(Information was gleaned from copies of the Wet MounÂtain Tribune, unless otherwise noted, all from the last week in March.)
140 Years Ago â 1885
The Sierra Journal, Rosita
A party of gentlemen went up to inspect the Plymouth Monday afternoon, and all express themselves as satisfied that it is an excellent property. The new shaft is down about forty feet and at the bottom shows the vein to be at least ten feet wide. It is believed however that the main ore body lies some twenty feet south of the present shaft. The shaft shows three streaks of mineral of a grey copper formation, from two to six inches in width, which return good assay values.
Mr. Frank A. Tuttle, manager of the âTwo Bonanzas,â goes to Leadville next week. The âTwo Bonanzasâ will be produced at the Opera House there.
M.D. Swisher, proprietor of the Rosita & Silver Cliff Stage & Express Co., visited Rosita last Sunday with his new Concord coach, which will hereafter run between Rosita and Westcliffe daily.
100 Years Ago â 1925
Installing Water Gauge: The Southern Colorado Power company is installing a self registering water gauge on Grape Creek, just above the DeWeese-Dye reservoir for the purpose of measuring the daily flow into the reservoir. The gauge is of the newest pattern and records its work on a dial that has to be checked up only once a week. The object in securing a record of the discharge into the reservoir from the watershed above is to obtain data concerning the flow during the spring and summer months preliminary to the possible construction of a new hydroelectric power plant on lower Grape Creek.
Now that the Passiflora deal has gone through and work has been started upon the property, there are numerous other mining properties here upon which deals could be made if only the owners would be willing to make on them liberal terms. As far as the owner receiving a cash payment on his property is concerned, that day is gone with the exception of the case where a body of pay ore is blocked out and can be measured. The man or company who puts up the capital to develop a property is entitled to a good share of the income in case of success, and all the claim holder can expect is a fair share while the property is being worked and a certainty that it will be returned to him in case the company becomes defunct.
40 years ago â 1985
Four Custer County residents are competing in a political race for the three available seats on the C-1 Board of EducaÂtion. The District Four seat is currently held by rancher Stan Coleman, a position he has held for more than 12 years. He is running again and is being challenged in the race by Judy Jo Mackie, co-owner of the Alpine Lodge. The District 5 seat is now held by rancher Les Schullze but he has declined to run again after holding the seat for 17 years. Gary Kessler, a building contractor, put his name on the ballot. Incumbent Kathy Piquette is running again for District One. Other Board members whose terms did not expire this year are rancher Jack Geroux and Deloris Jobe, manager of the Valley Market.
10 Years Ago â 2015
Westcliffe is one step closer to getting speedy and reliÂable internet access. The proposed Local Public Access WiFi System will hopefully be up and running by June in time for the June 20 Ride the Rockies event. One of the key stumÂbling blocks was finding the needed $50,000 in funding, and that has been tentatively put in place. Once operational, the first phase of the system will provide WiFi service all along Westcliffeâs Main Street from The Bluff to the Custer County School, as well as the Custer County Rodeo/Fairgrounds and the Westcliffe Town Park and the Hermit Pavilion Park, and some surrounding streets.
A new distillery is operating in town, Wet Mountain Whiskey, owned and operated by Steve Rorick. Already, his liquor is making headlines, having won silver at the Denver International Spirits Competition, which is one of the largÂest spirit competitions in the world. There were six silver medalists from the contest, chosen by professional beverage judges and liquor specialists. Rorick entered the Wet MounÂtain Whiskeyâs white rum and told the Tribune that he knew it was good enough to win.
Over 100 volunteers have signed up to help during the international Ride the Rockies event, a week-long, 465-mile bike ride that concludes in Westcliffe on Saturday, June 20. However, more are still needed to help fill spaces in nine separate volunteer groups that have been organized by the Chamber of Commerce. Volunteer coordinator Gail Perkins, sat down with the Tribune to explain that âwe are continuing to take names for volunteers because we will be able to find something for them to do.â
1 Year Ago â 2024
In Custer County, it used to be that the Republican PriÂmary was the only race of an election year that mattered, as it was rare that unaffiliated or Democratic candidates challenged Republicans in the general election in NovemÂber. But this year, a few surprises have already caused a stir in the local election calculations. The current County Commissioner for District Two, Kevin Day, switched from Republican to Unaffiliated. Day had come under attack from previous supporters for casting votes that they disagreed with and not supporting the recall effort against former Commissioner Tom Flower. For months, supporters of ComÂmissioner Bill Canda hurled insults at Commissioner Day, sometimes to the point that Sheriffâs deputies were called into the meetings.
For the past two weeks, Custer and Western Fremont counties have been pummeled with two large spring snow storms. While these types of storms are considered a typical weather pattern for this region, the past few springs have been much drier than the historical average. And once again, the big March storms have not completely evened the score when it comes to drought.