Editing Eaton, Colorado (section)

==History==
The town is named after [[Benjamin Harrison Eaton]],<ref>{{cite book|last=Dawson|first=John Frank|title=Place names in Colorado: why 700 communities were so named, 150 of Spanish or Indian origin|url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015051116740;view=1up;seq=25|publisher=The J. Frank Dawson Publishing Co.|location=Denver, CO|page=19}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_9V1IAAAAMAAJ | title=The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States | publisher=Govt. Print. Off. | author=Gannett, Henry | year=1905 | pages=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_9V1IAAAAMAAJ/page/n112 113]}}</ref> a pioneer of [[irrigation]] who played a leading role in transforming the arid prairie of the [[Great Plains]] east of Colorado's [[Front Range]] into a thriving agricultural region with water brought from the nearby [[Rocky Mountains]] in the late 19th century. Much of the farming country around Eaton, Colorado continues to depend on the irrigation systems engineered by Eaton and others to this day. Eaton later served as [[Governor of Colorado]] from 1885 to 1887. The town of Eaton was incorporated in 1892.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.city-data.com/city/Eaton-Colorado.html|title=Eaton, Colorado|publisher=City-Data.com|access-date=September 7, 2012}}</ref> Eaton was first named Eatonton to avoid conflict with the [[Eastonville, Colorado|Easton]] post office in [[El Paso County, Colorado|El Paso county]]. When Easton had changed its name to Eastonville, the last syllable of Eatonton was dropped, and the town has since been known as Eaton.<ref>{{Cite book|title=History of Eaton Colorado|last=Allison|first=Pauline|year=1942|pages=34|quote="Eaton was first christened Eatonton, to avoid conflict with the Easton postoffice in El Paso county. When Easton was changed to Eastonville, the last syllable of Eatonton was dropped, and the town has since been known as Eaton."}}</ref>

The first citizens of Eaton began to settle in 1880. One of the only occupations available was working on irrigation ditches from Eaton to [[Greeley, Colorado|Greeley]].<ref>{{Cite book|title=The History of Eaton Colorado|last=Allison|first=Pauline|year=1936|pages=47|asin=B0008BWA9K|quote="In 1880, when the first few who were to become pioneer citizens of Eaton began to settle in the new country, ... there was no sign of occupation, except men working on irrigation ditches, until the colony fence four miles north of Greeley was reached."}}</ref>

On September 28, 1892, a petition was submitted to the county judge requesting that Eaton be incorporated. The petition had been signed by 36 residents, including Benjamin Eaton himself. The county judge ordered that an election be held to decide whether or not the remaining residents desired Eaton to be incorporated. 50 votes were cast, every one of them in favor of incorporation. Eaton's incorporation was effected on October 27, 1892.