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Fred Foster was born in Mills Valley, Pennsylvania. Along with his parents, three brothers and three sisters, came to Colorado in 1893 where his father worked in the mines at Cripple Creek. Fred attended school in Pine, Colorado and Denver. He worked at the Lambertine Gold and Silver Mine in Idaho Springs before coming to Routt County in 1901. He began working as a farm hand and stage driver, having the distinction of hauling the last mail from Yampa with a sled. He drove a four-horse stage hauling passengers and mail on a round trip to Yampa each day during the summer months. In 1914 he married Bertha Williams in Steamboat Springs. He held many different jobs over the years; freight hauling, owner of a saw mill, stage line owner and was a pioneer in school bus driving. Fred began his career in law enforcement when he was elected Sheriff in 1928 and took office in 1929 to serve a two year term but served until 1935. After an absence of two years, Fred came back to serve six more consecutive years.He served as Sheriff during the "days when outlaws were few but bootleggers could be found behind almost any rock or tree. One of the biggest "stills" ever confiscated by Fred was located in Wolf Creek near Mt. Harris. As Fred put it "we had a whole vault full of "stills" in those days". Enforcing the law in those days was not as simple as raiding a few bootlegging stills as Fred was to learn. It was during his first year in office that he had to take a prisoner to Canon City and he became directly involved in one of the bloodiest riots of the prisons history. Sheriff Foster volunteered and drove an armored car into the prison yard and throughout the night, sat cooped up, within range of the convicts gun. It was morning before the mutiny was over and 13 men were dead, guards and inmates. On Thursday, April 6, 1967, Fred Foster was presented with a plaque from the Colorado Sheriff's and Peace Officers Association with the inscription: "To Mr. Fred Foster in grateful appreciation for 38 years of continuous membership in our association".Fred's wife died in 1972 and he moved to Craig in 1973 where he lived until he died on April 10, 1981 at the age of 98. He is buried in the Steamboat Springs Cemetery.
Resource:
Hayden Valley Press, April 13, 1967
Zobel Mortuary, Craig, Colorado
© 2004 Joyce Cusick nacpinc@hotmail.com
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