Colorado's 12,000 year old Lindenmeier Site

          

 One of the most important archaeological sites in North America is right in our backyard! The Lindenmeier Site is located near Fort Collins, Colorado within the Soapstone Prairie Natural Area.

   The archeological site dates back 12,000 years to the Ice Age and was discovered with the help of a cowboy named George McJunkin.

       Although the Clovis people lived here previously, the Folsom culture is the most prominent at the site with findings of sewing needles, hide-scrapers, beads, and stone tools making the Lindenmeier site the most extensive Folsom culture site found to this day.

  

What were they thinking about as they sat around the first fire pit? Where they bragging about today's hunt, or wondering what the weather would be tomorrow. 

    The Folsom people were highly mobile hunter-gatherers who followed seasonal migration patterns across the Great Plains and American Southwest. They were given their name when archaeologists discovered their distinctive projectile points near Folsom, New Mexico, in the late 1920s.

 The Folsom Point is thin, finely crafted stone projectile has a distinct channel (flute) chipped out of the sides to help attach them to spears and atlatl darts.

                       

The atlatl is the weapon that filled the evolutionary gap between the spear and the bow and arrow. 

                                    My atlatl, thank you Tim H.
                                

    Discovered originally in 1908 by a former enslaved cowboy named George McJunkin, George tried numerous times to interest archaeologists, but with little success. 

     In 1918 he sent sample bones and a lance point to the Denver Museum of Natural History, who sent paleontologist Harold Cook during the following spring, and he and McJunkin did some exploratory digging. But a thorough excavation did not occur until 1926, sadly after McJunkin's death. The site would become known as the Lindenmeier site, named after William Lindenmeier, the landowner at the time.

                                   

    Finding the Folsom site, forever changed American archaeology by linking human tools directly to Ice Age megafauna.

     The City of Fort Collins owns the site today. The property is open for visits from March 1 until November 30 each year.

                           

    The site is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is designated a National Historic Landmark. Artifacts from the site can be found at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC, the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, and the Fort Collins Museum of Discovery and in private collections. 

Directions

Soapstone Prairie is 25 miles north of Fort Collins, allow about an hour travel time. From Fort Collins, take Hwy 1/ Terry Lake Road to County Road 15 north (towards Waverly). From CR 15, turn north onto Rawhide Flats Road and continue north to the entrance station.

From I-25, take exit 288 (Buckeye Road) west to County Road 15. Go north on CR 15 and turn north onto Rawhide Flats Road. Follow Rawhide Flats Rd to the entrance station. Soapstone Prairie is not accessible via I-25 exit 293 (CR 126/CR 5).

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Haunted Fallon House by Zina Abbott

 

Like many old towns that are not “ghost towns” because they are still in existence, Columbia State Park, a preserved California gold rush town in the western foothills of the Sierra-Nevada mountains has its share of ghosts. This post I am going to share a bit about the Fallon House and Fallon Theater.

Remaining since the days of the California Gold Rush, the Fallon Hotel was built by an Irish stone cutter in 1859. Original owner, Owen Fallon expanded the hotel in 1863 by purchasing an adjoining building and later the Gunn Saloon. These three buildings became Fallon’s Hotel and Fallon Theater.

The hotel was later owned by James Fallon. Fallon was born in Columbia. In addition to becoming a hotel owner, he was also a noted artist. Some of his works are on display at the nearby St. Anne's Catholic Church.

 

In the theater, which still offers live performances during the summer months, visitors and patrons still claim to experience ghostly manifestations. Although smoking is not allowed, guests can often smell the odor, along with that of whiskey. A female apparition is often seen in Room 9, and in the theater lights seemingly turn on and off of their own accord and shadow images are often spotted.

Rear of Fallon House Hotel & Theater

Visitors and guests often comment on a strong odor of smoke in different parts of the hotel, although California does not allow smoking in any of its public buildings. Many feel it is reminder that during the course of its history, the building has burned down twice. Also, its owner, Mr. Fallon was known for smoking cigars. Guests also detect the smell of whiskey even though the saloon was replaced by an ice cream parlor long ago (a must-see place to stop by for a wonderful treat, by the way). During the remodeling, a phantom youth was often seen climbing through a back window. When the construction crew rushed inside, there never was anyone around.  They came to the conclusion it was a youthful spirit searching for a sweet treat.

 

Guests in Room #13 are often startled by a young woman wearing a Victorian gown who disappears as quickly as she appears. She moves from room to room. Also, a little boy has been seen in Room #3 and the second-floor hallway. He likes to play and takes other children’s toys and hides them. In Rooms #1 and #6, guests have seen shadowy apparitions. Strange noises and cold spots in the halls and guest rooms have lead visiting paranormal experts to conclude the building is definitely haunted.

The original of most of this post was published on October 15, 2018 on the Prairie Roses Publications blog.  

Ardith Yosemite Bride take place in Yosemite Valley, which is not too many miles south of Columbia, California. It is available for sale as an ebook and at no additional cost with a Kindle Unlimited subscription. For the book description and purchase options, please CLICK HERE.

Same for Emily Yosemite Bride, although this story takes place decades after the busy days of Columbia. This romance is for sale as an ebook and available at no additional cost with a Kindle Unlimited subscription. For the book description and purchase options, please CLICK HERE.

 

 

Sources:

Williams, Nancy K.; Haunted Hotels of the California Gold Country

http://fabulousfoods.com/articles/21946/true-ghost-stories-of-tuolumne-county-california