Carlos F. Lucero, Judge, United States District Court of Appeals, 10th Circuit
Ken Salazar, U.S. Senator of Colorado, United States Secretary of the Interior
Michael Johnson, Singer, Guitarist, Recording Artist
Garrey Carruthers Former New Mexico Governor (1987–1991)
Danny Ledonne, Filmmaker, Controversial Game Designer
Ralph Petty Founder of the Combes Gallery in Paris, Associate Professor of Fine Arts at the American University of Paris
Alma
The second highest incorporated municipality in the United States
Antonito
José Inez Taylor, co-author of the book Alex and the Hobo.
Ruben Archuleta, Pueblo, Colorado's first Hispanic Chief of Police in 1995, and author of several books: I Came From El Valle, Land of the Penitentes, Land of Tradition, Eppie Archuleta and the Tale of Juan de la Burra and Penitente Renaissance, Manifesting Hope.
Carlos Lucero, the first Hispanic president of the Colorado Bar Association, in 1995 became the first Hispanic judge to sit on the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit.
Celedonio Mondragon, founder of the oldest Hispanic fraternal organization in the nation, La Sociedad Protection Mutua de Trabajadores Unidos.
Internationally recognized muralist Fred "Lightning Heart" Haberlein graduated from Antonito High School.
Outsider artist Donald "Cano" Espinoza, builder of the world-famous "Cano's Castle".
State Representative Rafael Gallegos, D-Antonito.
Chicano poet Aaron A. Abeyta was born and raised in Antonito. Abeyta won the American Book Award in 2001 for his first collection of poems, Colcha.
Aspen
In the late 20th century the city developed as a popular destination for celebrities, attracting people like Charlie Sheen, Hunter S. Thompson, and John Denver, the latter having written several songs about the town, including "Aspenglow" and "Starwood in Aspen."
In 1977, notorious serial killer Ted Bundy, while in the Pitkin County Courthouse in Aspen for a pre-trial hearing, jumped from a second-story window and escaped. He remained free for six days, hiding out on Aspen Mountain, before he was arrested while attempting to drive a stolen car out of town.
In 1977, Aspen was thoroughly photographed for the Aspen Movie Map project funded by the U.S. Department of Defense. The Movie Map is one of the earliest examples of virtual reality software.
Aspen is notable as the smallest radio market tracked by Arbitron, ranked at #302.
Notable People
Lance Armstrong, Professional Cyclist
Prince Bandar, former Saudi ambassador to the United States, who has recently listed his 56,000 sq ft (5,200 m2) Aspen compound for $135,000,000 USD
David Beckham and Victoria Beckham
Gretchen Bleiler, Olympic silver medalist in snowboarding
Annabelle Bond, the fastest woman to climb the Seven Summits
Dean Cain, actor
David Robinson, NBA Hall of Fame, San Antonio Spurs
Mariah Carey, singer
Kevin Costner, actor
John Denver, country singer
Michael Eisner, former CEO of Disney
Charlie Sheen, actor
Antonio Banderas and Melanie Griffith
Kurt Russell actor
Goldie Hawn, actress
Kate Hudson, actress
Gino Hollander, painter
Felicity Huffman, actress
Clifford Irving, author
Don Johnson, actor
Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta Jones
Bill Joy, house in Aspen, frequenter of the city's Zélé Café
Warren Lichtenstein, activist hedge fund manager
Claudine Longet, former French actress, singer
Andy Mill, former ski racer, current Gold Cup Tarpon Champion, grew up in Aspen
Martina Navratilova, female tennis player
Jack Nicholson, actor
Billy Gibbons, musician, actor, resident from 1968
John Oates, musician; home in the valley
Molly Sims, model Michelle Pfeiffer, actress
Tim Rattay, UFL quarterback
Giada De Laurentiis, chef
Seal and Heidi Klum
Harold Ross, founder of The New Yorker, born in Aspen and visited many times throughout his life to fish
Spider Sabich, Starwood resident from 1971–76, until shot dead by Claudine Longet
Hunter S. Thompson, lived in Woody Creek, once ran for Pitkin County Sheriff
Robert Wagner, movie and television icon (1950s - 1980s)
Elle Macpherson, model
Ault
Scenes from the 1977 film "One on One", starring Robby Benson and featuring a young Melanie Griffith, were filmed in various Ault locations.
In 1996, the football team enjoyed unprecedented successes and won the 3A state football title Bayfield is home to Steve Flint, the 2005 3A cross-country state champion, the 2006 3A 1600 meter state champion, and the 2006 3A 3200 meter state champion.
In 2005, the boys cross country team won the state meet Bayfield Wrestling won the 2007 Intermountain League Championships
Bennett
The highest temperature ever recorded in Colorado was 118°F (47.8°C) at Bennett on July 11, 1888
Colorado spam king Edward Davidson, known also as the "Colorado Spam King" operated an illegal spamming company, Power promotions, from July 2002 through April 2007 from a home in Bennett where he had a large network of computers and servers, according to federal authorities. The spam contained false header information, concealing the actual sender from the recipient of the e-mail. Davidson provided spammed messages for about 19 different companies, prosecutors said. Some of the e-mailed pitches were used to dupe stock investors and manipulate the market, federal authorities said. Davidson was sentenced to 21 months in federal prison and ordered to pay $714,139 to the Internal Revenue Service.[citation needed] On July 20, 2008 he escaped from a minimum-security prison. Four days later, he was found dead with his wife and a child, after a shooting was reported near Bennett, CO
Kiowa Crossing and train wreck - Until 1878, the town was known as Kiowa Crossing. In May of that year, a heavy rainstorm washed out the railroad bridge to the east of town. A Kansas Pacific Railway train of 25 cars loaded with scrap iron was washed into the stream with engineers Frank Seldon, George Piatt, and John Bacon on board. Most of the wrecked train was recovered, but the locomotive #51 was never officially found. In 1989, archivist Loyd Glasier at Union Pacific found that the railroad had found the locomotive, secretly dug it up, put it back into service, and collected the insurance money in a complex insurance scam. The story of the lost locomotive inspired Clive Cussler to write Night Probe!; His nonprofit NUMA later searched for the locomotive. Seldon and Bacon were married to sisters whose maiden name was Bennett. The town was renamed in their honor.
Bethune
Notable People
Denver Pyle, actor, famous for role of Uncle Jesse on the Dukes of Hazzard, born in Bethune on May 11, 1920. He died on Christmas Day, December 25, 1997
Black Hawk
Bicycling ban - As of January 24th, 2010, the city of Black Hawk banned bicycle use on most of the streets in the city, with the city manager claiming there isn't enough room on the roads for cars, buses, trucks and bicycles.[11] Bicycle advocacy groups are planning a challenge of the new law.[12] Bicycle legal experts suggest that the Black Hawk law is in violation of Colorado law, and therefore illegal and not enforceable.[13] Area bicyclists use the main road in Black Hawk to connect to the Peak to Peak Scenic Byway route. Opponents of the law have suggested a boycott of the town and its businesses.[14][15] The ban was prompted by a surge in vehicular traffic following the change in maximum casino betting limits from $5 to $100. Black Hawk City Manager Michael Copp said that the city council, which passed the new law, believes it is best for the casinos and their patrons. The penalty for riding a bicycle through Black Hawk is a $68 fine
Notable People
Nathaniel P. Hill - Brown University chemistry professor, Black Hawk smelter magnate, U.S. Senator.
William Frederick Cody "Buffalo Bill" - briefly a resident of Black Hawk while searching for gold near the town for two months
Branson
It is the southernmost town in the state of Colorado, located just 0.30 miles (0.48 km) from the New Mexico border.
Breckenridge
Notable among the early prospectors was Edwin Carter - Log Cabin Naturalist who decided to switch from mining to collecting wildlife specimens. His log cabin built in 1875 exists today and has been recently renovated by the Breckenridge Heritage Alliance with interactive exhibits and a small viewing room with a short creative film on his life and the early days around Breckenridge.
