Copyright © 2001 - 2018  All Photos, text, materials on this site are copyrighted to Rocky Mountain Profiles for the exclusive use of Rocky Mountain Profiles and  Michael J. Sinnwell.  

Lycan ( Buckeye) Colorado Townsite - Ghost town

Photos courtesy Mike Sinnwell December 2007

Little is know of this town. Only a couple buildings remain along with the usual assortment of machinery. Apparently the town got the name from the town's first school teacher and postmistress. Post Office long gone. Mail service now comes from Two Buttes. This town is "New Lycan" as the original town of Lycan was located about seven miles north west of this location.

Here is a picture of the old school house at old Lycan THANKS to http://www.coloradopast.com

 

A viewer writes November 24th 2009 -  I have enclosed a picture of the site of mom's last place in far western Kansas, west of Manter, about a 1/2 mile from the Colorado line.  That place is still called "The Carter Section" (acc. to the man who still farms it) named after my grandpa and grandma (Ike and Lilly Carter), mom's parents. Also two stories below.

FIRST STORY

"Ice Cream Social."  As told by Maxine Carter Montgomery, to her son Michael Carter McKenzie.

To celebrate the end of wheat harvest (and this took place in the early 1930s), my dad (Ike Carter) would drive his Model T up the road a couple miles west to Buckeye, Colorado (this place is now called Lycan) to get huge blocks of ice to make ice cream.  This social was a big deal, with neighbors and farmhands all invited, with women bringing in their own pies and cakes; and my mother (Lillie Carter) would make her famous angel food cake.  Occasionally she would make the cake a bit fancier, with streaks of chocolate or other food coloring, but folks loved the social atmosphere.

He would bring the ice home wrapped in blankets and tarps and quickly take it down to our cellar, to try and keep it as cool as possible for as long as possible. Then, using a chisel and a sledge, he would break off large chunks, then wrap those chunks in burlap and break them up still further to fit around the freezer of the ice cream container--then folks would take turns cranking until the ice cream was ready.  What a treat!

I also remember going with dad to Buckeye on those trips, and the store owner would give my sister (Iradell) and me free "penny-suckers," which was a real treat since we didn't often get store candy.

SECOND STORY

"Herding Cattle," as told my Maxine Carter Montgomery to her son, Michael Carter McKenzie.

In the 1930s we would frequently run some cattle in the eastern foothills of the Rocky Mountains, to take advantage of better summer pasture.  This was south and west of Buckeye.  When the season was over, the cattle would be brought down into small canyons or draws in eastern Colorado, to await the Kansas Brand Inspector.  My job was to ride herd on them, to make sure none got away.

I was pretty good on a horse, and dad would tell me to watch out for snakes, as they might cause the horse to buck and throw me, but I always stayed on!  I liked doing that, and felt as though I was being "responsible" in a grown-up way.

So even though we lived in far western Kansas, many of my memories centered on the Colorado towns that were close to the border, and I can remember shopping trips to Holly, Lamar, and Pueblo (where we had friends).  These were special trips, and we looked forward to them very much.  My sister and I could buy fabric to make dresses, and mother could buy other things she could not get in either Manter or Johnson, Kansas.

A very special THANKS to Michael McKenzie [mmckenzi@keuka.edu] for providing the photo and the stories.

A viewer writes - Saturday, August 13, 2011  -- I am Mary Beth LYCAN MIller.  I was born and raised in Illinois.  On vacation as a child, I saw the sign to Lycan Colorado.   I did write to the town,  {this was way before internet) and was told that a family named Lycan moved from Paris, Il to Colorado, and named the town. This family was related to my family, but not closely.   I do not remember  any more details, and this was in the  late 1960's.  that is about all that I tell you now. If you want to contact me   Beth62707@yahoo.com

Rocky Responds - Asa "Ace" Lycan founded the town in 1913.

A viewer writes - Monday January 25, 2016 - While going through some old photo albums from very distant family I ran across a letter from a Mabel Lycan to her son Jack Lycan.  The letter is attached.  The Lycan name has never been mentioned in the family so I have no idea why it was in the album.   My research on the Lycan name and town of Lycan led me to your site.Thought I would offer this up as just another part of the story of the people who founded the town.  Asa and Mabel Lycan. The letter is interesting and creates a mystery one would naturally like to see how it all worked out.  I have not found any information on Jack T. Lycan as of yet other than he was Asa and Mabel's only son and was born 1910.  

Kyle Brown

Rocky Responds  - WOW a great mystery… Who will solve it.

Remember the Jack Lycan mystery?? Well Robert outdid himself and found some answers but the real question, what was Jack doing? Is still unanswered.

Hi Mike,

I am trying to get my scanner to function for a jpeg file, but no luck. I will send you the direct scans of the two pages in the Colorado Postal History Encyclopedia on Lycan by Bill Bauer. I do not have access to Bill's notes here, but I think they may still exist and I will try to find them when I come to Denver in May. As a side note:  

It doesn't surprise me that some locals and folks from nearby Kansas would associate Lycan, the second townsite, with the general store/ service station called Buckeye Store at the junction of Colorado Highways 89 and 116. I believe the Buckeye Store and Buckeye name existed before the Lycan Post Office moved there in 1936 from the original townsite. The original site was at the intersection of Baca County Roads VV and 49, some 5 miles to the NNW (3 sections west and 4 sections north) from the CO 89 & 116 intersection.

I will try my best to obtain information about Jack T. Lycan. From Mabel's letter, he evidently went to South Fork, and next Del Norte in Rio Grande County. You have to wonder what a runaway 17 year old was doing there in 1927. Speculation abounds. Do you have contact information for Kyle Brown? Could he be related to the Tresner family from Illinois, Mabel's dad?

I am forwarding your original email and this by copy to my postal history friends, Roger and Andy for their possible comments.

Hope you and Joan are well,

Robert

And finally --- A couple days later.

Hi Mike,

I found Jack Lycan back at home in the 1930 census on Ancestry.com.

Robert