Letter from Neal Cassady to Justin Brierly, 1944

October 23, 1944
Colorado State Reformatory
Buena Vista, Colo.

Dear Justin;

At the corner of 15th & Platte streets there’s a cafe called Paul’s Place, where my brother Jack used to be bartender before he joined the army, because of this I frequented the place occasionally & consequently have a small bill run up, I believe I owe them about 3 or 4 dollars. If you happen to be in that vicinity please drop in & pay it, will you?
I see Phillip Wylie has written another book, “Night Unto Night” supposedly as good as “Generation of Vipers”. Peter Arno also has a new collection of cartoons out, “Man in a shower” its called.
They have the Harvard Classics up here, the five foot shelf of books, I’ve read about 2 feet of it, very nice, I especially enjoy Voltaire & Bacon (Francis).
The football season up here has been a flop. We started out with grand plans; the guards told us if we looked good enough we would go to Salida to play & perhaps one or two other games on the out, but no go. However, I understand the basketball team may get to play some local highschools.
Since the days are getting shorter, because of winter’s approach, we get up at 5 o’clock now, instead of 4 as we had been; banker’s hours, huh?
I’ve been here 2 months today (the 23rd), how time does fly.
Please excuse the penmanship, as I can only see out of one eye; this morning I took the cows out to pasture, but on the way they ran out of the road into the corn field. The jackass I was riding couldn’t run fast enough to head them, so I jumped off & started to tie him to a barbed wire fence so I could chase the cows on foot. Just as I had tied the reins to the wire he jerked so hard it pulled a staple out of the fence post and into my left eye. It gorged a chunk out of my eyeball, but luckily failed to hit the cornea. I may lost that eye.
NEAL L. CASSADY

Neal Cassady and Jack Kerouac

B50 Note:
Allen Ginsburg wrote in his poem Howl of “N.C., secret hero of these poems”. The poem goes on to speak of those:

who journeyed to Denver, who died in Denver, who came back to Denver & waited in vain, who watched over Denver & brooded & loned in Denver and finally went away to find out the Time, & now Denver is lonesome for her heroes,

Neal Cassady’s earliest surviving letters were written to his benefactor, Justin Brierly, while Neal was incarcerated in the Colorado State Reformatory at the age of 18. In the letter of October 23, 1944 he speaks of “Paul’s Place” at the corner of 15th and Platte Streets in Denver. Paul’s Place is now “My Brother’s Bar”. Neal Cassady was the inspiration for the character of Dean Moriarty in Jack Kerouac’s “On The Road”. He went on to feature in the lives of Allen Ginsberg, Ken Kesey, Tom Wolfe, and Hunter S. Thompson.

A video of Neal Cassady’s Denver Years is now in production. Find out more on kickstarter.

She included some family photographs:
• Rusty, her dad’s dog, in front of the house, in the early 1930s
• A wedding picture of Henry and Mary Roth
• Henry Roth the granddad
• Mary Roth and Henry’s sister Mabel
• Henry and his granddaughter Dianne
• Three generations of Roths: Henry, Dianne, and Milton
• Milton Roth in the bathroom, which doesn’t look that much different from today.

It’s nice to get to know the builder and paterfamilias, through his family. We expect to see more of the family this summer or next, for a planned reunion.

The Roth Family in the 1930's

Henry and Mary Roth Wedding Photo, 1908

Henry Roth in the Denver Post during the 1930's

B50 note: Henry Roth built the bungalow style houses in the Baker Neighborhood by hand in the 1920′s and 1930′s. The house is on the national historic register. M Thornton added this as a postscript to his original post, The Henry Roth Houses on Fox Street.

My long time performance partner Ray Schelgunov moved away a few years ago (we were the Two Significant Guys), so I decided to make a little film about loneliness, temporality, and the ever changing urban landscape. The video was shot at the corner of 12th and Broadway in Denver on August 15th, 2010 at 8 o’clock in the morning with three cameras and some special effects.

You can watch a previous video from this series entitled “Feed The Kids”

-Hugh Graham

Brown Palace Dinner Menu, November 19, 1904

B50 Note: Brian Shearer is a designer, cartoonist, and creator of Mr. Skully. As Brian mentions, the Denver Public Library has some great information on the areas cemeteries available online. Brian can be reached via email.

Frontier Trial, by Allen Tupper True. Photo credit: Marcia Ward, Imagemaker; courtesy of Victoria Tupper Kirby

As early as the 1920s, there were plans to have Denver muralist Allen Tupper True decorate the courts in the City and County Building in Denver. Five judges of the District Court signed an affidavit dated September 14, 1920, that approved the services of True to “assume charge of and furnish the appropriate decorations for the new Criminal Court Building, including the two court rooms therein contained.”

