Colorado History

Tarryall City & Hamilton: South Park’s First Gold Rush

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FOR FOUR YEARS, 1859-62, the hotspot of mining activity in South Park was at Tarryall City and Hamilton, situated a half mile apart on opposite banks of Tarryall Creek, 2 miles north of present-day Como.  In the summer of 1859, a group of miners whose luck had run out at Gregory Diggings (Central City), including …

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The Old Goats

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SHORTLY AFTER MOVING TO SALIDA IN 2001, I began noticing random license plate frames around town embedded with the words “Old Goats.” I soon learned there was an organization founded in Salida for the purpose of helping preserve the Rocky Mountain goat. Members are referred to as “Old Goats.” While hiking a section of the …

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Winter Army

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10th Mountain Division

READERS OF THE BUENA VISTA newspaper will occasionally notice that some veteran of World War II is mentioned as having served in the 10th Mountain Division. The distinctive logo for the 10th Mountain appears on the occasional obituary. Sometimes the “winter army” is mentioned in an article.  A few of those men were locals when …

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Renaming Mount Evans

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Renaming Mount Evans

GOV. JARED POLIS THIS YEAR rescinded two orders on the steps of the State Capitol, ending the legal justification for the Sand Creek Massacre of 1864. Around 100 members of the Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes attended the ceremony, calling for changes. One of their “asks” was to change the name of Mount Evans, maybe to …

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Wild Tales from Hall Valley

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PARK AND CHAFFEE COUNTIES each have approximately 45 mining districts, geographical areas established during Colorado’s 1800s mining boom to specify individual mine locations. Many districts were named after a particular “strike,” a nearby town or even a memorable experience such as the early Snowblind District, the precursor to the Consolidated Montgomery District at the foot …

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Historic Architecture – The La Veta Pass Depot Constructed by the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad

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Photo and story by Kenneth Jessen The Denver & Rio Grande Railroad reached La Veta Pass in 1877 on its way westward into the San Luis Valley. At 9,390 feet, it was the highest railroad pass in the United States at that time. A stone depot was constructed at the pass along with other railroad …

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Ute Indian Lands

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by Virginia McConnell Simmons Ute Indians say they were always here, but, like migrations of other emigrants, theirs began far away. It started in Central America and Mexico thousands of years ago and ended on reservations in Utah and Colorado. The Ute and other Uto-Aztecan people, whose language is reflected in Utah’s state name, moved …

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Chaffee: The man behind the name

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Article by Duane Smith

Colorado History – August 2003 – Colorado Central Magazine

JEROME BONAPARTE CHAFFEE — mining man, politician, businessman, mill man, banker, and one of Colorado’s first two senators — was a “mover and shaker” in the 1860s and ’70s. Yet he quickly receded into history after his death in March 1886.

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Packer gets yet another trial

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Brief by Central Staff

Colorado History – September 2002 – Colorado Central Magazine

While the prospectors were stranded and starving near Lake San Christobal in early 1874, did Alfred Packer murder his five companions so that he could eat their flesh?

Or was he telling the truth when he said that while he was out hunting, Shannon Bell had butchered the others for meat? Packer confessed to killing Bell, but in self-defense, and to eating human flesh afterward, since they were already dead, there was no game, and the snow was too deep for him to travel.

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Creative cartography?

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Letter from Kenneth Jessen

Colorado history – April 2002 – Colorado Central Magazine

Creative cartography?

Editors:

Buyer Beware: The much touted 1894 map of Colorado, originally published by the Caxton Company, was just too good to be true. It has many long forgotten places, and added an amazing amount of information on long abandoned Colorado towns. It is generally accurate; however, there are towns on this map that appear in no other source, leading me to be somewhat suspicious about “creative” map making.

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Repeal of Sherman Act didn’t cause crash of 1892

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Letter from Harvey N. Gardiner

Colorado History – January 2000 – Colorado Central Magazine

Editors:

In your December issue, the interesting article “Tomichi Lives On” repeats an historical inaccuracy that has been so often repeated that it is now accepted as truth. The historical inaccuracy is that the repeal of the Sherman Silver Purchase Act caused the silver crash of 1893.

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Revisiting the Election of 1896

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Article by George Sibley

Colorado History – November 1996 – Colorado Central Magazine

A NATION BROUGHT TO THE VERGE

Revisiting the Election of 1896

The election campaign of 1996 should have been more interesting than it has been so far — and it also should have been more about the way the economy is undermining our democratic principles.

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Alferd Packer, the Colorado Cannibal

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Article by Ed Quillen

Colorado History – September 1995 – Colorado Central Magazine

Despite two sensational trials during his lifetime and frequent inquiries ever since, Alferd Packer will again face a judge and jury from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 17, at the Tabor Opera House in Leadville.

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