The eastern Colorado town of Burdett, Washington County, sat about 14 miles north of Otis.  When the wind whistles through the plains at night it likely flies over the dusty ghost berg of Burdett and some of its surrounding deceased kin, i.e., Lone Star, Leslie, Curtis, Leroy, Harmon, Saint Petersburg, Calhoun and Platner.  Passed souls of Burdett lie in the cemetery pictured at:  https://www.findagrave.com/cemetery/2262531/burdett-cemetery .

Burdett was most likely named for Bill Burdett, who had a plains shanty near Rock Creek on land where the post office and the building to the left in the photo were later to sit.  Bill spent most of his time riding the plains killing buffalo and selling their hides.  He also rounded up wild horses. 

In addition to the federal Homestead Act of 1862, which gave any American the right to put in a claim for up to 160 free acres of federal land, instrumental in giving Burdett whatever life it had was the  Chicago Burlington & Quincy Railroad (CB&Q).  In a bid to compete with a Union Pacific line to the north, the CB&Q decided to build an east-west rail line stretching across northeastern Colorado from Holdredge, Nebraska, to Cheyenne, Wyoming.   

A subsidiary of the CB&Q, the Lincoln Land Company, sold land with the purpose of platting towns spaced ten miles apart on the CB&Q line.   The ten-mile interval was chosen to make towns accessible for farmers within one day’s travel time, and it was hoped that the resulting increase in population along the route would provide business to the railroad.  It appears that Burdett was one of those towns, for the Akron Weekly Pioneer Press reported in 1892 that the Lincoln Land Company owned the town sites for Burdett, Curtis and Leslie.

In April 1888, some four years before the Lincoln Land Company began buying town sites, the Burdett post office had already been established by a Mr. C. B. Price, who provided mailing service from his sod shanty.   The following year, postal duties were taken over by Mrs. Dora Forbes, who was subsequently joined by her brother and a man named Casselman in establishing a printing office and store.  For a short time, they published a newspaper called the Burdett Bee.

Next to handle Burdett’s postal services was Mrs. Elizabeth McCutcheon Magers.  Then, in 1897, the job was passed to Mrs. Dorcas Harvey, and she initially ran the post office from a single room in the home she shared with her husband, J. J.  Around 1900, the Harveys built the sod post office shown here and the store, also made of sod, to the left. 

The proximity of the Harvey store and post office made for a big draw.  The Akron News reported in 1911 “that a big crowd gathers at the Burdett store every mail day to get their mail and lay in a supply of eatables.”  Given the fact that there were designated mail days, one can assume mail was not a daily benefit.   

Notice the caption in the photo identifying the day for this gathering to be mail day, December 24, 1910. It looks to be a cold day, but I can imagine that the excitement of it being mail day, mixed with anticipation of possible Christmas Eve and Christmas Day delights, made for a good mood amongst the crowd.  The lack of a nose on the car to the right makes me wonder if it might be one of those electric jobs. 

The Harveys operated both establishments until 1915, when the post office was turned over to Miss Lizzie Matthews.  The trail runs cold here, but it is known that the Burdett post office, whether within sod or some other enclosure, stayed in operation until April 30, 1937. 

The sender of this card, postmarked in Burdett in April 1911, signed herself as “Pearl M.” and is writing to her friend, Mrs. W. W. Simpson, in Pauline, Nebraska.  Pearl writes:  “Dear Friend, How are you?  Papa got home all right.  I am send (sic) you this to let you see what Colo people look like!  This is our big town.  Write and tell me what you think about it.  From your friend, Pearl M.”

News Items

It’s fun to look through the newspapers of the era to see what was going on in Burdett.  Here’s some samples:

From the “Burdette Budget” column in the Akron News:

Dated March 30, 1911:

“Tell Wilcox strained his back last week lifting a harrow through a gate.  He was laid up for a few days but is better now.” 

“H. Rorabough, better known as a Red, is back on his claim again.  He is alone except his four mules.  He surely is going to turn over the sod this spring.” 

“Last  Sunday was a blustry (sic) day sure enough and everybody looked for a lot of moisture but were disappointed as usual.  We hope it comes pretty soon or the fall wheat won’t be much good.”

“The phone line from Burdett to Tinkams has been put in already and are waiting for the switch board to be put in then Burdett can talk with Otis and Yuma both.”  (I looked up “Tinkams,” but my effort was in vain.)

Dated  April 20, 1911:

“We’re still looking for rain now.  The farmers are nearly all done seeding and are now waiting for it to rain before planting corn.”

“Bert Gardner had a runaway last Thursday morning.  The team ran for a mile but nothing hurt.  Dick Henry and Dave Townsend stopped the horses.  Lucky for Bert.”

“Will Garner has a fine new buggy, guess Will was jealous over the other boys getting new buggies so got one too.”

“The baseball game between Burdett and Kelly last Saturday was won by the Burdett team (with) a score of 11 to 28.  Kelly  better practice some.”

REFERENCES:

• “Burdett Cemetery” Find a Grave at https://www.findagrave.com/cemetery/2262531/burdett-cemetery

• “Burdette Budget,” The Akron News dated March 30^th, 1911, and May 4, 1911, Colorado Historic Newspapers Collection at https://www.coloradohistoricnewspapers.org/?a=d&d=AKN19110330-01.2.71&srpos=72&e=——-en-20–61–img-txIN%7ctxCO%7ctxTA-burdett——-0——   AND

https://www.coloradohistoricnewspapers.org/?a=d&d=AKN19110504-01.2.92&srpos=20&e=——-en-20–1–img-txIN%7ctxCO%7ctxTA-burdett——-0——

• “Colorado Post Offices  1859 to 1989,” p. 26, by Bauer, Ozment and Willard, 1990, published by Colorado Railroad Museum.

• “County Correspondence – Burdette Budget,” The Akron News dated April 20, 1911, Colorado Historic Newspapers Collection at https://www.coloradohistoricnewspapers.org/?a=d&d=AKN19110420-01.2.51&srpos=79&e=——-en-20–61–img-txIN%7ctxCO%7ctxTA-burdett——-0——

• “History of Burdett, Colorado,” by Dorcas A. Harvey, 1919, “Washington County, Colorado” at https://www.cogenweb.org/washington/pdf-files/Wa,CO,Burdett.pdf

• “Historic Photos Project Burdett Sod Post Office, circa 1900, Washington County, Colorado,” at https://www.cogenweb.org/washington/pdf-files/Wa,CO,Burdett.pdf

• “Historical Background of Raymer/ New Raymer,” Friends of Raymer at https://friendsofraymer.com/historical-background-of-new-raymer/#:~:text=The%20mission%20of%20the%20Lincoln,provide%20business%20to%20the%20railroad.

• “Homestead Act” at https://www.history.com/topics/american-civil-war/homestead-act

• “Welcome to Burdett…,” Roadside Thoughts  at https://roadsidethoughts.com/co/burdett-xx-washington-profile.htm

• “Rock Creek News,” Washington County Leader, June 23, 1905, Colorado Historic Newspapers Collection at https://www.coloradohistoricnewspapers.org/?a=d&d=WCL19050623-01.2.43&srpos=52&e=——-en-20–41–img-txIN%7ctxCO%7ctxTA-burdett——-0——

• Untitled article, Akron Weekly Pioneer Press dated January 15, 1892, Colorado Historic Newspapers Collection at https://www.coloradohistoricnewspapers.org/?a=d&d=AWP18920115.2.7&srpos=23&e=——-en-20–21–img-txIN%7ctxCO%7ctxTA-lincoln+land+company+burdett——-0——