Western Adventures

She was a beautiful young school teacher from Iowa.

He was a handsome cowpuncher who grew up in Colorado ranching country.

Sounds like the stuff of movies but it's the true story of my great-grandparents, Ruth Conaway and Henry "Lon" Henderson.

Ruth was born in 1880 and grew up in a large farm family. Her father Adolphus came from Ohio, and while her mother Alice was born in Iowa, she had southern roots. Adolphus was a Civil War vet and a not particularly successful farmer. Alice was deeply religious and made sure her family took the Sabbath seriously - no reading except the Bible, no music except hymns, and theater and cards weren't allowed any day of the week.

Adolphus's sister Phytama and her husband John Heilman migrated with a group of families from Iowa to Colorado in 1874. Adolphus and Phytama's sister Malana (who never married), and their mother Nancy followed and were in Rock Creek by 1880.

The home of Nancy (Horn) (Conaway) Hall in Colorado.

The Heilmans carved out a life for themselves as ranchers, and Malana became a teacher and missionary to the Mexican families in the area. As Adolphus's children reached adulthood, at least two of them followed their aunts to Colorado. Nannie Conaway went first, earning her Colorado teaching certificate in 1892. Two years later, she married Jim Crooks. Ruth, who was 11 years younger than Nannie, had her 19th birthday at the turn of the century. She became a teacher in Iowa, but Colorado soon beckoned.

The Virginian, an early western novel which told the story of a ranch foreman in Wyoming was published in 1902. Captured by the romance of the novel, Ruth moved to Monte Vista, Colorado, where she secured a teaching position.

As it happened, in Monte Vista, Ruth boarded with Sarah Clark, the sister of Lon Henderson. (Sarah and Lon were two of the children of Henry G. Henderson and Abigail McCloud, another Colorado pioneer family.) Their daughter, Virginia, explained "Lon was tall, dark and handsome, and Ruth fell in love."

Lon on his roping horse, Jim Snort

Lon and Ruth were married on December 25, 1904, in Monte Vista, Colorado. Lon's brother, Bill, and Ruth's friend Hetty Watts stood up with them. They remained in Colorado until about 1922, when they moved to California.