When Mariano Medina made Colorado his home in 1858, he was already a well-respected mountain man who’d spent years in the Rocky Mountains.
Born in Taos, New Mexico on February 20, 1812, Mariano Medina was the son of a French trapper and his Jicarilla Apache wife.
When Medina came of age, he worked with his father and learned to trap beaver. Years later, Medina struck out on his own, traveling the West and setting trap lines in the many rivers. Along the way he became associated with other mountain men and frontiersman such as Jim Bridger, the Bent brothers, Christopher “Kit” Carson, and Tom Tobin.
Mariano Medina’s favorable reputation grew following a scouting expedition where his vast knowledge of the wilderness, led to the capture of two renegade Ute Indians. Famed explorer John C. Fremont employed Medina in one of his many explorations of the West.
By the 1840s, the beaver were dying out and thus the fur trade was coming to an end. For the next decade Medina provided a guide service for hunters and adventurers. It was during this period in Medina’s life that he took an Indian wife.
In the summer of 1858, Medina joined prospectors George Andrew Jackson, Nicholas Janis, and Jose de Mirabal, at a small settlement along the Big Thompson River in northern Colorado. The Rocky Mountain News of September 5, 1858, reported:
"Mr. Ceran St. Vrain has been seen in the company of Mariano Medina near Estes Park, a family outing with several other famous people - William Gilpin José de Mirabal and William Bent.”
Making a New Start
By the spring of 1859 the prospectors had moved on, but Medina stayed. He started his own business providing rafts to ferry teams across the river charging a hefty price of $5.00 in gold for the service.
After a prosperous season Medina spent the next few months constructing a toll bridge. When completed the bridge, with strong pilings driven into the river bottom on either side, was sturdy enough and high enough to withstand high spring run-off and floods.
Medina charged one dollar, again in gold, to cross the bridge. In time travelers dubbed the bridge "Mariano's Crossing."
With the success of his enterprise, Medina began construction of a trading post on the north side of the river. The new complex soon it became a favorite stop-over for the growing numbers of travelers during the Western Migration movement.
The location was the crossing of several trails. The Texas and Overland Trails crossed here, as well as the Denver/Laramie Trail. Off shoots of the Platte River Trail and the Overland Trail also passed through Medina’s land.
Several of Medina’s mountaineer friends often visited the post. The June 4, 1859, issue of the Rocky Mountain News reported: "Kit Carson spent the past week with friend Jesus Garcia Mariano Medina at his post in the Big Thompson canyon."
Considered the first permanent settler in the Big Thompson Valley, Medina set out to establish a settlement in the valley. The following year Medina recruited several families from his hometown of Taos to build that settlement. Medina chose a spot near the site of present-day Loveland, Colorado.
Shortly thereafter, on April 17, 1861, a band of Ute Indians drove off 60 of Medina’s horses. Medina and his men tracked the thieves for 25 miles. Medina managed to shoot one of the Utes with his Hawken rifle, but the others got away.
Three days later Mariano and his group returned with 50 of the stolen horses, while the Indians had shot five of the animals and had gotten away with another five.
Following the Indian raid, Medina built a small fort on the north side of the river. Constructed of stone, the 15 by 25-foot structure included two gun ports on three sides. The walls were 18 inches thick and the flat roof, made of hand-hewn logs, was covered with sandstone slabs topped with a foot of dirt.
Marianos Crossing And Stage Stop
The following year, Ben Holladay moved his overland stage route from Wyoming to Colorado. Because the new route passed near "Mariano's Crossing," Medina’s operation expanded to include a stage stop.
In 1868, a post office was established and Medina’s settlement was called Namaqua. Commercial buildings and residential homes were built using logs. As there was no longer a threat of Indian attacks, Medina’s fort was utilized as an ice house.
In his later years, Medina was known as a charitable man and his charity parties were the talk of the settlement.
Medina served his guests fine wines, Santa Fe cuisine, which he prepared, and musical entertainment. On other occasion Medina would show his famous Hawken muzzle loader that he fondly named "Old Lady Hawkens."
Medina would also parade around in his white Spanish style leather jacket, leather breeches, fancy knitted long socks, and beaded moccasins. It is said that the women were charmed by the character of the Spanish gentleman and the men were impressed with his guns and stories of his early frontier days.
Mariano Medina died on June 28, 1878.
Today, Fort Namaqua Park, located nearly half-way between Loveland and Drake, at County Road 19E and the Big Thompson River – the site of the trading post and stage station – is one of the earliest historic sites in Colorado.
The gravesites of Medina and several family members are located at the site and there is also an impressive stone marker with a plaque.
Linda Wommack can be reached at lwomm3258@aol.com
