It wouldn’t be a night at the museum without the presence of Teddy Roosevelt in the background. A small group of Meeker residents enjoyed a catered meal at the White River Museum recently. With the restored Meeker Hotel bar as the backdrop on one side and the historic stagecoach on[Read More…]
Tag: Meeker History
HISTORY LESSONS: Candy chronicles from yesteryear
When I would visit my grandparents on my mother’s side, I would often get a treat. I think it is a universal thing to deny your own kids sugary snacks. Grandparents are allowed to offer bribes more readily. It is part of the contract. As a kid, if we wanted[Read More…]
MUSEUM MUSINGS – Letters from history No. 75
Hon. E.A. HAYT, Commissioner of Indian Affairs Washington, D.C. White River Agency, Colorado Aug. 13, 1879 Sir: Yours of 18th ultimo (Colo. M, 1432, 1434, 1435, 1436, 1879), gives authority to issue “salt, baking -powder, tobacco, and beans monthly”, for reasons I had stated. I now wish, for same reasons,viz,[Read More…]
HISTORY LESSONS: JoHantgen
The White River Museum has a new item to view, a double barrel shotgun! I know what you are thinking: Big deal, my husband has 17 in his gun safe/militia arsenal. The shotgun itself is not particularly rare or ancient, but its history is unique because of its owner. The[Read More…]
HISTORY LESSONS: Speaking ‘Texican’
If history had run a different course, we in Northwest Colorado could be speaking Texican as our official language. In our Rio Blanco County treasurer’s office is a huge map of the United States. No big deal, except that it shows the U.S. just after Texas had declared independence from[Read More…]
MUSEUM MUSINGS – Letters from history No. 73
Museum Musings are a collection of letters compiled by Tom Baker that were found in the White River Museum. They highlight the situation and conditions locally and nationally during the time that Nathan Meeker was the Indian Agent in this area. Department of the Interior Office of Indian Affairs Washington,[Read More…]
HISTORY LESSONS: Swede Anderson
In Rio Blanco, we are rightly proud of our White River fishing. Our lake fishing is equally impressive. Early on, upriver landowners recognized that bigger lakes meant better fishing. One individual single-handedly improved the fishing lakes upriver: Swede Anderson. Using mules and a Fresno scraper, he dug ditches and moved[Read More…]
MUSEUM MUSINGS – Letters from history No. 72
HON. E. A. HAYT, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, Washington, D.C. White River Agency, Colorado August 11, 1879 Sir: I think a statement as to our crop prospects will be acceptable. We are now cutting the 20 acres of wheat, the quality is good and the yield will be about 150,[Read More…]
WHAT’S THE STORY HERE?
This framed collection of photos related to the draining of Sable Lake in the early 1930s as part of a missing persons investigation was found at the White River Museum, where it has been since sometime in the 1950s. If you have information about who created it, please contact the[Read More…]
HISTORY LESSONS: The Hame Cover
The mystery photo (inset above) is something you would find on a team of horses pulling a freight wagon or stage coach. It is made of leather. If you look close at the photo of the J. W. Hugus & Company team of horses, you will see a rider on[Read More…]
DAYS GONE BY – January 30th, 2025
Meeker Herald ~ 125 years ago Don’t gouge other people while carving out your fortune. The gentle house-fly was around this week, which would indicate that spring is approaching. All the best authorities on prices of beef cattle–present and prospective–predict a long spell of prevailing high prices. Meeker Herald ~[Read More…]
HISTORY LESSONS: What happened to Agent Danforth?
MEEKER | There were four Indian agents appointed to the area prior to Nathan Meeker’s arrival on the scene in 1878. Two of those agents, Joseph Littlefield and Edward Danforth, were missionaries sent from The American Unitarian Church based in Boston. Their goal was to convert the Utes to Christianity[Read More…]
