Nostalgia & History > At home.

 
Learning [Railroad] Telegraphy at Wolcott
 
Page 449 Monday, January 17th, 1921 to Monday, January 31st, 1921
 
At home.  Two or three days of rest then decided to take up telegraphy at Wolcott.  So every day, if possible, I would go forth at 8 or 9 am to RU with a lunch and return home at 6 pm. 
 
(Saturday, January 22nd 1921) 8 am.  Clear weather but 8 below zero.  The fun at RU when a caboose runs away from Minturn to Wolcott.  "Brown"(1) stops the darn thing.  Red Owens's "Brag".  Ha Ha.  Pretty weather for this time of year.  All the days were somewhat similar with exception
 
Page 450 when the school teacher, "Miss Esther", smiles our way.
 
(Friday, January 28th, 1921) Scrub Day at Flynn residence.  Nora takes an annual.  Nora leaves for Denver.  Dance and basketball game at Gypsum.  Helped Mother with homework.  Music in evenings.  GN.  11 pm. 
(Saturday, January 29th, 1921) Seems just like Sunday.  Did get up in time to help with dishes.  Kate arrives on No. 16.  The news.  A pleasant evening.  Sunday and monday regular days.  The end of January. 
 
Page 451
 
No. 1st -WESTERN UNION TELEGRAM-I sent from RU
Hr Ru Ck-17pa + FM Wolcott,Colo
2:30 pm -(+)2/1/21
To: National Grocery Co., Denver - Colo.
 
Please  cancel  my last order  sent   you   by salesman   Allen  -  if possible - wire results at      my expense.
Sig
Henry Smith OK-FI-J.F.
2:35 pm
 
(Denver broke twice)
 
Page 452
 
No. 5 (Without a break)
 
Hr-RU-7 pd-FM Wolcott Colo.
2 pm - 3/11/21
 
To R.F. Saunders 
Grand Junction, Colo.
 
Will go to Glenwood tonight on local.
 
Sig Hazel
 
 OK-EV-JF
 2:10 pm 
 
Mr. William Thom
 
Part 2-2 Building of the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad in Eagle County
 
“The Denver and Rio Grande Railroad, Mr. Thom's Reminiscences of the ‘Scenic Route’ from the Inception” by William B Thom, Part 2-2, Eagle Valley Enterprise, Eagle, Colorado, Friday, December 16,1921. 
 
“In 1880 W.B. Vickers, reviewing in a book the prospects of the Eagle River Valley, said ‘Before the year is over it may be that Eagle City will be no mean rival to Leadville.’  Perhaps it was that prediction, with the advent of the Colorado Midland Railway and other considerations which set the Denver and Rio Grande management to planning the expansion of the gauge.  In 1890 the Comet contained the following editorial:
 
‘Although some people fear the D. & R. G. railroad may not make the Eagle River extension into a standard gauge this year, there is very little cause for serious apprehension.  The D. & R. G. management have never been conspicuous for their disposition to compete for business with anybody who chose to enter the field.  The Midland advertises to bring through cars from Chicago to Buena Vista, Leadville, Aspen, and Glenwood, all of them competing points.  Everybody knows that through freight from the east could be laid down nearly as cheap at the points as at Denver and Pueblo, and that the narrow gauge systems breaking bulk at either of these points would be at a disadvantage in supplying the mountain trade.  With a standard gauge connecting with the Missouri Pacific at Pueblo, the D. &R.G. can offer a choice of markets – Chicago, St. Louis Kansas City or New York, and the east in general; and can compete with anybody in the field as it will have a short line with much better grades than any competitor.  No one need for a moment suppose that the Rio Grande proposes to allow itself to get left in this competition.  The roadbed is already pretty well prepared for the standard gauge, and it will not be long in getting here.’ 
 
Alas! The Colorado Midland is now but a memory!
 
It would be difficult for me ever to forget some of the incidents connected with the straightening of the track preparatory to the change of the D. &R.G. gauge.  About 2 o’clock on the morning of November 19, 1889, I sat asleep on the night express from Denver as it entered the Royal Gorge.  For some time workmen had been dynamiting the cliffs in the Grand Canon to reduce the curves and the previous day had shattered a mass of rock without bringing it down.  When my train, which consisted of many coaches drawn by two locomotives, approached this point, a jar disengaged a vast quantity of overhanging rock, which fell directly on the track in front of the train.  The collision took place almost instantly.  I was awakened by the terrific jolt and the crashing of window glass.  The first engine was thrown down the embankment, and turned end for end, L.S. Grein, the engineer, losing a leg in the tumble of the locomotive.  I saw him carried back to a Pullman coach.  A call for aid went to Canon City, but the response must have been two hours in arriving.  Meanwhile many passengers, unable to see through the gloom of the canon suffered no little disquietude, not knowing at what instant, the entire train might be buried in a rockslip from the cliffs reaching thousands of feet overhead.  A pile of railroad ties began to blaze and soon the bonfire lighting up the somber depths of the stupendous gorge, revealed one of the most wonderful midnight panoramas that I have ever beheld. 
 
