Keep This Under Your Hat

"It was a most forlorn and desolate-looking metropolis," Albert D. Richardson wrote in Beyond the Mississippi: From the Great River to the Great Ocean, of his trip to Denver in 1859. "If my memory is faithful, there were five women in the whole gold region; and the appearance of a...

By Patricia Calhoun

June 30, 2008

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"It was a most forlorn and desolate-looking metropolis," Albert D. Richardson wrote in Beyond the Mississippi: From the Great River to the Great Ocean, of his trip to Denver in 1859. "If my memory is faithful, there were five women in the whole gold region; and the appearance of a bonnet in the street was the signal for the entire population to rush to the cabin doors and gaze upon its wearer as at any natural curiosity."

Not that there was anything natural about the polyester, Sun Bonnet Sue-style bonnet I managed to find for today's taping of a special Channel 12 show that moves the cast of Colorado Inside Out back to the Denver of 150 years ago. (It airs at 8 p.m. Thursday.) But at least I now understand where the creators of South Park got their inspiration for those tunnel-vision parkas -- even if I don't see this bonnet stopping traffic anytime soon.-- Patricia Calhoun

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Patricia Calhoun is editor-in-chief of Westword, the alt-weekly she co-founded in September 1977. She’s been inducted into the Colorado Press Association Hall of Fame, the Association of Alternative Newsmedia Hall of Fame and the Colorado Restaurant Association Hall of Fame. She’s also received dozens of local, state and national awards for writing, including first place for feature writing and first place for column writing with the Society of Professional Journalists. Patricia is a weekly commentator on Colorado Inside Out, PBS 12's public affairs roundtable, which has won two Emmys.

Contact: Patricia Calhoun

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