Letters - Hazel (McGee) Bowman
per Hal Bowman, nephew of Alpha and Hazel:
Alpha Bowman and his wife Hazel homesteaded near McClave, Colorado sometime between 1910 and 1915.
They were from Odon, Indiana, in the south central part of the state. Uncle Alf was well suited to the task. His family farmed near Odon. His three brothers (including my father Starlin) were all excellent horsemen. Uncle Alf spent a summer as cowboy in Arizona shortly after the turn of the century. He returned to Indiana on a train that was stopped and robbed in Kansas on the way home. News of the big event reached Odon ahead of his return. His future wife Hazel McGee was at the station when he arrived. She remembered, "I've never seen anyone look so handsome." After they were married he packed her off for their big adventure homesteading in Colorado.
Aunt Hazel was a romantic and much less suited to homesteading than her husband. They proved up the claim and got title to the land. Their first child, Joyce, was born there in January of 1914. But the project failed. A promised irrigation ditch that was to serve the property was delayed and they returned to Indiana sometime prior to the birth of their second child, Rex, in August of 1915. I believe they sold the property in the 1920's, but county records should have the accurate dates.
My Aunt Hazel had a flare for the arts. She won state-wide poetry contests in Indiana, painted in oil and was a frequent contributor to the Indianapolis Star newspaper. She had bittersweet memories of McClave, but loved to reminisce about her homestead days.
Two letters from McClave, Colorado are included here. She sent them to the hometown newspaper, The Odon Journal.
letter #1 - 28 Jul 1911 (see below)
letter #2 - 27 Oct 1922
