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"A Look Back"
The Stories presented here are about people and events during the early days when
this corner of Colorado was first settled.
Other stories in the "A Look Back" series:
"Bad Man" Bob Meldrum
509 Yampa – Standing the test of time
595 Colorado Street
Al Martinez – a man of faith and leadership
Architect turned homesteader – L. A. Heard
Attractive New Filling Station Nearly Finished
Augusta Wallihan
Bringing a touch of class to Northwest Colorado
Byron Cooper – A man of integrity
Charles and Effie Osborn
Christian Church of Craig – up from the ashes
Christina Murray – last and first
Craig airport an important part of city’s history
Craig Armory building an important part of history
Craig Becomes An Official Town
Craig Bottling Works
Craig drugstores
Craig Motel
Craig, Colorado The First Twenty Years
Craig’s Early Gas Stations
Craig’s early Motels
Craig’s oldest continuous retail business still going strong
D. W. Diamond, Photographer
D.W. Diamond
Doc Montgomery Early Craig Cobbler
Drawing the lines of a new territory
Duffy Tunnel
Elsie Wingo
Ersel Deakins – A man of Craig
George and Julia Welch – part of Craig’s founding tapestry
Gregory Cash Grocery
Hamilton Hamlet Home to Hundreds
Historical Church Changes With Time
Historical Movers and Shakers
I.P. Beckett – born to lead
J.J. Stanton – One of Craig’s early movers
John and Fern Sherman
Joseph S. Collom, Pioneer Axial Basin Rancher
Joseph S. Collom, Pioneer Axial Basin Rancher
Julia Carpenter – Craig’s grand Lady
L.S. “Ted” McCandless – caring for Craig
Ladore Canyon Dam Project
Lawrence couple strong supporters of Craig
Lay, Colorado
Lewis M. Hellebust, photographer
Loyd DeuPree III
Martin Lukas – Bohemian homesteader
Mary Wiley Humphrey
Maurice Flynn heads for Hollywood…and back…and back
Mining something
Moblile Economy Run
Moffat County High School – history repeats itself
Moffat County homesteader goes to State
Moffat County’s railroad legacy
One Boy's Life
P. F. Kremer, Artist and Homesteader
Persinger sisters showed true style
Piecing together a good life
R.V. Bryan Helped To Lay The Foundations of Craig
Rangewars - Sheep Massacre on the Yampa
Red Wash Jones
Rev. J. N. Bridges
Rosetta Webb-McKinney – an early Craig dynamo
Russell Coles – Keeping the books for Moffat County
Sawtooth Range Riders
Sheep industry/Winder
Stoddards recorded the history of Craig as they lived it
Teacher brings Europe to Craig
The Bilsing Family
The Crosthwaites – providing a legacy of excellence
The Fuss family – Bringing the staff of life to Craig
The Future of Craig
The last of the bad good guys
The last passenger train to Craig
The Legacy of Tracy & Lant
The lost Freeman grave
The Osborn clan grows up and out
Tragedy at Wadge Mine Part 1
Tragedy At Wadge Mine Part 2
Tragedy At Wadge Mine Part 3
Tragedy At Wadge Mine Part 4
Tragedy At Wadge Mine Part 5
Tragedy At Wadge Mine Part 6
Victory Highway
W.P. Irwin – Pharmacist and friend of Craig
Wantland – hope or speculation?
Washington Held – a friend of Craig
William Penn Finley – Supporter of Craig and her people
William Terrill – keeping the peace
Yampa Canyon
Cosgriff Hotel
By Jan Gerber, Assistant Director
   ##image4##Built in 1940 by William “Bill” and Wilma Cosgriff, along with several local businessmen as stockholders, the Cosgriff Hotel was a landmark in Craig for many years. From the grand opening gala to its final days, it was headquarters to many Governors, Senators and Congressmen when they were in Northwestern Colorado. Actor Gary Cooper was a guest at the Cosgriff in 1948, Jack Benny in 1960. Other celebrities to stay at the hotel were Jane Fonda, Duncan Hines and band leader Stan Kenton. The hotel was featured in Time and Life magazines in the 1940’s and the Chicago American newspaper in 1952.
In 1942, the hotel went into receivership and was then purchased at auction on the Courthouse steps by Joe Stanton, Frank Bieser, C.A. Stoddard and Charles Gentry. Mr. Gentry was the hotel manager. Frank Bieser sold his interest, and after the death of Joe Stanton, Stoddard and Gentry continued the operation, until Mr. Stoddard bought out Mr. Gentry’s interests in1974. The Stoddard family sold to a Wickenburg Arizona group, who operated it for a few years, before selling to Roberts Mgmt Corporation in California. The hotel shut down in April 1983.
The Stoddard opened it again in July 1983 until December 1985 when it closed for good. By 1989 the talk of transforming the hotel into a double cinema seemed like a way to save the building from demolition, but by 1992 it became apparent that the Cosgriff was doomed.
Known for its famous Saturday night smorgasbord including frog legs, skewered shrimp, ice sculptures, every imaginable kind of salad, and delicious prime rib, many Craig locals have fond memories of the Cosgriff Hotel. Sadly, it was torn down in 1996 after a grand, and yet troubled existence.
Gerard Curtis Delano’s painting “The Prospector”, as well as, two other paintings out of the Cosgriff are at the Museum of Northwest Colorado’s “Passing of the Old West” Western Art and Artifact Exhibit.
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