WELCOME to Montrose County, Colorado.  MONTROSE Co. is available for adoption, if you are interested, please contact the State Coordinator.

I will be adding new information on a regular basis, so be sure to check back often.  If you have any old letters, documents, yearbooks or even old photos, I would be thrilled to publish them here.  If you would like to volunteer to do look-ups or transcribe information, please let me know.  I don't live in the area, so won't be able to do research for you.  I have a personal interest in the area, as my great-grandparents came to this area in 1885.

Montrose County Courthouse

This picture of the Courthouse is a wonderful depiction taken by Sanborn, number W-1386.

History

Montrose County is made up of several small towns:

• Ash Mesa
• Button
• Cedar Creek
• Cimarron 
• Grandview
• Naturita
• Nucla

• Maher
• Montrose (County Seat) 
• Oak Grove
• Olathe
• Paradox
• Pinon
• Ute

Gunnison county was divided in 1883, forming Montrose county. The area was settled on the heels of the Ute Indians leaving the territory.

The town of Montrose was founded in 1882, a short time after the Ute Indians were removed from the Uncompahgre (Un come pah gray) Valley. Early Montrose towns were the typical frontier cow towns. Gun play, quarreling and saloon brawls were common that made history and legend.

At the turn of the century (1900), the Bureau of Reclamation  created the project to build the 7 mile long Gunnison Tunnel.  The result was irrigation water that turned the valley into fertile growing lands for many types of agriculture.  President Howard Taft came to Montrose to dedicate the project in September of 1909. Click HERE for photo of Taft at the opening ceremony.