Background
Berthoud was born Edouard Louis Berthoud (pronounced "bare-too") in Geneva, Switzerland on March 29, 1828.
Berthoud was born Edouard Louis Berthoud (pronounced "bare-too") in Geneva, Switzerland on March 29, 1828.
Berthoud graduated with a degree in engineering from Union College in 1849.
He is primarily known as the chief engineer and secretary of the Colorado Central Railroad during its expansion throughout Colorado in the 1870s. The town of Berthoud, Colorado, as well as Berthoud Pass in the Rocky Mountains west of Denver, are named for him. In the United States, the family Americanized the pronunciation of their name to "ber-thud".
In the early 1850s he worked as a surveyor on the Panama Canal.
In 1855, he was living in Leavenworth in the Kansas Territory where he became interested in the effort to build the first transcontinental railroad. Helen was a daughter of a founding Golden family, the Ferrells, and an original street of the town was named in her honor.
In 1861, the town became part of the Colorado Territory. Berthoud spent much of his career surveying roads and railways throughout the region, and became an active citizen in Golden.
In 1861, in an effort to establish a more direct route from Denver to Salt Lake City, he surveyed the first road to Middle Park and discovered and surveyed the pass that now bears his name (current route of United States Highway 40).
He also named Vasquez Peak. In 1862, after the outbreak of the American Civil War, he volunteered for the Union Army and received a commission in the 2nd Colorado Volunteer Infantry. That same year he received commendations for his design of fortifications to save Jefferson City, Missouri, during a rebel attack.
He returned to Golden in 1866 and proceeded to run for the Colorado Legislature.
He also served as the librarian of the Colorado Territorial Library in Golden from 1867–1868. Berthoud surveyed the lines of the Colorado Central Railroad, the first railroad to penetrate the Colorado mountains, and he became the longtime proprietor of the Overland Hotel in downtown Golden.
Berthoud served as the Colorado State Historian and was Mayor of Golden from 1890–1891. The Colorado School of Mines dedicated Berthoud Hall in his honor in 1940.
As a member of the legislature, he helped authorize the foundation of the Colorado School of Mines and served as the college"s first registrar, and on its Board of Trustees.