100 years ago: “It was a hard matter for visitors to find quarters in the city. Nearly every available bed was occupied and extra cots had to be pitched in halls and spare rooms for the accommodation of the visitors. Every section of the basin was represented.”
75 years ago: “Walter Roath, ‘The Yakima Kid,’ who claims he is the only man who doesn’t use a runway or have protection from skids, put on a demonstration before an estimated 1,000 people at the Durango ballparks. A 1941 Chevrolet sport sedan, with five people in it, was driven over Roath as he lay prostrate on the ground. Then, using a rope spliced with an inner tube, Roath pulled the car by the teeth from 8th Street to 7th Street on Main Avenue.”
50 years ago: “A 21 percent enrollment increase has been recorded at Fort Lewis College for the fall trimester, 1965. A total enrollment of 1,360 students was reported, up from 1,108 recorded at the same point in 1964. Of this number, 1,346 comprise the student body and 14 represent community service course enrollment.”
25 years ago: “The county is finally slamming the lid on the former Van-Dal landfill. With the 10-year-old landfill closed, trash must be hauled to the Bayfield landfill, the only dump left in La Plata County. The situation will remain that way until the city of Durango builds a new landfill – which likely could be a while.”
Most items in this column are taken from Herald archives, Center of Southwest Studies and Animas Museum. Their accuracy may not be verified.
