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Montezuma County Funds Historians to Research Claim on Dolores-Norwood Road

Sam Green
/
The Journal

A report prepared at the request of the Montezuma County commissioners appears to support their claim to the Dolores-Norwood Road under the historic statute known as RS 2477.

The report by Fort Lewis College Professor Andrew Guilliford and Chris Maschino, of Locus Dynamics Research examines the history of the road, which leads north from the town of Dolores into San Miguel County. The commissioners are seeking title to about 10 miles of the road where it crosses U.S. Forest Service land. Officials with the San Juan National Forest have offered the county a long-term easement free of charge, but the county wants full ownership and is paying the two authors some $5,000 for their research. A key issue is whether the road existed prior to the creation of the national forest in 1905. The authors say it did, having begun as a Ute Indian trail. They say it may be one of the oldest public routes in southwest Colorado and is shown on maps from 1875 to 1905. Forest Service officials have said they do not dispute the county’s claim but it must be verified in court. One issue will be the road’s width. An RS 2477 claim may be only as wide as the route was at the time the national forest was created.

Gail Binkly is a career journalist who has worked for the Colorado Springs Gazette and Cortez Journal, and was the editor of the Four Corners Free Press, based in Cortez.
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