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	Friday July 30, 2010

EXTRA : A History of Outdoor Recreation in Cuchara • EXTRA : This week in history- July 8, 2010 • EXTRA : Music Notes for July 8,2010 • EXTRA : Museum of Friends hosts work of three artists • MORE : Cuchara Dog Trot a runaway success • MORE : Maccietto to retire from HHS • MORE : City Council questions hiring • MORE : Battlemoor, the Mountain Crusades! • MORE : Bike and Build rideers bring hope • NEWS : James England resigns from City Council • NEWS : La Veta discusses water issues • EXTRA : This week in History- July 01, 2010 • EXTRA : Art fiends become Friends of the Arts • MORE : Briefs for July 01, 2010 • MORE : Obituary- Nancy Barela • MORE : Violent sexual predator returns to Walsenburg • MORE : RE-1 hires new Superintendent • NEWS : Officer Petkoff exonerated • NEWS : Planning 101 for La Veta • NEWS : La Veta calls in the State • NEWS : Distric Attorney\'s office burglarized • NEWS : Domestic violence leads to shots fired • NEWS : Medano Fire spreads into Huerfano County • NEWS : Vigil resigns as Finance Director • EXTRA : Huerfano History for June 10, 2010 • EXTRA : Music Notes for June 10, 2010 • EXTRA : It\'s Greater Outdoors for June 10, 2010 • EXTRA : Our Grotto— for saints and sinners • MORE : Population in Walsenburg, County, dwindling • TO SEE AND DO : Local Service Organizations • TO SEE AND DO : Youth Organizations • TO SEE AND DO : Churches • TO SEE AND DO : The Arts • TO SEE AND DO : Museums • TO SEE AND DO : Tourist Information • TO SEE AND DO : Recreation • TO SEE AND DO : Libraries • TO SEE AND DO : State & Federal Government • TO SEE AND DO : Local Government • TO SEE AND DO : Post Offices • TO SEE AND DO : Court System • TO SEE AND DO : Schools • TO SEE AND DO : Health Services • TO SEE AND DO : Fire Departments • TO SEE AND DO : Plice/Sheriff • TO SEE AND DO : Utilities • EXTRA : Folk Art in Brown\'s sheep camp barn is recorded • MORE : No Bad Vibes free music fest • NEWS : Officer cleared in Gallegos shooting • SPORTS : Orlando Cup set for this weekend • SPORTS : Redskins honored at Athletic Banquet • SPORTS : Redskins win district tournament • SPORTS : Panthers’ season ends • MORE : Obituary- Lawrence Tubby Noga • MORE : Obituary- Betty Dasko • MORE : Obituary - Charles Siegfriend Sporleder, Jr. • SPORTS : Redskins burning up the diamond • NEWS : Let\'s Beautify Walsenburg! • SPORTS : John Mall track team gets delayed results • SPORTS : La Veta Wrestling explodes at Rocky Mountain Nationals • SPORTS : Panthers survive first round • SPORTS : Redskin\'s Season ends in Fountain • SPORTS : La Veta\'s Sweet Sixteen turns sour • SPORTS : Walsenburg Golf Course braces for Spring • SPORTS : La Veta\'s youth wrestling season begins • SPORTS : Ron ortivez captures third • SPORTS : Lady Redskins lose one, clinch district • NEWS : Huerfano Journal takes over the World • NEWS : What\'s all this then? • MORE : Huerfano County one of the lowest in health in Colorado • : Nathan Lewis dies • EXTRA : Music Notes for July 01. 2010 •

