Sidebar by Patrick O’grady
Pack-burro racing – July 1997 – Colorado Central Magazine
I ran my first 10K on Memorial Day weekend, and I’m here to tell you — I’ve never seen a bigger pack of jackasses.
That’s not just a figure of speech. The event was the Silver Cliff to Westcliffe Western Pack-Burro Race, and as such featured a herd of four-legged jackasses to complement the two-legged variety.
Column by Hal Walter
Pack-burro racing – July 1997 – Colorado Central Magazine
It’s easy to figure, but difficult to understand, that if it hadn’t been for the obscure sport of pack-burro racing, I might not be living in Central Colorado tending to this jackass and word farm. But here I am, and if I have anyone to thank for saving me from the madness of what most people call “The Real World,” it would be Jumpin’ Jack, Clyde, Virgil, Hannibal and Spike — my five long-eared dependents.
Review by Ed Quillen
Novel with local setting – July 1997 – Colorado Central Magazine
Refuge
a novel by Mark Olsen
Published in 1996
by Sardis Press
ISBN 0963946528
Review by Ed Quillen
Colorado History – July 1997 – Colorado Central Magazine
Enos Mills: Citizen of Nature
by Alexander Drummond
Published in 1995 by University Press of Colorado
ISBN 0870814079
Review by Ed Quillen
Colorado History – July 1997 – Colorado Central Magazine
Colorado Gunsmoke – True Stories of Outlaws and Lawmen on the Colorado Frontier
by Ken Jessen
Published in 1986 by J.V. Publications
ISBN 0961166258
Essay by Ed Quillen
The West – July 1997 – Colorado Central Magazine
THE WEST is a hard thing to put your finger on. For one thing, it has several “centers.” There’s the Center for the Study of the North American West, in Phnix, I’ve heard, along with some centers I’ve actually visited — the Center of the American West in Boulder, and the Center for the New West in Denver.
Those are all centers to explore the political and sociological complexities of “the West.” But past the multitude of centers, what do we mean when we talk about the West? West of what?
Article by Duane Smith
Local History – July 1997 – Colorado Central Magazine
What baseball team was Colorado’s best ever? Rockies’ fans would pick one of their favorite nines, while old-time fans would argue for one or another of the Denver Bears’ strongest teams. For the nineteenth century, however, no debate is necessary. The 1882 Leadville Blues sweep all before them, as they did their opponents for one glorious season.
Essay by Christina Nealson
Mountain Life – July 1997 – Colorado Central Magazine
Emma’s coveralls sag ’round her small, plump body and cast a smell of alfalfa and cow dung. The furrows in her face are as deep as those in her fields, dark lines etched by years of sun and wind, the work of the land.
Her two-story wood home sets proud on a prairie landscape with few trees. Its quiet walls no longer rumble with the comings and goings of family. Her clutch is gone, the up-stairs bedrooms shut off to save on heating bills.
Article by Sharon K. Chickering
Local Artist – July 1997 – Colorado Central Magazin
Art and Mary DuPont sit at a round table in a corner of their southern-facing, second-story front room, sun pouring in through floor-to-ceiling windows which command views of Leadville and the Sawatch Range. Bright red and yellow/orange tomatoes hang from potted plants on the floor.
Letter from Stephen C. Glover
Geologic Hazards – July 1997 – Colorado Central Magazine
Editors:
Thanks so much for sending me an issue of your Colorado Central Magazine. I enjoyed it thoroughly!
I was particularly interested in the article by Paul Martz on “Construction in the Stupid Zone.” I may be going to do just that, on a site up Chalk Creek.
Letter from Emil Bruce Lester, Jr.
Industrial Tourism – July 1997 – Colorado Central Magazine
Mining, Logging, Grazing Would Have to Work at It To Destroy Like Tourism
Editors:
Soon after someone devises another way of earning a living, others join in, associations are formed, political action committees are financed, and someone adds the postscript “industry” to the business.
Tourism has now matured to the level of an “industry” in this country. Thirty years ago, tourism would have been considered an activity for the marginally employed, for the leisure set, and for retirees; it was not a serious occupation. Today serious money is involved.
Article by Paul Martz
Geologic Hazards – July 1997 – Colorado Central Magazine
The first article in this two-part series dealt with potential problems with a more-or-less immediate negative result: Losing control of your pickup while towing a horse trailer up Droney Gulch because of slick bentonite after a thunderstorm is pretty immediate, from my point of view.
Article by Don Pennington
Outdoor recreation – July 1997 – Colorado Central Magazine
Most of us probably spend more and more of our waking hours working to support a family and the expense it incurs. Today, many of us work two jobs or work both days and evenings to make ends meet. Because of these things it has become more and more important to incorporate into an ever smaller amount of time, the recreational experiences that make our time and effort at work worthwhile.
Essay by Tom Lynch
Outdoor Recreation – July 1997 – Colorado Central Magazine
Most of us, if we watch much TV, have seen the Coors Light “Tap the Rockies” commercials. A shot of snow-capped peaks appears. Then the forms of several young men and women, vastly over-sized, loom above the mountains. They are engaged in a sporting activity — tossing a football or Frisbee — and, of course, drinking Coors Light.
The message of the commercial, in addition to the obvious plug for the brew, is that the vast Rocky Mountains are really just a big playground.
Brief by Central Staff
Local history – July 1997 – Colorado Central Magazine
Between mileposts 44 and 45 on Colo. 114 west of Saguache, a lone fenced grave sits a few yards south of the road. The marble tombstone carries this inscription:
ARTHUR LLOYD MONK
MAJOR TO HM 22 FOOT
DIED APRIL 19, 1883
AGED 51 Yrs 7 Ms 18 Dys
And the burden laid upon him was more than he could bear.
Brief by Central Staff
Guffey – July 1997 – Colorado Central Magazine
The mayor of Guffey got a few minutes of fame recently, when Denver TV station KMGH featured the public official on its 10 p.m. newscast.
Guffey, which sits between South Park and Cañon City, isn’t incorporated, but the settlement has a mayor anyway. Her name is Shanda, and she’s a seven-year-old golden retriever.
Brief by Central Staff
Christo project – July 1997 – Colorado Central Magazine
Christo and Jeanne-Claude, internationally famous artists, plan to hang translucent fabric over four to six miles of the Arkansas River in the Spikebuck area. The huge art project, called Over the River, likely won’t materialize until 1999 or later.
Letter from Donna Nevens
Local history – July 1997 – Colorado Central Magazine
Cleora was once Proposed For the Lake County Seat
Editors:
I am writing with reference to your comments about Cleora in the June, 1997, edition of Colorado Central. Residents of the platted townsite voted to incorporate the town at an election held at the Grand View Hotel on August 26, 1879.
Mayor W.A. Hawkins and a five-member Board of Trustees held their first meeting on October 4, 1879, at which time they appointed a treasurer, marshal, police judge, and corporate attorney. An addition to the town was platted later and filed in the office of the county clerk. The board held its last meeting on May 27, 1880.