Cowboys, Indians and Newspapers

Using newspapers is such a valuable resource if you want to know about your family.  But don't just look at local newspapers.....sometimes the stories traveled far and wide.

I happened to be searching in the New York State historical newspapers archives and found this article in the

Note the date - June 9, 1882....just one month after the Jews arrived in Cotopaxi.

Here's the article:

Life in the Southwest.  Pueblo Col., June 8 -- Southern Colorado Utes are preparing for war.  They have been incensed by the killing of some of their members.  Large numbers of warriors are assembled on the Denver & Rio Grande road in war-paint.  They threaten to resist removal from their reservation as provided in the last treaty.

This proves that Indians were still in the area when the Colonists arrived.  Not just "in the area" but with war-paint on!

Cowboys?  I don't think we need proof that there were cattle ranchers in Colorado in 1882.  That's a given.

Here are a couple of links that might help you with your newspaper research....and they are free.

 Fulton History - has numerous New York State and New York City newspapers.

Colorado Historic Newspapers

Unfortunately, the Colorado site does not include any of the Fremont County newspapers.  They have not been digitized, but are available at the Fremont History Center in Canon City on microfilm.

Many events that happened in Fremont County were picked up by other newspapers, so it's still a great resource.

My suggestions on how you do a newspaper search:

1)  Use just the last name.  You will have to weed through a ton of newspapers, but it will help you find everything - those who use a first initial or abbreviate the first name.
2)  Use the surname and an occupation such as Nudelman carpenter
3)  Do both the full name and the abbreviation such as "HEAS" and then "Hebrew Emigrant Aid Society".
4)  Try every possibility.  Emigrant. Emmigrant.  Imigrant. Immigrant.  You might be surprised at what you will find.
5)  Think outside the box when it comes to dates.  Emanuel Saltiel died in 1900.  When I opened up my search dates to 1950 - I found a lawsuit by his children filed years after he died.

Newspapers not only prove oral histories - they often expand on them.  Now that I know the Indians were in Pueblo....I can go to other newspapers and look for more articles on this date and place and see where this takes us.  For now, it's enough to know that this really was the "wild west" when the Jews arrived in Cotopaxi.

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