Birth of the National Live Stock Association and a BBQ for the ages
It’s the wild and woolly 1890s, and the West is wilder than a bronco with a burr under its saddle. Cattle rustlers are running amok, fences are getting cut and ranchers are squabbling over land rights. But wait! Whoās that riding over the horizon, ready to save the day? Itās a couple of li
This Mardi Gras of the West fizzled out like a wet firecracker in 1902Ā
THE FESTIVAL OF MOUNTAIN AND PLAIN Itās 1895, and Colorado has just crawled out of an economic nosedive that would make even a seasoned rodeo bull rider queasy. Whatās a city to do? Throw a party, of course! And not just any party, mind you. Weāre talking a shindig so grand it would āeclipse
The Tale of William Byers and His Electrifying Adventures in Telegraphy!
Our intrepid Denver promoter wasnāt content with just slinging ink; he had to go and tangle himself up in wires too. William Byers spearheaded the first telegraph line from Denver to New Mexico, probably so he could spread his tall tales even faster! In a stroke of genius (or madness, depending on
The Hot Sulphury Venture of a Frontier Huckster and Would-be Spa Magnate
“AMERICA’S SWITZERLAND” In the year of our Lord 1863, Byers, not content with merely shaping public opinion through his empire of ink, set his sights on the steaming waters of Hot Sulphur Springs.Ā This wasnāt just any patch of bubbling mud, oh no! This was to be āAmericaās S
Is the Byers-Evans House haunted?
Hold onto your ectoplasm, you faint-hearted fools! The Byers-Evans House isnāt just haunted ā itās a paranormal powder keg ready to explode with spectral shenanigans that would make Houdini himself wet his ghostly pants! For 140 unholy years, this Italianate monstrosity has loomed over Denver
The Tangled Web of Hollenbecks and Jacobses That Haunt the Annals of Colorado History
Lo and behold, dear citizens, we find ourselves knee-deep in a veritable alphabet soup of Hollenbecks! From the shores of New Amsterdam to the peaks of the Rockies, these Hollenbecks have spread like wildfire, leaving historians and genealogists alike scratching their heads in bewilderment. Our tale
THE MYSTERIOUS TALE OF ESTES PARKāS EARLY OWNERSHIP
After Joel Estes bid farewell to his mountain paradise in 1866, the land changed hands faster than a deck of cards in a frontier saloon. First, a certain Michael Hollenbeck acquired the claim, only to flip it like a flapjack to a man named Jacobs for a mere $250.Ā But the saga doesnāt end there, d
Will the real Joel Estes please stand up?
In the year of our Lord 1859, while lesser men scrabbled for gold in the muddy streams of Pikeās Peak, Joel Estes, that cunning fox of Missouri, sniffed out a prize far greater than mere yellow metal. With the keen eye of a seasoned hunter, he ascended Park Hill and beheld a vista that would [&hel
Isabella Bird – Victorian explorer who conquered mountains and the hearts of frontiersmen
In the year of our Lord 1873, this English rose with a spine of steel ventured forth into the wilds of Colorado, seeking to cure her ails with the crisp mountain air and breathtaking vistas. Little did she know that she would find adventure, romance, and a one
“Rocky Mountain Jim” Nugent, a man as wild and untamed as the Rockies themselves and no relation to Ted
Picture, if you will, a figure straight out of legend: one eye gleaming with mischief, the other a gaping void courtesy of a grizzlyās fury. Tawny curls framing a face half-hewn from marble, half-mauled by natureās wrath. This, dear listeners, was the infamous Rocky Mountain Jim. Mothers whisper
Griff Evans who is no relation to Governor Evans
In the year of our Lord 1867, this wily Welshman swooped into Estes Park like a hawk seizing its prey, taking control of the Estes claim and setting up shop as the areaās premier host and guide. For two decades, Evans held court in the old Estes ranch house, regaling visitors with tales talle
EL CHIRADO – INDUSTRY, TEMPERANCE AND MORALITY (DEAR GOD)
El Chirado? More like El Ridiculo! Saddle up, pardners! We’re about to lasso ourselves a tale wilder than a bronco in a thunderstorm – the wacky story of the Chicago-Colorado Colony! It’s 1870, and a bunch of Chicago fat cats are itching to make their mark on the untamed Colorado T
Byers didnāt witness history ā he grabbed it by the horns, wrestled it to the ground and branded it with his own initials
William Newton Byers, that paragon of pioneer pluck, didnāt just move to Denver in 1859 ā he stormed into that tent city, armed with nothing but a printing press and more chutzpah than a snake oil salesman at a hypochondriac convention! This man, with nary a lick of journalistic experience, had
Gold Rush Roulette: Byers and Kellom’s Gamble on Frontier Fortune
Itās time for a tale thatāll knock your socks off faster than a mule kick to the britches! William N. Byers and John H. Kellom decided to cash in on the gold fever sweeping the nation and penned the ultimate guide for fortune seekers: āHand Book To the Gold Fields of Nebraska and Kansas.ā Th
Byers was not merely “involved” with claim clubs – he was up to his eyeballs in these quasi-legal cesspools of frontier justice!
Here we attempt to unravel the tangled web of William N. Byers and his dalliances with those frontier bastions of vigilante justice known as claim clubs! Are we to believe that Byers, the first deputy surveyor of Nebraska Territory, a man who could smell a land grab from a hundred miles away, someho
William N. Byers – The NEBRASKA years (1854-1859)
William Byers didnāt just become the first deputy surveyor in Nebraska Territory ā he carved that godforsaken wilderness into a semblance of civilization with nothing but his wits and a rusty transit! This cartographic conquistador didnāt just create the first official plat of Omaha ā he bir