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Show Corfsz Absorbs 'Boom Calls If 'Healthy Growth' Cortez, a bustling city of about has enjoyed a 3.500 people, healthy and prosperous growth but not a boom as the result of the uranium mining activities. The city now is benefiting from opera-in tions of but one uranium mine and it has Montezuma County been in operation only since last October. There has been uranium acti lty since 1945, however. During the past several years bank deposits in the busy southwestern Colorado city have increased substantially because of uranium and some companies operate from headquarters in Cortez. According to the Cortez Chamber of Commerce, a recently completed survey shows the population of Cortez and its trade area to be in excess of 15,000. Cortez is the county seat of Montezuma County and the largest city in its trade area. Its stores, warehouses and shops are the economic heart of a tremendous geographic area. With the growth came problems. Only recently county and service organizations became concerned with zoning and still but little definite action has been taken. The city itself is zoned. Hitting the pocketbooks of everyone in the community and its area have been the advances in food and clothing prices, but the rise has aot been out of line when considered with other similarly sized communities in the U. S. Rent, however, is up an average of 15 per cent, due largely to oil exploration and drilling in that area. Public officials and residents of Cortez and its environs have other and more serious problems, too. For example, the growth in population since 1945 about 1,400 has overtaxed the local hospital, present school system, and some other facilities. However, Cortez is well staffed with professional people such as physicians, dentists, lawyers and others. Housing is also a problem but city officials are hopeful that a new 110 unit project which will be started this spring will ease this Situation. Dean P. Hanson, manager of the Cortez Chamber of Commerce, comments, "Actually, Cortez is enjoying a very healthy growth, a prosperity due to many economic factors. Our geographic location in the Colorado Plateau is certainly advantageous. . .(Uranium) is darn important and Cortez boasts about being in the center of things. Streets Being Graveled All unpaved streets and alleys in Cortez soon will have a new coating of gravel. Late last year a huge stockpile of gravel was placed near the highway on the edge of town, and by 1955, the gravel will have been spread over all streets and alleys which are not paved as part of a city improvement program. MILLER Motor Company Cadillac Pontiac 990 Second Avenue Durango Colo. viiy County After Spring Thavs d ar it is not known where an amateur rock hound found the mineralized rocks, carried them for a while and. wearying of them, tossed them away. Geologists tend to otherwise, saying they think the rocks were forced to the surface from far below or had rolled from somewhere on a nearby mountain. Meanwhile, additional investigation is being made into the case of the floats. ve Semi-skille- Aut-uni- te companies are among the biggest in the Plateau area and offset the disadvantage of their being no railroad to serve the district. Bus transportation is offered to all major points and Frontier Airlines offers four flights daily from the Montezuma County Airport. Community services are as much in line with needs as is presently feasible. Cortez has a public school system rated as excellent, providing a high school and an elementary school which has been erected since the war. Still another, Calkins elementary, has been remodeled and an additional grade school, now under construction, will be completed during the 1954-5- 5 school term. Total enrollment is about 1,150 with 500 in the Montezuma County High School. Athletic teams of the high school compete in the class "A state program and the school boasts an outstanding band. There is both softball and based ball on the park facilities during summer months, and Cortez has an Old Timers Baseball organization providing recrea. tion for kids nine through 15 years of age. Presently, public-spiritecitizens are busy collecting funds for a municipal swimming pool and engineers are drawing a preliminary plan for it. To lure the fishermen of the state, the State Fish and Game Department provided funds for development of Denny Lake as a fishing area and park two miles east of Cortez. That project was completed In 1954. Serving the town now is a new Sanitation District, which has provided the new sections of Cortez with sewer laterals and adequate disposal treatment. This system was completed in 1954. Adding an invigorating factor for added productivity of labor and recreation is the distinctive climate in the Cortez district. Summer and winter each have four months, spring and fall are two months. Average precipitation for Cortez is 13.56 inches, and the average temperature is 48.8 degrees. Coolest month of the year is January, average temperature of 27.4 degrees, and the warmest is July which has an average temperature of 71.7 degrees. All in all, Cortez and its adjacent area is a nice place to live, work and play. city-owne- d FTT t hi ' - i..V Pride of Montezuma Brand Pinto Beans Grower, Processor, and Dealer in Pinto Beans and Wheat Schools Are Crowded When 250 Navajo children are enrolled in Cortez schools in September, 1955, they will go to all grade schools in town on a basis, according to Superintendent Vincil Lester. The federal government has provided funds for the erection of a school to accommodate the 250 children and therefore they will not be an additional burden on educational facilities in Cortez. But there are other space worries, according to Mr. Lester. Overcrowding is prevalent, with as many as 38 students assigned to classrooms suited to but 20 pupils. The Cortez High School also is crowded and every available space is being used. Even the school cafeteria has been pressed into service as a classroom. Designed to relieve the congestion is the new Manaugh grade school, expected to be ready to receive students in September. But Mr. Lester expects that the additional number of children to be educated will more than offset the space gained. "The events of last year (1953) have substantiated the survey in which we asked for $400,000 (for new school buildings and facilities), Mr. Lester said. He referred to the request in 1953 for funds with which to build the Manaugh school, when $275,000 was authorized. Teacher personnel turnover Is not a major problem, however, according