Fountain Valley News - Your Hometown Community Newspaper

My grandfather grew up on a farm in what is now part of Monument. He told us many stories about growing up there. One of my favorites was about going to the big city! A trip into town was like...

I have talked about the plaster business in Manitou and Colorado City. In January, 1921 the Manitou plaster mill was just getting cranked up again. They used to say that Manitou was a "little...

This summer has been interesting for the crews who work at the shops along the highway up the mountain. No trains, except for an occasional maintenance train on the cog, lots of workmen at the new...

I told this tale a few years back, but when I researched Fort Carson I found another item. This tale started in 1920. A fellow who was in the Pueblo County jail, escaped, and was suspected to have...

In 1932 a private railroad car was set out at the Colorado Springs, Santa Fe station. Now this had happened regularly since the railroads were built. Usually the resident of the car would then take a...

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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...

Not since 1931 had the red plush chair cars of the Midland Terminal carried passengers over the famous Cripple Creek road. Not since the middle twenties had the observation coach echoed the oohs and a...

On an interesting story from the Fountain Police in the 1920's, they had furnished Marshal M.O. Askey a new piece of equipment. A motorcycle had been purchased for his use to enforce the town's new...

I have been reading the newspapers from the World War II era and have come up with many airplane crashes around here. Peterson was a training base, but it was not training new pilots, there were...

As an former teacher, I think long and hard with every shooting I hear about in the news. I do not have to wonder long about, "What would I Do?" This may come as a surprise to many of you, but...

I get asked regularly about train robbers. We are close to the range of the well known Hole In The Wall Gang, which included Sundance and Butch, but they were mainly in Wyoming. There were a few...

Today there are many herds of Buffalo, preserved in South Dakota, Wyoming and here in Colorado. The situation was quite different a hundred years ago. An interesting story has turned up of the last...

I have told the story of the Great Fountain Disaster, and another train wreck or two, but this story has an unusual twist. For those who do not know, a freight train rolled down to Fountain and...

Today I want to share a story taken from a newspaper column written in 1914 and published in Wisconsin! So as you read along, try to remember that! The story of the settlement of the Pike's Peak...

I get asked regularly how the soldiers who worked at the weather station up on Pikes Peak got there. I am also asked how Katharine Lee Bates got to the top. Curiously, about the same way. It also incl...

I recently talked about a local spot used in a movie. I spent nearly four years in the Air Force, mainly near a little town in Wyoming. I know nearly everyone has heard of it, but as I go along here...

In some of our towns one of the first businesses was a cafe, or some place to get a meal. I have traveled the great plains from Canada to Texas, and have this image of a typical plains town of the...

Some of you may know several movies were filmed here, none recently. I drove down 115 to see where the fires were last month and I was reminded of one of them. I have talked about this one before, but...

Over the years I have done a couple stories about the newspapers of Fountain. Some of you may know that the primary paper here, before we started, was the Fountain Herald. Their office was in the...

For those who have good views out to the east, you may find it hard to believe that from Colorado Springs going east, you are going uphill until between Peyton and Calhan. Even how much higher...

A steam locomotive requires water. In the days when the Short Line ran trains over what is now the Gold Camp Road, they had to stop several times for water. The steepest part of the trip was from...

Last week I talked about a train in Ute Pass, today it is Fountain's turn. No, I am not going to go over the Great Fountain Blast again. This story happened in the mid 1980's. I actually got to see...

You may wonder, if you drive up Ute Pass to Cripple Creek, if the railroad ever had problems with trains running away. An 1890's Colorado Springs newspaper story reported an exciting incident which...

Since we have had a pretty pleasant winter so far, I thought I would talk about the Winter of 1899. That was a pretty rough winter, even by Colorado standards. It all started with a big blizzard in...