The processing of the Aultman Studio Collection at History Colorado is still underway! However, I had to pause this week, as I had a bit of a mystery on my hands. It all started with an Aultman Studio portrait that depicts a steely-eyed man wearing an embroidered buckskin coat. According to the Aultman Studio Register, this formidable looking man is none other than Christopher “Kit” Carson II, son of the famous frontiersman Kit Carson.

The National Register of Historic Places and Colorado State Register of Historic Properties is one tool that recognizes National Hispanic Heritage Month, celebrated from mid-September to mid-October.

The National Register of Historic Places and Colorado State Register of Historic Properties are  tools that recognize National American Indian Heritage Month and Veterans’ Day, both celebrated in November.

The National Register of Historic Places and Colorado State Register of Historic Properties are tools that recognize National Women’s History Month, celebrated in March.

The first automobile appeared in Louisville, Colorado in 1904. The year the first Denver resident bought a car is not known. But, the first trip by automobile from Morrison to the top of Mount Falcon, an elevation change of over 2,000 feet, took place in 1910.

Travel was integral to Estes Park photographer Fred Payne Clatworthy’s life and work. During the early 20th century, transit companies sponsored Clatworthy’s travel to locations near and far. Railroads like the Great Northern and Southern Pacific sent Clatworthy to shoot promotional images in Glacier National Park and the western coast of Mexico in the 1920s, while later in the decade Clatworthy ventured further afield when the Matson Navigation and Union Steamship Companies sent him to Hawaii, New Zealand and Tahiti. Many of these trips yielded his most well-known images: full color autochromes that appeared in National Geographic magazine between 1923 and 1934.

Sitting deep in southern Colorado, the former mining town of Starkville—like so many other mining communities—has seen its share of booms and busts. Although the town is far smaller than it was during its once-lively and industrious mining period, the people of Starkville see their past as something worth preserving. They recently formed a CLG—a Certified Local Government—to help them preserve the town’s remaining historic buildings.

Travel was integral to Estes Park photographer Fred Payne Clatworthy’s life and work. During the early 20th century, transit companies sponsored Clatworthy’s travel to locations near and far. Railroads like the Great Northern and Southern Pacific sent Clatworthy to shoot promotional images in Glacier National Park and the western coast of Mexico in the 1920s, while later in the decade Clatworthy ventured further afield when the Matson Navigation and Union Steamship Companies sent him to Hawaii, New Zealand and Tahiti. Many of these trips yielded his most well-known images: full color autochromes that appeared in National Geographic magazine between 1923 and 1934.

Albert Bierstadt’s magnificent landscapes, Frederic Remington’s exuberant bronzes, the Taos painters’ colorful scenes of the Southwest: you may know some of these legendary artworks, but what are the stories behind them?