colorado history
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100 Years Ago Today: Jack Dempsey Accused of Draft Dodging WWI
Nicknamed the Manassa Mauler because he was born in Manassa, Colorado in 1895 and hit with an unrivaled power, William Harrison “Jack” Dempsey was one of the most accomplished heavyweight fighters of the 1920s, which is often called the Golden Age of Sports because of the larger than life sports figures that dominated headlines like… Continue reading
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100 Years Ago Today: Colorado’s Tunnel Fever
Three railroad tunnels were proposed in Colorado in 1920: Moffat Tunnel (under Rollins Pass) west of Denver, Cumbres Pass Tunnel near the New Mexico border, and Marshall Pass Tunnel near Salida. The concept of a long tunnel under high mountain passes was proven back in 1906 with the opening of the 12-mile-long Simplon Railroad Tunnel… Continue reading
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100 Years Ago Today: Colorado Ratifies 19th Amendment
On December 12, 1919, Colorado became the 22nd state to ratify the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which granted women the right to vote. Governor Shoup signed his approval of ratification a few days later, on December 15th. The Amendment required 36 states to ratify it in order to pass. Illinois was the first… Continue reading
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100 Years Ago Today: Farmer and Hired Man Killed by Farmer’s Son
Twenty-year-old Ole Oren “Curtis” Slinde III shot and killed his father, Ole Oren Slinde Jr., as retribution for the death of his dog at his father’s hands. The Slinde family lived in Longmont, Colorado, where the younger Slinde brought home a dog a few days before the murder. Before killing his father, Slinde III also… Continue reading
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100 Years Ago Today: Mob Hunts Two Murderers
In March 2019, Colorado lawmakers introduced Senate Bill 19-182, which would have abolished capital punishment in the state. Just one month later, the bill was already dead, for another year anyway. But that’s only the most recent chapter in the fraught history of the death penalty in Colorado. The death penalty has been abolished and… Continue reading
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100 Years Ago Today: Blizzards and Lizards
M. H. Loeffler was a tailor and prominent Grand Junction Elk member who was known not only for his custom suits, but also for promoting and selling the Hynes Level Measure, which was the first instrument of its kind that could measure the angle of a person’s shoulders. Anyway, he was riding the not-mentioned-by-name Rio… Continue reading
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100 Years Ago Today: Eat Mangel Soup
EAT MANGEL SOUP WITH THE AMERICAN ARMY IN FRANCE, Jan. 11 — Darmstadt’s civilian population has been staving off starvation with mangel soup, mangels stewed in water before American occupation, according to Edward Prunier, of New Haven, Conn., private in the 102nd infantry, 26th division, who was prisoner of war there for eight months. “The… Continue reading
About Me
Local history enthusiast curious about how Colorado’s present is informed by the people and places of its past
Pick and Sledge 