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admiring the view

A History of Outdoor Recreation in Cuchara

15 - July - 2010by Nancy Christofferson
CUCHARA- Outdoor recreation is a given when one vacations in Cuchara. No one can resist hiking or just enjoying a short walk to take advantage of the clean mountain air, the smell of pines or the sight of the quaking aspen, the scuttling clouds and shadows they cause on the slopes of the Culebra range, Dakota Wall and Three Sisters.
    In the early days of Cuchara, then Cuchara Camps, its founder, George A. Mayes, offered several types of recreation for his guests. He had riding and pack burros, a tennis court, croquet grounds, campfire supplies, fishing equipment for use on his stocked lakes or in the river, a rude golf course. Surely a visitor could find a sport to his or her liking. Of course, “the youth,” now known as teenagers, had their own forms of fun. Daytime hikes and climbs followed by dancing and singing in the pavilion in the evenings were popular, while the older set enjoyed visiting and strolling, and swapping stories around the community campfire in the evening into night.
    The first stab at organized enjoyment of the great outdoor possibilities of the Camps was in 1939 when the Huerfano Outing Club of Walsenburg, which was affiliated with the Colorado Mountain Club, sponsored its first “nature study camp.” It was successful enough to have a second the following June, when 32 people were in attendance. The nature camps took advantage of all things outdoors – hikes and climbs, plant and tree identification, geology, animal life and even archaeology.
    The Outing Club existed for the enjoyment of Mother Nature in all her many manifestations and members were as liable to be found scaling the West Spanish Peak as exploring Huerfano canyons for tepee rings, Indian points and pottery. They assisted visiting paleontologists in uncovering fossils and prehistoric bones and once even found the wreckage of a downed US Army training plane that crashed near the summit of Greenhorn Peak. The club also was responsible for having the Huerfano Butte marked as a historic site, and a member actually built the first stone monument there.
    World War II brought an end to the Outing Club’s nature studies, and Cucharans were left to find their own outdoor amusement. In the 1940s and ‘50s most mountain trails were so heavily traveled the paths could not be overlooked. The following jaunts were just another good excuse to go for a picnic; weekly if not daily climbs of the Rock Wall, topped with K and T rocks, walking the trail between Blue and Bear Lakes before the road was built to the latter, walking to the Forks or the Gap, even to La Veta, or to the old dump above Spring Creek and on to the Haunted House. Breakfast hikes were enjoyed, with the participants hauling everything from cast iron skillets, silverware and plates to bacon and eggs along winding and uphill trails.
    Indoor recreation also was important, and the center of this was the old Chuck Wagon. There the community gathered for Bingo games, dances, travelogues presented by summer neighbors. A rainy day was often cause for a gathering of card players, which was a good enough excuse to have a piece of homemade pie, as long as one was there anyway.
    The late ‘40s and ‘50s also were a time of rapid growth in Cuchara, with many new homes going up, and an absolute spurt in population. The Chuck Wagon, despite being enlarged, proved inadequate to seat everyone wanting to attend the weekly bingo games and other activities, and the Cuchara Association, organized in August 1952, determined it would give the Camps a playground, custodian, street lights and community center.
    In 1956 ground was donated to the Association by the Albrights, Larrabees and Masintons for just such a community center. A contract for a large stone building was let to a La Veta contractor, Charles W. Keeling Jr., better known as Bud, and construction began immediately. Conveniently, the highway department at the time was removing the old sharp curve at the northern end of the Camps, just west of today’s Timbers restaurant, and cutting down the precipitous hill there. The dirt removed was used to fill in around the new foundation of the growing community center, affectionately called the Rec Hall.
    Keeling boasted he would have a roof on the Rec Hall before the snow fell – rash words at 8,600 feet altitude in late September! Sure enough, snow fell and worked ceased for the winter. In fact, it ceased for quite a while longer and the following autumn the Cuchara caretaker, Art Prator, had to install supports to prop up what had been completed against winter snows.
    1958 saw more construction, including the installation of window panes by Cuchara kids. The next summer found those panes popped out and laying shattered on the ground.
    The next year building was rushed and the new Recreation Center opened for community use in June of 1960. Loraine Hector was director and oversaw all events, which included daytime games for the young, such as ping pong, cards and dominoes, and evening activities such as covered dish dinners, the ever-popular bingo games (which always ended with a blackout game that awarded the winner no less than five dollars!), travelogues and, eventually, Friday evening “platter” dances for the teenagers. When the Cuchara Hermosa club formed in 1965, it had its first annual art show, called the Flower and Art Festival, the first weekend in August.
    For the past 18 years, former Cuchara “kid” Bruce Johnson has kept a recreation program alive so that today’s children can be as active as yesterday’s were. Hikes to the Haunted House site (the actual house burned down in the ‘50s) and other popular spots, the annual fun run and bingo games are just a few of the entertainments still enjoyed through his program.
Go to http://cucharavalleyrec.com/ for more information.

