Dolores 80 years ago

Taken from the Friday, Dec. 21, 1934, Dolores Star

No trace has been found of the missing Towaoc trading post clerk, according to Sheriff W. W. Dunlap, except the car which he drove away was found in Grand Junction. Fred Grosman, a clerk employed by Pete Schifferer, at his trading post on the Ute Reservation, disappeared last week, along with one of the Schiffer cars and a considerable quantity of merchandise including Navajo blankets and Indian Jewelry.

George Bowman, daddy of the dairy industry in Montezuma County, was elected unanimously as vice-president of a newly formed organization of dairy breeders which held its initial meeting in a committee room of the municipal auditorium at Colorado Springs Saturday afternoon.

A million-dollar mining deal - the largest in Colorado in years - was closed Saturday when Denver and Portland, Ore., mining men and bankers made the final payment and took title to the Telluride Black Bear Mines Inc., and the famous Black Bear mine, near Telluride Colo. The new owners of the company and the property, which includes eighty-four mineral claims and milling sites six miles east of Telluride, are W. J. Seufert, Portland banker; Sterling Hindale, also a Portland banker; Harvey Stone, a Portland businessman; Dr. R. W. Fraser of Denver and F. R. Wolfle of Denver. Nixon Elliot, Denver broker, also is associated with the group. The Black Bear has a production record of 6 million dollars. It is a gold, silver, lead, zinc and copper producer.

Owing to extremely muddy roads and adverse weather conditions, the various rabbit drives scheduled for last Sunday were called off. However, if conditions are favorable next Sunday, it is probably that some sort of drive or drives will be held somewhere near Yellow Jacket and Ackmen next Sunday. Inquire at Taylor's store, say about Saturday afternoon, for information.

The storm which swept this section early in the week is said to be general over this entire area and that it did a great deal of good in improving range conditions and adding to the water supply for months to come. There was considerable snow in the mountains as well, and coming as it does at the early part of winter, it will be excellent storage for next summer's irrigation.

It is reported that Carl Blakeley, a resident of the Dolores-Lebanon section, was arrested early in the week on the charge of operating a distillery. Blakeley was taken to Durango and it is probable that he will be hauled before federal court at some future date.

Commissioner and Mrs. George Menefee were over from Mancos Tuesday attending to business matters and shaking hands with their many Dolors friends. The Menefees are among the county's oldest settlers.

R. N. Musgrave is showing off a new Plymouth sedan which he recently brought over from Durango. The car is a beauty and Musgrave expects to sell plenty of them during the next year.

Rex Keeney, a resident of Aztec section, was shot and almost instantly killed Monday morning while hunting with a couple of friends in the Red Mesa section of La Plata County near the Colorado-New Mexico line. Rex Keeney, O. S. Michael and H. W. Michael were hunting; O. S. Michael saw a deer which he shot at twice, and soon he saw an object moving in the brush near where he saw the deer and shot. He saw the object fall and when he went up to it he found it was his friend. A coroner's jury acquitted Michael of the shooting and it is not stated whether the charge of hunting deer out of season will be prosecuted or not. Keeney was a brother of Clyde Keeney of Granath Mesa, near Dolores.