In 1931, there is a record of his proposal for six murals there for which he was to be paid $15,000. There was controversy about the number of murals and payment, which seems to have slowed up the project.

According to the April 9, 1949, edition of the Rocky Mountain News, the judges of the district were again to consider a request, this time by “of a group of civic leaders” for True to paint murals in offices of the court clerks.

In the April 13, 1949, issue of the Denver Post, Richard Dudman reported, “An intramural controversy was brewing Wednesday in the Denver city hall. Quick reaction came from three sources to the awarding of $6,000 commission Tuesday to Allen T. True, Denver artist, to paint two murals in the offices of the clerks of the Denver district and county clerks.” The article reported that one judge wanted to approve the mural before it was installed. The chairman of the Denver art commission said his commission must approve them and an artist complained that there was no open competition. Dudman speculated that a “taxpayer’s suit” might arise.

In an article in the Rocky Mountain Herald dated April 23, 1949, Colorado’s Poet Laureate Thomas Ferril wrote, “I think it is shameful, this petty little rumpus somebody has churned up as to whether Allen True should paint courtroom murals in the City and County building. Denver has a genius for cultural cat-and-dog fights. Allen True is a distinguished American artist. It’s all wrong.”

An agreement finally was signed June 10, 1949, “by and between the District Judges sitting in and for the Second Judicial District of the State of Colorado, parties to the first part, and ALLEN TRUE, of the City and County of Denver, Colorado . . . to paint a mural decoration [Miner’s Court and Frontier Trial] approximately eight feet four inches by twelve feet” in the rooms occupied by the Clerk of the District Court and the Clerk of the County Court “for a total sum of $6,000.” The contact mentioned that the two sketches had been approved by the mayor, the Municipal Art Commission, and the Honorable C.E. Kettering, judge of the County Court of Denver.

Oh, how slowly the gears of government grind.

True began work on the two murals at his Raleigh Street studio in Denver.

After the contract was signed and the bickering at an end, the following article appeared in the Denver Post: “Workmen will begin Monday to prepare the walls in the offices of the clerks of the District and County Courts to receive murals painted by Allen T. True, Denver artist. Mr. True was commissioned to paint a mural for the District Court and another for the County Court of scenes depicting early Colorado justice.

The first will be hung in County Court. It is a mural of the old circuit rider, a frontier judge who rode on horseback dispensing justice in various towns in the circuit. The County Court mural will show the circuit rider holding court in a barn. The one which will hang in the District Court is called Miner’s Court and [will] show court being held beside a sluice box. . . . Mr. True will receive $6,000 for his work.”

Commenting on these murals, Lee Casey, a columnist for the Rocky Mountain News, wrote on July 7, 1950, “These murals, as Mr. True paints them, will add dignity to our courts, and everyone knows that some of our courts need just that addition. They also will remind us of the early days of our jurisprudence, when weighty determinations were declared beneath the light of a coal oil lamp. . . . We need to respect our courts, if we are able to do so, and, before we respect, we must understand them. Mr. True’s murals will help towards achieving those ends. The two murals each measured eight by twelve feet.”

Miners Court, by Allen Tupper True. Photo credit: Marcia Ward, Imagemaker; courtesy of Victoria Tupper Kirby

B50 Note: Victoria Tupper Kirby is the granddaughter of Allen Tupper True and co-author with her mother and True’s daughter Jere True of the biography Allen Tupper True: An American Artist (available at Tattered Cover bookstores and on Amazon.com).

Colorado Artist Allen Tupper True (1881-1955) was a prolific painter, muralist, and illustrator whose work graces many buildings and monuments nationwide, including the state capitols of Colorado, Missouri, and Wyoming, as well as murals for the Civic Center and the Mountain States Telephone and Telegraph Company Building in Denver. Other True murals can be seen in the Brown Palace Hotel, Denver Civic Center Park, and the Colorado National Bank. He also designed the decoration and color schemes for the Boulder Dam power plant, Grand Coulee Dam, and the Shasta Dam, among others. His work is currently the subject of a wide ranging retrospective, Allen True’s West, presented by the Denver Art Museum, the Colorado Historical Society, and the Denver Public Library.

B50 Note: After 60 years of cutting hair at the same location on Colfax, Walt Young hangs up his scissors on September 30th, 2009. You can read more about Walt at 9news and the Denver Post. Walt Young’s digital story was produced by Daniel Weinshenker and the Center for Digital Storytelling in conjunction with the “Imagine A Great City” exhibit at the Colorado Historical Society. More stories from the series are available at the Mile High Stories website.

