Life in southeaster Colorado has a few perks… Among them, John Martin Reservoir. Growing up, the dam ran the gauntlet from a source of fear, to a source of pleasure. I remember Dad teetering off the edge of the rock face on the pier reaching for his straw hat that had blown into the water as we watched the sailboat races followed by rushing through blinding torrents of rain to escape the flood. Life in the valley below the dam brought many emotional highs and lows over the years.

Knowing that my uncles and several other relatives worked on this project in the 1930’s just makes the views of the dam and from the dam that much more special. When I found the photos, including the one above on Danielle Simone’s John Martin Reservoir Blog today, I had to share the photos, and the memories.

I know many of us grew up boating, swimming and fishing the Dam. And, who could forget campfires around Hasty Lake, or the many summer events and school trips to the Dam. Anybody else ever watch fireworks from the Dam. Springfield, Eads, Las Animas, La Junta, Lamar and Holly are all visible from the Dam. Fireworks in all those towns make for a spectacular 4th of July from the top of the John Martin Reservoir Dam, just west of Lamar, Colorado on US Highway 50.

***Now, you’re probably wondering about those Sailboats on the Arkansas River, along the Santa Fe Trail, anywhere in Colorado. I’ll write that article for a later edition of the Blog.