It's Day 329......It's also March 30th 2020....and we are in Delta Colorado

It's Day 329......It's also March 30th 2020....and we are in Delta Colorado

The Calendar....may be in the middle of turning the page on winter....but The Arkansas Valley....and Western Slope regions of Colorado.....feels like they got a different calendar. We ended up spending 3 nights in Rocky Ford...tucked away in the Arkansas Valley Fairgrounds....watching mother nature change her mind a couple times...before giving us the all clear.....sort of...

The drive through Arkansas Valley unfolds across the southeast region of Colorado.... revealing a broad range of scenery. The wide open ranch and farmlands,....dotted with wind turbine farms...that had brought us into Rocky Ford From Kansas.....continue at first....along highway 50 leaving the area....but briefly. ...Passing through Manzanola and Fowler, landscape shifted ..... and had us rolling through the foothills of Monarch Pass. As we passed through Pueblo, Pueblo West, and Cañon City, there were vast variances in the lay of the land....the grand scale of the Rocky Mountains showing up on the horizon..... providing an immense backdrop. This being our first time entering the Centennial State from the east, it was as if we had just met Colorado for the first time. The Rockies…majestic…still blanketed in snow, and given the time of year we're making the trek....they can feel a bit intimidating.....but yet they some how opened up…reached out…and welcomed us into a universe that would literally be a polar opposite of where we had just left.

The experience took me back to those Saturday Ski trips in Washington.....leaving the urban landscapes of Tacoma....in no time....passing through the rainy farmlands of rural Auburn.....and then...... just 20 miles or so up the road a winter wonderland awaits at the Crystal Mountain....in those Cascade Mountains.

One pretty cool discovery ....as we rolled through this area was The Arkansas Headwaters National Recreation Area and the Royal Gorge. Looks like no matter what your looking for in the great outdoors......in search of hiking, zip line tours, world class white water rafting and fishing..... or just a drive through some of the most rugged country Colorado has to offer…you can find it here…and surrounded with views that photo’s just don’t capture. ....Another area...I need to come back to....when spring and summer have taken control of the area…oh…and minus a pandemic…most everything we saw.....was closed.

Monarch Pass... still flirting with winter as well, threatening the occasional flurry but thankfully roads were clear and traffic was light…slow and steady being the rule.... we dropped down off the pass and through a smattering of small communities before reaching Salida. Coming down out of the mountains things flattened out a bit and our snowy surroundings were replaced with yet more evidence that frigid temps were not yet done with this part of the universe. The pine covered mountains had been replaced with Pinnacles.....all these rock formations..... still frozen lakes, and rivers following alongside us that had just barely shed their icy, wintery skin.....mother nature is calling the shots and it will be a while before a boat launches on Lake Sapinero....and something tells me that all this scenery....takes on a whole different look....when your doing the looking from a boat on that lake.....

The final leg of todays drive down off that pass.....would take us through a place called Gunnison....

We probably would have stopped in Gunnison for the night.....it's a pretty cool place.....I've been there a couple times.....skiing with friends at the Crested Butte Ski Resort.....an awesome little community just outside town.....The town is certainly worth exploring outside of the skiing opportunities in the area...A mining....and ranching communities that plays host to the nations 4th oldest Rodeo each year.....and I hear it has a pretty awesome Pioneer museum as well.....but yet one more time.....This pandemic has gotten in the way of our adventure. Gunnison had placed an digital sign outside town making it very clear.....that Gunnison was closed for business....Covid 19

We'd trek another 80 miles or so to Delta. Technically Delta....that is. Figuring the place was shut town....like most everywhere else we encounter...we'd find ourselves a dirt road before even entering the town....and wander out into BLM land in search of our address for the night. Wasn't until after a walk with Dougie....and Dinner.....that my phone would proclaim "Delta Colorado....when I asked where we were. Apparently we'd gotten close enough.

Internet would go on to tell me that Delta.... A community of 9000 or so in the Western Slope region of the state....was an area rich in agriculture and Natural beauty.....surrounded by the Rocky Mountains! Duh....didn't need the phone to tell me that....we were lookin at it.

As I read a little more......one of the next things to come up....."Delta....is a Homerule Municipality".....not having a clue what that meant....I had already started reading when thank goodness I had a flashback......Shelton Washington....Last May when I read that Shelton has a council–manager form of government and was the last city in Washington to use a mayor–commission form of government. I'd remembered trying to understand the difference between the two.....why a town would choose one over the other....and blah blah blah....

But mostly.....I'd remembered that I promised myself that if I ever read anything...again....about a city or towns form of government.....I'd skip it.....not my thing.....

So I skipped it....almost....Delta....is a home rule municipality? The term home rule was such an od term being applied to a city...in my mind....I had to....at least know what it means.....and it essentially means that under the states consitution....Delta....has opted for this form of government.....which apparently gives the town a bit more autonomy....when it comes to setting local law and policy....as opposed to simply adhereing to State practices and laws.....sounded to me like a version of how most every city and town in the country runs....but enough....I skipped it.....Kinda...

It was way more interesting to learn that this region in Colorado......at the confluence of the Uncumpahgray and Gunnison Rivers.... was Ute stompin grounds....when it came to Native American presence.....and that it would be Spanish explorers that trekked across the region having first contact with those Native Americans.....a lucrative trade relationship would ultimately lead to the establishment of Fort Uncumpahgry a trading post...here in the late 1800's by a French Canadian Trapper...

