To the Pike’s Peak Country in 1859 on the Smoky Hill Route – Part I
Henry Villard was a young newspaper correspondent who joined the Pike’s Peak gold rush early in 1859. The article presented here was his first story to his newspaper, the Cincinnati Daily Commercial, and appeared June 3, 1859. It was dated “Denver City, Mouth of Cherry Creek, May 17, 1859.” (more…)
State of Colorado, County of Gilpin, City of Black Hawk
Resolution No. 34-2017 – A resolution affirming the history of the John E. Dillingham lithograph entitled “View of Black Hawk Point,” the history of the official corporate seal of the City of Black Hawk, and ordaining the Latin phrase “Noli me tangere” as the City’s official motto. (more…)
A Colorado Pioneer
By Maggie Magoffin
Nearly every nationality in the civilized world, and every phase of human character were represented among the early miners that found their way into the mountain-locked mining camps of Black Hawk and the portion of Central known as Mountain City. This conglomerate mass of humanity, gathered there from the four corners of the world, was without the usual local laws that govern communities, and remote from the moral and restraining influences of society and religious institutions. (more…)
November 15, 1919 – March 28, 2017
Lela White Green died on March 28, 2017 at Aria Park Assisted Living in Lakewood, Colorado. Lela was born on November 15, 1919 to Paul Revere and Anna Lee White the second of four children and the only daughter. (more…)
Or other favorite buildings in Central City
By Barbara Thielemann
The Office of Archaeology and Historic Preservation has prepared a very helpful document to assist historic researchers find vital information of old buildings. An owner of a historic house or building might be encouraged to obtain a National, State, or local Historic designation. When such occurs, the significance of this property is recognized, and it also establishes eligibility for various grants and tax credit programs. (more…)
A Colorado Pioneer
By Maggie Magoffin
Many thanks to Mary Ramstetter of Golden Gate Canyon for this week’s column. From Theodore Francis Van Wagenen’s Master’s thesis from Colorado School of Mines.Van Wagenen was a young kid from back east. With mining degree in hand, the memoirs in this story are recalling events from approximately 1871. (more…)
Honoring our Veterans
by Chris Reder
“For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of life, above and beyond the call of duty.”
March 25, a day set aside to honor our nation’s most decorated war heroes, Medal of Honor recipients. The Medal of Honor is the highest military honor the nation can bestow, an example of the respect given, officers salute those who wear it. It is the elite of the elite, currently there are only 75 recipients living today. (more…)
Buffalo chip toss at the Buffalo Bill Museum
by Dave Gibson
When the days are short and winter has grown long, Coloradoans must sometimes invent ways to entertain themselves outdoors and stave off cabin fever. The Buffalo Chip Toss at the Buffalo Bill Museum in Golden is an example of just such an excuse to amuse while trying one’s luck in an unusual activity that tests accuracy and fortitude. (more…)
Colorado Pioneers
By Maggie Magoffin
Mark L. Blunt was born in Boston, Massachusetts, May 23, 1832, and was educated in the public schools of that city. At the age of 12, obliged to earn a livelihood, he found employment first in a book store. Subsequently, he learned the trade of a printer, supplemented by that of a stereotyper* and electrotyper**. (more…)
Colorado Pioneers
By Maggie Magoffin
J.R. Beverly was what one might refer to as a rolling stone, moving from place to place and opportunity to opportunity. In 1837, the Beverly’s lived in Thornville, Ohio, where on June 28th of that year his wife gave birth to a son they named William H. Beverly. In 1843, the Beverly’s welcomed J. M. Beverly into this world in Culpepper County, Virginia. Later that same year, the Beverly’s relocated to Edgar County, Illinois. By 1844, the Beverly family lived in Clark County, Ohio. (more…)
A Colorado Pioneer
Lewis W. Berry was born in Brooklyn, New York, on December 1, 1822. His father was a ship carpenter and worked for many years in the U.S. Navy, where young Berry learned his trade. (more…)
A Colorado Pioneer
By Maggie Magoffin
Born in New York on November 9, 1824, in 1860 Fayette W. Beebee and wife, Ella, came and housed themselves in an unpretentious dirt-roofed, floorless cabin on Illinois Bar. There the sluices glistened with gold and heaps of boulders everywhere attested to the discovery of its hiding places in pay streaks and on shale bedrocks. (more…)
A Colorado Pioneer
By Maggie Magoffin
Joseph S. Beaman was born in Bondorf, Baden, Germany, October 23, 1834, to Joseph and Elizabeth Beaman. He attended the School of Bondorf. At the age of 15, in 1849, he sailed with his mother and siblings aboard the steamer “Holyoke” from Havre, France to New Orleans, a 49-day ocean journey. (more…)
A day that is painful to remember – a day we must never forget
by Patty Unruh
“Yesterday, December 7, 1941 – a date which will live in infamy – the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan.” (more…)
Spending time with family and reflecting on why we celebrate
By Maggie Magoffin
Christmas in Colorado in the mid 1800’s included many of the same traditions we observe today, but gifts, greeting cards and decorations were all made by hand. It was a much simpler time when pride was taken in each stitch made or scrap of wood nailed or shaved away. (more…)
A Colorado Pioneer
By Maggie Magoffin
Born July 31, 1840 in Perryville, Kentucky, William Henry Yankee at an early age moved with his family to Sedalia, Missouri and grew up on a farm there. At only eighteen years of age he drove his oxen team from a prairie schooner across the plains of Missouri to Colorado. (more…)