History Colorado

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

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

What national and global events shaped Keota’s history?

Timeline of Events (1910s-1930s)

Why was the town of Keota settled by homesteaders?

Technology Developments

Engagement #2: Cause & Effect

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

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!

Consider these questions as you explore the town; How was life in Keota different from life today? How is it similar?


A Day in the Life

Why was the town of Keota settled by homesteaders? 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)

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. How would you categorize the items available for purchase?

Montgomery Ward Catalog

How was life in Keota different from life today? How is it similar? 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. Folks can support themselves, build some savings, and maybe leave something behind for the next generation. Keota doesn’t have everything, but it has all the things that matter. Freedom. Independence. Opportunity. Community. Those are the blessings that fill these empty prairies.


Why was the town of Keota settled by homesteaders?
What national and global events shaped Keota’s history? 
How does life today compare to living in Keota in the 1900s?

Little Town on the Plains: Keota, Colorado

Geography

Social Studies

U.S. History

WWII destroyed farms across Europe, American wheat was in high demand

World War I

Spanish Flu Pandemic

Census shows more Americans live in cities than rural areas (for the first time)

Dust storms across the plains of the US

The dry conditions require deep drilling to access water, so well drillers risked greater exposure to toxic gases. Garey becomes the first burial in the Keota Cemetery.

George William Garey dies while digging a well in Keota

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"

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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


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Photo, The Keota Depot

Keota Railroad Depot

Eventually, 1 out of 4 young men will serve in the war.

Outdoor portrait of a man in World War One Army uniform with a rifle over his shoulder in (probably) Denver, Colorado. Sign reads: "Private Property - Keep Off."


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Negative, Man in WWI uniform holding rifle

World War I draft starts

Many Keota farmers had gone into debt during the good years to buy new equipment and farm more land - and they were now in trouble.

Public Sale

The Keota News shuts down, but publisher Clyde Stanley continues various magazines and the Wayside Press. 

(Image is a reenactor playing Clyde Stanley).

Keota News shuts down

The Colorado government released a report that the entire state is at least 50 percent below its usual snowmelt levels. In some areas, like the high plains of Weld County, the snowmelt is gone entirely.

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Men in Cornfield

Water Availability Issues

The Bankhead-Jones Farm Tenant Act authorizes the United States government to buy back “sub-marginal” farmland, including the entirety of the Keota area.

Buy Back of Land

According to the Colorado Yearbook, Keota’s population falls to just 15 people.

A color photograph of Keota in the evening taken from the water tower. Old wooden buildings, red, and yellow buildings, telephone poles, roads, trees, and fields.

Handwritten on front: Evening views from the 2nd rung of the water tower in Keota. / May 22nd, 1994.


Resource Kits

Object Library

Museums

Little Town on the Plains: Keota, Colorado

Timeline of Events (1910s-1930s)

1911 CE

1914 CE - 1918 CE

WWII destroyed farms across Europe, American wheat was in high demand

World War I

1912 CE

1918 CE - 1919 CE

Spanish Flu Pandemic

1917 CE

1920 CE

Census shows more Americans live in cities than rural areas (for the first time)

1920 CE

1922 CE

1930 CE - 1935 CE

Dust storms across the plains of the US

1930 CE

1937 CE

1953 CE