by Charles W. Bowman

Biographies

   Mr. Spane was born in East Kent, England, in 1834. He came with his parents to America when quite young. They settled near Cleveland, Ohio. After remaining there a short time, they removed to Richland County, same State. He attended the common schools and worked on a farm until he was seventeen years of age. Mr. Spane at this time went to Johnson County, Iowa, and improved a farm for Mr. Mason during the fall and winter of 1851-52. He then crossed the plains to Oregon, on the Columbia River, thirteen miles east of Portland. He was nearly six months on the road. The party ran out of provisions while on the Blue Mountains. For two days, he was out on a hunting expedition, and killed only a few grouse. They found a substitute for beef and wild game in an Indian pony, which they killed and lived on for forty-eight hours. Soon after this, they came to an Indian camp, and traded from some corn and potatoes. The following day, they arrived at a place where they traded an odd steer for thirty pounds of flour. The steer was valued at $30. In the winter, flour was worth $50 per hundred pounds in Oregon. Mr. Spane was in the Territory about eighteen months. He had put in a crop of wheat, and, just before harvesting, a gold excitement sprang up in the coast range of the mountains in Southern Oregon. He left his fields and did not return to them. He proceeded to Sterlingville, Ore., and located gold mines. For a time, he worked for other parties and sold out his claims on account of a lack of water, and went to Applegate, a short distance from Sterlingville. He then proceeded to Hamburg Bar, Klamath River, in Northern California. There, in company with others, he worked nearly two years in placing a dam across the river in order to turn its course for the purpose of working the river bottom. The scheme was not a paying one. Mr. Spane then went to some southern mines in Tuolumne County, near Columbia. There he bought an interest in a claim in Martinez Gulch, where he remained until the fall of 1859. He then returned to Ohio, where he remained until the spring of 1860, when he went to Kansas, where he enlisted, June, 1871, in the Second Kansas Volunteer Infantry; served five months, and was discharged, but re-enlisted, December, 1861, in the Third Kansas Volunteers, which was composed of cavalry and infantry, but was subsequently transferred to the Fifth Kansas Volunteer Cavalry. During his service, he was wounded four times. At one time, he was wounded and left on the battle-field, near Mount Vernon, Ark. He also received a wound at the time Gen. Lyon was killed at Wilson Creek. For ten months, he was a prisoner, having been captured at Mark's Mill, Ark. He was discharged in April, 1865. On account of being captured, he lost his descriptive list, and was consequently detained at Leavenworth for some time before receiving a duplicate from Washington. After leaving the army, he went to Linn County, Kan., and worked at carpentering. He was married, May 13, 1866, to Miss Sarah Summers. In the spring of 1873, he came to Colorado. His first stop was on the divide, during the summer. In the fall, he went to Red Creek and hauled ties to the river. In the spring of 1874, Mr. Spane moved to Riche's ranch and farmed two years. In February, 1876, he moved to Pueblo, and commenced working for the railroad. In April, 1877, he went to La Junta, in charge of the station; subsequently, was employed at the station, in the transfer, and also in the car and seal record, departments.