Richens Lacey Wootton Explained

Richens Lacey Wootton
Birth Date:c. 1816
Birth Place:Virginia
Nationality:American
Occupation:Frontiersman

Richens Lacy (or Lacey) Wootton (c. 1816 - 1893), often referred to as "Uncle Dick" Wootton, was an American frontiersman born in Virginia, but lived most of his life in what is now Colorado,much of it before the formation of Colorado.

In his early life Wootton was a mountain man and trapper, then a hunter at Bent's Fort. In 1866, he hired a tribe of Utes under Chief Conniache to build a toll road through Raton Pass. He later sold the road to the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad[1] and the railroad named one of their locomotives after him.[2]

He appears as a character in Flashman and the Redskins when Flashman employs him as a guide. Flashman and his caravan are forced to abandon him when he catches cholera.

He is referenced in Michener's "Centennial ".

References

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Richens Lacy "Uncle Dick" Wootton. www.sangres.com.
  2. Web site: Santa Fe Railway Historical & Modeling Society : Resources. old.atsfrr.org.