Although he was known as “Colorado Charlie” Utter, he is seldom mentioned in the history of Colorado. However, he is well known in the history of South Dakota, as he was the good friend who planned the funeral, paid the expenses and buried his good friend, James Butler Hickok, better known as “Wild Bill” Hickok.
Yet, long before that 1876 historic event forever blazed in the chronicles of the Old West, Utter was very much a presence in Colorado.
Charles H. Utter was born near Niagara Falls in New York in 1838, but lived in Illinois before heading west for adventure. He was a jack-of-all-trades, working as a hunter, a scout and guide, and even ventured into mining. He came to Colorado in 1860, searching for gold, as did the many thousands of others. With no luck prospecting, he turned again to scouting. He soon found work on the western plains. Working as a scout and a part-time hunter for the Union Pacific Railroad in 1869, he met William F. “Buffalo Bill” Cody and James Butler “Wild Bill” Hickok, on the vast plains of Kansas. While his path would cross with Cody over the years, he became a life-long friend to Hickok.
Colorado Charlie" Utter (right) at the burial spot of his good friend “Wild Bill” Hickok. Hickok’s body was later reinterred in Deadwood’s Mount Moriah Cemetery Photos courtesy of Denver Public Library, Western History Department
In 1870 he and his brother Stephen were in business together in Georgetown. Their business ventures in the silver mining town included mining investments with a local mining agent by the name of William Bement, as well as a livery service. While there, Utter met the daughter of a baker over in nearby Empire, by the name of Tilly Nash, whom he married a year later.
Throughout the years, Utter gained experience and knowledge of the Rocky Mountain region where he often lent his services as a guide to passersby. It was in this time period he gained the moniker “Colorado Charlie” among his friends across the mountains and plains. In 1872, working as a guide, he led a group of explorers along the slope of Colorado’s Gray’s Peak.
E. J. Mallett, Jr. remembered the event in his memoirs: “Our guide is Charley (sic) Utter, who furnishes the 28 saddle horses and the double wagon required by our somewhat numerous party. Dressed in his trapper-suit, Charley presents a figure well worth looking at. Buckskin coat and pantaloons-the latter ornamented with a leather fringe and two broad stripes of handsome bead-work; the former bordered with a similar fringe rimmed by a band of otter fur, and embroidered on the back and sleeves with many-colored beads, the handiwork of a Sioux squaw, and a wonderful specimen of Indian skill; vest of buckskin tanned with the hair on, and clasped with immense bear-claws instead of buttons; pistol, knife, and tomahawk in belt, the belt-buckle of Colorado silver and very large; a broad-brimmed hat and stout moccasins; these are the externals of this famous Rocky Mountain guide.”
While building his livery business that had expanded into a delivery service to the mines around Georgetown, Utter learned of the gold find in the Black Hills region. Along with his brother Steve, spring 1876, they put together a wagonload of goods and supplies and headed for Deadwood to set up a second business enterprise. Stopping in Cheyenne, Wyo., Utter ran into his old friend Wild Bill Hickok, who after a bit of persuasion, agreed to join the brothers on their journey, and even became a partner in their enterprise. Stopping at Fort Laramie, Wyo., another traveler joined the group – Calamity Jane.
The entourage entered the wild town of Deadwood, S.D., on a hot July day in 1876. The Utter brothers immediately instituted their livery and delivery business, which soon included a mail express service between Deadwood and Cheyenne. The dangerous trail was a two-day round trip affair, with riders carrying mail at 25 cents per parcel.
A lock of “Wild Bill” Hickok’s hair. Photo courtesy of Buffalo Bill Museum and Grave
Utter was on one delivery when he heard his friend Hickok had been murdered in Deadwood’s Saloon #10. Returning to Deadwood as quickly as he could, he claimed Hickok’s body and began planning a funeral.
This notice in the Black Hills Pioneer: “Died in Deadwood Aug. 2, 1876, from the effects of a pistol shot, J. B. Hickok, formerly of Cheyenne, Wyo. Funeral services will be held at Charlie Utter’s on Thursday afternoon, Aug. 3, 1876, at 3 o’clock, p.m. All are respectfully invited to attend.”
The funeral lasted into the early evening, as people filed by the open coffin all day long on that hot afternoon to pay their last respects to a legend in their own time. As the sun began to set, Utter laid the coffin of his friend in the ground. He would later send a lock of Hickok’s hair to his widow, Agnes Lake, who was back East at the time of his death. He also made a wooden grave marker that read in part, “Pard, we will meet again in the happy hunting ground to part no more. Good-bye, Colorado Charlie, C. H. Utter.”
The following year Utter returned to Colorado where he again picked up business in Georgetown. However, in February 1879, the growing city of Deadwood dedicated the new Mount Moriah Cemetery. Utter returned to personally handle the reburial of his friend Hickok in the new cemetery. He stayed in the region of Black Hills for nearly a year, having purchased the Eaves Saloon in the nearby mining camp of Lead. However, in June of that year he ran afoul of the law, having operated his saloon without a liquor license. In September he was back in Deadwood when he lost his fortune and possessions in the fire that nearly destroyed the town on Sept. 26, 1879. Utter again returned to Colorado.
Stopping briefly in Georgetown, he went on to Leadville exploring business interests. Leadville proved to be a changing point in his life. His old friend from the days of Cody’s Wild West Show, John Baker “Texas Jack” Omohundro, lived in Leadville. The two spent countless hours together until “Texas Jack” died of pneumonia in 1880. Again, Utter took charge, planning the burial of another friend. During this time period, a second loss occurred when his wife divorced him.
Utter wandered the various mining camps of Colorado for several years before sailing to the gold fields of South America.
In the end, while he never found his fortune, it is hopeful that he found his Pard.
