Lessons about letting go in a debut chapbook of poems
Colorado Andrea Gibson’s 2021 collection calls readers to understand and to love
Chasing dreams and facing reality in Penitence
Award-winning book makes us think about the cost of paving the world
Sharp reflections in Formations of the West, a poetry collection
The sound of a tremulous future in Kathleen Willard’s newest collection of poems
Tim Z. Hernandez’ hybrid memoir investigates untold stories of lost loved ones and his own family
A preview of Halchita Red
While Marissa Harwood was born in Omaha, Nebraska, she moved to Colorado when she was four days old and considers herself a native. She grew up in the shadow of the Rocky Mountains and spent much of her childhood camping, hiking and building forts in the woods. She earned a BA in English and a Secondary Teaching License from the University of Colorado at Boulder. Later, she attended Western Colorado University and earned an MFA in genre fiction. She has taught English at three K-12 schools and two Colorado colleges. Currently, she lives in Greeley, where she teaches high school, plays with her daughter (a true CO native) and reads a lot of books. She hopes to earn a doctorate in the near future.
Once one of the largest cattle ranches in southern Colorado, Beckwith Ranch rises to its former glory in the concisely and neatly written, The Beckwith Dynasty: A Ranching Empire in Colorado’s Wet Mountain Valley by Courtney Miller. The author explores the history of a successful shipbuilding family who traveled west in 1869, and would eventually create through hard work, luck and a handful of shenanigans, an incredibly successful agricultural operation. Miller guides the reader through the origins of the ranch with stories of true cowboys and the Old West.
Beginning with a meager 160 acres, the family created a vast holding of land and livestock that would eventually become a thriving and majestic showplace of 8,800 acres with a very distinctive mansion of white clapboard and red roof. The fortunes of the Beckwith empire grew even more with the discovery of gold and silver in the nearby mountains. The mansion continued to expand as well, becoming a rambling complex with all the latest Victorian fineries accumulated from travels afar. Sophisticated and worldly travelers were entertained with unparalleled grandeur in the hinterlands of Colorado’s Wet Mountains.
As with any great western story about perseverance and triumph, the tale of the downfall of the family and the mansion is equally fascinating. Death, disease and estranged family relations all contributed to the passing of the heyday of the grand place.
Located on Hwy 69 near Westcliffe, Colorado, the site and venue is now listed on National Register of Historic Places. The obvious sincere and deep appreciation the author has for the ranch shines through in his writing. He packs a lot of Wet Mountain Valley history in this small volume with fine research and striking details. This book is a nice resource for any Colorado history buff. — Jeffery Payne
