Walsenburg
1863: In the special election held Sept. 1 the voters approved the site of the county seat to be located at the Fort Union crossing of the Huerfano River from Greenhorn [i.e. Badito].
1870: Elected county commissioners in the Sept. 13 election were John W. Brown, Jose Mario Jaques and Besente Gomez. Brown was elected chairman of the board.
1883: Coal was struck in the new slope at the Walsen mines and the event was celebrated with a social hop in Mazzone’s Hall.
1895: Dr. G.F. Hanna, a dentist, moved here from Missouri and rented rooms from Dr. Baird in the Kearns building.
1902: A miner at Pictou fired two shots into the school house while a dance was in progress and is now enjoying his fame in the county jail.
1910: The Walsenburg Elks paraded through Main Street Tuesday in their beautiful Satanic costumes to open the Parker charity show.
1917: Dr. N.T. Abdou [actually, Dr. Abdun-Nur] is the latest addition to Walsenburg’s medical fraternity.
1923: James Cameron had his arm amputated by the Drs. Lamme after he suffered severe injuries in a rock fall in the mine. He is the superintendent of the Turner #2 mine and cousin of Frank Cameron, president of the Utah Fuel Company.
1930: Not less than $3,500 worth of high grade sugar beets will be shipped about Oct. 1 from the Joe Corsentino place northeast of Walsenburg. The 35 acres are yielding 14 tons each, at $7.00 per ton.
1937: Several Huerfano County ranchmen are taking advantage of the high livestock market prices to sell their stock to pay off debts and back taxes from the past few years.
1942: Thousands of Colorado cars are expected to disappear from the highways this winter with the new gas rationing.
1949: Huerfano County miners joined the eastern walkout almost 100%, with “Work” signs posted by mine owners going unheeded.
1956: A crackdown on the parents of curfew violators and juvenile delinquents in Walsenburg has been ordered.
1964: City Council proposed a $112,465 general fund budget for 1965.
1971: Recent snows in the high country have brought a reminder that all snowmobiles must be registered with the Division of Game, Fish and Parks.
1978: Bob Vallejo, a 20-year Safeway employee, was presented with a 10-karat gold watch band by Store Manager Herman Martinez.
1985: For the seventh consecutive year, Jim West won the Walsenburg Golf Association championship.
1992: A bilingual play, “Ludlow, El Grito de Minas”, will be presented Saturday night in the Youth Center Theatre.
La Veta
1876: Magnus Tait discovered gold the 22nd of last August about 12 miles south of La Veta and the extensions now have been staked for about three miles. The assay gave $103 in gold, with traces of silver.
1882: Senator Harlan of Iowa is here with his granddaughter Mamie, daughter of Secretary of War Robert T. Lincoln, to check on his mining interests on the West Spanish Peak.
1889: A Walsenburg doctor visited the mines on the Spanish Peaks and reported everything flourishing at the Bulls Eye Mine, which sold recently for $50,000.
1896: The Russell Placer Mining Company at Placer has 80 acres of rich placer ground and will soon be ready to supply Grover and McKinley with more gold for England.
1903: The Springer mine is selling winter coal at $2.75 for lump and $2.50 for nut, delivered. Leave orders with Charley Kitchens or the Lawton Grocery, or phone 242 White.
1909: You’ll soon want to keep warm by buying Screened Lump Coal, $4.40 a ton delivered. La Veta Lumber and Supply.
1916: Mr. and Mrs. C.H. Dorian and family left today for a six week visit with relatives in Hurdland, Missouri.
1924: Kenneth Karst and Paul Dudley, both of Apache, and Claude Harrison of La Veta, won the Huerfano County 4-H stock judging and will represent this county in the state fair.
1931: La Veta National Bank received a check for $1,223.00 from the National Surety Company of New York to cover the amount stolen in the recent robbery.
1938: Cooler weather has provided a cure for the “Sleeping Sickness” that killed 40 horses, valued at $4,000, this summer in Huerfano County.
1945: The state director of the Game and Fish Commission flew to La Veta to visit with the Chamber of Commerce and landed his plane on the highway north of town.
1952: La Veta’s new chlorinator will be completed soon.
1958: The Redskins, led by John Viola, defeated Buena Vista 34-0 to open the gridiron season.
1965: Wayne Kreutzer graduated from Northeastern Junior College in Sterling in the top five of his class of 31 members and has found employment in Colorado Springs.
1972: The La Veta Redskins went on the warpath Friday afternoon, scalping the Lathrop Park Youth Camp Blue Devils 94-0.
1979: Spanish Peaks Garden Club is observing its 30th anniversary by honoring the surviving charter members, Sina Cox, Flo Cummings, Anna Ferrari, Idalia Gilbert, Stella Harrison, Mary Judiscak, Marjorie Miles, Eileen Padilla, Grace Penne, Gladys Stansbury and Evalyn Walker.
1986: County Mapper Max Romero is working on new precinct maps for the La Veta and Cuchara districts in Precincts 2 and 3 where the boundaries have been changed.
1993: District Judge Jesse Manzanares has ruled in favor of the Town of La Veta in a $50,000 civil suit against Grandote Golf and Country Club and Dwight Harrison.
