Baca County History

by the Plainsman Herald

Category: Southeast Colorado

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • 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,…

  • 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 …

  • 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.…

  • 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…

  • Poems of Faith (Post 1930s) by Nellie Grover Bamber

    This 2nd post of Nellie Grover Bamber is again a true pleasure. There are some little things. The image of Grandma Bamber printed on an early dot matrix printer is a piece of history in itself. The poems? Priceless. In the not so recent past I had a conversation with Nancy Hall Nelson about using…

  • Offices of the Prairie Cattle Company

    “The largest herd of cattle I ever saw was in the summer of 1888. It stretched north from the mouth of Leon Creek, 25 miles southwest of the present Clayton for 5 or 6 miles. It was accompanied by 2 crews of 12 men each. Cattle belonging in Southern Colorado and the Cimarron River country…

  • Baca County & the Deep Harbor Conventions of the Late 1880s & Early 1890s

    This piece provides an answer to  a note in the upcoming Plainsman Herald  Piece by Mark Schmidt on the first twelve years of Baca County Commissioner minutes in which he states the following: A curious note from April 9th 1891 minutes is the appointment of F.M. Friend as delegate to attend “The Deep Harbor Convention…

  • Growing Up in Baca County Episode 6, Part 1 by John Havens

    Note this episode references Fred Holister. More on Fred Click Here: Fred Holister: A Cowboy’s Story Many older people of the Vilas Community made an impression on my life. Some were school teachers, some were business men, others were preachers, farmers, and retired folks.    But one I would like to mention especially was Uncle…