WISHING YOU CONTINUED HEALTH AND SAFETY!
A Note from the Museum Board
After what seems to have been an especially long winter, with limited opening hours and three years of dealing with COVID – 19, your Salida Museum Board and volunteers are looking forward to a busy summer.
With the help of some new volunteers, it looks like we will be able to open five days a week from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. We are looking forward to seeing old friends, meeting new ones and welcoming newcomers to what Elmo Bevington once called Salida’s greatest secret – the Salida Museum. But it’s no secret anymore. The word has spread – our museum has become a point of interest for locals and visitors alike.
Nearly 600 people, mostly locals, signed the guest sheet last year, and what your Board asks of you is to help us reach out to more volunteers. Let people know what a treasure we have within these rooms. It would be great to keep the doors open longer and remain open through the week. Friends and neighbors, former teachers, nurses, retired business people, newly arrived evacuees from the city, can all help. There is so much potential, and especially for a new arrival, what better way to learn about your new home.
You can help us design exhibits, catalog new donations, write the newsletter, answer inquiries about local history and put whatever talent you have available to good use.
Most importantly, we are willing to train new docents by orienting them to the exhibits and showing them how to open the museum, transact sales and admission fees and interact with the public.
Whether you’re a long time local or a new arrival, the Salida Museum Board invites you to mark May 20 on your calendar and join is as we hold our annual Open House to re-open for the summer.
Thank you for your continued support.
Museum Open House, Saturday May 20
Salida Museum will host an Open House on Saturday, May 20, from 10 a.m. to 4 pm. Admission will be free, and local Salida author Steve Chapman will conduct a series of presentations entitled “Overview of Salida History, 1880-1900”. Copies of The Mountain Mail’s free publication, True Crime Stories, will be available. Of course, refreshments will be served.
Lynched! is the most recent of Chapman’s books on Salida history, all available at the museum. Steve also owns Salida Walking Tours, a company that guides guests on history and ghost walks through downtown Salida. Information about the tours is available at the museum.
Chapman will conduct his presentations on Salida history every hour starting at 11 a.m. The presentations will include historic photos and a Q&A session.
This year marks the 69th anniversary of the Salida Museum. We are located behind the Salida Chamber of Commerce on U.S. Highway 50. Current winter hours are 12-4 p.m. Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Special tours of the museum during the week can be arranged by calling the museum.
Salida History: Handbook for nuclear and natural disasters
by Arlene Shovald
While 1970 isn’t exactly ancient history, a handbook recently donated to the Salida Museum is a reminder of those days when citizens were on the alert for possible nuclear attacks and natural disasters.
The handbook, donated by John Leck, Poncha Springs, was issued by Chaffee County Civil Defense Agency located at the Chaffee County Courthouse, and published by the Department of Defense and Office of Civil Defense in March of 1968 and issued to county residents in 1970.
Following a disaster, buildings that may have been damaged or weakened should not be entered. Fallen electric wires were another concern.
Part One on nuclear attack advises residents to know the local emergency action plan, know the attack warning signal, be prepared with supplies and know the basics of medical care.
Part Two on major natural disasters advises citizens to use their phone only to report important events to authorities and not to tie up phone lines. Emergency information would be reported via radio and television.
In the case of winter storms citizens were advised to travel in daylight and only if necessary, use major highways and keep warm clothing and footwear in the car.
There was also advice on how to prepare a home shelter. All of this is not outdated advice, and at the time no one was anticipating disasters such as 9/11.
The book was mailed to citizens of Chaffee County. Elected Chaffee County officials approved the publication on Sept. 1, 1970. They were county commissioners Richard Tuttle, Bruce B. Davidson and George F. Dominick 3rd; Salida Mayor Edward Touber, Buena Vista Mayor Gilbert E. Gross, Poncha Springs Mayor Ralph David and Civil Defense Director Edward Holman.
Activity Roundup
by Earle Kittleman
Who knows the fate of the century-old power house on the Little River just above Maysville? Public Service Company of Colorado took it offline recently because it had become too costly to maintain for the amount of power it was producing. The company has submitted plans to begin this summer removing the pipeline and reservoir system that delivered water to run the turbines. Eventually Fooses Reservoir and Garfield Reservoir will be removed and the stream restored to its natural course. The red brick power house was built in 1906. We hope a new owner appears to save this charming piece of history and adapt the building to modern use.
A recent search in the photo archives of History Colorado turned up dozens of snapshots taken of Salida’s famous madam Laura Evans and her girls. Most of the images show playful groups of friends in the backyard of her establishment on Front Street (now Sackett). Several were taken at the time of Laura’s death in 1953. A graveside image at Fairview Cemetery shows her daughter Lucille Evens flanked by Fred and Jo Mazzulla.
The images are part of the History Colorado Mazzulla Collection Access and Digitization Project, which was put together in 2022. It includes photograph prints and negatives, manuscript material, scrapbooks, and audio recordings.
Follow this link to the online collection: https://www.historycolorado.org/search-the-collection
A picture of the Salida Cup ran in a Sports Afield publication in 1890. “This beautifully-engraved silver tankard stands eighteen inches high. It is gold inlaid and gold lined and an exquisite piece of workmanship every way. It is a gift from the citizens of Salida to the Central District Sportsmen’s Association—to be contested for at each tournament and held by the winning team from one tournament to the other.”
