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Dec 30, 2010
Happy 2011!
One hundred years ago, the Eagle Valley Enterprise noted in an editorial [“Growth and Prosperity,” Dec. 30, 1910] that agriculture was finally coming into its own through a combination of water (irrigation) and science. The pioneers who came west to “wrest a fortune from the mountains by mining” ended up finding greener (easier?) gold in the fields and pastures of Eagle County. “Development of Eagle County’s agricultural possibilities to the vast extent of the present has been a... Read More »
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Dec 08, 2010
Pando (not a typo)
On December 7, 1941, Pearl Harbor was bombed and the United States finally committed to World War II. The 1st Battalion (Reinforced) 87th Mountain Infantry Regiment, activated on November 15, 1941, at Fort Lewis, Washington, needed a place large enough to train for division-sized maneuvers and where they could fire live ammunition. The place the Army found was Pando, a settlement located at the northern end of the Pando Valley, on the main line of the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad and U.S... Read More »
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Nov 08, 2010
Over there
Veterans Day, a federal holiday in the United States, honors all military veterans. It is celebrated on November 11th, commemorating the most significant armistice of World War I, which was signed at 5AM November 11, 1918, and came into effect six hours later—“the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month.” President Woodrow Wilson made November 11, 1919, the first celebration of Armistice Day. Read More »
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Nov 02, 2010
Water, Water Everywhere
Water and the infrastructure necessary for ensuring community health has been a problem for Red Cliff for at least twenty-five years. The town lived under a boil order for fourteen months, one of the longest issued by the Colorado Department of Health and Environment, as a protection against Giardia. That ended in May 2002 when a partially grant-funded micro-filtration water plant came on line. It replaced the old system which was overwhelmed with sediment during spring runoff. (Photo... Read More »
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Oct 07, 2010
Odd Lots
Visual literacy is the process of examining a photograph for detail and then making inferences base on those details. Does the photograph raise any questions? My primary question is usually “Who is holding the camera?” That question, if answered, may provide a great deal of context. Another question might be “Is a particular event being photographed?” Wedding photographs are usually very obvious. “Who is in the photograph?” may present the most frustration if the photo isn’t labeled. ... Read More »
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Sep 20, 2010
Fire Season
Forest fires in Colorado can easily get out of hand. The recent fires near Boulder destroyed many homes and all Colorado communities watching Boulder are concerned. More people are building out from the suburbs in forested areas, beetle kill pines are providing a lot of fuel, and the summer is prime time for lightning strikes. A recent brush fire in Eagle was rapidly extinguished but not before the rising smoke provided some tense moments. Read More »
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Sep 03, 2010
Revolutions Redux
Electricity came late to rural Eagle County. By 1928, the town of Eagle had an established grid. Many less populated areas relied on generators, mostly gasoline driven. Avon, with a population spread over many ranched miles, was without commercial electricity in 1928 but it did have the Eagle River. Emmett and Myrtle Nottingham decided that they would use the fast-flowing river to produce electricity. Read More »
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Aug 11, 2010
Burying the Past
Cemeteries provide so much history for genealogists and researchers. Cemetery and mortuary records are usually accurate and are a source of birth and death dates, interment dates, and information about place of death. When these records are compromised, most recently noted at our national cemetery in Arlington, Virginia, there is indignation over the breach of trust with regard to respect for the deceased. For early settlers in any geographical region, many burials took place outside of... Read More »
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Jul 16, 2010
My Little Rocky Mountain Canary (thank you, W.C.)
In addition to being a term of endearment used by W. C. Fields, Rocky Mountain Canary refers to that glorious beast of burden, the burro, used by early prospectors in the American West. In the West the word “burro,” coming from the Spanish, is interchangeable with “donkey.” There is now recognized a connotation of size, a burro being a smaller donkey, but whatever the size, the braying characteristic of the animal can be heard for over three kilometers. This vocalization (“eeyore”) named... Read More »
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Jun 26, 2010
What's Black and White and Read All Over?
Historic newspapers are such a rich source of information, especially for our small towns of Western Slope Colorado. When newspapers and letters were the only choices for the dissemination of information, the content was rich and the local goings-on were well documented. If Chester Mayer went to the County Seat in Red Cliff to conduct business, there would be a paragraph mentioning his trip in the Eagle Valley Enterprise... Read More »
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