Monument Storm, Jan. 4, 1916

 Workers dressed in winter clothes pose on a Mountain States Telephone and Telegraph Company truck in Monument (El Paso County), Colorado. Wires, equipment, and a lamp hang from the truck with a sign reading: "American Telephone and Telegraph Co. and Associated Companies, Long Distance Telephone, Bell System." A worker hangs from a telephone pole in the distance. Colorado Historical Society, Mountain States Telephone collection

View of broken utility poles in Monument (El Paso County), Colorado. A row of poles lay in an open field. 

Colorado Historical Society, Mountain States Telephone collection

 View of broken utility poles in a field in Monument (El Paso County), Colorado. Telephone wires are draped on the ground. Shows a barbed wire fence and open field. Colorado Historical Society, Mountain States Telephone collection

View of a Denver and Rio Grande Railroad Company railroad car tipped over on the embankment in Monument (El Paso County), Colorado. The Monument train depot is in the distance.

Colorado Historical Society, Mountain States Telephone collection

Telluride I recall as a youngster

Telluride Brewery
Al Bachman, photographer.
View of an abandoned brewery in Telluride (San Miguel County), Colorado. The wood, stone, plaster and tin building has a false front and asmokestack. A corrugated tin buildings is nearby. Photo created 1963. Western History/Genealogy Dept., Denver Public Library.

Brick Building

Al Bachman, photographer.

View of an abandoned brick building in Telluride (San Miguel County), Colorado. The buildings has arched windows with radiating voussoirs, and a corbeled parapet. The porch roof on the front of the buildings has a shingled hip roof and wooden pillars. Photo created 1963. Western History/Genealogy Dept., Denver Public Library

Telluride Opera House
Al Bachman, photographer.
View of a brick theater in Telluride (San Miguel County), Colorado. The building has a stepped parapet, a projecting enclosed balcony with a tile roof and a hip roof tile porch. Lamp posts are near the theater and a sign on the building reads: "Opera House, Picture Shows Every Evening, Admission 10 and 15 Cents." A sign projecting from the building reads: "Show." Photo created 1954. Western History/Genealogy Dept., Denver Public Library.

Hard Time in Wyoming Territorial Prison

Built in 1872 and restored in 1989, Wyoming Territorial Prison, operated from 1873 to 1903. Over 1,000 men and 12 women incarcerated in a span of 30 years. In the early days of the prison, it was only about 10 degrees warmer inside than outside during the winter until a radiator system was installed. Prison was expanded 1889 and notable criminals, including Robert Leroy Parker (Butch Cassidy), Clark “the Kid” Pelton, and Ellijah Canary all served time there.The broom factory was constructed and staffed by inmates beginning 1892. When in full swing of production, the factory could produce as many as 720 brooms a day. Nearly a quarter of the inmates escaped because of lack of staff and guard inexperience.

Teachout Ranch in Northern El Paso County

Teachout Ranch, photographed sometime between 1860 and 1878.
A view of Teachout's Ranch near Edgerton, Colorado, includes a two-story gable-roofed building with a porch with Victorian decorative woodwork, and a smaller building nearby; numerous people stand near a board fence in front, including a seated elderly woman, a child holding a doll, a woman and child each on horseback, a seated man holding a rifle, and what appear to be ranch hands. Two wagons are in front of the fence. One is covered and is pulled by two horses with a man next to the horses. The other, also pulled by two horses is uncovered and has a man at the reins. Trees, another fence, and fields are in the background. 
Western History/Genealogy Dept., Denver Public Library.

Historical Byers-Evans House in Denver

Built for William N. Byers in 1883, the stately Italianate-style home reflected its owner’s standing in the community. Byers printed Denver’s first newspaper, the Rocky Mountain News, on April 23, 1859. As editor, Byers used his paper pulpit to promote Denver and the surrounding region.

Byers became close friends with John Evans, Colorado’s second territorial governor. These men - along with their wives Elizabeth Byers and Margaret Evans - played pivotal roles in Denver’s early growth by helping to establish religious, educational, legal, and social institutions.

William G. Evans, the oldest son of former governor John Evans, bought the home in 1889. William and his wife Cornelia moved in with their two young children, John and Josephine. During the next five years, daughters Margaret and Katharine were born. An important business and civic leader in his own right, William headed the Denver Tramway Company and helped develop the Moffat Tunnel. Piercing the Continental Divide, the 6.2 mile tunnel culminated efforts to link Denver to Colorado’s western slope and solidified the city’s place as the region’s commercial hub.