100 Years Ago: “Miss Ethel Jay, Miss Gladys Stanley, and others had a narrow escape from death by lightning. They ate a luncheon under a spruce tree near the city water tank, when clouds gathered, and they decided to head home. They had hardly gone 20 yards when a terrific bolt struck the very tree under which they had been sitting. All were stunned but able to get home. Miss Jay was the worst sufferer, experiencing sharp pain. The services of a physician were required to restore normal heart and nerve functioning.”

75 YEARS AGO: “Helene Gentrup, reporter on the Durango NEWS, has resigned to be married. The ceremony is expected to take place in Panama, where her fiance, Thomas Kwasigroch, is attached to the 744th Ord Air Base.”

50 YEARS AGO: “‘In these days of full ash trays and overflowing grocery carts, when pet dogs feed better than the underprivileged, at a time when editors and newspaper commentators blow both hot and cold on national issues and President Johnson’s leadership; it is hard for an ordinary mortal to form an opinion.’ – W. H. Crocker of Durango, Letter to the Editor.”

25 YEARS AGO: “State’s wilderness bill faces tough opposition: Colorado’s wilderness bill is facing an uphill battle for passage in the House because it lacks a clause on wilderness water rights, Rep. Ben Nighthorse Campbell says. The bill is a compromise worked out between Sen. Hank Brown, Republican, and Sen. Tim Wirth, Democrat.”

Most items in this column are taken from The Durango Herald archives, Center of Southwest Studies and the Animas Museum. Their accuracy may not be verified.