January 2015 - Colorado Central Magazine

The Caboose – Just the Facts about Passenger Trains

March 18, 2015January 12, 2015 by Mike Rosso

by Forrest Whitman If you got on a train in Colorado Central country in 1920, you could go to almost any point in the nation by rail. The Denver and Rio Grande Western would be your line from Salida. You could cover 2,560 miles on that line alone. If you got on in Salida, you’d …

Reviews– The Garden of Dead Dreams

March 18, 2015January 1, 2015 by Mike Rosso

The Garden of Dead Dreams By Abby Quillen Sidewalk Press: 2014 ISBN: 978-0-9899822-3-8 $13.95, 253 pp. Reviewed by Eduardo Rey Brummel In her novel’s opening lines, Abby Quillen tells us: Etta Lawrence wasn’t the only one who came to Roosevelt Lodge to become someone else. That’s why they’d all come. Forty-some years earlier, Vincent Buchanan …

The Moment of New Light

June 16, 2015January 1, 2015 by Mike Rosso

by Hal Walter As the days reached their shortest, the week became a blur of Christmas cards, doctor appointments, school programs and visits to the post office – so many, in fact, that I joked I should pay rent for desk space there. The doctor appointments in Pueblo were annual checkups for me and my …

Colorado Food Facts

June 16, 2015January 1, 2015 by Mike Rosso

Compiled by Mike Rosso Veggies, Fruit, Meat and More • The San Luis Valley is the largest and highest alpine valley in the world capable of producing crops. Elevation in the valley ranges from 7,400 to 8,000 feet. It is also the main supplier of barley for the Coors Brewing Company. • Colorado produces more …

Dispatch from the Edge

March 30, 2015January 1, 2015 by Mike Rosso

by Peter Anderson Wolves had never been a presence in my life. I had never lived around them, so I didn’t know much about their biology or natural history. Then, early on a November morning about 10 years ago, a chance encounter here in the Sangre de Cristos changed that. I have never talked much …

PLAY BALL! Colorado Sporting Facts

June 16, 2015January 1, 2015 by Mike Rosso

Compiled by Christopher Kolomitz From lush green playing fields to brightly lit indoor gymnasiums, combined with a plethora of outdoor adventures in between, Colorado is a sports lover’s dream. Blessed with successful professional teams and a host of college, semipro and amateur champions, Colorado is a treasure trove of sports trivia and facts. Olympic Dreams …

The Natural World

June 16, 2015January 1, 2015 by Mike Rosso

by Tina Mitchell When people plan a trip to Colorado, what do they envision? Soaring mountains begging for exploration. Fly-fishing for trout in gold-medal waters. Fresh champagne-powder skiing at one of the state’s stunning resorts or gorgeous backcountry roads. Whitewater rafting on a rushing, pristine stretch of river. Birding. Birding? Okay, probably not that one …

News from the San Luis Valley

June 16, 2015January 1, 2015 by Mike Rosso

by Gena Akers Drilling Lawsuit Moves Forward Individual declarations have been submitted to the U.S. District Court and Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to contest the authorized exploratory oil/gas drilling in San Francisco Creek, an area south of Del Norte. The complainants assert that the BLM violated the National Environmental Policy Act by failing to …

Regional News Roundup

June 16, 2015January 1, 2015 by Mike Rosso

Browns Canyon Meeting Draws Big Crowd Approximately 500 people were in attendance for a standing-room-only meeting held in Salida Dec. 6 to discuss and listen to opinions from citizens, business owners and land-use representatives for the possible designation of the Browns Canyon Wilderness Study Area as a national monument. As Congress has continually dragged its …

Leadville – Places and Facts

March 11, 2015January 1, 2015 by Mike Rosso

Compiled by members of Lake County High School’s Awesome Authors writing group: Emma Cary, Sam Hall, Makala Schnablegger and Elli Torsell, led by Laurel McHargue. The group meets each Wednesday afternoon for 2.5 hours to work on creative writing projects. All photos are courtesy of Laurel McHargue. The Mining Museum • It was originally built …

The Sand Creek Massacre, 150 Years Later

January 1, 2015January 1, 2015 by Mike Rosso

by Kenneth Jessen On Nov. 29, members of the Cheyenne Nation gathered at the Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site for a time of healing with private services on “The Hill.” The significance of The Hill is that this was where the brutal attack by 750 soldiers under the command of Col. John Chivington started. …

Colorado Big Game, Rabbits, Dog and Cow Facts

March 11, 2015January 1, 2015 by Mike Rosso

Compiled by Elliot Jackson The Big Game! In addition to deer and elk, there are five other species of big game animals for which you can get hunting tags in Colorado, according to the Department of Natural Resources: Bighorn Sheep – The estimated in-state population is about 6,900. Mountain Goats were imported to the state …

