JOHN MONTGOMERY KUYKENDALL.

JOHN MONTGOMERY KUYKENDALL.
John Montgomery Kuykendall is a prominent business man of Denver, also widely known throughout Wyoming, in which state he spent many years, taking part in the upbuilding of its industries and the promotion of its public interests. He is now the president and general manager of the Denver Omnibus & Cab Company. Practically his entire life has been passed in the west, for he was a lad of but six years when taken by his mother to Wyoming. He was born in Missouri on the 24th of April, 1860, a son of William L. and Eliza Ann Barnett (Montgomery) Kuykendall, of whom extended mention is made on other pages. The father made his way alone to the northwest and arranged a home for his family, after which, in 1866, he was joined by his wife and their two little sons, the elder of whom was John Montgomery Kuykendall, then six years of age. The journey was made in a spring wagon to Denver, through a wild country in which were many hostile Indians. After spending a year in Denver they proceeded to Wyoming, where Judge Kuykendall, the father, had a wood contract for the United States government at Fort Sanders, near Laramie. In early boyhood John M. Kuykendall began work. He aided in clearing away the accumulated bones of dead buffaloes which were abundant on his father’s ranch and he aided in herding the cattle. As a newsboy he also sold the first copies of the Rocky Mountain News in Cheyenne and later he had an agency for the paper. His father being a prominent figure in business and public life in the state, many and varied experiences came to the son, who not only worked on the range and as a newsboy but also served as page and messenger in the territorial senate through four terms. He began his education in Cheyenne in the first schoolhouse, built there by his father, who was one of the school commissioners. He afterward attended Racine College at Racine, Wisconsin, where he was graduated with the class of 1879. Later he returned to Wyoming, where he began ranching. He organized the Wisconsin-Wyoming Land & Cattle Company with a capital stock of one hundred and forty-five thousand dollars, J. I. Case of Racine, Wisconsin, becoming president, and Mr. Kuykendall vice president and general manager. The business was continued successfully until 1895 and was then closed out. In the meantime Mr. Kuykendall had extended his efforts in other directions. In 1883 he organized the J. M. Kuykendall Cattle Company, which was capitalized for seventy-five thousand dollars, and of this he became president and general manager. Again he operated extensively in connection with the cattle industry and in 1893 he extended his efforts into still other fields by organizing, in Denver, the Denver Omnibus & Cab Company with a capital stock of five hundred thousand dollars. Of this corporation he became the president and general manager. During the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893 he organized and operated the Columbia Coach Company, which was capitalized for sixty thousand dollars and which, having served its purpose during the continuance of the exposition, passed out of existence at the end thereof. Of that company Mr. Kuykendall had been vice president and general manager. He early became interested in gold mining and with his brother established a stage line to Cripple Creek. They operated this from 1894. until 1896, running twenty six-horse daily coaches, and then with the building of the railroad the stage coach business was discontinued. It was in the year 1889 that Mr. Kuykendall removed to Denver, where he has since made his home: He is now largely concentrating his efforts and attention upon mining and the business of the Denver Omnibus & Cab Company, which in the early stages of its development did a business of about seventy-five thousand dollars per year. Its patronage has since increased until its business amounts to about four hundred and fifty thousand dollars per year. For the past thirty years he has handled the United States mails of Denver and in 1918 received a contract for four years more. On the 1st of January, 1899, Mr. Kuykendall was united in marriage to Miss Annie Thompson, a daughter of Zachariah Thompson, one of the oldest cattle men of the west, who died in 1887. Mrs. Kuykendall was born in Colorado but was reared in Wyoming. In his political views Mr. Kuykendall has always been a democrat and for five years he served as state highway commissioner of Colorado, his term expiring in April, 1917. He was on the board of the first state highway commission and acted as its chairman. His life has been one of intense activity and enterprise. He has been a worker from his boyhood days to the present and is recognized as a man of sound business judgment, of excellent ability as an organizer and of tireless energy. His life in its various connections and in the wide scope of his activities has brought him a personal acquaintance with many of the prominent men of the United States and the west, engaged in general business lines or figuring actively in railway and political circles. Mr. Kuykendall is prominently known as a club man and has membership in the old Cheyenne Club, the Denver Club, the Denver Country Club and the Denver Athletic Club and has at times been identified with other organizations not now in existence. He is a most worthy representative of an honored old American family which has been represented on this side of the Atlantic through five generations.

