The invasion of the birds

Column by Hal Walter

Wildlife – March 1997 – Colorado Central Magazine

If you’re going to feed the birds, you might as well do it in a big way.

There’s a flock of ravens here at my ranch that I’ve been spoiling all winter. It’s actually inadvertent. They come in the morning to pick at the tiny leaves that fall from the alfalfa hay I feed my burros. They drink from the stock tanks, peck at the salt block, squabble lightly amongst themselves and in general have a good old time.

Read more

Where to find out more about Pike

Sidebar by Ed Quillen

Pike expedition – March 1997 – Colorado Central Magazine

Any study of the Pike Expedition should start with Pike’s journals. The most accessible edition is an unabridged Dover reprint of The Expeditions of Zebulon Montgomery Pike, edited by Elliott Coues, and originally issued in 1895.

Read more

The adventures of Zebulon M. Pike

Article by Ed Quillen

Local history – March 1997 – Colorado Central Magazine

This hard winter marks the 190th anniversary of the first winter spent in Central Colorado by American citizens. History knows this as the Pike Expedition, named for its commander, Capt. Zebulon Mont gomery Pike, who left his name on 14,110-foot Pike’s Peak, which, as the late historian Marshall Sprague put it, Pike “neither discovered nor climbed nor named.”

Read more

Opposition is just a ruse to attract protesters

Letter from Clawy Warren

Mosquito Hunting – March 1997 – Colorado Central Magazine

Opposition to Skeeter Hunt is Really just a Ruse to Get Insect-Right Protesters to Spend Big in Saguache

Dear Editor,

Ah wuz all set to ignore Riff Fenton’s pinko, commie, Insect Rights attack on this year’s Winter Skeeter Shoot in Saguache as just anuther one o’ them trendy New Age things. Then hit occurred to me that this is an example o’ one a them so called false-flag type o’ protests and hit’s probably being organized by the Greater Metro Saguache Council of Governments and by the Greater Metro Sagauche Council of Governments and Outdoor Recreation. (Ah recognize their style.)

Read more

Where to find the book?

Letter from Fraces Mccullough

Book review – March 1997 – Colorado Central Magazine

Thanks for the Review, But Where to Find the Book?

Dear Ms. Quillen:

Thank you for the well-written book review of To Catch a Star by Florence McCarty printed in your December 1996 issue of Colorado Central.

Your observations and comments of and on the book were unique in that you compared life then with that now. And you picked up items in the book that hadn’t been commented on before: Julius working in Kansas for the abusive farmer, death in the lives of Julius and Edla, Florence’s dresser gift in Stunner, the values of the Hansens in their family and lives, etc., and your editorial comments were great!

Read more

Vail Trust may be sacred, but is it responsible

Letter from S. Voynic & L. La Rocca

Vail sale – March 1997 – Colorado Central Magazine

Vail Trust may be `Sacred,’ But is it Responsible?

Editors:

We were touched by the Vail Resorts’ full-page ad, titled “A Sacred Trust,” which appeared in regional newspapers Jan. 7. Vail Resorts’grand plans seem to include “improved facilities and an improved network of high-speed lifts, interchangeable lift tickets, and innovative marketing programs,” and all the other gimmicks designed to squeeze more money out of skiers. We note that social responsibility, however, does not seem to be a part of the Sacred Trust.

Read more

Park County has the answer: Delay

Letter from Linda Spielman

Local government – March 1997 – Colorado Central Magazine

Park County has the answer: Postpone, Delay, Study, Examine & then File a Suit

A Follow-up to Charlie Spielman’s letter, from Mrs. Charlie Spielman

Editors:

Although I agree completely with Charlie’s analysis of our problems, both past and present, I completely disagree with his solution.

Read more

Government agencies must learn to cooperate

Letter from Charlie Spieman

Local Government – March 1997 – Colorado Central Magazine

Government agencies must learn to cooperate

To the Editors:

Your editorial and articles in the February 1997 issue provide eloquent analyses of Central Colorado’s problems with uncontrolled growth — a theme presented so frequently in the pages of Colorado Central Magazine that some have begun referring to it as The Whiners’ Gazette. But as a native and current resident of Colorado’s small-town interior, I agree with much of the pointing with pride and viewing with alarm that goes on in the pages of your publication. I also believe wholeheartedly that attention must be given to alarm bells that you and others sound.

Read more

How “Calf Rock” appeared at Red Hill in 1947

Letter from Ruth Weeks Sparling

Roadside Attraction – March 1997 – Colorado Central Magazine

How `Calf Rock’ appeared on Red Hill Ranch in 1947 and once fooled the owner

To the Editor:

Re: Your January 1997 edition, Page 4, “Calf Rock Remains a Mystery.”

Our family has been amused for years that the public seems to have taken our “cow rock” to their hearts! Yes, we think of it as ours, because at the time it was first painted, the ranch on which it is located, “Red Hill Ranch,” lying partly in that beautiful valley between Red Hill and Ranniker Ridge, belonged to our family. Here is how it all started.

Read more

Uranium mining may return

Brief by Central Staff

Mining – March 1997 – Colorado Central Magazine

A hitherto remote part of Central Colorado could see both development and mining as a result of the sale of a 10,000-acre ranch.

The ranch, in the Tallahassee Creek area south of Florissant, had belonged to Cyprus Minerals, a corporate ancestor of today’s Cyprus-Amax, and in the late 1970s, Cyprus planned a big uranium mine there — the Hansen Project.

Read more