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Durango Always A Railroad Town Richard Dorman Dust Jacket 1987 1st Ed Signed
Durango Always A Railroad Town By Richard Dorman
Hard Cover with Dust Jacket Has some scuffing/ fading/ small tear. Library stamp
Copyright 1987 First Edition
The Second of Five Volumes
Table of Contents
1/ In The Beginning, Early Views.4
2/ Durango; Facilities, Structures and Equipment.28
3/ RecollectionsBB
4/Switchers Over The Years76
5/ Shippers, Industries and Sources of Revenue 86
6/ Rio Grande Southern Going West94
7/ R Beautiful Train Ride! Silverton100
B/ Farmington121
9/The Route East134
10/ More Recent Times164
"Durango, by common consent accorded the title of the 'Metropolis of Southwestern Colorado, and destined in the opinion of such far-sighted men as E.T. Jefferey, President of the Denver and Rio Grande Railway, and Otto Mears, President of the Rio Grande Southern Railway, to become the second city of the State, dates its prosperity from the day when the Rio Grande Southern was completed, and the whistle of the first locomotive that entered the town over that route sounded a note that gave new energies to its people and added conviction to their belief that Nature had marked it as the site of a great city."
The quote above is the first paragraph from a booklet published in 1893 entitled "Souvenir Edition, Durango, Colorado." It was published by the Daily Herald and Solid Muldoon who, in that year, had merged and were ready to fully report the happenings in and to Durango. It also noted that in the census of 1890. Durango boasted a population of 2726 inhabitants while the estimate in 1893 was 6500 population.
The valley of the Animas Canyon was tapped to be the focal point of a town and railhead in the early 1880's as the survey crews platted a new townsite at the curve in El Rio de las Animas Perdidas, the River of Lost Souls. Durango might never have existed as a town in its own right and could have remained as Animas City. However, the Denver and Rio Grande management clashed with the stubborn city fathers of Animas City, which was a rural farm community. The City flatly refused to "knuckle under" to the terms of the "Durango Trust" then formed to improve the railroads and the "included investors" by exploiting the beautiful area with its sagebrush, flowers and pines in a sylvan setting. This beautiful area veiled the distinct advantage of mineral wealth and mining activity that the "Trust" intended to enhance to a more profitable degree. The rich mining districts in the heart of the San Juans at Silverton and at Parrot City were uppermost in their minds. Animas City lost, as did all other towns, when the D and RG offered an "inducement" to participate in their coming and providing them with business opportunities. The dowry of money and free land demanded by the Grande was too much for the town to accept. The town of approximately 280 residents was no match. Soon, three miles south at thejuncture of the Animas River and LightnerCreek, lots were surveyed and nature was challenged as streets and blocks began to emerge. Certain parties of the "Trust" found appropriate, well-located lots and the rest was opened to public sale and the City of the Silver San Juan came into being.
The railroad arrived in Durango on July 27, 1881 and immediately started trackage to Silverton. Plans developing in Denver included a route south to Farmington, N.M. and then on to Gallup, N.M. Also a survey linking Durango directly with Albuquerque, N.M. was contemplated.
A comment in early 1882 on the quality of life in Durango states, "During the ensuing season Durango promises to be the liveliest place in America, and those who wish to witness or take part in the marvelous growth of a typical mining town and railway terminus, combined, in the most remote and romantic portion of the Rocky Mountains will find what they seek at Durango."
The name, Durango, it is told, was supplied by the Rio Grande's William Bell, a Trust participant and manager and traveler to Mexico, where it seems that a city by the same name with a similar setting existed. "The Southwest", a newspaper of the time, reported that the Magic City, as it was dubbed, grew by leaps and bounds and was bound to "boom."
The smelter followed, through the efforts of John Porter, moving from Silverton to Durango. Constructed in the late 1881's, the marriage of a railroad and smelter was appropriate. It was a significant industry and continued to grow into a regional smeltering center. Other developments and growth occurred along with business, industries and homes. One area of growth that was not crowed about in the booklet of the 1880's was that the red light district and saloons, numbering over twenty five, were the most thriving places in town.
Durango was an area of hardcore miners, tough railroaders and fortune seekers in a "boom or bust" atmosphere.
In the following pages, the story is continued in a pictorial fashion. However, it does concentrate on the railroad aspect of the growth of Durango. The fact is t hat the railroad caused its generation and provided its very livelihood in both direct and indirect ways. Durango has always had a railroad or two! Today the very economic stability is provided by that source even though not quite the same as it was between 1880 through 1960.
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