Colorado Experience: White Gold

After discovering sugar beets on a trip to Europe, Charles Boettcher filled a suitcase with seeds and found Colorado's plains were the perfect environment for sugar beets. This new crop would prove to be one of the most important in Colorado's agricultural history. Additionally, sugar beets attracted a diverse array of workers - fields were soon filled with everyone from Mexican nationals to European immigrants and WWII German Prisoners of War.

[@leighfloyd4441]

My paternal family were share croppers in AR & MS. Same lifestyle. Thank you for opening my eyes that it wasn't exclusive to my home area in the south. Love the fact I can continue my education through your KZbin channel. Thank you for sharing.

[@julierogers4530]

My Dad was a long time boiler operator for the Johnstown Western Sugar plant and he grew up farming sugar beets and I was told that he missed a lot of school working on the farm. He had a scar on his leg from an accident with a pitchfork as a child. I never knew growing up that the first plant was on the Western slope side in Grand Junction. We had a Spanish settlement near Kersey that was always referred to as the Colony and I visited there with my neighbors but I was never told the history and I have no idea if it was ever in any way attached to one of the sugar factories in Johnstown, Greeley, Ft Morgan or elsewhere? This was an interesting history both good and bad that I wish we could have learned more about in our Colorado History in school.

[@Ray-iz4kg]

Fort Morgan has a Spanish Colony just north of the factory. There are still Casitas standing

[@TheEndeavoringFamily]

This was very interesting. I found my grandparents and great-grandparents worked the sugar beets in the Spanish colonies in Colorado. Looking for information on this area is harder than I thought it would be.

[@wanderlustspirit4607]

Dwight Schrute would be so proud.

[@PaulanCollins7585]

Sharcroppers they called them My Uncle's had their own farm' bless those at fort Collins..

[@ToysToolsandTales]

Those bookcliffs were part of mt Garfield next to Palisades. Famous for peaches plums and apricot/plum hybrid. No sugar beets lol

[@kmh182]

I was expecting them to talk more about Fort Morgan and surrounding area 😢

[@bingeltube]

Very recommendable!

[@imeep30jj]

My grandpa helped dig the canals and plant some of the orchards by rocky ford

[@leechowning2712]

I work for the last original seed company down here. Wish we still had the farms down here

[@dmkuchins6646]

looks like there's still a co op sugar mill in rocky ford. a friend of mine used to work there as a bookeeper pre 1980.

[@jrppark1]

You should have also talked about the Holly sugar company. We grew lots of sugar out here on the eastern plains.

[@vitabricksnailslime8273]

The heritage listed industrial pollution pipeline's bridge. Sounds like a first.

[@jrppark1]

Okay, you talked some about the Holly sugar company. But we from the town of Holly could tell you so much more! Holly and Lamar both had big colonials, some of them still stand.

[@jonathancarr1172]

Thank you so much for your comment! I am working on a book regarding sugar beet culture in Colorado. I would like to interview you and others concerning the sugar beet phenoneman in Colorado!!

[@jolovesminnis]

Now everybody is planting hemp!

[@rahkinrah1963]

Low grade marijuana. That market will crash too.

[@wanderlustspirit4607]

Beets, bears, battle star galactica

[@granskare]

yeah, the big guys who want the cash, more cash, more more more :)

[@orange70383]

I knew it had to be pbs the biggest waste of time ever .

[@rahkinrah1963]

orange - I bet you "waste" more time in your life than watching PBS. Would you have learned about some of Colorado's history if it not been from these episodes?

[@timanctil8225]

@@rahkinrah1963 Yeah, you tell him, Rahkin!