Baca County History

by the Plainsman Herald

Author: Kent Brooks

  • HUGE IRRIGATION PROJECT ABOUT TO START

    The possibility of a dam on Two Buttes Creek had been discussed as early as the 1880’s by early settlers in the area, but it was after the turn of the century before anyone attempted to develop the idea. The Springfield Herald, Volume 22, Number 19, January 8, 1909 reprinted a Pueblo Chieftain piece on…

  • Sam Konkel: The Writer

    Sam Konkel was the editor of one of the two Boston Colorado Newspapers, The Boston World (1886-1889) and later the Springfield Herald /Springfield Democrat Herald (1913-1930).  It was in 1918 -1919 during this time in Springfield where he relived and wrote during the stories of his time in Boston, which we used as the foundation…

  • Passing of a Great Range Herd

    Prairie Cattle Company, Owners of the JJ Brand, Quits Business The Prairie Cattle Company was established in December of 1880 with headquarters in Edinburgh Scotland. The initial investors noticed that the ranching business had assumed extensive proportions in the Western States and territories of America and had yielded very large profits, in spite of the…

  • Butte City: 1886

    Boston wasn’t quite the first in the east end as this part of Las Animas county as it was thencalled. Butte City was started in June 1886; we believe that less than half a dozen houses were builtthere when it was abandoned and the houses moved over to Minneapolis, started a few miles west of…

  • THE WELDING SHOP

    by Kathryn Ratliff Benes(A special thank you to Donitta Johnson for the photographs of the Welding Shop) The notice in the weekly county newspaper informed the public that Cow County Welding had sold its inventory effective in January, 2000. Eugene and Marilyn appreciated the years of continued patronage. The welding shop had closed. An era…

  • “Ten Nights in a Bar Room” by the Boston Amateur Dramatic Troupe: Theatre in 1880s Southeast Colorado

    The Boston Amateur Dramatic troupe reproduced “Ten Nights in a Bar Room” at the Murray hall last Friday night.  The weather was intensely disagreeable, and the crowd correspondingly small.  There were not more than 150 people present.  The troupe made a marked improvement over their first effort. The Citizen (Trinidad Colorado) 13 Jan 1888 The…

  • Life of Early Cowboy was Hard: JJ cowboy John Layton

    As today, Dec 29, is the 140th anniversary of the incorporation of the Prairie Cattle Company I have compiled a couple of related items. The April 30, 1963 issue of the Guymon Daily Herald reprinted the autobiography written by my great uncle John Layton who was a JJ cowboy from 1901 to 1911ish. I have…

  • Prairie Cattle Company Incorporated 140 Years Ago Today

    Today is a day in history that may only matter to those of us in southeast Colorado, northeast New Mexico, the Oklahoma Panhandle and the Texas Panhandle. An event in in an office in Edinburg Scotland change the course of the afore mentioned areas, the American west and the American cattle industry. You see, 140…

  • The View from Ground Zero: Sunday Oct 11, 2020 winds bring memories of Dirty Thirties

    The term ground zero is usually associated with an explosion and describes the location closest to a detonation. In the case of an explosion above the ground, ground zero refers to the point on the ground directly below the detonation.   In recent American culture it often refers to the location nearest 911 terrorist attacks on…

  • Indianapolis, Colorado – Est. 1887.

    In the 1880s Americans were moving in droves to the Western frontier. Waves of migrants were inspired by the promises of cheap land and riches, Following the completion of the first transcontinental railroad in 1869, the journey west became considerably easier. Many entrepreneurs and private town  companies began heavily advertising real estate, investment and tourism…