Thirty-three years ago next July the patriotic pioneers celebrated the Fourth of July in this city. It took place in a grove near the mouth of Cherry Creek. One Doctor Fox read the Declaration, and James K. Shaffer delivered an oration. There was music by the Council Bluffs band. July 12, 1860, a series of murders and violence began there by desperadoes who had infested Denver during the summer. They tried to muzzle the mouth of the press, which bravely condemned their dastardly outrages, and as a consequence they raided the _Rocky Mountain News_ and tried to kill its proprietor. The first regular United States mail arrived there on August 10, 1860; P. W. McClure, postmaster. The first Odd Fellows lodge was instituted there on Christmas Eve, 1860. The close of the year 1860 saw 60,000 people in the Territory, 4,000 of whom were in and around Denver. At this juncture of time Denver was tolerably well favored with the three great engines of civilization, to wit, schools, churches, and newspapers. There were three day schools, two or three newspapers, and the following church denominations, each with a place for holding services: Methodist Episcopal, Methodist Episcopal South, Roman Catholic, Presbyterian, and Protestant Episcopal. The latter denomination was well and truly cared for by the Rev. J. H. Kehler, who established St. John's Church in the wilderness, as he then called it. Therefore, to the praise of our pioneers let it be recorded that though then remiss in many of the modern enterprises, their liberality encouraged religion, morality, and popular education. They claimed that Whittier's apostrophe to Massachusetts might and should apply equally to Colorado in these regards: The riches of our commonwealth Are free, strong minds and hearts of health; And more to her than gold or grain The cunning hand and cultured brain. Nor heeds the sceptic's puny hands, While near the school the church-spire stands; Nor fears the blinded bigot's rule, While near the church-spire stands the school. CHAPTER XXVIII. THE DENVER OF TO-DAY AND ITS ENVIRONS. The Denver of to-day, the capital of Colorado, has a population of 160,000, and it stands at an elevation of 5,196 feet.