This week in history- July 8, 2010

15 - July - 2010La Veta
1901: Woodmen of the World had a basket picnic in Ryus Grove [corner Main and Field streets] on the 4th with a lemonade and ice cream stand that was well patronized and music by the local band.
1907: Mrs. H.A. Allen and Mrs. William Patton bought ..

Music Notes for July 8,2010

15 - July - 2010Hyperbole (part two)
by Mary-Ann Brandon
    Following is my own cautionary tale of press release hyperbole... Early in my career, someone wrote a bio about my accomplishments. The writer asked me to tell about anyone I had sung back-up with or opened for etc... I told of singing back-up with Dennis Locorriere (lead singer of Dr. Hook) when we opened a concert for Jethro Tull. That translated on the bio to “shared the stage with Jethro Tull.” Later when I secured my first recording contract and went on an extensive tour of Italy, I found myself in Rome faced with an audience of several hundred people who were just not moved by my music. At the end of the concert dozens of people came up to me at the merchandise table and shoved Jethro Tull records in my face, demanding to know which album I sang on. Seems a major newspaper in Rome had run a front page story telling how a “former member of Jethro Tull” would be performing that night. How they got a hold of that early bio and ran with it, we’ll never know. It was a terrible night for the poor folks who paid roughly $50 a head to see some broad perform music that bore no resemblance to what they came for. When someone finally told me what had happened I made a vow to make certain that in the future, facts were to be accurately reported to the press and also that I erred on the side of modesty rather than braggadocio. My musical history is of public record. There is no reason to exaggerate and potentially disappoint or confuse the very people I seek to reach with my music.
    The question is begged, how does one separate the truth from the hype? Why should you believe me and what I tell you weekly about the music that is going on around here?
    I write and offer my take on a lot of artists who may or may not be my cup of tea. I have a job to tell you about music related to Huerfano County, not a job telling you about my favorite music.   I do hours of research before writing any of my columns. I listen to sound clips, read bios, study history and when writing about artists who are legends from the past, I search until I find current music so as to represent best what listeners are liable to encounter. I have a fairly strict policy that if I can’t say something nice I won’t say anything. This makes my job more difficult because music that doesn’t move me personally might be the thing that rings your bell. I try to be fair, impartial and honest and tell you what I hear that might help you to determine if it’s right for you, without exaggeration Still, I encourage you to do your own research before laying down your greenbacks for a recording or concert, especially if it’s someone you’ve never heard of.
    I must ask the question again, why should you believe me? You should believe me because I stand to gain nothing by lying to you. I write this column for you and for all the hard working musicians who struggle to make a living in this ever increasingly hostile music business, plain and simple.
Mary-Ann Brandon is a singer/songwriter/recording artist who splits her time between La Veta, CO and Nashville, TN. To read more about her visit her website at www.blueslandproductions.com

