Archival Investigation — Huerfano County, Colorado
The Absent Pupil
Juniper Creek Schoolhouse — 1907 to 1937
In 1937, Juniper Creek Schoolhouse closed and its records were transferred to the county archive. The ledgers were ordinary. The attendance sheets were complete. The photographs were labeled and filed.
Years later, a cataloging discrepancy was noted.
One boy appeared in the school photographs again and again. He was never enrolled. He was never marked present. He was never named.
Exhibit A — Juniper Creek Schoolhouse — 1907
The 1907 class photograph was the first anomaly to be logged. The enrollment register for that academic year lists ten students by name. The photograph shows eleven.
The extra child stands at the far left of the back row, partially obscured by the frame edge. He is dressed in a dark coat with a white collar. His hair is neatly parted. His expression is calm. His left hand is not visible.
No record names him. No record places him in the school.
Juniper Creek Schoolhouse — 1907 — Enrolled: 10 — Photographed: 11
Enrollment Register — Academic Year 1907 — Teacher: Miss Edna Marsh
Total enrolled: 10. Photograph dated October 1907 shows eleven children. Discrepancy unresolved. No amendment to register on file.
Exhibit B — 1912 — The Pattern Begins
The discrepancy was noted and filed. It was not investigated.
Five years later, a second class photograph was taken at Juniper Creek. The attendance sheet for October 14, 1912 records twelve students present. The photograph shows thirteen.
The same boy stands in the back row. He is wearing the same dark coat. The same button is missing. He has not grown. He has not changed. He appears in neither year’s enrollment record.
Juniper Creek Schoolhouse — 1912 — Attendance: 12 — Photographed: 13
Teacher: Miss Edna Marsh
Students present this date: twelve (12)
Aldrich, T. — Bauer, C. — Bauer, J. — Colton, R. — Frey, Daniel — Frey, Martha — Harker, N. — Lusk, G. — Morales, Petra — Pratt, V. — Sandoval, B. — Whitmore, Earl
Class photograph taken this date by Mr. P. Garvey, itinerant photographer. Developed plate shows thirteen children. Attendance record confirms twelve. No explanation noted.
Exhibit C — 1918 — The Caption
By 1918, the school had changed teachers twice. Miss Marsh had been replaced first by Mr. Connelly, then by Miss Clara Howell. The enrollment had shifted. Several families had moved on. Several new children had arrived.
The boy had not moved on. He appeared in the 1918 class photograph as he had appeared in 1907 and 1912—calm, unsmiling, standing near the edge of the frame.
That year a yearbook caption was written for the photograph. Every child was identified. Every child except one.
The caption reads: Back row, unidentified boy.
Juniper Creek Schoolhouse — 1918 — Yearbook caption notes: “back row, unidentified boy”
Photograph Caption — Filed by Miss Clara Howell
Front row, left to right: Morales, P. — Whitmore, E. — Frey, D. — Keller, Anna — Keller, Rose — Pacheco, Lena
Back row, left to right: Frey, M. — Connelly, Hugh — Sandoval, B. — Ruiz, Carlos — [unidentified boy] — Miss C. Howell, teacher
Unidentified boy: not enrolled. Not known to teacher. Not identified by any student when asked. Notation retained for record.
Exhibit D — 1924 — The Teacher’s Note
In September of 1924, the schoolteacher at Juniper Creek wrote a personal note that was later found among the school’s records. It was not addressed to anyone. It was not signed in full.
Juniper Creek Schoolhouse — 1924 — Enrolled: 11
Found among school records — Undated — Unsigned in full
One child appeared on the plate whom I do not recall seating.
I reviewed the enrollment book. No match was found for the child’s description. I asked each student who sat near the back row. None of them gave me an answer I found satisfying.
I have noted this for the record. I do not know what else to do with it.
— C.H.
Gathered Remarks — Former Students, Teachers & County Officials
The following statements were collected from individuals with documented connection to Juniper Creek Schoolhouse. They were gathered separately, years apart, by different collectors. No witness was shown another statement before providing their own.
Former Student — Enrolled 1910–1916
“I remember him in the picture. I do not remember him in the room.”
Miss Clara Howell — Teacher, 1916–1931
“There were twelve children present. The photograph shows thirteen.”
P. Garvey — Itinerant Photographer
“The plate developed clean. No double exposure was found. I have no explanation for the discrepancy.”
County Clerk — Huerfano County
“No child by that description appears in the enrollment book. The enrollment book is complete. That is what troubles me.”
Former Student — Enrolled 1919–1925
“I thought he belonged to the older class. I asked about him once. Someone told me there was no older class.”
Former Student — Enrolled 1907–1913
“I remember seeing him in the picture. I do not remember seeing him when it was taken.”
Exhibit E — 1931 — The Impossible Year
The 1931 class photograph shows a teacher named Thomas Aldrich. He is thirty-four years old. He grew up in Huerfano County and attended Juniper Creek Schoolhouse as a child. He appears in the 1907 enrollment register at age nine. He appears in the 1912 class photograph at age fourteen.
The unidentified boy appears in both of those photographs.
In 1931, Thomas Aldrich stood at the front of the frame as the school’s teacher. The unidentified boy stood in the back row. He was the same age he had been in 1907. He was wearing the same coat. The same button was missing.
Twenty-four years had passed. He had not aged by a single year.
Juniper Creek Schoolhouse — 1931 — Teacher: Thomas Aldrich — Former student, enrolled 1907
Filed by the County Superintendent of Schools
Enrolled students, District 14: 10
Students photographed, October 1931: 11
The discrepancy between enrollment figures and photograph counts at this school has been noted in records dating to 1907. No administrative explanation has been established. The matter has been referred to the district archive. No further action is recommended at this time.
Exhibit F — June 14, 1937 — The Final Photograph
On June 14, 1937, a final photograph was taken at Juniper Creek Schoolhouse. The school was closing permanently. Eight students remained enrolled. The last teacher, a county board representative, and the photographer assembled on the school steps for a closing record.
The photograph that developed showed more children than were present that day.
Children from different years appear together in the same frame. Students who had attended the school in the 1910s and 1920s stand beside children from 1937. Several individuals in the photograph were, by that year, adults living elsewhere in the county. Several could not be identified at all.
For the first time in thirty years of photographs, the unidentified boy is not at the edge of the frame.
He is standing in the center.
He is looking directly into the camera.
Juniper Creek Schoolhouse — Final Photograph — June 14, 1937 — School closed permanently this date
View the complete photograph record — 1907 to 1937 ›
The school records are complete. Every enrolled child is named. Every year is accounted for.
The county archive holds thirty years of enrollment ledgers, attendance sheets, and correspondence. Not one document mentions him by name. Not one document places him in the building.
The photographs show something the records do not.
The school kept records. The camera kept witnesses.