Review by Ed Quillen
San Luis Valley History – August 2002 – Colorado Central Magazine
Drillin’, Loadin’ and Firin’ – In Crestone with the Old Timers
by Gladys Sisemore
Published in 1983 by the author
ISBN B002JY4W22
Postmarks and Places
by George Harlan
Originally published in 1976
Republished in 2002 by Adobe Village Press
ISBN B0006CPODA
These two books have much in common. Both were out of print for some time but are again available, both concern the lore of the San Luis Valley, and neither is exactly a narrative history.
As its title indicates, Drillin’, Loadin’, and Firin’ focuses on Crestone’s origins as a mining town — a heritage not much in evidence amid the New Age enlightenment of contemporary Crestone.
By interviewing old-timers, Sisemore recounts Crestone’s origins as a way station along a wagon road in 1868, soon followed by the discovery of gold in nearby creeks as they emerged from the Sangre de Cristo range. More prospectors and miners soon arrived, but then the owners of the nearby Baca Grant would start evicting them.
Mining moved outside the Grant to North Crestone Canyon, the railroad came, mills were erected, the mines faltered, the tracks came up, the town shrank — in other words, Crestone’s history as a mining camp is hardly unique, even if the place is like no other.
Gladys Sisemore tells Crestone’s history from the earliest mining days through the 1950s, when the town was all but abandoned with fewer than 50 residents, and she adds several chapters of anecdotes about big events like floods and fires, along with the reminisces of long-time residents.
Newer developments, like the Baca Grande subdivision and the associated spiritual retreats and centers, get a page or two, but only up until circa 1980, when this book was first published. So don’t look here if you’re trying to figure out modern Crestone, but it’s a wonderful trove if you’re curious about the Crestone of yore; the book has considerable information about the Baca Grant when it produced prize Herefords and was one of the few sources of employment in the area.
Sisemore has a good ear, and she tells a story well, bringing out the distinctive personalities at the heart of her book. Here’s a sample:
On Good Friday in 1935, Mother Nature again threw a tantrum. It was the year of the most memorable windstorm in Crestone. The storm came from North Crestone Canyon. All night long the wind screamed and howled and to this day the “Old Timers” are concerned when a storm comes from the north.
That night many of the young people had gathered at Hutchinson Hall to practice for an Easter program. Young people do not alarm easily and for some time they ignored the blasts and shrieks of the wind that caused the building to sway and groan. Eventually the swaying became so extreme it was agreed that for their safety they should leave. As they pushed at the door from the inside, it was held shut by the force of the wind from the outside. With much effort they got out and down the rickety old stairway on the east side of the building. Those who went south were practically carried away by the wind and those who went north lost ground much of the time. The crash of falling trees was heard from every direction above the terrific howl… it took considerable maneuvering to run in partial safety. The George Farnhams lived down where the Pattersons now live and just after Walter raced through the gate to the house a huge cottonwood, growing by the gate, crashed to the ground….
Pearl Hutchinson was at the switchboard in Moffat and the little building seemed to be on the verge of collapsing… In the block north of the schoolhouse several cars were parked in the yard where the next morning downed trees had them completely fenced in but none of the cars had been hit. It took hours of clearing the trees away so the men could get their cars out to go to work…
Crestone certainly isn’t the only town in the Valley that has seen ups and downs — many just faded away, to the extent that the main evidence that they ever existed lies in the records of the U.S. Postal Service.
Those archives form the basis for Postmarks and Places, first published by the author in 1975, and now reprinted by Adobe Village Press of Monte Vista. The author, George Harlan, died May 22 in Alamosa at age 90, after a career as an educator in Crestone, Moffat, Gardner, and Silver Cliff.
Postmarks and Places is organized, more or less, along the postal routes of the San Luis Valley, with a page or more of lore about each post office along the way, as well as some history of the road. It starts with the first route, which ran from Taos to Fort Garland in 1862 and was extended to Saguache in 1867, via the settlement of Loma.
Can’t remember anything about Loma? It didn’t ring any bells for me, either, but it gets nearly a page, wherein we learn that it sat across the river from present Del Norte, served 60 families, operated 1867-1875, and that John Lawrence of Saguache fame was its first postmaster.
Lawrence was not the most attentive of postmasters, since “Upon arrival of the mail, the carrier would empty the mail sacks into a large wooden box. For those expecting a letter it behooved them to do their own sorting.”
They had it better than certain other Valley residents, though. “… the methods by which people of eastern Saguache County received their letters must have been rather frustrating. Letters received at the Saguache post office for these eastern inhabitants were dispatched by the first person going east. If the letter was to go farther than the one carrying it, it would remain in his possession until someone came along that would take it on. Sometimes it would take days or weeks before it would reach its destination.”
Since moving the mail necessarily involves transportation, Postmarks and Places is also an excellent source of information on early stagecoach lines and their routes. The book also has scores of anecdotes, ranging from a paragraph to several pages, about the people who carried and handled and sent and received the mail, along with pictures and reproductions of historical documents. There’s also a chapter about settlements which never had post offices.
I wouldn’t recommend reading this book at one sitting — it’s better suited to a chapter or two at a time. It’s an excellent reference, since it lists just about every known habitation in the San Luis Valley, with the hazard that when you look up one item, it’s often so interesting that you spend a lot more time in its pages than you’d planned.
In other words, this is delight for the history buff, and an excellent way to sort out some of the confusion that crops up when there was a Crestonie near Crestone, and an Orient and an Oriental just a few miles apart, as well as an Old Orient, Upper Orient, Camp Orient, and a New Orient.
Every town I’ve ever heard of in the Valley is in this book, along with many that were new to me, like Wayside, Margaret, and Pyke. The index is solid and the source notes are copious.
Plus, Harlan has an entertaining, droll way of telling stories, many of which have little connection to the mails, but all of which come from the Valley:
Of the hangings in Saguache County, only one was legal. On December 3, 1885, Marshall Clements was hanged for the murders of Thomas and Susanna Clements.
Marshall committed the dastardly acts thinking that Thomas Clements had received an inheritance from England.
The bodies of the deceased were found buried in the banks of the Twin Ditches on the Queenstown Ranch seven miles south of Moffat, Colorado.
The execution took place on the south side of the old Saguache Courthouse (later burned). A platform was built with three heavy cords running to a second-story window directly above. Upon the signal, a shot from Sheriff Henderson’s pistol, the three men chosen by the sheriff were to jerk their cords. But at the signal, two of the men lost their nerve and refused to act. In desperation, the third man yanked his cord. His was the string attached to the trap. He afterward regretted the action.
Postmarks and Places is more about places than postmarks, which is all to the good, but it’s also a reminder of the importance of the postal service, often forgotten in this era of electronic communication and overnight express. Ron Kessler of Adobe Village deserves our thanks for bringing this back into print — it’s a book that every local history buff will cherish.
