My column this week will be largely about George Conrad Bauer.

George Conrad Bauer was born at Siegen, Prussia in East Germany in July 1848. He immigrated to the United States in 1865. He came west and was in Del Norte in 1875. It was there that he married Augusta Schultz in 1876. They came farther west and lived in Durango for a year. In the summer of 1881, Mr. Bauer came to Mancos.

He soon sold out his little stock of goods and went back for more. That summer he started a little store in a log house on South Main Street. The railroad had reached Durango, and thus a plentiful supply of merchandise was available there. This was the beginning of the George Bauer Mercantile Co., which grew into a mercantile business worth more than $250,000. He started the Bauer Bank in 1883, and it grew along with the mercantile business. They both served the people in the valley faithfully and well for many years. An early home of the Bauer mercantile business on North Main Street was where the drive up of the Mancos Valley Bank is located.

When Montezuma County was formed, he was appointed by Gov. Thomas to be a member of the first board of county commissioners. When Mancos was incorporated in 1894, he was elected to serve as the first mayor and continued to be reelected as long as he lived. The following were the trustees who served with him at the time of incorporation; Charles Kelly, Dave Lemmon, Harry Ausburn, Henry Cadwell, Henry Norton Sprague and Lewis McCullan Armstrong.

Born in a foreign land and reared to manhood there, he came to a land that was strange to him and a language he did not know and had to learn. He adjusted himself to these and became an American citizen whose loyalty was never questioned. He was a friend among friends.

He died at a branch of the Battle Creek Sanitarium in Guadalajara, Mexico, on Feb. 1, 1905. He had two children - John Frederick Bauer and Mrs. R.H. Toll. John Frederick Bauer became president of the Bauer Bank after his father died in 1905. He was also largely responsible for the Bauer Lakes Water System.

In 1888, the two-story Union Hall was erected on five acres of land donated by George Bauer. The lower floor was used for public gatherings, and the two upper rooms were used by the school.

The three-story brick and stone building known as the Bauer residence was erected by George Bauer in 1896. That residence was bought by Dr. Trotter in 1919. He converted it into a residence and hospital. He used nine of the rooms for his hospital and had trained nurses to help.

In 1884, George Bauer became the postmaster and continued as such until 1894. The post office was originally east of town in the Menefee home.

By 1895 George Bauer had gone beyond interested in mining and owned the North Star mine not far from what later became the Doyle mine.

In 1900, George Bauer erected a stone building on the northwest corner of Main and Grand. It became the new home of the George Bauer Mercantile Co.

George Bauer was working on the railroad being built in to Denver when he met Carl Schultz. Carl was the father of Augusta whom George married when she was 16. Augusta lived only nine more years after George passed away.

Darrel Ellis is a longtime historian of the Mancos Valley. Email him at [email protected].