It was members of a territorial legislature in Denver, over two years before Colorado would become a state, that drew lines on a map establishing La Plata County 150 years ago on Saturday.
The sesquicentennial anniversary marks the formation of the first iteration of La Plata County, a vast territorial designation established in response to a burgeoning mining industry. Indigenous tribes had lived in the region for time immemorial, but in the years leading up to the county’s formation, a migration of prospectors descended upon the San Juan Mountains in search of mineral riches.
“The word that I use is ‘commemorate’ rather than ‘celebrate,’” County Spokesman and history buff Ted Holteen said. “We’re not making a big deal out of it, but it is certainly notable. There have been lots and lots of impressive people over the last 150 years, and they certainly should be celebrated. And obviously the history of the American West is checkered at best, so we want to be very respectful.”
The fanfare on the occasion will be limited.
The Board of County Commissioners on Tuesday approved a proclamation noting the anniversary and encouraging residents to “celebrate our county’s rich, diverse history and amazing staff as we work together to continue to make La Plata County the best place to live, work and play.”
There will be a story marking the occasion in the spring edition of the county’s Connections Magazine.
On Saturday, the actual day of the anniversary, the La Plata County Historical Society will unveil a small exhibit at the Animas Museum, host an hourlong public talk on the county’s early history and invite visitors to eat a birthday cake.
“It's definitely an important event,” said historian, author and Fort Lewis College Professor Andrew Gulliford, noting that the county is two years older than the state of Colorado. “ … I think its important to acknowledge the Ute history, the older Ancestral Puebloan and basketmaker history, and certainly all the immigrant groups that have come through La Plata County and worked in the coal mines, certainly worked for the railroad, (and) helped build the town of Durango and Bayfield.”
When formed, the county was composed of what would become Dolores, Montezuma, San Juan, San Miguel and portions of Ouray and Hinsdale counties.
The county seat was Howardsville, a now-ghost town north of Silverton where Cunningham Gulch meets the Animas River.
A century and a half later, La Plata County is acknowledging a complex, celebrated and fraught existence.
The formation of La Plata County established a local government of and over the prospectors and miners flooding into the area. But the land belonged to the Utes, not the trespassing miners.
“The Nuuchiu (Utes) do not have a migration story, but according to our Creation Story, we were placed in the Rocky Mountains,” Southern Ute Indian Tribe Chairman Melvin J. Baker and Vice Chairman Lorelei Cloud said in a written statement. “Nuuchiu traditional homelands encompassed Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, Arizona Wyoming, and Kansas. The Nuuchiu have endured a long history of challenges, including the arrival of the Spanish, the establishment of the Colorado Territory and the Westward Expansion, and the forced removal and assimilation policies of the United States government.”
Under the terms of an 1868 treaty, the federal government had created a Ute Reservation that spanned roughly the Western third of the state.
“It was all Ute territory,” said Susan Jones, collections manager at the Animas Museum.
It was not until April 29, 1874 – 2½ months after the creation of La Plata County – that the Brunot Agreement was ratified, formally ceding the Ute lands upon which the county was formed to the U.S. Government. The agreement had been negotiated in 1873 and shrank the Ute Reservation by 3.7 million acres.
“La Plata County – it was horrible,” Jones said matter-of-factly.
Of course, the validity of these treaties themselves is fraught. The federal government took agreements with chiefs of individual bands as representative of agreements with all Utes.
“This resulted in a series of late-19th-century treaties that drastically reduced Ute land and rights, reflecting starkly contrasting philosophies,” SUIT officials said. “The Western perspective viewed land, minerals, and resources as commodities to be owned, while the Nuuchiu considered themselves caretakers, respecting and caring for the land and its resources as gifts.”
Samuel Elbert, the governor of the Colorado territory, saw the influx of miners in the Southwest and recognized a need for organization, historian Allen Nossaman wrote in his 1989 three-volume definitive history of the region, “Many More Mountains.”
“When these guys came in, without permission, they were trespassing,” Jones said. “It got pretty ugly.”
On Jan. 6, 1874, Elbert addressed the Territorial Assembly and called for a formal reorganization.
“New mining districts have been discovered, and occupied, of such extent and richness, that of themselves they would place our Territory in on secondary position as a gold and silver region,” he said.
