Fountain Valley News - Your Hometown Community Newspaper

I have been asked about this story recently. It all started when the idea of Christmas presents for friends came up. In March, 1939 an announcement for a new business was made. This new industry was...

In the late 1870s until World War I, the railroads sent their general passenger agents out to dream up sweet melodies with which to lure the tourist and emigrant. Each railroad tried to outdo the...

As long as I am doing some ancient history, ever heard of Charles Aiken? He came to Colorado in the early 1870s, and became famous for the animals here in this area. He studied animals, and back then...

I have done a few stories here about early storms. If you have lived here more than a few years, you probably have your own stories about some of our snowstorms. My time on Pikes Peak helps out here,...

I recently drove US 85 north to the Wyoming Black Hills. I have driven this route over 50 years. I was a bit surprised this trip by the ghost towns along the way. When I first rode up this way,...

In the Winter of 1934, Colorado, as well as the great plains, suffered a drought. I have told stories about bad winter storms, here more than once. Reading the old newspapers in this winter it gets...

I have done several columns about the two railroad stations here in Fountain, but I ran across this event and thought I would share it with you today. In the 1950s the railroad passenger service was...

Today let me look back to my job on the mountain for the inspiration for this column. In the old days a passenger train had several conductors. The one that was in the Pullman Sleeping Cars served onl...

I get this question often, but what is the right answer? Pike thought it was 18,000 feet tall. Well not really, but the measurements given over the years have gotten lower. So let us take some time...

Many of those who came to Colorado after the 1859 Gold Rush came for a very different reason. Even up into the 1930's and 40's many of the people arriving in the area around here were hoping to see...

I ended this column a few weeks ago, "I have read in the Colorado Springs papers of the time where tourists coming west from Limon found themselves halfway to Pueblo (near Fountain) before they...

I was recently talking to a waitress at one of my favorite dining spots about coffee cups. The cups used in restaurants and on trains are different from your average tea cup. The china services used...

I have done a few stories about the changes to Colorado with the use of automobiles. There have been tales about how the roads changed, along with the advent of driving rules, but today I want to...

As you turn on that radio you may not think about how long radios have been listened to by the public. In the early 1920's radio stations were rare, and many had private receivers where they could lis...

Now what was that? As I read an old Cripple Creek newspaper, the headline really caught my attention. George Brewer, alias George Brown, about 70 years old, said at the time of the Civil War to have...

As we are almost Mid Summer and still are getting snow on Pikes Peak I thought this April, 1927 story of opening the railroad up Pikes Peak would be interesting. I started working on the railway just...

As we are almost Mid Summer and still are getting snow on Pikes Peak I thought this April, 1927 story of opening the railroad up Pikes Peak would be interesting. I started working on the railway just...

We think nothing of jumping in the car, starting up and driving away. Some of you have no idea how to drive a car with a stick shift. A hundred years ago is my typical time of this column, so how...

Now this could be an interesting story in many ways, but, it is actually a story of a change in times. A hundred years ago there were many more independent newspapers to be found. As a train traveled...

I have done several stories over the years, including how Peterson Field got going, but to me this one was a real surprise. Did you know there once was a Manitou Airport? As I have looked into our...

I mentioned last week about the change in the highway from Colorado Springs to Pueblo. Today I want to go deeper into the story. It was January, 1928 while the highway department was looking to build...

When we travel around, we see new work on the roads quite often, but how often do we think about where our roads have been changed? For example north of Colorado Springs the Interstate is now being...

Chief Ouray was almost the most well known chiefs of the Uncompahgre Utes at the start of the 20th century. When Ouray was striving to settle some of the Ute tribe's difficulties, Chipeta, his wife...