And the West is History: Mollettes at Durango home – ca. 1911

The Mollette family was well known and influential in Durango for many years starting in the early 1900s. The people pictured here are presumed to be Rose (on right) and son Wallace (front) on the porch of their home at 663 East Fifth Ave. The other woman is unidentified. Rex, the family patriarch, was an accomplished amateur photographer and probably took this picture. He had a flourishing Durango law practice. Wallace became an accomplished saxophonist and played in the Syncopated Five and Green Garden orchestras in the 1920s. An avid golfer, in 1956, he originated The Durango Herald golf column “The Clubhouse Porch,” which he wrote for 26 years. He lived until 1988, dying at age 90. – Ed Horvat for Animas Museum, edhorvat@animasmuseum.org (Catalog Number: 81.07.23 from the La Plata County Historical Society Photo Collections)