50 years ago: “City police and the county sheriff’s office had one of the most quiet Independence Days anyone can remember. The police department answered a number of nuisance calls. But there were only four involving firecrackers.”
25 years ago: “The Southern Ute Indian Tribe, needing water to develop billions of tons of bituminous coal beneath its southwestern Colorado reservation, is moving closer to turning the spigot. The ground-breaking for the $611 million Animas-La Plata water project last fall was a happy milestone for the Utes, who, along with their western neighbors, the Ute Mountain Utes, are the only Indian tribes in Colorado. Long frustrated in their efforts at agricultural irrigation and mineral resource development, they are finally seeing their economic hopes advance.”
Most items in this column are taken from The Durango Herald archives, Center of Southwest Studies and Animas Museum. Their accuracy may not be verified.
