Barb Keenan

Portraits of the Past Barb Keenan

Portraits of the Past offers a collection of local history stories originally published in the Fort Morgan Times between 2014 and 2019. Researched and written by a small group calling themselves "The Community History Writers", these stories detail the lives and events of people living in, and beyond, Morgan County on the eastern plains of Colorado, from the late 1880's up to the present day. Although Fort Morgan's founders envisioned an up-standing community made up of families who were hard-working, religious, and law-abiding, the people who settled there didn't always live up to these high expectations. So the town and its surrounding areas had its share of "mischief and mayhem", including bank robberies, stills, illegal slot machines, and grisly murders. Shiver as you read tales of local hauntings and the "Legend of Rock Creek". Meet the immigrants who moved to the area and the industries they work for and how these businesses have developed over time. Learn what a day in a one-room schoolhouse was like and how Christmas was celebrated by different cultures. Relive the hardships endured during times of drought, fierce blizzards, and the miseries of the Spanish flu. Celebrate victories such as the stories of how a small group of people took on the Federal government and won and how the local DAR organization supported a French orphan during World War I. Stare into the unwavering eyes of the Portraits of the Past and find your common humanity in the stories they recount.