By John Mattingly The word trump came into common usage in the early 1500s as a derivative of triumph and trompe, Germanic and Old French respectively. Use of the word trump peaked in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, slumping in the mid-to-late 20th century, and finally enjoying a usage boost starting in the …
By Kenneth Jessen Moffat came close to becoming a town of great importance in the north-central part of the San Luis Valley. Historian Holly Rechel-Felmlee wrote about Moffat in 1980: “A cold wind blows through, swirling dust around old buildings. One can hear the swings on the playground squeaking and a loose door slamming open …
By Forrest Whitman Here are a few places to see and visit on a super Colorado train trip. Your window to it all is on the California Zephyr (AMTRAK train #5). Settle in to the sightseer lounge, or the dining car, or maybe your seat-side window. It’s a fine day trip from Denver to Glenwood …
By Peter Anderson The night the fire came over the ridge, I happened to be walking near downtown Salida when I saw a large four-legged shadow in someone’s yard. Big dog, I thought. Only it wasn’t a dog. When it walked under the streetlight in a back alley I said hello to a bear, a …
By Forrest Whitman The two steps up to the front door of the Victoria Tavern in Salida deserve a moment’s pause. Look around and you’ll notice, just to the right, a plaque dedicated to Mildred “Millie” Ohmertz Johnson. Before you go in for an adult beverage, think about Millie. Millie made Colorado history as its …
By Greg Felt My wife said it and Salida Fire Chief Doug Bess agreed with her. They had grown up together in Salida and neither had ever looked out the window at a wildfire. In that regard, I’d heard many recent comments from community members about “our luck” – the good being the manner in …
By Ed Berg Winston Churchill is said to have described human history as, “… just one damned thing after another.” He could have been a farmer. Last month’s installment included complaints about partners, weather and water, which must be familiar to any farmer or rancher and can only make for boring reading. I’d gotten myself …
Article and photo by Kim Grant, Colorado Preservation, Inc. The long-sought rehabilitation of Leadville’s venerable Tabor Opera House is poised to move forward following significant success in fundraising efforts that will enable initial work on the west (front) and south facades next Spring (2020). The property is viewed as a catalyst for the revitalization of …
By Tina Mitchell Common and conspicuous winter visitors, Dark-eyed Juncos frequent Colorado’s seed feeders and rural roadsides. John Jay Audubon once referred to the junco as “the little Snowbird,” since in many places it showed up only in the winter. This junco’s scientific name – Junco hyemalis – as well as its common name derive …
By Patty LaTaille Online dating has been described to me as “challenging, exhausting, entertaining, educational, frustrating and fulfilling.” I’ve heard many stories with a variety of different experiences from those putting themselves out there in the internet dating arena. Yes, I did hear the horror stories from those who have been through the emotional wringer …
By Ron Sering As you drive west from Pueblo into the mountains, off to the northwest is a huge area of high desert. This includes the Gold Belt area and the Royal Gorge near Cañon City, as well as vast tracts of land along the U.S. Hwy. 50 corridor near Texas Creek, Cotopaxi and Howard. …
By Emmy Savage Like many of the artists who live in Crestone and its contiguous Baca Grande subdivision, I was attracted to the landscape’s sublime and terrible beauty as well as the affordable land and housing. To the east of Crestone, the 14,000-foot Sangre de Cristo mountains rise almost vertically from the San Luis Valley …
Living in beautiful Salida and being employed at Salida Mountain Sports, my gratitude for this life feels a bit like magic. Growing up in Wisconsin, I was born with a passion for every-thing outdoors. My grandfather, “Boone” had a small, 10-acre game farm where he raised white-tailed deer and elk. Growing up with wildlife, feeding …
By Hal Walter I am not exactly sure when Independence Day, or “Fourth of July,” became an 11-day weekend but never had it been more apparent than this year, when the rush for the hills began the week prior to the actual holiday. The entire orgy of summer revery was in full swing by the …
An Emmy award-winning writer-producer-director-videographer-editor, Julie Speer Jackson has been creating digital film and documentary-style video productions since 1998. She has produced and directed thousands of video and radio productions on countless social issues (from HIV in Africa and HEP C in the United States to homelessness, abused children, and poverty), to long-form radio and TV …
