Baca County History

by the Plainsman Herald

Year: 2015

  • Bear Tracks & Cactus Trees: More Info on Life in Early Baca County

    Hi there!  I’m Heidi, Kent’s wife.  I swiped this blog for a minute so I could tell you about a great book filled with Baca County history.  I grew up in Balko, Oklahoma and until recently I thought Kent was my only connection with Baca County.  My parents recently surprised me with a book they…

  • A memory that makes me smile… By Debbie Kuroiwa

    This memory is reposted with permission from the Kuroiwa Family Blog (Thanks Deb). This is one of my favorite pictures of all time…. This is me and my grandfather. Though I grew up in the same area as my grandparents, I didn’t really grow up with them. Oh…I knew who they were but….not really. My…

  • Clay Creek: By George Chatham

    By George Chatham First of all my apologies to the “Wondering, Banished, Exiled, and Lost Souls of Baca County, Colorado” (Facebook)group since most of this post took place across the county line in Powers County. I spoke of the “Clay Creek” place in the previous post. The “Clay Creek” place Fred & Ethel Chatham moved…

  • Granddad’s Adobe House: by George Chatham

    By George Chatham Since lumber wasn’t readily available to the homesteaders, most homes were made of sod or adobe blocks. Sod was created by using a knife sled apparatus pulled behind a horse or team of horses which cut about an 18” wide by 3” or 4” thick slab of buffalo grass sod. Uncle Elder’s…

  • The Dust Bowl Days: by George Chatham

    The Dust Bowl Days: by George Chatham As I shared in an earlier post the Elmer & Lela Chatham family left Baca County and moved to Power’s county sometime in the mid 1920’s. My grandparents (Fred and Ethel Chatham) moved from the “dug-out” on Fred’s homestead to Elmer Chatham’s homestead March 13, 1924. The reason…

  • “Hand Dug Wells” by George Chatham

    By George Chatham In the area where my granddad Chatham and Great Uncle Elmer homesteaded there were no live springs or natural water holes to obtain water for household use or for the livestock to drink. So it meant that one of the first priorities of homesteading was digging a well. The two homestead wells…

  • Sunrise in Southeast Colorado

    Thought I would start posting a few Baca County Sunrises… I shared a few of these with one of our Baca County Facebook groups and below is how people describe those.   I have included in this gallery those posted on Facebook and all of the other good pictures taken on my January 28, 2015 morning…

  • FAMILY WELL DISPUTE: by George Chatham

    By George Chatham After my grandparents, Fred and Ethel Chatham, were married April 14, 1914, there was a “dug-out” build on Fred’s homestead; but exactly when it was built is in question. Apparently there was a well dispute and the couple lived for a time with her Father, Daniel Chenoweth, who was a widower. According…

  • How My Grandparents Met: by George Chatham

    By George Chatham My Great-Uncle Elmer Chatham filed a “homestead” claim to 320 acres on South Horse Creek, located 7 1/2 miles north and 2 miles west of Springfield. That claim was proved January 12, 1917. It was on this homestead that I grew-up. Because Fred Chatham, my grand-father, wasn’t old enough to file a…

  • My Roots in Baca County Colorado: By George Chatham

    NOTE: I would like to welcome George Chatham to Bacacountyhistory.com. Happy Reading. By George Chatham My roots in Baca County go back three generations. My Grand-dad and his brother, Fred L. Chatham and Elmer Chatham came together to Baca County sometime around 1910 or 1911. The exact date we aren’t sure. According to family members…