Richens Lacy (Uncle Dick) Wootton

Jesus Silva and his friend, old Uncle Dick Wootton

Richens Lacy (Uncle Dick) Wootton was a "famous" trapper and built the toll road over Raton Pass in the middle 1800's. He was known as Richard (Uncle Dick) Wootton. He married Maria Dolores LeFevre on the 6th of March of 1848 in Taos, New Mexico. Maria Dolores was the daughter of Manuel LeFevre, a Frenchman and Maria Teodora Lopez a local woman from Taos, New Mexico. Uncle Dick had other wives, Maria Dolores was the first, together they had 4 children. Maria Dolores died in 1855 in Southern Colorado. The book where the quotes below come from is a very interesting read.

Refernce the book "Uncle Dick Wooten" written by Howard L Conrad published originally by W.E. Dibble & CO. of Chichago, IL in 1890. The quotes attributed to Uncle Dick below are from there;

"I have observed in reading our frontier literature, that the tendency has been to exegerate and overdraw everything, and the effect of this has been, to give the Eastern public a wrong idea of the conditions which existed in this country (New Mexico and the early West), and the character of the men who found their way into these savage wilds in search of wealth and adventure."

"I could use a gun as well as anybody, knew how to handle a team, and while never particularly in love with hard work I wasn't afraid of it.... I got along first rate."