“Tom,” the author of this postcard, postmarked in Monon, CO, on September 18, 1909, is seen in working stripes, pipe in mouth and plow horses in hand. He is writing to his cousin, Bertie Milligan, in Aledo, Illinois. He writes, “What do you think of my team of ‘bronks.’”
Monon, CO, was not a town, but, rather, a “settlement post office” incorporated into the Johnston homestead, a ranch located in Baca County near the Kansas border. (Baca County literally contains the southeast corner of the State of Colorado, with Kansas to its east and Oklahoma to its south.) At a time when people were scattered over a wide expanse of land, the need for community was met in part by the establishment of such post offices at the headquarters of ranches. I don’t know why the name Monon was given to this post office, but there is a Monon, Indiana, so perhaps someone who came west from there had a hand in the naming of it.
The Johnston place was homesteaded in the 1880’s, most likely by Jonathan M. and Lucinda B. (Newberry) Johnston, both from Kentucky. Jonathan lived from 1850 to 1933 and Lucinda from 1856 to 1945. Lucinda was appointed postmaster of the Monon post office in 1901 and served in that capacity until its closure in 1918. A 1911 business directory listing Lucinda as the Monon postmaster also reports a population of 5. Perhaps “Tom” was one of them.
Jonathan and Lucinda, as well as Lucinda’s mother Louisa V (Eubank) Newberry (1812 – 1905), are buried at the Minneapolis cemetery, located about 8 miles due north of the Baca County town of Walsh, which sits on U.S. Highway 160. This cemetery may be the only standing remnant of the town of Minneapolis, which was established in the 1880’s and boasted a population of 500 or more. Here is a link to the cemetery: https://www.findagrave.com/cemetery/57432/minneapolis-cemetery
Birders may want to read Edward R. Warren’s report of “A Collecting Trip to Southeastern Colorado,” confined mainly to Baca County, which he made in April and May of 1905. Warren was a highly regarded contributor of his time in the study of Colorado fauna. While there, Warren was put up at the Johnston ranch for the better part of two weeks. During this trip he apparently collected mammals as well as birds. In any event, he identifies 84 species of birds he observed during that trip. His report appeared in the JAN – FEB 1906 issue of “The Condor,” a journal of the American Ornithological Society. To access it, go to www.jstor.org , and in the search box enter “A Collecting Trip to Southeastern Colorado by Warren.”
REFERENCES:
- 1920 Census ( www.ancestry.com )
- “Baca County Queries,” COGenWeb Project at http://cogenweb.com/baca/2001query.html
- Colorado Gravestones at https://coloradogravestones.org/
- Colorado Preservation, Inc., at http://coloradopreservation.org
- Find A Grave at https://www.findagrave.com
- Google Maps
- “Place Names of Baca County by Steve Doner” at http://bacacountyhistory.com/?p=557
- Shows-Eaves Family Tree (www.ancestry.com)
- U.S. Appointments of Postmasters, 1832 -1871 (www.ancestry.com
- USGenWeb Archives at http://files.usgwarchives.net/co/baca/history/directories/1911/1911-monon.txt
