Charles Francis Colcord (August 18, 1859 – December 10, 1934) was a successful cattle rancher, U.S. Marshal, Chief of Police, businessman, and pioneer of the Old West. The community of Colcord, Oklahoma is named for him.
Colcord's life spanned the American Civil War, the taming of the west, the cattle drives, the Land Runs, the Wright brothers' flight, World War I, Wiley Post, Will Rogers and Charles Lindbergh, the Roaring Twenties, the Great Depression, and the transition of Oklahoma City from a frontier prairie to a booming metropolis with skyscrapers, oil fields and airplanes. On December 30, 1934, a resolution adopted by the Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce stated, "Affluence came to him but left unspoiled his native gentleness and simplicity. Always he was modest, humble, democratic, generous, just and kind. He remembered the less fortunate friends of his early days."
Charles Colcord was born near Cane Ridge, Paris, Bourbon County, Kentucky to Col. William Rogers Colcord (November 26, 1827 - January 10, 1901) and Maria Elizabeth Clay (March 1832, Paris, KY - ?, Denver CO). His father was a son of Charles B. Colcord and Louisa Metcalfe Bristow. with deep roots in Kentucky, as attested by his brother's biography: