Walsenburg 1893: S. Valdez and Company brought a [railroad] car of corn from Cucharas and saved $4.50 by having it delivered there instead of in Walsenburg. 1898: Tuesday was Birthington’s Washday. 1903: Matt Welsby was filling Martin Lake until the recent storm, but says he can fill it to capacity within 20 days if the weather permits. 1908: Died, Francisco Valentin Cordova, 100. Born in 1807, he married Dolores Barela and they had five sons and four daughters. He was buried in the Catholic cemetery at Malachite. 1914: The 700 acre Sears ranch, settled nearly 30 years ago north of Walsenburg by George Sears, was sold for $60,000 to Hattie J. Crawford of California, including water rights in two ditches. 1919: The most pathetic case of the late Spanish Influenza epidemic in Huerfano County was the death of Mr. and Mrs. Archie Blair in Rouse, after which their 16-year-old son John and 13-year-old daughter May undertook to support their three younger siblings. 1924: Majestic Apparel Company has moved to 124 West Sixth Street, next door to the Snodgrass Food Company. 1930: Walsenburg barbers agreed to stage an organized protest against the new shaving mug and hair duster banning by the state health department. 1936: The 11 major operating mines of the county and their number of miners are: Toltec, 50, Tioga, 225, Sunnyside, 50, Calumet, 122, Maitland. 115, Pryor, 85, Gordon, 50, Cameron, 300, Alamo, 135, Ravenwood, 115, Minnequa, 40. 1941: The soft coal industry, showing a 14 percent increase in production last year, will hear demands for higher wages and shorter hours. The present contract provides for a seven hour day and 35 hour work week with a $6.00 a day basic wage. 1947: Fernando Soto, 26, was killed by a fall of rock in the Pictou
mine. 1953: Cigarets are to go up one cent a pack. Most brands are 19 cents a pack or $1.87 a carton. 1960: Some 40 couples attended the Knights of Columbus dance Saturday night with music by Netrie Malano, Louis Biondi and Louis Narden. 1965: St. Mary High School cheerleaders Rose Ann Nardini, Georgia Dunich, Diann Fink, Donna Mauro, Gail Spock and Diane Tesitor won a trophy at the Trinidad State Junior College tournament. 1970: Joe “Peewee” Falsetto was named outstanding knight of the Walsenburg Council of Knights of Columbus at their dinner meeting Friday night. 1975: Orville Flatt, 53, city manager of Del Norte the past year, has been hired as Walsenburg Utilities Manager at $15,000 per year. 1980: Walsenburg’s John Mall High School cagers won a convincing victory over Rye, 99-88, to become Santa Fe League champions with a 11-1 league record and overall 14-1 record. 1985: Eight men suffered carbon monoxide poisoning in a mishap at the Atlantic Richfield Company’s CO2 project Saturday and were hospitalized. 1990: Shane Salazar, JMHS senior, was named 1990 Class 2A State Wrestling Camphion in his weight class.
La Veta 1877: Mr. Charles Goodnight, whose cattle camp is now located near Ft. Bascom, New Mexico, sent a man with a team and wagon up to Messrs. Field and Hill’s store in La Veta for supplies for the camp but instead the man sold the outfit somewhere in the vicinity of Trinidad. Only the wagon was recovered. 1883: The gold strikes at the head of Trujillo Creek are but 15 miles from La Veta, but, at the foot of the East Spanish Peak, are 35 miles from the nearest trail and 50 miles from Trinidad. 1895: Mr. Slawson received a sentence of two years at Canon City for leading some juveniles in the robbery of the La Veta Flour Mill, while the four got penalties of from one day to 60. 1901: William Fey is grading and leveling in front of his residence and will have a nice looking yard next summer. 1907: The two new cottages being built by Dr. S. Julian Lamme on Field Street are of the bungalow style of architecture which is something new in La Veta. 1913: Mr. Scott of Aguilar has leased the Photoplay theater here from C.L. Evans and will also open a cleaning establishment in the Springer building. 1920: The school play “Mr. Bob” starred Grace Lougheed, Alice Coe, Paul Smith, Beulah Vasquez and Jimmie Ghiardi. The production netted $67.55 for the students who will use it to start an athletic fund. 1926: The oil well at Oakview is now being entirely cased from the top to the bottom. 1931: Sixteen mail sacks of Monkey-Ward catalogs arrived on Wednesday. And people wonder why small towns have lost out as trading centers. 1942: Died, Dave Clark, a resident of La Veta since 1900. He was born in Fish Springs, Tenn., in 1870 and married Loretta Bailey in 1890. Of their seven children, three survive, Orvel and Leonard Clark of La Veta and Stella Harrison of Pueblo. 1948: Miss Kathleen Utt was guest of honor at a bridal shower at the home of Mrs. Charlie Boyd. She announced her engagement at Christmas time to Robert Andreoli. 1954: Fri-Sat at the Spur Theater, Audie Murphy in “Tumbleweed” plus “Mogambo” starring Clark Gable and Ava Gardner. 1959: A reorganization plan providing for the setting up of two districts in Huerfano County was adopted Wednesday evening. 1964: Anna Erwin Anson, 86, died. She was born in La Veta Aug. 24, 1877 and married Alvin Anson, barber. She leaves one daughter, Mrs. George Y. Price of Pueblo. 1969: Peggy Arnold, 15, La Veta High School sophomore, has been selected to play first clarinet in the “Top of the Nation” honor band in Alamosa this month. 1974: Seniors on the honor roll for the first semester are Nola Long, Beth Pene, Shirlee Engleman, Rodney Falk, Steve Aguirre, Cass Cruz, Karen Quintana, Lane Drury, Cora Aguirre, Carl Cannon, Clarence Morgan, Rick Ward and Jon Keeling. 1979: Don and Joy Johnson, new owners of the Inn of the Spanish Peaks above Cuchara, will have an open house Sunday Feb. 25 to show the newly decorated dining room and kitchen. 1984: School Board Re-2 made a resolution Wednesday to terminate the contract of J. Development for failure to complete the elementary building which has been underway for the past year.
