History Colorado

Which of the events on the timeline seem like they may have been the most influential in the settlement of a new town?

Timeline of Events (1860s-1910s)

What do you think is the most important factor that led to the settlement of the town of Keota? Complete the sentence below by choosing one of the 5 options, then explain why. Use the text tool to complete this activity.

Engagement #1: Complete the Sentence

Windmill in Watkins, Colorado. Between 1937-2000, DeHarport photographed the southwestern United States, specifically focusing on Colorado and the Four Corners region. Much of his work focused on abandoned agricultural and mining towns in Colorado, as well as landscapes of the state's eastern plains.

Eastern Plains of Colorado, Late 1800s

A black and white photograph of the Keota baseball team and their rival baseball team. The rival team is standing in dark uniforms. Keota team sitting on the ground in white with "Keota" on the uniform front. 

People of Keota

Check out the goods Clyde Stanley sold at the general store. Do you see any items or brands we still see on shelves today?

Keota's General Store

Thinking about the events on the previous timeline, what effect did they have? You can choose other events on the timeline that are related or include events you know about from other learning.

Engagement #2: Cause & Effect

Anything you might have needed--and many things you probably didn't--could be ordered from one of Chicago's huge mail-order companies. Both Montgomery Ward (1872) and Sears (1888) catered especially to rural families. When Rural Free Delivery began in 1896, people living in towns like Keota had access to everything in the catalogs. The average family in Keota made three catalog orders a year, spending about $5 an order. Look through a selection of items from the Montgomery Ward catalog. What do you notice about the items available for purchase?

Montgomery Ward Catalog

Explore these slides to learn about some important developments that impacted the town of Keota.

Technology Developments

Take a stroll through the town of Keota and see what everyone is doing. Any guesses about what the people of Keota used for toilet paper? Click through to find out!

A Day in the Life

It's now 1910, what is happening on the continent and around the world?

Timeline of Events (1910s-1930s)

 Telegraphs were used to send messages in the past, use the telegraph to write your own message to a friend or family member. Explain some of the differences and similarities of life in Keota compared to life today that you've learned about. Make sure to write about at least 1 similarity and 1 difference.

Engagement #3: Telegraph about Life in Keota

It’s flat, windy, and dry--the middle of nowhere. The Eastern Colorado prairies look pretty bleak to most people. But to new homesteaders, they look like heaven. A family can prosper here and build for the future. There’s plenty of land (it’s free--just stake a claim), a railroad, a good school, and a strong community. So let's go to Keota, Colorado!


Educator Overview  Little Town on the Plains  Keota, Colorado.pdf

Montgomery Ward Catalog Item Information (4).pdf

Little Town on the Plains: Keota, Colorado

Civics and Government

Social Studies

U.S. History

General Crop failures in the plains

Panic of 1893 - U.S. economic collapse

Drought in the plains

Return of rain in the plains

Abraham Lincoln signed the Homestead Act into law. This encouraged Americans to move west and farm. For a small fee, any head of a household could apply for 160 acres (later 640 acres) of land. To keep it, you had to live there for a certain number of years and improve your claim by building structures and raising crops or animals.

Photograph, Abraham Lincoln

The Homestead Act

The Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy Railroad started in 1849 and by 1900 had lines in eleven states. The Burlington -- as the company was also known -- began building a railroad from Nebraska to Denver in 1881. The first train arrived in Denver on this line in spring 1882. 

In 1887 CB&Q added the “Prairie Dog Special,” which ran from Holdrege, Nebraska to Cheyenne, Wyoming, right through Keota.

CB&Q Railroad in Keota

The Keota area experienced its first peak period of settlement. Sixty-four homesteaders proved up their claims: 51 men and 13 women.

This is an example of a typical homestead certificate issued in the 1880s. It was signed by a clerk in the land office on behalf of Chester A. Arthur, President of the United States. It was filed at the land office in Pueblo, Colorado.

Certificate, David Calderon Homestead certificate

Keota Settlement Period

Henry Ford’s Model T is the American Dream on four wheels. It will take you much farther than a horse-drawn buggy and in much less time. You can harness the Model T’s engine to power all kinds of farm machinery. Folks have adapted it for threshing, harrowing, sawing logs, and grinding grain. You might even see one pulling a plow. The Model T means less work, lower costs, bigger harvests, and a better, easier life. 

The Model T was produced from 1908 to 1927. A more affordable model than previous Ford cars, the Model T was popular with rural communities like Keota and was sold in major cities across the country.

