-
BACA COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE SHERIFF AARON SHIPLETT OFFICE (719) 523-4511 265 EAST 2 ND AVENUE FAX (719) 523-4587 Dear Baca County Residents,Fire season is upon us and has been for a while now. We are currently in varying degrees ofdrought in Baca County, the state, and in many parts of this nation. The fire danger…
-
By Kent Brooks, historical context with observations from the research of Dr. Norman Kincaide History in Baca County and Southeast Colorado is not a straight line; it is a recurring cycle of high-altitude disconnect. Recently I began reviewing the 90 year parallels between the President Roosevelt’s 1936 drought commission and the 2025 /2026 Comanche National…
-
Author’s Note: A Living Archive My work on this began with a singular focus: recording the history of the place where I grew up, Baca County Colorado. I have been and am primarily interested in the preservation of the raw, unfiltered history of the High Plains and Baca County and ensuring the 1930s “Decade of…
Be in the know
Don’t miss out on the latest news in Baca County!
History and Stories
Search “History” above to read more like this
-
In the late 19th century, a feverish wave of migration swept toward the Western frontier. While the transcontinental railroad brought settlers to the edge of the plains, the tracks only went so far. To bridge the gap between the railheads and the remote “boom towns” of Southeast Colorado, a vital network of stagecoach lines emerged.…
-
A look back at the heart of the Southeast Colorado community of Vilas, and a glimpse at how its story might be told in the Digital Age. For the residents of Baca County, Colorado, a Kent Homsher social media post with a single photograph of “Tony’s Market” was enough to unleash a flood of memories…
-
A recent Facebook post by Steve Doner shared a brief Springfield Herald clipping (below) dated January 12, 1900, documenting trapping activity along the river in southeastern Colorado. That short notice, combined with a comment recalling wolf trapping by Kent Homsher’s grandfather, prompted a return to the archives and to earlier research I conducted several years…
-
In 2014 I gave a talk at the Baca County Museum about a topic I’d heard about my whole life— broomcorn. Ironic, I suppose, that I would give a talk on this topic. I don’t really remember broomcorn and didn’t know much about it. What I knew while giving the talk is that I knew…