At the time, the entire region was part of Conejos County, although arguably in name only. The officials there were no longer up to the task of even pretending to perform governmental functions over the vast mountainous region, Nossaman writes.
On Feb. 10, Conejos was carved up, creating Rio Grande, Hinsdale and La Plata counties.
The miners were driven by a lust for silver and old.
“Because of the whole mining issue, that’s why it grabbed the territorial government’s attention,” said historian Charles DiFerdinando, the visitor services manager at the Animas Museum. “They were looking at it as a way to make money.”
In September 1874, just months after the county was formed, voters moved the county seat to Silverton. On Jan. 31, 1876, following what Nossaman described as “heated debate,” the legislature carved up La Plata County, forming San Juan County to the north. Colorado would formally enter the union on Aug. 1, 1876.
The county seat was moved to Parrott City, a settlement founded by John Moss. The prospector had negotiated with Ute Chief Ignacio and had begun searching for silver and gold in the La Plata River, and the town north of Hesperus consisted of 50 buildings by the time Colorado became a state.
With the founding of Durango in 1880 and the construction of the railway, the county seat was moved out of Parrott City to its current location the following year. Moss, who was elected to the General Assembly but never attended a legislative session, left for California. The town would shutter by 1898.
The Utes were left with a diminished reservation, although they retained hunting rights in the Brunot Area. In 1895, the Southern Ute Indian Reservation was established, which began what the tribe refers to as “the boarding school era.”
“Native American children were removed from their families and communities to attend institutions designed to completely remove their Indigenous identity,” Baker and Cloud said in their statement. “Despite their status as the original inhabitants of the land, Native Americans had to fight for basic rights and recognition as citizens throughout the 20th century.”
“It’s quite a milestone and I can’t wait to be thinking (about) what has happened over those 150 years,” Commissioner Marsha Porter-Norton said before voting on the proclamation Tuesday.
“150 years – that’s a lot of history,” Commissioner Matt Salka added.
The two are among a group of 84 individuals who have served as county commissioners.
Today, La Plata County is home to an estimated 56,607 residents.
Within its boundaries lie Southern Ute Indian Tribe headquarters, the city of Durango, the towns of Bayfield and Ignacio, the census-designated place of Marvel and the unincorporated communities of Allison, Bondad, Breen, Falfa, Gem Village, Hermosa, Hesperus, Kline, Mayday, Oxford, Red Mesa and Tiffany.
The SUIT is the largest employer in the county, providing work to 1,600 people, according to the Region 9 Economic Development District of Southwest Colorado’s economic snapshot. Durango School District 9-R follows with 998 people on payroll, and Mercy Hospital is a close third with 901 staff. La Plata County employs 445 people.
“I think there's quite a lot to celebrate, on the one hand,” Gulliford said. “And the other hand, I think there are things we need to really consider.”
There are myriad moments worthy of recognition.
The county is the site of vast irrigation projects and reservoirs, a thriving outdoor recreation industry and breathtaking natural sites. But it also was once home to a thriving Ku Klux Klan chapter in Bayfield. The smelter in Durango was the source of much of the uranium used in Little Boy, the atomic weapon dropped on Hiroshima on Aug. 6, 1945.
“It's a mixed bag, but it's our history,” Gulliford said. “And so it's important to understand it, to teach it, and this is a great year to do that.”
SUIT officials say they were not informed of this commemoration, but remain committed to fostering collaboration moving forward. About 20% of the county falls within reservation boundaries.
“We believe that by working together, we can truly honor our shared history and acknowledge the enduring legacy of the Nuuchiu, whose unwavering presence and invaluable contributions have shaped the very heart and soul of the community,” Baker said. “We welcome opportunities for meaningful dialogue and collaborative initiatives that recognize the Tribe's significant role in the county's past, present, and future.”
Tribal leaders also welcome the public to visit the Southern Ute Cultural Center and Museum in Ignacio.
The Animas Museum will unveil its new exhibit on the county Saturday and is inviting the public to share a piece of birthday cake. Jones and DiFerdinando will host a talk at 1 p.m. in person at the museum or on Zoom. Registration for the online presentation can be accessed at zoom.us.
Rschafir@durangoherald.com
