Richens Lacey Wootton

Who was Richens Lacey Wootton?

Richens Lacy Wootton, often referred to as "Uncle Dick" Wooton, was an American frontiersman born in Virginia, but lived most of his life in Colorado.

In his early life Wootton was a mountain man and trapper, then a hunter at Bent's Fort. In 1866 he built a toll road through Raton Pass. He hired a tribe of Utes under Chief Conniache to build it. He later sold the road to the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad.

He appears as a character in Flashman and the Redskins when Flashman employs him as a guide. Flashman and his caravan are forced to abandon him when he catches cholera.