This gelatin dry plate negative was taken by Oliver E. Aultman (1867-1953) near the Stonewall Gap area in Las Animas County (Colo.) in 1914. The image pictures Susan Jane "Jennie" Aultman (1875-1961), Oliver's wife; Glenn Aultman (1904-2000); and Abner and Elizabeth Rowland, Jennie's parents. The four pose in and around a 1910 Model T Ford automobile. Jennie and her parents lean on the exterior of the automobile while Glenn sits in the front seat. The women wear long skirts, long-sleeved blouses, and wide-brimmed hats, and the men wear collared shirts, trousers, and wide-brimmed hats. Long grass and weeds grow around their feet. Trees are visible in the background.

The Aultman Studio (Trinidad, Colo.) operated out of Trinidad from 1889-2000. Oliver E. Aultman founded the studio and was its chief photographer until his son, Glenn Aultman (1904-2000) took over the business in the early 1950's. Otis Aultman (1874-1943), Oliver's younger brother, also operated at photography studio in the Trinidad area from 1892-1907. Several of his images are included in the Aultman Studio collection. While the Aultmans mostly produced studio portraits of Trinidad's residents, they also shot images of landscapes, streets scenes, mining operations, buildings, and local events.

Photograph, Aultmans and Rowlands with Model T Ford automobile

Model T Ford

Homesteading is expanded. Now settlers can obtain 320 acres,  an increase from 160 acres in 1862.

Front: Man in a carriage with horse and two women in front of wooden house. Back (not shown): text on back reads "I thought you would like to see my shack so here it is and you can see Keota to the wind was blowing pretty hard see my xxx..." Postcard is signed "Frank Trumbo."

Frank Trumbo communicated with Clyde Stanley in the 1960's many times and visited him in Keota. Their friendship grew because they were both newspapermen and his father was interested in information about his family's time in Keota.

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Postcard, Frank Trumbo in carriage and women in front of homestead

The Enlarged Homestead Act

The telegraph expanded across the United States alongside railroads -- telegraph lines were strung right next to the tracks. This system made it possible to coordinate train schedules and communicate across long distances using Morse Code. 

Left side displays the "International Code" A-Z, 1-0. Right side is a place for battery, a light bulb, next is the contact point used for night signalling on ships, then a buzzer as used in wireless. Parts are held together with small tabs at different parts of machine.

Telegraph, Western Union Standard Radio Telegraph Signal Set

Telegraph Expanded in US

The first issue of the Keota News rolls off the presses.

Clyde L. Stanley inside the "Wayside Press" in Keota, Colorado. Clyde standing on a rug. Wearing jeans, a short-sleeve shirt, right hand on a stack of paper. Press in front of him, pedal on the floor. Stacked boxes behind the press. Pot-belly stove with a pot of water, covered pot, both sitting on an up-side-down aluminum plate. The coal bucket sits on floor. The door left side of the photo with hanging light blub for light.

Inscriptions; *Stamped on side of box, black ink: "STORE IN COOL / DRY PLACE / PROTECT FROM FREEZING."
*Stamped on box under the above, up-side-down: "Fiberboard Products Inc. Pure-Pak"
*Hand written, cursive, back, black ink: "Uncle Clude, Wayside Press / Keota, Colo 80638 / Dean Hand / 11-1956"

Photograph, Clyde Stanley printing on his press

Photograph, Clyde Stanley, printing on his press

Keota News

The railroad builds a new depot in Keota.

A black and white photograph of the Keota Depot at the Burlington. Stock Yard are right. Wood storage shed and water tank on left. Two powerline poles, three men, railroad cart, wooden barrels, and equipment outside front. Handwritten on reverse side (not shown): The Keota depot on the Burlington. Stock yards to the right and the round wooden water storage tank and well was to the left. The storage tank was moved to a farm south of Keota and for many years could be seen from Highway #14. When we passed there Dec. 2nd, 1981 the old tank had recently fallen in heap. Cream cans at end of depot. Summer 1923


Photo, The Keota Depot

Keota Train Depot

Keota’s second peak year of homesteading under the Enlarged Homestead Act, which increased the size of homesteads to 320 acres. One hundred and seventy-seven homesteaders, including 28 women, took advantage of an unusually rainy decade.

Circa, 1910-1930; The date of this photograph was determined when it was digitized and cataloged between the years 1994-1997 as part of the PhotosWest: Western History Imaging Project coordinated by the Denver Public Library. This project was funded through a three-year grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Boettcher Foundation. View of a school in Colorado. The one-story wood frame building has a covered porch and a belfry.

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Object Library

Museums

Little Town on the Plains: Keota, Colorado

Timeline of Events (1860s-1910s)

Guiding Question

1880 CE - 1890 CE

General Crop failures in the plains

1862 CE

1887 CE

1893 CE

Panic of 1893 - U.S. economic collapse

1894 CE

Drought in the plains

1891 CE

1908 CE

Return of rain in the plains

1908 CE

1909 CE

1910 CE

1911 CE

1912 CE

1914 CE