In 1895, a messiah-like figure with an uncanny resemblance to paintings of Jesus showed up in the yard of a North Denver bungalow and began healing people. He was Francis Schlatter, an Alsatian immigrant and one-time Denver cobbler, and his healing powers, he claimed, were a gift from “Father.” News of the miraculous cures and the charismatic healer spread quickly, and within days as many as 5,000 people crowded the streets and sidewalks to see the healer or as one man called him “Mr.