Prairie ocean: Colorado’s eastern plains.
S.E. Keepers
Out on the homestead, about 1907. From left, S.E. Keepers, his sister Sadie Noble, his wife Laura Randall Keepers, and their children: Dolly, Dulcie, Vernon and Chub Keepers, and Verna and May Noble. The little dog is Nipper.
The cousins, also among the children shown at the early homestead: Dolly and Dulcie Keepers and Verna and May Noble. Verna Noble can be seen in a later photo with Mr. Keepers and his housekeeper, Mrs. Roberts.
The Breaks relieve the vast flatness of the Colorado eastern plains near Hugo.
More prosperous days on the Keepers homestead, 12 miles outside Hugo, Colorado.
The Keepers Homestead in Winter.
Grandpa Keepers and stud horse Farmer Boy Rex.
1907 postcard ad for Farmer Boy Rex, the Keepers’ stud. In Homesteading the Soul, see Chapter 9, “Rites of Spring: The Stud Business.”
Grandpa and the Mares.
Terry’s Dad, Steve, and the Mares.
Harness Horse and Young Boy.
Vernon.
Rural funeral, 1918. For Vernon, who was killed by lightning at age 18. Terry’s father, Steve, is the little boy, age 5.
After Vernon’s death in 1918, the family sold the farm and moved to town.
Distant trees on the prairie horizon.
Early Hugo, Colorado.
S.E. Keepers Shoe Store, Hugo, Colorado, November 1930.
The People’s Shoe Store. Grandpa ran this store after the family moved to town following Vernon’s death. You had to be careful around the machinery because the wheels and belts could take your arm off.
Dan Willson’s office in Hugo. Ads for Dan’s “New Saloon and Billiard Hall” touted “The choicest Wines, Liquors and Cigars,” wholesale and retail, along with “Beer always on draught.”
S.E. Keepers and his wife, Laura Randall Keepers
Mrs. Roberts (Grandpa’s housekeeper), Grandpa, and his niece Verna Noble Bowhan on the front porch of Grandpa’s house, which was built around a train car.
May Lieber, Aunt Ida Cutbirth, S.E. Keepers, and Laura Randall Keepers
Hugo, Colorado, about 1940.
The Tower, Genoa, Colorado.
Grandpa and Terry.
Terry, possibly planning his next interesting, off-limits exploration. His mother said she found him at age 2 (a little younger than he is here) on top of the filling station roof after the family stopped to get gas.
Grandpa and Terry, 1943.
Four generations: Baby Michael, Terry, Grandpa, and Steve.
S. E. Keepers: The Setting Sun.