Jacks Old Photos of Colorado

Calhan, in El Paso County, is located approximately 35 miles east/northeast of Colorado Springs on Highway 24. It was established in 1888 as a water station for the now-defunct Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad and was named for Michael Calahan, who was contracted to lay the railroad tracks from the Colorado/Kansas border to Colorado Springs. When the town’s post office opened in 1888, the middle “a” of Calahan was dropped, and the town was registered as Calhan.

As you can see by the picture, Calhan is clearly a prairie town. Sitting at 6,508 feet above sea level, it claims the distinction of being the highest incorporated non-mountain town in the country. Note the windmills. I wonder if the town’s citizens back then were responsible for obtaining their own water.

Going from left to right, note the Calhan News, Hotel Calhan and Russell Gates Mercantile Company business establishments. Russell Gates was a New York native with a successful nursery business who moved out to Colorado Springs when his health began to fail. He became a successful sheep rancher, but itchy feet impelled him to move himself and his family to Denver in 1888, where he bought a controlling interest in the Summit Grain and Feed Company. While working there, he saw the possibilities for a mercantile business along the new railroad lines. He went on to open establish stores, not only in Calhan, but in Peyton, Limon, Elizabeth, Kiowa, Elbert and other locations. He was considered one of the originators of the chain store idea and was quite successful at it.

Mercantiles, also known as general stores, were the main stores for small communities and thus carried a wide range of products. Products could include groceries, clothing, and hardware. In the case of Gates’ Calhan store, this even included the sale of “a bunch of cattle.” In 1902, his Mercantile Company constructed a telephone line from Eastonville (a defunct town now a part of Colorado Springs) to Monument (approximately twenty miles north of Colorado Springs).

Ida Jehle of Junction City, Kansas, mailed this photo postcard, postmarked August 23, 1910, to her parents, also of Junction City. Born in 1871, Ida was the daughter of Mary (Bader) and Frank Jehle, both of whom were born in Germany. Frank was the Junction City’s shoemaker for many years, having arrived there in the early years of the Civil War. He and Mary were married in Geary County, Kansas, in 1865. Frank was a much-loved member of the community, as evidenced by the community fund-raising dance held for him on April 14, 1879, because his poor health had prevented him from working for some time. The Junction City Tribune, in announcing the event, described it as “a ball—a general hop, with fun and refreshments…for the benefit of Frank Jehle. It is a good plan. Frank is an honest, worthy man, and there should be a general turnout, of all the liberal people who enjoy amusement and good cheer.”

Ida distinguished herself by going into farming. She and fellow Junction City resident Elizabeth “Tottie” Thompson each owned a half section of land near Yoder, Colorado, which is about 18 miles south and east of Calhan. In the years from approximately 1910 to 1918 they would travel from Junction City to Yoder in the spring to plant that year’s crops. They would remain there until their return to Junction City after harvest in late summer or fall. On the postcard featured here, Ida writes to her folks: “Dear mother and father, My corn is pretty good but I did not get out of it as much as I (had) hope(d) for. I will come home the last of the week. With love, Ida.”

Ida lived out her life in Junction City and died in 1964, at the age of 92 or 93. She and her parents are buried at Junction City’s Saint Mary’s Cemetery.

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