Museum of Friends hosts work of three artists

15 - July - 2010by Bill Knowles
WALSENBURG- Brendt Berger, Linda Fleming and Peggy Zehring are showing work from the 80’s and 90’s at the Museum of Friends. The 5,000 square foot downstairs area will open for the initial showing during an open house July 8 from 5 pm to 8 pm.
    Art made from found material is the central theme that informs the three-person show. On display will be a sample of the large scale paintings produced in the late 1980‘s by Berger and the wood sculptures made by Fleming in the early 1990’s.
    The fine art of Peggy Zehring will be displayed upstairs.   One reviewer described these works as “contemporary mandalas.” These pieces are built from found material she located in a Colorado junkyard.
    Berger’s paintings are produced from 5 foot by 5 foot cardboard sheets found in a basement and painted with paint leftover from government projects. Fleming’s early sculptures are built from wood she found and salvaged. Some of the old paint on the planks is still evident.
    For Fleming, placement of the five pieces on display was very important. For example, she positioned one of her pieces in order to get its angles to visually suggest an intersection of ideas with Berger’s painting titled “ Ricardo meets Death at Custard King.” The triangle of wood in Fleming’s sculpture gives dimension to the triangle in Berger’s painting behind it.
    “I knew Ricardo when I was growing up back east. He was working on a truck owned by the Custard King company. He was under the truck when the jack gave way and the truck came down on him stopping his heart,” Berger explained. “His death really affected me then. This painting is a tribute to him.”
    Fleming has maintained a studio in Libre since 1968 where she made her first sculpture. According to the chronology of Fleming’s career posted on her website, she was one of four founding members of a new artists’ community at Libre. She designed and built a 40-foot geodesic dome on the site as a studio and a home.
    Both Brendt and Maria Berger are well known in artist communities in several states back east including New York. It is these associations and friendships that feed the vision of Museum of Friends. The paintings on the walls upstairs are gifts of artists known in the local art circle to Brendt or Maria.
    The July 8 open house will start in the downstairs area of the museum giving visitors a sense of the size of the art on display there. Upstairs is where the Zehring show is being held where visitors will have a chance to view her work while taking in the unique work that has been given to the Bergers.
    The official show opening will be on Saturday, August 14, from 5 pm to 7 pm.

This week in History- July 01, 2010

08 - July - 2010
La Veta
1897: Business around the depot has been rushing, on Thursday three sheep trains came over Veta Pass from the San Luis Valley for transfer to the broad gauge.
1905: We are informed that the names of the parties who hauled off an engine from the B..