Breckenridge was the film location of the 1989 comedy National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation and some scenes in Dumb and Dumber (shots of Aspen in the movie are actually Breckenridge)
Every January, the International Snow Sculpture Championships are held in Breckenridge, where sculptors from around the world compete to create works of art from twenty ton blocks of snow.
Burlington
Notable People
Mike Lounge graduated from Burlington High School with the class of 1964. He is a 1968 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and in 1970 earned a Master of Science degree in Astrogeophysics from the University of Colorado at Boulder. Mr. Lounge flew F-4 Phantoms as a naval aviator in the United States Navy. He later flew on three space missions from 1985 to 1990 as a NASA astronaut.
Mark Hillman graduated from Burlington High School with the class of 1985. Mr. Hillman was elected to the Colorado State Senate in 1998 as a member of the Republican Party. He served as Majority Leader from 2003–2004 and Minority Leader in 2005 before serving as State Treasurer from 2005-2006.
Kale Franz, Ph.D., graduated from Burlington High School with the class of 2000. Dr. Franz is Burlington High School's first graduate to attend Princeton University. He has authored or co-authored 24 publications on applied physics and Quantum Cascade lasers in journals such as Nature Photonics and Nature Materials.[12] Dr. Franz graduated valedictorian from the Colorado School of Mines in 2004 and earned the Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Princeton University in 2009.
Ron Seelhoff, Burlington resident has won two Angler of the Year titles along with two Mercury Championships. He is also a crop duster by profession
Calhan
Notable People
Jesse N. Funk, Medal of Honor, World War I
Campo
The town was used as a location for a scene in the 1982 film Savannah Smiles.
Canon City
Cañon City is noted for being the location of nine state and four Federal prisons and penitentiaries
Notable People
The writer Don Bendell
Emory S. Land, U.S. Navy Vice Admiral, was born in Cañon City.
The artist Dave Merrick
The musician Skip Konte, "Wizard of all Northern Realms"
Royal Gorge Bridge and Park
Cedaredge
Cedaredge is nestled in Surface Creek Valley beneath the southern slopes of the Grand Mesa, the largest mesa in the world.
Central City
The city is an historic mining settlement founded in 1859 during the Pike's Peak Gold Rush, which came to be known as the "Richest Square Mile on Earth
Cherry Hills
It is one of the most affluent places in Colorado and the United States. The city hosted two PGA Championships (1941 & 1985) and the 2005 U.S. Women's Open Golf Championship at the Cherry Hills Country Club. According to common stories amongst members, the classic Arnold Palmer iced tea drink is reported to have been started at the Cherry Hills Country Club . Allegedly, Palmer grew angry at the bartender because the bartender refused to mix lemonade in his iced tea.
Cheyenne Wells
J. L. "Dusty" Rhoades, a young Cheyenne Wells rancher, relocated to Texas in the 1930s, where he was a founder of the American Quarter Horse Association, based in Amarillo
U2 Crash Landing
Cortez
Miracle at Cortez - A Lockheed U-2 "Dragon Lady" reconnaissance aircraft made an emergency nighttime forced landing August 3, 1959 at the Cortez Municipal Airport almost nine months before Gary Powers was shot down over Russia. Major H. Mike Hua (now retired as General) of the ROC (Republic of China) Air Force was on a training flight originating at Laughlin AFB, Texas; the U-2 aircraft engine flamed out at 70,000 feet MSL and Maj. Hua established best glide and was able to navigate through a valley to a lighted airport that wasn't on his map nor he knew its existence beforehand. The airport was the only one in the area with lighted runway which was illuminated overnight.[5][6][7][8][9] The aircraft in question, a U-2D, serial number 56-6721, is on display at Blackbird Airpark, adjacent to USAF Plant 42 at Palmdale, California. Major Hua was later awarded the U.S. Air Force Distinguished Flying Cross for his successful landing of the secret aircraft.
Craig
Hunting - Craig is known as the "Elk Hunting Capital of the World" by many sources, including www.ausa.org and www.californiahuntingtoday.com. While this claim has also been made by other towns and areas, Craig certainly does make a strong claim. Hunters travel to Craig from all over the world to hunt the land of Moffat County for elk and many of them stay in Craig. Craig's tourism relies heavily on hunting, and the town's economy relies on the heavy boost received each winter from travelers.
Crawford
Notable People
Joe Cocker, singer
Crested Butte
In popular culture Crested Butte was the setting and main filming location for the Walt Disney ski movie Snowball Express starring Dean Jones and Harry Morgan.
1970's musicians Brewer and Shipley wrote and performed a song called Crested Butte dedicated to the town.
Crested Butte is the birthplace and hometown of Heidi Montag and Holly Montag of MTV's The Hills.
James Cameron's movie Avatar has parallels to Crested Butte. Cameron has spent a lot of time at his wife's cabin there
Crestone
The Crestone area, which includes the Baca Grande and Moffat, Colorado, is a spiritual and new age center with several world religions represented; including a Hindu temple, a Zen center, a coed Carmelite monastery, several Tibetan centers, and miscellaneous new age happenings.
Colorado-based singer-songwriter Jason Wilder was selected as a finalist in Great Britain's 2007 UK Song Contest for a song he wrote about the town of Crestone.
Cripple Creek
On October 20, 1890, however, Robert Miller "Bob" Womack discovered a rich ore and the last great Colorado gold rush was on. Thousands of prospectors flocked to the region, and before long W. S. Stratton located the famous Independence lode, one of the largest gold strikes in history. In three years, the population increased from 500 to 10,000 by 1893. Though $500,000,000 worth of gold ore was dug from Cripple Creek, Womack himself would die, penniless, on August 10, 1909
Del Norte
Notable People
Alva B. Adams-US Senator representing Colorado.
Kent Rominger-Astronaut attended Del Norte High School.
Dinosaur
Dinosaur National Monument - The monument headquarters is located just east of the town on U.S. Highway 40.
In popular culture
In the October 2009 issue of Dark Avengers by Marvel Comics, Dinosaur, CO is the site of a portal that consumes the Norman Osborn's Dark Avengers.
Dove Creek
Dove Creek is the self-proclaimed Pinto Bean Capital of the World
Durango
Durango hosted the first-ever Mountain Bike World Championships in 1990.
Notable People
Steve Carlton (Former Major League Baseball Pitcher)
The town's outskirts include The Stanley Hotel. Once a fine example of Edwardian opulence, the 1909 building had Stephen King as a guest, inspiring him to change the locale for his novel The Shining from an amusement park to the Stanley's fictional stand-in, the Overlook Hotel.
Estes Park was also the site of the organization of the Credit Union National Association, an important milestone in the history of American credit unions.[5]
Trail Ridge Road, the highest continuous highway in the United States, runs from Estes Park westward through Rocky Mountain National Park, reaching Grand Lake over the continental divide.[6]
The town suffered severe damage in July 1982 from flooding caused by the failure of Lawn Lake Dam
Fairplay
The Town of Fairplay, Colorado, is the basis for the Town of South Park, Colorado, in the television series South Park The town has become mildly famous in recent years as the town depicted in the South Park animated television series on Comedy Central. Although the geographical references contained in several episodes imply that Fairplay is the model for South Park, it is much smaller and more rustic than its fictional counterpart, which has a more suburban character. Co-creator Trey Parker grew up in Conifer and went to high school in Evergreen, both of which are somewhat more affluent mountain communities immediately west of Denver in Jefferson County. Co-creator Matt Stone lived in the Denver suburb of Littleton.
Federal Heights
Federal Heights is the home of a major water park named Water World.
Flagler
Boxer Irish Bob Murphy was born in Flagler.
