Charles Augustus Baldauf
Marriages
Mary Theresa Crowell Baldauf
at Gilman, Colorado
Burial Details
Obituaries
Eagle Valley Enterprise page 1 - February 23, 1945
DEATH CALLS ONE OF THE WEST'S GREAT PIONEERS. CHARLES BALDAUF, A CITIZEN OF COLORADO SINCE IN THE EARLY '70S, DIES AT HIS EDWARDS HOME ON FEBRUARY 15.
At his home at Edwards Thursday evening, Feb. 15, Chas. BALDAUF was suddenly claimed by the Grim Reaper Death, who is fast thinning the ranks of the Eagle county pioneers.
Chas. Augustus BALDAUF was born in Nashville, Tenn., Oct. 16, 1865. From there the family moved to Black Hawk, Colo. Then to Malta in 1875, where his father built the smelter.
When Leadville was still a forest, in 1877, the family tent was pitched where the Tabor opera house later stood. A notch cut in a tree for the ridge pole broke and killed Mr. BALDAUF's brother, Max.
In 1883, Mr. BALDAUF helped build telephone lines to Silver City, New Mexico. Then artesian wells. While working on the artesian wells, Judge NAKOMOS was killed by the Indians four miles from Pascal in the Boro mountains. Mr. BALDAUF, with 115 other men were ten days after Chief JERONOMINO. They were without water, excepting what they got from the prickley pear, cactus and Spanish dagger plant and ate horse meat.
From New Mexico he returned to Leadville, where he helped freight supplies from Denver to Leadville with four mules to a span and eight spans to a team, traveling 16 miles a day.
Mr. BALDAUF moved to Gilman in Sept. of 1886, where he met and married Mary Theresa CROWELL, who preceded him in death in 1922. To this union were born a son and a daughter.
In Gilman, with Tommy OWENS, he helped sink the Bell shaft, which was the first of the Iron Mask mine now owned by the Empire Zinc company.
For 25 years he worked in the Leadville and Battle Mountain mines, then took up a ranch on Gore creek where he lived until he moved to Edwards.
Mr. BALDAUF was a member of the Presbyterian church. On Feb. 15 he took the path that must be trod if we would ever pass to God.
He leaves to mourn his passing: one brother, John H. BALDAUF, of Spivey, Kan.; a son, John F. BALDAUF of Minturn; a daughter, Edna May NORGAARD of Edwards; three grand children--Myrna NORGAARD, of Edwards; Loraine NORGAARD of Denver; Melvin L. NORGAARD, U.S. navy. There are numerous other relatives and a great host of friends.
Funeral services were held in the Presbyterian church in Minturn on Sunday, Feb. 19, attended by a large concourse of people.
The beautiful floral offerings attested to the love and esteem in which he was held.
The services were well conducted by Rev. J. W. BARTRUG of Eagle. A male quartet consisting of Jas. COLLINS, Howard BAYER, Paul ANDRE and Rev. Mr. BARTRUG sang his favorite hymn, "Rock of Ages." As a solo Rev. BARTRUG sang "Lead Kindly Light."
The pall bearers, all very old friends of the deceased, were George BRYANT, Lem GRANT, Howard PHILLIPS, Wm. H. LUBY, John PETERSON, and James BRETT.
The body was laid to rest in the cemetery at Red Cliff beside the bodies of his wife and brother. Beyond the dim unknown God stands waiting in the shadow, keeping watch above his own.
