50 YEARS AGO May 31, 1973 - H.C McNulty, well-known Ouray resident, was killed last Thursday as he was en route to check the upper spring on his property south of Ouray, just off the Camp Bird Road. A...

50 YEARS AGO May 24, 1973 - The Plaindealer has obtained reports of the amount of snowfall this winter from the Camp Bird Mine. At the Camp Bird, snow this year measured 404 inches, which is 80 to 90 ...

Occasionally one finds A bird That has it all! – Anonymous Editor's note: Birds of Ouray County columnist Sue Hirshman has decided to continue writing her column when inspiration strikes, instead of m...

50 YEARS AGO May 17, 1973 - Editorial: Ma Bell’s gone around the bend again, to the point where there’s no living with her. The decline has become too severe. Every week there’s a new aberration. A fe...

50 YEARS AGO May 10, 1973 - Postal Service Week was commemorated at the Ouray Post Office this past week by honoring a uniquely outstanding postal customer: Dora S. Merling, who has used the Postal Se...

50 YEARS AGO May 3, 1973 - Bob Larson, an engineer at Idarado Mining Company in Ouray, was injured Tuesday when an estimated five tons of rock fell on and around him. Larson was working in the 2254 st...

50 YEARS AGO April 26, 1973 - Late spring and early summer is a tragic time for wildlife “rescued” by well-meaning humans who fail to understand that nature must take care of its own. Too often we kil...

50 YEARS AGO April 19, 1973 - Monday of this week, Chief Miller and his deputy borrowed radar equipment from the Montrose Police Department and conducted a survey on Main Street. In the space of appro...

The little Bufflehead “sits high in the water.” Bobbing up and down like a yellow rubber duckie in the bathtub — Richard Crossley The month of March was almost like a repeat of February, with very col...

In the 1880s the mines in the northern San Juan Mountains were thriving. People, equipment and supplies were heading up daily to those high-altitude camps, and the mines were sending tons of ore down ...

50 YEARS AGO April 5, 1973 - At a special meeting Monday night, the Ridgway School Board decided to reduce the teaching staff by two teachers and combine grades 1 and 2, 3 and 4, and 5 and 6, in order...

Goodbye La Niña, it’s been a heckuva ride! To be fair, she brought Ouray two normal snow years (178.4 inches in 2020-21, 149.9 inches so far in 2022-23) and one dry stinker (128.9 inches in 2021-22)....

50 YEARS AGO March 22, 1973 - Voting for rain, snow or sunshine could someday be as commonplace as electing a president, senator or mayor. Campaigns would be run by proponents and opponents of various...

Birds of all shapes and sizes Have special adaptations for living, For living in cold, frigid temperatures. – Tina Shaw, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service What a bitter cold winter we have had, especiall...

50 YEARS AGO March 15, 1973 - Editorial: The March 6th news story from the Montrose Daily Press is reprinted, page five, this week, not for sympathy but because some letters to the editor in this issu...

50 YEARS AGO March 8, 1973 - Police Blotter: Feb. 26— Terry Kishbaugh reported six boards broken out at the Ouray bathhouse. March 2—Al McCoy reported vandalism to the house west of the Episcopal Chur...

50 YEARS AGO March 1, 1973 - Personalities and tempers clashed a little last week throughout the Ridgway School District, but the boiling kettle appears to have been set back on simmer as regards one ...

50 YEARS AGO February 22, 1973 - Fire of undetermined origin totally demolished buildings and property valued at approximately $60,000 at the Camp Bird Mine, six miles south of Ouray Sunday night. Two...