Jacob and Benedict Schultz of Switzerland were among the earliest Europeans immigrating to Colorado, finding their way to Russellville in the midst of gold fever in 1859. Housed at the Santa Fe stage stop in town, the brothers began aggressively acquiring properties in 1866. Jacob married Caroline Jones, whom he met on his transatlantic voyage.

Among their three children born, one died at birth with an unsuccessful attempt at a breech delivery. Another lived only to age 7, taken young by one of the many diseases of the era. Rosa was the third, the lone survivor. Not long after, Caroline and Jacob divorced.

In 1872, John Campbell from Pennsylvania appeared on the scene. He was commissioned by his family to look after his troubled brother Jakob Campbell, already in the area. Neighbors saw Jakob as haunted, with a debilitating fear of witchery. John homesteaded in Russellville close to the Schultz property, where the Smoky Hill and Santa Fe Trails bisected.

Two years later, John wed Lizzie Cook; together they managed the Russellville stage station. While merely eking out a living, John concluded their 160 acres was too meager a landholding, insufficient for their dreams. Taking a cue from his neighbor Jacob Schultz, he proceeded to amass his own real estate empire, taking advantage of all those who had sold everything to come west expecting to strike it rich and failed. Men whose spirits were thrashed were easy to separate from their land for as little as 50 cents an acre, leaving everything, including their misfortunes, behind.

Though John and Lizzie found happiness in marriage, a tubercular hemorrhage took Lizzie’s life at the young age of 21. John was now a widower at 27 with no children. He bravely made do without her, busying himself as a grocer and Franktown postmaster. Both positions gave him an ideal vantage point to keep abreast of local goings-on, and thus was often the first to learn of local land opportunities and failed homesteads.

Meanwhile, he and Jacob had become close. Their friendship and partnership only grew when John married Jacob’s remaining daughter Rosa, 17. She was an early advocate for female equality.

Over three decades, John and Jacob were prolific in their merger activity. In fact, the Campbell Ranch they consolidated contained 15 square miles, at that time was 3% of Douglas County. Located five miles east of Parker Road and three miles from Colorado Route 86, it was known and admired far and wide. The men were also forward-thinking, pioneers in breeding shorthorn cattle in Colorado. Three decades of ranching experience and managing the nutritional needs of their stock helped them to become leading authorities in the latest agricultural methods.

The ranch was not the only aspect of the family that was prodigious. John and Rosa brought nine children into the world and also adopted another son. All attended the Franktown one-room schoolhouse.

By Joe Gschwendtner; photos courtesy of Our Heritage: People of Douglas County