Articles

Mile High Hustle

The Halloween Massacre Denver Forgot

Denver's Chinatown was thriving in 1880 — laundries, restaurants, over 400 residents in a neighborhood called Hop Alley. Then, on Halloween night, a bar fight escalated into a race riot. A mob of 3,000 white men destroyed every Chinese business, beat residents in the streets, and lynched a man named Look Young. The Chinese consul demanded reparations. The federal government refused. The killers were acquitted. For 142 years, Denver's only marker blamed the victims. It wasn't corrected until 2022.

The Night the Dam Broke

The Castlewood Dam was cracked from the day it was built in 1890. Water seeped through the structure. Engineers issued warnings. Nobody did anything. Then, during a thunderstorm in 1933, the dam finally gave way. An eleven-foot wall of water raced down Cherry Creek toward Denver at 18 miles per hour. Two people died. The damage, in the depths of the Depression, was catastrophic. Today, the ruins stand in a state park, a reminder of what happens when warnings are ignored.

The Son Who Bombed His Mother's Plane

Minutes after takeoff from Denver's Stapleton Airport, United Airlines Flight 629 exploded in midair, killing all 44 people aboard. The FBI investigation led to a shocking discovery: the bomber was one of the passengers' own sons, who had planted dynamite in his mother's luggage for insurance money. Jack Gilbert Graham became one of the first people executed for federal murder. The case changed aviation security forever.

Blucifer: The Demon Horse That Murdered Its Creator

Denver International Airport is greeted by a 32-foot blue mustang with veins bulging and eyes glowing hellfire red. The sculpture killed its creator when a piece fell on him, severing an artery. Locals call it Blucifer. The airport sells merchandise about it. Welcome to Denver.