11/18/2025
The Castello Families of Colorado #6
By 1863 the Kansas Pacific Railway was being built and the river boats were aiding the dreams of folks from the East to go West to find their fortune. A couple years earlier, James joined his son Charles in the Central City, Colorado area of Nevada Gulch, sluicing for gold. Charles decided to return to Missouri and with easier transportation West, James wanted his family to make their home in Colorado. Two wagons and two ox teams loaded up Catherine (age 44 ), their children (Lucy Ann 22; James 19; Mary 16; John 14; Francis 6), and their belongings, heading for Atchinson, Kansas to catch the train to Denver. For seven years the Castello family made Fairplay, Colorado their home with Catherine running a hotel, both girls getting married, James involved in politics as a Judge, involved with Indian Affairs, and as a member of the Colorado State Senate. James itchy feet rose up again and he decided he wanted to be a cattle rancher so the parents and sons moved midway between the plains and the mountains, following the Ute Pass Trail in 1870. Three years later a Post Office was established and Judge Castello named the Colorado town after their Missouri home, Florissant.
