By Virginia McConnell Simmons

The Roaring Twenties, the Charleston, and the speakeasies never happened as far as folks in the San Luis Valley could tell, but on the whole, this high valley was not dry.

In the 1920s, the agricultural economy was limping everywhere and mining was severely crippled at places like Creede; and that was before the market crashed and the mines shut down completely in 1929. As if that were not bad enough, this was the era of Prohibition. In fact, it had already begun in 1916 in some of Colorado’s cities and towns, where reformers outnumbered rugged individualists. Read the rest of this article

By Virginia McConnell Simmons

While I was reading about African elephants, I wondered about certain differences and resemblances between elephant and human families.

In Louisa May Alcott’s well-known Little Women, Marmee goes on at Orchard House, wisely and gently tending to her brood while Father is far away doing man things. Anthropologists would call Marmee’s family matrilocal – a mother with her own children – although Father does return happily in Alcott’s story, thus making it a conjugal or nuclear family in the end. Read the rest of this article

By Virginia McConnell Simmons

How to chop wood,

How to build a computer,

Why stick shift is better in the mountains,

And why the Angel of Shavano melts earlier each year.

Whether you can see Tabeguache from Centerville. Read the rest of this article

By Virginia McConnell Simmons

Only a few ghostly vestiges of the Denver, South Park and Pacific Railroad remind us today of challenges that once played a role in the daily life of Central Colorado. This legendary narrow-gauge line, sometimes called “The Damn Slow Pulling and Pretty Rough Riding,” battled blizzards, floods, rockslides, derailments, corporate competition, and, far from least, human courage and hardship. Trains ran summer and winter on rails that crossed the Continental Divide in three places, burrowing through Alpine Tunnel (11,523 el.) to Gunnison County, and topping Boreas Pass (11,482 el.) and Fremont Pass (11,318 el.) to the Blue River and Leadville. Read the rest of this article

 By Virginia McConnell Simmons

In a narrative poem by Robert Frost, Warren and Mary are sitting on their porch, arguing about whether to let Silas return to the farm once again. He had been an unreliable hand, his wanderlust often causing him to go missing when he was most needed, like during haying time, and Warren complains that Silas doesn’t deserve another chance now. But Mary contends that they have no choice except to take him in.

“Home is where, when you have to go there, they have to take you in,” Mary says. Read the rest of this article

By Virginia McConnell Simmons

The economic potential of booming mining camps inspired the board of directors of Colorado Springs’ First National Bank to build a standard-gauge railroad through the Rockies. They believed they could provide the mountain region with better equipment and service than the region’s miniature railroads were already doing. The optimistic capitalists of “Little London” soon learned some hard lessons about pitting money and machinery against the high country. Read the rest of this article

La Sociedad: Guardians of Hispanic Culture Along the Rio Grande
By José A. Rivera
University of New Mexico Press, 2010
ISBN 978-0 8263-4894-4
Photographs by Daniel Salazar et al.

Reviewed by Virginia McConnell Simmons

In 1900, led by Celedonia Mondragón of Antonito, his Hispanic neighbors organized the Sociedad Protección Mútua de Trabajadores Unidos, which soon had 65 chapters called concilios throughout rural southern Colorado, northern New Mexico, and a few places in Utah. These buildings once bore, or still bear in many cases, the fading initials SPMDTU for brevity’s sake, as the facades often tended to be small. Read the rest of this article

The Gospel of Progressivism – Moral Reform and Labor War in Colorado, 1900-1930

By R. Todd Laugen

University Press of Colorado

ISBN 978-60732-052-4

Reviewed by Virginia McConnell Simmons

Fans of the Old West tend to forget that Colorado burgeoned in scarcely a half century from a mostly wide-open frontier territory to a state replete with land grant settlers, cowboys and cattle barons, homesteaders, railroads, mining booms and busts, industries, labor wars, cities, merchant princes, and, predictably, political parties. In this welter of competing interests, defenders of humanitarian concerns and moral rectitude looked out and saw that their state not only could, but should, be improved. Such reformers called (and often still call) themselves “progressives,” the staunch descendants of agitators for abolition, temperance, and suffrage, who were ready to take on other battles like child welfare, minimum wage, women’s working conditions, and political party corruption. Read the rest of this article

