About Durango
Durango translates to ‘water town’, and aptly so as it sits on the banks of the Animas River. The Animas was named by Spanish explorers who passed through the area and lost a few souls in the upper canyons - its full name is ‘Rio de las Animas Perdidas,’ or ‘The River of Lost Souls.’ The steep, cliffed river canyon can been seen today via the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad, a branch line to Silverton built by the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad, who decided to build a depot down-river for coal and smelter operations.
Born in the wake of Colorado’s gold and silver rush, the town has acted as gateway to Colorado’s riches for miners and prospectors, Indians and fur traders, ranchers and railroad engineers alike. Although Durango itself is 118 years old, the Four Corners area is steeped in an ancient past. Two thousand years ago the region was home to the Anasazi, a Pueblo Indian people. They cultivated corn in the area’s river valleys and established great stone communities in the surrounding cliffs. The Anasazi mysteriously disappeared around 1300 A.D., but examples of their art, culture, and architecture can still be found throughout the area. Mesa Verde National Park, 37 miles southwest of Durango, features outstanding Anasazi cliff dwellings and artifacts. The park was named a World Heritage Site by the United Nations. (Other World Heritage Sites include the Great Wall of China and the Egyptian Pyramids.)
The Ute Indians next inhabited what would later be La Plata County. In the 16th century they encountered Spanish explorers traveling from the south. Those Spaniards were the first trickle of Europeans into the area - a trickle that became a flood of farmers, ranchers, and homesteaders by the late 1800s. Today the Southern Ute Tribe continues its traditions in Ignacio, just south of Durango, and the Ute Mountain Tribe lives near Towaoc to the west.
With the advent of the railroad, Durango grew quickly. Some 2,000 settlers poured into the area in response to newspaper ads that hailed Durango as the next Denver. By 1881, 20 saloons had popped up in the town proper, a red-light district was growing along its western edge, and 134 businesses had opened their doors. Many of those original buildings constructed by Durango’s pioneers are still used today. They can be seen in Durango's two designated National Historic Districts - East Third Avenue ("The Boulevard") and Main Avenue (downtown). Churches built along The Boulevard highlight the shady street, but the feisty boom town also had shoot-‘em-ups, showdowns, and bar brawls.
The Rio Grande Southern Railroad, which later was to become the Denver & Rio Grande Western, provided transportation to Silverton to the north and to New Mexico to the south. Area farmers, ranchers, and lumber mills used the train to ship goods to market. By the 1950s, however, the D&RGW had ceased all regular passenger service except on the Silverton line. Today the narrow gauge train is one of Durango’s chief attractions, with year-round operations including scenic winter train rides.
Durango’s importance as a business, political, and educational center has grown through the years. Durango is the county seat and home to Fort Lewis College, a four-year state-supported liberal arts school. The 15,000 townspeople are known for their friendliness, a key element in being chosen to host the first unified World Mountain Bike Championships in September 1990 at Purgatory Resort. Durango attracts "hard-core recreationists" and has been rated one of Outside Magazine’s top 15 sports towns and Ski Magazine’s choice as one of the Top 10 most livable ski towns in America. Championship bike racers, kayakers, skiers, runners and athletes proudly call Durango their home.