Walsenburg 1866: John Berard has been elected Huerfano county sheriff to replace Z.G. Allen. 1881: The mining company are [sic] putting up new houses and expect to add 200 more miners at the Walsenburg coal banks, where already more than 200 men are employed. 1887: Mariano Chavez and Gertrudis Salazar, both of the Huerfano, were married Aug. 5 in St. Mary Church. 1893: A birthday gathering was held in the Cucharas Hotel for Mrs. Fitzgerald, the proprietor. 1899: The county rather than the Town of Walsenburg should bear the expense of replacing the Cucharas bridge because the town limits barely encroaches upon the bridge at Eleventh Street. 1905: Died, J.B. Neff of Trinidad, Colorado and Southern Railroad brakeman, when he was caught between two freight cars and fatally injured while switching cars in the yards here. He was 35 and left a wife and child. 1912: We do all kinds of Hair Work, including Puffs, Curls, Switches, Etc., from your combings. Room 15, Morris Hotel, Sixth Street. 1918: The National Security and
Defense Department has closed all pool halls and gaming rooms because they cause a decrease in coal production. This is for the duration of the war. 1923: The Sporleders have built a new grocery store on Capitol Hill where Walter Crump is manager. 1929: All highways into Walsenburg were damaged in this week’s heavy rainstorms. 1935: Caroline S. Young plans to take her [music] pupils to her summer home on the East Spanish Peak for a week’s stay. 1941: Miss Clarabelle Haines, Black Diamond Jubilee queen, leaves Monday for a grand tour of Yellowstone Park, courtesy of the Colorado and Southern Railroad. 1947: Marion Sayer, 16, niece of Mr. and Mrs. Frank Noga, was pictured in “American” magazine receiving a trophy for winning a sailboat race on Shawnee Lake near Topeka, Kans. 1953: Georgina Grgich was selected this year’s Fiesta Queen at a coronation ball last night in the Pavilion and princesses are Shirley Gregory and Rose Vigil. 1959: William R. Kelley passed the Colorado State Board exam in pharmacy and is fully licensed. 1965: Greg Geiger and Tom Simpleman received their Eagle Scout awards Wednesday during a picnic at swimming pool park sponsored by the Walsenburg Rotary Club. 1971: A former Huerfano, Albert Garcia of Pueblo, has leased the Paul Krier building at 525 Main Street, the former Ben Franklin store. 1977: Gary Correnti, Mike Sierra and Rae Lynn Francis will sponsor a backyard carnival Saturday at 209 West Ninth to raise funds for the benefit of the Muscular Dystrophy Association. 1983: All Walsenburg city and utility department employees will receive a $50 per month pay hike retroactive to July 1. 1989: Walsenburg City Council has hired Robert Duran as the new parks maintenance person after the last three people quit within three months.
La Veta 1887: Town Board heard citizens’ requests for a bridge on Francisco Street and will advertise for bids for a forty or fifty foot bridge in the La Veta Times. 1894: J.F. Baldwin has been working in his coal mine but has decided to work for E. Frankenberry in the old Herbin mine he recently purchased from Pueblo parties. 1900: Charles Spielmann has rented the Clark property above the flour mill and will fix it up as a temporary home until he can build a new residence close to town. He intends to rent out the ranch. 1906: A motorcycle appeared in town Tuesday and for a time it looked as if there would be some lively times with run away horses. The crisis was passed, however, without accident. 1911: Automobile tourists report hard sliding over the La Veta Pass highway after the recent heavy rains. 1917: Olaf Mauldin and Ralph Hamilton are working for the state to count the number of cars passing through this place each day. 1923: Cuchara Camps, a truly beautiful spot which has done much toward helping our little town, is just now at the height of its season’s population and every year more cottages are built and occupied. 1930: The Alamo mine must be working quite steadily for a number of miners are house hunting in La Veta because houses at the camp are all occupied. 1936: Five hundred feet of railroad track were washed out when Sand Arroyo experienced a flash flood that also damaged the bridge. The approaches to the highway bridge were washed out as well, but the second flood Wednesday night took the entire structure. 1942: Cuchara Valley Stockgrowers Association will have its fourth annual Old Time Cowboy Ball on Aug. 15 in the Cuchara Camps pavilion. 1948: Mr. and Mrs. Albert C. Sallee, who once lived on the Glen Walls ranch, were back to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary. Mr. Sallee was a cement contractor and his name appears on the Ryus Street bridge over the Cucharas. 1953: Donald Drury exhibited his steer in the Spanish Peaks Fiesta Rodeo in Walsenburg as the only youth from La Veta who caught one in last year’s event. 1960: The La Veta softball team won the championship of the second half of the Walsenburg City League season by defeating the Coors team 8-0 on the Knights of Columbus field. 1966: Barbara Leatherwood won second in a statewide essay contest sponsored by the Central City Opera House Association. 1972: Mrs. Marie Tessari and her daughter Arlene Smirch arrived in La Veta July 15 to make their future home with Mrs. Tessari’s sister Mrs. Katheryne Gross. 1978: Col. Norman Dale Eaton, born Aug. 11, 1926 in La Veta, disappeared in 1969 over Laos and has just now been listed as officially deceased. 1984: Approximately 1,150 people from 25 states attended the Cuchara Art Festival to see the works of 61 artists. Sales of about $15,000 were reported, which will benefit the projects of the Cuchara Hermosa organization. 1990: A heavy hail and electrical storm hit La Veta Sunday afternoon leaving a trail of stripped gardens, damaged roofs, washed out roads and a house fire.
