Society of Colorado Pioneers, First Annual Banquet and Re-Union, at The "Windsor", Denver, January 25th, 1881

Denver: [publisher not identified], 1881. Menu and program (16 x 9 cm.), two separate cards, printed versos and rectos, [4] pages. Illustrated. Printed menu and program of the Society's first annual banquet held January 25, 1881, at the Windsor Hotel. The Society of Colorado Pioneers was founded in 1872 to recognize and assist those who had arrived in Colorado earlier than 1861, which effectively meant during the three-year period (1858 through 1861) when Colorado was still part of the Kansas territory. The menu is really two menus, one an imagined menu featuring the "Grub" experienced by those arriving in 1859, which included beans, bacon, hard tack, dried apples, and "Taos Lightning". The spirit was a high proof whiskey which distilled in New Mexico starting around 1830, and laden with tall tales. It was said that "Taos Lightning would take the hair off a chihuahua". The much lengthier menu for the dinner consumed that January night in 1881 included raw oysters, mock turtle soup, a larded filet of trout, glazed sweetbreads, quail, etc. The table was bedecked with ornamental pieces depicting scenes of Denver's Western heritage, including The First House in Denver, a Wagon Train, and Indian Teepees. Each card includes a wood engraving printed on one side. The menu card depicts a prospector driving his mule "Over the Range"; the program card shows two riders leading a wagon drawn by six head of cattle, titled "The Sleeper We Came On," both are credited "J.D. Howland, Del. [delineavit] and J.M. Bagley, Eng". John Dare Howland (1843-1914) is often referred to as Denvers first resident artist, and James M.Bagley, born in Maine, (1837 -1910), "the first artist, wood engraver, and cartoonist in Denver". Complete details of the banquet reported in the Rocky Mountain News on January 26, 1881, page 4. Small stain and a bit of other light soil to the menu card; program card is clean. Together, near fine. [OCLC locates one copy of the program only (Denver Public Library; one copy of the menu and program are held by UNLV[.