Cheyenne record., 1916-06-29
EASTERN COLORADO
PAST AND PRESENT
(Miss) Charlotte Abernathy,
Arapahoe, Colorado. go

-s.-'-i-s = ~
BY tMiss) Charlotte Abernathy,
Arapahoe, Colorado.
Shortly after crossing the Colorado
Kansas line on the Union Pacific
Railroad. you will find yourself in
Arapahoe, the busiest and best little
town in Cheyenne County. Colorado.
The population is not great. not ex.
ceeding over sixty people. We have
two large general merchandise stores
carrying from $1,000 to $10, 900 stock.
good hardware; two implement houses
with new Improved machinery and all
sorts. OF harness, saddles and leather
goods; one OF the best lumber yards
in the county; good grain market;
blacksmith shop: stock yards: station
with an obligfng agent; garage un-
der construction. chapel used for all
religious purposes, good new school
building and grounds equipped with
library and out door sports; manse;
broom factory which makes the best
brooms sold In this section Of the
country; ice cream parlor open dur
ing the summer season: Farmers
Union building: lodge room; best
boarding and rooming house: three
cream testing stations. fully equip
ped with the best steam testing
machines; a good physician; a
local minister: travelling dentist;
several new and modern resi-
dences: church societies: Ladies So
cial Circle; Young Peoples Clubs and
Literary Societies. New real estate
office.
Additional and more substantial i'm
proven ents are being made at almost
every home in the Arapahoe country.
They consist of more house room,
larger and better barns, granaries.
corn cribs. silos, wells, windm!lls and
tanks. Farmers and ranchmen are
studying business farming and i'm
proved plans for tillage and stock
raising. Better varieties of stock are
being shipped into the country and
In place of immense herds of range
cattle which formerly roamed over
the plains. we have smaller herds of
better bred stock. Grain shipments
are very frequent. Many carloads
have gone forward from Arapahoe
since last harvest and there is an
abundance left for home consumption.
Three car loads of hogs were recent
ly billed to eastern markets. This
speaks well for new country.
When contemplating for the first
time the above statements together
with the natural beauty Of soil and
climate with which Eastern Colorado
is blessed, many wonder why this
rich lands has not been developed long
ago and are puzzled to know how 1t
could have remained hidden so long
from the thousands of deserving men
and women in search CT homes. Did
you ever stop to think that we have
not, heretofore, NEEDED to utilize
these western plains except for graz
ing purposes? Now that agriculture
and dairying are such important in
dustries and SO many who previously
preferred city life are desirous of en-
gaging in these pursuits, there is
larger demand for productive soil and
equable climate. The Early settler
thought farming too slow and after
having caught sight of the magic
mountains with their wonderfully
productive mines, hurried across the
beautiful. rolling, grassy plains to the
regions of gold and silver where he
gets to be gambled away in night.
1t is well to remember, too, that
since the passing of the Buffalo and
Red Man the plains have been occu-
pied by the cattle kings. A few short
years ago Eastern Colorado was the
happy home of the rollicking cowboy
and silent sheep herder who, basking
in the sun beside the mirage pools of
silver admired the supernal beauty
of the exquisite cactus flower and
graceful yucca. 1t was all very mag
nificent but we have come to realize
that our country Is not only beautiful
but productive. We have no insur-
mountable difficulties to overcome,
we do not need superhuman wisdom
to subdue and conquer the vast area
admirably and unquestionably suited
to the production OF cereals and
grasses WE NEED ONLY PEOPLE.
We need ernest, Industrious people to
settle on these lands and develop
them.
A great advance has been made in
farming methods in the last few
years. The Farmer is adapting him.
self to the country. Our Agricultural
College and the Federal Government
are expending vast sums of money to
find the seeds best suited to this re-
gion. Dairying is very important
Industry. The pit silo-both mex
pensive and profitable-makes this In
dustry possible the year round. Some
of our little railroad stations ship sew
eral hundred cans OF cream each
week.
The hardships of the early pioneer
in the country deserve large degree
of serious regard, but since they are
but history in Eastern Colorado, let
US not dwell seriously upon the haz-
| ards. The man with brain will lose
no time in idle retrospection, but de-
spite his misconception of the true
merits of the country, the criticism Of
his neighbors. the imputation OF fail