Frederick Walker Pitkin a U.S. Republican Party

Republican Party (United States)

The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

 politician, served as the second Governor of Colorado

Governor of Colorado

The Governor of Colorado is the head of the executive branch of Colorado's government and the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The governor has a duty to enforce state laws, and the power to either approve or veto bills passed by the Colorado General Assembly, to convene the...

 from 1879 to 1883. Pitkin County, Colorado

Pitkin County, Colorado

Pitkin County is one of the 64 counties of the State of Colorado of the United States. The county is named in honor of the late Colorado Governor Frederick Walker Pitkin. The county population was 14,872 at U.S. Census 2000. The county seat is Aspen...

 was named in his honor.

Frederick Pitkin was born in Manchester, Connecticut

Manchester, Connecticut

Manchester is a township and city in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. As of the 2010 census, the town had a total population of 58,241.- History :...

. He graduated cum laude from Wesleyan University

Wesleyan University

Wesleyan University is a private liberal arts college founded in 1831 and located in Middletown, Connecticut. According to the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, Wesleyan is the only Baccalaureate College in the nation that emphasizes undergraduate instruction in the arts and...

 in 1858, and earned a law degree from Albany Law School

Albany Law School

Albany Law School is an ABA accredited law school based in Albany, New York. It was founded in 1851 by Amos Dean , Amasa Parker, Ira Harris and others....

 in 1859. Following graduation, he moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Milwaukee is the largest city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin, the 28th most populous city in the United States and 39th most populous region in the United States. It is the county seat of Milwaukee County and is located on the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan. According to 2010 census data, the...

 to establish the law firm of Palmer, Hooker, and Pitkin. In 1872, he resigned from the firm due to illness, and set sail for Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

 in search of a cure.

Returning to the United States in 1874, he settled in southwestern Colorado

Colorado

Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...

, where his health stabilized, and resumed his career as an attorney. In addition, he invested in the mining industry. Utilizing his contacts in the mining industry, he announced his candidacy for Governor of Colorado in 1878, and won. During his two terms as Governor, he dealt with a number of crises including the railway feud involving the Atchison, Topeka-Santa Fe

Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway

The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway , often abbreviated as Santa Fe, was one of the larger railroads in the United States. The company was first chartered in February 1859...

, and the Denver-Rio Grande

Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad

The Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad , often shortened to Rio Grande or D&RGW, formerly the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad, is a defunct U.S. railroad company. The railroad started as a narrow gauge line running south from Denver, Colorado in 1870; however, served mainly as a transcontinental...

 rail companies. He ordered the suppression of the Ute

Ute Tribe

The Ute are an American Indian people now living primarily in Utah and Colorado. There are three Ute tribal reservations: Uintah-Ouray in northeastern Utah ; Southern Ute in Colorado ; and Ute Mountain which primarily lies in Colorado, but extends to Utah and New Mexico . The name of the state of...

 Indian uprising at the Milk Creek Battle

Milk Creek Battle

The Battle of Milk Creek began on September 29, 1879, in northern Colorado, and lasted several days as the United States Army and warriors of the White River Ute tribe engaged in what was to be one of the last true battles of the so-called Indian wars....

 or Meeker Massacre

Nathan Meeker

Nathanial C. Meeker was a 19th-century United States journalist, homesteading entrepreneur, and Indian agent for the federal government. He is noted for his founding in 1870 of the Union Colony, a cooperative agricultural colony in present-day Greeley, Colorado...

 in 1879. In 1880, he declared martial law

Martial law

Martial law is the imposition of military rule by military authorities over designated regions on an emergency basis— only temporary—when the civilian government or civilian authorities fail to function effectively , when there are extensive riots and protests, or when the disobedience of the law...

 during the mining strike at Leadville

Leadville, Colorado

Leadville is a Statutory City that is the county seat of, and the only municipality in, Lake County, Colorado, United States. Situated at an elevation of , Leadville is the highest incorporated city and the second highest incorporated municipality in the United States...

. He was an unsuccessful candidate for U.S. Senate in 1882.

Following his retirement from public office, he settled in Pueblo, Colorado

Pueblo, Colorado

Pueblo is a Home Rule Municipality that is the county seat and the most populous city of Pueblo County, Colorado, United States. The population was 106,595 in 2010 census, making it the 246th most populous city in the United States....

, and resumed his law practice and mining business. He died in Pueblo and was buried in Riverside Cemetery

Riverside Cemetery (Denver, Colorado)

Riverside Cemetery, established in 1876, is Denver, Colorado's oldest operating cemetery. More than 67,000 people are buried there, including 1,000 veterans.-Location and operation:...

 in Denver, Colorado

Denver, Colorado

The City and County of Denver is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Denver is a consolidated city-county, located in the South Platte River Valley on the western edge of the High Plains just east of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains...

. Later, his remains were moved to Fairmount Cemetery

Fairmount Cemetery (Denver, Colorado)

Fairmount Cemetery in Denver, Colorado was founded in 1890 and is Denver's second oldest operating cemetery after Riverside Cemetery. It was designed by German landscape architect Reinhard Schuetze...

 in Denver, Colorado

Denver, Colorado

The City and County of Denver is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Denver is a consolidated city-county, located in the South Platte River Valley on the western edge of the High Plains just east of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains...

.

He and his wife, Fidelia James of Lockport, New York

Lockport (city), New York

Lockport is a city in Niagara County, New York, United States. The population was 21,165 at the 2010 census. The name is derived from a set of Erie canal locks within the city. Lockport is the county seat of Niagara County and is surrounded by the town of Lockport...

, had three children. Robert James Pitkin, Florence Pitkin, and George Orrin Pitkin.