Author Hal Borland moved to Flagler at age 15 when his father became publisher of one of the local newspapers, and attended high school there.
Historic Events
Flagler is the site of a tragic air show accident that occurred on September 15, 1951. A stunt aircraft performing for Fall Festival Day lost control and impacted the show's spectators, killing twenty people.
Florence
ADX Florence, the only federal Supermax prison in the United States, is located south of Florence in an unincorporated area in Fremont County
Fort Lupton
Notable residents
Brian Shaw, leading American strongman, placed third in the 2009 World's Strongest Man competition.
Fort Morgan
Notable People
Fort Morgan is the burial place of Philip K. Dick, where he was interred alongside his twin sister who died in early childhood.
Fort Morgan is the boyhood home of Big Band musician Glenn Miller. Miller went to High school in Fort Morgan and was known to have once played trumpet on top of Abner Baker, since destroyed in a fire and now rebuilt which at the time was the high school campus but is now reserved for fifth and sixth grades.
Robert G. Whitehead (1916–2007) was born in Fort Morgan to a ranching family. He marketed the first-aid ointment known as "Blue Star". Some 50 million jars are sold annually. The product claims to offer relief from psoriasis, ringworm, athlete's foot and various kinds of itching.
Joel Dreessen, tight end for the Houston Texans, grew up in Fort Morgan and attended Fort Morgan schools. He graduated from Fort Morgan High School in 2000.
Fountain
In 1999, Fountain was chosen as "America's Millennium City" by the New York Times based on the city's proximity to national census statistics and qualitative research on what American life was actually like at the end of the 20th century.
Fountain was named an "All-America City" in 2002 by the National Civic League.
The city is the home of Pikes Peak International Raceway.
Aftermath of the Blast
The Blast
A tremendous train wreck, "The Blast" as it is now known, occurred in Fountain during the spring of 1888. Just after three in the morning on May 14, 1888 a freight train carrying eighteen tons of explosives and a passenger train collided in the city. The accident killed three people: Charles F. Smith, a Fountain lumber dealer originally from Keokuk, Iowa, Henry Hutchins, a Fountain merchant and Mrs. Sarah Widrig a local hat maker from Fountain. (There are conflicting reports of who else died as a result of injuries from the crash.)[4] The "blast" from the collision created a very loud explosion that could be heard from miles away. The crash destroyed a nearby church, a grocery store and created a large crater in the ground forty feet in diameter and fifteen feet deep.[5] The cause of the wreck was attributed to a pair of unruly vagrants who were kicked-off of the freight train north of Fountain in Colorado Springs. After an investigation by The Rocky Mountain News, it was later reported that one of the two vagrants murdered a third man, Frank Shipman, on the freight train. Shipman, who had only one leg, was returning from visiting his brother in Pueblo, Colorado. The unidentified vagrants and Shipman had been arguing and Shipman was struck hard in the head killing him. The men attempted to somehow dispose of Shipman's dead body and cover-up the crime by disconnecting the train car Shipman's body was in sending it down the railroad tracks. The train car Shipman's body was in, three other train cars carrying the explosive naphtha and the caboose of the freight train were disconnected by the men and sent southbound towards Fountain. Meanwhile, a passenger train was traveling northbound on the same tracks. The collision followed. Thirty riders on board the northbound passenger train were able to escape the locomotive before the collision thanks to a frantic warning from the conductor. Twenty-eight people were injured. The vagrants suspected at the root of Shipman's murder and the train wreck were never found and no one was ever charged with a crime.[6] "The Blast" remains a legendary event in the city's history. It is commemorated with an annual street dance held at Fountain's City Hall Plaza each July.
Notable People
Chase Headley MLB - San Diego Padres
Phil Loadholt NFL - Minnesota Vikings
Fraser
Fraser, with an annual mean temperature of 32.5 °F (or 34.8 °F based on another station in town) is the coldest incorporated town in the lower 48 states. It also has the shortest growing season with an average of only 4 to 7 days (depending on which weather station data is used) and can and does get frost year-round. Both Fraser and International Falls, Minnesota have claimed the title "Icebox of the Nation," which has caused conflict between the two towns over the years
Frisco
It is a popular town among skiers from around the world. Four major ski resorts are located in close proximity to Frisco: Copper Mountain, Breckenridge, Keystone, and Arapahoe Basin.
Fruita
Fat Tire Festival For the bike enthusiast, races, live music and lots of fun. Every year in Spring. [1]
Mike The Headless Chicken Festival = Fruita is known for Mike the Headless Chicken, a rooster who lived for 18 months after his head was cut off. Lloyd Olsen, the remover of Mike's head, would give him food and water with an eye dropper. He grew to be almost 8 lb (3.6 kg). Mike went on to tour the country as a side show. A festival in his honor is held each May in Fruita.
Fruita Fall Festival This festival started in 1910 as a harvest festival and has evolved to a major event. There is live music, carnival rides, a parade, vendors selling everything from homemade jams and candles to clothing and jewellery, a wide variety of foods.
Genoa
World's Wonder View Tower, a tourist trap and roadside attraction
Glenwood Springs
Notable People
President Teddy Roosevelt who spent an entire summer vacation living out of the historic Hotel Colorado.
Doc Holliday, a wild west legend from the O.K. Corral gunfight, spent the final months of his life in Glenwood Springs and is buried in the town's original cemetery above Bennett Avenue.
Infamous serial killer Ted Bundy was imprisoned in the Glenwood Springs jail until he escaped on the night of December 30, 1977, an escape which went undetected for 17 hours
Scott McInnis — Former US Congressman representing Colorado.
Sarah Schleper — Alpine skier.
John David Vanderhoof — Former Colorado governor.
Bobby Julich — Bike racer and Bronze medalist at the 2004 Athens Olympics
Blake Neubert — Artist
Doc Holliday — Wild West gunfighter, gambler, and dentist
Golden
The Coors Brewing Company
the Colorado Railroad Museum.
It is the birthplace of the Jolly Rancher, a candy bought out by the Hershey Foods Corporation.
Famous western showman William F. "Buffalo Bill" Cody is buried nearby on Lookout Mountain.
Notable People
Golden has had a long, rich history spanning nearly one and a half centuries, which includes many who were important in Colorado and American History. A few people that have been born, lived, or died in the Golden area are:
Edward L. Berthoud (1830–1910),
Colorado engineer, historian, geologist
Ward Bond (actor) briefly attended the Colorado School of Mines in the early 1920s.
Leroy Taylor Brown, Olympic silver medalist, men's high jump, Paris 1924
Frances Xavier Cabrini (Mother Cabrini), American-Italian saint
Dutch Clark (Pro football hall of fame) was the football coach at Mines in 1933.
Adolph Coors (1847–1929), co-founder of the Adolph Coors Company
Alexander Cummings (1810–1879), Territorial Governor of Colorado
James Darden (Coach of original Denver Nuggets, member Colorado Sports Hall of Fame)
William L. Douglas (Founder Douglas Shoe Company, Governor of Massachusetts)
Douglas Fairbanks (Movie actor)
George A. Grosvenor (National Football League player, Chicago Bears, Chicago Cardinals)
Bill and Dorothy Harmsen (Founders of Jolly Rancher)
Roy Hartzell (Major League Baseball utility player, St. Louis Browns, New York Highlanders/Yankees)
Edgar Watson Howe (Author, newspaper editor)
Albert E. Jones (Major League Baseball pitcher, Cleveland Spiders, St. Louis Perfectos/Cardinals)
Gertrude Kasebier (Photographic artist)
Ron Kiefel (bicycle racer) was a student at Mines in the early 1980s.