Poetry – Stage Theater

March 11, 2015January 1, 2015 by Mike Rosso

By Margery Dorfmeister, Buena Vista, CO It was a wonder-filled once upon a time When they came down out of the theater braced up by a languid Chinook breezing through the glass-roofed arcade unaware of the man in the dark blue jacket standing in the marquee-lit concourse until someone said It’s him. It’s Kent. A …

Kent’s Agenda

April 8, 2015January 1, 2015 by Mike Rosso

By Jennifer Dempsey When Kent Haruf married my mother, I don’t think he had plans to attend any more Lamaze classes. He was 52, my mother was 52, and each had already raised children of their own. When they married in 1995, Kent was on his way to becoming a bestselling author, and I’m pretty sure …

Some Facts About Mountains, Water, Geology, Spirits and Early Law in Colorado

March 11, 2015January 1, 2015 by Mike Rosso

Mountains by Jane Koerner • Colorado has 637 13ers (mountains over 13,000 feet but under 14,000). • Mounts Bierstadt, Grays and Torreys are the most popular 14ers for peak baggers. • There are seven total mountain ranges in Colorado: the San Juans, the Elk Range, the Sawatch (which include the Collegiates), the Sangre de Cristos, …

Indian Agencies in Colorado

April 8, 2015January 1, 2015 by Mike Rosso

By Virginia McConnell Simmons For centuries, nomadic Ute Indians had been camping, hunting and gathering food where they chose, but their needs and how they were met changed after the Mexican-American War. The changes were far-reaching. The States had agents appointed by the U.S. President, and New Mexico Territory also would soon have agencies to …

The Facts

March 11, 2015January 1, 2015 by Mike Rosso

Compiled by Fay Golson and Mike Rosso The Tallest Building in Colorado The Republic Plaza, constructed in 1984 and located at 302 17th Street in Denver, is the tallest building in Colorado. Building materials include concrete and Sardinian granite. It stands 714 feet tall and stacks 56 stories. Considering that the 1931 Empire State Building …

From the Editor – Just the Facts

March 11, 2015January 1, 2015 by Mike Rosso

by Mike Rosso Back in September 2014, Time magazine released an edition called “The Answers Issue.” In it was a compilation of answers to some of today’s most burning questions, such as, When did we start saying ‘groovy’? When will we discover alien life? and When do men lose their virginity? Believe it or not, …

About the Cover Artist – Roberta Smith

March 11, 2015January 1, 2015 by Mike Rosso

After a stint at a prestigious art school in New York in the 1970s, I started my career as a jewelry designer. I then did graphic design, children’s book illustration and realistic painting. When I got old and burned out with all of that, I had some fun exploring abstraction and some three-dimensional mixed media, found object …

Book Review: Full Tilt Boogie

January 31, 2015January 1, 2015 by Mike Rosso

Full Tilt Boogie: A journey into autism, fatherhood, and an epic test of man and beast.

By Hal Walter

224 pages, Out There Publishing; 1st edition (2014)
ISBN: 978-0967714813
Reviewed by Martha Quillen

Whether Hal Walter is about to get pulled over a cliff by his unpredictable Jenny, Full Tilt Boogie, or he and his wife are sitting on the edge of their seats at a grade-school performance hoping their son Harrison won’t fall prey to a sudden emotional outburst, this book is an incredibly candid account of a man trying to do his best.

When the book opens, Hal is a champion pack burro racer who is getting older and a little bit slower. He yearns for one last win, and a friend assures him that Boogie is his best bet. She’s beautiful, graceful and uncommonly fast – a runner born.

A Farmer Far Afield – Colorado Fact: Colorado is 40 Percent Public Lands

March 13, 2015January 1, 2015 by Mike Rosso

by John Mattingly To paraphrase Yogi Berra, “Forty percent is only thirty percent of the story.” Colorado is listed at 66,387,700 acres, but in this column it will be revealed that Colorado is at least 80 million acres (perhaps as much as 100 million acres), and the actual percentage of those acres that are publicly …

On the Ground – Down on the Ground with the Lost Water

March 13, 2015January 1, 2015 by Mike Rosso

by George Sibley Our fearless CC leader has requested that for this issue we address “Colorado Facts.” So, since it’s what I seem to be spending most of my time on these days, I will try to entertain you with a Water Fact, and the mental turbulence that can be set off in the human …

Colorado Musical Facts

March 13, 2015January 1, 2015 by Mike Rosso

Compiled by Elliot Jackson Anyone who lives in and/or loves the Central Colorado region will not have a hard time believing that the state of Colorado, in addition to being a prime destination for touring musicians, boasts a large number of musicians calling it home, either as natives or transplants. The Western Slope, for example, …

The Real Deal Music Review : Dale Smith – We Still Sing

March 13, 2015January 1, 2015 by Mike Rosso

by Brian Rill Crestonian Dale Smith’s 2014 release of his newest folk rock album We Still Sing shows he hasn’t slowed musically. Just like 18 wheels rolling down the snowy highway of the San Luis Valley, Dale’s musical tome trudges through 15 tracks of acoustic and electric guitars dancing over polyrhythmic percussion. Dale is accompanied …