110 Years Ago â 1915
Henning and Stroehlke have taken a lease on a 200-foot block of ground south of the Harriet Mineshaft and with a long surface cross-cut have cut the vein and some good-looking carbonate ore has been exposed.
Big improvements are being made at the J.A. Merriam drug store in the way of a new front for the building and cement sidewalk. The improvements will add greatly to the appearance of the building.
Mr. and Mrs. Harry Kettle and son Will and Mr. and Mrs. Hugo Goschen left Monday in the Kettle car for a trip of two or three weeks in the western part of the state. They will go as far as Rangeley in Rio Blanco County.
An excursion train will leave Pueblo for Westcliffe at 7:30 a.m. on Sunday, July 4, and will leave Westcliffe at 12 midnight. Make plans now. There will be three days of activities and continuous sport at the race track, something doing every minute, on July 3, 4, and 5. Horseback QuaÂdrilles all three days. Relay races with substantial purses. A ladiesâ half-mile dash. A smoker featuring a 10-round boxing exhibition by local stars followed by 20 rounds put on by State Champions Crosby and Williams and a final 15-round heavyweight bout by Jack Thompson, 180-pound champion of Missouri vs. âBattling Joeâ Glayson, 190-pound champion of Texas. Also All-Star acts by the Majestic Circuit Vaudeville Show.
60 Years Ago â 1965
The annual meeting of the Custer County Stockgrowers Association will be held at 1 p.m. on Saturday, June 26, at the school. Harold Vickerman, secretary, said an effort is being made to have Jack Bain, the new president of the ColÂorado Cattlemenâs Assn., present for the meeting. The banÂquet will be held in the high school gym at 7 p.m., followed by the stockmenâs dance from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. in the gym, with music by Dale Brown and the Sundowners.
William P. Garritson has been chosen by the Custer County Cowbelles as their Beef Father of the Year. The local Cowbelle group is convinced that Mr. Garritson has contributed more to their success this year than any other individual. No stranger to the cattle business himself, Mr. Garritson ranched south of Westcliffe on the Muddy from 1906 to 1948. He was born in Del Norte in 1885. He moved with his parents from the San Luis Valley via the Medano Pass by wagon, driving all their cattle along. Heâs now an active participant at the Entz Grocery and Market in Silver Cliff.
Custerites attending the Colorado State Cattlemenâs Association meeting in Craig last weekend were Mr. and Mrs. Lisle Vahldick, Mr and Mrs. C. Wm. Benson, and Dr. and Mrs. Ben Kettle.
Miss Betty Skul, a senior next year at Custer County High School, is currently attending Girls State on the campus of Colorado Womenâs College in Denver. She is the daughter of Mrs. Lela Skul.
35 Years Ago â 1990
While it canât yet be accurately measured, there is bound to be a direct impact on Custer County when construction begins this summer on the nationâs largest federal penitentiary complex nine miles north of WetÂmore. Gary Stendahl, Contracting Officer for the Federal Bureau of Prisons, was a guest speaker at last weekâs meeting of the Custer County Chamber of Commerce. He said ground-breaking on the first phase of the $150 milÂlion project will be held July 14, and that it is expected to take three years to complete all four prisons, which will be clustered on a 600-acre site. He said that when fully operational, the complex will house 2,100 federal inmates and will have a staff of nearly 900. Stendahl said many construction workers and prison employees will live in Custer County and commute to the facility, with many more visiting the Valley regularly to hunt, fish and enjoy other recreational opportunities here.
To the discerning eye, these were no ordinary two-seat jalopies: a bevy of Bugattis roared and rumbled through the Valley last weekend, leaving knowledgeable car enthusiasts dumbstruck. The average going price for these French-made classics, from the 1920s and â30s, is about $1.5 million. The drivers who traveled to Westcliffe are members of the American Bugatti Club which is holding a four-day ColoÂrado rally.
Rob Roy, son of Emil and Bobby Roy of Silver Cliff, was awarded a trophy last week for placing third in a Kansas motoÂcross competition. His next race will be in Oklahoma City.
20 Years Ago â 2005
A Custer County man and a Pueblo County woman died in separate highway accidents this past week. James MaloÂney, 53, of Rosita died when his motorcycle crashed near the Pueblo-Custer County line on Highway 96. Carissa Carr, 19, of Pueblo died when the vehicle she was riding in crashed along Highway 165.
During their Town Hall meeting in Westcliffe on Sunday afternoon, District 60 State Representative Tom Massey, R-Poncha Springs, and Speaker of the House Andrew RomaÂnoff, D-Denver, asked attendees to support two upcoming ballot initiatives. One would allow the state to keep some $3.2 billion in TABOR funds over the next three years to fund K-12 education, public health care, and state and community colleges. The other would establish a bond for capital improvements throughout the state. Massey said the funding measures are critical to Coloradoâs future, given the current recession brought on by 9-11, a downward turn in the national economy, and previous legislative action that uses one yearâs budget to balance the next.
Harvey and Ginnie Geroux have a new hay baler theyâre itching to try out when the harvest season gets underway.
15 Years Ago â 2010
A pair of wildfires are flanking the Wet Mountain Valley, and neither has been fully contained. The Medano Fire is currently on the western lank of the Sangre de Cristo mounÂtains near the Sand Dunes and has burned some 4,800 acres. Forest Service officials say it likely will continue to burn for weeks. The Parkdale Canyon Fire is located near the Royal Gorge, and has scorched some 700 acres. The Medano Fire was reportedly started by lightning; the Parkdale Fire was apparently sparked by the Royal Gorge Railroad.
Sheriff Fred Jobe and fire chief Mick Kastendieck have instituted a fire ban county-wide.
Gertrude Oakley, who died earlier this year, bequeathed more than $300,000 to the Wet Mountain Valley Community Foundation.
11 Years Ago â 2014
In a political shake-up, Bob Kattnig defeated one-term incumbent Allen Butler and third contender Jack Canterbury in the District One county commissioner race in Tuesdayâs Republican primary election. In the race for county sherÂiff, Shannon Byerly won out over challengers Tony Supan and Eric Thompson. With no challenges forthcoming in the November general election, the primary election winners are virtually assured of taking office in January.
Approximately 200 people turned out for the annual Custer County High School Alumni Celebration on SatÂurday. Among the honorees were members of the Class of 1964; those attending from the Golden Class were former teacher Gordon Thornton and classmates Larry Kleine, Bob Kattnig, Carl Benson, Albert Lira, Dennis Crow, Jerry Hall, J.D. Bauer, Roy Dieckman, and Ann Chockley Lewis.
1 Year Ago â 2024
Locals have started to notice that many of the local ponds dotting the region have been filled in by heavy equipment as the State of Colorado cracks down on surface water that does not have proper water rights.
District Attorney Linda Stanley wraps up a two-week hearing that could spell the end of her legal career.
Custer County Search and Rescue was busy last week in town, holding a tracking training exercise in the fields outside the Search and Rescue Headquarters.
The Custer County School Board voted to change policy that allows for staff to serve as board members. This was criticized by former School Board Peggi Collins due to the obvious conflicts of interest of the changed policy.