By Simon Cordery

Published in 2010 by University of New Mexico Press

ISBN 978-0-8263-4810-4

$21.95 paperback; 224 pages

Reviewed by Virginia McConnell Simmons

Social, political, and economic gulfs that are seldom probed in depth by popular histories exist between the mansions of mining kings in cities and the shacks of anonymous miners in ghost towns. This new biography of Mother Jones will offer readers an understanding of the underlying issues, attitudes, and clashes in strikes and elections. Read the rest of this article

by Virginia McConnell Simmons

Part 2 of 2

Editor’s note: In Part One of this series the author discusses Central Colorado’s strong links with the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company in Pueblo.

Limonite at the Orient Mine in the San Luis Valley was the largest producer of iron ore in Colorado. Unfortunately, it was inadequate for profitable mine operations in the long run. Read the rest of this article

Representation and Rebellion: The Rockefeller Plan at the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company: 1914-1942
By Jonathan H. Rees
Published in 2010 by University of Colorado Press
ISBN 978-0-87081-964-3
344 pages, paperback, $34.95

Reviewed by Virginia McConnell Simmons

The Ludlow Massacre near Trinidad was attracting national outrage in 1914. Leading up to it, labor unrest was widespread, and violent incidents had been escalating, not only at Ludlow but in the coalfields of the whole region. With mine owners pitted against union organizations throughout Colorado in the early 1900s, as well as throughout the nation for decades, public sympathies came down on the side of the workers after Ludlow, with John D. Rockefeller, Jr., the largest single stockholder and member of the board of directors of the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company (CF&I), becoming a special target of public anger. Read the rest of this article

[amazon-product]0870819631[/amazon-product]

Island of Grass By Ellen Wohl

Published in 2009 by University Press of Colorado

ISBN 978-0-87081-963-6

$22.95, paperback; xiv+224 pages

Reviewed by Virginia McConnell Simmons

At first glance, a book about the grasslands of the eastern third of Colorado might seem to hold little interest for readers in Central Colorado. This volume warrants a less hasty opinion, however, for it offers a wealth of information for anyone interested in natural history. Read the rest of this article

[amazon-product]0870819461[/amazon-product]By James E. Fell, Jr.
Published in 2009 by University Press of Colorado
ISBN 978-0-87081-946-9

Reviewed by Virginia McConnell Simmons

Like most readers in Colorado, I have countless books and booklets about the holes in the ground where miners struck it rich or suffered disappointment, but until I read this book, I never knew much about the rusty smelter ruins and grimy slag heaps that remain near those mines. The no-nonsense tome Ores to Metals became a lodestone for me this summer, attracting me to read every page and learn the things about the smelter ruins and slag heaps that have been ignored in the more popular dramas and melodramas about mining. Read the rest of this article

by Susan Bavaria

Ranging in age from 81 on down, several regional women authors have written books as varied as river stones. Tackling subjects ranging from geology to self-publishing, these six writers exemplify the moxie needed to endure the publishing process and a love for language that creates worthy content. Some have taught students. Some have experienced far-flung adventures in the quest to find a good story. Some are members of the Colorado Authors League. All share a passion for good literature and an innate curiosity about the world we share. Read the rest of this article

[amazon-product]0870819348[/amazon-product]

By F. Darrell Munsell
Published in 2008 by University Press of Colorado
ISBN: 978-0-87081-934-6

Reviewed by Virginia McConnell Simmons

With its inclusion of Ludlow, the scene of southern Colorado’s most deadly labor fight, From Redstone to Ludlow will hardly be mistaken for a tourist’s guide to Pitkin County’s tiny village of Redstone on the Crystal River. Rather, as the subtitle indicates, the text is a hefty study in Colorado labor history, specifically relating to coal mining. But who is the subtitle’s John Cleveland Osgood, a name that seldom appears in Colorado histories, except in advertisements that might lure travelers to Redstone? As author F. Darrell Munsell shows, he was the stubborn, aggressive leader of mining men in Colorado’s coal and coking industries at the turn of the last century. Read the rest of this article

