Historic Tales from Park County: Parked in the Past

by Laura Van Dusen

Overview

The geographic center of Colorado, Park County has long served as a recreational area for Denver and Colorado Springs residents looking to get away. The scene has not always been so idyllic. Marshal Cook was shot while investigating a loud party in Como in 1894, and rumors spread by the Michigan Creek School Board sent Benjamin Ratcliff on a killing spree in 1895. But the county's hardscrabble heritage includes triumphs as well as tragedies. In 1873, county seat Fairplay lost every business on Front Street to a horrific fire. But by 1878, they had rebuilt it all. It still stands today, a true testament to the strength of this old mining town. Journalist Laura Van Dusen shares these stories, outlining the many trials and successes of Park County's earliest settlers.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781626191617
Publisher:	The History Press
Publication date:	11/05/2013
Series:	American Chronicles
Pages:	192
Sales rank:	1,099,206
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

Laura Van Dusen studied photography at Colorado Mountain College in Glenwood Springs. In 2010 she began writing regularly as a freelance correspondent for the Park County Republican and Fairplay Flume. In October 2011, she started the monthly feature Parked in the Past, exploring the history of Park County.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements 9

Introduction 11

1860s

1 Marie Guiraud 15

2 Samuel Hartsel 21

3 Tabor, Dyer, Howbert 29

4 Early Days at the Orphan Boy 37

5 Reynolds Gang 45

1870s

6 Colonel Frank Mayer 53

7 Civil War Veterans 59

8 Sheldon Jackson's Fairplay Church 69

9 Fairplay's Front Street in 1878 79

1880s

10 Crime and Punishment in 1880s Fairplay 89

11 Forty-Six Years in Howbert 97

1890s

12 Gottlieb Fluhmann 107

13 The Short, Tragic Life of Anna Blythe Speas 113

14 Benjamin Ratcliff 127

15 Boom and Bust on Bross 135

1900s

16 Pioneers Buried at Guffey 145

17 Maddox Ice Company 153

1940s

18 Como High School 163

19 Fairplay's Healthcare History 171

1950s

20 Summer 1954 179

Bibliography 185

About the Author 189