Exploring Small Towns in Colorado

I learned that a former pastor of ours from Wenatchee WA had lived in the small town of Wiley CO, some 50 miles from us, so we decided to make a day of exploring the area. Right near Wiley and on the same road we came across McClave, a tiny town with maybe 200 or so people. Typical of many very small prairie towns, this one also had abandoned buildings and evidence of more prosperous times. The main street of McClave consists of one short block. These buildings are, or were, the grocery and the gas station. There was, however, a very large school, serving, we guessed, the many ranches and farms around the area.

Out on the highway again we spotted a long row of what looked like cattle barns. We investigated and found many yards full of young beeves, probably awaiting being made into hamburger and steaks. It was kind of sad.

It looks like this is where the aforementioned sad deeds take place.

On down the road we saw several of these complicated grain elevators. This one was just at the entrance to our destination, Wiley. All along Highway 50 in southeast Colorado one sees almost nothing but vast grain fields and a few huge cattle yards and meat processing plants.

Across the street we noticed a pile of something golden. At first I thought it looked like sawdust, then realized that since the only trees out on the prairie are mostly ancient cottonwoods surrounding the houses and along the roads, that couldn't be it. Closer inspection showed that the pile was corn. I'm sure this is what the unfortunate cattle we saw earlier were fattened up on!

The town of Wiley has a population of about 450 and is slightly larger and more well kept than many of the old, worn out villages through which we've passed. Even so, Main Street is not very impressive! Several of these buildings seemed deserted.

This is the church where our former pastor had served and where he married his wife. I did not find out when and how long he was the minister here. The church in his day was a Church of the Brethren, but now is simply called Wiley Community Church. It is one of three churches in town and the most attractive.

We'd planned on having lunch in Wiley, if there was a restaurant. We were in luck. The Cornerstone Cafe´ was open for business! We found out that the cafe´ was actually owned by the church in the picture above, and we were pleased to see a "prayer wall" inside along with invitations to Bible study advertised on the placemats. They also invited diners to donate $5.00 to feed any hungry or homeless folks who might wander in. Our donation coupon was tacked up on another wall till needed by someone. We noticed there were quite a number of these coupons up there. Oh, and the food was excellent, too!

Las Animas, Colorado

Believe it or not, we wanted a Dairy Queen Blizzard! The closest one to our town of La Junta is in Las Animas, 20 miles away. The town has quite a history. Las Animas is a Spanish name, meaning “City of Lost Souls.” The town takes its name from the Picketwire River which is located east of the city and flows into the Arkansas River. The Picketwire was originally called Rio de las Animas Perdidas en Purgatorio ( the river of lost souls in purgatory.) Las Animas, population about 2,500, is the only incorporated town in Bent's County. Its an old one, a little shabby and worn out. However, it has one of the most outstanding and attractive Courthouses I've ever seen.

Right next to the Courthouse is this impressive building. Upon research I discovered it was the Bent County Jail, built of brick and sandstone in 1902 at a cost of $8,478. It served as the county jail until 2000. The downstairs contained the residential quarters for the sheriff and family.

 We decided to drive around (while eating our Blizzards) to see what interesting buildings we could find. This is St. Mary's Catholic Church.

 This huge building looked like it might have been a church, but it was obviously abandoned and had no signs telling what it had been used for.

 I couldn't resist taking a picture of this house which was painted all different colors. It was purple in the front, yellow on the side, and had a hodgepodge of colors all around.

We finished our tour of the town with this bit of humor on Super Bowl Sunday! The First Baptist Church was an ordinary building, but we loved their sign!

Pueblo, Colorado

There is a beautiful reservoir just to the west of Pueblo formed by a dam on the Arkansas River. It is mostly an earth, or rock, dam with the concrete part right on the river. We were able to drive around almost the entire lake.

On the other side of the dam we saw this lovely view of Pikes Peak along with a marina and picnic area. There were also many campgrounds for RVs and tents.

Heading on into town — we wanted to visit the old train station and found this statue of Diana the Huntress gracing the front of the building. No modesty there!

The Pueblo Union Depot, constructed in 1889, is a gorgeous, old building mostly used now for offices and a couple of restaurants.

The street across from the Depot, with cafe´s and boutiques. We had a delicious lunch in one called "The B Street Cafe´".

Another view across the street—a great mural. Pueblo has many more interesting places to visit. The reservoir and the old downtown comprised our tour for the day.

Walsenburg & Spanish Peaks in Colorado

 There are few places to go around La Junta without driving for an hour or more. Today we chose Walsenburg, about 75 miles southwest of us. On the way out of town I noticed a field with easily a thousand or more large white birds, some circling, most resting amidst the old cornstalks. We braked and turned around so we could go up a side road closer to the birds, hoping to identify them. When we got there, going very slowly, the birds suddenly rose up in the air and we heard gunshots and saw hunters right by the edge of the field. Several birds hit the ground. We quickly turned around and got out of there, very upset. Later I saw a poster talking about licenses for hunting snow geese, so I googled them and, sure enough, that's what we were seeing.