A Brochure from Eddie Bohn's Pig N Whistle (courtesy of Kim Allen)

When Colfax Avenue was “Colorado’s Main Street,” a miles-long constellation aglitter with motels, restaurants and gas stations, Eddie Bohn’s Pig ‘N Whistle was its brightest star. Bohn was dubbed the King of West Colfax, and from his throne at “The Pig,” as regulars affectionately knew his motel and restaurant, he presided over an empire the likes of which North Denver will never see again. Visitors included Jack Dempsey, Roy Rogers, Babe Zaharias, Jimmy and Tommy Dorsey and Wally Schirra, to name but a few. For 65 years the Pig ‘N Whistle and its larger-than-life proprietor reigned on West Colfax, and North Denver basked in their reflected glory.

Earl W. “Eddie” Bohn, born in 1902, was the son of German immigrants who owned the J.J. Bohn Brush Company at Colfax and Wolff where they made corn husk brooms for industrial use. Eddie attended Sacred Heart School and early in life showed a head for business. As a youngster he launched the Rocky Mountain Skunk Company, with business cards promising, “There’s more profit in one skunk than there is in a dairy cow, with less work.” He persuaded his father to buy land at Colfax and Wolff. “I was 14 at the time and planning a boxing career and told him that when I got older, I’d buy back the land and build a car agency,” he told the Lakewood Sentinel in 1982.

“I never went very far in school and I didn’t learn very much when I was there, but I sure learned a hell of a lot on the way there and back,” he once said of his early interest in boxing. When he was 18 the six-foot, four-inch Bohn headed to California on a motorcycle to seek his fortune. He soon took up boxing and fought 64 professional matches, winning all but two bouts, which he tied. He was crowned Rocky Mountain Heavyweight Champion in 1924. He hired on as Jack Dempsey’s sparring partner, earning $100 for each round with the Manassa Mauler. “Each round he would tell you that he was going to throw one good punch, but he never told you when it was coming,” Bohn recalled. He and Dempsey became lifelong friends. “He was a helluva guy,” said Bohn.

With sparring proceeds for a grubstake, Eddie bought the four lots on Colfax from his father and in 1924 opened a gas station and barbecue joint there. He’d been impressed by a chain of West Coast restaurants named the Pig ‘N Whistle and adopted the uncopyrighted name for his own business. His timing was perfect. The Federal Aid Road Act of 1916 and the Federal Highway Act of 1921 called for creation of “an adequate and connected system of highways, interstate in character” and the nation embarked upon an era of highway construction. U.S. Highway 40, which transited Denver along Colfax and passed right by Bohn’s front door, was born of that legislation.

U.S. auto registrations tripled in 1920s as auto-oriented businesses blossomed. The Motel Inn, which opened in San Luis Obispo, California, in 1925, is generally considered the ancestor of today’s motels. Enterprises such as the Alamo Plaza Hotel Court chain in the South, began appearing in the 1930s. With money lent by his friend, U.S. District Attorney Tom Morrissey, Bohn built four motel units to make the Pig ‘N Whistle Denver’s second motel. The business drew nourishment from increasing traffic on Colfax and also attracted Denverites to its restaurant and bar.

Bohn loved people. “Eddie was one in a million,” chuckles Mike Scherer, longtime friend of the Bohn family. “He was a real character. A self made man. Just a people person.” Bob Slattery, another of Bohn’s lifelong friends, adds, “He knew everybody and everybody knew Eddie. He was very genial.” From his perch at the end of the counter, he greeted everyone who entered. “He’d come and join you and if you were settin’ there and had French fries, he’d probably eat half of ‘em. Then he’d order more for you,” laughs Slattery. “He was tougher than a three-dollar steak,” jokes Scherer. “Very outspoken. He had an opinion on everything. If you didn’t agree with it, he didn’t care. But he was very loyal to his friends.” Beneath that crusty veneer Bohn had a soft heart, says Slattery. “He was very charitable, and his wife was very charitable, too. He’d gripe about her giving food away to somebody but if she didn’t do it he would do it himself. They were wonderful people.” Eddie’s wife Janet, “was there full time right alongside my dad,” says their son Eddie “Punch” Bohn. “When you run a restaurant you have to do everything and she was the bookkeeper, bartender, cook and waitress.”

Bohn loved hunting and fishing and his favorite television show was “Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom.” “If that was on, Bohn would turn the channel to ‘Wild Kingdom,’” recalls Scherer. “Everybody knew not to say anything. If the people at the bar wanted to watch something else, he’d tell ‘em to go to somebody else’s bar.” The atmosphere was another attraction. “He had a sports bar before anybody ever heard of one,” says Scherer. “The walls were covered with photographs of people that you’d recognize. A lot of boxers. Another thing that he was known for, he had one of the best barbecues in town. His ribs were the best.”

The Pig was a mecca for pugilists. “Anybody that was in the boxing business, when they’d come through Colorado they’d be there,” says Scherer. Bohn dubbed Room 39 the “Jack Dempsey Room” to honor his friend and frequent guest. Other famous boxers who stayed there were Max and Buddy Baer, Primo Carnera, Gene Fullmer, Carmen Basilio and Gene Tunney.

