Harnessed to our frail bodies, we humans are driven to find ways to live better and longer. At the turn of the 20th century in Northwest Colorado, this search took the form of an array.
The history of Northwest Colorado spotlights more than its fair share of flashy, dangerous, shady and outlandish characters. However, the overall collective identity of our community was forged by the many lesser known individuals who.
History in Focus
Legend has it the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 started with Mrs. O’Leary’s cow kicking over a lantern. While not nearly as famous or poetic, the source of Craig’s Great Fire of 1896 can be traced back to a sopping wet mopped floor and an overstuffed wood stove, and it was a devastating event for the young town.
On the cold winter night of February 13, all of Craig was readying itself for a Valentine’s Day masquerade ball at the town hall, then located in the middle of the 500 block of Yampa Street. In the late afternoon, janitor Clyde Eastman and some volunteers thoroughly mopped the floor and built up a roaring fire in the woodstove to insure the floor was dry for the big dance (Craig Empire 2/15/22).
History in Focus: Prohibition Sheriff
History in Focus
The Prohibition Era is full of violent stories of the Italian mafia and Al Capone all wrapped up in the glamour of jazz music, speakeasies, and cigarette smoking flappers. In rural Moffat County, the 18th amendment lost its big city aura and became entwined with our rough and tumble outlaw history.
The story of Prohibition in Moffat County revolves around one man: Tom Blevins. His tenure as Moffat County Sheriff from 1922 to 1934 spanned almost the entire Prohibition era. His one-man effort to enforce the “noble experiment” throughout the sagebrush and canyons of Moffat County was an impossible task as locals seized upon the economic opportunity to produce and sell illegal liquor.