Research Journeys

I've been doing genealogy long enough to know that not everyone is excited to learn about pedigree collapse in their own family tree. It can feel uncomfortable, even alarming, the first time you spot it - two lines on your pedigree chart that should stay separate, quietly merging into the same ancestor. But here's the thing every genealogist eventually learns: pedigree collapse isn't a scandal. It's math. What Pedigree Collapse Actually Is In theory, your family tree doubles

Fountain Creek, near Pinon, Colorado, along the old Cherokee Trail, with Pikes Peak in the background. This location is near Independence Camp and the early Benesch Ranch. June 2026. One of the greatest joys of historical research is finding someone who knows the land as well as the records. Recently, I had the privilege of spending a day with a new friend, Nancy Prince, whose roots run deep in Pueblo County. Her family descends from early Czech immigrants who settled along F

In 1879, Charles Friskey was living in Colorado City when he died of typhoid fever. Like many genealogical questions, what seemed at first to be a straightforward search for a burial place has turned into something far more complex.