[amazon-product]0826343562[/amazon-product]Review by Virginia McConnell Simmons

Mining – November 2008 – Colorado Central Magazine

The Mining Law of 1872: Past, Politics, and Prospects
by Gordon Morris Bakken
Published in 2008 by University of New Mexico Press
ISBN 978-0-8363-4356-7 Read the rest of this article

Sidebar by Virginia McConnell Simmons

Fort Garland – June 2008 – Colorado Central Magazine

(Drills and baseball game will be at the baseball field south of the fort complex.)

Friday, June 20

4-6 p.m. Opening reception for “Saving the Fort” exhibit with conducted tours. Read the rest of this article

Sidebar by Virginia McConnell Simmons

Fort Garland – June 2008 – Colorado Central Magazine

During the 150th anniversary celebration at Fort Garland, re-enactors will take part in many events. Representing cavalry, infantry, and artillery units, men will recreate drills and other daily routines of life in a frontier fort. Ladies also will be present in period dress for the social activities that included wives and local women and to demonstrate the domestic chores performed by servants and laundresses. Read the rest of this article

Article by Virginia McConnell Simmons

Fort Garland – June 2008 – Colorado Central Magazine

THE MOST CELEBRATED NAME associated with Fort Garland is Kit Carson: trapper, scout, Indian agent, Indian fighter, and Civil War officer. But, in the fort’s quarter-century as a U.S. Army installation, many individuals took part in the life of the old adobe stronghold in the San Luis Valley.

Now, year ’round, the public can visualize military life in territorial days and the early years of Colorado statehood at Fort Garland, the oldest existing military fort in what is now Colorado. Read the rest of this article

[amazon-product]0870818848[/amazon-product]Review by Virginia McConnell Simmons

History – April 2008 – Colorado Central Magazine

Radicalism in the Mountain West, 1890-1920: Socialists, Populists, Miners, and Wobblies
By David R. Berman
Published in 2007 by the University Press of Colorado
ISBN 978-0-87081-884-4 Read the rest of this article

Letter from Virginia McConnell Simmons

History – February 2008 – Colorado Central Magazine

Dear Ed:

Your review of my book, Drifting West: The Calamities of James White and Charles Baker, in the January issue was greatly appreciated. One statement made prompts me to offer a correction, since it involves the effect of the outbreak of the Civil War on prospecting in Colorado in general and in the San Juan Mountains in particular. Read the rest of this article

[amazon-product]0826342442[/amazon-product]Review by Virginia McConnell Simmons

Flora – December 2007 – Colorado Central Magazine

Wildflowers of the Southern Rockies
By Carolyn Dodson and William W. Dunmire
Published in 2007 by University of New Mexico Press
ISBN 0826342442 Read the rest of this article

[amazon-product]0870818708[/amazon-product]Review by Virginia McConnell Simmons

Biography – September 2007 – Colorado Central Magazine

Thomas F. Walsh: Progressive Businessman and Colorado Mining Tycoon
by John Stewart
Published in 2007 by the University Press of Colorado
ISBN 0870818708 Read the rest of this article

Article by Virginia McConnell Simmons

Regional History – September 2007 – Colorado Central Magazine

This account is based on Simmons’s narrative history, Drifting West: The Calamities of James White and Charles Baker, recently published by the University Press of Colorado (2007).

