The anniversary holds a special meaning to Easter Hampton Butler and her family. Author: Byron Reed Updated: 10:52 PM MDT June 17, 2021 DENVER — Juneteenth is the oldest known celebration commemorating the end of slavery in the United States signed into law by President Abraham Lincoln in 1863. On June 19th in 1865, General Gordon Granger led Union soldiers to Galveston, Texas with news that the Civil War and slavery had ended. That’s when slaves in Texas had learned they were free, two years after the Emancipation Proclamation was issued. The observance started in Galveston Texas in 1865 and is now celebrated nationwide. “It meant the freeing of the slaves,” said 108-year-old Denver resident Easter Hampton Butler.