Tracing the Footsteps of Western Colorado’s Fabled Gypsies

At one time in western Colorado's history --specifically around Grand Junction and Fruita -- a band of Gypsies made their way through the area.

When Did Gypsies Travel Around Western Colorado?

During the autumn months, western Colorado was home to a few nomadic travelers believed to be Gypsies. The group would make their way to the Grand Valley to assist with fruit harvests and according to legend, "steal anything not nailed down."

Read More: Colorado's Ute Legend of the Grand Mesa Thunderbirds

True Gypsies are believed to have originated in South Asia, but the phrase is also used to describe a free-spirited, nomadic person.

In the Winter of 1991 Journal of the Western Slope, a past resident shares her tale of these nomadic travelers.

The Story of the Western Colorado Gypsies

As the story goes, the Gypsies would roll into town in covered wagons pulled by feeble horses and made camp around the area. One of their favorite places to set camp was along Highway 6 & 50 near 14 Road in Fruita.

These gypsies were known to be thieves, stealing or swindling victims of money, and valuables. The women were known to wear "full skirts with many hidden pockets in the folds." A group of women would enter a grocery store and leave with their pockets full of goods.

The Gypsies also wanted to "bless" people's money to help it grow, but many wouldn't do the blessing after it failed.

Groups would pack up in the middle of the night leaving behind the weak and the old to become someone else's problem.

[The Journal of the Western Slope]