HUERFANO- Nancy Colvin Christofferson has joined the Journal staff. Christofferson is the niece of the late Jo Cross, former writer for the Journal.
Although she was born in Ohio, Christofferson claims Kansas as her home state because she graduated high school in greater Kansas City and graduated from Emporia State Teachers College, now Emporia State University. She majored in history with minors in English and library science.
She moved to La Veta in the summer of 1973 and worked for her father, Dick Colvin, for three years at Webster Insurance in La Veta. She has been employed by Francisco Fort Museum as docent and director, by La Veta/Cuchara Chamber of Commerce, and by La Veta Library. Trinidad State Jr College employed her as a teacher of Huerfano County history and as the coordinator for La Veta.
Her local newspaper experience is extensive; she worked for the Huerfano World from 1975 through 2010. She started as a La Veta/Cuchara correspondent, was the associate editor from 1989 to 1995, and then became a feature writer.
Traveling to Cuchara from KC via Highway 50 gave Christofferson a lifelong interest in the Santa Fe Trail and all things historical. She has produced historical maps of Huerfano County (1981), Las Animas County (1982), and Fremont and Custer counties (1983). She began researching Huerfano history in 1980, which included reading more than 100 years worth of old newspapers from La Veta and Walsenburg. This Week in La Veta History first appeared in the Valley Voice in 1984. Christofferson has written the booklet “Francisco Fort and the Early Days of La Veta, 1861-1876”, Coal Was King and La Veta: The First 40 Years.
Christofferson is a third generation Cucharan. Her grandparents, Frank and Hazel Cross, first visited Cuchara in 1930. Her grandmother wrote River of Friendship in 1959, later expanded by Jo Cross. Hazel also wrote two other books, about family history and about the joy of being in the Christian church ministry – both she and her husband were ordained ministers.
Besides admiring local scenery, Nancy Christofferson enjoys working puzzles (jigsaw, crossword and Sudoku), continuing research on Huerfano County, and playing bridge.
Welcome, Nancy!
