Rio Blanco County, Colorado Genealogy and History

Picture of the Mountains Surrounding Meeker, Colorado

This is the place to begin your journey seeking your ancestors that lived or crossed through Rio Blanco County!

My name is , and I will be your host while you are here! I hope to make your visit a pleasurable one. I do not live in Rio Blanco, but will try my best to make this an informative and useful site, and hope that you will return often.

Rio Blanco County is located in the north western section of the state of Colorado. It is bounded by: Moffat county to the North; Routt County to the North East and East; and Garfield County to the South; with Uintah County in the state of Utah to the West. The following is a map from 1895. If you click on it you will see a larger version and you will need to use your back arrow to get back to this page.

Map modified with permission of Ray Sterner from
http://fermi.jhuapl.edu/states/

DATE CREATED: 1889
PARENT COUNTY: Summit
COUNTY SEAT: Meeker

SKELETON CLOSET AKA PLACES TO SEEK YOUR ANCESTORS:

Rio Blanco Courthouse
555 Main Meeker, CO
(970) 878-3627

Rio Blanco County Public Health Department
538 Garfield St Meeker, CO
(970) 878-4003

Meeker Public Library
200 Main St Meeker, CO
(970) 878-5911
Email:

Rio Blanco County Historical Society
and the White River Museum
Our current officers are
President: Steve Wix,
Vice President: Gayle Crawford,
Secretary: Sandra Shimko,
Treasure: Charlotte Wix:
Board Members: Joe Sullivan, Syble Barney,
Dave Steinman, Dick Moyer, Linda Cogswell
and Orval La Borde.
565 Park Street
Meeker, CO 81641
(970) 878-9982
Email:

HOURS: They are open in the summer from mid-May to mid-October.
Our hours are 9:00 am to 5:00 pm on weekdays and 10:00 am to 5:00 pm on weekends. In the winter we are open on Fridays and Saturdays from 11:00 am to 3:00 pm.

We have now opened our Garrison Building which is one of the officer's quarters built by the troops who came in after the Meeker Massacre. The building was blessed and dedicated by the White River Utes from Duchesne, UT. It contains an Indian Room, a Soldier's Room, an Agency Room and the Rich Lyttle Research Room. At this point we are doing private tours, except over holidays when it is manned (womanned!) by volunteers. It is an ongoing project.

From the "History of Colorado"
Wilbur Fisk Stone
Volume I
Chicago
S. J. Clarke Publishing Co.
1918

Page 14

In the central west lie Rio Blanco, Garfield, Mesa, Delta and Montrose counties.

Rio Blanco is included within the drainage basins formed by the Yampa Plateau, Danforth Hills and Williams River Mountains on the north and east, and the White River Plateau, Book Cliffs and Roan or Book Plateau on the south. The White River Valley rises from an altitude of five thousand feet at the western boundary of the county to nine thousand feet near the eastern limit. The mountain peaks in the eastern part vary from ten thousand to twelve thousand five hundred feet, and the plateaus on the north and south from eight thousand to nine thousand five hundred feet above sea level.

OBITUARY DAILY TIMES: (To Get An Index Type in Meeker)