In 1882, fifty Jewish Immigrants from Russia came to Cotopaxi to establish an agricultural colony.  Over the next 2 years, an additional 27 Jews joined this group, some remaining only a few weeks.  By 1884, everyone had left.  These were Ashkenazi Jews.

The Dora Roberts report, published in 1941, was written 59 years after the Colonists arrived in Cotopaxi.  Flora Satt published her thesis in 1950,  which was 68 years after they arrived. 

While these women did fabulous jobs, there are mistakes in their writings.  Today, we have computerized records that provide us with access to information not available in the 40s and 50s.  We have the ability to document history as it actually happened.

The table below was put together using ship's manifests (color coded names), land declarations recorded in 1882 on 2 different dates, the 1885 Colorado state census and the 1900 US Federal Census.  All of those records were within 18 years of the date the Colonists arrived in Cotopaxi.  We hope to eventually have all of these records available for your review.

Surname spellings (click on this link to see all the different ways each surname was spelled from 1882 to the present.)

This is the approximate order that the Colonists arrived and left Cotopaxi.  Bookmark this page and check back as we will be adding links to individual family pages.

These are first 50 colonists who arrived at Cotopaxi in May, 1882. Names are taken from ships manifests.  Colored highlights are by ship.  We will be adding links to each specific manifest.