Arthur Lakes (Geologist and paleontologist, discoverer of Brontosaurus and Stegosaurus near Golden)
William A. H. Loveland (Colorado railroad pioneer and industrialist)
Keli McGregor (Major League Baseball executive, president Colorado Rockies, National Football League player, Denver Broncos, Indianapolis Colts, Seattle Seahawks)
Mark Melancon (Major League Baseball pitcher, New York Yankees)
Chick Morrison (Movie actor)
Frank B. Morrison (Governor of Nebraska)
Pete Morrison (Movie actor)
George Alexander Parks (Territorial Governor of Alaska)
George M. Pullman (Railroad industrialist)
Steve Reed (Major League Baseball pitcher, San Francisco Giants, Colorado Rockies, Cleveland Indians, Atlanta Braves, San Diego Padres, New York Mets, Baltimore Orioles)
George Eliphaz Spencer (Founder of Breckenridge, Colorado, Alabama Senator)
Charles David Spivak (Founder Jewish Consumptives Relief Society)
Robert Williamson Steele (Nebraska Territorial Senator, popularly elected Governor of provisional Jefferson Territory)
Joseph C. Taylor{{Fact}date = November 2010}}(Colonel leading Philippines resistance in World War II, author of They Fought Alone)
J.J. Thomas (Olympic bronze medalist, men's halfpipe snowboarding, Salt Lake City 2002)
John Charles Vivian (Governor of Colorado)
John F. Vivian{{Fact}date = November 2010}} (Colorado Republican leader)
Robert H. Waterman Jr., co-author of In Search of Excellence, earned a degree in geophysics from Mines.
Shane Carwin, Heavyweight top contender in the UFC, received a bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Colorado School of Mines.
Granada
The Granada War Relocation Center (also Camp Amache) was a Japanese American internment camp located in southeast Colorado about a mile west of the small farming community of Granada, south of US 50. Notable internees Robert S. Hamada (born 1937), the Edward Eagle Brown Distinguished Service Professor of Finance and former Dean of the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business Mike Honda (born 1941), an American politician Lawson Fusao Inada (born 1938), an American poet. Also interned at Jerome Yasuhiro Ishimoto (born 1921), an influential photographer Kiyoshi K. Muranaga (1922–1944), a United States Army soldier and a recipient of the Medal of Honor Walter Oi (born 1929), the Elmer B. Milliman Professor of Economics at the University of Rochester and fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Arthur Okamura (1932–2009), an American artist Pat Suzuki (born 1930), a popular singer and actress George Yuzawa (born 1915), a community activist
In media - Author Sandra Dallas uses Granada as the basis of her fictional work Tallgrass
In the news On June 4, 2004, Marvin Heemeyer, a local businessman and skilled welder, used a 50-ton Komatsu D335A bulldozer he had custom armed and armor-plated (often dubbed by locals and the media as "The Kill Dozer") to damage or destroy several buildings in the town, including its town hall, the public library, a bank, a concrete batch plant, and a house owned by the town's former mayor, resulting in over $7 million in damage. Heemeyer was reportedly upset over a zoning dispute which he believed led to the closure of his muffler shop; he targeted buildings owned by those involved in his dispute. Nobody was injured in the incident, though Heemeyer committed suicide when the engine in the bulldozer gave out.
Grand Lake
Notable People
Marvin Heemeyer - guy who went on bulldozer rampage
Grover
Allusions in literature Willa Cather's 1900 short story The Affair at Grover Station contains a description of Grover, as per, 'You know what Grover is, a red box of a station, section house barricaded by coal sheds and a little group of dwellings at the end of everything, with the desert running out on every side to the sky line.
Gunnison
After the killing of Curley Bill, the Earps left Arizona and headed to Colorado. In a stop over in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Wyatt and Holliday had a falling out but remained on fairly good terms. The group split up after that with Holliday heading to Pueblo and then Denver. The Earps and Texas Jack set up camp on the outskirts of Gunnison, Colorado, where they remained quiet at first, rarely going into town for supplies. Eventually, Wyatt took over a faro game at a local saloon. Slowly all of the Earp assets in Tombstone were sold to pay for taxes, and the stake the family had amassed eroded. Wyatt and Warren joined Virgil in San Francisco in late 1882. While there, Wyatt rekindled a romance with Josie Marcus, Behan's one-time fiancée. His common-law wife, Mattie waited for him in Colton but eventually realized Wyatt was not coming back (Wyatt had left Mattie the house when he left Tombstone). Earp left San Francisco with Josie in 1883 and she became his companion for the next forty-six years (no marriage certificate has been found). Earp and Marcus returned to Gunnison where they settled down, where that state’s governor refused to extradite Wyatt back to Arizona on the grounds that he could not get a fair trial, and Earp continued to run a faro bank.
Gunnison residents isolated themselves from the surrounding area during the Spanish Influenza epidemic for two months at the end of 1918. All highways were barricaded near the county lines. Train conductors warned all passengers that if they stepped outside of the train in Gunnison, they would be arrested and quarantined for five days. As a result of the isolation, no one died of influenza in Gunnison during the epidemic. This served as partial inspiration for the novel The Last Town on Earth.
In the media Gunnison County is the setting of the science fiction film Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem, although the film was actually shot in the towns of Port Coquitlam and Port Moody, British Columbia.[10][11]
Gunnison is also the setting of the 1960-1961 syndicated western television series Two Faces West.
In 2009, Gunnison served as a launch site and mission control facility in Stephen Baxter's post-apocalyptic science fiction novel, Ark.
Notable People
Patricia Elliott, Tony Award-winning actress
Haswell
Haswell is believed to have the United States' smallest jail. The Jail is approximately 12 feet by 14 feet (Exterior Dimensions), Which makes it several feet smaller in each dimension than that of Randsburg, California's jail
Hayden
Notable People
Earl Bascom, Hollywood actor, artist, sculptor, inventor, rodeo pioneer who lived and cowboyed in Hayden in the 1930s.
Holly
Located four miles (6 km) from the Kansas border at an elevation of 3,392 feet (1,034 m), Holly is the least elevated town in Colorado
Notable People
Holly is the hometown of former Colorado Governor Roy Romer, who moved there as an infant from his birthplace of Garden City, Kansas. Roemer is also a former chairman of the Democratic National Committee and a longtime supporter of U.S. President Bill Clinton.
Idaho Springs
The 1969 film Downhill Racer, portrayed an alpine ski racer from Idaho Springs, played by Robert Redford; a brief scene was shot on location in Idaho Springs.
Several scenes from the comedy film The Overbrook Brothers were filmed here in the spring of 2008.
Famous residents Jennifer Whalen is a professional mountain bike racer who resided in Idaho Springs since 2002.
Julesburg
The second episode (1955) of the ABC western Cheyenne, starring Clint Walker, is entitled "Julesburg". In the story line, Julesburg is depicted as under the control of a ruthless cattle baron played by Ray Teal, later cast as the sheriff in the NBC series Bonanza.
Jack Slade - In 1858, Joseph A. "Jack" Slade, a superintendent for the Central Overland California and Pikes Peak Express Company, was tracking down horse thieves, including Jules Beni. Slade caught up with him at Julesburg, but Beni shot him five times. Everybody thought that Slade was dead and several angry townsfolk chased Beni out of Julesburg. When they returned, they found Slade struggling to his feet, having miraculously recovered. Beni continued to steal horses from the Pike's Peak Express Company, and Slade vowed to hunt him down. Beni attempted to ambush Slade at Slade's own ranch at Cold Springs. But Slade found out about the planned ambush and, along with some of his cowboys, captured Beni. Slade did not take Beni to authorities but instead shot him dead while he was tied to a fence post.[8] He shot off each of his fingers, and then put the gun in Beni's mouth and pulled the trigger. Afterward, he severed Beni's ears as trophies.[citation needed] This account is among the Stories of the Century, a syndicated television series starring and narrated by Jim Davis, which aired on March 4, 1955. Gregg Palmer (born 1927) played the role of Slade, and Paul Newlan (1903-1973) portrayed Beni.
