100 years ago: An advertisement read: “‘Meg of the Mines’ – How a plucky girl and an Indian outwit a pair of claim jumpers. Electric tonight.”
75 years ago: “Dr. and Mrs. BJ Ochsner presided at their home informally when they entertained at a musical. Guests heard exquisite recordings of famous masters and listened to intricate piano selections, played by artists.”
50 years ago: “Next to the Grande Palace in Rio Grandeland used to be a little cigar factory where Walt Wickel and his wife, Marie, made fine cigars. Wickel, now a stroke patient at Mercy hospital, came to Durango in 1904 to wrap good Sumatra tobacco around Havana tobacco and make cigars.”
25 years ago: “A junior high school history teacher who has been trying for a decade to win historical designation for the La Plata County Fairgrounds says the property should not be sold. ... The county commissioners said they are considering a proposal from an unnamed commercial real-estate developer who would build a new fairgrounds outside Durango in exchange for the fairgrounds property at 25th Street and Main Avenue.”
Most items in this column are taken from Herald archives, Center of Southwest Studies and Animas Museum. Their accuracy may not be verified.
