Pagosa Country in the 1890s and the disappearing Wild West

Photo courtesy John M. Motter
I suspect this photo was taken on the porch of the Methodist Church on Lewis Street. I also suspect these ladies (in a spirit of reminiscence) have rummaged through their trunks to find the dresses they are wearing from an earlier time. The ladies are, from left, Annie Byrne, Hattie McGirr, Maude Garvin Hart, Laura C. Manson White and Myrtle Schonefelt.

We’ve been reporting news items written in the Pagosa Springs newspaper during the early 1890s. Today’s selected items give the reader a feeling for social events taking place at the time.

We learn that the Literary Society first formed in February 1891. Its first debate question was, “Resolved — that women have more influence over men than money?” This question seems a little unclear to me. I assume it means that men choose women in preference to money. To the best of my knowledge, only the Macht family name remains in our community from the list of 14 founding members.

On March 5, 1891, we learn that “… the snow blockade on the Cumbres range continues and we are still without any eastern mail … It is reported that at some places the snow is deeper by four feet than the height of the telegraph poles (Motter: Telegraph; there were no telephones yet.) and that there is more snow than there was in 1884, when the road was blocked for three months.”

The full version of this story is available in the print edition and e-edition of the Pagosa Springs SUN. Subscribe today by calling (970)264-2100 or click here.