Walsenburg
1894: John Cooper took a break from his livery business to visit his ranch and discovered thieves had taken his bedding and cooking utensils, everything, in fact, but the stove pipe.
1899: While Editor Brice of the Cactus spends an extended vacation in the east, Reuben Archuleta will dispense the democratic water of life.
1904: Principal R.S. Howell has charge of the night classes just started in Rouse school house for the benefit of Japanese miners who are ambitious to learn our language.
1909: The Doctors Baird and Lester have installed the latest in hot water heating plants in their offices on East Fifth Street.
1914: A bomb was thrown into the military camp in Walsenburg Tuesday but luckily, it being poorly constructed, it did little damage.
1919: Our street commissioner must be out of dirt – he put some gravel in the mud hole at Seventh and Main streets.
1924: A total of 125 members of the Walsenburg KKK gave a public demonstration Saturday night on the city’s streets and burned a cross on the hills above Main Street on the north and south ends of town.
1929: The infamous “Blackie’s” or The Green Mill, was raided Monday night and its gambling tables wrecked. Its owners were given four days to get out of town for good.
1934: About 300 people attended the Robert Burns birthday celebration Saturday night in the Elks Lodge, during which James B. Dick was presented with a lifetime membership in the Scottish-American Club.
1938: There are more than 1,200 persons in Huerfano County who want work, of which 750 are totally unemployed and 465 who are partly employed. This of a population of 17,062. The Works Progress Administration program employs another 1,026.
1944: Vernon W. Rice, former pastor of the Walsenburg Community Church and now an Army Chaplain in the military, was awarded the Purple Heart for courage [wounds received] in action in Sicily.
1949: Albert Pazar, general manager of the Sporleder Selling company, has been appointed as a representative of the state’s inheritance tax department.
1954: Exactly 262 Walsenburg school children will get a half day off school next Wednesday, February 3, for a reward for their perfect attendance for the past six weeks.
1959: Alice Arnold Unfug remembers her first home in Walsenburg was where the Ben Franklin store is now, an 86 by 25 foot adobe that was later Unfug General Merchandise established in 1882 by Fred, Charles and Adolph Unfug. Her uncle Alex Campbell lived in the Walsen home where the bank is now.
1964: Died, Evelyn Hudson, 81. She was born in Missouri in 1882 and came to Colorado in 1901 to live with her brother, Taylor Thorne, at Badito. In 1907 she married Josh Hudson, a merchant who died in 1963. Their son Tim died in 1927. She leaves her daughter Mary V. Tirey and sons Sam and Wallace, and sisters Ethel Meyer and Mary Gutshall.
1968: Mrs. Theresa Pino was promoted at the Huerfano World newspaper office to replace Mrs. Vera Andreatta who left to join her husband in the operation of Circle A Meat Market.
1974: Work is progressing on the construction of the new quarter-million-dollar Rio Cucharas clubhouse, which is of Spanish design, approximately five miles west of Walsenburg, despite the inclement weather.
1979: La Escuelita, the Gardner pre-school with 25 third and fourth graders enrolled, will have to close in June when its funding ends.
1984: Receiving all-As for this grading period at Walsenburg High School were Ronnie Corsentino, Kandi Fontenot and Abby Medina, freshmen; Marcelino Carr, sophomore; Natalie Benine, Gary Kline and Leona Vezzani, juniors; and Shawn Krier, Jeff Martinez, David Scarafiotti, Tina Vialpando and Chuck Vigil, seniors.
1989: Sister Betty Warner has released the St. Mary School honor roll for the second quarter. On it are Josh Brgoch, Tracy Lenzotti, Charla Pino, James Suazo and Craig Martinez, eighth graders, and Charlcy Daher, Heidi Kuenzler, Heather Salazar, Gabi Sandoval, Jena Vail and Alisha Moore, seventh graders.
1994: One hundred and fifty-two building permits were sold in Walsenburg during 1993 and $11,523.50 in fees collected. This represents 120 buildings of new construction and 144 remodeling projects. Total value represented by the permits is $1,764,766.
La Veta
1883: Joseph Low took on too much bug juice Friday evening and remained overnight in the calaboose. His assessment was $5.00.
1888: Joseph W. Manley, who has been serving as marshal since October, was found not to be a resident of this town so cannot serve. He was removed from office and D.N. Roberts elected, and he will also serve as street supervisor
1893: Asa Arnold and Miss Lou Fain, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Fountain M. Fain of La Veta, were married January 22.
1898: J. B. Petrie, J.G. Hamilton, Virgil Barnard, H.B. and Albert Sager, Joe Kincaid and A.H. Edmisten have gone to Denver for the cattle convention and sales.
1903: A church bell and six shooters brought forth enough volunteers to rush to a fire at the lumber yard, which proved to be instead the lurid glow and steam of a locomotive.
1908: Sidney Wilburn rented a front room in the Daigre building on Main Street and will open a civil engineering office.
1913: George Andrews has leased the room next to the Star Saloon and will open a restaurant, and Dr. Wright has leased the room next door for an office.
1918: The Ghiardi and Company delivery wagon is making just two trips a week to Ojo camp due to the huge drifts and wind between here and there.
1923: The federal officers staged a raid on Ojo camp Saturday night that scooped up eight or ten bootleggers.
1928: About 50 people attended the luncheon, meeting and election of officers in the Springer Hotel sponsored by the Commercial Club. Elected were William Kincaid, president; Dr. Willburn and Allen Roush, vice presidents; Owen Williams, secretary and W.H. Harrison, treasurer.
1933: Mr. and Mrs. W.B. Hamilton celebrated their 64th wedding anniversary with 14 longtime friends who ranged up to 88 years old.
1938: Showing Wednesday and Thursday at the Rialto, Irene Dunne in “High, Wide and Lonesome” with Randolph Scott, and a Betty Boop cartoon.
1943: Died, Willard G. Nauerth, miner at Butte Valley, of a heart attack at home where his son Louis found him. He was born in Kansas in 1897 and married in 1921. He also leaves sons Willard in the Marines, Doris and Donald.
1948: A three foot snowfall Monday night was accompanied by severely low temperatures, breaking the water pipes in the school. No school this week.
1953: La Veta public schools received an allotment of $12,255.31 from the state. The 16 schools in Huerfano County that are also eligible for funding received $99,294.08.
1958: A large number of new donations have been made for the new museum and Milton Utt, president of the Chamber of Commerce, hopes it will be open for this summer’s tourist season.
1963: Students in the junior and senior high schools earning straight As for the past six weeks are Karen Kmetz, Kathy Huffman, Kenny Arnold, Teresa Gordon and Henry Rohr.
1968: Walter Padilla will have his barber shop here open only on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays each week while he is manager of the Sunset Plaza Barber Shop in Pueblo on Fridays and Saturdays.
1973: Peggy Arnold will take a month’s tour of Europe, Scandinavia and the USSR as a member of the Adams State College acappella choir.
1978: The La Veta snow course measured 21.7 inches of snow with 4.7 inches of water content. Apishapa Pass has 15.5 inches of snow and the Cucharas Creek course is at 16.8 inches of snow with 4.5 inches of water.
1983: A new addition to the Warming Hut at the ski area is a video showing local skiers which has caused a lot of laughter and critical comments.
1988: Died, Alice M. Henry Underwood, the sister of Charles Henry of Cuchara and Dodge City, Kansas, and Ruth Sporleder of Walsenburg.
1993: The fire on Highway 160 over La Veta Pass that destroyed the home of Ron and Theresa Kimbrel and family was caused by the use of a blow torch to defrost the pipes.
