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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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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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The Town Boom Years in Southeastern Colorado 1886-1889: A Map
Sometimes it is hard to understand old forgotten towns. Especially since we don’t always know where they are located in relationship to present day landmarks and towns. The map in this post contains the towns which popped up in the area as well as towns that were connected. For example, many settlers rode the train…
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Tributaries of Baca County by Dr. Bill Stoner
We have all heard the cry: “Two Buttes is Running!” or “Bear Creek is Running!” When I was a young boy I often wondered how such a little creek in my own neighborhood (Bear Creek) could occasionally usher so much water. At the time, I was not aware of the tremendous infrastructure that produced the…
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A Cowboy’s Story: Fred Hollister
November 19 , 2017 Update to the original October 26, 2017 post: Thank you, Kathy Maestas, for the paintings of Fred and Fannie Hollister (see below) it makes the story of this cowboy so much better! Addendum to the Original October 27 Post: I stopped by to see my Uncle Harold today and took him a…
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The Last J.J. Steer
UPDATED: March 29, 2020- In the American west, it was common practice for early large cattle operations to file on only parcels of land that contained access to water. This allowed those operations to control a great deal of the public domain land. The J.J. Ranch was founded in 1869. By 1879 the JJ controlled…
