The
VALLECITO LEGEND
Our Community Newspaper, Website & Tour Guide
QUOTES of
NOTE
How You Know You're a Bachelor
When It's Winter in Vallecito
(Click here to go straight to the
section.)
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“People who live in a small town don’t read the newspaper the next
morning to see what happened the day before.
They just read the
newspaper to see who got caught at it!”
Author unknown
* * * *
*
“Sometimes, the most
generous people
are those with the
least means,
inviting you in for
their supper,
to share a bowl of
beans.”
Gary Courtney
Author, Photographer & historian
2003
* * * *
*
“There’s a saying that
you can tell a lot about a person by
the books they read.
My version is: You can tell a lot about a
person by
the heroes they have.
Some of mine are:
·
Will Rogers, for his brave wit,
humor and
common sense,
·
Benjamin Franklin, for his many
inventions and
statesmanship,
·
Major John Wesley Powell, for
his scientific contributions and exploration of the American West,
·
The NASA Astronauts, the true
“Survivors”, and
·
“Big Jim” Whittaker,
the first American to climb Mount Everest,
and
the inspiration for my son's name.”
Gary Courtney
1991
* * * *
*
“A measure of true
character and charity is when people can put aside
their personal differences,
and band together to help another in crisis.”
Gary Courtney
2000
(Character was clearly shown in
the nationwide assistance efforts
for Gulf Coast hurricane victims, 2005.)
* * * *
*
"A comedian makes a joke to make a living.
A
politician makes a joke, and it becomes law!"
Will Rogers
* * * *
*
"A pseudo-intellectual is an
extremely articulate person, who can rationalize
that night is day, but who
ignores common sense or human nature."
Gary Courtney
From "The Evolution of Control -
Generation by Generation Expansion of
Government"
Copyright 1994 Gary D. Courtney in the Library of Congress
* * * *
*
"The
Solid Muldoon" Newspaper
of Ouray
from "The Ouray Primer" by David Day, in the
early 1890's
"God hates a coward, yet
there are several of them engineering so called newspapers."
"There never was a brewery
boycotted, or a distillery's products called Unfair. They are all good or
better."
"What is a legislature?",
the child asked.
"In Colorado, it is a conglomeration of
Rural and Metropolitan Asses elevated by
Misguided Suffrage to positions intended by
the Constitution for Brains, Honor and Manhood", I replied.
Note:
David Day's western writing style in Ouray preceded the similar style,
by four years, of famous writer
Eugene Field, whose "Primer"
in the Denver Tribune credited Field with the style.
They were both
precursors of another famous writer of similar style to come in the 1930's -
Will Rogers.
After being appointed to the staff of Colorado Governor James B. Grant,
in 1883 and 1884, he was called "Colonel" Day.
His sharp pen and fearsome journalism got him into conflicts and lawsuits
many times. However, he always won out, because he spoke the truth, and
that is what many feared.
David Day's brave pen and sharp, coarse wit continued as the owner and
editor of The Solid Muldoon newspaper in Ouray, until March, 1892.
It was then Colonel Day moved his family and his newspaper
from Ouray to Durango.
At first, he published both a daily and a weekly edition. By July, 1892,
Day decided to consolidate the two newspapers into a building especially
for them on 8th Street.
In 1893, Colonel Day was appointed Indian Agent for the Southern Ute
Indians at the Ignacio reservation, by President Grover Cleveland.
He served in the position for over three years.
He was a member of no organizations, fearing association would be a
conflict of interest to his objective journalism, save one. Only two men
in all
the state of Colorado held the Medal of Honor Men of the Civil War -
General William Jackson Palmer,
owner of the Granite Peaks Ranch at Vallecito, and
"Colonel" David Day, who was only a teenage Private at the time!
David Frakes Day passed away in Durango, June 22, 1914, but he left a
longstanding legacy of courage to speak the truth in our society, and to
function as a much-needed conscience for those who went astray
from morals and ethics. Famous road builder and translator for Chief Ouray,
Otto Mears, spoke at his services, and was by the family's side throughout the
funeral proceedings in
Denver.
After being sold by son Dave Day in December, 1924, and sold again by
George W. Lane, in April, 1928, to J.M. McDevitt, the newspapers were
consolidated into one press, which was sold to the Ballentines in 1952.
The name of the
newspaper?
David Day's labor of love became the Durango Herald!
* * * *
*
"Some people
have had to deal with lawyers before,
but they haven't had to deal with me or Will Rogers!"
Gary Courtney
from his front page community action column
"Ramblings", in the Oklahoma
Legend weekly
* * * *
*
"Considering Thomas
Jefferson, Ben Franklin, and our other Founding Fathers were smart enough in
knowledge of human nature 200 years ago to prohibit an income tax in the
Constitution, we've gone a long way cruelly backward on our people, since
then, with the IRS."
Gary Courtney,
Author of
"The Evolution of Control - Generation by Generation Expansion of
Government"
Copyright 1994 Gary D. Courtney in the Library of Congress
* * * *
*
To the President and Congress:
"Thank you all very
kindly. I'm much obliged for your help.
Now, what are
you doin' in legislation that'll help all the deservin' folks who
can't get
their pen to write as good as mine?"
Gary Courtney
2005
On his written request
crusade to the President and Congress
for their intervention to solve the emergency of
people
dying by being unjustly denied Disability, or
deprived of their basic retirement fixed income benefits
by
Social Security and other government agencies, and
lawyers.
* * * *
*
"Good complexity is that which consists of well-organized
multiple layers of simplicity."
Gary Courtney,
Senior Consultant
on the
two-year total software re-write project for
C&K Petroleum, Houston, Texas
1981
* * * *
*
"The people most likely to be offended by your documenting
something in a memo or letter are:
those who will take advantage of the
situation when you don't,
or
those who want to sweep
something under the rug and
not move to act."
Gary Courtney
1991
* * * *
*
Keynote speech to CEO's
& CFO's of nationwide companies at IBM - Houston:
"Preserve
your company's security,
self-sufficiency, and quality control
at
all costs!
Regardless of the accounting picture, pay attention to intangible values.
