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Sam Konkel’s take on the Al Jenning’s “Fishy” Autobiography.
In “Old Boston: As Wild As They Come” we tell the story of many of the characters of the that short-lived (1886-1889) and wild Colorado Boomtown, Boston, Colorado. The key resource for this story are the 1918-1919 writings of Sam Konkel, who ran one of two newspapers in that town. Konkel told us much about the…
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Sam Konkel’s Map of Southeast Colorado Stagecoach Routes 1887-1889
A couple years ago I found a copy of Sam Konkel’s Southeast Colorado Stagecoach map in terrible condition. The quality was so poor it was basically useless and it led me to the development of the 1886-1889 Boom Town map located here in a previous blog post. However, in my last visit to Baca County, I…
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Reading Old Time Newspapers: A Primer
It feels great to find interesting tidbits in old newspapers—for me it has been part of researching my book, for others, it may be finding an obituary, marriage announcement, or other types of notice. But sometimes historical newspapers used abbreviations and terms that are no longer common, leaving some of us scratching our heads. …
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Baca County Festivals and Fairs: Part 1
I will probably work at adding to this in pieces, maybe in the form of a timeline, but I thought it would be fun to start looking at various festivals and fairs held in Southeast Colorado/ Southwest Kansas/ Baca County through the years. Sam Konkel mentions an 1888 fair in Boston, Springfield, and Minneapolis, but there isn’t…
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It is Given to Few: by J. Ralph Jett
Reprinted from the June 1929 Issue of the Western Empire Magazine: Nineteen years ago there came into the little town of Two Buttes in Baca County, a suffering, and broken man. Upon his graying head sentence had been passed, and he had no thought but that his doom was sealed. Great Men of the medical…
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Dr. Verity’s Invention
In a recent Facebook thread, Ted Burhenn asked about the history of music in Baca County. I mentioned the Old Boston Band and after a couple other comments; I dug in a little to see what I could find. There are a few things on Baca County music I am pulling together which includes info on Dr.…
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The Digital Campfire of Social Media and How it Sparked a Book Project
Greetings from an unseasonably mild but windy Casper Wyoming. I have a little bit of reflection and a couple of messages related to a local history blog, social media, and the sparks that lit a book project about one of the wildest little towns of the old west. Four years ago, I launched Bacacountyhistory.com. At…
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