And just like most everywhere else in the country.....The Native Americans here... were trading those valuable furs...some making their way across not only this continent.....but showing up in Europe as well. In exchange.....the native americans were stocking up on horses....guns and iron products. And that was life....in Delta Colorado....and beyond....for a couple centuries....until.....The mining....and settlement era came to this part of the world. Here in Delta.....gold would be discovered which led to....

Well....we've read that story.....dozens of times....from Oregon to Arizona.....New Mexico to Idaho....and most everywhere else we've been....life was good....for everyone....and then....life got way better....for some.....but took a turn in the not so good direction.... for many others.

Here in Delta....it would be the discovery of gold.....round about the time The Indian wars were coming to a close. ....as the Ute people were being rounded up by the thousands.... and forced to move to reservations in Utah as part of the US Forced Relocation Program....tales of the fertile soils....and gold lined rivers had settlers and wanna be miners flocking to the area from all across the southeast region of this newly forming country.

Gold mining in the area turned out to be a bit more elusive than early arrivals had hoped...so as many moved on to the bigger gold rushes out there in the west...and on the west coast....even more would decide this was the perfect spot....to stay put and make a life farming....and ranching along these rivers,,,against the backdrop of those rocky mountains.....and once the railway had made it to the area....even more eager settlers would arrive....and the area was off and runnin.... and they haven't looked back. The next few years these settlers would learn that the fertile soils at the Delta of those two rivers....which is how the name would come to be....would grow most anything ya wanted.....from Oats, Wheat, Barley and Alphalpha.......to apples, peaches, and grapes....why would ya go anywhere else....they thought.....and by this time....the over 800 residents of Delta....had decided they were home....for good.

And some pretty telling indicators of the life here in Delta.....at the time....Those 800 residents of Delta enjoyed access to one general store...and one drug store.....but it would take 5 saloons, 5 lawyers, and 2 doctors, to meet the rest of the towns needs......and....the town had become the county seat of Delta government..... because of that strategic location along the growing railway system.

And in the late 1800's....Delta....would make national news.....proving that along with all it's prosperity....the town was still...... about as wild...as the wild west could git...The Mcarty gang would roll into town and choose one of the towns two banks....in an attempt to help themselves to some of that prosperity.....It didn't work out so well for the Mcarty's....two of the three would be killed in a gun battle as they attempted escape....the third....would dissappear into history....never being heard from again...

And there's most always that one more click thing........finishing up reading......and writing this evening after that last walk with Dougie.....I was reviewing the photo's I'd taken today....when I was reminded of that freeway exit sign we'd passed in Pueblo Colorado....“Pueblo Chemical Depot”

I had to ask the internet.......this 23 thousand acre facility was built and designed to destroy the US stockpile of chemical weapons. There are only two such facilities in the country, the other is located in Richmond Kentucky.

And I couldn't read a sentance like "The US stockpile of chemical weapons"....without reading more...right?

Specifically.....it seems we're referring to Mustard gas .. It's origins date back to 1860 when a British chemist first synthesised the gas.....it was named for it's color.....and an aroma that was similar to that of the mustard plant....now obviously.....this British guy was not trying to invent chemical warfare....he was just a scientist ....exploring different chemical elements and how they interacted with each other.......But once it was discovered that this liquid gas....when dispersed into the air.....the small droplets formed would cause severe blistering of the skin and mucous membranes in humans....it was only a matter of time before man would figure out the delivery mechanism enabling it's use in war.

And fast forward to World War I ......The Germans would be the first to deploy the weaponry.....but Allies....including the US were not far behind. .....before long....the chemical had found it's way to artillery shells, bombs, and rockets.

The primary objective of mustard gas was not necessarily to kill... but to incapacitate soldiers and civilians alike....It caused severe chemical burns, respiratory damage, and temporary blindness, making it a feared weapon on the battlefields across Europe....overwhelming medical facilities with the wounded...which allowed the military that had deployed the weapon a tactical advantage when moving in to the area's they had just bombed with the stuff......

Now....the civilized world.....for the most part......upon seeing the horrific effects of the gas in mass scale.... on both soldiers and civilians would decide by 1925 to sign the Geneva Gas Protocol.....which called for the prohibition of chemical and biological weapons.

The intent may have been to discontinue it's use.....but guess what.....man ..... conflict....and war.....well....we never really seem to get around to undoing the bad things we've done....on purpose....or not..... It's use continues to be documented across the globe.....and my guess is I could spend an eternity trying to figure out exactly where Iran....or Iraq.....or Syria and North Korea.....Russia.....continue to have access to this technology.....and further develope this type of weaponry......and still not know.

And just like each and every other one of my discoveries.....this one....I could tell....would take me down a rabbit hole I might never come out of!

For now.....what I know for sure is that This Chemical Depot in Colorado....and the one in Kentucky....are working to safely dispose of the entire US Stockpile of chemical weaponry.....with a planned completion date of 2023.

It's gonna get chilly again tonight.....sposed to drop down to just above freezing.....but looks like another sunny and almost 60 degree day tomorrow.

Sitting in a grassy prairie here in Colorado....seemingly so quiet....but yet.....wondering.....Did Native Americans die here...battling to keep their homeland...Did US Calvary ....and settlers die here...trying to take it...did railway workers sweat into these soils during the expansion era of these United States....Did Bank Robbers run through here with bags of ill gotten gains.....

Probably.....

And who's historic path might we cross tomorrow....hundreds of years after the fact...as we continue our drive back. to...and deeper into....Colorado's Western Slope....

I guess we'll see tomorrow...

And I wonder what we'll learn there...