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THE OLD SETTLEMENT AND THE NEW SETTLEMENT OF BACA COUNTY: by Sam Konkel
Sam Konkel told us much about the first wave of settlement in the 1886-1887 time frame. In this article from the December 21 1917 issue of the Springfield Herald he offers some observations comparing that first wave with the second wave starting in 1907 Sam as always is entertaining with his writing. I will leave…
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Joy Coy, Colorado & the Coming of the Railroad
“Nearly everything lives in a hole in the ground; the rattlesnakes, prairie dogs, owls, ground-squirrels, and even the people.” -Letter from Joy Coy Colorado, 1916 Pritchett, Colorado lies in the extreme Southeast part of Colorado. There is not a lot of activity there these days. There is a school, a bar, a hotel for providing…
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The Noted Burying Ground: Boston, Colorado
The “Noted Burying Ground” or Boston, Colorado Cemetery shown in the Dec 2018 photo below is all that is left of what was Boston, Colorado of the Southeast Colorado plains. There are two issues that must be clarified as we give you a bit of this story. The Southeast plains reference is important as there…
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An 1887 Letter from Judge Jennings
Many of you are familiar with Judge JDF Jennings who was Vice President of the Boston or Atlantis (Colorado) Town Company from my book “Old Boston: As Wild As They Come.” The Judge aka Judge Jennings aka John D.F. Jennings was a former plantation owner, an attorney, and a physician. He served the Confederacy during…
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How about something different…like an Early Baca County Town Crossword
Well…here is something different. Here is an online version and a downloadable PDF. If you load the online version and refresh it may go away and you may have to delete your history or remove the cookies. If the online version doesn’t work, try this downloadable PDF. Good Luck
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Dust Bowl Research Update: Origins of the term”Dust Bowl”, Maps and more
I have been collecting artifacts of the Dust Bowl as it relates to Baca County for awhile. My focus is compiling a resource that tells the “Dust Bowl” story from the perspective of the Baca County Newspaperman, in particular, Springfield Democrat Herald, Editor Ralph Williams. However, the research from other newspapers across the country…
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Kliesen City, Colorado’s Namesake
As is normal, I was looking for something else when I discovered the namesake of another long gone Baca County Colorado town. Mostly what we know about Kliesen City is that it was located north of the tracks, north of Vilas, Colorado. The present day Konkel lollipop factory is just south of what was Kliesen…
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The Move To the New Host complete.
The Move To the New Host is Complete. The images not so much. Will be adding those back gradually. Thanks for reading.
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Names of Springfield Residents of 1889 Disclosed in Letter this Week…
The names of those who lived in Springfield and community back in the year 1889 disclosed in a The Democrat-Herald (Springfield, Colorado) 25 Jan 1935. — clipping from the Springfield Herald, the predecessor to The Democrat-Herald. This is a reprint of a February 25, 1889 letter written from Springfield, Colorado and reprinted in the…
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A 1907 View of the Santa Fe Trail.
We have had several conversations about the portion of the Santa Fe Trail which crosses Baca County. Most recently we posted Jim Womack’s “Ruts of the Santa Fe Trail, The Aubrey Trail Cutoff.” The following article in the Springfield Herald (Springfield, Colorado) May 31, 1907, is attributed to the Syracuse Journal, but no specific issue. It…