Kim
Rodeo star Lane Frost was born in La Junta in 1963 but spent his first days with his mother and grandparents in Kim, while his father was on tour.
In 1979, the first episodes of the CBS western miniseries The Chisholms, starring Robert Preston, was filmed near La Junta.
Purgatoire River track site, one of the largest dinosaur track sites in North America, is south of La Junta
Notable People
Ken Kesey, a writer, was born in La Junta
J. F. Burshears, the founder of the Koshare Indian Dancers
Lane Frost, rodeo star born in La Junta in 1963
Wendell Fertig, World War II hero who led the guerrilla resistance against the Japanese on the Philippine island of Mindanao.
Felix Tippy Martinez, major league pitcher born in La Junta. Set a major league record by picking off three base runners off in one inning.
Lafayette
Lars Grimsrud, aerospace engineer and performance automobile enthusiast
Lamar
The northern site of the Pierre Auger Observatory of ultra-high energy cosmic rays is planned to be built near Lamar.
Notable People
Gordon L. Allott — U.S. Senator from Colorado from 1955–1973, practiced law in Lamar.
Ken Curtis — Actor (Festus Haggen on Gunsmoke) and Western music singer, reared in Las Animas near Lamar
Scott Elarton — Major League Baseball pitcher.
Doug Brocail — Major League Baseball pitcher.
Larkspur
Each year on weekends in June and July, the Colorado Renaissance Festival is held in the hills just west of the town
Las Animas
Las Animas is home to the Kit Carson Museum.
Notable People
Ceran St. Vrain, businessman
Charles Bent, pioneer
Donetta Davidson, Colorado Secretary of State, 1999–2006
John W. Rawlings, civic leader
Ken Curtis, actor; "Festus Haggen" on CBS's Gunsmoke
Kenneth Kester, Colorado State Senator, District 2
Kit Carson, pioneer
Llewellyn Thompson, U.S. Ambassador to Austria and Soviet Union. Ambassador Thompson Blvd, one of Las Animas' main streets, is named for him.
Mari Yoriko Sabusawa, wife of James Michener
William Bent, pioneer
Leadville
Situated at an elevation of 10,152 feet (3094 m), Leadville is the highest incorporated city and the second highest incorporated municipality in the United States
In 1874, gold miners at Oro City discovered that the heavy sand that impeded their gold recovery was the lead mineral cerussite, that carried a high content of silver. Prospectors traced the cerussite to its source, and by 1876, had discovered several lode silver-lead deposits. The city of Leadville was founded near to the new silver deposits in 1877 by mine owners Horace Austin Warner Tabor and August Meyer[6] , setting off the Colorado Silver Boom. By 1880, Leadville was one of the world's largest silver camps, with a population of over 40,000.
Confederate scout, cowboy and stage actor with "Buffalo Bill" Cody's travelling revue, Texas Jack Omohundro died here in the summer of 1880, of pneumonia, one month before his 34th birthday. He was living there on a small estate with his wife, ballerina Giuseppina Morlacchi. It was during this period that Leadville saw its most dangerous days, finally brought under control by little-known American Old West lawman Mart Duggan.
In 1882, the Tabor Opera House hosted Oscar Wilde during his lecture tour, one of many celebrities who graced the city. Mayor David H. Dougan invited Wilde to tour the Matchless silver mine and open their new lode: "The Oscar." Wilde later recounted a visit to a local saloon, "where I saw the only rational method of art criticism I have ever come across. Over the piano was printed a notice – 'Please do not shoot the pianist. He is doing his best.'"
Around 1883, outlaw Doc Holliday moved to Leadville, shortly after the gun fight at the O.K. Corral. On August 19, 1884, Holliday shot ex-Leadville policeman, Billy Allen, after Allen threatened Holliday for failing to pay a $5 debt. Despite overwhelming evidence implicating him, a jury found Holliday not-guilty of the shooting or attempted murder
Notable People
Jesse Fuller McDonald, Mayor of Leadville (1899–1905), Lt. Governor of Colorado (1904–1905), and Governor of Colorado (1905–1907).
Harvey Seeley Mudd, famous mining engineer and founder of Cyprus Mines Corporation. Harvey Mudd College is named in his memory.
Jamie Paulin-Ramirez, American Muslim convert arrested in the Jihad Jane plot to kill a Danish artist.
Barry Sadler- United States Army Green Beret and songwriter
Baby Doe Tabor, second wife of Horace Tabor Horace Tabor, prospector, businessman, and politician.
In Popular Culture
Film - The Unsinkable Molly Brown The Silver King with Edgar G. Robinson playing Horace A. W. Tabor Day of the Dead, setting but not filming location. Under Siege 2: Dark Territory: the Leadville Airport in the first few minutes was dressed as the National Guard Leadville Airbase. Silver City: The downtown strip of Leadville, plus locations around the county were featured. Switchback, some filming locations.
Television/Music - Pepsi's Super Bowl XXX ad, "Northern Exposure" dressed Leadville as an Alaskan logging town. The Ballad of Baby Doe, 1956 opera by Douglas Moore Incommunicado, by Jimmy Buffett, M.L. Benoit, and Deborah McColl. Buffett mentions Leadville in the lyrics of this song.
Literature - Angle of Repose, a 1972 novel by Wallace Stegner Plague Year, a bestselling 2007 novel by Jeff Carlson. In this novel, Leadville is the new U.S. capital with a population of 650,000 refugees. Plague War, a 2008 award-nominated sequel by Jeff Carlson. Leadville becomes the scene of international espionage and betrayal as world war consumes the planet.
Limon
Limon was the site of one of the most gruesome lynchings in American history on November 16, 1900. Preston Porter Jr, accused of the murder of a white girl, was led by rope through town, and then tied to a stake and burned while he was reading the Bible. He screamed out to be shot, but onlookers only heaped on more fuel, according to an article in the November 17, 1900 edition of The New York Time
Louisville
In recent years Louisville has been recognized in four publications as one of the best places to live and raise a family in the United States In July 2005, CNN/Money and Money magazine ranked Louisville fifth on their list of the 100 best places to live in the United States. Criteria included financial, housing, education, quality of life, leisure and culture, and weather data.[6]
In May 2006, Bert Sperling & Peter Sander, authors of the book Best Places to Raise Your Family: The Top 100 Affordable Communities in the U.S., ranked Louisville first on their list of best places in the U.S. to raise a family.[7][8]
In August 2007, CNN/Money and Money magazine again ranked Louisville third on their list of the 100 best places to live in the United States.[6] In July 2009, CNN/Money and Money named Louisville the Winner and ranked first on their list of 100 best places to live in the United St
Jack Dempsey - The Manassa Mauler
Manassa
Notable People
Heavyweight champion boxer Jack Dempsey. The Jack Dempsey Museum is located on the town's main street.[7]
Ken Salazar Secretary of the Interior, Former U. S. Senator, Democrat, first elected 2004 for a six-year term. Former Attorney General for the State of Colorado.
John Salazar - U. S. Representative, Democrat, Third Congressional District, first elected in 2004 (Members of Congress run for re-election every two years). Former State Representative. Colorado's 3rd congressional district covers a large part of the state - about half of all the state's counties.
Manassa turquoise is mined east of Manassa, in south central Colorado. It is known for its blue-green to green color with a golden or brown, non-webbed matrix. The Manassa mine is still in production, and owned by the King family, thus the alternate name sometimes used for this turquoise. This stone is a favorite of many; the beautiful green color is very striking, excellent when used in gold. The Manassa area has long been known for its beautiful silver and turquoise jewelry and also for the production of fine pewter items
Mancos
Notable People
Former NFL Pro Bowl DE Luther Elliss
Marble
The quarry The town is noted as the location of a historic Yule Marble quarry along the mountains that began operations in the late 19th century, and from which the town draws its name. The marble of the quarry is considered to be of exceptional quality and has been used for the Tomb of the Unknowns, as well as for parts of the Lincoln Memorial and civic buildings in San Francisco. It was also used for the construction of the Equitable Building, a historically important early skyscraper in New York City.
