Sidney Jocknick 1849 - 1930
1 book in the catalogue, published 1998.
Sidney Jocknick was a Colorado pioneer who arrived in 1870 and wrote a first-hand chronicle of the Western Slope. Western Reflections Publishing carries one book by him, Early Days on the Western Slope of Colorado, which our catalogue lists as a 1998 reprint of a text first printed in 1913.
About Sidney Jocknick
Our author record gives Jocknick's dates as 1849 to 1930. A listing from the Uintah Museum says he came to Colorado's Sunset Slope in 1870 and worked as a cowboy and cook at the Ute Agency, where he kept a chronicle of events. He was friends with Chief Ouray and his wife, Chipeta, and he recorded Ute timekeeping methods, marriages, burials and the removal of the Utes from Colorado. He also worked as a prospector and farmer.
The same listing says he was present at the founding of almost every major town in southwestern Colorado, was involved in the Alferd Packer affair, knew Otto Mears and told of the San Juan gold rush. We found no fuller biography in the sources we could read.
What the books share
Jocknick's one book is about a place and a moment: the Western Slope of Colorado in the 1870s and early 1880s, when towns were being founded and the Utes were being removed. It treats ordinary pioneer work, such as cooking, ranching, prospecting and farming, alongside famous names. Ouray, Mears and Packer all appear. Open Library's subjects for the reprint, Ute Indians and frontier and pioneer life, reflect the same focus on the people and the land. The museum listing adds that Jocknick was present at the founding of almost every major town in southwestern Colorado, which helps explain why the book ranges across Montrose, Grand Junction, Rico, Ouray and Olathe instead of settling on one place. Readers who know the later histories of those towns can compare them with an account written by someone who arrived in 1870.
The subjects this author is catalogued under. Open Library record.
Next steps for readers of this author
Driving the Montrose and Ouray country
Pairing the Ute Indian Museum with Ouray's historical society makes a two stop trip. Look up current hours on each website first, since they change by season.
Checking a pioneer story against the record
Family tales from the 1870s and 1880s often tangle names and dates. Encyclopedia articles on Mears and Packer give an independent timeline to hold against any first hand account.
Researching a Western Slope ancestor
If someone in your family settled near Ouray, ask the county society's research center about its paper files and photographs. It handles requests for a nominal fee, per its website.
Go deeper
Jocknick's years on the Western Slope began in 1870, before the Utes were removed and before most of its towns existed. These sites cover that history from the Ute side and from the mining side.
Ute Indian Museum, History Colorado
Built in 1956 near the ranch of Chief Ouray and Chipeta in Montrose. History Colorado says it works with the Ute Mountain Ute, Southern Ute and Uintah and Ouray tribes on its exhibits.
Ouray County Historical Society archives
Its research center describes over 25,000 documents, over 8,000 photographs and a mining history library, with visits by appointment according to its website.
Colorado Encyclopedia: Otto Mears
Traces the trader and road builder who knew Ouray and built toll roads through the San Juan Mountains.
Colorado Encyclopedia: Alferd Packer
Tells the 1874 story of the prospector convicted over a winter in the San Juan Mountains, and notes how Lake City remembers it.
Good to know
How many Sidney Jocknick books do you publish?
When did Jocknick come to Colorado?
Who did Jocknick know?
What kinds of work did Jocknick do?
Writers like this one are how the list was built
We have published Colorado and Western writers since 1996, and every submission is still read by a person. Send yours, finished or half written.