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News: What made - and killed - the light rail plan

For most of the nineties, one of the biggest and most controversial projects was the push for light rail connecting communities from Aspen to Glenwood. KDNK's Mathew Katz took at look at how the project would have changed the valley, and what killed light rail.

News: A tour around - and under - Glenwood Canyon

Yesterday, we heard all about how the citizens of the Valley helped change the plan to build the I-70 through Glenwood Canyon from one that would have torn the canyon apart to one that kept its beauty intact. Today, we're going to find out why it's an engineering marvel. KDNK's Mathew Katz took a ride around the canyon with Ralph Trapani, the manager of the I-70 project, to get up close with what makes the highway in Glenwood Canyon so unique.

News: The little highway that the Valley made

Eisenhower's Interstate System wasn't completed until 1992, and it happened right here in Glenwood Canyon. Driving through it today is a breathtaking spectacle, but it wasn't originally supposed to keep so much of the canyon's beauty intact. KDNK's Mathew Katz has the story of how the people of the valley turned the I-70 project through Glenwood Canyon into an amazing feat of engineering.

News: The mining camp at Spring Gulch

Right now Spring Gulch is a quiet cross country ski area, but just over a century ago, the 21 kilometers of cross country ski trails were once home to a railroad and a bustling coal mining community. As part of our series on local history, KDNK's Stacy Stein visited Spring Gulch and gives us a look back at what once was.

News: The mining disaster that changed Carbondale

Just a few short decades ago, Carbondale was a coal mining town. The industry was the central to the town's economy. But on one day in 1981, all that began to change when a coal mine explosion claimed the lives of 15 miners. As part of our series on local history, KDNK's Mathew Katz has the story of the disaster at the Dutch Creek #1 mine that devastated the town.

News: The silver boom in Aspen goes bust

This week, we've heard all about how Aspen boomed as a silver mining town in the 1880s and 1890s - but that boom eventually came to an end. KDNK's Mathew Katz has the story of how one of the biggest political issues of the 1890's helped to end the dominance of silver mining in Aspen.

News: Jerome Wheeler, the sugar daddy of Aspen's silver boom

Aspen boomed as a silver mining town in the 1880s and 1890s, but it didn't get that way on its own. There was one man who believed that the little mining camp called Aspen had a future, and pumped much-needed cash into it. His name was Jerome Wheeler, and KDNK's Mathew Katz has the story of how he helped make Aspen - and the entire Roaring Fork Valley - what it is today.

News: A walk down Main Street in Aspen, circa 1891

Over a century ago, Aspen wasn't a mecca for skiing - it was a mecca for silver.

In the 1880s and 1890s, the silver boom brought thousands of people to the Roaring Fork Valley, and turned Aspen from a mining camp into a full-fledged town.

KDNK's Mathew Katz spoke with Tom Egan of the Aspen Historical Society about what it was like in Boomtown Aspen.

News: Generations later, Utes still connected to horses

Northern Ute Elder, Clifford Duncan, comes from a long line of horsemen, beginning with his great-grandfather. Clifford still has a small herd of eight horses, two of which are descendents of wild horses. KDNK's Amy Hadden Marsh recently visited Clifford at his Roosevelt, Utah home to talk about the bond between Utes and their horses in their ancient culture and today.

News: The end of Utes in Colorado echoes over a century later

PART ONE: Hundreds of years before Europeans arrived in the Roaring Fork Valley, there were the Utes. The nomadic natives used to roam the mountains and valleys of Western Colorado that we now call home. But one event in the late 19th century, changed all that for the tribe. KDNK's Mathew Katz has a look at how the Utes were pushed out of Colorado.

PART TWO: Both the people of Meeker and the Utes have had over a century to deal with the aftermath of the Meeker Massacre, and while there's been some progress at reconciliation, there are still areas where the two groups disagree. Both sides are still very stuck in an 'us-versus-them mentality.' KDNK's Mathew Katz traveled to Meeker, and found out that the wounds of the past are still raw there.

VIDEO BELOW: KDNK's Mathew Katz visits the site of the Battle of Milk Creek with the White River Historical Society's Sandy Shimko. The Battle of Milk Creek was a clash between the U.S. Army and the Utes, just before the Meeker Massacre, which led to the Utes being kicked out of Colorado.

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