Durango Diary
II: 1890s - 1945
Duane A. Smith
ISBN 978-1-887805-27-8,
6” x 9”, B/W, 243 pages
Price: $15.95
Duane Smith came
to Fort Lewis College as a professor of history and Southwest Studies
in 1964.
He soon recognized that teaching wasn’t enough. With every passing
year, the personal stories that bring history alive were disappearing.
So he started interviewing Durango’s old-timers, plumbing their memories
stretching back to the turn of the twentieth century and beyond. He
combed through city records, old newspapers, and personal documents
to fill in the details.
Not content to
just teach, Smith also has been a prolific writer. To date, he has
published 45 books.
His columns have appeared in the Durango Herald since 1986,
some of which are compiled in this book. Durango Diary II is
the story of Durango from its early years through World War II. Smith’s
eye for detail brings the eras to life.
Why were cows roaming up and down the Boulevard? What did a pound
of butter cost in 1940?
Where were the best country dances or church socials? How did women’s
roles change in Durango?
And what was the town like when Prohibition shut down all the saloons?
Durango Diary II not only shows us how Durango got where it
is today, but also how some things never change.
