Dennis L. Potter Manuscript: The Political Demagogues of Jefferson County, undated

From the introduction: While evidence suggests that a large percentage of Pikes Peakers in 1859 were not interested in self government, others felt otherwise. The historiography of the Jefferson Territorial government, 1859-1862, is characterized by the commitment of a few politicians, such as Robert Williamson Steele, Seymour Waggoner and William Larimer. These men were representative of the minority of Pikes Peak imigrants who sought independence from Kansas in order to encourage local economic prosperity, boost white population, receive Federal financial aid, and develop local land laws to manage one hundred thousand miles of unsettled lands. Steele, Waggoner and Larimer and others began this venture into self government when less than two hundred souls lived in Arapahoe County, Kansas Territory. Not until the spring of the following year, when the lure of gold brought the first Pikes Peak gold rush of 1859, did political activism increase and the creation of a separate government gain momentum.