Baca County History

by the Plainsman Herald

Category: Springfield

  • Decade of Dirt: A Book Project Primer

    Decade of Dirt: A Book Project Primer

    The Great Depression, and the much worse Dust Bowl that accompanied it, was the most impactful and profound time period, indeed the watershed moment, for southeastern Colorado. It was like year zero on our calendars, BDB – Before the Dust Bowl, and ADB – After the Dust Bowl.  Our good friend and history partner Steve…

  • 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 …

  • When did it the Old Stone Schoolhouse become the Masonic Temple?

    The question that led to this blog was, “When did it (the old stone schoolhouse) become the Masonic Temple?”   I couldn’t answer the question off the top of my noggin so I went to a resource I found awhile back, James Hill’s 1941 Master’s Thesis, “A History of Baca County”  Hill was superintendent at Vilas…

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • Place Names of Baca County by Steve Doner

      This information was taken from the website – https://history.denverlibrary.org/sites/history/files/Place_Names_of_Colorado.pdf Some information may indeed be questionable, but we have to start somewhere. Information I have added is in italics. This format does not allow for grids so the listings follow -Town/Location Name – County – Type – Notes – Section/Township/Range – Reference To save space…

  • Known All Over Creation and Down in Arkansas as The Great County Builder: Sam Konkel

    The more I dig into the history of Baca County, the more I appreciate Sam Konkel’s contributions to the development of early Baca County.  He started the “Western World” paper in Old Boston and ran it throughout the three years Boston existed. He left the county for several years before returning to the high plains…

  • The Challenge of the Broomcorn Harvesting Machine

    “No machine has yet been invented to successfully replace the hand labor.  The men, using broomcorn knives with sharp five-inch knives, move down rows in a field, bending the heads or brush with one hand and cutting the stalk about six inches below the bottom part of the brush with the other hand. “ -Pueblo…

  • Lucius McAdam: Baca County Pioneer and Confederate Veteran

    Lucius McAdam came to Las Animas County Colorado in 1886.  This was a couple years before Baca County was split off from Las Animas County and established as a county.  McAdam was born in Chariton County Missouri January 16, 1845.  He left Chariton County in 1884, spent a couple years in western Kansas before moving…