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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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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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The Sidewalks of Old Boston
The Springfield Herald had a regular series in 1918 called “Persons, Stories, and Incidents of Old Boston and the Old Days.” The episode author is listed as “The Writer” who is actually Sam Konkel. Left: Sam Konkel Middle: Sam Konkel 188ish Right Sam Konkel 1930ish Photos courtesy of Zaylan Konkel The October 19, 1918,…
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The Search for the Elusive Broomcorn Seeder
By Steve “Sodbuster” Doner Several months ago Kent Brooks and I were discussing that it was a shame that Baca County did not have any of the equipment from that bygone era in a place where people could learn of the tools of that industry. Most of the pictures we have of broomcorn seeders…
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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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News from Baca County July 23, 1897: Hail Knee Deep and Attend the University of Notre Dame
Here is another installment of news from Baca County July 23, 1897. More perspective on 1897 news in Baca County. The storm discussed in Minneapolis must have been doozy. Check out the price of bicycles and the Article on War Balloons. Again there was only local news on the last page with Homsher’s store being…
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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…
