‘Montrose, a Principal Commercial Center on the Western Slope’

Marilyn Cox

A Step Back In Time

An anniversary of 125 productive years — that’s something to crow about! Plan to be a part of the huge celebration for Montrose on May 2 and 5.

In the 1920’s, Montrose and Delta Counties published a promotional booklet entitled, “A Message to the Homeseeker,” which described the resources, businesses and opportunities of these growing areas. It sold for 35 cents a copy and was definitely worth every penny. One of these booklets is on file at the Montrose County Historical Museum.

I suspect that the flowery introduction of Montrose was written by the owner/editor of the Montrose Daily Press at that time — C. E. Adams. An opening paragraph reads like this: “There must be profitable agriculture, dividend-paying industries, ample transportation facilities and satisfied citizens to insure a healthful growth and a future reputation among aspiring cities. These, Montrose, Colorado has in an eminent degree…many level-headed businessmen and successful investors are steadily buying real prosperity in Montrose and surrounding country. They are doing so because the prospects here are solidly good and the record one of profit and satisfaction.”

I think Adams would be proud to step back in to Montrose today and no doubt, utterly overwhelmed to see the changes that have taken place since he lived and worked here. His predictions have come true.

The introduction states that Montrose was one of the principal commercial centers on the Western Slope, being situated on the D & R G W Railroad and the Pikes Peak Ocean-to-Ocean Highway (now known as Highway 50). It had a network of good automobile roads, going in all directions.

Situated in the “far famed Uncompahgre Valley,” Montrose County “is one of the best agricultural, horticultural, livestock, dairy and poultry sections of the entire state. The soil is deep, rich and fertile and is especially adapted to general farming, fruit growing, dairying and the raising of livestock and poultry.”

At that time, the population of Montrose was 4,000 and Delta, “a thriving and wide-awake little city,” had 3,000.

The introduction mentioned the importance of irrigation water provided by the Gunnison tunnel and the surrounding mountains providing shelter from severe storms in our valley. It spoke to the fact that this had been the home of the Ute Indians, who no doubt selected this area because of the ideal climate—“pleasant summers and mild winters and lack of severe snow storms.”

It went on to say, “A short distance from the city is Ouray Memorial Spring, tepee and mausoleum, where Chipeta, the queen of Chief Ouray, is buried. The tepee is an exact replica of the tepee in which Chipeta passed her last years and where she died in the fall of 1924, near Dragon, Utah. Here the State of Colorado erected a monument to the famous Ute chief and his wife. The spring is located on the farm where Chief Ouray and Chipeta lived.”

Of course, this describes the location of our present Ute Indian Museum, currently under the direction of C. J. Brafford. This museum will be open free of charge on the afternoon of May 5, and is most definitely worth your time.

Guided walking tours of the downtown area will also be a part of the Saturday celebration. Although many of the original buildings remain, the local businesses have changed many times over the years.

The booklet states, “Montrose has two strong, growing and successful banks, many up-to-date retail stores, several garages and automobile salesrooms, creamery, ice cream factory, whole-sale fruit and vegetable houses, three lumber yards, steam laundry, several bakeries, tin and sheet metal works, modern greenhouse, wholesale and retail oil stations, bottling works, planing mill, machine shops, grain elevator, a branch plant of a large packing house, the only custom radium sampler in the world, a strictly modern hotel and several smaller hotels and boarding houses, one of the best tourist camps in the western section of the state, brick and tile factory, wholesale seed and poultry house, dairies, canning factory, one first-class daily newspaper and two job printing plants and other lines of businesses too numerous to mention in detail.”

The latest Montrose book, “Take a Closer Look” will give you an interesting view of Montrose—it’s downtown buildings and some of the homes in the area. You can find it in many of the downtown stores.