Colorado became a sesquicentenarian over the weekend. On Saturday, Aug. 1, Colorado Day, the state marked 150 years since President Ulysses S. Grant admitted it to the Union in 1876. The Capitol celebrated with a proclamation reenactment, birthday cake and dedication of a 150th-anniversary tapestry. It’s a milestone worth celebrating – and local volunteers have taken care to ask whose founding is being marked and whose history shaped it.

Southwest Colorado 150 logo
Southwest Colorado 150 logo

Colorado’s statehood followed directly from the ceding of Ute lands, a history this year’s local programming treats as part of the story, not a footnote. At Fort Lewis College, the Center of Southwest Studies is hosting “Constellations of Place” through Dec. 18, guest curated by Dr. Meranda Roberts (Yerington Paiute, Chicana) in partnership with the Power of Place initiative.

The exhibition pairs more than 60 pieces from the Center’s collection with work by 13 contemporary Native American, Indigenous and Latinx artists. It’s a companion to the “Power of Place” essay on the Brunot Agreement – the 1873 treaty that ceded 3.7 million acres of Ute land to open the San Juans to mining – written from a Ute perspective by Johnny Valdez, whose essay explores the loss of Ute ancestral lands. Read the essay at https://bit.ly/45KSobP.

Here in Montezuma County, that same care shapes a distinctly local celebration. The effort runs through Colorado 150 Southwest, an all-volunteer committee representing the region’s eight counties, in consultation with the Ute Mountain Ute and Southern Ute nations that also call this region home. Co-chaired by Ellen Roberts and Ellen Babers, the group is part of the statewide America 250-Colorado 150 Commission at History Colorado.

The Montezuma Heritage Museum has embraced the same approach: Its own “Moments That Made Us” exhibit, open since May 1, adapts History Colorado’s traveling show to connect the Declaration’s ideals to Cortez and Montezuma County’s own history.

The celebration continues with several upcoming highlights:

The museum’s “Yesterday’s Stories” project, produced with KSJD, airs new local historical accounts – voiced by area residents – every Tuesday at 8:51 a.m. through October, on 90.5 FM, 91.5 FM, 91.1 FM or 89.5 FM depending on location. Episodes are archived at ksjd.org/podcast/yesterdays-stories.The CO150 Film Festival screens “A League of Their Own” at the Mancos Opera House on Thursday, Aug. 6, at 7 p.m., one of 150 films chosen for their ties to Colorado’s people, places and stories. Tickets at films.colorado150film.com/screenings.Cortez’s Balloon Rally and “Summer Send-Off” run Aug. 7-9 at Parque de Vida, capped by a Balloon Glow and 15-minute drone show Friday night honoring the Cortez 140, Colorado 150 and USA 250 anniversaries.The Four Corners Community Band celebrates the nation’s, state’s and city’s history with an anniversary concert Saturday, Aug. 15, 6-7:30 p.m., at the Cortez Cultural Center.Cortez’s Third Thursdays outdoor market, at Montezuma Park, continues Aug. 20 with vendors, live music and food.The Sunflower Theatre hosts a CO150 Film Festival screening of “About Schmidt” Aug. 27 at 7 p.m., with further screenings there through Thanksgiving. Tickets at films.colorado150film.com/screenings. The theater also runs the documentary “The American Southwest: A River Ran Through It,” narrated by Quannah ChasingHorse, celebrating the rivers, wildlife and landscapes of the Four Corners region, Fridays at 7 p.m. through August — except this Friday, Aug. 7. It’s part of a new partnership with the Montezuma Heritage Museum: for $20, a combo package includes admission to the documentary, entry to the museum, and a free ice cream and hour of table gaming at Bitterblossom Games, with benefits valid for a month from purchase.

Colorado 150 Southwest’s initiatives carry that approach through the year. The Power of Place magazine, produced by Colorado 150 Southwest with Telluride Publishing, gathers 20 essays from regional historians and writers on topics ranging from the Dominguez-Escalante expedition and the Hayden Survey to mining and public lands.

Each essay includes a free podcast conversation with its author on the Colorado 150 Southwest YouTube channel. For families, the Passport to Southwest Colorado – a pocket-sized guide built by and for fourth grade teachers – is available at the Montezuma Heritage Museum, area libraries or online at colorado150southwest.org/our-initiatives/passport.

Whether you tune in to “Yesterday’s Stories,” catch the drone show over Cortez or stand before a Cara Romero photograph at FLC, there’s plenty to celebrate – and, thanks to the committee’s efforts, plenty worth understanding better too.