Slumber Party at the Bee Hive Ranch

On Saturday, April 17, 1920, the Colorado foothills were hit by a spring blizzard that covered the tracks of the interurban line that ran through Lou Blonger’s cherry orchard, the Bee Hive Ranch, in suburban Lakewood.  After the three-car train stalled, it was quickly covered with snow.  Luckily the passengers were evacuated to Lou’s place, […]

What’s With The Shades, Sammy Boy?

Speaking of Sam’s demise in 1914, we have yet another item of interest to share on Lou’s older brother. Correspondent Kenny Vail — who, by the way, says he has a trove of information on numerous Blonger confederates, including Charlie Ronan, Con Caddigan, and Billy Nuttall — recently contacted us with an article he came across in the […]

Hello, Sam — We’ve Been Looking for You

We’d been looking for Sam for nine years — he was the only Blonger whose final resting place had not been determined.  But apparently we weren’t looking nearly hard enough.  Turns out this photo has been on the Find-a-Grave web site for the last three years, thanks to researcher Scotti McCarthy. For some reason (that […]

Happy Blonger Day!

Nine years ago today, April 22, 2003, I walked into my office at work with an idea. The previous night I had discovered that my great-great-grandfather’s long-lost brothers had apparently used the surname “Blonger” instead of the family spelling “Belonger”. Using that clue, I’d also been able to find them in census records in several […]

A Word From Our Sponsors

It’s curious we have so few advertisements for the various joints owned by the Blonger Bros. Grouping together their saloons, gambling halls, theaters and whorehouses, we count six businesses confirmed  before their arrival in Denver (but probably twice that number or more), and at least ten in Denver alone, not counting policy shops, cigar store candy stands and various and sundry […]

Killer Kate Fears For Her Life

First of all, I’d like to mention for the record that, although Scott agrees with me that Sam’s second wife Sadie Wilson, and gun-slinging prostitute Kate “Kitty” Blonger, are likely the same person, he cautions, correctly, that this is not the only possible conclusion. But at present it remains the most obvious one. Which brings us to […]

The Widow Viles

We’ve long known that Joe’s only marriage to widow Carrie (Winsor) Viles didn’t last long. A new article from the Albuquerque Daily Citizen, by way of the Las Vegas Optic, colorfully describes just how short it was. UNLUCKY NUMBER Couple Were Married in Room Thirteen of a Hotel. The Pecos Valley Correspondent of the Las Vegas […]