Pagosa Springs

History

The town is named for a system of sulfur springs, Pagosa hot springs, located there, which includes the world's deepest geothermal hot spring. The "Mother" spring feeds primitive and developed hot springs located on the upper banks of the San Juan River, which flows through town. The primitive springs are freely accessible to the public, but are generally not for entering or interacting with because of the extreme water temperature. Developed springs feed soaking pools that are hosted by three privately owned soaking locations within town. The water from the "Mother" spring is approximately . Local indigenous people used the hot springs for centuries; the area was considered "sacred ground". In Navajo cosmology, Pagosa Springs is the place where the People (Diné) emerged from their Fourth World underground to the Fifth World, this one, as Aileen O'Bryan records in The Dîné: Origin Myths of the Navaho Indians. In 1859, a white settler "discovered" the springs and developed them. In 1881, a bathhouse was first built there for paying customers. The Ute people called the sulfur-rich mineral springs , which is commonly translated in modern documents as "healing waters"; however according to Bill Hudson writing for the Pagosa Daily Post, a Ute elder once translated the phrase as "water () that has a bad smell ()" whereas the Archuleta County government states that "pagosa" is a Ute word meaning "healing or "boiling water." After the Civil War, the United States government considered building a convalescent hospital in Pagosa Springs. However, the hospital project was cancelled, and the lands platted by the U.S. Army were sold to private parties who capitalized on the thermal mineral springs. Along the banks of the San Juan river, simple wooden bathhouses were constructed.…

Geography

Pagosa Springs is located east of Durango. The San Juan River flows through the middle of town. According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , of which is land and , or 0.53%, is water. The area around Pagosa Springs has numerous large waterfalls, including Treasure Falls to the east of town off of Hwy 160 just past the Wolf Creek Pass summit. Approximately 65 percent of the land in Archuleta County is either San Juan National Forest, [http://www.coloradowilderness.com/wildpages/weminuche.html Weminuche] and [http://www.coloradowilderness.com/wildpages/sanjuan.html South San Juan] wilderness areas, or Southern Ute Indian reservation land. Pagosa Springs is located approximately north of the New Mexico border, at above sea level on the Western Slope of the Continental Divide. This combination of high desert plateau and the Rocky Mountains to the north and east creates an unusually mild climate, especially in the summer months. Pagosa sees around 300 days of sun each year, as well as four distinct seasons. The town is located in the upper San Juan Basin, surrounded by the San Juan National Forest, and adjacent to the largest wilderness area in the state of Colorado, the Weminuche Wilderness.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• American Crow

  Corvus brachyrhynchos C.L.Brehm, 1822 · Aves
  2,739
• Black-billed Magpie

  Pica hudsonia (Sabine, 1823) · Aves
  2,249
• Red-winged Blackbird

  Agelaius phoeniceus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  2,119
• Mallard

  Anas platyrhynchos Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  1,942
• Canada Goose (canadensis Group)

  Branta canadensis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  1,922
• Eurasian Collared-Dove

  Streptopelia decaocto (Frivaldszky, 1838) · Aves
  1,605
• Common Raven

  Corvus corax Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  1,539
• House Sparrow

  Passer domesticus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  1,455