James B. Belford: the Red Rooster of the Rockies
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LAW REVIEW
Volume 4 FEBRUARY, 1932 Number 2
JAMES B. BELFORD:
THE RED ROOSTER OF THE ROCKIES
By WILLIAM H. ROBINSON, JR.*
So this tall ungainly man striding across the room to greet them was
the President of the United States! This was the man for whom they had
faced a hostile mob, for whom they had fled in the middle of night to
escape mob violence.
Isn't he the homeliest man that you ever saw? whispered Mrs.
Belford.
The President greeted them cordially, and immediately he began to
question the Belfords about Missouri from whence they had just come.
Because of the depth of his questions and his profound concern over the
fate of the nation which had recently elected him to the presidency, the
Belfords became intensely interested in Abraham Lincoln, as were all who
knew him personally. The husband told their story but the narrative was
interspersed here and there with questions which Lincoln directed to Mrs.
Belford, or with bits that she volunteered. They had been married just
recently and had gone West because they felt that the new frontier offered
better opportunities. Their home was in Lewiston, Pennsylvania. Settling
in California, Missouri, just before the presidential election of 1860, both
of them had worked with utmost vigor for the election of Lincoln. Belford
had taken the stump on Lincoln's behalf. But the spirit of Missouri was
that of secession and the election speeches of Belford only served to make
him unpopular. One night just before the election, a citizens' committee
called on the Belfords inviting them to leave before daybreak. Taking only
a few personal belongings and being forced to leave their furniture and
other property behind them, they fled in the dark of night for Indiana,
stopping at Springfield, Illinois, to see Lincoln who had in the meantime
been chosen President. They had waited for some time at the State Capitol
because Mrs. Belford insisted-Mr. Belford explained-that as long as
she had come this far she wasn't going away without seeing the President
even if he were so busy that she had to wait all day.
*A student in the Graduate School of Law, University of Colorado.
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James B. Belford: the Red Rooster of the Rockies
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