Taken from SUN files of
October 10, 1924
Wm. Macht, treasurer of the M.E. Board of Trustees, who during the past summer has been securing subscriptions towards liquidating the indebtedness on the M.E. parsonage, announces that his task is completed, the sum of $990 has been pledged and paid in and all church property is now clear of debt. He desires to take this means of extending thanks and appreciation on behalf of himself and the church to all who participated in the cause. Those who contributed to the $990 fund are as follows: Chas. F. Betts Estate, Will Macht, G.S. Hatcher, H.A. Bryant, M.E. Centenary, E.N. Edgertop, Harry Sparks, Harry Macht, Mrs. Fred Catchpole, Rev. McK. DeMotte, Mrs. Walter Zabriskie, Miss Lottie Bean, Philip Johnson, Max Mickey, Mrs. U.A. Peters, Mrs. A.T. Sullenberger, Geo. Snook, Louis Montroy, David Hersch, Ray Smith, Welch Hyler, J.T. Morgan, Earl Sparks, Emery Hollowell, Jessie Hayden, J.B. Joy, W.E. Colton, Mr. and Mrs. C.W. Houser, Leon Flaugh, Chas. Day, Mrs. Minnie Mote, J.S. Hatcher, Jule Macht, Joe Macht.
Taken from SUN files of
October 7, 1949
The past week a new epoch began for a landmark known to many oldtimers in the country. The “Old Gas Well” is a familiar term to any rancher or cowboy in the upper San Juan. Clee Woods, owner of the Double Quill Ranch, has piped the gas 1150 feet from the well to his summer home on the opposite side of the San Juan River.
Ample for several homes, the gas turns out to be perfect for domestic use without the least refining. It burns a beautiful blue flame in a stove, leaves no odor in the room.
The well was drilled in 1902-03, marking the first hunt for oil in the upper end of the Basin. The promoters abandoned the well in discouragement at a depth of over 900 feet, but they had found a small amount of gas. In fact gas seeped from the earth nearby in a natural leak. The drillers left the eight inch casing in the well. Mr. Woods found it comparatively simple to run heavy pipe from the well to his house.
Cowboys and hunters have used the warmth of the gas numerous times in past years. Art Yerby said recently, “One time I got to that well about nine o’clock at night, on skis. I was wet to the waist, worn out and hungry. I kicked the snow away, lit the gas, warmed and dried myself before pushing on to the old Warr place.”
Taken from SUN files of
October 10, 1974
Big game hunters are pouring into town this week and from all indications a record crowd of red hats will be in the hills by sunrise Saturday morning. Vehicles of all kinds from just about everywhere can be seen in town and on the roads to the high country. Game is reported as plentiful, widely scattered, and still way back on summer range.
The Town Board will consider final adoption of its 1975 budget at a special meeting October 15 at 8 p.m. The proposed budget is on file at the Town Hall and may be examined there.
While the total amount of the budget is down slightly it is proposed that the mill levy go from 9.50 mills to 11.50 mills. This raise in mill levy is brought about by the fact that revenue sharing funds used in the 1974 budget will not be available in 1975. In 1974 revenue sharing funds brought in $11,985 and it is estimated that only $3,478 will be available from that source in 1975. Total town budget in 1974 is $227,013 and $199,947 is estimated for 1975.
Taken from SUN files of
October 7, 1999
Many residents living near the Blanco River in the southeastern section of Archuleta County noticed a dramatic decrease in the flow of water in the river on Sept. 26.
The change in the amount of water flowing through the river channel began at approximately 4:30 p.m., and some observers related stories of a river with no perceptible flow during the evening hours.
That situation did not change until the morning of Sept. 17 when water again made its way down the river from the diversion dam.
Bruce Whitehead, Durango-based assistant diversion engineer for the Colorado Water Resources Diversion, said he and his fellow employees at the division “do not know exactly what happened. All we know,” he said, “is that there was some kind of problem with the (Blanco River) diversion tunnel and the water went into the tunnel and down to New Mexico instead into the river. One of our local commissioners notified the Bureau of Reclamation, which operates the diversion project out of New Mexico.”
