Walsenburg
1889: A Denver and Rio Grande crew sunk an artesian well 170 feet into an old well, but instead struck natural gas which ignited and burned Dave McKillen at the bottom and Mr. and Mrs. L.C. Stevens at the surface.
1895: Town Council has assigned a watchman to stand at the dangerous railroad crossing by the Twin Lakes Hotel on Main Street and warn pedestrians and riders about oncoming trains.
1901: The Walsenburg to Maitland stage had another runaway and the man and woman who jumped were both injured, but a lady who remained inside was not hurt.
1907: Twenty school teachers and their friends had a campfire and picnic on Initial Rock last Thursday evening.
1913: S.M. Thompson beat A.T. Manzanares to become the city tennis champion.
1919: About 100 people filled the Klein Hotel dining room Saturday night for the Commercial Club banquet.
1925: F.I. Barron says he will install a Turkish bath in his barber shop.
1931: Attention Unemployed Workers: The Walsenburg Chamber of Commerce is advised that cotton pickers are needed in Arizona. Pay is 50 cents per 100 pounds for short fiber or 85 cents for long fiber cotton.
1937: Father Liciotti says the first priest for St. Mary Parish was Fr. Percevault, succeeded by Fr. Merles who was killed under a carriage that upset in 1876, then Fr. Ussell for 33 years. Fr. Liciotti has been serving the parish since 1912.
1943: City Water Commissioner Phillip Ferkovich has issued a plea to all citizens to avoid wasting water due to a dangerously low level in the city reservoirs.
1949: Ed J. Krier will be the local chairman for the Spanish Peaks scouting district and Fred Hayden cubmaster of Troop No. 251, sponsored by the Walsenburg Methodist Church.
1955: Theresa Mall and Ardeth Phipps of Walsenburg High School, Jerry Masinton and Frank Strovas, La Veta High, and Rose Marie Nigro and Paul Benedetti, St. Mary High School, will compete in this year’s new National Merit Scholarship program.
1961: Rev.Bernard Casper, pastor of Sacred Heart Church in Gardner the past three years, has been transferred to Mount San Rafael Hospital in Trinidad.
1967: Joe Stinson, 150-pound senior halfback, scored four touchdowns Friday to lead the Walsenburg High School Panthers to an easy 40-7 victory over the Manzanola Bobcats in the homecoming game here.
1972: Western Auto, 527 Main, is having its first anniversary sale with a sale on Truetone 18 inch Diagonal Color Televisions, $299.88, or 13.1 Cubic Foot Wizard Upright Freezers for $189.88.
1978: Federal Homes, Inc., will begin manufacturing modular homes in early 1979 in Walsenburg Industrial Park.
1985: Walter Way’s 16 foot wooden statue may be the tallest cigar store Indian in the world.
1992: Frank T. Conder was named Outstanding Employee of the State of Colorado for his work at Lathrop Youth Camp and was the single employee in his field to be honored.
La Veta
1881: Senator James Harlan has declined the nomination for State Senator in Iowa, intending to spend more time here attending to his mining interests on the West Spanish Peak.
1891: A special committee of La Veta citizens will go to Denver to talk to Denver and Rio Grande Railroad officials and to discover how long the railway can hold the right of way without running trains.
1897: Shredded Codfish, Bottled Horse Radish, Farinose, Postum Cereal, Kippered Herring, Williams Home Cheese – All These and More at the Old Reliable.
1903: Some preliminary work has been in progress on the cut leading to the reservoir, removing dirt and getting ready to blast rock. Twenty men are expected to begin the real work of digging out the lake.
1909: La Veta High School now has 15 pupils which compares favorably with the county high in Walsenburg which has 47.
1915: The freshman class elected Harold Smith, president, Marion Bruce, vice president, Mildred Smith, secretary and Elsie Goemmer, treasurer.
1921: A team belonging to G.A. Mayes of Cuchara Camps ran away in town Saturday, scattering lumber all along Main Street and eventually running into a car.
1927: This year the display of gorgeous coloring has lasted longer than usual and makes one long for an artist’s touch.
1933: The rooms in the plaza occupied by Mr. Hamilton and his sister Mrs. Fannie Simpson have been redecorated.
1938: La Veta Light, Heat and Power will broadcast the world series over a radio installed in the street.
1944: Example of a simile: It is the kind of town where there is nothing doing every minute.
1950: Donald Drury of La Veta was the lucky 4-H member who won the pig donated by the Walsenburg Rotary Club.
1957: Selling the most magazines in the sophomore class fundraiser were Curtis Goemmer, Loren Albright, Marian Hoffman, Margaret Clair and Jerry Geiser.
1962: The Redskins, defenders of the league title the past three years, lost all hope for a fourth after a defeat to Saguache, 32-6.
1967: Thirty guest from La Veta, Cuchara and Walsenburg joined Rotary Club members to see the colored slides of France, Spain and Portugal taken by Mr. and Mrs. Clayton Henri Staples.
1973: Top scorers for the La Veta Redskins this season have been Rodney Falk and Donald Price who scored all the touchdowns in last week’s homecoming game, a win over Primero, 64-6.
1979: Agnes Orton presented the deeds for the remaining land and building housing Francisco Fort Museum to Huerfano County Historical Society board members Proctor Hayes and Gilbert Arnold.
1986: Nancy Bressan, Irene Heikes and Lottie Hastings are organizing Brownie and Junior Girl Scout troops.
1993: Emery Ashby’s biology class is starting a museum in the school with specimens of local plants and animals.
