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Preacher Evans: The Great Orator of Minneapolis, Colorado
Public speaking was an important part of life in 19th century America. Whether you wanted to win an election, win support for a reform movement, or become a successful minister, you needed to learn how to deliver crowd-pleasing speeches. Candidates for office debated one another. Evangelical ministers hoping to win people to their denominations could…
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Theatre in 1880s Southeast Colorado: Ten Nights in a Bar Room
A part of the history of Old Boston, Colorado which might go unnoticed is the attempt by the town founders to build a civil and cultured existence in an environment that seemed to produce anything but civility. Their attempts at taming the “noted burying ground” as it was described in the following news clipping seems…
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Cooling Troughs in SE Colorado: Includes A Video Tour by Steve Doner
EDITORS NOTE: We have included videos from our good friend Steve Doner’s Youtube Channel. If you like history Subscribe Now. We live in an era where refrigeration allows us to have foods from all over the world. Modern refrigerated trucks and ships bring us foods which are kept in the fridge or freezer for months,…
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Crop Prospects for Southeast Colorado in 1888
PERSONS Stories and Incidents of the Early Day East Enders Before Baca County became a county in the spring of 1889 it was the eastern end of Las Animas county. As spring is upon us, I thought it might be good to look back at the crop prospects in Southeast Colorado in 1888. The following …
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Grandmother Eva Ratliff by Kathryn Ratliff Benes
With all of the news focused on COVID-19, I can’t help thinking about my Grandmother Eva Ratliff. As a young woman, she lived with her family in Pittsburg, KS where she taught school. She was told that, because of her weak immune system, that she would likely die unless she moved to a dry climate.…
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Jack Ratliff by Kathryn Ratliff Benes
Editors Note: I’ve often mentioned Jack Ratliff as the other Baca County Wanderer when writing about Orville Ewing. If you search online for Jack Ratliff will also find numerous postcards such as the one below which he sold during his travels. We are fortunate to be able to post the following below from his granddaughter…
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Growing Up in Baca County, Episode #5b John Havens
As the dust storms increased many of the farm families and a few of the town residents had to pull up stakes and look for greener pastures. As a kid working around the service station I observed first hand family after family load all their belongings into cars and onto pickups and head out to…