to Mr. Lester. There are 71 teachers in the system at present, and the turnover is less than ten per cent. The operating budget for the county hiqh school at Cortez and for the District 1 grade schools is $296,000. CORTEZ AnLe Theater Building Cortez, Colorado Mr. T. Gai Mrs. Anna Gal in Corfez, and ARROYA for Air Drive-I- n the Autunite ore, and scintillator and nucleometer readings are unbelievably high, indicating higher grade ore at greater depths. Arbar has filed twenty-tw- o claims covering the radioactive area in a block formation and another undeveloped claim in this same area that hasnt been proven, but a geiger counter reading shows a good sign of more ore. Ore is expected to be shipped from Arbars claims this spring or summer, and Arbar is conferring with AEC officials concerning future development. Last fall a large company quietly purchased 1,800 acres covering leases near Horse Mountain southeast of Eagle, the county seat. They knew they werent taking much of a gamble, for in 1913 copper miners found they had processed over a ton of uranium ore while working the area. Since there was no immediate market they sacked it and it still rests in a barn at Eagle. Shortly before the Horse Mountain district purchase was made there was a strike assaying from .61 per cent to 1 per cent, above Marma Lake on Piney Mountain in northern Eagle county. Geological formations are interesting in that particular portion of Colorado. Just as crevices have occurred to hold snow forming the famous Holy Cross, so do two rock faults bisect Eagle county. A fault occurs when layers of rock crack down the middle and formations far below the surface are forced upward. . The top of the fault cross is near Piney, and Horse Mountan is where the two faults intersect. Holy Cross Mountain is on the right arm of the cross. Meanwhile some "float ore has been found in Eagle - county, too. One, a heavy piece of mineralized rock about the size of a turnip, has been identified as buxenite by an assayer. However, MESA VERDE TOURIST COURT Modern Facilities New Units Vi Mile Southwest Cortez Approximately 60 officially named rivers flow into the 1,709 mile long Colorado River. Uranium Thorium-R- are Earths Musgrave CHEVROLET COMPANY COMPLETE SERVICE! Engine Repairs Electrical Work Body Repairs Our Mechanics ars Factory Train :d Phone 4211 Dolores Colorado TOWAOC TRADING POST Everything For The Stockmen Colorado Saddlery Hyer Boots Burns National Bank Stetson Hats Levi 8C Pendleton Merchandise Tents & Camping Member, Federal Uranium Company The largest tanker in the world carry 15.7 million gallons of oil; thats enough to fill about 1,570 railroad cars. will Colo. Corlez Serves 15,000 COLONIAL GAI THEATERS "Good Entertainment years, he certainly was interested. "Would the Doctor care to buy an interest in the mine? Shortly afterwards be did invest in the mine. Today the Sunshine Mine in the Butler Wash region is producing a steady flow of high grade uranium ore. And Dr. Maxwell is retired and living in a comfortable home by Cortez. Local people say the next time he goes on a picnic, he will have to sneak out of town. A survey completed in late 1954 by the Cortez Chamber of Commerce reveals that the population of Cortez and its trade area is in excess of 15,000. Population of Cortez is over 3,000, and as the county seat of Montezuma county and the largest city in its trade area, Cortez has become the distribution center. Its stores, warehouses, and shops are the economic heart of a tremendous geographic area. Terenzio Gai, Prop. Yellow Jacket, Colorado Telephone Pleasent View 28 ANLE Expected In Eagle U-Acii- Anyone who has been around the Colorado Plateau for over a year will tell you uranium prospecting definitely not a picnic. Yet, water from the Dolores River. is heres a case where a picnic turnThe Colorado Plateau is buzzing Water rights are adequate to serve ed into some pretty good pros- with rumors about uranium ore about 6.500 persons, and now pecting. of Eagle, strikes in the serves about 3,800. Because the Max- Colo. and somevicinity Six I. E. Dr. months ago factual accounts water is chlorinated and rates high well in was hours, long putting are also going the rounds. with health authorities, the City It all started last fall when it Council is anxious to serve more working six and often seven days Cor- was a of week the the ills curing users. reported that a student at tez, Colo., populace. Western State College, Edwin Ar-bCommon laborers in the area reObserving this threat to the docJr., a resident of Red Cliff, ceive about $1.00 per hour for tors own health, Mrs. Maxwell discovered a exposed vein their services and there is a plenti. put her foot down and demanded of high grade uranium in Holy ful supply except when seasonal he take at least a days vacation. Cross mining district, 21 miles deemployment in . agriculture They drove to one of the most re- from Red Cliff. Immediately the d mands more workers. mote sections of Utah. Atomic Energy Commission pricked labor is hard to find. Common no one could find them up its ears. An assay test on 375 laborers on construction projects in Surely but breathtakingly pounds of surface ore revealed the receive $1.25 per hous and semi- beautifulrugged, country southwest of .734 per cent to 2.105 per cent skilled get $1.40 per hour. Skilled Blanding, Utah. uranium oxide content, of the workers in the construction field They were just enjoying their variety. get as much as $1.75 to $2.25 per sandwiches and the scenery, when the spring thaws hour. The Colorado Employment a miner came by and started talk- runAs offsoon as now theres about Service office in Cortez has been ing enthusiastically about his mine 30 feet ofright snow in the mining disefficient in supplying labor needs. up the mountainside. trict it is expected that explora"Would the Doctor care to look tion Contributing to the economy of equipment will be moved into heard at it? asked. he Having the district are four large truck the area by major companies. but and uranium mining lines which operate regular sched- nothing Arbar believes there is a body ules into the city. These freight talk around town for the past few or vein of pitchblende lying below Cortez is served by a municipal-ownewater system which takes T. GAI WAREHOUSE Dealer In Soda Ash Caustic Soda and Cement Doc Goss Picnicking, Ends Up With Mine Reserve System Member, F.D.I.C. Exploration Development Production. DURANGO Phone 3747 429 Colorado Avenue Grand Junction, Colo. COLORADO Equipment Groceries Everything For Stockmen . Even live Stock |
