100 years ago: “Harry Jackson was at his bungalow in Vallecito – more comfortable than being on the road.”

75 years ago: “Lois Keith, who taught the past year at Ignacio returned to Los Angeles where she plans to be with her mother. At Gallup she boarded the ‘steamliner’ which on the wings of ‘Mercury’ conveyed her from the plains of New Mexico overnight, to the coats of the placid Pacific.”

50 years ago: “Cause of a fire at the Valley Trading Post was still under investigation and one unit of La Plata Fire Volunteers was still at the scene. The Valley Trading Post is located eight miles north of Durango on Highway 550, just north of the remains of Trimble Springs hotel. Loss was estimated at $20,000 with $4,000 of it in furniture, $4,000 to $5,000 in equipment in the store and $4,500 in stock.”

25 years ago: “A Golden, Colo., environmental company plans to build a pilot plant in the San Juan Basin to treat the waste water produced in conjunction with Fruitland coal gas. ... Local citizens at a hearing in Durango last week urged the federal Environmental Protection Agency to research water treatment as an alternative to injecting the brine back under ground or evaporating it in surface pits.”

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