the common perils, and cemented again the bonds of long life friendships." Mrs. Moore spent most of her early life in the family of Col. Albert G. Boone, a descendant of Daniel Boone, of Kentucky. The following two years were spent between what is now Bent County, Colo., and Jackson County, Mo., Mrs. Moore passing much of the time with her father, near Fort Lyon. During an early period of the war, their old home in Jackson County, Mo., was raided by the Seventh Kansas Volunteer Cavalry, carrying away horses, mules, and jewelry, though a portion of the live-stock was subsequently regained. In August, 1862, Mr. Moore and family, then consisting of wife and two children, the youngest only three weeks old, started in an ambulance across the country for Fort Lyon. There they remained until the close of the war, when once more they made the trip to Missouri. But the fall of 1866 found him and his family again near their old Colorado home, where he has remained ever since. His wife died May 6, 1878, leaving him six children – four girls and two boys – who are now living. In 1870, Mr. Moore was appointed Probate Judge, by Gov. Evans, for Bent County, which office he held until the following general election, when he was elected to that position for two years. Immediately after the organization of the county, he was appointed County Superintendent of Schools, and was afterward elected for two terms, serving in all about five years. At present, he holds no office. Judge Moore is one of the large stock-raisers of the county. He owns 6,000 acres of land, and occupies 2,200 acres more, the title of which is in dispute. He has 2,200 head of cattle, and to this industry he is adding sheep-raising, for which purposes he has admirable facilities. By the inhabitants of Bent County, Judge Moore is regarded as one of its solid and reliable men.