Ridgway, our little mountain town, is known for many things – our San Juan Mountains, the home of the Grammy, and a vibrant art community. Our town’s history is equally broad – ranching, trains, and movie-making. It’s Ridgway’s DNA – the fundamental and distinctive qualities that form our community identity. Ridgway’s Old West Fest will be Sept. 24-26 and coincides with Railroad Days, sponsored by the Ridgway Railroad Museum.

Ridgway began as a railroad town in 1890 as the headquarters of the Rio Grande Southern Railroad. Ridgway WAS the “gateway to the San Juans.” The trains on narrow gauge tracks served two purposes: The trains took needed supplies to the mines above Ouray, Telluride, Placerville and Ophir and brought the ore out. The ranches and homesteads surrounding Ridgway provided food year-round for thousands of miners and their families high in the San Juans.

In the 1930s our local Ridgway-based RGS railroad crew designed and manufactured rail buses known as the Galloping Goose, which were built on automobile chasses. These smaller, more efficient motors were used for passenger travel and to deliver the mail.

Movie-making is part of our town’s heritage, too. Most of “True Grit” was filmed in and around Ridgway and Ouray in 1968. Yes, those big names – John Wayne, Robert Duvall, Glen Campbell, Dennis Hopper, and Kim Darby – became temporary locals in 1968. You can watch the original True Grit in the Ridgway Town Hall with professor Ken Stofferahn, who will give a short introduction to the film.

True Grit wasn’t the ONLY movie filmed here. “How the West Was Won” and “Tribute to a Bad Man” also showcase our peaks, meadows and old homesteads.

If you’re seeking more Grit, you may wish to join one of the walking tours of downtown to see some of venues used in the movie. At the Ouray County Courthouse, historian Glenda Moore will delve into the movie’s famous trial, which was filmed in the courthouse’s courtroom. Take a drive out Last Dollar Road and visit the Mazarotti Ranch, which served as Mattie Ross’s Arkansas homestead in the movie. Yes, the fence John Wayne jumped in the final scene is still there. The movie’s jail wagon is at the Ouray County Ranch Museum. “I Was There,” a program at United Church of San Juans, will have locals share their own True Grit experiences and memories.

Another movie with local connections is “The Sons of Katie Elder,” which will be shown at the Ridgway Town Hall. The classic western movie focuses on the four “Elder” brothers who were accused of murdering a popular sheriff in Oklahoma. The movie’s plot was loosely based on local lawmen and sheriffs, George and Charles Marlow. Local historian Jim Pettengill will discuss the complex lives of these brothers. Were they good law-abiding citizens, outlaws seeking justice, or rabble-rousing conspirators?

And there’s more. Colorado film commissioner Donald Zuckerman will speak about movie-making in Colorado. Another session with Stofferahn will also explore the western myth in movies.

Attendees can also get a glimpse of life on the ranch. At Ouray County Ranch History Museum you can enjoy a western BBQ lunch, learn to pack a mule and see leather artisans at work. One of the mu seum’s current displays is an iron lung, and one program features polio survivors who’ll share their personal stories.

COVID-19 and polio are the only pandemics to impact our area. Dr. Kevin Chismire will share details about the Spanish flu in 1918. There were shutdowns, social distancing and masks then, too.

At the Ridgway Railroad Museum, everyone can ride the Galloping Goose #4 from Telluride as well as Motor Car #1. Museum guides will lead special tours of the railroad yard, as there is much more to see. Don Paulson will share details about the motors and galloping geese at a special evening program, too.

If you’re a local history buff, a train enthusiast, or a western movie fan, Ridgway’s Old West Fest is for you. The event also features a Wild West show, a country music concert by Carin Mari from Buena Vista, cowboy worship, open mike cowboy poetry and music, Suffolk draft horse wagon rides, and a John Wayne trivia contest.

Go to www.ridgwayoldwestfest.org for information about events, tickets, and venues all over town. A festival program guide will be published in the Ouray County Plaindealer next week. Happy trails are coming to Ridgway.

Carolyn Snowbarger is a retired educator. After teaching middle schoolers in Olathe, Kansas, for 28 years, she and her husband Vince moved to Washington, D.C. She directed the Teacher-to-Teacher Initiative at the U.S. Department of Education and then managed continuing education programs for the American Institute of Architects. The Snowbargers moved to Ridgway in 2013 after decades of San Juan family vacations.