Barney Lancelot Ford (January 22, 1822 – December 22, 1902) was an escaped slave who became a wealthy entrepreneur and civil-rights pioneer in Colorado.

Ford persevered in his quest for new businesses despite barriers due to racism, war, fire and unscrupulous partners.

As a teenager, Ford traveled across the Mississippi River and other state lines to move animals, goods, and people.

He moved fairly regularly as an adult, doing business in Chicago, Breckenridge, Denver, Cheyenne, San Francisco, and enterprises in Nicaragua.

[1][4] He grew up on a plantation in South Carolina,[5] where his mother was willing to accept the risk of personal harm to have Barney learn to read and write,[6] perhaps instruction provided by an enslaved man.

He next worked on a cotton boat from Columbus, Georgia to Apolachicola, Florida as a second steward; he held that position for three years.

To avoid slave hunters, Ford and his wife intended to sail from New York City, around Cape Horn, and then north to California.

[1] They sailed from New York and when they reached Greytown (now San Juan de Nicaragua), they decided to stay there.

[3] Ford participated in the Pike's Peak Gold Rush (1858–1861), by staking a claim in Breckenridge, Colorado in 1860.

The businesses opened on August 16, 1863, and within 90 days he was able to pay off the $9,000 loan (equivalent to $222,714 in 2023) from Kountze Brothers Bank.

[2] Ford acquired the nickname of "Black Baron of Colorado" by 1865, making his income from fortunate investments in mines, as well as successful restaurants and a barbershop.

[4][8] In 1890, Ford and his wife returned to Denver,[2] where he managed his investments into "first-class income paying property".

[1] He befriended journalist Henry O. Wagoner who worked for Frederick Douglass' newspaper (The North Star).

[1] With Wagoner, he founded a school for African American children[1] and in 1866 established evening classes for adults.

[4][10] He also traveled to the District of Columbia again to fight for the Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which would give African Americans the right to vote.

Stuart introduced a bill on January 19, 1895, to "prohibit discrimination in any hotel, restaurant, theater, or other place of public accommodation including mobile conveyances."