"A Look Back"

The Stories presented here are about people and events during the early days when this corner of Colorado was first settled.

Craig Becomes An Official Town
By Shannan Koucherick for the Museum of NW CO

As the young community of Craig continued to grow, many of its residents began to think that the area needed to “graduate” to the ranks of an incorporated town. As usually occurs in a democracy, some residents were against the incorporations, but most were in favor of taking this big step of independence.

There were various arguments on both sides of the debate. Shopkeepers were getting tired of moving sleepy bovines from the front of their stores every morning. Free-ranging cattle and other livestock liked the shelter provided by the buildings on the main street of Craig and no one could do anything about them if the owners chose to give them freedom. With incorporation would come the ability to create ordinances to control actions of man and beast to better foster a growing community.

Incorporation would tell the world that Craig’s people had faith that the community was there to stay.

Other citizens were concerned that taxes would increase. The dollar is always a strong influence when a democratic process promotes progress.

On November 21, 1907, 20 of Craig’s leading businessmen put out a call for the people to come together to debate the future of their town. A week later, G. A. Ellis recorded the minutes of the meeting that would change Craig forever; “Judge Coulter offered a motion that the chairman appoint a committee of three to form and circulate a petition to incorporate the town, designating the boundaries, etc. After some debate the motion was carried by acclamation.

“…A test vote of the crowd present was taken as to whether they would prefer incorporation or not, resulting in 19 in favor and 7 opposed.

“On motion the meeting adjourned to such time as Chairman (C.M.) White should call a second meeting to consider the report of the committee on petition.” (Routt County Courier November 28, 1907)

It took a few months for the incorporation petition to circulate around the community, but on April 21, 1908, voters went to A.S. Robinson’s contractor’s office on Yampa Avenue to cast their votes. They were given the choice of yea or nay and the incorporation passed by a vote of 79 in favor and 40 against.

Craig became an independent town.

The first item of business for the fledgling town was to elect a mayor and trustees. There was general agreement that A.S. Robinson should be the first mayor, and after only minor debate a ticket was presented to the voters with seven of the town’s leading businessmen running unopposed.

The new board of trustees included; Clyde M. Downs, P.H. Howard, J.E. Kellogg, C.S. Merrill, L.H. Spilker and George H. Welch.

The Courier reported on the election in its June 4, 1908 edition: “Craig elected its first set of town dads Tuesday, and in spite of the fact that most of them lack the ordinary aldermanic appearance in front they are men who can be trusted to do their best for Craig.”

After the new board had appointed a clerk, marshal, attorney and treasurer, it fell to them to compose the first of many town ordinances. The very first established an official town seal; the second regulated the appointment of Town officers. A department of health was established and charged with maintaining the public welfare, including a town dumpsite. Saloons were licensed at $500/year.

The other initial ordinances defined fines for public intoxication and vandalism, carrying or using weapons and banning livestock running at large. The town fathers were careful to include just about any domestic animal commonly found in the area.

Dogs were addressed in Ordinance #7; all dogs were to be licensed annually, but a licensed dog displaying a numbered metal tag on a “sturdy” collar could still run loose in town – unless it was a female in heat, in which case the offending dog would be shot and taken to the Public Dump.

Ordinance #9 covered the need for streets and bridges, but gave taxpayers— males between the ages of 21 and 50— the option to work two days on street projects in lieu of his $3 annual tax assessment.

The Town of Craig was off and running in an official capacity and many of the guidelines set down one hundred years ago have proven a good foundation for the growth that has continued in our town to this day.