Art fiends become Friends of the Arts

08 - July - 2010by Nancy Christofferson
LA VETA- The annual Fourth of July Arts in the Park is a 36-year old tradition, having first taken place in 1974. About a year later, the Friends of the Arts Guild was organized and thereafter members planned and participated in the show and sale.
    The first art fair was July 6 and 7, sponsored by the Fine Arts League of La Junta and the Dave Newsoms, managers of the old La Veta Lodge. It took place in the park as well as on the hotel porch. Coordinators of the fair were Laura “Lolly” Hollar of Rocky Ford; Harold Hendin, La Junta, Donna Pace, Trinidad, Barbara Swanson, then of Walsenburg (and later La Veta), and Alice Newsom of La Veta. Doing most of the actual planning were Margie Bradley and her mother, Mary Hicks, of La Veta.
    Margie Bradley moved to town from California in 1972, already an accomplished artist in pastels, oils and pottery. Her parents followed in late 1973. Mary had conquered many media, from watercolors and oils to block printing, and had authored and illustrated several of the Foster series of “how-to” art books. They attracted other artists of the area and encouraged all forms of arts and artistic crafts.
    When Jack Hall opened his new Valley Hardware on the corner of Francisco and Main streets in the spring of 1974, he included rental space for other businesses. The next year the southwest two rooms became Valley Art Center, owned and operated by Margie and Mary. One room was for sales of art and supplies, the other was a workshop for classes. Margie taught drawing and pen and ink, and Mary began her popular watercolor classes. Margie was one of her first students.
    The first art fair featured the works of Mary and Margie along with nearly 60 other exhibitors and “enormous” crowds (said the newspaper). Soon many Pueblo artists joined in, notably Karl Carlson, watercolorist, Lyle Clift, potter, and their friend Ed Posa.   Their presence drew many Pueblo buyers. Some artists came from as far as New Mexico and Kansas. Food concessions were mostly local, churches, school organizations and the like – nothing fancy.
    The second art fair was scheduled, and Margie spearheaded it. It, too, was a great success, with all arts and crafts represented, from fine jewelry to handcrafted furniture. Margie’s biggest problem was denying sales space to manufactured crafts. She and her friend Pam Pemberton then decided to form a group to oversee the fair as well as encourage budding artists. Thus, late in July 1975, the group was formed. In September it was named Friends of the Arts Guild. There were about 20 charter members, who initially paid $5 annual dues. In October, the first election of officers resulted in Margie, always the nominal leader anyway, president, Mickey Stauder, vice president and Pam, secretary/ treasurer.
    One of the goals of the guild was to share skills, and a feature of its meetings was a member demonstrating his or her craft. These finished works were then raffled off, and the first winner of the first demonstration, a watercolor by Mary Hicks, was won by Nancy Nielsen.
    Margie and Mary insisted their students show their works not only in their shop but also in the annual fair. The duo closed Valley Art Center in 1977, and a search began for another venue for showing the art of the guild members. An old frame building on Main Street, owned by Harry Willis, was secured in the spring of 1978 for a gallery. Filthy and drafty, the gallery was only open during the summer months and for special Christmas shows and sales. This old frame building was demolished in the mid 1980s.
    Guild members made up an enterprising lot. Bake sales, art sales, silent auctions, Mexican food sales, “thieves markets” and every type of fundraiser was sponsored and the club’s treasury began to build up. While still operating out of the old gallery, plans began in 1981 to build a new and modern gallery. By that time more than $3,500 had been raised, and in October another $1,000 was earned from a fundraiser. Donations came in from area businesses, and land was discovered in Town Park. Previously, the land had been considered railroad property, but it turned out Ryus Avenue had not been opened to its fullest extent and the leftover ground belonged to the Town of La Veta. The town fathers agreed to let the guild build there. Ground was broken the first Saturday in October 1981.
    Jack Rickards, an active member and photographer, was builder in charge of the proposed solar building, estimated to cost $20,000 upon completion.    Members did as much of the actual construction as possible, and they worked hard. Those who couldn’t physically assist were put to raising more funds. When the gallery opened in the spring of 1982, not one cent of public money had gone into its funding.
    Mary and her husband Mil died in the 1990s, and Margie in 2009. Without them, there would be no Art in the Park, no Gallery in the Park, and possibly about 100 fewer artists in the Cuchara Valley. Thank you, Margie and Mary!

Huerfano History for June 10, 2010

17 - June - 2010
La Veta
1901: Now that all of the old railroad tracks have been removed from La Veta Pass, would it not be a good idea for the county commissioners to make a good wagon road over the old grade?
1908: The forest fire on Middle Creek is still raging and W...