Mead
Mead was mentioned as the origin of a silver dolphin pendant in Bones, Season 2, Episode 11.
Scenes from the movie Die Hard 2 starring Bruce Willis were filmed at the Highlandlake Church outside of Mead.
Meeker
The town is named for Nathan Meeker, the United States Native American agent who was killed along with 11 other U.S. citizens by Ute Indians in the 1879 Meeker Massacre. The site of the massacre is located along State Highway 64 in the White River valley east of town and is marked by a prominent sign. After the massacre and the ensuing conflict known as the Ute War, the Ute population was forced to relocate to reservations in Utah and the United States Army established a garrison on the current site of the town.
Montrose
Montrose was the birthplace, in 1905, of Dalton Trumbo, famous screenwriter and member of the Hollywood Ten. He was also well known as a novelist. His Johnny Got His Gun is considered an anti-war classic.
William Lee Knous, who was born in nearby Ouray, Colorado, lived in Montrose, and served as president of the Montrose Chamber of Commerce, Montrose mayor, city attorney, and deputy district attorney before winning a seat in the Colorado State Legislature as a representative in 1929. Two years later, he was elected to the State Senate. Knous was elected Governor of Colorado in 1946. In 1950, Knous resigned as governor and was sworn in as U.S. District Judge
Monument
Notable People
Wayne Laugesen, American writer, columnist, editorial page editor Colorado Springs Gazette
Jesse McCormick, French Horn, The Cleveland Orchestra
Kurt Lewis, actor, writer, and podcaster on Playing In Peoria
Pat Garrity, Former NBA player
Jennifer Sipes, actress and model, born in Monument
Istvan Prileszky, civil rights activist
Bobby Burling, Professional MLS Player, attended Lewis-Palmer High School
Red Rocks Amphitheatre - Morrison
Morrison
It is notably where Red Rocks Amphitheatre is located.
Notable People
Famous Folk Singer Patrick Park
Prominent Christian Writer Margaret Feinberg
Mountain Village
Mockumentary - The community was the subject of a mockumentary called The Lost People Of Mountain Village which spoofed the artificial nature of the residential development, noting the lack of basic services such as grocery stores
Nederland
Nederland hosts two major music events every year: NedFest (aka The Nederland Music & Arts Festival) and Frozen Dead Guy Days next to Barker Meadow Reservoir.
Legalization of marijuana On Tuesday, April 6, 2010, Nederland became the first town in Colorado[8] to legalize the sale, purchase, possession, consumption, and transportation, cultivation, manufacturing, dispensing of marijuana and its concentrates and related paraphernalia for persons 21 years of age, and older. Denver was the first[9] city in Colorado to decriminalize marijuana in 2005 with Breckenridge approving decriminalization in 2009
New Castle
New Castle is the site of a mine fire that has been burning since 1899
Nucla
Notable People
Bill Symons, Canadian Football Hall of Famer.
Mikael Smith, 12th Colorado 4x State Wrestling Champion
"Cowboy" Larry Lane, Professional wrestler, former Nucla High teacher and coach
Tucker Lane, Multiple state wrestling champ and 4-time Warior Classic champ
Rob McCabe, 2X State Champion, 1st Collegiate All-American, 2X Wrestling All-American at Adams State, placing 4th both times at 125 pounds in 2005 and 2006
Thomas "Truck" Stevenson 2000 1A Football State Champions. 2X All State Football. Played Division 2 football at Fort Lewis College. 2X All-RMAC 1st Team Defensive Lineman and 2X National Football Foundation & Hall of Fame ALL-Colorado Defensive Lineman. Lead Fort Lewis to its best season in 20 years to 7-4 winning the Dixie Bowl in 2006. Coached defensive line at Fort Lewis in 2005,2007,2008 seasons.
Olathe
Olathe Sweet Corn Festival (OSCF) Since 1992, this annual town festival[7] has been held each summer, dedicated to the region's "agricultural jewel", Olathe Sweet Corn
Ophir
Ophir was the site of the world's first commercial system to generate and transmit alternating current electricity, the Ames Hydroelectric Generating Plant.
Ouray
Famous baseball pitcher Smoky Joe Wood was born in Kansas City but grew up in Ouray
Ouray bills itself as the "Switzerland of America" because of its setting at the narrow head of a valley, enclosed on three and a half sides by steep mountains
Ouray has also become a popular destination for motorcyclist as it marks the beginning of the Million Dollar Highway. This stretch of highway connects Ouray to its neighboring cities of Silverton and Durango. The Million Dollar Highway is frequently regarded as one of the most beautiful roads in Colorado, but is also considered one of the most dangerous due to its sharp turns, steep ledges, and lack of guard rails
Ouray is the winter ice-climbing capital of the U.S [11]. The world's first ice climbing park, expanding on previously-popular natural falls, consists of dozens of frozen waterfalls from 80 to 200 feet (61 m) high farmed along more than a mile of the Uncompahgre Gorge. The water is supplied by a sprinkler system developed and maintained by a volunteer organization and supported by donations from local businesses, gear manufacturers and climbers. The Ouray Ice Park is free and attracts climbers from around the world.
The annual Ice Festival is a weekend-long extravaganza of contests, exhibitions and instruction with many of the world's top ice climbers. Ice climbing has been a boon to the local economy as well, with hotels and restaurants that previously closed through the winter months now staying open to accommodate climbers.
Ouray in Popular Culture
In the fall of 1968 the film True Grit was filmed in Ouray County, including some scenes in the city of Ouray and the nearby town of Ridgway and, possibly most notably, the interior of the Ouray County Court House.
In Ayn Rand's novel Atlas Shrugged, the protagonist's secret hideaway was in a beautiful valley in the Rocky Mountains called Mulligan's Valley or "Galt's Gulch." Galt's Gulch was inspired by Ouray, where Rand found inspiration to complete the novel, though she greatly expanded the small valley to include her many ideas for the story [15].
Telluride native David Lavender related his experiences working at the Camp Bird Mine in the 1930s in his memoir One Man's West.
Coors and Chevrolet have both filmed commercials in the area, particularly Twin Falls in Yankee Boy Basin.
Pagosa Springs
People gather at the Hot Springs, one of the largest and hottest natural springs in the world, and one which continues to be celebrated for its therapeutic powers
"Downtown Pagosa Springs" was the final destination for a duo of truckers in the 1975 country song "Wolf Creek Pass" by C.W. McCall.
U.S. Highway 160 from the pass to town goes through a vertical drop of around 5,000 feet (1,500 m), and is described in the song as "hairpin county and switchback city".
Palisade
Colorado's peach capital.
Palmer Lake
Palmer Lake Star In 1935, B.E. Jack and Bert Sloan proposed the construction of a large Star of Bethlehem on the side of Sundance Mountain in Palmer Lake. The five-pointed star, measuring 500 feet (150 m) across and consisting of 91, 40-watt non-glare bulbs, is lit for the month of December and for other special occasions. Construction on the project was a community effort
Paonia
Cherry Days - Paonia celebrates its "Cherry Days" festival annually on the week of July 4. It features parades, a carnival, games, arts and crafts and musical performances.
Mountain Harvest - Festival The Mountain Harvest Festival is a 3 day event in downtown Paonia held during the last weekend of September. There are over 20 musical acts, poetry, an art show, a chili cook off, a street dance, crafts, wine tasting, as well as classes on canning, raising livestock and sustainable living.
BMW rally - Paonia usually hosts an annual rally for BMW motorcycle enthusiasts, who descend upon the town in mid-summer and stay for several days.
