Fred Zadek Salomon

Fred Zadek Salomon (Oct. 1829 - Nov. 1, 1888) was an American Jewish pioneer in Auraria, Denver. He established the first general merchandise store in the area and was active in Denver-regional business and civic affairs.

Fred immigrated to America in 1849 and started one of the first Jewish stores in Las Vegas. In 1859, Fred heard about a gold rush in Denver and immediately moved there, becoming one of the first Jewish settlers in Denver.

“June 22, 1859, there arrived in Auraria a dapper little businessman, mounted on a deck of a mule. He registered himself at Smoke's Union Hotel as Fred Z. Salomon.... Fred made a friendly call at Uncle Dick Wootton's (the inn of the celebrated Frontiersman), wiped his lips, picketted his mule down on the bottoms.... About ten days later a noise of cracking whips and "gee, whoa, haws," coming down the valley of Cherry Creek announced the arrival of an old-fashioned train of high white-topped wagons, each drawn by 5 or 6 yokes of oxen, and loaded with $30,000 worth of goods. The wagons were marked J.B. Doyle and Co. Fred's other name at the time was "Co." The new store was not ready and the train corralled in front of Uncle Dick's (where all the weary travelers were taken to in those days). The result of a parlay was the moving out of the old man's bottles and glasses: the pioneer saloon was suppressed and dry groceries took the place of wet ones. Fred took command of the first general merchandise house established in Colorado.” (From the Rocky Mountain News, 1873)

Fred Salomon "helped bring the railroad to Denver and start the first Colorado brewery. He was a partner in the early water company, president of the Denver Board of Trade, a bank director, an organizer of a sugar beet company and the first mining exchange, founder of a town in Douglas County, and treasurer of the territory. Fred Salomon was also a member of an early chess club, a literary society, a social club, the State Historical Society, and of the Fifty-Niners" (United States Jewry, 1776-1985, Jacob Marcus, p. 147).

Fred was one of the most popular and successful American Jews in his generation, and he was very active in both civic and government affairs. In 1861, Fred attended President Abraham Lincoln’s inauguration in Washington DC. He enjoyed living a very lavish lifestyle (Pioneer Jews, Rochlin, p. 59).

His two younger brothers Hyman and Adolph later joined his enterprise in Colorado. Together, the three Salomon brothers “were as authentic as Western pioneers could get. They braved confrontations with restive Indians on the eastern plains, rode hundreds of miles on horseback to distant locations, helped set up mining camps that would later become gold and silver boomtowns and outfitted US Cavalry units throughout the region. In addition to setting up what is believed to be Denver’s first brewery, the Salomons were able to bring to the fledgling settlement of Denver both cigars and whiskey, the latter said to be considerably superior to the notorious ‘Taos Lightning’ previously available. The Salomons made lots of friends among Indians and white men alike, and gained reputations as plain dealers and straight shooters (denoting honest traders, not accurate gunslingers). Such terms constituted high praise indeed in the days of the Old West.” (The Mystery of the Dislocated Grave, University of Denver Magazine, Jan. 15, 2009).

[https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/10628241/fred-zadek-salomon]