Music Notes for June 10, 2010

17 - June - 2010Nanci Griffith
by Mary-Ann Brandon
    This weekend, June 11, 12, and 13, the Rio Grande Scenic Railroad will present Nanci Griffith as their headline artist for the ongoing Roots and Boots Summer Music Festival. What a treat for Southern Colorado!
    A native of Texas, transplanted to Nashville, this Grammy award winning artist has managed to become a highly respected artist as a songwriter and for her interpretations of carefully selected outside material. Griffith was the first person to record Julie Gold’s classic song “From A Distance” that went on to become a monster hit for Bette Midler. It is this knack for knowing a great song that has garnered her such high praise. Driven by a strong social conscience, Griffith refers to Townes Van Zant as being her “dearest mentor.” Her style falls somewhere between classic Pete Seeger folk and Emmylou Harris country/rock of the 1970s.
    On her latest recording, entitled The Loving Kind, Griffith continues to explore subjects that speak to her distaste for social injustice. The title song tells the story of Mildred and Richard Loring a mixed race couple who were jailed in 1958 for marrying. Their case was eventually struck down when it reached the Supreme Court, along with all state laws prohibiting interracial marriage. From Nanci’s bio: “I read Mildred Loving’s obituary in The New York Times and it just floored me,” says Griffith. “She never remarried after Richard died and in her last interview before she passed she expressed hope that their case, Loving v. Virginia, would eventually be the open door to same sex marriage.”
    She writes about LBJ’s dedication to social reform in the song “The Cotton’s All We Got” and about national hope in “Across America”. Yet it is her song “Not Innocent Enough” that speaks volumes about Griffith and her strong beliefs. A staunch opponent of the death penalty, she writes of Phillip Workman’s execution. A man convicted of murdering a police officer with tainted testimony. As she states, it is human imperfection and the finality of the punishment that inspired this song.
    Accompanying Griffith on guitar will be her sometime song collaborator Tomm Jutz, and on percussion, Pat McInerney. Two outstanding Nashville based musicians representing the land masses across the Atlantic ocean. McInerney hails from England while Jutz comes from a tiny village in Germany. Both at the top of their field in Music City U.S.A., their contribution to the show is bound to be a highlight. Also accompanying Griffith will be her tour manager, Phil Kaufman, the notorious "Road Mangler Deluxe".
    Opening for Griffith will be Taos favorite and semi-regular visitor to Huerfano County, Michael Hearne. Beautiful melodies and lyrics evocative of life in the Southwest are his trademark.
    To see video and generally learn more about Nanci, visit her website at: www.nancigriffith.com. To purchase tickets or to get general information about the summer concert series, check out the Rio Grande Scenic Railroad website at: www.scenicrailroad.com and then click on the Roots and Boots Summer Music Festival icon.

It's Greater Outdoors for June 10, 2010

17 - June - 2010by Gary Rollins
     It was a hot, dusty Sunday afternoon and the second day of Texas’ Whitewing Dove season. The previous day had been less than productive. The lingering Texas drought combined with triple digit temperatures had convinced the doves to go someplace else.
    My hunting buddy and I hunkered down in the tree line adjacent to a maize field and began the waiting game.
    Those who have spent many hours in the fields hoping to bag a limit of doves know those high-flying grey ghosts usually vector their way through the neighborhood. It makes sense to squat down and become invisible along a tree line. Occasionally, doves pinpoint a lone tree that serves as a pivot point as they fly to either a field of grub or a pond. This is where you want to be either early in the morning or late in the afternoon.
    This day, as my pal and I were settling in, we spotted a couple of dudes preparing for the evening’s hunt. One was wearing a bright yellow t-shirt and that told us he was probably not an experienced dove hunter.
    He and his partner had staked out a spot on a nearby fence line as they settled in for the afternoon’s shoot with coolers close at hand. One of the rookies meandered out into the field and planted a pole with a fake dove at the tip-top equipped with a pair of battery-powered wings that rotated furiously. They upped their ante by clipping other dove decoys to nearby bushes.
    We hooted to ourselves as we contemplated the novices who had dared to enter our privileged domain. Privileged is the right word. Our spot on the field had cost each of us $100 for the afternoon.
    As the afternoon progressed, my buddy and I scanned the skies and prepared ourselves for a successful evening’s hunt.
    Soon, two Whitewing doves zipped onto the horizon. Although they might have been expected to fly right toward us and down the tree line, they did a hard right turn as they spotted the rapidly-spinning wings of the dove decoy. They didn’t have a chance. Both doves hit the ground about the same time my jaw hit the ground.
    It happened again and again. Along the way, my hunting companion and I managed to nail a few doves, but those two rank rookies cleaned up with their battery-powered decoy.
    As we packed up to depart, we both concluded it might be a good idea to invest in one of those decoys.
    As this season approaches, I now have two Mojo doves in my stash along with a dozen fake doves to sweeten the pot. At the recent DU Convention in Dallas, the guys at Mojo Outdoors attracted a huge crowd. You can now buy Mojo Doves, Mallards, Gadwall and Teal. They also displayed a Goose decoy that was about the size of a Piper Cub!
    Check their website at
www.mojooutdoors.com. Mojo, by the way, translates to mean “magic.” I am now a believer.

