Joseph Brett
Marriages
Marie Guenon Brett - October 1882
Burial Details
Obituaries
Eagle Valley Enterprise page 1 - June 5, 1931
First Settler of Eagle River Valley Passes Away At Home
On Lake Creek. Joseph BRETT Lived Continuously in Home He Settled in
1897--For Many Years His Place Was Resort For Prominent Colorado and
National People--Many Pioneers Attend Funeral Wednesday Afternoon.
The first settler in the Eagle river valley and the oldest living pioneer of Eagle
County passed away last Tuesday morning, June 2, 1931, at 5 o'clock when
Joseph BRETT died at his home near the mouth of Lake Creek. Joe BRETT
lived and died at the home he made for himself 52 years ago, located and
settled before white man had left his stamp upon this western country, at a
time when Colorado and his Indian braves were the only human occupants of
the country, when elk, deer, antelope, bear and other wild game animals were
the read [sic.] and nearly sole inhabitants of all this western slope of the continental divide. There Joe BRETT has lived for more than half a century, breaking the way for his fellow man who later followed and made into a living paradise the wild country discovered by this intrepid pioneer; loved and respected by his neighbors and all who ever had any association with him.
Joseph BRETT was born in Gebwiller, Alsace, France, October 20, 1852. At
the close of the Franco-Prussian war, unwilling to live under the domination of
the Prussians, he migrated to Paris, where he trained for a gardener, and
worked at the profession throughout various parts of Europe. March 4, 1877,
he came to the United States and lived for a few months in New York City,
before coming west. He was lured to Leadville by the stories of riches to be made in the mines. But his pastoral soul was not appealed to strongly by the
mining camp, and in the spring of 1879 he struck out for its adventures, and
his heart's desire was satisfied when, after months of struggle over the
mountain passes, one beautiful summer day in 1879 he came upon the
pleasing site that was to become his life's home, at the mouth of that beautiful
mountain stream flowing into the Eagle river, and later to be named Lake
creek.
In October, 1882, he was married to Miss Marie GUENON. To this union were
born four children, two sons and two daughters. His beloved wife and two
older children passed on many years ago, while one daughter, Miss Louise,
and one son, James survive.
During his more active years, Mr. BRETT's ranch known as "The
Frenchman's," was a famous resort, most popular with Leadville professional
and business men, and the Leadville Herald Democrat Tuesday morning run
the following story anent this fine old gentleman's death.
Joseph BRETT, Eagle valley pioneer, died at his ranch, "The Frenchman's" at
5 o'clock this morning. He would have been 79 years old on his next birthday,
and had hoped to round out his life with four score years to his credit; but
fate ruled otherwise. All last winter, Mr. BRETT showed unmistakable signs of
failing health and once his life was despaired of. Three weeks ago he took to
his bed and the end came peacefully as the sun rose over the eastern hills.
Surviving him are his daughter, Louise, and his son, James BRETT, who with
his wife and three sons lives at the ranch and has been in active charge there
for a number of years.
There is no more familiar figure in the whole of the Eagle river valley than that
of Joe BRETT, and no place about which clustered so many associations,
than BRETT'S ranch. "The Frenchman's". It was a favorite resort for hunters and fishermen and a recreation ground for many Leadville business, mining
and professional men of an earlier day. A. V. HUNTER, George E. TAYLOR,
George F. FRISBIE, Charles T. LIMBERG, James F. McDONALD and scores
of others whose names are prominent in the early history of Leadville, spent
their week-end at "The Frenchman's".
Joseph BRETT was born in Alsace-Lorraine, but when the Germans seized
the territory from the French after the Franco-Prussian war, BRETT decided
to migrate to America. After many vicissitudes he found himself in 1878, in the
heart of the Rockies and with shrewd eyes he had already noted the rising
tide of migration into the newly born mining camp of Leadville and other
districts. But BRETT was no miner. He had found his way down the Eagle
valley and decided that while others might dig for precious metals or rush to
mining camps in an effort to win fortune with all the attendant uncertainties, it
was certain that all of them must eat and therefore a ranch to supply these
wants should be a permanently valuable asset.
And so BRETT settled in the beautiful Eagle valley, and began that career of
industry, thrift, and activity which ended only with his death.
He had many adventures and exciting experiences in those earlier days.
Once Jay GOULD, the great railway magnate visited the Eagle valley on a
hunting trip. He made his headquarters at BRETT'S ranch, and one day
became lost in a blizzard. BRETT, started out in search of the financier,
whose death at that time might have changed the current of history. He
located GOULD, brought him to the ranch and made with his own hands a
pair of snowshoes for GOULD and piloted him to Red Cliff.
It was in 1885 that BRETT suffered one of his most serious misfortunes. He
and some others had killed several elk and early in the morning started out to
bring in the meat. They were gone all day and the weather turned bitterly
cold. When he finally arrived at the ranch, he discovered that his feet were frozen so badly that from that time forward he was a cripple. Endowed,
however, with the tough fiber of a frontiersman, he continued his life of activity
almost until the end.
Funeral services were held at the home Wednesday afternoon at 2 o'clock,
where gathered more than 200 of his neighbors, pioneers from Leadville and
all over Eagle County to pay their last respects to the man for whom they had
never had but the most kindly thoughts and highest regard.
A male quartet, composed of W. H. LEA, H. K. BROOKS, J. D. ALLEN and
W. H. LUBY, sang the two beautiful hymns, "The Old Rugged Cross" and
"Nearer My God To Thee." Rev. C. R. STOCKINGER, pastor of the Eagle
Methodist church, delivered a most fitting funeral sermon, having in the life of
the man who had so recently been called to his hereafter a splendid text from
which to draw the lesson he so well pictured in words of eloquence. After the
short service the remains were lovingly laid to rest beside the bodies of the
loved ones who had passed before him, in the beautifully located family burial
ground on a knoll of the ranch overlooking the valley of the Eagle River.
Active pall bearers were, Ralph STRICKLAND, James TERRY, Glen
MOORE, J. W. HOLLAND, Carl NORGAARD, W. W. WALSH. Honorary pall
bearers were George FRISBY, Isaac JONES, William HARVEY, John
HARVEY, Paul CRAWFORD, and Richard ALLISON.
