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Baca County History Book – VOLUME II While manning our booth at the fair, Steve Doner and I discovered how difficult it is to persuade people to submit their stories for Volume II of the Baca County History Book. We heard every excuse imaginable from “I can’t write” to “No one wants to hear about…
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The Life and Legacy of Cowboy Fred Holister By Kent Brooks Great journeys into the past starts with a single question. For this story that question came a few years back (maybe 2015 or 2016) during a visit with my Uncle Harold Brooks. As we sat talking about the old stories and forgotten histories of…
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As we take part in that annual icon of the southeast Colorado prairie, the 2026 Baca County fair it seems appropriate to talk a little about the culture, history and present-day issues surrounding the event. Some circles of society might question the relevance and value of a county fair when less than 2 percent of…
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History and Stories
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Few men embodied the spirit of southeastern Colorado more fully than Alfred A. Arraj. Born far from the windswept plains of Baca County yet forever shaped by them, Arraj rose from small-town lawyer and civic booster in Springfield, Colorado, to become one of the most respected federal judges in the American West. Today, his name…
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Reference: Martin, Arthur. The story of broomcorn. 1950. Retrieved from the Digital Public Library of America, https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/56245. (Accessed April 23, 2026.). Public domain. Published 1923-1977 in U.S. without printed copyright notice. Contact dcc@library.uiuc.edu for information.
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By Steve Doner and Kent Brooks In the block towards the rising sun we found Charley Malmberg trying to pound the stuffin out of a piece of iron. We don’t know whether Charley has planted the famous chestnut tree or not, but if he hasn’t he ought to, as he has the ideal shop. Springfield…
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History often hides in plain sight. We have often written of the Jennings clan’s time in Southeast Colorado. Much of that is in my book “Old Boston: As Wild As They Come,” We recently stumbled upon a remarkable photograph of a routine day in Woodward, Oklahoma, dated 1901, showing broomcorn being delivered. But behind the…















