Name:
Screen name:
Email:
The first two articles in this series covered the bean industry from the 1890s through 1940. This third, and final, piece will cover from the late 1930s to the present. The focus will be on roads,...
DATE: May 2, 2016 | COLUMN: Looking back
Part IIBy Bob Bernhart and Dale DavidsonThe first installment of this article explored the beginnings of the bean industry on the Great Sage Plain. We discussed the period from the late 1800s...
DATE: March 30, 2016 | COLUMN: Looking back
Serendipity, or “luck that takes the form of finding valuable or pleasant things that are not looked for,” was sparked by this Montezuma Journal article, Aug. 31, 1897:“Miss Floretta Shields, who...
DATE: March 1, 2016 | COLUMN: Looking back
The area of southwest Colorado referred to as The Great Sage Plain – roughly the area between Cortez in Montezuma County and Dove Creek in Dolores County – has a long farming history. That history...
DATE: Feb. 11, 2016 | COLUMN: Looking back
This is another letter from Stephen Smith, of Cortez, to his boss, E.S. Turner. The frustration Smith feels because of the lack of guidance he is receiving on business matters comes through very...
DATE: Feb. 4, 2016 | COLUMN: Looking back
This is another letter from Stephen Smith, here in Cortez, to his boss, E.S. Turner. The frustration Smith feels because of the lack of guidance he is receiving on business matters comes through...
DATE: Dec. 31, 2015 | COLUMN: Looking back
The next two columns contain letters written by Stephen J. Smith to his boss, E. S. Turner, in 1891 and 1892. Smith was the local business manager for the investors in the beginnings of Cortez. He...
DATE: Dec. 2, 2015 | COLUMN: Looking back
Some of the history of the local Civilian Conservation Corps has been preserved in photographs of the camp and the men who lived there.From a photo taken Sept. 13, 1940, we know that the company...
DATE: Nov. 4, 2015 | COLUMN: Looking back
This is the first of two articles about the Civilian Conservation Corps Camp, located at the north edge of Cortez before World War II. Very little remains of the camp, but historic photos and old...
DATE: Sept. 30, 2015 | COLUMN: Looking back
After everyone was awake at Elk Mountain campsite, I told the Captain I thought it would be a good time to eat as we hadn’t eaten since we left this water two or three days ago. He gave the order...
DATE: Sept. 7, 2015 | COLUMN: Looking back
Old Mancos Jim, who could talk English, jumped up, began to dance and hollered, “Oh, my God, boys come and help me” and before a bullet could reach him, he dropped down again.He kept repeating...
DATE: Aug. 6, 2015 | COLUMN: Looking back
We thought we could catch the Indians before sundown and kept at a hard gallop.We came to some bare flat rock country and in the dark couldn’t follow and as the moon would rise at one o-clock, we...
DATE: July 9, 2015 | COLUMN: Looking back