The Redemption of Ernest Christison Article in the Mountain Mail

Virgil Ernest Christison's grave marker in the Fairview Cemetery, Colorado Springs

I've been enjoying the articles written by Joy Jackson, archivist at the Salida Regional Library, about Salida stories of the past in her column, "At the Library." My friend, Margy, sent me copies of the four-part Cattle Thieves series published from November 2017 to February 2018 in the Mountain Mail. And a couple of other friends sent me links to the articles. 

The final article is "The Redemption of Ernest Christison." It is fun to see my great-great-uncle, Ernest, have his own headline and article. Jackson refers to newspaper articles from 1883-1884 which I have also used extensively in my research. It is interesting to read someone else's conclusions. 

I thought I would fill in a little family history information. Virgil Ernest Christison was the second oldest son of Judge Wilburn and Elizabeth Christison. In 1879, he married Nancy Jane Taylor. Their first child, John, was born in 1882. Their daughter, Grace, was born in August of 1883 before Ernest went to jail in Buena Vista.

Ernest was sentenced to two years in the Colorado State Penitentiary and was released two months early for good behavior in March of 1886. Ernest and Nancy had two more daughters, then two more sons (the first Roy, born in 1893, probably the baby mentioned in the article) and finally, a daughter, Helen, born in 1904.

Ernest died in 1939 in Colorado Springs. His obituary reads in part, "Virgil E. Christison, 86, who came to Colorado as a youth and engaged in the mining and freighting business shortly after the Civil War, died yesterday at the residence of a daughter, Helen."