Author - The Durango Herald

Pioneers of La Plata County: Aspass family settled in 1870s

At the beginning of La Plata County history, even before Colorado statehood in 1876, the Hans Aspaas family was here. Over the next 140 years, family members moved across the cou...

DATE: Aug 10, 2016 | CATEGORY: Gulliford's Travels

Phantom Ranch: Mary Colter’s oasis in the Grand Canyon

Anyone who has hiked the Bright Angel Trail off the Grand Canyon’s South Rim knows the pleasure 9 miles below of finding Phantom Ranch. How the ranch got there, who planted the first trees a...

DATE: Jul 13, 2016 | CATEGORY: Gulliford's Travels

Mining on the edge at the Old One Hundred high above Silverton

The first time I saw the Dropping the field glasses to my chest and squinting, I tried to take in one of the most dramatic structures in the silvery San Juans, and one of the most difficul...

DATE: Jun 8, 2016 | CATEGORY: Gulliford's Travels

FLC retrieves historic images from unstable negatives

Treasure comes in many forms. Husbands and wives. Children. And rare historic photographs not seen in 100 years. I paid my way through a Ph.D. by teaching photojournalism, America...

DATE: May 11, 2016 | CATEGORY: Gulliford's Travels

As Lake Powell recedes, Glen Canyon reveals its secrets

Drought will alter the Southwest. Climate change means longer, hotter summers. “What happens under the turquoise skies of the continent’s most celebrated landscapes will presage ...

DATE: Apr 13, 2016 | CATEGORY: Gulliford's Travels

Josie Bassett: As wild as the frontier

A pioneer mother accused of murdering one of her husbands isn’t a likely candidate for Women’s History Month, but then Josie Bassett wasn’t a typical pioneer, either. She lived a...

DATE: Mar 9, 2016 | CATEGORY: Gulliford's Travels

In southeastern Utah, the Procession Panel speaks across time

High on a red rock ridge in southeastern Utah lies a petroglyph panel that depicts a fundamental shift in the lives of prehistoric Pueblo peoples. A millennium ago, individual ce...

DATE: Feb 10, 2016 | CATEGORY: Gulliford's Travels

Miners’ secret cabin is a marvel in the snowy San Juans

With ingenious design, hidden bunkhouse survives

DATE: Jan 13, 2016 | CATEGORY: Gulliford's Travels

19th-century fur trapper Denis Julien traveled against the current

Above the white sand beaches in Whirlpool Canyon lies a 19th-century secret lightly etched in ancient stone. Two initials and the date 1838 tell of a lost world and one man’s singular persev...

DATE: Dec 9, 2015 | CATEGORY: Gulliford's Travels

FLC students ascend Fourteeners to raise mental health awareness

FLC students ascend Fourteeners for mental health awareness

DATE: Nov 11, 2015 | CATEGORY: Gulliford's Travels

Couple restores mining-era boardinghouse outside Silverton

Dr. Bob Brokering always wanted a little log cabin in the woods, so when his wife was in Europe, he bought one. Only it wasn’t little. It was the historic miners’ boardinghouse a...

DATE: Oct 7, 2015 | CATEGORY: Gulliford's Travels

New life for a Boulevard original

For years, I’ve led downtown Durango walking tours by starting at the train depot, walking north on Main Avenue to El Rancho Tavern, then east to East Third Avenue and south to College Drive...

DATE: Sep 9, 2015 | CATEGORY: Gulliford's Travels