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GARFIELD
COUNTY, COGENWEB PROJECT
This is a collection of
historical pictures in and around Rifle Colorado.
Photos are used from Edwin Thompson, Steve Fox, Paul
Bernklau and others.
Charles
Levant Todd
Charles L Todd was a very early settler in Rifle. Before the
first bridge over the river in 1890, the area’s only river
crossing was a ferry located somewhere near mile pond. Todd
operated the ferry and would become one of Rifle’s first
merchants, owner of Western Mercantile, owner and editor of
the Rifle Reveille newspaper, member of the first school
board, president of the first Fair Association of Garfield
County and Rifle’s second Mayor. Quite a few of our earliest
Rifle photos were taken by his daughter, Miss Gertrude Todd.
Todd's Western
Mercantile Store
Inside the Todd Mercantile Store showing the
Rifle P.O. (somewhere admist the inventory)
The girls are identified as Dorothy Fravert Love and
Thelma Todd (Ewers, Stauffer). Thelma later married Jess
Stauffer. The picture says it taken at the Todd home on the
corner of 3rd and Whiteriver.
(Claude Graham Collection)
Current Picture of
the Historic Todd Home
Gertrude Todd, daughter of Rifle pioneer C.L. Todd, she
married Paul Garton took many photos of Rifle from about
1900 to 1910. They are preserved in postcards. Below are
several of her postcards. She became postmaster when her
father died, was married in this house 2 months after his
death. Miss Gertrude Garton married Paul Garton in
Rifle, in her mothers home December 15, 1915, when she was
26 years old. She was well known before that as Miss Todd,
the fiesty photographer, postmaster, and daughter of C. L.
Todd.
Miss Todd was born in Rifle in
1889, probably one of the first 100 people born here. Her
father, Charles, had moved to Colorado in 1879 and located
at Georgetown. Charles was an orphan, his mom died the day
he was born, November 7, 1855, and his dad died 9 years
later.
In 1885, Charles moved to the
Rifle area records say locating a ranch near Antlers. In
1886, he opened a store near Mile Pond which he operated
until 1888. Another record says he also operated a ferry on
the river at that location until 1890 when the first bridge
was constructed.
About 1888, he
opened the Western Mercantile Company, in Rifle, on the SW
corner of Railroad and 3rd, operating it until J. W. Hugus
purchased it in 1895. His daughter Gertrude was born while
this business was operating. The post office was then in
this business and Charles was appointed Postmaster in 1889,
being re-appointed in 1903, and probably several more times.
Gertrude eventually served as assistant PM and acting PM. On
October 6, 1915, she was appointed Postmaster succeeding her
father, who had died the day before.
In 1898, Charles opened a gentleman's furnishings store with
Albert Ziezeniss on east 3rd. About this time, he built his
big brick home on east 3rd, it was the 3rd home east of east
avenue on the south side. It was here that Gertrude would be
married in 1915, just two months after her father died.
Gertrude had an attack of scarlet fever when she was seven
years old but overcame that. She attended schools in Rifle,
graduated from Rifle High School, was a member of the
Rebekah Lodge, and helped organize and was president of a
ladies society called the P. E. O.
A
tragic accident occurred in 1907 that involved but did not
injure Gertrude. She and three girl friends, Lela McComas,
Ora Coulter, and Crystal Hutchings had ridden horses up
Rifle Creek. As they returned and were turning the corner at
the Clark Hotel (aka Winchester), Lela's horse stumbled and
fell and threw Lela violently to the ground. She suffered a
severe head fracture but survived. She married in 1908, then
died in childbirth in 1909. Tragedy after tragedy.
The Reveille has many articles that list social activities,
parties, etc. that Gertrude was involved in. For example,
September 30, 1912, it reports she entertained 22 friends at
a no "L" party, where no words with the letter "L" were
permitted in their game. Then July 11, 1913, it reports that
she entertained 30 of her friends at a "cut up" party.
Gertrude was also an athlete,
because in 1910, a ladies basketball team was organized and
she was the "running center". Women's basketball at the time
had 3 players on each end of the court who did not cross the
center line, they had to pass the ball across. It seems
Gertrude was on the offensive side.
Miss Gertrude took up photography early and many of her
photos survive on postcards and calendars. In 1914, she won
first place at the 6th Apple Pie Fair Days for best display
of an amateur photographer, the prize being $5 worth of
Kodak supplies from Stauffers' Pharmacy. The Reveille has an
article in 1915 about her photos being on display in the
Rifle photo studio. Included with this post are 8 of her
photos from postcards. Also, another 8 photos that are
probably hers.
Paul arrived in town
about a year before they married. He was from Delta where
his father was a doctor. Like Gertrude, he was an artist and
they soon were a couple. Finally at age 26, Miss Todd had
found her match.
Paul operated a
cleaning/tailoring and clothing repair business called Model
Tailoring and Cleaning Works in the back of Wilson's
Toggery. And as a side business he painted business signs,
one being the Graham garage sign. Later in life, census
records show him to be a commercial painter.
Soon after they married, they moved to Glenwood Springs
where Paul took a position with the John R. Weir store.
Gertrude and Paul had three children, the first born in
Provo Utah, the other two born in Glenwood Springs. The
first,Dean, was born in 1917 died in 1917, possibly while
they were traveling?. Son Thor was born in 1918 and daughter
Phyllis in 1920.
Gertrude died on
October 9. 1932 in Los Angeles at the age of 43. She and
Paul had been married just 16 years. He remarried and lived
32 more years passing away December 10, 1965 in San
Bernadino.
                    
  
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