(Information was gleaned from copies of the Sierra JourÂnal and the Wet Mountain Tribune, all from the fourth week in January.)
140 Years Ago â 1885 (The Seirra Journal, Rosita)
Twenty two degrees below zero last Thursday at 11 oâclock p.m. How does that strike you?
Ex Vice President Schayler Colfax dropped dead in a depot at Mankato, Minnessota, on the 11th inst., from extreme cold and over exertion.
Pigs feet on ice at A. Walterâs.
A great many strangers are in town.
Mails now reach Rosita at night, which gives it to us sevÂeral hours earlier than before.
The rink is doing a thriving business. Go skate and be merry, or make the others be merry at the cost of a few falls.
Why is St. Clairâs enterprising sidewalk like the entrance to Canaan? Because it leads to a place flowing with milk and honey and all sorts of good things.
Last Wednesday evening the band tendered Prof. Evans a benefit at the skating rink. A large crowd was out, and skating and dancing were indulged in by all.
Charlie Hastings came up from Ilse yesterday, and says he has almost recovered from the affects of the leading.
100 Years Ago â 1925 (The Wet Mountain Tribune)
Among the old-time friends of Mr. Beck who were in Cañon City to attend his funeral Wednesday were Wm. Kettle, Gottlieb Hallauer, Ferdinand Oetrick, Jos. Kiesler, Anton Elder, Max Gamier and H.E. Schwab of the valley, and Albert and Fred, Diez and Charles Wolf of Gardner.
Extension looks good. Some fine samples of sulfide lead ore were brought down from the Bassick Extension property at Querida the first of the week. This ore was encountered in the east drift and the vein is four feet wise at this point. It ought to run twenty or thirty per cent lead and carry good values in silver but no tests had been made at this writing.
Community Church: The continued cold weather has cut our attendance some, but the interest is still good.
Jacob Beck, a native of Germany but for forty years a resÂident of this Valley, passed away suddenly at his late home in Cañon City on Sunday last, of acute indigestion, living only a couple of hours after receiving the attack. During his residence here, Mr. Beck was engaged in the ranch and stock raising business and was numbered among the more successful farmers and stockmen of this section. He served our people as county commissioner several terms and was considered a very good official.
40 years Ago â 1985
New facesâŠFred Jobe, Mel Boone tackle two tough Westcliffe positions. Two of Westcliffeâs most influential and visible town positions have been vacated and quickly filled again in the past few weeks.
The man who called himself âthe enforcerâ â Dave Murphy â trod on a few toes in his quest to enforce zoning laws and building codes, and had been more than once accused of misusing his position. He is to be replaced at the first of February by the seemingly more subdued Mel Boone.
Former Police Chief Terry Killen, a man with a volatile temper, also tended to step on a few toes while trying to enforce the law. He was replaced by the soft spoken Fred Jobe earlies this month.
Killen, who resigned so he could continue his educaÂtion in criminal justice, had been with the police departÂment since its inception in March, 1983. Before, law enforcement in Westcliffe had been taken care of by SherÂiff Bob Bakerâs Office.
The police department, which started with virtually nothing, begins 1985 with the promise of almost $28,000 or more than one-quarter of the townâs total 1985 budget of $105,000. In the time Killen had been with the department, towns people learned that he had some progressive, perhaps unpopular, stance on such activities as drinking and driving, âtailgateâ parties at the school parking lot, parking illegally and speeding in the school zone at 2 a.m.
Jobe now has to face the unpaid bills and ill feelings left behind by Killen. One change instituted by Jobe is the hiring of Baptist reverend Craig Lewis to help fill out the deputyâs Staff (which is mainly concerned with traffic conÂtrol at town events).
âYou have to remember that Murphy paved the way,â new Zoning Office and building inspector Mel Boone said. âMy job is to ensure equal interpretation of zoning and building regulations and performance.â
10 years ago â 2015
Dark Skies awaits Intâl. status; plans to install observaÂtory here. People all over Colorado have been waiting for Westcliffe and Silver Cliff to become the ninth International Dark Skies (IDS) community. The local Dark Skies memÂbers have been working hard on readying the IDS applicaÂtion, and expect to have it sent out by the end of February.
âWe are making sure that we do everything right for this application,â said Dark Skies President, Jim BradÂburn. âRight now Silver Cliff is going through normal due process to approve the needed requirements in the town for the application. We need this to be legitimate and donât want anything to be pushed through so that it can be turned in sooner.â
Silver Cliff has approved the changes needed for the application, including regulated lights to meet Dark Skies requirements. All that remains is to have the new law read three times in public before it becomes official.