100 years ago: “For the first time since settlement of the San Juan began over 40 years ago, a road has crossed it from the outside. Five autos drove by their own power from South Fork to Pagosa Springs over the new Wolf Creek Highway on Friday.”

75 years ago: “Durango has one of the finest rodeo layouts in the entire country, according to the boys of the Hillside Rodeo Stock Company.”

50 YEARS AGO: “A huge landslide yesterday blocked two trains carrying 940 passengers on the narrow gauge line to Silverton. The slide, which occurred four miles south of Silverton, was up to 18 feet deep.”

25 YEARS AGO: “Train car derails, flips; seven injured: The 8:30 a.m. train coming back from Silverton to Durango derailed at about 5 p.m. Saturday, six miles north of Durango. ‘Nomad,’ which is the last car on the train, jumped its track on the 110th anniversary of the railroad.”

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