A former 1964 Summer Olympian, Ben Nighthorse Campbell won a U.S. House of Representative seat from Colorado in 1986. The next year he appeared in Durango’s Spanish Trails Fiesta parade. Campbell served in the House through 1992 when he ran for a U.S. Senate seat. He won and became the first Native American U.S. senator since the 1920s. He served as senator from 1993 until 2005. Durango’s Lake Nighthorse is named in his honor. – Ed Horvat for Animas Museum, edhorvat@animasmuseum (Courtesy of La Plata County Historical Society)
A former 1964 Summer Olympian, Ben Nighthorse Campbell won a U.S. House of Representative seat from Colorado in 1986. The next year he appeared in Durango’s Spanish Trails Fiesta parade. Campbell served in the House through 1992 when he ran for a U.S. Senate seat. He won and became the first Native American U.S. senator since the 1920s. He served as senator from 1993 until 2005. Durango’s Lake Nighthorse is named in his honor. – Ed Horvat for Animas Museum, edhorvat@animasmuseum (Courtesy of La Plata County Historical Society)

And the West is History: Ben Nighthorse Campbell – 1987