The Pig attracted other big names. Before becoming manager of the New York Yankees, Billy Martin managed the Denver Bears and lived at the Pig ‘N Whistle during baseball season. After joining the big leagues, he often returned at season’s end to wind down for a week. Scherer, to whom Bohn introduced Dempsey and Basilio, also met Martin there. “When one of my kids was about 10 years old we went over there on a Saturday morning to get some breakfast and Eddie said, ‘Come on back and sit down. Billy’s here.’ It was Billy Martin. You could go in there and see somebody like a very prominent state judge or a politician. A couple of booths away would be a bunch of baseball players. Next to them might be a bunch of ranchers. That’s what made the place so interesting, people came from so many different walks of life. You never knew who you were gonna’ see.”

While in town to play at Elitch’s Trocadero or Lakeside’s El Patio ballrooms, big bands like the Vic Jurgens and Eddie Howard groups stayed at the motel. Jimmy and Tommy Dorsey once honored its owner with “Eddie Bohn Night” at the Trocadero.

The restaurant was also a favorite haunt of area notables. Governors “Big Ed” Johnson, Steve McNichols and his mayoral brother Bill were familiar faces at the Pig. Fred Dickerson, Tom Morrissey, Tony Zarlengo and Mike Pomponio, heavyweight North Denver Democrats, were regulars. Chet Nelson, sports editor of the Rocky Mountain News, and his wife Sammy were close friends of the Bohns and could often be found at the restaurant. Bob Palmer, long time news anchor at Channel 7, ate there frequently.

Although many guests belonged in Who’s Who, Bohn welcomed everyone on equal footing. “It didn’t make any difference whether a guy was the governor or a plumber. Everybody was the same to him when he came through that door,” says Scherer. His handshake was memorable. “He had such enormous hands he would just engulf your hand inside his. It felt like you had a bear wrapped around you.”

Bohn was active in many professional groups promoting travel-related business and Northsiders elected him to the state legislature in the late 1930s. It was his tenure on the Colorado Athletic Commission, however, that was his most famous public service. Appointed and reappointed by 15 Democratic and Republican governors, he served from 1934 until 1977 and was chairman for two decades of the body that regulated Colorado boxing and wrestling. “Being an ex-boxer, he watched out for the boxers,” recalls Slattery. “He wanted to be sure that everything was on the up-and-up. He wouldn’t allow things like they did in Las Vegas.”

Highway changes in the 1950s and ‘60s sent West Colfax into decline. The aging Colfax Viaduct was closed, severing the artery that delivered downtown diners and cross-town travelers. Colfax businessmen lost a battle with the Colorado Department of Transportation over what Punch Bohn calls “confusion junction,” the intersection that bends Colfax-bound traffic onto 6th Avenue Freeway. Interstates -25 and -70 were built without exits for West Colfax, choking traffic flow even further. A colorful chapter in North Denver history ended when the Pig ‘N Whistle closed in 1991, the year after The King of West Colfax passed away.

Article reprinted with permission of the North Denver Tribune.

Father Joseph Hirsch (1944-2009) attending to a gravesite in the Orthodox section at Riverside (photo from the Denver Post)

It was with great sadness that we received the news of the death of Father Joseph Hirsch, who was the Dean of the Holy Transfiguration of Christ Cathedral in Globeville for the past 25 years. Father Joe was a fixture at Riverside, whether conducting a service or tending to the graves in orthodox section of the cemetery.

Father Joe, along with his wife Paulette, has long been a tireless advocate for Riverside, for the congregation, and for the Globeville community.

Both Father Joe and Paulette have supported the efforts of the Friends of Historic Riverside through their advise, their membership in our organization, and by allowing our group to use the community hall at the church for our annual meetings.

Among his other accomplishments, Father Joe was the driving force behind the Orthodox Food Festival and Old Globeville Days, held in Argo Park just across from the church, an event that uses the best food at any festival in Colorado to bring visitors to their neighborhood.

Father Joe was also a regular at community planning meetings, and could be counted on to advocate for a neighborhood that has been too often overlooked in the planning process. Though he was a fierce fighter for causes he believed in, he engaged each person with a unique combination of humanity and kindness.

Our deepest condolences go out to Paulette, the Hirsch family, their friends and the congregation of the Holy Transfiguration Cathedral.

More information on Father Hirsch and his family can be found on the cathedral website, www.transfigcathedral.org

— by Hugh Graham, originally posted on the Friends of Historic Riverside Cemetery website.

Rainbow Music Hall Gala Opening Tonight, January 26th, 1979

The Rainbow Music Hall Gala Opening, January 26, 1979

Jerry Jeff Walker at the Rainbow, 1979

B50 Note: Thanks to Kim Allen for providing the opening night program.