A LITTLE-KNOWN EPISODE during the early settlement of present-day Chaffee County occurred when two drifters engaged in a shootout. Had I not been digging into the careers of Charles Baker and James White, I would have missed this bit of action, which happened when Baker, White, George Strole and Joe Goodfellow were passing through Central Colorado on a prospecting trip in June of 1867. It was just a few years after the original excitement of the Pikes Peak Gold Rush had peaked and waned. Read the rest of this article

Letter from Virginia McConnell Simmons

Colorado Central – July 2007 – Colorado Central Magazine

Dear Editors:

The short article “Colonel Pfeiffer’s Grave” by Marcia Darnell, who is ordinarily a responsible writer, has rendered me amazed but not speechless. The header, “Not Exactly a Roadside Attraction” should have been “Not Exactly an Accurate Article.” I respond herewith, not to honor Pfeiffer but to bury the article along with its errors. Most but not all of these are trifles when compared to weightier matters in today’s world, but I value the writing of history as a discipline requiring accuracy and honesty to the best of one’s ability. Read the rest of this article

[amazon-product]087081849X[/amazon-product]Review by Virginia McConnell Simmons

Natural History – April 2007 – Colorado Central Magazine

The Nature of Southwestern Colorado: Recognizing Human Legacies and Restoring Natural Places
by Deborah D. Paulson and William L. Baker
Published in 2006 by University Press of Colorado
ISBN 087081849X Read the rest of this article

[amazon-product]1888809493[/amazon-product]Review by Virginia McConnell Simmons

Poetry – April 2007 – Colorado Central Magazine

As If the World Really Mattered
by Art Goodtimes
Published in 2006 by La Alameda Press
ISBN 1888809493 Read the rest of this article

Article by Virginia McConnell Simmons

Transportation – February 2007 – Colorado Central Magazine

AMID ENTHUSIASTIC PUBLICITY from railroad operators, chambers of commerce in Alamosa and La Veta, tourism promoters, and fans, the new Rio Grande Scenic Railroad excursion train hummed across the Sangre de Cristo Range on May 27, 2006, to open its first regular season. And it rolled to a smooth stop on October 15. Read the rest of this article

Letter from Virginia McConnell Simmons

Place Names – September 2006 – Colorado Central Magazine

Editors:

The origins of Bayou Salado’s name have long been debated, and the appearance of a Bayou Salida in an advertisement only makes the issue slightly more confusing. Now I will add a few words to Ed’s take on Bayou Salado while some tenderfoot in an ad office somewhere is deciding exactly where we should put the X for Bayou Salida on our maps. Read the rest of this article

[amazon-product]0870819054[/amazon-product]Review by Virginia McConnell Simmons

History – July 2006 – Colorado Central Magazine

White Man’s Paper Trail: Grand Councils and Treaty-Making on the Central Plains
By Stan Hoig
Published in 2006 by University Press of Colorado
ISBN 0870819054 Read the rest of this article

Article by Virginia McConnell Simmons

Transportation – June 2006 – Colorado Central Magazine

NEED A VACATION but can’t afford to drive a thousand miles? Look no farther than the San Luis Valley for rail excursions to help you leave behind the heavy stuff, like pain at the pump, water shortages, and the meaning of Tom Cruise’s baby’s name. Your only problems regarding your railroad adventure will be figuring out the names of all the trains, their schedules, and fares; the rest is pure pleasure. Read the rest of this article

[amazon-product]0966726421[/amazon-product]Review by Virginia McConnell Simmons

Transportation – May 2006 – Colorado Central Magazine

The Rio Grande’s La Veta Pass Route: Gateway to the San Luis Valley
By Stephen Rasmussen
Published in 2000 by Evergreen Press
ISBN 0-9667264-2-1 Read the rest of this article

Letter from Virginia McConnell Simmons

Geography – April 2006 – Colorado Central Magazine

Editors:

Here is a small stick to throw onto the flickering flames about whether the original, narrow- gauge D&RG route crossed La Veta Pass or Veta Pass, and whether the later standard- gauge route crossed Veta Pass or La Veta Pass. Today I think we should defer to USGS maps and accept the northern (narrow- gauge) pass as La Veta and the southern pass as Veta. Read the rest of this article

