There were numerous Montezuma County residents – longtime residents – who yearned for a location to display and store the many artifacts that had been acquired over the years, which were part and parcel of the county’s history. Letter writing and an occasional speaker touted the importance of gathering local history, but there was one individual who firmly and persistently moved the idea forward.
On Aug. 22, Ann Wilson Brown was honored by the leadership of the Montezuma Heritage Museum, the museum that emerged late in 2022 as a result of her determination (Journal, Sept. 3).
The county commissioners’ decision to provide the vacant social services building, located in mid-downtown, just a block off Main Street, was a critical step. However, there was still a lot of organizing to be done, including renovating the building to accommodate exhibit space, a research center, and meeting rooms, collecting items, preparing exhibits and archives, and running a capital fundraising campaign to cover the costs.
Brown raised almost $500,000 and drove that work with the help of allies and local contributions of materials and labor. Artifacts that had been displayed at the airport, stored in city hall, and in the residences of those who hoped that one day there would be such a museum, now had a home.
Today, visitors learn about the tri-ethnic community that is Montezuma County, reflected in museum exhibits about the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, early Spanish Explorers, miners, ranchers and loggers who came to the region to work and live off the land, the towns and communities’ history and culture, local families, schools and more.
There really is no better person to organize such an endeavor. Brown’s forebears – the Wilsons – arrived in 1896, and her grandfather would become a four-term county treasurer. Equipped with political instincts, Brown served as former district director to one U.S. Congressmen and three U.S. Senators, was the second woman to be elected to Durango City Council and serve as mayor, and served as chairperson of the Colorado Ute Tribes Water Rights Settlement Negotiations Committee (Animas-La Plata Project), and founder and director of the Southern Ute Indian Tribe’s Head Start and Community Action Program.
Brown chaired the Montezuma County Historical Society between 2018 and 2023, the key years in developing support for the museum. And the above are not even all of her accomplishments. Nor are we sure she’s yet done. As she approaches her 87th year, we hope so, but imagine it’s unlikely.
Communities with needs and a desire to move forward require leadership, and Ann W. Brown is precisely such a person. There is now a plaque honoring Brown, and husband Don, at the museum. The Journal’s editorial board extends its deep appreciation and hearty congratulations to Brown. The recognition is very well deserved and Montezuma County, our state and nation are better for her efforts “saving our history, telling our stories,” the museum’s motto.
Their next public presentation is “The Penitente shepherds & the signs they left behind,” Saturday, Sept. 13, at 2 p.m. Museum information, including hours of operation, is available at montezumamuseum.org.
