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The Strange Story of Stevenson, Baca County, Colorado & Reverend William Evans
by: Steven Doner and Kent Brooks My introduction to Stevenson happened in 2010 when I was first shown the Lost 1894 Colorado Relief Map by James McConnell School Supplies of Denver, Colorado. Immediately, I began combing the bottom right corner for familiar names, but more so for unfamiliar items that might fuel my curiosity. Exploring…
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Did the Forgotten Old West Town of Boston Colorado Influence the entire Genre of Western Movies?
“Low characters naturally gravitated in this direction where they would be in less danger of the law. Peaceable men were sometimes forced to become murderers through association with the lawless element who were thrown in their midst. Questions were not asked of their past.” -J.R. Austin, 1936, An Early History of Baca County In the…
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The Burning of the Boston Colorado Hotel: An 1890 Flashback to the County Seat Wars of the American West
The hotel company was incorporated last week, the stock is all subscribed, and the big hotel will now be pushed to completion. — Boston Colorado, Western World, April 1887 The County Seat Wars of the American West, which were most famous in Kansas, represent a tumultuous period in the late 19th century characterized by intense…
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Was Old Boston Really As Wild As They Come?
By The Writer Originally published in the Plainsman Herald, Springfield, Colorado, June 19, 2024 “An elderly gentleman on his way to Colorado was asked what there was attractive there, and answered ‘Nothing sir, but a dry burying ground and shorter route to Heaven” –The Ashland Weekly Journal, 1887 No one has really questioned my book’s…
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Ezra Nowels,Baca County’s First Judge
Attorney Ezra C. Nowels left Rensselaer, Indiana in 1888 and came to Minneapolis, Colorado. The March 14, 1888 Indiana State Sentinel reports, “Ezra C. Nowels will start to Colorado next week. He will locate in Minneapolis, Las Animas County, where he will engage in the practice of law and the real estate business. Mr. Nowels…
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The Spring Tragedy of 1895 at Konantz
(Once again I got a little carried away and this article is longer than it should be. Please read what intrigues you and ignore the rest.) By Steve Doner When my twin sister and I were growing up, one of our daily chores involved gathering the milk cows when we got off the school bus…
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Kansas Trip
We are getting closer to the completion of a project we will call “Before it Was Baca, Persons Stories, Incidents and Letters from the Early Day East Enders: 1886-1889,” We are waiting on a very interesting set of artifacts, but I hope can finish by the end of summer. The following letter excerpt from that…
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John B. Garvin, an Unsung Springfield Hero from the County Seat Fights
John B. Garvin, an Unsung Springfield Hero from the County Seat Fights John Garvin is usually a footnote in the history of Baca County. You usually see him mentioned as a name in a list of early Springfield newspapers as follows: Sam Konkel mentions him in the Springfield paper in 1918 (Right) when he pulled…
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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…
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“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…