By Brad Klafehn There’s a pipeline which runs through Central Colorado. Known best to its owners and maintainers, it unobtrusively carries an invisible commodity north and south. Not oil, natural gas, or carbon dioxide, it carries the hopes and aspirations of a class of active dreamers who take to foot and wheel on long-distance journeys …
By Forrest Whitman I got an email recently from a reader who threatened me with a lawsuit. He was mad about an article I wrote four years ago which included examples of shock talk from Gov. Davis Waite and President Donald Trump. Waite was the Colorado governor from 1893 till 1895, and was given to …
By Kim Grant For 90 years, the eclectic Tarryall-Cline Ranch house has stood proudly like a sentinel amidst a beautiful meadow just off U.S. Hwy. 285 in Park County. The main ranch house was built in 1928 by the ranch owner, Foster Cline, Sr., a prominent Denver attorney. Cline was the deputy district attorney in …
By Hal Walter Coaching a high-school athlete on the autism spectrum to run track and cross-country is not for the faint of heart, and sometimes it seems there should be a soundtrack playing in the background complete with foreboding drumrolls and exuberant crescendos. Any meet could result in a total meltdown or an epic moment …
By John Mattingly No one has ever mentioned me as a dog person. I’m not even a dog enthusiast. I would never walk a dog, for example, or groom or wash a dog, or take a dog to the dentist, or let a dog in a vehicle, or feed a dog anything but raw meet, …
By Mike Rosso Colorado Central readers looking for a true Western experience, need go no further than the town of Westcliffe, in the Wet Mountain Valley and take a seat at the historic Jones Theater. Whether its a film, theater performance or concert, there are few venues in the region that capture the small town, …
By Virginia Simmons In Colorado’s younger days, publishing a newspaper often simply involved hauling a printing press, a case of lead type, and some newsprint in a wagon across the prairie to a new town or mining camp, printing the current local news, and selling it to any eager soul who could read and had …
By Jane Ewing Public art slows down pedestrians so they can enjoy their space and helps promote a positive impact on one’s mood. It engages people in art in the course of daily lives. Civic art adds distinctiveness to our communities and humanizes our outdoor places. Local aesthetics is one reason people attach themselves to …
By Peter Anderson Coming Soon! Dollar General! Yes, the encroachment of the corporate world is upon us here in the northern tier of Saguache County! Sure there are a few syndicated gas stations in Saguache and Hooper, and a couple of dollar stores down in Center, but for the most part, the world of franchise …
By Mike Rosso The San Luis Valley is known for its agricultural products, among them potatoes. So it was only a matter of time before somebody came up with the idea to use this abundant, tuberous crop and distill it into a spirit beverage. The result is Wood’s San Luis Valley Colorado Potato Vodka, distilled …
By Mike Rosso Directed by Bunee Tomlinson, 2019 When I first saw Bill and Bonnie Hearne perform at the former Durango nightclub, Farquahrts, in the 1980s, I decided should I ever get married, I would hire them to play the reception. Their mix of folk ballads, country classics and straight-ahead rock and roll had an …
A full-time, internationally touring musician, Trace Bundy grew up in Buena Vista and was named “Most Promising New talent” by Acoustic Guitar Magazine in 2008, as well as receiving third place for “Best Fingerstyle Guitarist.” Over the past 15 years, trace has performed in 28 countries and throughout the U.S., and has independently sold over …
By Daniel Smith Large-scale growth has arrived in Chaffee County; from Poncha Springs to Buena Vista to Salida; construction, houses and development all reflect that growth. The growth trend recently was focused on a proposed large development north of Salida at the historic Centerville ranch; a sprawling 950-acre parcel just off U.S. Hwy. 285, across …
By Mike Rosso In the previous installment of this series, the drywall had been hung, finished, primed and painted. While this was happening, the stucco crew came back and did the exterior finish coat. At this point, the exterior is finished; doors and windows are hung and the exterior lights have been installed. Inside, Kenny …
About a year ago I was busy obsessing about my entry to the Aaron Siskind Foundation Individual Photographer’s Fellowship Grant. Undaunted by the big city “East Coast” air to this thing, I set about selecting 10 photos from literally hundreds I’d taken of my son Harrison in hopes of not only doing something with my …
