William C. Bradbury Papers

William C. Bradbury (1849-1925) contributed to the development of Colorado in the late 1800s and early 1900s through his work on Colorado railroads and canals. Mr. Bradbury was born on February 1, 1849 to Rebecca and Cotton C. Bradbury in Taunton, Massachusetts. He spent his youth in and around the city of Boston, and at the age of 14, spent two weeks as a drummer boy during the Civil War, until his father found him and brought him home again.

William Bradbury later spent the years between 1868 – 1871 working at miscellaneous jobs in Boston. Then in 1871 Mr. Bradbury visited Evans Colorado on business for his father, and decided to stay. He began working on a cattle ranch, and soon met and married Hattie A. Howe, also a Boston native, in the spring of 1872. The two had seven children together: Buckley C., Miriam, William C. Jr., Harriet (Bradbury) Locke, Isabelle B. (Bradbury) Gelder, Luther F, and George Edward Bradbury.

William Bradbury moved to Colorado Springs after his marriage where he created a prosperous mercantile business. Then, due to poor health, he sold the business in order to pursue a career in which he could work outdoors. He started a mule freighting business between Colorado Springs and Leadville, which was successful until it could no longer compete with the expanding railroads. At this point Mr. Bradbury moved his mule team to New Mexico where he started operating two saw mills and tie camps for the Denver and Rio Grande Railroads, and then later expanded these businesses to various parts of northern New Mexico and southern Colorado.

William C. Bradbury worked successfully on the railroads, and also on various irrigation systems and reservoirs throughout the West until 1909, including projects in Colorado, New Mexico, Idaho and Wyoming. At this point he also operated 16 different large farms, raising and selling sheep and other livestock.

Mr. Bradbury was an avid sportsman and spent much of his leisure time hunting and fishing. He was also interested in zoology, and donated a large bird egg collection, which consisted of over 4500 eggs and nests, to the Colorado Museum of Natural History.