About this episode

This episode explores the historical significance of the Denver and Rio Grande railroad in the establishment of Durango and its impact on the mining industry.

Durango exists because of a railroad that almost went somewhere else. In this documentary, Jeff Johnson traces the arrival of the Denver and Rio Grande in Southwest Colorado — from General William Jackson Palmer's original 1870 push south out of Denver, to the mining boom that pulled the rails toward the San Juans, to the founding of Durango itself in 1881 as a town built by and for the railroad. Jeff follows the line through its boom years serving the Silverton mining district, its near-coll...

People in this episode

Host: Jeff Johnson

Topics covered

• railroad history
• Durango
• mining
• Denver and Rio Grande
• Southwest Colorado
• General William Jackson Palmer

Keywords

• Durango
• Denver and Rio Grande
• railroad
• mining boom
• General William Jackson Palmer
• Southwest Colorado
• history

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Denver and Rio Grande

Places: Durango, Southwest Colorado, San Juans

More episodes of Beyond the Headlines

• Voices of the Past: Lessons from the Rails (Part 1) · July 15, 2026 · 3 min
• Voices of the Past: Lessons from the Land — The Agricultural History of Southwest Colorado (Part 2) · June 19, 2026 · 3 min
• Voices of the Past: Lessons from the Land (Part 1) · June 17, 2026 · 2 min

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