Edward W. Wynkoop
founder of Denver and military officer in the First Colorado Volunteer Cavalry during the American Civil War
Edward Wanshear Wynkoop (June 19, 1836 – September 11, 1891) was a US Army officer during the American Civil War and later an Indian agent. He was a founder of the city of Denver, Colorado. Wynkoop Street in Denver is named after him.
History
Edward Wanshaer "Ned" Wynkoop was born on June 19, 1836, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the youngest of eight, to John Wanshaer Wynkoop (1794-1837) and his mother was Angelina Catharine Estill (1803-1877). He was the great-grandson of Continental Congress member, Judge Henry Wynkoop. He had five sons and three daughters with Louise Brown Wakely between 1862 and 1878. His grandson was noted architect Francis W. Wynkoop.
Wynkoop was appointed the first sheriff of Arapahoe County, Kansas Territory (entire NE quarter of present State of Colorado) on September 21, 1858.
Wynkoop served as an officer in the First Colorado Volunteer Cavalry during the American Civil War, attaining the rank of major of volunteers, and was brevetted a lieutenant colonel in May 1865.
Command at Fort Lyon
Wynkoop was placed in command of Fort Lyon where tensions were high between the threat of Confederate attack and inflamed tensions with the Cheyenne brought about by attacks on the Cheyenne by US soldiers.
“Edward W. Wynkoop” enters the record as founder of Denver and military officer in the First Colorado Volunteer Cavalry during the American Civil War. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Edward, Wynkoop and founder can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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Chronology, provenance and viewpoint should be read together before a broad social or political interpretation is accepted. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 8, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q5345762. VIAF identifies the subject as 73739837. The Library of Congress control number is nr94036635. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1836, 1891, 1794 and 1837.
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This entry incorporates text from “Edward W. Wynkoop” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.