Southwest Colorado spans dramatic terrain from desert floors to towering mountain peaks — and the wildlife that call it home have a story as compelling as the landscape itself. By the late 1800s, bighorn sheep, elk, deer, turkeys, and native trout were pushed to the brink of vanishing entirely. What followed was one of the most extraordinary conservation turnarounds in the American West. Today, Colorado boasts the largest elk population of any western state, wild turkey numbers have rebounded from just 250 birds to over 35,000, and native bighorn sheep once again navigate the craggy high country. But the story isn't over. Gray wolves are returning, Gunnison sage grouse are being protected, and the native Colorado Pikeminnow is being restored to the Colorado River Basin. All thanks to the ongoing efforts from communities that care.

The Power of Place Magazine is a special initiative of the Colorado 150 Southwest organizing committee, featuring 20 articles by professional historians and local writers exploring Southwest Colorado's rich and complex heritage.

By Patt Dorsey

This story is sponsored by Alpine Bank, Sky Ute Casino and Strater Hotel.

Watch the full series, Voices of the Past: Southwest Colorado.

Retired Colorado Parks and Wildlife manager Patt Dorsey spent 28 years protecting the wildlife of Southwest Colorado. Now, in honor of Colorado's 150th birthday, she's telling the region's untold wildlife story — digging through old biological reports and vintage archives to uncover history that even surprised her. Her core message: wildlife needs people. Without public connection and care, species disappear from our landscapes forever. To read the full article, visit coloradol50southwest.org.

The Power of Place Magazine is a special initiative of the Colorado 150 Southwest organizing committee, featuring 20 articles by professional historians and local writers exploring Southwest Colorado's rich and complex heritage.

By Patt Dorsey

This story is sponsored by Alpine Bank, Sky Ute Casino and Strater Hotel.

Watch the full series, Voices of the Past: Southwest Colorado.

Maria's Literary Foundation is hosting its second annual Read-a-Thon from April 10th through April 20th, raising funds for the Reading Room — a free bookshop and reading nook for Durango youth. This year's goal is $25,000 with all donations up to $10,000 matched by Maria's Bookshop.

By Sadie Smith

Watch this story at durangolocal.news.

This story is sponsored by the Payroll Department and Serious Texas Bar-B-Q.

Three events worth putting on your calendar this week — an Arbor Day Celebration at the Durango Recreation Center on April 17th, Durango's Earth Day celebration with a parade and live music on April 18th, and Durango Montessori School's annual Electronics Recycling fundraiser on April 22nd.

By Sadie Smith

Watch this story at durangolocal.news

This story is sponsored by Kroegers Ace Hardware and the FLC Center for Innovation

Ragtime music — a blend of European styles and African American rhythms considered the forerunner of jazz — has found an unlikely home in Durango, Colo. For nearly 70 years, the Diamond Bell Saloon at the historic Strater Hotel has featured live ragtime piano, making it one of the only venues in the country where audiences can hear the music performed regularly. A pianist who holds a master's degree in historical musicology from the Peabody Conservatory plays up to six nights a week on an 1902 upright grand piano, calling the experience "time travel" for audiences.

Now, that same musician has launched the Durango Ragtime and Early Jazz Festival, now in its second year as a nonprofit. The festival brings approximately seven of the country's top ragtime and early jazz musicians to Durango each year, with the goal of preserving the music and introducing it to new audiences. Organizers say Durango's size, rich ragtime history and the Strater Hotel — built during the ragtime era — make it an ideal home for the festival. For more information, visit durangoragtime.com.

By Paige Sparks

This story is sponsored by Tafoya Barrett & Associates and Keesee Motor Company

Watch this story at durangolocal.news

Native historian Johnny Valdez sheds light on a largely untold chapter of Colorado's history — the Brunot Agreement of 1873 and the treaties that transferred Ute ancestral lands to the United States government. Writing for the U.S. 250/Colorado 150 Power of Place Magazine, Valdez draws on both his formal education and his heritage to reveal what most Colorado schoolchildren were never taught: that the Ute people, the Nuuchiu, did not simply "give" or "sell" their land, but did so under the threat of annihilation, amid miscommunication and cultural misunderstanding.

The Power of Place Magazine is a special initiative of the Colorado 150 Southwest organizing committee, featuring 20 articles by professional historians and local writers exploring Southwest Colorado's rich and complex heritage. Valdez reminds us that this land — the mountains, rivers, forests, and valleys — is sacred, and that understanding its true history makes each of us a better steward of this place.

Watch the full series — Voices of the Past: Southwest Colorado.

This story is sponsored by Alpine Bank, Sky Ute Casino and Strater Hotel.

Here are three events worth putting on your calendar this week — Stillwater Music's Battle of the Bands at Miller Middle School on April 10th, the 30th annual Durango Bluegrass Meltdown running April 10th through 12th, and the Colorado Black Equity Study Community Listening Session at Fort Lewis College on April 11th from noon to 2 p.m.

By Sadie Smith

Watch this story at durangolocal.news.

This story is sponsored by Freddy's Frozen Custard & Steakburgers and Happy Pappy's Pizza & Wings.

How do we get to where we are — and how important is every little story? Native historian Johnny Valdez reminds us that we are each the product of a hundred generations, and that any one of those stories going differently means we wouldn't be here at all. That perspective, he says, is exactly what makes listening to someone else's story so powerful — because in their story, you find your own.

Writing for the U.S. 250/Colorado 150 Power of Place Magazine, Valdez draws on his heritage as a member of the Ute Tribe to explore a largely untold chapter of Colorado's history: the Brunot Agreement of 1873, the treaty that transferred Ute ancestral lands to the United States government. It's a story most Colorado schoolchildren have never heard — they know the beautiful mountains, the great hikes, the fishing and skiing — but not the history beneath their feet.

This is the land of the Great Spirit. That's what the Ute Tribe has always called it. And Valdez believes that knowing its true history transforms visitors and residents alike into protectors of this place.

The Power of Place Magazine is a special initiative of the Colorado 150 Southwest organizing committee, featuring 20 articles by professional historians and local writers exploring Southwest Colorado's rich and complex heritage.

This story is sponsored by Alpine Bank, Sky Ute Casino and Strater Hotel.

Watch this story at durangolocal.news.

Part 2 coming soon!