Dreamtime Festival - The annual Dreamtime Festival has been hosted annually just outside of Paonia since 2002. Dreamtime combines live performances and music with educational workshops, theme camps and art installations. This fusion includes dancing, interactive sculptures, costumes, fire performances, theater, multimedia, creative fashion shows, DJs, a myriad of workshops, movement classes, healing camps, acoustic stages, and the inspired contributions of participants.
Pierce
In popular culture The opening scene of the 2000 science fiction film Titan A.E. takes place in Pierce, Colorado.
Platteville
From 1968 until 1984, Platteville was home to one of the earliest ionospheric heating facilities capable of radiating about 100 MW ERP. Early experiments included HF heater induced air-glow, heater-induced spread F, wide band heater-induced absorption, and heater-created field-aligned ionization, refer to HAARP.
Pritchett
In Popular Culture
The film "Hi-Lo Country" a 1998 drama/western film directed by Stephen Frears, starring Billy Crudup, Woody Harrelson, Cole Hauser, Sam Elliott, Patricia Arquette, Penelope Cruz and Enrique Castillo, was filmed in part in the town of Pritchett.
Rico
Notable People
Howard Ramsey (1898-2007), one of the last surviving World War I veterans, was born in Rico.
Clifford J. Laube (1891-1974), former New York Times Editor and Poet, was a native of Rico.
Ridgway
Ridgway and the surrounding area have featured predominantly in pop culture. Most notably the area is the setting of John Wayne's western movie True Grit, and others including How the West Was Won and Tribute to a Bad Man
The Grammy Awards - The Grammy Award trophy is manufactured exclusively by Billings Artworks in Ridgway.[1] The trophies are all hand made, assembled, and plated on site.
Rifle
In Popular Culture
On August 10, 1972, Christo and Jeanne-Claude completed the Valley Curtain project at Rifle Gap, a few miles north of the town of Rifle. The completed curtain hung for only 28 hours before it was ripped by a gust of wind.[9]
A portion of the film Vanishing Point was filmed in Rifle. Scenes include a shot of Kowalski's car crossing a white metal bridge and confronting Utah state patrol cars.
Rocky Ford
Rocky Ford is noted for its cantaloupes and watermelons. Most of the Rocky Mountain region and the United States receives melon seeds from here.[citation needed] Rocky Ford recently gained international attention with U.S. President Barack Obama's public endorsement of their melons
Saguache
Convicted cannibal Alferd Packer served time in the Saguache County Jail.
Salida
Salida is home to the annual FIBArk kayak race, one of the oldest whitewater races in North America.
Notable People
Sally Blane - Actress
Leslie White – Anthropologist
San Luis
San Luis is the oldest town in the State of Colorado.
Rocky Mountain Oysters AKA Bulls Testicles
Severance
Severance is famous within the region as the location of Bruce's Bar, a local watering hole founded in the 1950s. Located on the northwest corner of Fourth Avenue and Weld County Road 23, Bruce's was well-known for its offering of Rocky Mountain oysters (deep-fried bull testicles). The bar was particularly popular as a gathering place for recreational motorcyclists within the region. This included the Two-Wheelers Motorcycle Club Nut Run in the fall of each year. Members from Cheyenne, WY and Denver would converge with thousands of other bikers in the region in a traditional end of riding season ride to Bruce's for music, beer and bikes.
Sheridan
Legend - Sheridan was the setting for the short-lived western Legend. When the writers originally chose the name, they were not aware that the town of "Sheridan, Colorado" existed.[11] The show takes place in 1876, some time before Sheridan was incorporated.
Silver Cliff
Silver Cliff Cemetery - Just outside of the town of Silver Cliff is Silver Cliff Cemetery established in the early 1880s. It has been known for the mysterious lights that float around the cemetery at night
Silverton
Notable People
Robert Baer, author and former case officer at the Central Intelligence Agency
Brison D. Gooch, retired historian of 19th century Europe, former school board member, city council member, and mayor pro tempore of Silverton
Harold Ross, founding editor of The New Yorker who was a native of Aspen, Colorado
In Popular Culture
In the novel The Christopher Killer by Alane Ferguson, the main setting is in Silverton.
Country singer C. W. McCall recorded "The Silverton," about the Silverton and Durango Railroad, on his 1975 album Black Bear Road
Silverton was the setting for some of Shaun White's 2010 Olympic training. Taking advantage of the secluded locale, terrain and snow fall, Red Bull built a private halfpipe for the snowboarder. Known as "Project X," the halfpipe was completed in Feb. 2009 on the backside of Silverton Mountain and allowed the boarder to perfect some of his gold medal winning moves far from prying eyes
Simla
Big Sandy High School in Simla, Colorado has a tradition of athletic success. The Simla Cubs have won 11 team state championships.[8] Championships include: 5 football, 2 boys basketball, 1 girls basketball, 2 girls volleyball and 1 boys track and field, as well as several individual state champions. Notable athletes from Simla include Glenn Morris, gold medal winner of the 1936 Olympic decathlon, as well as Barry Helton, former professional football player in the NFL.
Snowmass Village
Best known as the location of the Snowmass ski area,
Paul Soldner, a ceramic artist noted for developing American Raku, established a studio in the Anderson Ranch buildings in 1966. In 1968, he founded the Anderson Ranch Art Center and it incorporated in 1973. The Anderson Ranch Art Center on Owl Creek Road uses many of the original buildings from the Hoaglund Ranch, although not in their original location, farther down stream on what is now Snowmass Club Circle.
Notorious serial killer Ted Bundy abducted and murdered victim Caryn Campbell in Snowmass on January 12, 1975.
South Fork
In the 1983 movie National Lampoon's Vacation starring Chevy Chase as Clark Griswold, the Griswold family spend the night at a camping ground in South Fork.
Steamboat Springs
The town is an internationally known winter resort destination.
It is also the setting of Avi's The Good Dog.
Steamboat Springs offers excellent skiing opportunities (also see history section) and has been the locale of world class skiing competitions, including competitions for the 1989 and 1990 Alpine Skiing World Cup. The Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club has brought forward many successful skiers, and the Steamboat Ski Resort attracts a large number of visiting snow aficionados.
Every year on the first weekend of June, Steamboat Springs organizes the Yampa River Festival. It includes a kayak rodeo (i.e. a playboating competition) which attracts national and international world class playboaters. Further events are a downriver race, Colorado's only upstream slalom race, the Crazy River Dog Contest, in which dogs retrieve sticks from the river and may pass a whitewater section, and others
Notable People
Debbie Armstrong (* 1963), alpine skier and Olympic gold medalist; lives in Steamboat Springs
Nelson Carmichael (* 1965), mogul skier and Olympic bronze medalist; born in Steamboat Springs
Taylor Fletcher (*1990), Nordic combined skier; competed in his first Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver in 2010
Billy Kidd (*1943), alpine skier and Olympic silver medalist; moved to Steamboat Springs in 1970 and serves as the Director of Skiing for the Steamboat Ski Resort
Todd Lodwick (* 1976), Nordic combined skier and Olympic silver medalist; born in Steamboat Springs
Verne Lundquist (* 1940), American Sportscaster; resides in Steamboat Springs
Travis Mayer (* 1982), freestyle skier and Olympic silver medalist; moved to Steamboat Springs to attend the Lowell Whiteman School
Carey McWilliams (1905-1980), author, editor, and lawyer known for progressive ideas; born in Steamboat Springs
Robin Olds (1922-2007), ace fighter pilot and WWII/Vietnam fighter group commander; retired in Steamboat
Reese Roper (* 1973), singer and songwriter; born in Steamboat Springs
Andrew Sisco (* 1983), baseball player; born in Steamboat Springs
Johnny Spillane (* 1980), Nordic combined skier and three-time Olympic silver medalist; born in Steamboat Springs
Alvin P. Wegeman (* 1927), Nordic combined skier; helped to develop the Steamboat Springs area for skiing
Buddy Werner (1936-1964), Olympic alpine skier who had Mount Werner named in his honor in 1965 following his death in an avalanche; born and raised in Steamboat Springs
Gordon Wren (1919-1999), ski jumper; last lived and died in Steamboat Springs
Superior
In popular culture Sections of the 1985 movie American Flyers were filmed in Superior.