 Traveling anywhere out on the eastern prairie can be a little boring, but going west one begins to see the Rocky Mountains in the distance. I did not figure out the name of these far away peaks.

 The Spanish Peaks in southern Colorado stand out, much like Pikes Peak does farther north. One is called East Spanish Peak and the other is named, appropriately, West Spanish Peak. I could hardly wait till we got to Walsenburg to be able to see the Peaks close up.

 Walsenburg, its Courthouse to the left, was established about 150 years ago, back when southern Colorado was still part of Mexico. It was called La Plaza de los Leones. In 1870, years after the War of 1846, Fred Walsen settled there and opened up a large merchantile which attracted many German emigrants. He opened the areas first coal mine, which supported the town for 100 years. The population today is around 3,000. We enjoyed a good lunch at The Alpine Cafe´, a local downtown restaurant that served Keith the best biscuits and gravy he's ever had! I loved my cheeseburger, too. Robert Ford, the assassin of outlaw Jesse James, operated a combination saloon and gambling house in Walsenburg. Of course, we had to look that up. The house is now a boring insurance office.

Because of buildings and power lines we had to drive a little out of town to really see the Spanish Peaks. They are awesome! The sun was in the wrong place to get a really good picture.  This photo we took from the Lathrop State Park, a couple of miles west of town.

These mountains are Rough Peak and Silver Peak. There are 50 some mountains within the Rockies that that are over 14,000 feet high! These two are nicely framing the snowy pasture with grazing cows. I snapped this picture as we were heading for La Veta, a tiny town higher up in the hills that was more geared to tourists than Walsenburg.

 On our way back home once more on the dry prairie we passed this old cemetery way out in the middle of nowhere. We wondered if it once serviced the folks from the ranches spread few and far between around the area.

 One last backward look to see the Spanish Peaks fading into the distance.

We learned that the Huerfano River Wind Farm, Colorado's largest producer of distributed generation (DG) power, is located ten miles north of Walsenburg, just off of Interstate 25. I always love seeing these windmills marching across the land. One of the pamphlets we picked up at the State Park stated that the nearby Spanish Peaks are a national landmark and named one of Colorado's Seven Wonders by the Denver Post. The Highway of The Legends, connecting Walsenburg with La Veta, other historic mining towns, and Trinidad, is a National Scenic and Historic Byway. We hope to take that trip someday, hopefully in the spring before we leave Colorado.

Christmas at Bent's Old Fort

First, here's a picture taken several weeks ago at our first visit to Bent's Old Fort, operating from about 1833 to 1850 along the Santa Fe Trail, near present day La Junta, Colorado. We heard that there was a candlelight tour at the Fort in December so we made our reservations and waited with anticipation, hoping it wouldn't be a snowy night.

We arrived early on a cold, frosty, clear night and joined groups of folks standing around outside the Fort waiting for their turn to go inside. This roaring fire kept us warm and we were treated to several booms from the old cannon nearby. Men and women dressed in period costumes kept us entertained with chats as though it were really 1846 and we had just arrived to do business with the Fort.

Finally we were ushered inside by our tour guide. Each room in the Fort is furnished as it would have been during the days of travel and commerce on the Santa Fe Trail. The room closest to the big entrance gate was used to do bargaining with Indians and Hispanics. Here the Fort employee and interpreter used words and sign language to seal the trade for rifles, blankets, beads, and necessities.

The Blacksmith's shop was of vital importance to the Fort. This feisty old smithy told us he earned $125.00 per year while his helper earned $47.00. They also received board and room and all the food they needed. The ring of the blacksmith hammer, and the noise from the wagoner's shop were incessant to the ears of the Fort residents. 

Here is the Fort doctor. He showed us his medical supplies, which included instruments for drawing blood, leaches for the same function, his bone saw for amputations, plus whiskey and laudanum for pain. He said that most illnesses could be cured by bleeding, puking or purging! He was quite proud that he had graduated from a two year course in medicine at a Pennsylvania medical school. Each room we entered was warmed by a cozy fire. My camera flash made the rooms seem brighter than they actually were. Most were quite dim, lit only by the fireplaces and candlelight.

The man in the center said he was with a large group of migrating Mormons who had run out of supplies and he needed the Fort to help him and his families out with food, blankets, guns and some lumber for building shelters. The superintendent in charge of goods was glad to help and assigned his men to gather the supplies and load them onto wagons. We toured many other rooms in the Fort — the dining room and kitchen, the carpenters' shop and the trade room, plus a couple of private rooms housing employees, all with folks dressed in the period costumes and full of conversation.

Last, we were directed to hot cider and cookies where we warmed up and were greeted by one of the resident cats, all cozy on his trade blanket up on a shelf. We felt this evening back in history was one of the most interesting and fun times we've had recently. I know that if we lived in La Junta permanently I would love to be a volunteer at Bent's Old Fort!

