Mary Peace Finley
Award-winning author of books for young people
© Mary Peace Finley 2012
Strange Serendipities: A Converging Timeline of the Story Behind the Story.
by Mary Peace Finley
Twelve years ago I joined a tour of Southeastern Colorado offered by Colorado College in
Colorado Springs. The trip, narrated by Professor of History Doug Monroy, sparkled with details of
bank robberies, cowboy movies stars, abandoned forts, a massacre, and one story that made me
laugh out loud. It was the true account of a railroad station that was stolen at midnight and moved
by train to a new location which overnight became the new town of Lamar, Colorado. With such a
funny situation I immediately wondered if I might write it as a story for kids.
Forty-four years earlier, in 1954, Wally Finley, the man who I would later marry, was drafted into
the Army during the Korean Conflict. He lived in southeastern Colorado and took the train from
Lamar, Colorado to Fort Riley, Kansas, for basic training. Another young man from Lamar boarded
with him, also reporting for duty. His name was Ted Applegate.
In 2008, fifty-four years after basic training, Wally and I were enjoying a soak in the Glenwood
Springs, Colorado Hot Springs Pool when he and Ted Applegate recognized each other. What a
surprise! As we talked, the conversation turned to southeastern Colorado, where all three of us
were raised, and Ted asked, "Did you ever hear the story about Blackwell Station?"
My ears perked up, and perked up even more when Ted said he'd kept a file about the whole
