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25-50-100 years ago

Compiled by Janet Urquhart
Aspen Times Weekly
Aspen, CO Colorado

Missing sheep made news in Aspen during the last week of September 1911. The end of the story: Young men were found slaughtering the missing animals in Tourtelotte Park on Aspen Mountain. The Aspen Democrat-Times reported:

A short time ago, Frank Marolt purchased thirty sheep from the Wagner flock that was passing through the county.

For want of a better place, Marolt turned them into a corral in the rear of his place of business on Cooper Avenue.



The bunch of woolgrowers attracted the attention of the people of the east end of town and created an abnormal appetite for mutton among a certain class in the neighborhood.

A few nights ago, the sheep escaped from the corral and mysteriously disappeared. It was supposed the gate had been left open by some children.




Marolt and his friends hunted high and low for the lost sheep but no sheep could they find.

Finally, a private “sleuth” was employed to find out what became of the sheep. Yesterday, the quest led the sleuth into Tourtelotte Park.

• • • •

Hunting expeditions were on the minds of Aspenites a century ago. The Aspen Democrat-Times reported:

Tomorrow morning, Mate Bradley and Norman Ashlock, of the Forestry service, and two famous old scouts and trappers and woodsmen, accompanied by Alderman Frank Bruin, Joe Bradley and “Billy” Morgan, will leave bright and early for the Big Woody on a week’s hunt for deer, bear, wild cat, or any old thing that might come along.

While out, the forestry officials will open a trail to Chapman Lake. This trail will be a great convenience not only to the forestry people but to hunters and fishermen.

The boys are going out for a good time and we believe they will get it. Don’t you?

Members of the Kennedy family were vacationing in Aspen during the final week of September, 50 years ago. The visit was worthy of a front-page report in The Aspen Times. The newspaper reported:

Attorney-General Robert F. Kennedy and his wife arrived in Aspen Wednesday afternoon in a rented convertible for a week-long vacation.

The Kennedys are staying at the Aspen Meadows and are planning to take a pack trip to the high country during their stay. Yesterday, they drove up Independence Pass with Mr. and Mrs. Robert Craig for an afternoon of skiing. Though neither had skied in some time, both were adjudged very proficient on the slopes by an Aspen Times photographer.

The Kennedys came to Aspen from Denver, where the attorney-general met with U.S. attorneys from Colorado, Wyoming, New Mexico and Utah and federal law enforcement agency heads in Denver. On leaving Aspen, he will continue his tour of federal offices in the West and Mrs. Kennedy will return to Aspen.

Twenty-five years ago, as always, the announcement of ski pass prices for the coming season made news. The Aspen Times reported:

It was as big a secret as the season opener of Dallas, as shrouded in mystery as negotiations in the Daniloff case.

But the Aspen Skiing Company this week finally announced that the price of this year’s season pass would cost the same as it did last year.

Mountain Passports, $550 for Aspen Resort Association and Snowmass Resort Association member businesses and their employees, and $650 for non-members, will go on sale Wednesday, Nov. 5, “at a location to determined,” said the Skico.

ARA/SRA members will be eligible for a $120 rebate at the end of the season.

The Skico will also offer a special 20-use pass for Buttermilk “geared for those individuals that live downvalley,” said ASC President Jerry Blann.

The pass will cost $200, or $10 per visit. It is hoped that this economical ticket will boost business at Buttermilk, which recorded a 17 percent decline last season.

• • • •

Aspen Community School students conducted an unusual experiment 25 years ago, dropping eggs in various container designs to the ground from a chopper. The Aspen Times reported:

Last Thursday, Aspen Community School students rallied on the grounds surrounding the Woody Creek school to participate in an organized pep rally.

But the cheers were not directed toward a football team or a homecoming procession. Rather, the students banded together to pay homage to the Historical Helicopter Egg Drop.

Four-person teams of students packed raw eggs into small containers to be dropped from the whirlibird at an altitude of about 300 feet. Test drops out of the school’s tower, so students could perfect their designs, were held earlier in the week.

The egg drop was “a catalyst for some very exciting learning,” said teacher and organizer of the event Chris Faison, adding that the drop could transcend through many subjects, eggspecially in math and physics.

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