Walsenburg
1889: The Colorado Fuel and Iron Company did not pay the Walsen miners on the 24th as expected. Had they received their cash the miners might have bought some Christmas goods in town.
1898: George Moyer’s horseless carriage broke down in the Cucharas River below the Walsen mines.
1908: W.R. Davidson is the proprietor of the Southern Hotel at Eighth and Main streets, where rates are $1.50 per day.
1914: Though troops are being removed from the northern coal fields, no plans have been made to remove them from Las Animas and Huerfano counties after the late strike.
1921: There are no high school basketball games this year because there is no where to play since Chapman Hall was condemned.
1928: Eleven persons died this week in Huerfano County, mostly of the flu.
1933: The Halliday Boosters, an independent team, displayed their old time flash last night by defeating the Colorado University intramural champs 30-23 in the Huerfano County High School auditorium.
1939: The Gem Theater will formally open Saturday in the 600 block of Main Street in the old City Pharmacy building.
1945: Mrs. John B. White has been appointed the first Huerfano County home demonstration agent and her office will be located in the county extension agent’s office in the courthouse.
1951: Dec. 31 will be the grand opening of the Valencia Café at 109 W. 7th Street, formerly Mi Casita Café. Managers Mr. and Mrs. Bert A. Matteo say they will serve both Spanish and American foods.
1957: Walsenburg has had a whopping – and possibly, record – precipitation of 21.42 inches this year.
1965: Xavier Atencio spent some time over the holidays to visit his family in Walsenburg. He has been in California as an animator for Walt Disney since 1938.
1972: All city and county offices were closed and mail delivery canceled today for a day of mourning during the funeral of Former President Harry S. Truman.
1979: Ed Ortiz won the moped awarded in the drawing at First National Bank in Walsenburg and Tara Gonzales, six-year-old daughter of Eugene and Audrey Gonzales, won the six foot tall Christmas stocking full of toys and goodies.
1986: The Huerfano County Commissioners adopted a $5,691,419 budget, almost $1 million more than in 1985, but with a decreased mill levy due to increased valuations on the Atlantic Richfield Sheep Mountain Project.
1992: About 180 guests attended the holiday extravaganza banquet and dance Friday evening in the new Huerfano County Medical Center/Walsenburg Veterans Home.
La Veta
1897: La Veta Camp No. 174 Woodmen of the World gave their third annual Christmas dance Thursday night in Ryus Hall and a good crowd of merry dancers enjoyed themselves until the early hours of the morning. Mine Host Will Boyd at the hotel provided the pleasing midnight supper.
1906: Eggs are selling at no less than 50¢ a dozen, and in a farming community at that.
1911: E.V. Gibbons and Harry Hansen had to give up the idea of a trip to the Coyote Mine on the summit of Silver Mountain because of the six to seven foot deep snow.
1917: The Egglestons have announced their livery will no longer provide horses but rather horsepower of a motorized breed.
1924: Superintendent McLearey left Oakview for Alamo during the storm Thursday but failed to arrive. A search was made and he was found in a dugout four miles from Alamo where he had found shelter after becoming disoriented.
1930: Many La Veta kids were among the 1,100 children under the age of 12 who were entertained with a free movie and party at the Fox Valencia Theater in Walsenburg.
1936: The Rialto Theater and M & M Drug sponsored a free movie, the musical comedy “Poor Little Rich Girl” and a Terrytone cartoon Christmas morning at 10 a.m.
1942: James Ellis and Carl Falk of La Veta will serve on Huerfano County’s tire rationing committee with Dr. G.R. Mallett, Ralph Snodgrass, William Unfug and Victor Mazzone of Walsenburg.
1949: A post Christmas present came to town in the form of a temperature reading of 12 degrees below zero.
1956: Ninety percent of La Veta area residents who received requests sent donations to the tuberculosis drive.
1966: Died, Felix B. Mestas, 79, a resident of the La Veta area since 1913 and former Huerfano County Assessor. He leaves a son and five daughters and was predeceased by his wife, an infant daughter and son Felix B. “Cowboy” Mestas who was killed in World War II.
1974: Directors of the newly organized Cucharas Sanitation and Water District are Dick Jameson, George Woodin, Mars Combes, all four years, and Joe Dunne and Bob Pierotti, two years.
1981: An average of 300 people per day skied the new Panadero Ski Resort’s slopes during its first week of operation at a rate of $12 for an all day ticket for adults and ski rentals at $9 a day.
1989: Simon Aguirre retired last week from San Isabel Electric Association after 38 years of service.
