Nothing is more interesting to history buffs than hearing tales told by those who lived them. Jack Turner is a fifth generation Durangatang (slang for Durango Native), who is committed to preserving those memories.

The years between 1915 and 1918 were busy ones in the San Juan Mountains. The mining camps were being brought together by rail, roads and telephone lines.

Did you realize that Mesa Verde National Park, between Cortez and Durango, Colorado is the only National Park in the United Stated dedicated to the works of man rather than the works of Nature?

The demise of J. B. Moore is really turning into an interesting topic. Jill Tripp, a friend from Durango brought by the book “Posts and Rugs: The Story of the Navajo Weaving and The Role of The Indian Trader” by H.L James, which was a classic published in 1976. It was reprinted in 2005 with footnotes.

There have been several great books written about American Turquoise, most of them photographic and with basic background on the different mines. But, unless you really are an avid fan of the “Sky Stone,” they don’t do a lot to hold your interest. Now that has changed. 

John Moser was a man who knew at an early age that he wanted to be either an Indian or a cowboy. As a boy, John didn’t like school and preferred to hang out with the various Indian tribes then clustered in St. Louis, sometimes returning home dressed in feathers and skins, sometimes inviting his new friends to the dinner table—much to his mother’s dismay.

Back in 1957, when my father, Jackson Clark Sr.,  started buying and selling Navajo weaving, he was also in the Pepsi Cola business. When he went to his first wholesale show, the Los Angeles Gift and Jewelry Show, the show manager asked him what his company name was. He told them it was the Jackson David Bottling Company. It was named after him and his partner, Dave McGraw.