Our Grotto— for saints and sinners

17 - June - 2010WALSENBURG- Eighty years ago a local “older”used to travel with her family from a nearby mining camp to the wind-carved rock sculpture 5.5 miles west of Walsenburg (close to mile marker 299) to enjoy picnics. As a little girl she cherished those Sundays of frolic and food among the rocks. Walsenburg wind carved the indentations; I do not know the geological history of the rock outcropping.   The “older” sighed wistfully as she told the story—oh, for the natural graceful beauty, play, and peace of yesteryears.
    Many feel that the grotto is an especially spiritual place. Since the time of those family picnics, thousands of devout people have visited the towering stones; a myriad of religious statues have come, gone and appeared again; a wire fence has been erected; rosaries, ribbons, votive candles and small mysterious objects have appeared; and a multitude of knees have touched the sandy soil peppered with gravel. Crosses—mostly wooden—from tiny twigs to a 4x4 six-footer and a 4x6 8-footer have been carefully placed throughout the area. A path strongly embedded into field grass adjacent to the highway leads guests up the grade to the modest, yet moving display.
    The Maldonado family, owners of the land, maintain the property with help from their Walsenburg and La Veta neighbors. Recently a group of three older women met to spruce it up. Mostly, they removed broken glass from votive candles set flying by the wind. They left most everything else; each artifact would tell an intense story if it could. As they labored, a car pulled up. A Buddhist nun asked if she could sing. The now four women bent to pick up glass, scrape wax from the rocks, and generally tidy the area as delicate chanting rode the breeze to their appreciative ears.
    It is said that vandals also visit here, hurling rocks at the Madonna and saint statues– or perhaps it is just the wind at it again. Maybe the healing aura of the area reaches some vandals’ angry hearts and answers their unsaid questions and prayers to God. There are many forms of “help me” prayers.
    As a story-telling evangelist, I wonder if the stories behind these many visits are told to family or recorded or have been the basis of articles over the years. As a seeker of truth and peace, I wonder how many tears have been swallowed up here by the Mother Earth. As a Walsenburg resident, I am proud of this unique grotto that unexpectedly appears a short distance west of the entry to Huerfano County Cement across from several freshly painted green-roofed houses— a grotto of the people, each guest sharing in the qualities of both saint and sinner.