Surname Today	No.	Early Name	Name we know them as	age in 1882	occupation	from	known as today	relationships	Comments
Shuteran	1	Shlomo Choteran	Solomon Shuteran	30	farmer	Talne, Russia	Talne, Ukraine
	2	Rosa Choteran	Rebecca Shuteran	18				wife of # 1	see # 50
	3	Mottel Choteran	Max Shuteran	22	farmer	Talne, Russia	Talne, Ukraine	brother of # 1	married #24
Zedek	4	Lieb Zedek		30	carpenter	Brest Litovsk, Russia	Talne, Ukraine
	5	Riwke Zedek		28				wife of # 4
	6	Baruch Zedek		10
	7	Chascha Zedek		8
	8	Jeschaja Zedek		6
	9	Isaak Zedek		2
Shradsky	10	Samuel Chrotzky	Samuel Shradsky	55				father of # 11
	11	Sholem Chrotzky	Solomon Schradsky	39	contractor	Kieff, Russia	Kyyiv Ukraine
	12	Mindel Chrotzky	Mindel Schradsky	38				wife of # 11
	13	Motel Chrotzky	Max Schradsky	18				son of # 11
	14	Berl Chrotzky	William Schradsky	20				son of # 11
	15	Cheyem Chrotzky	Herman Schradsky	14				son of # 11
	16	Assna Shradsky	Mabel Schradsky	15				dtr of # 11
Toplitzky	17	Riwke Duplitzky	Rebecca Teplitzky	19				daughter of # 11
	18	Hirsh Duplitzky	Harris Teplitzky	21				spouse of # 17
Snyder	19	Abraham Snyders	Abraham Snyder	50	tailor
	20	Zisel Snyders		50				wife of # 19
	21	Solomon Snyders		14				son of # 19
	22	Sarah Snyders	Sarah Morris	25				dtr of # 19	married #27
	23	Leah Snyders		7				dtr of # 22
	24	Hannah (Fanny) Snyders	Fanny Fridman	17				dtr of # 19	married #3
Newman	25	Reina Snyders Nieman		20				dtr of # 19
	26	Solomon Nieman						spouse of # 25
Menkowsky	27	Morris Menkowsky		28					married #22
Milstein (updated Jan 2010)	28	Baruch Mildstein	Benjamin Zalman Milstein	47		Brest Litovsk, Russia	Brest, Belarus	brother of #51
	29	Hanna	Anna Milstein	35				wife of # 28	aka Channa de Gabbit
	30	Henry	Henry Milstein	11				son of # 28
Shames	31	Michael Schammes	Michael Shames	25		Brest Litovsk, Russia	Brest, Belarus
Moscowitz	32	Charles Moscowitz				Ekaterinoslaw Russia	Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine
	33	wife
	34	dtr 1
	35	dtr 2
	36	dtr 3
	37	dtr 4
Nudelman	38	Joseph Nudelman			farmer	Odessa, Russia	Odesa, Ukraine
	39	Anna Bertha		32				wife of # 38
	40	Samuel		14				son of # 38
	41	Sophia	Sophia Levitt	5				dtr of # 38
	42	Maurice		4				son of # 38
	43	unkn		1				son of # 38	buried at Cotopaxi
Grimes	44	Idel	Ed Grimes	17
Krupitzky	45	David Grupitzky	David Krupitzky	36	Hebrew teacher	Kaidanow, Russia	Dzyarzhynsk, Belarus
	46	Reuben Grupitzky	Reuben Krupitzky	11				son of # 45
	47	Sarah Grupitzky	Sarah Breslow	5				dtr of # 45
	48	dtr 3						dtr of #45
	49	son						son of #45	buried at Cotopaxi
Shuteran	50	baby girl						dtr or # 1 born here	buried at Cotopaxi
Green colors are those who came on the Gemma, arriving 30 Mar 1882 Pink colors are those who came on the Assyrian Monarch, arriving 10 Apr 1882 Peach colors are those who came on the Australia, arriving on 20 Feb, 1882
Then, in July, a second group arrived, 3 families, all related to the first group, They all came on the ship the Polynesia, arriving 16 July 1882
Shames	51	Itzig Schammes	Isaac Leib Shames	49	farmer	Kiev, Russia	Kyyiv Ukraine	Bro of #28
	52	Rachel Schammes	Rachel Singer	5				dtr of # 51
	53	Hanah Schammes	Anna Quiat	9				dtr of # 51
Washer	54	Jente Washer	Nettie Altman	18				dtr of # 51
	55	Joe Washer	Joe Washer	18				spo of # 54	(Vorziter)
Shames	56	Freide Schames	Rosie Shames	22				spo of # 31	sister # 29 & 60
	57	Ester Schames	Esther Soble	2				dtr of # 31
	58	Sara Schames	Sarah Kiesler	0				dtr of # 31
Prezant	59	Zattel Breisand	Charles Prezant	29	tavern keeper	Kovel, Russia	Kowal, Poland
	60	Keile Breisand	Clare Prezant	26				wife of # 59	sister of # 29 & # 56
	61	Itzig Breisand	Joe Prezant	8				son of # 59
Milstein	62	Yankl	Jacob Milstein	9				son of SB Milstein (below)
Charles Moschowitz and his family moved to Denver in July, reducing the colony to 56 members.
Milstein*	63	Jente Milstein	Nettie Muhlstein					dtr of SB Milstein (below)	married #64 1st cousin
Muhlstein*	64	Jacob Muhlstein	Jacob Muhlstein	29			immigrated c1880	son of # 28	married #63 1st cousin
*  Nettie and Jacob did not arrive in Cotopaxi until about September.  They were first married in Black Hawk, CO, then married again in Cotopaxi in September, 1882.
Ed Grimes left and went to Denver shortly after this, reducing the Colony to 57 members.
Lauterstein	65	Hirsch Lauterstein		32		Odessa, Russia	Odesa, Ukraine
	66	Reichel Lauterstein	Katherine Bromberg	28				wife of # 65	sister of #38
	67	Lea Lauterstein	Laura Lauterstein	7				dtr of # 65
	68	Chaim Lauterstein	Jacob Lauterstein	2				son of # 65
	69	Nehama Lauterstein	Rebecca Lauterstein	0				dtr of # 65
This family arrived in NYC on the ship the British Queen on 30 Jun, 1882.  It is written that they arrived in Cotopaxi in July or August.
Tobias	70	Leon Tobias							colony Manager
	71	Bessie Tobias			wife
total of 71 Colonists that we have documented thus far.
We also need to count the Sephardic Jews who were in Cotopaxi at that time  - note, these are NOT counted as Colonists.
Saltiel	72	Emanuel Harris	EH Saltiel	38		Bath, England
	73	Elizabeth		37	wife	New Oreleans LA
	74	John T. Saltiel	John Tamen	11	son	NYC, NY
	75	Henry Saltiel		8	son	Selem, AL
	76	Adelaid Saltiel	Adelaid Lovekin	3	dtr	Colorado
Hart	77	Eleazer Samuel Hart	E.S. Hart	50		England
	78	Annie Hart		37	wife	England
	79	Meyer Hart		18	son	NYC, NY
	80	Adelaide Hart		16	dtr	NYC, NY
	81	Harry Hart		13	son	NYC, NY
	82	Carrie Hart		9	dtr	NYC, NY
	83	Joseph Hart		7	son	NYC, NY
	84	Phoebe Hart		3	dtr	NYC, NY
a grand total of 84 Jews at Cotopaxi, Colorado, in 1882
Shul (Saul) Baer (Baruch) Milstein was known as the patriarch of the Colony, but never actually resided in Cotopaxi.  We have found his ship's manifest.  He arrived in NYC in December, 1884 on the Ship Coblenz.  He arrived in this country after the Colony had disbanded.  However, his son, Jacob (#62 above) and his daughter, Jente (#63 above) came earlier with the Isaac Shames family and were residents of the Cotopaxi Colony.
Milstein		Saul Baruch	Shul Baer Milstein	45				bro of # 29 & # 51
		Mirke	Miriam Milstein	45				wife
		Moses	Morris Milstein	11				son
		Mathis	Max Milstein	8				son
		Chaim	Harry Milstein	6				son
		Rochel	Rachel Gardenschwartz	5				dtr
		Menache	Mowaith Milstein	2				son
		Ettel	Ethel Radinsky	0				dtr
Please note that there are ships manifests that we have not located to date.  As we locate additional documents, the above information may change.  Thus this page will remain under construction until such documents have been located.