We experienced a deep sense of relief when at last an engine backed the train to Canon City; and though I am digressing I must refer to my visit to the state penitentiary while awaiting the clearing of the track in the Grand Canon.  The warden kindly furnished a guard, who led me to all points of interest in the prison and took pains to show me Alfred Packer, one of the bloodiest murders in the history of the Far West.  In 1873 Packer with five men named Miller, Bell, Humphreys, Noon and Swan set out for Utah for the San Juan Mountains in Colorado near where now stands the town Montrose.  They were warned by the Indian chief, Ouray, of the danger of the snowy journey, but went on.  Packer, who had started out with limited funds, later turned up with considerable money and with more than one pocketbook.  But as his comrades failed to appear at their destination Packer was suspected of murdering and robbing them.  A hunt resulted in the finding of five bodies.  Four had been killed when asleep and much of their flesh had been cut away.  Packer was arrested but escaped and was not caught until nearly ten years later at Fort Fetterman, Wyo.  In 1883 he was sentenced to be hanged, after having been found guilty of murdering his companions and eating heir flesh.  His case went to the Colorado Supreme Court in 1885.  The monster was granted a new trial and at Gunnison.  August 2, 1886, upon his second conviction, he received a sentence of forty years in the penitentiary at Canon City.  Packer, the man-eater as he was called, committed the awful crime when 34 years old.” 
 
Wikipedia has a web page on Alfred Packer that is more detailed and gives a story with somewhat different details than the above.  The Wikipedia web page has a picture of Alfred Packer and also the results of recent investigations into the killings. 
 
Picture 1, Perhaps the Tom in this picture is the Tom that took John from Eagle to Kent.  This picture is number 206 of the Flynn Collection in The Eagle County Library. The Flynn Collection is mostly pictures from Kate Flynn’s photo album.    
 
Hoklas pictures.
 
Picture 2, Call Number: Z-5687.  Credit: Denver Public Library.  Title: Mile stones [sic] in D. + S.L. history.  Creator: Hoklas, W. I.  Date: [1905 June].  Summary: Men, members of a Denver & Salt Lake railroad survey crew, hold ropes and walk across catwalks made of logs secured with rope above the Colorado River in Gore Canyon (Grand County), Colorado. Men wear pants tucked into tall boots, jackets and hats. One man carries a tripod with a theodolite.  Format of Original Material: 1 photographic print ; 8 x 10 cm (3 x 4 in.) mounted on mat board.  Subject: Denver and Salt Lake Railroad Company; Colorado River (Colo.-Mexico); Gore Canyon (Colo.); Grand County (Colo.); Canyons--Colorado--Grand County; Pedestrian bridges--Colorado--Grand County; Railroad construction & maintenance--Colorado--Grand County; Rivers--Colorado--Grand County; Surveyors--Colorado--Grand County.  Notes: Formerly 41731; Title and "June 1905 - June 1934, views of survey crew in Gore Canon showing hazards encountered + methods of progress, 14 skilled men, 2 months, 4 1/2 miles. Presented to W.R. Freeman, Pres. D. + S.L. Ry. by W.I. Hoklas, member of survey crew" inked on verso. Title inked on verso.
 
Picture 3, Call Number: Z-5690.  Credit: Denver Public Library.  Title: Mile stones [sic] in D. + S.L. history.  Creator: Hoklas, W. I.  Date: [1905 June].  Summary: A member of a Denver & Salt Lake Railroad survey crew sits on a rock on a steep cliff above the Colorado River in Gore Canyon (Grand County), Colorado. A rope beside the man extends into the canyon.  Format of Original Material: 1 photographic print ; 10 x 8 cm (4 x 3 in.) mounted on mat board.  Notes: Condition: spots, worn. Title and "June 1905 - June 1934, views of survey crew in Gore Canon showing hazards encountered + methods of progress, 14 skilled men, 2 months, 4 1/2 miles. Presented to W.R. Freeman, Pres. D. + S.L. Ry. by W.I. Hoklas, member of survey crew" inked on verso. Title inked on verso. R7110056907
 

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