Past Events

To prepare for our Buffalo Soldiers event, local historian Charles DiFerdinando talked about the history of the Fort Lewis military establishment through 1890. You can view a recording of the webinar here.

Second Saturday Series Seminar, on Zoom and in person at the Animas Museum, Saturday, August 12th at 1 p.m. Local historian Charles DiFerdinando told us about the history of electricity in Durango. You can view the recording here.

Second Saturday Series Seminar, Saturday July 8th at 1 p.m. Archeologist Mona Charles will be joined us as we wrapped up our grant project analyzing the Ancestral Puebloan pottery in the Museum's collections. You can view the recording here.

Second Saturday Series Seminar, recorded Saturday June 10th at 2 p.m. Historian John Steinle joined us on Zoom to discuss his newest book "Colorado in the Civil War." View the recording here.

Second Saturday Series Seminar, recorded Saturday, May 13th at 1 p.m. Durango's Citizen of the Year Gaige Sippy joined us on Zoom only for a history of the Ironhorse Bicycle Classic. You can view the recording here.

If you missed our presentation to the San Juan Basin Archeology Society on May 10, 2023, you can view the recording here.

Second Saturday Seminar Series, April 8th at 1 p.m. on Zoom only. Join local historians Charles DiFerdinando, Gay Kiene, and Susan Jones as we set the stage for the publication of History La Plata. This year, History La Plata will focus on the 1920s and will be inserted in The Durango Herald the weekend of May 20th. We will be discussing topics that we found in our research above and beyond what we have room to print. View the recording here.

In honor of Women's History Month, Let's Talk Little. Olga Little that is. Olga Schaaf Little was a renowned jack packer. She saved animals, mines and men. For thirty years she led her burro team with much needed supplies into the La Plata Mountain mines and brought out silver and gold ore, often where men dared not go. Gay Kiene from the Animas Museum shared Olga’s adventurous story. You can view the recording here.

Local legend Dolph Kuss came to Durango in the early 1950s and created the recreation programs that Durango is now known for, from fishing to swimming to tennis to skiing and beyond. This webinar introduced a "podcast" series you can download to hear Robert McDaniel's interview of Dolph. View the webinar and download the podcasts here.

Image, colorized version of catalog number 92.06.1.31.44 of Dolph Kuss, left, with the ski team around 1955.

Second Saturday Webinar Series recorded on Saturday, Januiary 14th with founding director Robert McDaniel talking about our recent pop-up exhibit featuring an incredible San Ildefonso pot in our collection. You can view the talk here.

Second Saturday Webinar Series, recorded December 10th, local historian Charles DiFerdinando talks about worship in early Durango. (Catalog number 00.09.16.9 from a postcard series circa 1910.) The recording is available here.

Second Saturday Webinar Series, recorded November 12th, local historians Charles DiFerdinando and Susan Jones provided a short history of Durango’s other narrow-gauge railroad, the Rio Grande Southern. (Catalog number 00.48.21, photo of an RGS train over the Lightner Creek Trestle taken by Robert Heinich.) You can view the recording here. Apologies for the sound issues!

Second Saturday Webinar Series, recorded October 8th at 1:30 p.m. "Early Photographers of Durango." The great-granddaughter of photographer Frank Gonner, Kathy Gibson joined us to share the stories of several other photographers who documented the landscape and the people who lived here. You can view the video here.

"No Crown of Thorns!" Reenactment of Senator Henry Teller's whistlestop tour in 1896. Part of the Southwest Colorado Humanities Roundtable History Live! series. View the video on our Youtube channel.

Second Saturday Webinar Series, recorded Saturday September 10 at 1pm on Zoom, "Coal: The Other Black Gold." Join local historian Charles DiFerdinando to learn about the importance of coal in the development of Durango and La Plata County. A link to the recording may be found here.

Join local historians Susan Jones and Charles DiFerdinando for a virtual tour of the Animas City Cemetery. A link to the recording may be found here.

Join local historian Charles DiFerdinando to learn about the July fire that changed Durango's history. A link to the recording may be found here.

History La Plata 2022 is here! Pickup a copy at the Museum or online here. View the recording of our webinar about it here.

If you missed Danny Pierce's talk about his father Thomas Guthrie Pierce at the Museum on April 30, you can watch it here on Youtube.

In conjunction with the 50th "golden" anniversary of the La Plata County Historical Society, Charles DiFerdinando explored the early Gold Rush to the La Plata Mountains in a two part webinar.

The videos of part 1 and 2 can be viewed here.

The video for "Quilts: 1885 - 1920" with Patricia Joy is available here.

Dr. John Boyd, historian for St. Mark's Episcopal Church presented his talk "The Banker's of St. Mark's Church" in two parts. The video is available here.

For our November webinar, Judith Reynolds told the story of Gustaf Nordenski⍥ld, the young Swedish scientist who in 1893 published the first serious study of "The Cliff Dwellings of Mesa Verde" and who was erroneously referred to as a 'Baron' in the controversial summer of 1891. Watch the video here.

The graphic above is a double portrait of Gustaf Nordenski⍥ld: Left 1895 (Stockholm) and 1891 (Durango, CO, by Frank Gonner) with GN's letter of July 23, 1891 superimposed. Graphic by J. Reynolds.

Take a virtual tour of Animas City, the topic of our October webinar. View the video here.

Scenes from our Live! event on September 25th.

If you missed Dr. Andrew Gulliford's talk about his book The Woolly West at our Animas Museum Live! event, you can listen to it here The Sheep and Cattle Wars.

Our September webinar took a look at the photography of Frank Gonner told by his granddaughter Kathy Gibson. The recording can be viewed here.

Historian John Steinle, author of a new book on the 1893 Silver Panic spoke about how the crash affected Colorado and La Plata County. Watch a video of the talk here.

Durango Police, members and locals including Bear dropped by the Museum for social distancing and ice cream on National Night Out.

Learn about the Great Fire of 1889

Download a device friendly copy of the walking tour here or a printable version of the pdf here. You can also pick up a copy at the Durango Welcome Center (Main Ave. & 8th St.) or the Durango & Silverton Railroad Museum.

Our first in-person event was held at the Museum on June 12. It was a Members Only event to celebrate the June 1901 wedding of Zaidee Rockwood to Clayton Perkins. Learn more about Zaidee's dress here.

The Animas Museum Team at the Durango Chamber of Commerce's Girls Gone Golfing event, May 2021.

Our May webinar featured Police Historian Sharon Greve telling stories from the 140 year history of the Durango Police Department. You can view that here.

If you missed our April webinar on Tom Graden, you can view that here.

If you missed our March webinar on Hattie Mashburn and Bessie Rivers, you can view that video here.

If you missed "A Little Bit of History and Valentine's Fun" you can watch the video here.

If you missed our first Second Saturday Seminar on Zoom, A Log Cabin Christmas, you can watch the video here.

You can still visit our Virtual Halloween Party! Click on the image below:

Jerry Day speaking about the history of the K-36 locomotives at the Animas Museum.

Charles DiFerdinando speaking about the Buffalo Soldiers at Ft. Lewis. Durango Craft Spirits Distillery Tour

The Joy Cabin at night, during the Christmas Bazaar.

Shane Voss, principal of Mountain Middle Schools, rings the Animas Museum's bell at 11am on Veteran's Day as the school's students look on.

Dedication of National Register Plaque, October 30.

Loisa Bass headstone, installed October 8, 2019.