John Brisben Walker (September 10, 1847 – July 7, 1931) was a magazine publisher and automobile entrepreneur in the United States. In his later years, he was a resident of Jefferson County, Colorado.
Biography
Walker was born on September 10, 1847, at his parents' country house on the Monongahela River, near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. On that river his grandfather owned a shipyard reputed to be where the keel boat used by the Lewis and Clark expedition was built, although this is disputed.
After a brief stint as a Georgetown College student, Walker transferred to West Point in 1865. In 1866 he was court-martialed for deserting his post as a sentinel in cadet barracks before being relieved, suspended for ten weeks and set back a semester. In 1868 he was again court-martialed, this time for stretching a seven-day New Year’s leave to seventeen days. . After being convicted, he resigned from the Military Academy without graduating.
Shortly thereafter, a family connection helped him find a place accompanying the newly-named Envoy of the United States to China, which was then recovering from a devasting 14-year civil war triggered by a man who claimed to be the son of God and a brother of Jesus that ended in 1865. .
In China Walker found a use for his military training, but what precisely he did is opaque. Depending on the source consulted, he either served as a General in the Imperial Army , ], or served in the Military Department of the Imperial Government and translated into Chinese a manual of military tactics or, as Walker told an interviewer years later, served as an officer in the Army advising local commanders on reorganization of infantry units(Landers, at p.54). Whatever he did in China, the experience left a strong impression on Walker, prompting him to say years later that if China ever modernized its military system “it will not be long before the Yellow Dragon will be the most formidable battle ensign on earth” , September 12, 1894, p.12, col. 7 (coloradohistoricnewspapers.org)].
In 1870, Walker arrived in Charleston, West Virginia, founded a weekly newspaper called the Charleston Herald, and hired David Hunter Strother to be its editor (Charleston Gazette-Mail, November 2, 1913). Strother had experience as a writer and illustrator for Harpers Monthly under the name Porter Crayon (America's Successful Men of Affairs, at p. 694 ). On April 17, 1871, in Martinsburg, Berkeley County, West Virginia, Walker married Strother's daughter, Emily (West Virginia Marriage Index, 1785-1971).
With local financial backing, Walker purchased land extending from the Elk river west to a line which ran from the Kanawha river near the end of the present Delaware Avenue to about the end of Fayette Street at West Washington Street, and extending from the Kanawha river to the present West Washington street. This he designated as the J.B. Walker addition to the City of Charleston, but it was commonly called the West End. Walker laid off this section into a town site, with streets running in one direction and avenues in another. He named the streets for West Virginia counties, and the avenues for other states. His original plans, with a few changes in names, but little other variation, are still the plans of that part of the city. He made his first fortune devloping the property as a residential and industrial community, only to lose everything in the Panic of 1873 when varius railroads went bankrupt, causingf the failure of the banks that had financed them. (Walker obituaries: Charleston Daily Mail, July 8, 1931; Charleston Gazette, July 8, 1931.
In 1889 he purchased Cosmopolitan Magazine, leading it to marked growth before selling it to William Randolph Hearst in 1905. The 1905 sale price has been variously reported as $400,000 and $1,000,000. He was a co-founder of the Locomobile Company of America and established the Mobile Company of America in 1899.
Moving to Colorado, Walker donated 40 acres (160,000 m) in Denver to the Jesuits in 1887. The Jesuits built what is now Regis University upon that 40 acres (160,000 m).
In the first decade of the twentieth century, Walker had a vision of artists performing on a stage nestled in the perfectly acoustic surroundings of Red Rocks. Walker produced several concerts between 1906 and 1910 on a temporary platform; and out of his dream, the history of Red Rocks as an entertainment venue began. In addition to the platform, Walker also built the Mount Morrison Cable Incline funicular railway which carried tourists from a base at what is today the parking lot of the amphitheatre up to enjoy the view from the top of Mount Morrison; the incline operated for about five years beginning in 1909. In 1928, the city of Denver acquired Red Rocks amphitheater from Walker for $54,133 (equivalent to $960,546 today), with a total area of 728 acres (1.1 sq mi; 2.9 km).
John Walker built a home in 1909 atop Mt. Falcon (a mountain slightly west of Denver, Colorado). The house was struck by lightning and was ruined in 1918. He attempted to build a summer white house for the President around 1911. When his attempts to raise money to continue the building failed, the project was abandoned.
Walker died on July 7, 1931, in Brooklyn, New York City.
Walker was married three times; his third wife was the prominent suffragette Iris Calderhead.
See also
References
- ^ "J. Brisben Walker Dies At Age Of 83. Gained Note as Newspaper Editor and Publisher of Cosmopolitan Magazine. He Served In Chinese Army. Left Penniless by the Panic of 1873, Later Made a Fortune by Introducing Alfalfa in Colorado". New York Times. July 8, 1931. Retrieved 2010-12-15.
- "John Brisben Walker". mywvhome.com. Retrieved 1 February 2022.
- "The magnificent John Brisben Walker, father of Denver's Entertainment Industry". May 19, 2010. Archived from the original on December 14, 2010. Retrieved 2010-12-15.
- "Red Rocks Entertainment Concerts – About – History Geology".
- "Trail's End – Inclines and Funicular Railways in Colorado – Colorado Gambler". 2014-09-03. Archived from the original on 2016-05-01. Retrieved 2016-06-28.
- "Red Rocks Entertainment Concerts | About | History Geology". redrocksonline.com. Retrieved 2017-11-16.
- "Auto Record Setter and Murderer's Friend: Frank P. Loveland". History Colorado Blogs. 2017-05-30. Archived from the original on 2017-08-23. Retrieved 2017-08-23.
- "John Brisben Walker".
- "John Brisben Walker". www.wvculture.org. Retrieved 2016-07-15.
Images
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A picture of the ruins from a distance coming up Castle Trail
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A picture of the ruins from the center
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A picture of the sign which shows pictures of the house nearing completion as well as a description of the house
