Fort Carson is the home of the U.S. Army's 4th Infantry Division, which was organized in 1917 to fight in WW I. Germany had announced that it would sink American ships supplying Britain and France with supplies and then a telegram revealed that Germany had also asked Mexico to join the war and fight the United States by offering it Texas, Arizona, and New Mexico. Four million Americans joined the Army with half of the Americans deployed to Europe. When fighting in France, the Americans were known as "doughboys." There are a number of different opinions where the name "doughboys" came from, but one version is that the Americans were called "doughboys" because they ate fried flour dumplings. Fort Carson also has a nice museum with a number of outdoor displays.
Pueblo (population 106,595) is known as the "Steel City" because it is one of the largest steel-producing cities in the United States. The city is the sixth most affordable place to live in America and in 2013 Pueblo was listed by AARP as one of the Best Places to Live in the USA. It is also the county seat for Pueblo County and has a beautiful county courthouse and axillary buildings.
There are a number of historic churches in the downtown area and not far from the courthouse is "The Impossible Playhouse."
The Pueblo Weisbrod Aircraft Museum is located at the municipal airport and contains a large display of vintage military aircraft. The airport was constructed as a military base during WW II primarily for training B-24 crews, but B-17 and B-29 crews also received some training at this base.
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| Doughas R4D-5S (C-47) Sllutraom |
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| Lockheed T2V-1 (T-33B) Sea Star |
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| Royal Aircraft Factory S.E. 5 Replica |
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| 1926 Alexander Eaglerock |
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| Boeing B-29 Superfortress |
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| Beechcraft T-34B Mentor |
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| Douglas F4D-1A (F6A1) Skyray |
Boone (population 339) was founded by the grandson of Daniel Boone and has a nice city park with a rocket display.
As I was driving through Olney Springs (population 345) I stopped to take a few pictures when I was approached by Cpl. Ritchie Pasquarello from the Vets Art Museum, which is housed in an old yellow church building. Ritchie was a very interesting person to visit with and he gave me a tour of the museum and showed me some of his art work that has won a number of prizes at various art exhibits. (He also does wood carvings.) Apparently Ritchie is in the process of moving his studio from Gettysburg to Olney Springs.
The Crowley County Heritage Center is located in the historic Crowley school building that is listed on the Register of Historic Places. Crowley's population is listed as 176.
Ordway (population 1,080) is the most populous town in Crowley County. The old historic grain elevators located at the edge of town have about reached the end of their physical life.
Rocky Ford (population 3,957) is known as the "Dove Hunting Capital of Colorado." At one time Rocky Ford was a booming town for sugar production, but now all of the sugar factories have closed.
Blaine Gibson, a Disney sculptor and animator, was from Rocky Flat and was responsible for creating The Hall of Presidents, Haunted Mansion, and Pirates of the Caribbean. Gibson also sculptured the famous statue of Walt Disney and Mickey Mouse welcoming visitors to Disneyland in California.
Swink (population 617) is an interesting small town that also has an abandoned sugar factory with a smoke stack that is known as Otero County's Washington Monument. The smoke stack was constructed in 1906, is 230-feet tall, and has a base of 62 feet in circumference. The plant closed in 1975.
For 70 years sugar beats were the main agricultural crop of southeast Colorado and the sugar beets grown in the Arkansas Valley had the highest sugar contend of any sugar beets grown in the world.
La Junta (population 7,077) in Spanish means "the junction." The town is located adjacent to the Arkansas River and received its name because it is located at the junction of the Santa Fe Trail and Pioneer Road that goes to Pueblo. When I was in grade school, I thought the world was going to come to an end because my school teacher (Mrs. Smith) and her family moved to La Junta.
La Junta is also the only known location were a couple was married by telegraph. The day the couple was scheduled to be married, a flood on the Arkansas River washed out the railroad bridge and all other crossings, stranding the bride and groom on opposite sides of the river. Since all of the invited guest were gathered on two different sides of the river, a decision was made to conduct the wedding with all parties standing in their respective places and the minister conducted the service by Morse Code.
Las Animas (population 2,410) is the county seat and the only incorporated municipality in Brent County. There are several legends about how the town received its name, but the one I like is that a group of conquistadors that were part of Coronado's expedition died without receiving their last rites sacrament from a priest and as a result their souls would go to Purgatory. Las Animas ("the souls" in Spanish) was originally named La Ciudad de Las Animas Perdidos en Purgatorio, "The city of lost souls in Purgatory."
Boggsville, a certified site on the Santa Fe National Historic Trail, is now a ghost town with a few surviving structures -- one of which is the last home of frontiersman Kit Carson. The site is also the location of the first public school in southeastern Colorado. We arrived too late in the evening and everything was closed.
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