Colorado Central Articles From — January 2005

Column by Hal Walter

Wildlife – January 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine

IN HEART OF THE GAME, Thomas McGuane wrote that hunting in your own backyard tends to become less and less and less expeditionary over time. This is especially true when you have permission to hunt the adjacent 2,500-acre land conservancy, and hold a license for a cow elk good for one regular season and then the entire month of December. Read the rest of this article

Article by Columbine Quillen

Local Artists – January 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine

THERE ARE MANY ARTISTS IN Salida, but there are probably very few who focus more on their materials than on the finished product. Tami Sheppard happens to love beads as much, if not more, than beading. “I have a real passion for beads,” she says. Read the rest of this article

Letter from Slim Wolfe

Politics – January 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine

Brickbats and more

Editors,

On the national front:

Uncle Slimbo’s brickbat-of-the-decade award goes to the news crew at National Public Radio. When the government finally sends minders to oversee their broadcasts, they’ll find that NPR is already toeing the line. Here are a few of many news items you might never have guessed at if you relied on this so-called public source of information: Read the rest of this article

Letter from Frank Snively

Science – January 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine

Some scientific facts

To the editor,

The letter written last month by Ide Trotter regarding “honest science,” took George Sibley to task for a variety of statements. George can refute the message as he sees fit, but it would be well to present facts as they are used by the scientific community, at least as regards biological evolution. Read the rest of this article

Letter from Laird Campbell

Development – January 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine

Editors:

I am sure that the good folks of Custer County will be happy to coöperate with Hal Walter’s affluent neighbors in the gated community. Read the rest of this article

Sidebar by Ken Jessen

Local History – January 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine

The Story Behind the Story

I met the Salazar family quite by accident during the summer of 2000. My wife Sonje and I were in the San Luis Valley hunting ghost towns for Volume 3 of Ghost Towns, Colorado Style. We were eating in La Jara and talking about the location of Los Cerritos, when John Salazar overheard our conversation and introduced himself and his father Henry. John told us about Rincones and the Salazar ranch. The information was added to the book. Read the rest of this article

Sidebar by Ken Jessen

Local History – January 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine

Archuleta, Ruben E. Land of the Penitentes; Land of Tradition, El Jefe, Pueblos West, Colorado, 2003.

Bauer, William H., James L. Osment and John H. Willard. Colorado Post Offices 1859-1989. Golden, Colorado: Colorado Railroad Museum, 1990. Read the rest of this article

Sidebar by Ken Jessen

Local History – January 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine

Francisco Esteban de Salazar y de Sandoval (b. 1800) married Maria del Carmen Valdez. Two of their children were Refugio and Eusebio Salazar. Eusebio married Amada Garcia and Refugio married Felipe Cantu.Eusebio and Amada’s son, Juan Bautista Salazar (b. 1884) married his first cousin, Antonia Cantu (b. 1884), daughter of Refugio and Felipe.The Cantu family had also moved from New Mexico to Los Rincones. Read the rest of this article

Article by Ken Jessen

Local History – January 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine

ONCE UPON A TIME, the Mexican government expanded its domain northward into what is today New Mexico and southern Colorado, not only to add to their territory, but to provide a buffer zone to reduce raids by aggressive Indians. Wealthy families were given generous land grants and the only requirement was that they promise to establish a colony. Read the rest of this article

Essay by John Mattingly

Water – January 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine

MENTION VODKA, and potatoes and Russians come to mind. As a high school student assigned to read Dostoyevsky, I got in the mood by putting thin-sliced potatoes in an empty pop bottle with a teaspoon of sugar, shaking, then capping with a balloon. The balloon blew up until, in about two weeks, it broke, yielding vodka. Well, sort of. It was a beverage suitable for sipping while reading Crime and Punishment, if you wanted to fast-forward to the punishment. (I don’t recommend this recipe.) Read the rest of this article

Essay by Phil Doe

Politics – January 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine

IF YOU GAVE SOMEONE $158,100 a year with automatic increases regardless of the job done, an expense account of up to $3,000,000, a gold-plated health insurance policy that most working stiffs can only dream of, then topped it off with a diamond-studded tiara of a retirement system which allows up to 80 percent of working salary at retirement — wouldn’t you think that person would feel some sense of obligation? Forget about it. Read the rest of this article

Column by George Sibley

Culture – January 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine

I’M SITTING HERE writing this early in December, hopeful that by the time you are reading it somewhere between late December and early January, the usual miracle will have occurred and all will be somewhat the same with this rolling ball of rock and fire we’re hanging on to, or off of. Our axis won’t have wobbled unduly, gravity will have continued to assert its mysterious will against the planet’s tangential urge, and we will again be heading toward spring, summer and – well, that’s far enough ahead to look. Read the rest of this article

Article by Central Staff

Local Authors – January 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine

The people who write for Colorado Central also write books, and since we don’t pay them nearly enough for their fine work, we’re glad to encourage you to buy their books. The following list may not be exhaustive, but the idea was to list everyone who’s written for our magazine during this millennium. Read the rest of this article

Colorado Lore – January 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine

In Praise of Fair Colorado – The Practice of Poetry, History, and Judging
by Greg Hobbs
Published in 2004 by Bradford Publishing Co.
ISBN 1-932779-02-7 Read the rest of this article

Local History – January 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine

Gunnison Kid
by Phil Klingsmith
Published in 2004 by Dunsmith Publishing House Ltd.
ISBN pending Read the rest of this article

