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“Pistol Packin’ Mama” Popular, but in Short Supply in Greeley in 1943 – ‘44
Recent articles in the Greeley Tribune have underscored the importance of music to calm and uplift people’s spirits. In 2020, Pandora and other online apps make it easy to access favorite musical genres, but this wasn’t the case for Greeley’s music lovers in 1943.
A Cautionary Tale ~ Part 3
On January 6, 1919, four-year-old Ralph E. Waldo, Jr. remembered running up and down the aisle in a “theater,” but most likely it was a mortuary. At the end of the aisle Ralph stopped numerous times to peer into the casket holding the remains of his mother, Alfa Frances Warton Waldo, and his stillborn baby brother. The impact of the 1918 influenza epidemic lingers in the annals of Waldo family history.
A Cautionary Tale ~ Part 2
Earlier this month, a friend sent a photo of a lone gravestone in an abandoned cemetery near Briggsdale. The inscription on the stone piqued my interest, as I wondered if Catherine was a victim of the 1918 flu epidemic.
A Cautionary Tale ~ Part 1
As the coronavirus pandemic continues in its unrelenting strangle-hold on people’s lives, from the confines and comforts of home, I recalled a program I researched and presented years ago about the Spanish influenza epidemic in Greeley and Weld County.
Homeward Bound – Lyrical Lessons in Keeping Distance, Keeping Faith and Stayin’ Alive
The spread of the novel coronavirus has created a global crisis that requires courage, creativity, and compassion. Greeley’s 21st century citizens are “pandemic pioneers” as everyone adapts to restrictions, survives hardships, and like Nathan Meeker 150 years ago, patronize home.
Social Distancing Brings Memories of ‘Pest House’
As we find our way through this global pandemic, it is a good time to reflect on medical care in Greeley’s history.
Hibbs Clothing Store: An Early Successful Business
Harry Hibbs arrived in Greeley with a dream to own the finest and largest men’s apparel store in Northern Colorado.
Buckskin Bill’s Imaginary Love Affair with Rattlesnake Kate
One might feel like they are intruding while reading the personal correspondence between Colonel Charles D. Randolph, who called himself “Buckskin Bill” the “Poet of the Plains”, and Kate Slaughterback, a.k.a. Rattlesnake Kate. The reality is that the poems are a reflection of the story-spinning abilities of this “Poet of the Plains.”
Traditions of New Year’s Past
New Year’s gifts were popular during the 1870-90 era in Greeley, and some were elaborate or unusual.
Things I Learned while Looking Up Something Else
Historian Carol Rein Shwayder began researching her family genealogy in the 1970s. She was “dismayed, and shocked” to find there was no book written for Weld County history. In 1983, Shwayder self-published Weld County Old & New: History of Weld County, Colorado, Vol. I, Chronology 1836-1983. It is described by the author as “A chronological compendium of interesting, useful, and hard-to-find facts and information about the history and development of Weld County, Colorado. Herein follows a sampling of excerpted entries.
Put your suffrage knowledge to the test! One hundred years ago, the 19th Amendment gave women across the country the right to vote. However, several states already allowed their women to vote by the time the amendment passed. Which state granted women the right to vote first?