Katrina Wolf Murat
Katrina Wolf Murat (August 20, 1824 - 1910) was the German-born maker of the first United States flag in Colorado.
Katrina Wolf was born in Heidelsheim, Baden, August 20, 1824. She married a wealthy German and came to this country with him in 1848. After his death she married Count Henry Murat, of a distinguished French family. Shortly after their marriage Count and Countess Murat went to Europe, and while there purchased the petticoat which was destined to become famous. During these days they lived a life of luxury, but Count Murat, kind, generous and spendthrift, experienced vicissitudes of fortune, and led a vagrant existence for several years before his death in the County Hospital in Denver. Mrs. Murat, or Countess Murat, as she was known in the pioneer days of Colorado, was thrown upon her own resources and eventually followed the humble life of a washerwoman. With her own earnings she built the little white frame cottage which was her last home.[1]
Maker of the first United States Flag in Colorado
Monuments have been erected extolling the noble deeds of man, but to Denver Chapter it seems eminently fitting that tribute be paid to a woman for her deed of loyalty and patriotism, —a woman who had the distinction of being the first white woman in Denver, and the still greater distinction of making the first United States flag in Colorado. To commemorate her services a boulder of silver plume granite has been placed on her grave, bearing the inscription:— "In memory of the maker of the first United States Flag in Colorado Katrina Wolf Murat 1824-1910 Erected by Denver Chapter Daughters of the American Revolution."[1]
There was legend, romance and history interwoven with the colors of that first flag. The inspiration came from the region of the Rhine and the land of the Dakotahs, and it came from a red merino petticoat. It was in the winter of 1858-1859 that Katrina Murat, assisted by Wapolah, a Sioux Indian, lovingly sewed the seams of that flag. Mrs. Murat purchased blue and white muslin, but, lacking red material, cut up a rich red merino petticoat, which she had brought from France. We started with a petticoat in our first flag, which presaged woman's electoral equality. It was in our first banner and has come to stay. Wapolah aided in sewing the stripes, while Mrs. Murat arranged the placing of the stars. The significance of the flag was grasped only partially by Wapolah. She thought it applied more to the President than to the country, for she often said, while regarding it: "for the great Father at Washington." Later Wapolah heeded the call of her own people, returned to the Dakotahs, and was lost sight of. A pole was brought from the foothills and the flag raised by means of rope and pully, amidst a throng of spectators. Three hearty cheers made a fitting climax to the ceremony.[1]
When asked, in her old age, how she made the flag without a pattern, her answer, simple and direct, was: "How could anyone who has seen that flag and loves liberty and freedom forget what it is like? I knew there must be a star for every State and I counted the States at that time. When you love America, you love the American flag." [1]
References
- ^ a b c d Daughters of the American Revolution 1917, p. 82-83.
Bibliography
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: Daughters of the American Revolution (1917). "Denver Chapter, by Grace Deisher, Historian". Daughters of the American Revolution Magazine. Vol. 51 (Public domain ed.). New York City: R.R. Bowker Co.
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