Casimiro Barela, state senator for over 37 years, fought to ensure Colorado’s first constitution was published in English, Spanish and German.
Book Reviews
Since the post–Civil War years, communities have found it in their best interests to publicize not only their unique history, but also to document the ways and means of growth through the actions of individuals in achieving a flourishing, modern city. Westminster: The First 100 Years...
How do you create a Colorado history textbook for third and fourth graders that “does justice to the many stories of Colorado’s lively past” (v)? Foremost, solicit authors with passion and expertise. Next, involve leading educators to frame the expectations and inform the process. Be mindful of...
Duane Smith has long been known as the dean of mining historians. In a career stretching back fifty years, he has taught at Fort Lewis College in Durango, given innumerable talks, even more lectures, and authored or coauthored something approaching fifty books—a legendary achievement—and that is...
Shinin’ Times at The Fort: Stories, Recipes, and Celebrations from the Landmark Colorado Restaurant includes 150 mouth-watering recipes for the many fans of The Fort restaurant, and anyone interested in cooking authentic western food. Holly Arnold Kinney dedicates her first cookbook to...
“There is no accuser like a guilty conscience.”
In Burglars in Blue, Art Winstanley (Arthur R. Winstanley according to prison records) recounts his life from disenfranchised teen to Denver police officer and safecracker to inmate at the Colorado State Penitentiary. This...
When the Union Pacific announced plans to build a new depot in Boulder in the 1880s, controversy erupted. Everybody in town, it seemed, had an opinion, which prompted the editor of the Boulder County Herald to write: “Human nature! There’s a considerable amount of it in Boulder.”
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The mention of Colorado’s Wet Mountain Valley conjures images of cattle, gold, and a kaleidoscope of alpine vistas. Its isolation has long attracted settlers looking for a new life in a “land of beginning again.” In the 1960s, the Wet Mountain Valley offered new beginnings to a variety of...
Virtually every government agency attracts attention only when things go wrong, and the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) is certainly no exception. Most Colorado residents consider smooth, open roads free of obstructions as their birthright, and they vent irritation and frustration...
Buffalo Bill gave the Old West more exposure than anyone who actually scouted, tracked, and advanced the West of the nineteenth century. Over the years, books about the great scout and greater showman have been rolling off modern presses like stampeding bison. Most of these volumes do manage to...
What’s the next best thing to being in the San Luis Valley in southern Colorado? How about sitting back in your favorite comfort place and opening the cover of Valley of the Dunes? Or, how about gathering family or friends around the table? Whatever you do, treating yourself to ...