In 1913, the heart of soon-to-be Ignacio was not much more than a train station along the narrow-gauge tracks of the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad, along with a trading post and a few log cabins that composed the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
Today, more than 100 years later, Ignacio is the epicenter of the Southern Ute Indian Reservation, a farming and ranching community home to a renowned cultural museum. Its name comes from a celebrated Southern Ute tribal chief.
To salute its incorporation a century ago, every major entity in town came together Saturday to celebrate the Ignacio Centennial, said councilwoman Allison deKay, chairwoman of the Centennial committee.
“Everyone came together, donating either time, money or labor or activities,” she said.
The schedule of the events, which began at 4 p.m. Saturday, included a 5-kilometer run that started with the launch of a model rocket; a history tent filled with documents and photographs; volleyball games; storytelling; a performance by the Ignacio High School Band; a reading by Tom Givon, author of Ute Texts, a collection of compiled oral histories; a feast for the community; and dancing performances by Southern Ute tribal dancers and Los Colores.
Also scheduled was a greased-pig chase and rodeo, tree planting and the sealing of a time capsule to commemorate the event.
Ignacio Mayor Stella Cox said she would like to see a townwide celebration become an annual affair.
“We’re a community,” Cox said. “We should be united that way.”
Laura Whitt of the Ignacio Historical Society said it was important for the town’s first business owners and residents to incorporate and install an infrastructure and government. Her great-grandfather owned the trading post near the train station, photographs of which she arranged in a tent for display during the celebration. She pointed to Ignacio Peak, a high butte that was accessed by developers of the town to help lay out the city’s grid, and identified it in a 100-year-old photograph.
“This area right here is where Ignacio would be 30 years later,” she said, pointing to the fragile image. “People were encouraged to vote for the incorporation because there had been some lawlessness,” she said.
The D&RG Western Railroad also wanted to see the city become incorporated, although it had been recognized by the federal government as a community 30 years before.
Now fragmented along its course, one line of the railroad originally went from Alamosa to Durango and on to Silverton, Whitt said.
Cox said she is pleased to see the community coming together for the events.
“This is a tri-ethnic community,” she said. “We come from everywhere. We are surrounded by private and county and Southern Ute lands. No matter what our beliefs are and our culture is, it’s a consideration and a mind-set and a thought of a community.”
bmathis@durangoherald.com