Folk Art in Brown's sheep camp barn is recorded

04 - June - 2010By Susan Simons
    In February of this year, Colorado Preservation, Inc. listed Brown’s Sheep Camp as one of this year’s top six endangered historic sites in Colorado. The ranch is located inside the Pinon Canyon Maneuver Site (PCMS) and is controlled by the Army at Fort Carson on behalf of the Department of Defense.
    While CPI was concerned about preservation of all the buildings on this historic ranch, they put special emphasis on a wood-framed barn with interior walls covered in brands, names and drawings. This collection is considered “rare and significant” folk art, and it documents the story of the ranch and the ranching community in the Purgatoire River region of southeast Colorado.
    From May 13-17, the Fort Carson Garrison Commander authorized Dr. Lawrence Loendorf to direct a group of volunteers from the Colorado Rock Art Association in recording the folk art on the walls of the barn. Dr. Loendorf is an anthropologist and archaeologist, retired from New Mexico State University, who has directed documentation of the prehistoric and historic rock art sites on the Hogback on the PCMS.
    To record the paintings and drawings on the walls of the barn, the volunteers used methods typically used for recording rock art. They assigned panel numbers to the walls of the barn, took photographs and made scaled drawings of each panel. The walls were marked at 12 inch intervals to form a grid; then the images were drawn on graph paper, 1 inch to a foot.
    The drawings will be inked, checked against the photographs, and a database will be created documenting all the names, initials, dates, brands, and drawings. The documentation will be submitted to the State Office of Archaeology and Historic Preservation (OAHP) for archiving, and used by the Fort Carson Cultural Resources Management Program for educational purposes.
    Various colors of sheep marking or branding paint were used to make the drawings, and if a date was recorded in a certain color, dates could be estimated for other images in that same color. Boards with signatures were often used for repair in the barn. The brand of the Brown Land and Live Stock Co. is on the walls as is the Circle Diamond Brand from the Bloom Cattle Company. The recorded dates were generally in the early 1900s.
    Most of the sheepherders who left a record on the barn walls were Hispanic or Basque. In addition to names and dates, some drew self-portraits or portraits of wives and girlfriends. In the inked drawing published with this article are drawings associated with the names of Bonifasio Trujillo and Juan Rafael Maes. Below are the numbers 335 repeated three times. The two men may have been a sheep shearing team, and the numbers may refer to their record for sheep sheared in a day.
    Samuel Taylor Brown bought the land for the sheep camp in 1882. Brown’s business partner and son-in-law Julius Gunter, who became Colorado’s 21st governor, inherited the ranch in 1917 and managed it until 1940. The Army acquired the land for the PCMS in the early 1980s, and the structures at the ranch have been preserved, including a bunkhouse, two barns, several homes, and working corrals. The ranch is eligible for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places. Fort Carson’s Cultural Resources Management Program facilitated the recording effort, and oversees the preservation of the ranch.

Music Notes for July 01. 2010

Hyperbole... (part one)
by Mary-Ann Brandon
    I first fell in love with the art of exaggeration at the age of 13 when I met a woman at a party who had driven to Nashville from Texas. She described driving through a storm that involved “hail the size of watermelon.” I never forgot that encounter and it informed my use of similarly absurd embellishments. For instance, I am fond of referring to myself as a “500 pounder” every time I pack on ten pounds.   My friends who live in 5,000 square foot homes cringe every time I describe their houses as 40,000 square foot mansions. You get the idea...
    When it comes to the music business equally absurd exaggeration is common but not as transparent to the casual listener who encounters the hype. I am writing this particular article to try to explain the game, since many people have approached me and expressed frustration in not knowing what to believe when they read press regarding music. People have complained that they were told something was going to be “amazing” only to have it wind up being little more than amateurish musical nonsense. This is a great way to lose a potential audience member, permanently.
    Thankfully, the internet has made it increasingly easy to bust people in their attempts to pass acts off as more than they actually are. Still, publicists and amateur publicists, persist in this game with the knowledge that most people are either too busy or don’t know how to fact check.
    I cringed this week when I read a press release that came across my desk in which a band with a regional following but no major recording history was described as a “supergroup.” The term supergroup was coined in 1968 to describe a music group whose performers are already famous from having performed individually or in other groups. Notable examples of supergroups are: Cream, Blind Faith, Crosby Stills and Nash, The Highwaymen and The Traveling Willburys. The sad fact is that one of the musicians in the regional band is familiar to me and I can honestly say that he is a superb player who could easily have had a successful career in a major music market had he chosen that path. To describe him as a member of a supergroup is ridiculous, and insulting to him and to the public’s intelligence. Much like the girl who cried wolf, publicists who play these games eventually wind up losing all credibility. Sometimes this is simply the mark of an amateur, but for you, the public, trying to sort out what to see, these tactics are misleading at best.
    Next week, read part two of Hyperbole... My personal cautionary tale.

Mary-Ann Brandon is a singer/songwriter/recording artist who splits her time between La Veta, CO and Nashville, TN. To read more about her visit her website at www.blueslandproductions.com


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