{"id":37555,"date":"2022-11-02T01:09:04","date_gmt":"2022-11-02T07:09:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/montezuma-county-heritage-museum-opens-to-public\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T02:38:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T08:38:08","slug":"montezuma-county-heritage-museum-opens-to-public","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/montezuma-county-heritage-museum-opens-to-public\/","title":{"rendered":"Montezuma County Heritage Museum opens to public"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"The
The Herreras played and sang traditional Spanish\/Mexican music to open the program. (Courtesy Barbara Stagg)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

\u201cSave our history, tell our stories.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s the motto of the newly opened Montezuma Heritage Museum in Cortez.<\/p>\n

Add \u201cunity\u201d to that as well, said Ann Brown, chairman of the Montezuma County Historical Society during a grand opening Oct. 22.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe museum focus is on the tri-ethnic community that defines who we are,\u201d Brown said. \u201cThe Native Americans, Spanish and white settlers have contributed diverse cultures to the region. This is a community project and will continue to be a community project.\u201d<\/p>\n

Starting Nov. 2, the museum will be open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday through the end of the year. Admission is free until all exhibits and programming are completed next year. Donations and memberships are welcome.<\/p>\n

Community members gave speeches during the opening that attracted 200 people.<\/p>\n

Special recognition was given to the \u201840s Bunch, historian June Head and others who first established the Montezuma County Historical Society.<\/p>\n

Norman Lopez, of the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, played the flute. Leo and Susan Herrera and Dolly Gardner sang songs.<\/p>\n

\u201cCortez has long been a crossroads of Indian People,\u201d Lopez said. \u201cWe have lived here for so long, and many tribes have passed through this area.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Norman
Norman Lopez, an elder of Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, played traditional flute made by his grandfather at the grand opening of the Montezuma Heritage Museum in Cortez. (Courtesy Barbara Stagg)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Montezuma
Montezuma Historical Society Chairman Ann Brown during a tour of the new Montezuma Heritage Museum. (Jim Mimiaga\/The Journal)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Many
Many community leaders turned out for a ribbon-cutting at the opening of the Montezuma Heritage Museum. (Courtesy Barbara Stagg)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Judy
Judy Lancaster Crow, whose father, Al Lancaster, started as a dryland farmer and became an expert archaeologist in demand throughout the Southwest, and Benny Martinez who was raised at McPhee and whose father worked for many years for New Mexico Lumber attended the opening. (Courtesy Barbara Stagg)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Former
Former Montezuma County Commissioners James Lambert, Keenan Ertel, Larry Don Suckla (not pictured) and former county administrator Melissa Brunner donated a county building for the museum. (Courtesy Barbara Stagg)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Historic
Historic technology, like this X-ray machine, is featured at the new museum in Cortez. (Jim Mimiaga\/The Journal)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

The new museum has been a dream for decades, and was jump-started in 2015 when the Montezuma County Board of County Commissioners donated the building at 35 S. Chestnut St. A former museum in the basement of the old Cortez City Hall closed in the 1950s.<\/p>\n

The historical society\u2019s grassroots fundraising effort generated $475,000 for building renovations and exhibit space. Fundraising is ongoing for operation costs.<\/p>\n

There are 14 exhibits now, and 10 others are planned, Brown said.<\/p>\n

A host of volunteers were involved in the planning, collection and organization of artifacts.<\/p>\n

Volunteer Museum Director Barbara Stagg wrote up exhibit descriptions in cooperation with curator Joyce Lawrence and others. Volunteers constructed exhibits, and the design was by Danielle Covatta Riva.<\/p>\n

Visitors will learn about the land in Montezuma County, Indigenous Tribes, Spanish explorers, making a living on the land, mining and logging, the towns and communities of the county, history and culture of the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, historic families, history of schools, and ancient and modern water development.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is about learning history, and hearing the stories behind them,\u201d Brown said. \u201cIt is not cases filled with stuff \u2013 we highlight specific artifacts and research that story to share it. Exhibits will be rotated to share different stories and artifacts.\u201d<\/p>\n

A tour showed nicely arranged, well-lit displays with clear written narratives about the people and artifacts.<\/p>\n

Exhibits catch the eye around every corner.<\/p>\n

One describes the five trading posts that used to be in the county. Another has maps from the early Hayden and McCabe expeditions from the middle to late 1800s. A case shows a 17th Century Blunderbuss gun that might have been carried by a Spanish explorer. It was found in Lost Canyon in 1982.<\/p>\n

A water development exhibit shows an ancient water reservoir built by Ancestral Puebloans in the 1100s on Mesa Verde. Next to it is a display that showcases wooden irrigation flumes in the county, including the McElmo Flume, built by pioneers in the late 1800s and early 1900s.<\/p>\n

\u201cMany came here for the mining, then saw the grazing lands, and went back and got their herds,\u201d Brown said during a tour.<\/p>\n

A 1908 painting by Carl Granath shows the verdant Montezuma Valley with livestock grazing against a backdrop of Ute Mountain and Mesa Verde. The painting, titled \u201cA Land of Plenty,\u201d hung in the historic Exon Mercantile Co. building in Dolores.<\/p>\n

One exhibit will have a rotating displays of area families. Exhibits are being built for Mancos, Dolores and Cortez. The schools, military veterans and health services of the area also featured.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re still working on a lot of the exhibits,\u201d Brown said.<\/p>\n

The grand opening was broadcast by Mesa Media Production<\/a> and can be viewed on its Facebook page.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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