Richens Lacey Wootton

Richens Lacey Wootton
Richens Lacey Wootton
Born	c. 1816 Virginia
Died	1893 (aged 76–77)
Nationality	American
Occupation	Frontiersman

Richens Lacy (or Lacey) Wootton (c. 1816 - 1893), often referred to as "Uncle Dick" Wootton, was an American frontiersman born in Virginia, but lived most of his life in what is now Colorado,much of it before the formation of Colorado.

In his early life Wootton was a mountain man and trapper, then a hunter at Bent's Fort. In 1866, he hired a tribe of Utes under Chief Conniache to build a toll road through Raton Pass. He later sold the road to the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad^[1] and the railroad named one of their locomotives after him.^[2]

He appears as a character in Flashman and the Redskins when Flashman employs him as a guide. Flashman and his caravan are forced to abandon him when he catches cholera.

He is referenced in Michener's "Centennial ".

References[edit]

• Richens Lacy "Uncle Dick" Wooton, http://www.sangres.com/history/uncledick.htm online biography of Wootton

External links[edit]

Media related to Richens Lacey Wootton at Wikimedia Commons