100 years ago: “‘Bill’ Shaffer busted into town, riding his fiery steed just as hard as he knew how – and, as ‘Bill’ is some weight the horse knew how hard he was riding. He chased up and down Main Avenue looking for the sheriff explaining that the Hesperus-La Plata City Stage, loaded with a bunch of Eastern school ma’ams had been held up on the La Plata bar by a band of 10 bandits, and every one of the teachers had been abducted and taken into the mountain fastnesses of the La Platas. He said that it was absolutely necessary that a posse be gathered together and started out immediately – to save the bandits.”

75 years ago: “The Spanish Trails Fiesta parade for Aug. 10 and 11 promises to be one of the most colorful and entertaining parades ever presented on the streets of Durango.”

50 years ago: “Druggist Carl Albrecht says he learned recently that quinine sulfate, used in a variety of medicines including those to treat malaria, has doubled in price because it comes from Viet Nam.”

25 years ago: “The World Mountain Bike Championships have truly become international. Marc Schnyder, an European Junior Champion from Biel, Switzerland, was the first non-American rider to register for the September WMBC. Schnyder, here in the U.S. nearly two months early in order to get used to the differences in altitude, is planning to compete in several NORBA races prior to the Worlds.”

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