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{{short description|American politician}}
{{Infobox
|
|image = File:Benjamin Eaton circa 1885 (cropped).jpg
|order = 4th▼
|caption = Eaton circa 1885
▲|order = 4th [[Governor of Colorado]]
|term_start = January 13, 1885
|term_end = January 11, 1887
|lieutenant = [[Peter W. Breene]]
|predecessor = [[James Benton Grant|James
|successor = [[Alva Adams (governor)|Alva Adams]]
|birth_date = {{birth date|1833|12|15
|birth_place = [[Coshocton, Ohio]], U.S.
|death_date = {{death date and age|1904|10|29|1833|12|15}}
|death_place = [[Greeley, Colorado]], U.S.
|party = [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]]
}}
'''Benjamin Harrison Eaton''' (December 15, 1833 – October 29, 1904) was an [[United States|American]] politician, entrepreneur and agriculturalist in the late 19th and early 20th century. Eaton was a founding officer of the [[Union Colony of Colorado|Greeley Colony]] and was instrumental in the establishment of modern [[irrigation]] [[farming]] to Northern Colorado. A member of the [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican Party]], he served as the [[List of Governors of Colorado|fourth]] [[Governor of Colorado]], from January 1885 to January 1887, with the nickname of the "[[farmer]] governor". He was one of the largest land owners in [[Weld County, Colorado|Weld]] and [[Larimer County, Colorado|Larimer]] counties, at one time owning over ninety 160 acre (0.6 km²) parcels, all watered from [[canal]]s and [[reservoir (water)|reservoirs]] of his own construction. His projects were influential in helping turn the [[South Platte River]] valley into an important [[agriculture|agricultural]] region in the state's [[Economic system|economy]]. The town of [[Eaton, Colorado]] in western Weld County is named for him.<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9V1IAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA113#v=onepage&q&f=false | title=The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States | publisher=Govt. Print. Off. | author=Gannett, Henry | year=1905 | pages=113}}</ref>▼
▲'''Benjamin Harrison Eaton''' (December 15, 1833 – October 29, 1904) was an
Eaton is among
==Early life==
Eaton was born in [[Coshocton, Ohio]], the second of eight children
Eaton went to school in [[West Bedford, Ohio]] and taught school there as well. In 1854, at the age of 21, he moved to [[Louisa County, Iowa]], where he taught school for two years. He returned to Ohio in 1856 where he married Delilah Wolf. His wife died in 1857 after giving birth to a son, Aaron James Eaton.
In 1858 Eaton went to Iowa for the second time. The following year 1859, at the height of the Colorado Gold Rush, he went from Iowa to Colorado. He [[prospecting|prospected]] for gold in Colorado and [[New Mexico]], as well as working on farms. During the [[American Civil War]], he served under Colonel [[Kit Carson]], in the New Mexico Volunteers. In 1863, he built a farm on the present location of Windsor, Colorado. (Mike Peters, Greeley Tribune, "How Weld Towns Got Their Name").▼
▲
He returned to Louisa County, Iowa in 1864 and married Rebecca J. Hill. He crossed the [[Great Plains]] with his second wife that year and settled in Weld County along its western border with Larimer County, establishing a [[livestock]] raising operation. He was an early prominent citizen of [[Fort Collins, Colorado|Fort Collins]], the nearest post office and trading point, and was a charter member of the [[freemasonry|Masonic Lodge]] there. In 1866, he was elected as [[Justice of the Peace]], serving in that capacity for nine yrears. For six years, he served concurrently as a county commissioner.▼
[[File:Benjamin and Rebecca Eaton - DPLA - 78c7f81c23bb623367474c39b9aa5085 (page 1).jpg|left|thumb|Benjamin and Rebecca Eaton.]]
▲He returned to Louisa County, Iowa in 1864 and married Rebecca J. Hill, his second wife.
==Later career==
In 1870 Eaton met Nathan Meeker, whom newspaperman Horace Greeley had dispatched to Colorado to pick the Union Colony site. Eaton suggested the land southeast of his place, at the confluence of the South Platte and Poudre Rivers. Eaton promised to assist the ditch construction that would be critical to the colony's farms. Bankrolled by Horace Greeley, the Union Colonists secured 60,000 contiguous acres. On March 15, 1870, the executive committee named the town "Greeley." Gophers continually thwarted the 35-mile Canal No. 1 but, according to Union Colony minutes, Eaton would not give up.
Eaton expanded his operations from farming into contracting, specializing in the building of irrigation canals and reservoirs, a business he heavily promoted as a means of bringing growth and wealth to Larimer and Weld Counties. In 1873, in association with John C. Abbott, he built what later became known as Larimer County Canal No. 2 which watered large areas of land west, south, and southwest of Fort Collins. In 1878 he began construction of the [[Larimer and Weld Canal]], once known as the Eaton Ditch, which at the time was the largest and longest irrigation canal in the state. In 1879 he built the High Line Canal in [[Denver, Colorado|Denver]] for a group of [[United Kingdom|British]] investors. He later built the Windsor Reservoir near present-day [[Windsor, Colorado|Windsor]], and well as many other smaller water projects throughout Larimer and Weld counties. He died in 1904 at Greeley.▼
▲Eaton expanded his operations from farming into contracting, specializing in the building of irrigation canals and reservoirs, a business he heavily promoted as a means of bringing growth and wealth to Larimer and Weld Counties. In 1873, in association with John C. Abbott, he built what later became known as Larimer County Canal No. 2, which watered large areas of land west, south, and southwest of Fort Collins.
==See also==▼
In 1878 he began construction of the [[Larimer and Weld Canal]], once known as the Eaton Ditch. The Larimer and Weld Irrigation Company was incorporated on March 10, 1879. The company's board of directors were James Duff, Hyde Sparkes, Benjamin H. Eaton, Thomas B. Dunbar, and Aaron J. Eaton. The capital stock, $200,000, was divided into two thousand shares at $100 each.<ref name="Written in Water">{{cite book|last1=Norris|first1=Jane E. and Lee G.|title=Written in Water: The Life of Benjamin Harrison Eaton|date=1990|publisher=Swallow Press/Ohio University Press|location=Athens|isbn=0-8040-0934-1|page=[https://archive.org/details/writteninwaterli00norr/page/126 126]|edition=First|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/writteninwaterli00norr/page/126}}</ref> This was the largest and longest irrigation canal in the state, irrigating 50,000 acres. In 1879 he built the High Line Canal in [[Denver]] for a group of [[United Kingdom|British]] investors. He later built the Windsor Reservoir near present-day [[Windsor, Colorado|Windsor]], as well as many other smaller water projects throughout Larimer and Weld counties. He died in 1904 at Greeley.
{{Portal|Biography|United States Army|American Civil War}}▼
▲==See also==
==References==
{{Reflist}}
==External links==
*[
▲*''[[History of Larimer County, Colorado]]'', [[Ansel Watrous]] (1911).
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{{s-bef|before=E. L. Campbell}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] nominee for [[Governor of Colorado]]|years=[[1884 Colorado gubernatorial election|1884]]}}
{{s-aft|after=[[William H. Meyer (Colorado politician)|William H. Meyer]]}}
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[[Category:1833 births]]
[[Category:1904 deaths]]
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[[Category:People from Coshocton, Ohio]]
[[Category:People from Fort Collins, Colorado]]▼
[[Category:Union Army officers]]▼
[[Category:People from Windsor, Colorado]]
▲[[Category:Union Army officers]]
[[Category:Military personnel from Colorado]]
[[Category:19th-century Colorado politicians]]
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