Notable People
Marcelo Balboa - soccer star
Mike Dodge - Marshall University running star
Hiro Branson - World Video Game Tournament champion (2001, 2002)
Telluride
Telluride and the surrounding area have featured prominently in pop culture. The town of Telluride has served as the backdrop for several television commercials, is home to an international film festival, and has been the subject of songs such as "Smugglers Blues" by Glenn Frey, an essay by Edward Abbey, and eponymous songs by The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Kate Wolf, and Tim McGraw.
Telluride is also known for its ski resort and slopes during the winter as well as an extensive festival schedule during the summer.
In June 1889, Butch Cassidy before becoming associated with his gang, "the wild bunch", robbed the San Miguel Valley Bank in Telluride. This was his first major recorded crime. He exited the bank with $24,580, and later became famous as a bank robber.
In 1891, Telluride's L.L. Nunn joined forces with Nikola Tesla and George Westinghouse and built the Ames Hydroelectric Generating Plant, the world's first commercial-grade alternating-current power plant, near Telluride. (Nunn's home can be found at the corner of Aspen and Columbia Streets; next door is the home he purchased for the "pinheads"[citation needed] to study hydro-electric engineering.) The hydro-powered electrical generation plant supplied power to the Gold King Mine 3.5 miles away. This was the first successful demonstration of long distance transmission of industrial-grade alternating current power.
In the 1980s Telluride also became notorious in the drug counterculture for being a drop point for Mexican smugglers and a favorite place for wealthy importers to enjoy some downtime. The town was even featured in the hit song by Glenn Frey from Miami Vice, "Smugglers Blues". For a while the modern Telluride was living up to its Wild West history. This type of attention, as it turned out, was just what the town needed to differentiate it from Aspen. The festivals combined with Telluride's bad-boy town image attracted celebrities like Tom Cruise, Oprah Winfrey, and Oliver Stone
In popular culture Downtown Telluride during the 3rd Annual Jazz Festival, August 1979 Telluride and the area surrounding it has had a notable effect on pop culture.
The nearby town of Ouray was the inspiration for Galt's Gulch in Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged, and historic Telluride figures prominently in Thomas Pynchon's Against the Day.
Modern Telluride is the setting of Raymond H. Ring's 1988 detective novel Telluride Smile.
It was the setting of the 1998 Scrapple movie directed by Christopher Hansen.
Local residents and common visitors, some of which have shown up for The Telluride Film Festival, have included John Denver, Bob Dylan, Daryl Hannah, Diablo Cody, Jerry Seinfeld, Greg Kinnear, Ed Helms, Nicolas Cage, Jason Schwartzman, Sean Penn, Oprah Winfrey and Tom Cruise.
The short-lived but legendary early 1990s hard rock group T-Ride took their name from a commonly used contraction of Telluride. They seem to have chosen this name at least in part because of the theory that "Telluride" is itself a contraction of "To Hell You Ride". The song "Ride" from their album T-Ride includes the lyric "Te-hell-ya Ride".
The town is the influence behind the song "Teleride" by UK rock band Alien Stash Tin.
Notable People
Patricia Aburdene
Christie Brinkley
Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes
Ben Clark
Richard Holbrooke
Charlie Fowler
Clifford J. Laube
Antonya Nelson
L. L. Nunn
Vincent Saint John
Susan Saint James
Rob Schultheis
Norman Schwarzkopf, Jr.
Oprah Winfrey
Peter Yarrow
Joseph T. Zoline
Pamela Zoline
Barry Sonnenfeld
Lawrence Kasdan
Timnath
During WWII Japan experimented with "Balloon Bombs" that floated across the pacific to the U.S. One of these bombs dropped and exploded near Timnath, Colorado making it the only continental U.S. town to bombed by a foreign country.
Trinidad
Sex Change Capital of the World" - Trinidad has been dubbed the "Sex Change Capital of the World", because a local doctor had an international reputation for performing sex reassignment surgery. In the 1960s, Dr. Stanley Biber, a veteran surgeon returning from Korea, decided to move to Trinidad because he had heard that the town needed a surgeon. In 1969 a local social worker asked him if he would perform the surgery for her, which he learned by consulting diagrams and a New York surgeon. Biber attained a reputation as a good surgeon at a time when very few doctors performed the operations. At his peak, Biber was performing roughly four sex change operations a day, and the term "taking a trip to Trinidad" became a euphemism for some seeking the procedures he offered. His surgical practice was taken over in 2003 by Marci Bowers. Biber was featured in an episode of South Park where elementary school teacher Mr. Garrison undergoes a sex change operation.
Notable People
The aforementioned Stanley Biber and Marci Bowers
John Gagliardi, a native, started his long football coaching career while still attending high school in Trinidad and playing on the squad. Gagliardi is currently the NCAA all-time, all-division winningest football coach.
Erick Hawkins, leading American modern-dance choreographer and dancer was born in Trinidad.
Snatam Kaur (singer of Sihk religious music) was born in Trinidad in 1972 and lived there until her family moved to California two years later.
Dancer Cissy King of television's The Lawrence Welk Show was born in Trinidad and lived there until the age of three.
Rock musician Ronnie Lane lived in Trinidad during the final years of his life.
Bat Masterson, famed Old West gunman, was the town marshal of Trinidad for more than a year during the mid-1880s.[citation needed] His lesser-known gunman brother Jim Masterson, was town marshal during the 1880s.
Western artist Arthur Roy Mitchell was a Trinidad native. The Mitchell Museum in downtown Trinidad houses many of his major works.
Thomas Wilson (composer) was born in Trinidad in 1927 and lived there for seventeen months before moving to Glasgow, Scotland.
In Popular Culture
In the Prison Break episode entitled "Rendezvous", Lincoln Burrows and LJ Burrows are taken to a safe house in Trinidad by Jane, an ex-company agent, and eventually meet with Lincoln's father, Aldo Burrows.
Vail
The town was established in 1966 at the base of Vail Ski Resort, which opened in December 1962. The town is famous for having the second largest single ski mountain in North America and other winter sports in addition to being a year round destination for outdoor activities.
Vail Film Festival - world-class annual film festival taking place in March or early April
During the mid 70's Vail became known as the Western White House for President Gerald Ford, and he did a good bit of the nation’s business from The Lodge at Vail. Cabinet members and other high-ranking government officials were a common sight during this time. The national media followed Ford to Vail and almost daily they beamed television pictures of Vail’s slopes into living rooms all over the world. That media saturation, as much or more than anything else, put Vail on the map as an international destination ski resort.[11]
Notable People
Lindsey Vonn part-time (also lives in Germany and Atlanta)
John Glenn part-time (also lives in Cleveland and Orlando)
Ryan Sutter
Trista Sutter
Brad Ludden
Richard Steadman
Toby Dawson
Victor
Victor is in the heart of Colorado's gold country, near the largest gold mines in the Cripple Creek mining district.
Walsenburg
Robert Ford, the assassin of outlaw Jesse James, operated a combination saloon and gambling house in Walsenburg; his home at 320 West 7th Street still stands
The nearby Spanish Peaks are a national landmark and named one of Colorado's Seven Wonders by the Denver Post.
The Highway of The Legends, connecting Walsenburg with La Veta, other historic mining towns, and Trinidad, is a National Scenic and Historic Byway
Ward
Once one of the richest towns in the state during the Colorado Gold Rush
Winter Park
Winter Park is the highest incorporated town in the United States after the July 2006 annexation of 5,214 acres (21.10 km2) of Winter Park Ski Resort to allow new on-mountain improvements.
