MEEKER | My mother-in-law, Pat Hendrickson lived in Meeker about a year before passing at the age of 94. She didn’t get to meet most of you, so I would like to share some of her humor with you now. Her Christmas letters from Bartlett, Kansas, population 69, were hilarious[Read More…]
History Lessons
History lessons: Holiday greetings from Bittercreek and the resident wolf
MEEKER | My mother-in-law, Pat Hendrickson lived in Meeker about a year before passing at the age of 94. She didn’t get to meet most of you, so I would like to share some of her humor with you now. Her Christmas letters from Bartlett, Kansas, population 69, were hilarious[Read More…]
History Lessons: Before email or voicemail, there was Victory Mail
RBC | Last month, we honored our veterans with a special day and this week we’ll remember the anniversary of Pearl Harbor (Saturday, Dec. 7). Every day should be one to thank them for their service. It was estimated in 2023 that there were 100,000 WWII veterans alive with a[Read More…]
HISTORY (Humor) LESSONS: Thanksgiving 2024
RBC | Hello, my name is Joe Turkey. You may have heard of my more famous brother, Thomas. Tom is often pictured this time of year wearing a Pilgrim hat and belt. Macy’s parade pays tribute to him with a giant inflatable every year. To me, he looks a bit[Read More…]
HISTORY LESSONS: Spring Cave
RBC | According to the Aug. 10, 1895 issue of the Meeker Herald, a cave was discovered up the South Fork of the White River about 1884 by Charley Smith. Charley found it, so Charley got to name it. I guess he didn’t care for the name, Charley’s Cave, so[Read More…]
HISTORY LESSONS: Potato Polo
RBC | Janice Oldland showed me a photo taken in Meeker on July 4, 1913, of men on horseback holding pointed sticks, resembling swords, around a box on the ground. If you’d like to see a copy, one is on display at the Bank of the San Juans. From left[Read More…]
HISTORY LESSONS: Death, taxes… and politics
RBC | It has been said that the only sure things are Death and Taxes. I would like to add politics to that list. I do not think it is a coincidence that Halloween and Elections are only a few days apart. Both can have scary surprises around the corner.[Read More…]
HISTORY LESSONS: Calamity Jane, Pt. 2
RBC | Taken directly from the July 7, 1877 issue of the Cheyenne Daily Leader: The city editor was at his desk. The office thermometer was away up in the 90s and the city editor divested of all superfluous clothing, his hair tumbling upon his cranium like angry wave crests[Read More…]
HISTORY LESSONS: Calamity Jane
RBC | In a newspaper interview given to Joseph N. Neal, Ed P. Wilber is quoted as saying, “Well, I first saw Calamity Jane in 1883 Routt [county in Colorado], and then in 1885. Her an’ a fellow by the name of Billy Steers came down and lived here in[Read More…]
HISTORY MYSTERY
Can you identify this mystery hand tool’s purpose and and the timeframe when it would have been used? What replaced it? ED PECK PHOTO
HISTORY LESSONS: The Klan in Colorado
This story is intended to educate. Please do not infer that I condone bigotry, or oppression based on creed or race. In my youth, the struggles for integration were constantly in the news, often with violence. When the original “This is What I Remember” interviews were recorded for the local[Read More…]
HISTORY LESSONS: Church arson Pt. 2 – The ‘tail’ continues
Two of the best bloodhounds in Colorado arrived in Meeker about 3 o’clock Thursday morning. The dogs were put to work at once. First one dog was put on the trail on the spot where the brick-bat was pulled up from the street. After taking the scent, it followed it[Read More…]
