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History of Gunnison

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Submitted By kaitlinverhagen
Words 574
Pages 3
Kaitlin Verhagen
Dr. T DATE \@ "MMMM d, y" September 7, 2014

Convocation Number 1
History of Gunnison

“Some days are good days, some days are bad days, but there is never a day that I didn’t try my best”. From the beginning, the Gunnison Valley has been a source of education, work, and recreational activities. Tourists, students, and employers come from near and far to enjoy the amenities that Gunnison and Crested Butte has to offer.
Western State Colorado University students make up 2,200 of the 5,892 people that live in the Gunnison Valley. In 1923 the two year “Normal” school switched over to become a four year university known as “Western State College”. Also in 1923, Western picked up the mascot of “the fawns”, to represent speed and agility that the school’s athletics represented. But since then, WSCU has changed the mascot to “The Mountaineers” with the colors Crimson and Slate. Crimson; to represent the Indian Paint Brush and Slate; the color of Sage brush that grew above the college. Western originally started out as a small teaching school, but it has done nothing but grow throughout the years. Today Western holds the record for the four year university with the highest elevation at 7,703 feet above sea level. Also for the largest collegiate letter that is currently placed at the top of the previously named “Tenderfoot Mountain”. Dr. John Johnson designed the “W” that stands at 450 feet tall and 16 feet wide. Shortly after the W was put on Tenderfoot, the mountain was renamed as “W” Mountain. In 1874, Silverster Richardson came to Gunnison with 20 people who are considered to be the first real population. They came to Gunnison because they believed it would be good for farming. But upon arriving they figured out that the land was terrible for farming because the growing season was too short due to the long winters. They figured out that the land was best for ranching. In the 1900’s there were 300 ranches, 40,000 cows, 10,000 horses and still to this day some of the best cattle in the country. In 1949 a rancher in Castle Mountain sold two of his cows for $50,000 each.
Gunnison is the 6th largest county in the state and 79% of the land is Federally owned. Such as the Blue Mesa lake, which is the largest body of water in Colorado. Hartman’s Rocks, which is home of plenty of mountain bike trails, distance skiing, shooting ranges and plenty of other activities. Black Canyon is only 25 miles to the West of Gunnison and it is home of the largest waterfall in the US next to Yellowstone National Park. Crested Butte is also home to one of the nicest ski mountains in the country if not the world. It is also the home of multiple olympic skiers, and multiple WSCU skiing championships were won there before the team was shut down in 2007.
Though Crested Butte and Gunnison both started out as small, and seemingly insignificant places. As time went on, students, workers and tourists started to come from all around to experience the Gunnison and Crested Butte that I know and love today. It is important to me because I feel as though I should know the history of the town I’m living in and know how it came to be the small town that I have grown to love.

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