100 years ago: Silverton – “After deliberating for two hours the jury in the case of Mrs. Belle S. Ptolemy against the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad for $16,000 as the result of injuries received in an accident on the Silverton branch, returned a verdict of $1,210.10 for the plaintiff.”
75 years ago: “Mrs. Henry Hamilton of 977 Sixth Ave. is adding an apartment to her home.”
50 years ago: “The summer’s first forest fire was reported in the Rockwood area to James Mathers, Ranger for the Columbine District of the San Juan National Forest. Mathers says he’s calling the fire the Jim-Jim fire because he and James Wallrich, Animas District Ranger, fought the fire all night. The fire burned about an acre and a half and was caused by lightning.”
25 years ago: “Sheriff’s investigators say there was no foul play and no safety problems that put a 28-year-old Durango man in a campground outhouse. Still, they don’t know how he got into the outhouse pit at Haviland Lake and almost died. ... The man, who was clinically dead for a time when his body temperature dropped to 80 degrees, was rescued from the excrement-filled pit after Sheriff Bill Gardner went in after him.”
Most items in this column are taken from Herald archives, Center of Southwest Studies and Animas Museum. Their accuracy may not be verified.