Article by Virginia McConnell Simmons

Transportation – February 2006 – Colorado Central Magazine

LITTLE TRAINS huffing and puffing across mountain passes and powerful diesel locomotives grinding across the open spaces of the West may be the images that charm rail fans. But on ledger sheets, black and red ink is the picture that inevitably decides which lines endure. Read the rest of this article

[amazon-product]1559630930[/amazon-product]Review by Virginia McConnell Simmons

Land Use – December 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine

Cities in the Wilderness: A New Vision of Land Use in America
by Bruce Babbitt
Published in 2005 by Island Press
ISBN 1-55963-093-0 Read the rest of this article

[amazon-product]0976072971[/amazon-product]Review by Virginia McConnell Simmons

Poetry – November 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine

as orion falls
by Aaron A. AbeytaPublished in 2005 by Ghost Road Press
ISBN 0976072971 Read the rest of this article

Letter from Virginia McConnell Simmons

Wildlife – November 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine

Editors:

As one of the people who believe that the architects of Colorado’s lynx recovery effort are “scientists run amok,” as Allen Best describes our feelings about the program in his article in your October 2005 issue, it appears to me that they are throwing lynx against a wall in hopes that something will stick. Unless my math is wrong, not much has stuck. Read the rest of this article

Letter from Virginia McConnell Simmons

Geography – August 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine

Dear Ed and Martha,

Since your publication of my article about the names of Mts. Shavano, Tabeguache, and Antero in Colorado Central (June 2005), I have been attempting to find an explanation for the name of Mt. White, an anomaly amongst those Indian peaks. Read the rest of this article

Article by Virginia McConnell Simmons

Geography – June 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine

THE SAWATCH RANGE on the west side of Chaffee County is a visual knock-out, and the names of some of its peaks offer a reminder of the area’s past history. Among alien labels like Princeton and Harvard, a handful of mountains in the range bear names that honor the Ute Indians, who occupied this region for roughly six centuries before white folks moved in. Read the rest of this article

[amazon-product]097434530X[/amazon-product]Review by Virginia McConnell Simmons

Wildlife – February 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine

Birds of Western Colorado – Plateau and Mesa Country
by Robert Righter, Rich Levad, Coen Dexter, Kim Porter
Published in 2004 by Grand Valley Audubon Society
ISBN 0-9743453-0-X Read the rest of this article

Article by Virginia McConnell Simmons

History – December 2004 – Colorado Central Magazine

NEAR THE Continental Divide and Monarch Pass, Chaffee County has a mountain called Pahlone Peak. Considering all the attention that Ute Indians have received in this magazine lately, Pahlone Peak deserves a nod, but who was Pahlone? Read the rest of this article

Letter from Virginia McConnell Simmons

Hummingbirds – July 2004 – Colorado Central Magazine

Editors:

Lynda La Rocca’s story about an encounter with a hummingbird was very enjoyable. Hurrah for the rescue of the bird and for such persistence that led to a happy conclusion. Read the rest of this article

[amazon-product]1890437794[/amazon-product]Review by Virginia McConnell Simmons

Utes – May 2004 – Colorado Central Magazine

Chipeta, Queen of the Utes: A Biography
by Cynthia S. Becker and P. David Smith
Published in 2003
by Western Reflections Publishing Company
ISBN 1-89-0437-79-4 Read the rest of this article

[amazon-product]1559632232[/amazon-product]Review by Virginia McConnell Simmons

Water – April 2004 – Colorado Central Magazine

Water Follies: Groundwater Pumping and the Fate of America’s Fresh Waters
by Robert Glennon
Published in 2002 (paper, 2004) by Island Press
ISBN I-55963-223-2 Read the rest of this article

Article by Marcia Darnell

Virginia McConnell Simmons – August 1999 – Colorado Central Magazine

GREAT HISTORIANS are like great teachers: they’re naturally able to convey their passion for the subject to their students.

Virginia McConnell Simmons has been passionately teaching history for 45 years, as a researcher, professor, and writer. Her newest creation is The San Luis Valley: Land of the Six-Armed Cross, a second edition of her 1979 book. Read the rest of this article