Mountain Life – January 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine

Dragons in Paradise – On the edge between civilization and sanity
by George Sibley
Published in 2004 by Mountain Gazette
ISBN 0-9763111-0-0 Read the rest of this article

Review by Martha Quillen

Food – January 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine

The Best of Arlene’s Cuisine
by Arlene Shovald, Ph.D.
Published in 2003 by Arkansas Valley Publishing Co. Read the rest of this article

Sidebar by Rayna Bailey

Wildlife – January 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine

AS THE COLORADO Division of Wildlife and the United States Fish and Wildlife Service consider the reintroduction of wild wolves in southwestern Colorado, Mission:Wolf goes about its task of caring for unwanted wolves and wolf-dog hybrids that have been raised in captivity and can never be set free. Read the rest of this article

Article by Allen Best

Widlife – January 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine -

HISTORIAN PATTY LIMERICK observes that if the sturdy pioneers of the West could return today, they’d find many changes interesting, if not altogether startling. There were no airplanes during the settlers’ era, for example, but many people imagined their invention. More surprising to the pioneers would be the changed attitudes, none more shocking than how we now view predators. Species that they so triumphantly eradicated are now protected and, in some cases, predators are being restocked. Read the rest of this article

Essay by Martha Quillen

Modern Life – January 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine

Christmas 2004.

Disagreement about government-sponsored Christmas displays and performances is so timeworn it’s a cliché. But this year seems to have inspired even more debate than usual.

A few months ago, the daughter of some friends was upset about talk that religious carols might not be allowed at Salida High School this year. As a Christian, she couldn’t understand how eliminating Christ from Christmas could possibly be desirable. After all, without Christ, what are our Happy Holidays all about? Greed? Shopping? Tinsel? Read the rest of this article

Cartoon by Jack Chivvis

Modern Life – January 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine Read the rest of this article

Brief by Ed Quillen

Regional News – January 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine

Hard Winter?

For years, some locals have joked that we needed a hard winter to discourage immigration, perhaps even to encourage outward migration by some of the lightweights who have settled here in recent years, and have come to assume that our winters are fairly mild. Read the rest of this article

Brief by Central Staff

Growth – January 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine

Mountain resort towns are often surrounded by public land, which means that there’s no place nearby to build new houses — even though the demand for housing might be increasing on account of economic growth that inspires more employment. Read the rest of this article

Brief by Central Staff

Wal-Mart – January 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine

Wal-Mart has backed away, at least for the time being, from plans to build a super store in Gunnison.

The store would have been on the north side of town, across Main Street from the current store, where the company had made on offer on a sizable parcel. Read the rest of this article

Brief by Central Staff

Politics – January 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine

We often get to vote on amendments to the Colorado state constitution — and at some point, you have to wonder whether it would make sense to start over with a new one.

That’s not a new question. The state constitution dates to 1876, and one of its framers was Casimiro Barela of Las Animas County. He was a state senator in 1911 when he proposed a convention for a new state constitution: Read the rest of this article

Brief by Central Staff

Outdoors – January 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine

When subdivisions sprout in the back-country, traditional back- country activities have to give way. Or at least, that’s what has happened in Park County, where the U.S. Forest Service has banned recreational shooting in an area near Bailey known as Slaughterhouse Gulch.

Residents of the KZ Ranch and Royal Ranch subdivisions complained to the county government and the Forest Service last fall, pointing out that they feared to take walks or even sit outdoors on account of the gunfire, and that some residents found shotgun pellets on their roofs. Read the rest of this article

Brief by Marcia Darnell

San Luis Valley – January 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine

More Vast than Vail?

The Battle of Wolf Creek Village has commenced. The proposed development includes over 2,000 condos; over 200,000 feet of commercial space; and over 4,000 covered parking spaces. Owners B.J. “Red” McCombs and Bob Honts want to build what could be Colorado’s largest resort village on Wolf Creek Pass, near Wolf Creek Ski Area, whose owners oppose the project. Read the rest of this article

Comic Strip written and drawn by Monika Griesenbeck

Mountain Life – January 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine Read the rest of this article

Brief by Central Staff

Mining – January 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine

Cañon City residents won a battle in December when the state government refused a request from the Cotter Corp., which operates a uranium mill on the south side of town.

Cotter had wanted to process 400,000 cubic yards of radioactive soil from a New Jersey Superfund site. The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment denied the application, but renewed the company’s operating license, so that it will still be able to process uranium and vanadium ores. Read the rest of this article

Brief by Central Staff

Politics – January 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine

A big improvement on a gold watch?

Gunnison County Commissioner Fred Field will leave office this month, after serving for 23 years.

County employees, who gathered at a Christmas party on Dec. 10, wanted to give him a retirement present. Read the rest of this article

Essay by Jeff Milchen

Public Lands – January 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine

ARE OUR PUBLIC LANDS really public? Well, would you still call your town library “public” if a private corporation managed the books your taxes paid for, then charged you a fee to borrow them? Thanks to a provision sneaked into the recently passed federal spending bill, we may face that question about our public lands. Read the rest of this article

AB LATERAL PROJECT DEFEATED

The Uncompahgre Valley Water Users have given up trying to develop a conditional water right to divert water from the Gunnison River for a hydroelectric project which saw stiff opposition for the past 20 years. The project could have taken more than 1,000 cfs of water from the Gunnison River, threatening the fishery in the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park and would have caused flooding, erosion and other adverse environmental impacts in the Uncompahgre River. Trout Unlimited was fighting the diligence for the water rights on the basis that there was insufficient water available for the project and claiming the project would need Congressional approval to be built. Read the rest of this article