By Forrest Whitman Passenger rail travel can be accessed conveniently with a three-hour bus ride from Salida to Denver. It’s going to be even more convenient in the future if the Colorado Passenger Rail Commission has its way. I host a rail show on KHEN radio (106.9 or on podcast) and attend many rail meetings. …
By Ann Marie Swan Claire Mechtly of Poncha Springs daydreamed of fruit trees weighted with fragrant, sweet orbs of all things good, then tenderly harvested. While riding her bike around town, Mechtly noticed neglected apple trees, hairy-looking with branches gnarled and elbowed. She imagined cutting those limbs to bring in light and air, and restoring …
By Martha Quillen Welcome to modern America, a place where citizens are divided by culture, faith, class, and ethnicity, yet are thoroughly connected by government, the Internet, social media, and often in their daily lives. But in recent decades, partisan rifts have grown, and today our politics are as fraught as they were during ‘Nam …
By John Mattingly Behold a field of ripe brew barley: Its long, bearded grain heads swaying hypnotically in a gentle breeze … we think of the yeoman farmer who planted and tended it to maturity where it ended up as beer that became a can or two that led to a teenage driving death, a …
By Mike Rosso Now that the house has been insulated, the next step is drywall. This is a very exciting step as you truly get the best sense of what the finished rooms look like, and also get an idea of how natural and artificial light reflects around the interior. Drywall is also know by …
By Ryan Kempfer History Mount Shavano is the southernmost fourteener in the magnificent Sawatch Range of Central Colorado. The Range is home to 15 of the 58 14,000-foot peaks in Colorado. The name Sawatch comes from the native Ute tribe meaning “water of the blue earth.” The story of the Angel of Shavano comes from …
By Tina Mitchell Enjoy cantaloupe or watermelon? The crunch of a crisp apple? That avocado in your guacamole? You might want to thank a bee. Super-pollinators of the flowering world, Colorado’s bees emerge, starting in April, from their hives or their nests underground, in hollow stems, or in tree cavities. More than 20,000 species of …
By Mike Rosso Shortly after our March 2019 issue was mailed out, we were contacted by local photographer Dan Downing whose work graced the cover of our November 2018 issue. He had an interesting story to tell about the March cover photo, taken of Marshall Pass in the 1890s by famed photographer William Henry Jackson. …
By John Cameron Crestone Needle rises from the valley floor as an imposing and jagged peak. It was the last 14,000-foot peak in Colorado to be climbed, a feat once presumed to be impossible. During a daring expedition in 1916, two of the best known climbers in North America would prove that the summit was …
By Mike Rosso It occurred to me only this morning that the previous issue of Colorado Central marked my 10th anniversary of purchasing this magazine from Ed and Martha Quillen. I took the helm in March 2009, making this my 111th issue! I’m trying to wrap my head around that fact but wanted to take …
Teresa Golden lives in the small mountain community of Gunnison. Her love of photography began as a child, and was influenced by many family members. Her grandfather showed her photography books of mountain scenery at the tender age of four years old. Her parents gave her a Nikon camera for her sixteenth birthday. Her grandmother …
By Hal Walter It started when Harrison was in sixth grade and the coach suggested he go out for the middle school cross-country team. I’d never considered that Harrison would be on a school sports team, but when he said he wanted to do this, I was all in. I’d also never considered this would …
By George Sibley An interesting thing happened mid-March in Boulder which the media seem to have mostly missed. Commissioners from Grand County showed up at a noisy Boulder County commissioners’ hearing on a West Slope-to-East Slope transmountain water diversion project – to testify on behalf of the project. It is probably the first time ever, …
By Wayne Iverson After the Chipeta Mountain name was moved to the high point of its massif in 2017, Salidan Craig Nielson came up to me and said that we needed to have a celebration. I said, “Good idea, you’re in charge, the budget is zero, I’m going to work in Alaska.” Nielson, an architect …
By Jan MacKell Collins If you have ever dreamt of owning an historic brothel, now is your chance. The former House of Joy, once owned by Buena Vista’s “Cockeyed Liz,” is for sale. There is much to be said about this charming little property, located right downtown on Main Street. Most interesting is its former …
