100 years ago: “G.E. Mead, of the Animas Valley, was in town to collect the bounty on a coyote hide that he took away from an animal prognosticating around his premises.”
75 years ago: “In the past two weeks, 100 inches of snow fell on Wolf Creek Pass. Snowfall at Cumbres Pass jumped from 60 inches to 110 in the two weeks. Wolf Creek and Cumbres passes now rank first and second over the state in the matter of snow on the ground.”
50 years ago: “The approximately three inches of snow which fell were extremely dry ones, weather experts said. They resulted in just 0.15 inches of precipitation whereas an average three inches would produce twice that much of 0.30 inches. Moisture figures are still far behind the comparable date of a year ago as well as behind the 67-year average. To today February ’63 had produced 1.22 inches while February ’64’s figures is just 0.42.”
25 years ago: “Durango Fire Chief Mike Dunaway said that he knew it would be disastrous if the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad’s dry, old roundhouse ever caught fire because of a lack of nearby hydrants. Fire officials determined that the cause of the fire was spontaneous combustion in the dry wall behind a kiln used to harden metal parts. Dunaway said the wood in the historic roundhouse was extremely dry from age and the heat of locomotive engines that are stored in the building after they complete their runs to Silverton and back.”
Most items in this column are taken from Herald archives, Center of Southwest Studies and Animas Museum. Their accuracy may not be verified.
