Mary Peace Finley
Award-winning author of books for young people
© Mary Peace Finley 2012
Strange Serendipities (cont.)
incident. I knew I might want to interview him some day, but by the summer of 2009 when I
was ready to explore the idea of a book about Blackwell Station, Ted Applegate was gone. His
home and business had sold. No telephone number was listed. I was disappointed not to be able
to find him, but that July, I was giving book talks and signing books in southeastern Colorado and
decided to see what I could uncover on my own.
On a blazing hot day, I drove to the Big Timbers Museum in Lamar. The sign on the door read
"Open 12:00 noon." It was over 100 degrees. I was hot, thirsty and hungry. Ok, I thought, I'll wait
until high noon, but if no one shows up, that's it. I'll forget about this story.
At exactly 12:00 o'clock, a car pulled up and summer volunteer, Debbie Herrera opened the
museum. Debbie knew exactly what I was after. She brought stacks of bound archived
newspapers up from the basement and copied page after page. I was startled to see a photograph
of Ted Applegate in one of the newspapers. How could that be? Ted couldn't be that old!
Then I discovered a Ted Applegate I, Ted Applegate II, and Ted Applegate III. Our friend was the
Third. Now I regretted even more not having interviewed Ted when I had the chance, but it was
too late. He was gone, but perhaps with the archival materials and the two books I bought at Big
Timbers Museum, I would find enough information without his input.