Sportsman hunting as opposed to subsistence hunting became popular in the 1880s. Members of the Salida Rod and Gun Club with Peter Mulvany as president were prominent among Colorado’s gentlemen hunters. In addition to sponsoring teams and holding shooting matches throughout the state, sportsmen hunters influenced fish and game conservation laws that were on the books by the turn of the century.
Dylan Jones who visited the museum last summer to do research recently emailed us a copy of his student thesis on Salida’s Peter Mulvany and the conservation movement. He discovered the Salida Cup in the Sports Afield archives and said it was last competed for in 1901 in Colorado Springs. If anyone knows what happened to the trophy, we would all like to know.
Museum Exhibits
by Bonnie Konopka
Some fun Salida Museum finds:
Started in 1864, the Knights of Pythias was the first fraternal order chartered by congress under President Abraham Lincoln. Salida Mountain Lodge # 19 started in 1882. Friendship-Charity-Benevolence were there motto. Theatre, costumes, headdress, swords and other regalia attracted men to the organization.
Organized in 1894 the Tuesday Evening Club, a society for Salida women promoted intellectual growth of its members and community and to advance the improvement of social education and domestic conditions. They raised money and received a donation from Andrew Carnegie to build Salida’s first public library.
Library Corner
Salida is Calling
by Joy Jackson
The telephone was introduced to Salida in July 1898 when Salida City Council approved an ordinance granting permission to local businessman George Stodghill ‘to erect and maintain telephone poles and wires upon the streets and alleys and other public places’ in Salida and ‘to construct and operate his telephone exchange in said town.’
George operated without regulation, and recklessly cut down trees to put up poles, letting phone wires hang low enough to be a hazard until he was chastened by council. The town marshal was set at task keeping George in line.
In October 1898, the Salida Telephone Company, owned and operated by George, was open for business. He furnished phone service at the following monthly rates: a business line cost $4.00, a residential line was $2.00.
The first business to have a telephone in Salida was the Salida Mail newspaper offices. By December, the Denver & Rio Grande Hospital, the Church of the Ascension, and the Catholic parsonage all had telephone connections.
George sold the business in Fall of 1902 to the Colorado Telephone Company, located at 122 W. 2nd. The phone system was soon extended throughout the county; the town of Monarch reportedly had twenty telephones in use.
In July 1911, the Colorado Telephone Company, the Tri-State Telephone and Telegraph Company, and the Rocky Mountain Bell Telephone Company merged into the Mountain States Telephone & Telegraph Company which served customers in Utah, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, Arizona, New Mexico, and Colorado. Mountain States continued to serve Salida into the 1950s.
The following images are of the new Mountain States Telephone building under construction at 508 F Street. Built in 1958 by Platt Rogers (a Colorado Springs based construction firm), the building opened in June 1959. At the same time, Salida was introduced to the new seven-digit telephone dialing system.
This image features a sign posted in front which reads: “The New Salida Telephone Bldg. – part of a $577,200 expansion and improvement program for the growing Salida area.”
Notable in this image is the white house on F Street, just opposite where the new building will be, which is no longer standing. Alpine Park is visible at left in this image.
Here is the completed Mountain States Telephone & Telegraph building at 508 F Street:
Peggy Pringle, class of ’56, is the phone operator at front. Viola Underwood is standing in doorway:
These images are part of the Salida Museum Collection, available to view online at
https://digital.salidalibrary.org/salida-museum-collection/
2024 Museum Calendar
After a hiatus of 3 years, we have once again designed a historical 2024 calendar. The calendar features hand-colored postcard photos of the Salida area. The order has been received, and the calendars are available for purchase at several Salida businesses as well as at the museum. Salida businesses selling the calendar include Hodge Podge, Old Log Cabin Antiques, The Five and Dime, Mixing Bowl, and the Salida Chamber of Commerce.
Museum Board of Directors
The current museum board of directors is comprised of the following:
President, Bob Campbell
Secretary, Earle Kittleman, 719-221-3685
Treasurer, Larry Kovacic, 505-280-4831
Board Member, Judith Kinzie, 719-539-9439
Board Member, Arlene Shovald, 719-539-3139
Board Member, Bonnie Konopka, 505-270-6523
Board Member, Terry Pintane, 719,221,4177
Special thanks goes to Margaret Dean, who volunteers as a board representative from Maysville. The members of the South Arkansas Landowners Association (SALA), comprising residents in the Maysville area, do a lot of work taking care of the historic Maysville School, which is owned by the museum. We appreciate their efforts to maintain the school as a historic landmark and look forward to a long and fruitful relationship.
Museum Docents
Giff Kriebel
Ron Regenold
Terry Pintane
If you are interested in becoming a board member and coming to one meeting a month (minimal commitment, few summer meetings), let us know. We would be very happy to talk to you about joining our team. Our board meetings are open to the public, so if you want to attend one and find out if you’re interested, the meetings are the third Wednesday of the month, 11:00am, at the museum.
Support the Salida Museum
The Salida Museum Association is an all-volunteer non-profit organization that relies on donations, memberships, admissions and limited fundraising to remain operational. You can help support the museum by making a donation or becoming a member.
Donation – any amount appreciated
Annual Membership – $15, includes 5 free visits
Lifetime Membership – $100, includes unlimited free visits
Memberships and donations are tax deductible. Send your payment to the address listed below, use our website to remit with PayPal, or join when you come in to see the museum. You will receive an acknowledgement letter for tax purposes. (make sure we have your address)
Salida Museum Association
406 1/2 W. Hwy 50, Salida, Colorado 81201
salidamuseum@gmail.com
719-539-7483
For more museum information, see our website or Facebook page.
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