Blog
Knights of the Roaring Wheels
In 1938, motorcycling had a dramatic comeback in Greeley with the organization of the “Knights of the Roaring Wheels”, a motorcycle club emphasizing safety.
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Archiving the Camp Family Collections
A Reflection by Katalyn Lutkin, City of Greeley Museums Archives Assistant I started processing the Camp Family Collections in July of 2016. At that time, there was only one donation with several more on the way. In the last 3 years, I have processed 13 collections...
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Innovation with the Fascination
Explore over 100 years of photographic history of Northern Colorado through the work of father and son photographers Lew and Denny Dakan.
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April Fools: A Bad Joke for a Good Cause
In 1918, the citizens of Greeley were doing all they could to contribute to the war effort. Those at home made a difference through rationing, fundraising, and a bad joke.
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Military WAVES in Greeley
In July of 1942, women officially made a splash into the U.S. Navy when President Roosevelt signed into law a newly formed division, the U.S. Naval Reserve (Women’s Reserve), unofficially called WAVES or Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service.
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100-Year-Old Unsolved Robbery
On December 26, 1918, the Greeley Post Office was robbed almost without a trace. The robbers made off with about $69,300 and the post office became the scene of the third largest theft of a United States post office at the time.
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Out of This World?
Detective Work at the Museum: Researching the Past Using Historical Sources
Remember back to your high school days when you had to write that pesky research paper? Or maybe you’re still in high school and you have a history assignment due. It can be a long process combing through dozens of books to find useful information; and in today’s age...
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Drilling for Health – Greeley’s First Artesian Well
Drilling for Health – Greeley’s First Artesian Well The acquisition of safe drinking water for early Greeley was no simple task. Discussions began in early 1883 when G. Law wrote to the Greeley Tribune suggesting that a well providing potable water could be...
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Filmmaking and Cowpunching
As the nineteenth-century came to a close, a rush of nostalgia for the “Western Frontier” captivated America. Cowboy filmmaker Charles Camp is one example of this. The films he produced, the “first and only ones ever made of a real Wyoming round-up,” represent some of...
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Do you remember anything about July 6 in the year you were 13 years old?
In her oral history, part of the Greeley History Museum’s collection, Charlotte Beeten recalls what she saw near her home in Johnstown on that day in 1924, when she was 13 years old :
“The meteorite fell on July 6, 1924, and I shall never forget that day. My sister had been visiting us from California and she was leaving for home that day. My father and I were putting her suitcases in the back of the car. We were out in the yard doing that. All of a sudden we heard this horrible, horrible roar and we looked up and saw this big ball of fire coming from the southwest. It looked as if it was going to land right in our front yard. My father said, “Run into the house!” By that time my mother and sister were running out of the house to see what was happening. So I never did get into the house. It finally landed right across the road from Village [?] Chapel and, of course, we saw the landing and we saw the smoke still coming from it. My father was the first one on the scene. When it was cooled and the smoke had subsided, he held the meteorite out of its resting place. […] It embedded itself about two feet into the ground.”
The 20-pound meteorite was given to the Denver Museum of Nature & Science and its story has lived on in newspapers as recently as 2000. On July 6, whatever you’re doing, watch the sky - you never know what a day will bring!
Please note : Personal stories are a really important way of saving history. If you’re interested in helping us transcribe oral histories like this one, please call 970-350-9220.