Royal Gorge & Canon City

 With temperatures dropping almost to freezing in La Junta lately, we knew we needed to get up into the Rockies to see the Royal Gorge Bridge before the snow came. We chose a bright and sunny day, but it was still very cold and quite windy up there. We were a little shocked to learn we had to pay $14.00 each, even with our discount, but there were lots of activities and displays to go along with the the main attraction, the bridge and the deep, deep canyon it spans as the highest suspension bridge in the world.

 I was quite disappointed that I couldn't get many good photos. The sun was so bright and right in our eyes, and the canyon was so far down and very narrow. That is the Arkansas River below, as well as a railroad track. It is difficult to imagine how they built it. You can get an idea how far down the river is if you try to picture a train down there on the track.

 The Park furnishes vehicles one can ride in to cross the bridge as well as Gondolas swinging out over the abyss. We chose to walk across, but by the time we reached the other side we were so cold we decided to chance the scary, swaying Gondolas on the way back.

 Every state was represented along the Bridge. Washington was at the far end, of course! Right about here I was really wishing I'd worn something warmer! The winds howled up furiously through the gorge.

 Another vantage point with the Rockies in the background.

 I love the colors along the Front Range of the Rockies. This was snapped just outside Canon (pronounced Canyon) City.

 After our tour of the Royal Gorge Bridge and Park we ventured down into Canon City for lunch and for some sight-seeing. We noticed on the way to the city that there were at least 3 huge prisons built into the side hills, and then there was another large and older one just at the edge of the city! I liked this old building outside the walls of the prison. It looked unused. The prison walls to the left and behind were heavily lined with barbed wire. No escaping from this place!

 After lunch on historic Main Street we toured the town. I was especially intrigued with the many churches we found.  A good antidote for all the prisons maybe? This magnificent edifice is the Presbyterian Church. And we were pleasantly surprised to see that we hadn't missed too much of the beautiful Colorado autumn colors!

 And here is the Baptist.

The United Methodist was especially exquisite. Main Street was being torn up for reconstruction so this was the best I could do for this church. Mr. Keith and I agreed that it would be worth the 110 mile drive from La Junta to Canon City once again to do some more in depth exploring here. Colorado has so many great old towns up in the Rockies!

Bent's Old Fort

One of the first attractions we wanted to see when we came to La Junta was Bent's Old Fort, which we managed on our 3rd or 4th day here. It lived up to our expectations, and is a place we will want to return to many times. I'll touch briefly on the origins and use of the Old Fort. Charles Bent and Ceran St. Vrain, both seasoned traders and trappers, entered the famous Santa Fe trade in 1829. It soon became evident that a headquarters for the lucrative Mexican and Indian trading should be situated near the border with Mexico, then along the Arkansas River, and in the midst of the southern tribes of Cheyenne, Arapahoe, Sioux, Comanches, Kiowas, and even Blackfeet and Gros Ventres Indians. Actual building began in 1833.

The main items for trade were buffalo hides, horses and mules, and whiskey. We enjoyed seeing this restored merchantile, complete with sleeping cat!

Here is the inside of the fort, a large courtyard in the midst of the two story walls. Though it was a hot day when we visited, we felt a deep coolness inside each room because of the very thick adobe walls.

This is one of the upstairs rooms. 
The fort did a brisk business until the U.S. declared war on Mexico in 1846, and the fort became headquarters for awhile for the army. Charles Bent was appointed governor of the new province which included New Mexico, but was killed in the revolt of the Mexican people. This spelled the end of the era and of the company.

Each of the thick walled rooms inside the Fort had its own fireplace. Very cozy!

 

Within a few years of Bent's and St. Vrain's deaths, the Cheyennes, Arapahoes, and other tribes that had frequented their adobe trading post would all be confined to reservations, and the buffalo herds driven to virtual extinction on the southern plains.

 

Here we see the restored Doctor's office, on the second floor. You can see the huge logs used for the ceiling. These same big logs were above the bottom floor, supporting the second story. The fort had various uses for the next few years, including as a stage station, a post office, and a cattle ranching headquarters. By the early 1900s the fort had fallen into ruin. The site was transferred to the State Historical Society of Colorado in 1954, and complete restoration was begun in 1975. Because of the volumes written by various traders and occupants of the fort over the years, and the artifacts that were dug up, the restoration is quite accurate.
 

Being a cat lover, I had to revisit the merchantile to see if the cat was still sleeping there. He raised his head to thank me for the pets, very content in his old fort. He was not the only animal we saw there. The Fort had a corral in the back with chickens and a few cows and at least one horse. The adobe walls had cactus planted all around the top, thus discouraging thieves from breaking in.

Before we headed back to La Junta we went a little further east to the small town of Las Animas, and there we found this gorgeous Bent County Courthouse in the middle of the dusty, sleepy town. I believe this town is also along the old Santa Fe Trail, which runs through La Junta, too. There is so much history in this area, and we intend to explore it wherever we can! I hope to go into more detail about Bent's Old Fort on future visits.