BRECKENRIDGE — A researcher is shedding some light on whether the town of Breckenridge got its name from a man who lost a burro or a U.S. vice president-turned-confederate.
Local historian Bill Fountain says the name likely came from Thomas E. Breckenridge, a member of Lt. John Fremont’s exploring party who got in trouble with Fremont when his burro got away.
Fountain says the town began spelling the name differently in the late 1850s when it was trying to get post office. It changed the second “e” to an “i” to match the spelling used by John C. Breckinridge, who was vice president from 1857 to 1861.
Fountain says that at about the time John Breckinridge joined the Confederacy, documents show the spelling reverting to the version used by the explorer.
——— Information from: Summit Daily News,
