Kiowa, Colorado

Episode 91 / 25 October 2018 / 138 min / full

A Progression Of Awful Things

"It's in the central part of the state, a little in the northeast; about an hour twenty to Denver and about an hour from Colorado Springs; this is in Elbert County." about 0:07:26

The case: Murder of Michelle Talbot (December 15-16, 1978); Murders of Suzanne and Mary Recker (Labor Day 1974). Read the case file.

The figures, as told in 2018

Population

148

Median age

39.2

Median home value

$415,600

Two-bedroom rent

about $1,640

Cost of living

148

Religious

15.3%

Property crime

▼ about 20% under the average

Violent crime

▼ about one third below the average

History, in brief

• Named for the Kiowa people, although the tribe lived far to the south of the town. about 0:09:50
• Settled in 1859. about 0:09:53
• Began as a stage stop on the banks of Kiowa Creek; the Butterfield Overland Dispatch and Wells Fargo stopped there on the way to Denver. about 0:10:05
• Originally named Wendling, after Henry Albert Wendling, who ran the stage station. about 0:10:15
• In the 1860s the name was changed to Middle Kiowa, between High Kiowa and Low Kiowa. about 0:10:35
• The Kiowa migrated south from western Montana into the Rockies and onto the southern plains; by 1867 they had been moved to a reservation in south-western Oklahoma. about 0:12:01
• Incorporated in 1912, when the 'Middle' was dropped and it became Kiowa. about 0:13:02
• The county seat of Elbert County. about 0:13:09
• In 1874 four horse thieves were caught about 15 miles up the creek and given a three-day trial; on the third night fifty masked men overpowered the sheriff and deputies, took the still-shackled men to a pine outcropping south-east of town and hanged them in pairs. about 0:13:33
• In the 1880s farmers and ranchers were split down the middle of town, with separate mercantiles, banks, blacksmiths and saloons on each side of the street. about 0:15:21
• Legend has it that a rancher shot at a farmer across the street, missed, hit a plough, and the ricochet killed a fellow rancher on his own side. about 0:16:09
• The town built a brick courthouse and held a bear barbecue. about 0:17:02
• Elbert County was named for Samuel Hitt Elbert, governor of the territory of Colorado when it was formed. about 0:17:43
• The county was reduced in size in 1889. about 0:17:54
• On 31 May 1935 the worst flood in the area's history washed away part of the town: water half a mile wide, 12 to 15 feet high and moving at the speed of a fast horse; four people died, homes and businesses were destroyed and livestock was swept downstream. about 0:17:58

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