Sale 129: The Dr. James Milgram Collection of Western Postal History

Lot 1020    

Colorado City C.T Jan 26, black cds on neat cover to Boston franked with 1861 3¢ rose tied by target cancel; slight reduction at left, small tear at lower left corner, otherwise Very Fine, Oddly, Colorado City had never had a handstamped postmark until late 1867. Note that "C.T" has no period after the "T" - a construction also found in other territorial postmarks.
Scott No. 65    Estimate $100 - 150.

Realized: $70

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Lot 1021    

Colorado City CT, March 14/67, a late use of this manuscript postmark and cancel on 1861 3¢ rose on neatly addressed cover to Boston, reduced at right, Very Fine and scarce.
Estimate    $200 - 300.

The lure of "Pikes Peak or Bust" brought early gold seekers to the foot of that mountain. Although there was no gold there, Colorado City was an access point, over Ute Pass, to the goldfields in South Park and beyond.

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Lot 1022    

Colorado Postmark Group, small lot of 10 covers with various Colorado postmarks, towns included Boulder, Denver, Fort Collins, Golden City, Granada, Greeley with fancy "1873" killer on 3¢ Bank Note, "Mountain City, K.T." manuscript postmark, plus one incoming cover to "Denver City, Jefferson Territory", few minor faults, F.-V.F.
Estimate    $200 - 300.

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Lot 1023    

Coraville K.T. Jun 17, two beautiful strikes of straight line postmark on beautiful light yellow cover to Quindaro, K.T., franked with 1857 3¢ dull red (26) tied by one of the straight line postmarks; slight reduction at left, Extremely Fine, A similar example realized $14,500 hammer in our Sale #28 (Feb, 2008), Lot #10.
Estimate    $5,000 - 7,500.

ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT COLORADO COVERS IN EXISTENCE AND THE EARLIEST RECORDED HANDSTAMP POSTMARK FROM PRE-TERRITORIAL COLORADO.

There never was a community named Coraville. The Coraville post office, located in Denver City, was also the western terminus of the Leavenworth City and Pike's Peak Express Company. The contract for mail between Salt Lake City did not include Coraville (in error). Only three mails were dispatched from Coraville as contract mails.

Realized: $6,500

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Lot 1024    

Denver City K.T. Nov 5 1860, clear strike of serifed "Tombstone" postmark (Jarrett 65) on fresh cover to Missouri, franked with 1857 3¢ dull red (26) cancelled by matching grid; enclosed letter datelined "Denver City K Ter Octo 30th 1860" with business letter, in part, "…Enclosed you will please find an order on Messrs Russell Majors & Waddell for the Amt collected of W. Fiske for you", F.-V.F., An attractive example of the scarce Denver City Tombstone postmark.
Scott No. 26    Estimate $500 - 750.

Realized: $500

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Lot 1025    

Denver City Col. Sep 22, blue double circle duplex postmarks with target tying 1861 1¢ blue horiz. pair and single (63) on orange cover, slightly reduced at left, Very Fine and attractive, an attractive and scarce use of the 1¢ 1861 issue adhesive, ex-Jarrett.
Scott No. 63    Estimate $200 - 300.

Realized: $200

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Lot 1026    

Denver City, Sep 23, blue cds duplexed with four-ring target cancel ties 1861 3¢ rose (65) vertical pair on legal-size cover to Pueblo, Colorado Terr., matching "Due 6" oval due handstamp, patriotic "Floyd Off for the South" cutout label affixed at top left; cover repair at top, Very Fine appearance, ex-Risvold mounted on his exhibit page & Kramer.
Estimate    $300 - 400.

John B. Floyd was Secretary of War under James Buchanan at the time of the Mormon War in 1879-1859. In the spring of 1860, he transferred large amounts of arms to Southern arsenals. Floyd resigned to join the Confederacy under Robert E. Lee. He had served the Confederacy as a Brigadier General and died of poor health on Aug 26, 1863.

Realized: $675

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Lot 1027    

Denver, Col. Nov 19, clear strike of blue cds with matching strikes on 1866 cover to France, franked with 1861 1¢ blue pair + 3¢ rose & 10¢ green tied by matching target cancels, red transit cds "New York PAID 12 Dec 1" with small boxed "PD", numerous transit markings front and verso, 1¢ adhesives defective, F.-V.F. and a nice territorial usage.
Scott No. 63, 65, 68    Estimate $400 - 500.

Realized: $550

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Lot 1028    

Fair Play Col. Mar 15, clear strike of blue cds with matching target tying 1867 3¢ Grill (perf flaws) on circa 1869 buff cover to Boston, Very Fine, This is thought to be the earliest Fair Play cover with a handstamped postmark.
Estimate    $150 - 200.

Realized: $190

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Lot 1029    

Fort Collins, Col. Dec 15 1865, cds with target killer tying 1861 3¢ rose (65) on cover to Iowa with original enclosure datelined "Fort Collins Col. Ter. December 15th 1865" reads, in part, "…all of the companys of the Regt are here now expect one Co A, which I understand broke camp at Fort Halleck and is now on the road to this post. It is currently reported that all volunteers are to be mustered out of the service by the 1st of April…Your husband, Hyram," and much more including life about camp; edge wear & small tears, staining at right, F.-V.F.
Estimate    $300 - 400.

Fort Collins was founded as a military outpost of the United States Army in 1864. It succeeded a previous encampment, known as Camp Collins, on the Cache la Poudre River, near what is known today as Laporte.

Realized: $475

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