He was born on August 31, 1837 in Manchester, Connecticut, United States, the son of Eli and Hannah M. (Torrey) Pitkin, and a descendant of William Pitkin who emigrated from England to Hartford, Connecticut, in 1659. For generations the Pitkin family had been prominent in the affairs of the state.
Although left an orphan at the age of twelve, Frederick was prepared for college and in 1854 entered Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut, from which he graduated four years later. He was graduated from the Albany (New York) Law School in 1859.
After graduation he began the practice of law in Milwaukee, Wiscosin. Following a serious illness in 1872, he became a health-seeker, visiting Minnesota in the autumn of that year, Europe in the spring of 1873, and Florida in the winter of 1873-74.
In October 1874, he went to Colorado and took up his residence in the southern part of that territory, first at Ouray and then at Pueblo. In Colorado he came into contact with prominent political leaders, who were so much impressed with his personality and ability that they urged and secured his nomination for governor by the Republican party in 1878. In the election he defeated his Democratic opponent, W. A. H. Loveland, by a majority of 2, 700 votes in a total of 27, 000 votes cast.
His first term (1879 - 81) was filled with stirring events which tested fully his judgment and executive ability. Colorado, only three years in the Union, was still a frontier state with hundreds of Indians within its borders. In September 1879 occurred at the White River Agency the uprising of the Ute Indians known as the Meeker massacre. Governor Pitkin used the full power of the state, in cooperation with the federal troops, for the protection of the ranchers and miners on the frontiers; he vigorously voiced to the authorities in Washington the universal cry in Colorado that "the Utes must go. " As the result of a treaty with these Indians in 1880 they were moved from the state in 1881, and a large tract of land on the "western slope" was thus thrown open to settlement.
Other perplexing problems that involved the maintenance of law and order in frontier communities were the strike of the Leadville miners, and the struggle between the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad and the Denver & Rio Grande Railway for the control of the Royal Gorge in the canyon of the Arkansas River.
Governor Pitkin's proclamation of martial law in the Leadville strike (June 13, 1880) was one of the main points of attack upon him in his campaign for reelection in 1880, but he was victorious over his Democratic rival, John L. Hough, by a majority of about 5, 000 in a total of 52, 000 ballots. At the expiration of his second term as governor (1883), he was a candidate for the United States Senate, but was defeated in the Republican legislative caucus by Thomas M. Bowen.
During the three remaining years of his life he engaged in the practice of law in Pueblo, where he died.
Frederick Walker Pitkin is generally regarded as one of the ablest of Colorado's governors. During his two terms as governor, he dealt with a number of crises including the railway feud involving the Atchison, Topeka-Santa Fe, and the Denver-Rio Grande rail companies. He ordered the suppression of the Ute Indian uprising at the Milk Creek Battle or Meeker Massacre in 1879. Besides, he declared martial law during the mining strike at Leadville in 1880.
He was indefatigable in guarding the public interest and in his devotion to duty; his honesty and integrity were never questioned. The lack of decisiveness with which he was sometimes charged was due, not to weakness, but to an extreme conscientiousness and to fear that hasty action might work injustice.
He was married Fidelia M. (James) of Lockport, New York on June 17, 1862. They had two children.
