Sybil Downing - Tom Patterson: Colorado crusader for change

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Downing, Sybil, 1930
Tom Patterson: Colorado crusader for change / by Sybil Downing and Robert E. Smith
p. cm.
ISBN 0-87081-364-1
1. Patterson, Thomas McDonald, 18401916. 2. PoliticiansColoradoBiography.

3. LegislatorsUnited StatesBiography. 4. ColoradoPolitics and government1876-1950. 5. ColoradoHistory1876-1950. 6. United States. CongressBiography. I. Smith, Robert E., 1928 II. Title.
F871.P38 1995
978.8'03'092dc20
[B]
95-2671
CIP

Thomas McDonald Patterson, once described by contemporaries as the most conspicuous figure in Colorado history,1 achieved a degree of political influence, professional fame, and financial success that makes his relative obscurity a strange phenomenon. Controversial in public life and then a vortex of Denver city politics for more than forty years, Patterson helped to bring about an effective two-party system in Colorado and became the state's most notable political maverick as he struggled on behalf of causes he regarded as essential for the improvement of the fortunes of the common people.

Despite an often tragic personal life, Patterson achieved spectacular success as a criminal and civil lawyer, and amassed a fortune through shrewd real estate investments in Denver. Tenacious and energetic, he became the acknowledged leader of the Colorado Democratic party from 1876 to 1892. As Colorado's last territorial delegate to Congress, he defended sectional interests and helped achieve statehood for Colorado. In 1876 he was elected to a single term as representative to Congress, and from 1876 to 1892 he regularly served as a delegate to Democratic national conventions.

As a member of the Democratic National Committee in 1892, Patterson presented a minority report favoring free silver coinage. He refused to support President Grover Cleveland's stand for gold, and joined the Populists, helping to carry Colorado for the Populist presidential candidate, General James B. Weaver. In 1896 and 1900 Patterson played a key role in committing Colorado Populists to support Democrat William Jennings Bryan for president. Though he effectively reduced the influence of Governor Davis H. Waite within Colorado's Populist party, Patterson still was elected permanent chairman of the 1900 Populist national convention.