for Colorado. At first, most of the merchants and citizens of the territory were willing to support Gilpin's fundraising campaign, but doubt began to spread through the territory after rumors from Washington, DC confirmed that the federal government did not intend to validate the drafts. By the summer of 1861, many of the citizens of the territory were in an uproar, and petitions were circulated calling for Gilpin's removal from office. The movement against him was fostered by the anger of William N. Byers, the powerful editor of the Rocky Mountain News, whose newspaper had been bypassed in favor of a rival in the awarding of the territorial printing contract. Under attack in his own state, Gilpin went to Washington to plead his case for the validation of the drafts. Despite the controversy, the funds already raised from the drafts allowed the creation of the 1st Colorado Volunteers, widely derided as "Gilpin's Pet Lambs". The regiment trained in the summer and fall of 1861 at Camp Weld near Denver. The mustering and training of the regiment proved highly useful when the Confederates launched an invasion northward through the New Mexico Territory in the spring of 1862. The invasion, today called the New Mexico Campaign, aimed to seize the mineral-rich Colorado Territory and eventually California. The 1st Colorado Volunteers played a critical role in repelling the Confederates, routing the Texans at the Battle of Glorieta Pass, which became known as the "Gettysburg of the West". Despite the enormous success of the regiment, the territory was mired in financial problems caused by Gilpin's drafts, which had tied up most of the circulating currency without any resolution regarding their validation. Eventually the federal treasury settled the drafts after being presented with itemized statements by their holders. The resolution came too late for Gilpin, on May 21, 1862 Lincoln removed him from the governorship of the territory and replaced him with John Evans. The Sangre de Cristo Land Grant In 1863, Gilpin and a syndicate of foreign investors bought the Charles H. Beaubien land grant (often referred to as the Sangre de Cristo Land Grant on the west slopes of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains) in southern Colorado for about 4 cents an acre ($41,000). Gilpin and his investors then tried to evict residents on the property. Litigation over the property continues to this day. He was also one of the early owners of