Henry Clay Merriam was a BA and MA graduate of Colby College in Maine who enlisted in the Army at the age of 25 during the Civil War. He was made a brevet Lieutenant Colonel at Antietam and was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for service in the last battle of the War, the same day as Lee’s surrender at Appomattox.
In October 1889 Colonel Merriam, his wife, Una, and children left Fort Laramie, Wyoming, to command the Seventh Infantry at Fort Logan.
The Commanding Officer’s Quarters were not yet begun, so they moved into another “new and comfortable dwelling,” probably this one. According to Mrs. Merriam’s biography, “All was much more elaborate than Old Laramie, but the Colorado clay and the process of construction made trying times in some respects. Trees and grass were soon planted, walks and roads perfected. Schools were soon found for the children and many journeys to near-by Denver brought necessary new house furnishings.”
In 1890 ”Social life at (Fort) Logan was gay…much entertaining and visiting back and forth was done. Parades, Band Concerts, Receptions, Dances, brought many friends to the fort.”
In June 1897 Colonel Merriam was given the grade of Brigadier General and ordered to the command of the Department of the Columbia with headquarters at Vancouver Barracks. He retired from the Army in 1901 and returned for a time to Denver. Several of his children remained in Denver, becoming productive and prominent members of the community. This portrait is displayed through the generosity of his descendants.