Atterson Walden Rucker (1847-1924)

From Stone's History of Colorado, Vol. IV, 1918.

  Two-term U.S. Representative from Colorado Atterson Walden Rucker is another "old-guard" odd name political figure, this author having first located his name via a copy of "Who Was Who In America" way back in 2001! A native of Kentucky, Rucker would be an unsuccessful candidate for Kansas state attorney general in 1870 and later found his business and political fortune in Colorado. After a brief stint as a criminal court judge in Lake County in the 1880s he established a law practice near Denver, and after serving in the U.S. House of Representatives returned to the practice of law in that city.

  The son of James Willis and Elizabeth (Jones) Rucker, Atterson Walden Rucker was born in Harrodsburg, Kentucky on April 3, 1847. While still in his youth Rucker and his family left their Kentucky home for Missouri and after settling in the town of Lexington, became a student in the public schools of that town and St. Louis. During the Civil War Rucker cast his lot with the Confederacy, enlisting in the 16th Missouri Infantry. Just fourteen years old at the time of his enlistment, he saw action at the First Battle of Lexington and the Battle of Carthage in 1861 and in 1862 was captured by Union forces and imprisoned in Springfield, Missouri.

  One of 27 Confederate prisoners confined at Springfield, Rucker was later interviewed by the Confederate Veteran periodical on his service, noting "I helped to dig the graves of twenty-four of my comrades", and that several months following his parole in November 1862 was the only one of the prisoners still alive. After his release, Rucker wasn't "exchanged back into the Confederate ranks" and returned home to Lexington. By 1867 he had decided to pursue a law degree, and after a period of study in Lexington was admitted to the Missouri bar in 1868. 

   In 1869 Atterson Rucker and his older brother Thomas left Missouri for Kansas, and in the latter portion of that year established a joint law practice in the village of Baxter Springs. Within a year of establishing himself as a lawyer in Kansas Rucker set his sights on a lofty goal: the Attorney Generalship of Kansas. Despite being just twenty-three years old, Rucker's name was put forward as the nominee at the Democratic state convention held in Topeka in September 1870. Rucker would ultimately lose that contest to Republican Archibald Williams (who served in office until 1875), but was not through politically, as he became a Democratic candidate for presidential elector in 1872.

   Atterson Rucker married in Baxter Springs in March of 1872/1873 to Celeste Caruth (1854-1906) to who he was wed until her death. The couple would have one daughter, Ethel Rucker Dorr (1874-1952), whose birthdate is curiously mistaken as 1871 on her gravestone in San Diego, California. In 1873 Rucker and his wife resettled in Kansas City, Missouri and resided here until their removal to Lake County, Colorado in 1879. Establishing a law practice in the still-young city of Leadville, Rucker was named judge of the criminal court of Leadville in 1880 and is recorded as having held that office only briefly, as the court was declared unconstitutional by an act of the state supreme court.

From the Fairplay Flume, October 16, 1908.

  In the mid-1880s, Rucker left Leadville and relocated near Denver, where he built up a substantial "productive country estate" that became known as Rucker's Ridge. The succeeding years saw him practicing law and farming in that area and would have a financial interest in several mining companies in the state. A founding member of the Colorado State Forestry Association and a member of the Grange, Rucker's time at the bar saw him make a specialty of irrigation law and water rights controversies, and by the early 20th century his name was touted as a candidate for high political office.

  With nearly four decades of law experience and wide repute in his region, Atterson W. Rucker was put forward as a potential Democratic candidate for Governor of Colorado in early 1908. After several weeks of press backing his candidacy, Rucker withdrew from the contest and threw his support to fellow Democrat John Franklin Shafroth, who later was elected to the governorship. After bowing out from the gubernatorial race, Rucker received the Democratic nomination for the U.S. House of Representatives in the fall of that year, and throughout the campaign season, numerous advertisements booming his candidacy appeared in area newspapers. Acknowledged as "one of Colorado's foremost citizens", Rucker was further lauded by the Fairplay Flume in October 1908, which noted that:

"The voters of his district are interested materially in those matters that have been his great work in this state, and because of this Judge Rucker is eminently one of the best equipped men for the position of congressman to represent his district and state. If politics is business, there should be no hesitancy on the part of the voters or his district in placing their mark of approval after his name for the position."

From the Greeley Tribune, September 22, 1910.

  In November 1908 Rucker defeated two-term Republican incumbent Robert W. Bonynge by a vote of 60,643 to 57, 597. He took his seat in Congress in January 1909 and during the 1909-11 session was a member of the Committee on Insular Affairs. Just several months into his first term, Rucker, along with other members of the Insular Affairs Committee, undertook an extended fact-finding trip to the Philippines. During an excursion on Lake Lanao in that country, Rucker was severely injured when a ship's boom struck him during a storm, and those injuries proved so severe that they necessitated a stay at a hospital in Manila. 

   After recovering from his injuries, Rucker returned to his duties in the United States and in 1910 won a second term in Congress, defeating Republican James C. Burger, 40,458 votes to 37,966. The 1911-13 session saw Rucker named to committees on Indian Affairs, Irrigation of Arid Lands, and Pensions, and in the latter part of 1911 was talked of as a potential candidate for the U.S. Senate, being described as a "man of weight among the national lawmakers" by the Colorado Transcript. 

  In the 1912 Democratic primary, Rucker was defeated in his bid for a third term, losing out to former Denver city supervisor George John Kindel. Kindel would go on to win the general election that November and served in Congress for one term. Rucker served out the remainder of his term and prior to leaving Washington in March 1913 was bolstered as a possible nominee for U.S. Minister to Cuba, but the idea appears to have been short-lived, as President Woodrow Wilson appointed William Elliott Gonzales to the post.

From the Fairmount, West Virginian, 1911.

  Following his return to Colorado Atterson W. Rucker returned to farming and in the latter portion of his life made a specialty of raising "pure-blooded Hampshire Down sheep", being remarked as having the only flock of its kind in the state. Rucker's livestock and wool interests saw him hold memberships in the National Wool Grower's Association, the Cattle Grower's Association, and the Farmer's Institute. He continued to practice law in Denver and, following an illness of two weeks, died at the St. Luke's Hospital in Denver on July 19, 1924, aged 77. Widowed in 1906, Rucker was cremated and his ashes later interred at the Littleton Cemetery in Littleton, Colorado.

From the Sterling Republican Advocate, July 24, 1924.