John Montgomery Kuykendall is a prominent business man of Denver, also widely known throughout Wyoming, in which state he spent many years, taking part in the upbuilding of its industries and the promotion of its public interests. He is now the president and general manager of the Denver Omnibus & Cab Company. Practically his entire life has been passed in the west, for he was a lad of but six years when taken by his mother to Wyoming. He was born in Missouri on the 24th of April, 1860, a son of William L. and Eliza Ann Barnett (Montgomery) Kuykendall, of whom extended mention is made on other pages. The father made his way alone to the northwest and arranged a home for his family, after which, in 1866, he was joined by his wife and their two little sons, the elder of whom was John Montgomery Kuykendall, then six years of age. The journey was made in a spring wagon to Denver, through a wild country in which were many hostile Indians. After spending a year in Denver they proceeded to Wyoming, where Judge Kuykendall, the father, had a wood contract for the United States government at Fort Sanders, near Laramie.
In early boyhood John M. Kuykendall began work. He aided in clearing away the accumulated bones of dead buffaloes which were abundant on his father’s ranch and he aided in herding the cattle. As a newsboy he also sold the first copies of the Rocky Mountain News in Cheyenne and later he had an agency for the paper. His father being a prominent figure in business and public life in the state, many and varied experiences came to the son, who not only worked on the range and as a newsboy but also served as page and messenger in the territorial senate through four terms. He began his education in Cheyenne in the first schoolhouse, built there by his father, who was one of the school commissioners. He afterward attended Racine College at Racine, Wisconsin, where he was graduated with the class of 1879. Later he returned to Wyoming, where he began ranching. He organized the Wisconsin-Wyoming Land & Cattle Company with a capital stock of one hundred and forty-five thousand dollars, J. I. Case of Racine, Wisconsin, becoming president, and Mr. Kuykendall vice president and general manager. The business was continued successfully until 1895 and was then closed out. In the meantime Mr. Kuykendall had extended his efforts in other directions. In 1883 he organized the J. M. Kuykendall Cattle Company, which was capitalized for seventy-five thousand dollars, and of this he became president and general manager. Again he operated extensively in connection with the cattle industry and in 1893 he extended his efforts into still other fields by organizing, in Denver, the Denver Omnibus & Cab Company with a capital stock of five hundred thousand dollars. Of this corporation he became the president and general manager. During the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893 he organized and operated the Columbia Coach Company, which was capitalized for sixty thousand dollars and which, having served its purpose during the continuance of the exposition, passed out of existence at the end thereof. Of that company Mr. Kuykendall had been vice president and general manager. He early became interested in gold mining and with his brother established a stage line to Cripple Creek. They operated this from 1894. until 1896, running twenty six-horse daily coaches, and then with the building of the railroad the stage coach business was discontinued. It was in the year 1889 that Mr. Kuykendall removed to Denver, where he has since made his home: He is now largely concentrating his efforts and attention upon mining and the business of the Denver Omnibus & Cab Company, which in the early stages of its development did a business of about seventy-five thousand dollars per year. Its patronage has since increased until its business amounts to about four hundred and fifty thousand dollars per year. For the past thirty years he has handled the United States mails of Denver and in 1918 received a contract for four years more.
On the 1st of January, 1899, Mr. Kuykendall was united in marriage to Miss Annie Thompson, a daughter of Zachariah Thompson, one of the oldest cattle men of the west, who died in 1887. Mrs. Kuykendall was born in Colorado but was reared in Wyoming.
In his political views Mr. Kuykendall has always been a democrat and for five years he served as state highway commissioner of Colorado, his term expiring in April, 1917. He was on the board of the first state highway commission and acted as its chairman. His life has been one of intense activity and enterprise. He has been a worker from his boyhood days to the present and is recognized as a man of sound business judgment, of excellent ability as an organizer and of tireless energy. His life in its various connections and in the wide scope of his activities has brought him a personal acquaintance with many of the prominent men of the United States and the west, engaged in general business lines or figuring actively in railway and political circles. Mr. Kuykendall is prominently known as a club man and has membership in the old Cheyenne Club, the Denver Club, the Denver Country Club and the Denver Athletic Club and has at times been identified with other organizations not now in existence. He is a most worthy representative of an honored old American family which has been represented on this side of the Atlantic through five generations.