-
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…
-
“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…
-
Indianapolis, Colorado – Est. 1887.
In the 1880s Americans were moving in droves to the Western frontier. Waves of migrants were inspired by the promises of cheap land and riches, Following the completion of the first transcontinental railroad in 1869, the journey west became considerably easier. Many entrepreneurs and private town companies began heavily advertising real estate, investment and tourism…
-
Tributary Towns
As a continuation of my look at Southeast Colorado Boom towns (1886-1889) I thought I would toss out an interesting town ad for Lamar. Almost all of the towns which popped up during that era had an advertisement that was placed in newspapers “back east” (usually Kansas) to encourage settlers to come west. This is…
-
Boston, Lamar, & Sam Konkel’s “An Outlaw in Lamar”
There are many connections between Lamar, Colorado and the 1886-1887 Boom towns of Southeast Colorado. If you have not familiarized yourself with those boom towns click here to see a map. The news about migration to Southeast Colorado and those new towns was often reported in newspapers such as the following from the March 24,…
-
An 1887 Letter from Judge Jennings
Many of you are familiar with Judge JDF Jennings who was Vice President of the Boston or Atlantis (Colorado) Town Company from my book “Old Boston: As Wild As They Come.” The Judge aka Judge Jennings aka John D.F. Jennings was a former plantation owner, an attorney, and a physician. He served the Confederacy during…
-
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. …
-
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,…
