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My Grandfather Orlo Burwell lived in the Bayfield Colorado area

I was about to turn 14, and had just started my Freshman year in high school, when My mother announced we would be leaving Willoughby once again and moving west. I was both excited and a little sad. It was the first time we had actually stayed in one place long enough for me to really make some good friends. I had gone to grade school with these friends, then moved to Florida for several years and back to Willoughby. The friends accepted me back into the fold and I took the place in society I had before we had moved. I was popular and had a boyfriend. I had several “best friends” and really did not want to leave. We left so abruptly, that I couldn’t find Sheila, my best friend for years to tell her I was leaving. I never got to see her or write or anything. This couldn’t be happening to me. But, moving west meant I would get to see my sisters again. I really wanted to see them. Sandy had recently married and had a little baby. I loved babies and hoped that maybe she would let me baby-sit. It wasn’t until we were in Kansas, that my mother told me we weren’t staying there. We were going further west to Colorado to live with my grandfather, her father. Wait a minute, wasn’t he the man I heard so many horrible stories about how mean he was? I talked my mother into letting me at least stay with Sandy and her family over the Christmas holidays and promised to take a bus out to Colorado after Christmas. I had so much fun getting to know Sandy again and playing with her little baby! Then the day came to take that bus ride. I didn’t want to go. It was a long trip, and all the while I thought about that horrible man who was so mean that we would be living with. My bus arrived in Bayfield in the middle of the night. When I got off the bus, here was this short stalky little ole’ man who was so quiet and seemed so nice. As it turned out, he was a wonderful man. Perhaps he had been mean in his younger days, but you sure wouldn’t know it now. He taught me a lot of things about life and when it came time to leave and move to Kansas, I didn’t want to leave him.

Bayfield Colorado (Four corners of Colorado, where four states come together)

Bayfield History

The original settlement in the Pine River Valley was named Los Piños. It consisted of approximately fifteen families. The first settler who claimed to be in the Pine River Valley was John Taylor, who arrived between 1871 and 1873.

Bayfield, a ranching community, was homesteaded by George Morrison and later sold to R.C. and Clarence Hensley. In 1894 it was sold to William A. and Laura E. Bay, from Missouri, who settled where Bayfield itself is situated. Their home still stands at 225 Pearl Street (the street being named after Mr. Bay's daughter). Feeling that the area needed a supply town, Mr. Bay donated eighty acres of land in April 1898 and the town was laid out and later incorporated in 1906 with George Wheeler as the first Mayor. The Schiller family also donated land in April of 1898 and a coin toss determined whether Mr. Bay or Mr. Schiller would get to name the new town. It would have been called "Schillerville" had Mr. Schiller won.

After more than 100 years, Bayfield still has at its heart a traditional neighborhood with a strong sense of community. Today, Bayfield is a growing community with a current population of around 1,600 residents. Through our growth, our citizens and town officials are committed to maintaining the close-knit feel of a small town.

We went to STATE championships during the time I lived there. It was so cool. I met a long lost Uncle that I never even knew I had when I went to Denver for the tournaments. That was kind of cool.

Read more about Bayfield team: http://ladywolverines.org/

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Last updated: January 2008