50 YEARS AGO July 8, 1971 - It would cost $1 million, assuming today’s price estimates of $200,000 per mile, to rebuild the five-mile stretch of U.S. 550 from the swimming pool at Ouray on north to th...

“That dog hated me,” Ridgway’s Elizabeth Kirwin remembers, “but I was determined to make her love me because she had no place else to go.” The beginning of her passion for shelter work began with an a...

When we were on a book tour in New Zealand, we came across a country inn marquee advertising the “Best Muscles in the World,” green-lipped ones. We pulled in. Mussels (not muscles), beer and a band -w...

5O YEARS AGO August 20, 1970 - An intensive effort by Game, Fish and Parks personnel is currently underway in the San Juan Mountains to determine whether or not the "Great White Bear,'' found to be so...

I'm a retired horse trainer living in my beloved childhood home town of Ridgway. The national forests are my playground and every day is a holiday. I have a wonderful wife, Sandy, and I've got countle...

At 17 years of age, my dad (Fred Richardson) went to work for Marie Scott. Marie was the previous owner of what is now the Double RL Ranch. I remember Marie as a person who was tougher than a $4 steak...

Dear Readers, We understand you are concerned about the COVID-19 novel coronavirus. It’s not here yet officially, but we all want to know how to be better prepared. Information is part of that. We hav...

“The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow / Gave the lustre of mid-day to objects below” ("Twas the Night Before Christmas" by Clement Clarke Moore) is not likely to be Ouray’s 2019 Christmas Eve...

From the Ouray County Herald and Ouray County Plaindealer: 50 Years Ago August 21, 1969 - If owners do not remove their junk cars and/or trailers left parked in Ouray on side streets, the city will. C...

By Susan Lacy, Ridgway School District Superintendent The Ridgway School District begins the year with exciting elementary campus improvements. The front parking area and playground blacktop has been ...

Planet Earth, the only home most of us and our descendants will ever know, needs our help. July 2019 was the hottest month in recorded history. “July has rewritten climate history, with dozens of new ...

  Welcome back to another exciting year at Ouray School District! Upon your return one of the first things you will notice is our newly renovated playground. This will be a centerpiece not only for th...

From the Ouray County Herald and Ouray County Plaindealer: 50 Years Ago August 7, 1969 - Just because it's still summer, you shouldn't get the idea that car thieves are taking vacations, the National ...

A century has passed since the end of “the war to end all wars." Wishful thinking, to be sure, but it’s old hat. Yesterday’s news. Dead history. Or is it? But if we were to ask John or Jane Doe to tal...

From the Ouray County Herald and Ouray County Plaindealer: 50 Years Ago July 31, 1969 - When we oldtimers mention "baby bathtubs" to the kids here today, it is hard for them to understand we are talki...

“Now the turmoil…normally hidden from view…is hitting home.” ~The Guardian, June 21, 2019 The article called to my attention was not about immigration or abortion (a.k.a., “reproductive rights”). Not ...

From the Ouray County Herald and Ouray County Plaindealer: 50 Years Ago July 10, 1969 - It has been about 18 years since the Galloping Goose wheezed up and over Lizard Head Pass, traversing high mount...

By Erin McIntyre and Mike Wiggins As new owners of the Ouray County Plaindealer, we were fully aware of affordable housing issues prior to moving to the area. Some folks assume we’re commuting from Gr...