97 Years Ago
The June 2, 1927 Colorado Transcript brought sad news to Golden: Harley Dean West was dead. “Harl,” as he was known, was the son of Transcript founders George and Eliza West. He had been running the newspaper since shortly after his father’s death in 1906.
Born in Golden in 1879, Harl West went through the Golden Schools and joined Company K, 1st regiment Colorado Volunteers. He served in the Philippines. Returning home, he married another Golden native–Vera Parshall. The couple’s only child died in January of 1927. When Harley died (following an appendectomy) four months later, popular feeling was that great sadness had contributed to his early death.
Fortunately for Golden, Harl’s widow picked up the reigns and the very next edition listed “Mrs. H.D. West, Editor and Manager.” She remained in charge of the paper until her death in 1952.
The Golden Transcript (originally called the Colorado Transcript) has been publishing since 1866. The Golden History Museum has been working on digitizing the historic issues. You’ll find old Transcripts online at coloradohistoricnewspapers.org.
