Category Archives: Galen Larson

Christmas is over, but I believe this is still the season and reason for giving, so I am going to give many accolades to persons who without asking have helped me in my journey to the who-knows-where. Without using their … Continue reading →

November, the 11th month, the 11th day, the 11th hour. Armistice Day, they called it. The war to end all wars. So stated President Hoover. Our veterans came home to the beginnings of a Depression. Promised a $315 bonus they … Continue reading →

We taxpayers and residents in Cortez, Mancos, Dolores, and Montezuma County are about to be hoodwinked (wink, wink) into the oldest con game ever put forth by shysters and our local supposed leaders. Community center? For what and who? First … Continue reading →

I’m going to start this column with a short riddle. I look down on no one, up to very few, my parents of course. I don’t think I’m better than anyone else, but I don’t know anyone better. But that … Continue reading →

When are we going to get some adults in office in our local area, instead of a group of persons that are still playing cowboys? The Montezuma County commissioners held two meetings in February, one in a larger room, for … Continue reading →

This is the month when Americans really show their patriotism, right? Lots of loud, bright fireworks, flags waving in the sun, red, white and blue frosted cakes – all to remind us what a great country we have. We go … Continue reading →

I’d like to talk about the Second Amendment and the misguided and misunderstood ways it has been interpreted. It seems to me to be some sort of riddle that would require a shaman to interpret. Some say it is about … Continue reading →

Nov. 7 was not a red-letter day for Cortez. Black crepe would be more appropriate. We had a question on the ballot, Measure 3B, asking voters for an increase of close to 5 mills a year in our property tax … Continue reading →

I have to take issue with another Free Press columnist, Dexter Gill, over his views on public lands. He seems to believe they should be privatized or turned over to the states to manage. Maybe he hasn’t traveled very much. … Continue reading →

In my travels and work throughout my life, I have never been in an area where there is so much stupidity. I would have said ignorance, but ignorance can be eliminated by education. Not stupidity. Doesn’t anyone in a leadership … Continue reading →

We are fast losing our place in the world as a leader of a free people. Freedom is a costly commodity that takes an open mind, a steady hand and a lot of compassion. We cannot become the bully of … Continue reading →

We have to look to the past to see how we wound up with this narcissistic sexual predator became president of the greatest country in the world. Why the world “pervert”? Well, by his own locker-room words he put himself … Continue reading →

We have to look to the past to see how we wound up with this narcissistic sexual predator became president of the greatest country in the world. Why the world “pervert”? Well, by his own locker-room words he put himself … Continue reading →

about it. We’re building the wall. We’re building the wall. In fact, it’s going to start soon. Way ahead of schedule, way ahead of schedule. Way, way, way ahead of schedule. It’s going to start very soon.” — Donald Trump … Continue reading →

Isn’t it strange that those who are so adamantly opposed to taxes try so hard to get on the tax-supported welfare wagon by seeking political office? Politics is apparently the next step up for those who can’t make it in … Continue reading →

I was introduced to Cortez and Montezuma County 42 years ago on a little venture to To-hell-you-ride while living in Flagstaff, another small town. Telluride could have been bought for $500,000, more or less, and the seller would have laughed … Continue reading →

We have many folks here that want the Forest Service to allow them and their ilk the right to drive their four-wheel gas-guzzlers anywhere there is the faintest route through the brush. If it’s a trail from the past, then … Continue reading →

The Republicans remind me of a tale of woe told in an old fable. A farmer had a small tract of land and it was hard to make ends meet. But he had a very good team of horses that … Continue reading →

I would like to see the minutes of the Montezuma County commissioners’ meetings be kept in greater detail. As things exist, it is hard to research the past actions of the commissioners or the questions asked by constituents. I realize … Continue reading →

Our economic-minded county commissioners are concerned about spending monies to keep us informed via legal notices in the Journal newspaper. Dictatorships do not like informed constituents. But there is a great need to make it as easy as possible for people who … Continue reading →

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and one man’s garbage is another man’s treasure. Some years back, there was a push to clean up the entrances to Cortez. It was defeated by those who deem garbage to be … Continue reading →

Here it is, another Veterans Day, and Congress cannot find the money to build a hospital in Denver to care for our veterans. It took less than 24 hours to deliver “shock and awe” to the people of Iraq, but … Continue reading →

Ill-eagle, ill-eagle, ill-eagle. I have a houseful of them. This problem goes back to the Second World War. When we were short of labor for the war effort, we imported workers from Mexico and points south. They were not treated … Continue reading →

Hooray, hooray, Cortez is leading the way – to the bottom. I saw in the news recently that we here in Montezuma County have garnered the dubious distinction of being the eighth-worst place to live in the state of Colorado. … Continue reading →

I am pleased to see some other citizens are also concerned about our county’s new membership in a club called the American Lands Council. I understand that it has a president and communications officer – a man and wife – … Continue reading →

Montezuma County needs our help. We cannot stand by and let persons in Utah scam our commissioners, because when they are scammed, we are also. They were elected by the people of Montezuma County and should not govern on advice … Continue reading →

The cruel war was over – oh, the triumph was so sweet! We watched the troops returning, through our tears; There was triumph, triumph, triumph down the scarlet glittering street, And you scarce could hear the music for the cheers. And you scarce could … Continue reading →

Isn’t it strange how some words that mean similar things can sound very different when used? For instance, “dues” and “taxes.” Dues are, of course, money paid to a club, organization, or church as required to support that worthy project. … Continue reading →

In the Good Book there is a verse called Acts 17:26. “And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the … Continue reading →

Wow – what a headline! Kinder Morgan asks to farm local land. That appeared in the Nov. 17 Cortez Journal. The article was mostly about water delivery and pipelines, but at the end, it mentioned that Kinder Morgan had asked the … Continue reading →

Well, the blue dog Democrats deserted their constituents and gave away our country to the very people that put us in this mess in the first place. Why the news media calls them “blue dogs” beats me. Blue used to … Continue reading →

Now that Montezuma County has a relatively new staff and board of county commissioners, I ask: What is their mission? Do they have an agenda to lift our county out of poverty? What will they come up with to help … Continue reading →

“The owner, the employees, and the buying public are all one and the same, and unless an industry can so manage itself as to keep wages high and prices low it destroys itself, for otherwise it limits the number of its customers. One’s own … Continue reading →

There seems to be a movement afoot lately to turn control of our public lands over to states and counties, with the idea that this would somehow give greater freedom in the way those lands are managed. Don’t these people … Continue reading →

On July 7, I received a lesson in civics – a hard one. Everyone has heard the statement, “So-and-so has left the building.” Well, on that day, 120 taxpayers learned that democracy has left Montezuma County. The large group at … Continue reading →

It puzzles me why more residents and irrigators are not more concerned about our future potable water supply. Without water, our Western Slope could be the 21st Century’s Owens Valley of Colorado. We in Montezuma County and the Western Slope … Continue reading →

Montezuma County has a debilitating disease that surfaces every now and then, hampering our growth. Its acronym is PPLS. Its symptoms include a lack of innovation and a lack of vision, a John Wayne mentality, a rough-and-ready individual lifestyle. We … Continue reading →

A group that doesn’t take good care of its members is a group that doesn’t command much loyalty(and probably won’t last long). – Daniel Quinn, “Beyond Civilization.” We are not beyond civilization; we are not even civilized. The difference between us and … Continue reading →