It turns out that Yuma County and the entire region played a fascinating role in the colonization of the Old West in the 19th century.
“The craziest part, which is almost ironic, is that we didn’t learn about this stuff in school,” said Matt Vincent. “The truth is, a lot of this stuff happened right here.”
Born in Yuma, who lives on a farm near Hyde between Yuma and Otis with his wife Robin, has published a series of fascinating short stories entitled “Wild Times and True Tales from the Plateau”, which focus on northeast Colorado and the adjacent areas concentrate in Kansas and Nebraska.
Perhaps one day it could be included in the curriculum in local schools.
The short stories cover battles and other key moments in the settlement of the Old West, signaling the end of the nomadic Indian tribes that had traversed this region for centuries, and much more.
“The crazy part is that Custer chased Roman Nose (who died in the Battle of Beecher Island, also covered in the book) from western Kansas to northeast Colorado, which I never knew,” said Vincent.
Have you ever wondered why everything is in perfect places here and why the cities seem equidistant from each other? Well, Vincent explains it in one section and kind of makes the surveying interesting.
Matt Vincent has written a fascinating compilation of short stories that bring the history of the area to life. (Courtesy photo)
It also has sections about some of the interesting people who lived in these areas in the early days: “There were some bad people here.”
Vincent’s book also tells the story of a tragic wheat fire near Yuma in the last century.
“Overall, it was a love job,” he said.
Matt, the son of Jim and Millie Vincent, grew up reading about the Cheyenne and Arapahoe tribes and others from his father’s personal library as Jim passed on his love of history. He graduated from Yuma High School and graduated from the University of Colorado School of Journalism in 1980. He began writing for a suburban weekly newspaper in the Denver metropolitan area. In 1983 he was named one of Colorado’s best feature writers by the Colorado Press Association.
He became an accomplished outdoor writer for the Houston Post and a variety of outdoor hunting and fishing publications. In 1999 he was named the best outdoor communicator in the country by the American Sportsfishing Association while running the BASS Times, a sister publication of Bassmaster Magazine.
After retiring and returning to Yuma, he became involved in photography and historical writing. While serving on the Yuma Museum Board of Directors, his historical pieces about the Yuma area appeared frequently in The Yuma Pioneer.
He said he started working on Wild Times & True Tales in March 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic hit the US. He said he found it interesting that last week he got his first dose of the COVID vaccine the same day he came to Longmont to collect copies of the book from Steuben Press.
In between there were months of research. It included over a week in Washington, DC at the National Archives and the US Library of Congress. Vincent said he was there every day from opening to closing.
“I was blown away by some of the things you had access to,” he said. “It’s amazing what Washington DC is about our area.”
The book is almost entirely a local effort. Most of the illustrations are by Brigitte Shafer, who lives with her family on the farm between Otis and Akron in Washington County.
Vincent said he stumbled upon Shafer’s work on Facebook by chance. Impressed by her work, he asked her to do the drawings.
“I just went ‘holy cow this lady is great'” said Vincent. “We only met in person for the first time last week.”
Shafer’s work was never published and never shown publicly.
That is about to change, however, as she will be the featured artist at the Yuma Orphanage in May. Vincent will also sign a book on the opening day.
George Custer – from the infamous “Custer’s Last Stand” in South Dakota – plays a key role in some of the short stories in “Wild Times & True Tales”.
Custer is the main character in Vincent’s next book. He said he had already written 240,000 words and was not finished yet.
“It’s going to be a lot bigger than this,” said Vincent.
It turns out that Custer has a long history in northeast Colorado and the surrounding region. Despite his lifelong love of local history, Vincent said he had no idea about Custer’s adventures in the area.
At least not until one day he got a call from Jim Brophy. The lifelong resident of the Yuma area, who passed away last year, said he wanted to learn more about the Custer Trail.
It turned out that Brophy had found a saber from the Seventh Calvary on one of his pastures north of Eckley. There was an identification number on the handle, and Vincent was able to confirm from records in the National Archives that it was the seventh Calvary.
A lot more can be learned about the Custer Trail through Yuma County and northeast Colorado in Vincent’s next book.
For now, sit back and enjoy the fun collection of short stories Vincent put together for Wild Times & True Tales From The High Plains.
How do I get the book?
There is currently a copy of Wild Times & True Tales in the Yuma Public Library, although Vincent said he could deliver more if demand so requires.
You can also just purchase your own copy for $ 14.95 plus $ 5 shipping. Send a check or cash to Plainview Publishing, PO Box 14, Yuma, CO 80759.
Comments are closed.