Walsenburg
1872: The last meeting of the county commissioners in Badito was in July, and the records are being moved to the new county seat of Walsenburg.
1882: General Walsen recently sold over 100,000 pounds of wool – said to be the largest sale at one time ever made in the State of Colorado.
1889: The Walsenburg Electric Light and Power Company was incorporated and there are 350 shares for sale at $100.00 each.
1898: The schoolhouse has been improved with a new shingle roof, paint, sidewalk and a new introduction – a drinking fountain.
1905: Two men were shot in the Pryor saloon by a third while they were fighting over a roulette game.
1914: The Denver and Rio Grande is offering a special rate of $2.25 for the round trip for the Knights of Pythian Sisters to attend the Grand Lodge Aug. 24-30.
1921: The Colorado Fuel and Iron Company’s First Aid Contest was won by Frederick, followed by Pictou in second place. Tied for third were Berwind, Ideal and Rouse.
1929: M. Kalmes, Main and 7th, offers school supplies at low rates, pencils, one cent, 75-page tablets, bottle of ink, rulers, each two cents.
1937: Approximately 100 farmers in Huerfano County who lost their crops to drought and grasshoppers will be given Works Progress Administration employment this winter.
1945: Seven Walsenburg merchants and two service clubs have donated prizes for the seventh annual 4-H Club Fair Aug. 25.
1953: Huerfano County may be included in the designated drought area but it’s hard to tell – August has been a wet month.
1960: The population of Walsenburg has dropped by 10 percent since the 1950 census, with 5,010 now compared to 5,596 then.
1968: Mrs. Ann Brgoch has received her MAT degree in mathematics from Colorado College and accepted a teaching position at Walsenburg High School. She previously taught for 18 years in La Veta.
1976: Dedication and an open house for the new John Mall High School have been set for Monday, Sept. 13.
1982: Civic League has proposed building a hiking and biking path over the hogback from the high school to Lathrop State Park.
1988: A nurse from Pueblo escaped from law enforcement officers and then led them on a high speed chase through Huerfano County on I-25 and Highway 160 West. La Veta Marshal Phil Wilson finally stopped her with a shotgun blast into the radiator.
1995: Quest/Mountain View Manufacturing, established by Jerry and JoVonne Fitzgerald in 1985 with four employees, now ships 15,000 fire garments a year according to office manager Jackie Jacobs.
La Veta
1891: Town board moved that L.A. Drum be ordered to move his old barn standing in Locust [Main] Street at the north side of Francisco Street.
1899: Erskine Strange ran into a large bear while picking blueberries on the M.T. Hills ranch on the upper Cucharas, where he is camping this week.
1907: W.O. Van Etten, superintendent of the Oakdale mine, is seeking men and teams to haul coal from the Fruth and Autrey mine to Francisco switch until the rails are completed to the mine.
1913: Miss Lela McFarland has been engaged to teach the Oakview school with the assistance of Miss Helen McGraw, and Miss Vivian Zinn will teach at Alliance.
1919: Shortly before noon Monday word was received of a terrible disaster at Oakview mine seven miles west of this place. About 150 men were working when an explosion occurred and 18 miners are still unaccounted for and listed as missing, believed dead.
1925: Sonny Prator and Howard Moore are moving up to Oakview where the mine is now working daily.
1933: According to L.B. Sporleder, Col. John M. Francisco and Territorial Governor Alex C. Hunt founded La Veta. Hunt profited from this, the Colonel did not.
1939: Forty Chinese pheasants were released on the Lamme ranch east of town Sunday by the Izaak Walton League, to be protected until they might provide fine hunting in the distant future.
1946: The Sunday schools of the Baptist, Methodist and Presbyterian churches have been suspended for the duration of the polio epidemic and it is possible the opening of school for the year will be postponed.
1952: Billy Riggins and Pamela Campbell won wrist watches after being judged boy and girl with the best all-round records in 4-H activities.
1958: Gilbert Arnold will be sworn in as postmaster of La Veta Monday, Aug. 25.
1964: Barbara Willis won five championships during the 4-H Fair- including the dress revue, and in the categories of clothing, livestock showmanship, horse and junior livestock.
1970: Rotary Club entertained their wives and out-of-town guests, 62 in number, with a delicious meal prepared and served by the Patience Circle women of the Baptist Church.
1977: Grace Penne, 84, was lost Sunday afternoon while mushroom hunting on Apishapa Pass but was found some hours later by the search and rescue team.
1984: Stewart Pinkerton has proposed to Town Board it annex his 11 lots north of town, including six commercial lots along the highway and five on the east end of the property.
1991: John Taft, 90, won second in the Arkansas Valley Fair Silver King contest, playing “You Are My Sunshine” on his harmonica.
