As they say, "Durango is Always in Season!" With 300 days of sunshine a year, you will love the beauty and history of this bustling, southwestern city. Durango's rich history begins back in 1880 when the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad Company set up a rival town to Animas City when they couldn't negotiate trade agreements to their advantage. Durango was built almost overnight, a new hub awaiting the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad with expectations of economic growth and wealth. Durango's climate, supply of water, and abundance of coal were critical to the mining industry. Learn more about Durango as you flip through Durango: A Silver Past, A Golden Future coffee table book. Each page of this coffee table book depicts a community's growth that astounded the world with its narrow-gauge mountain railroading. Mining and smelters led the way to the kind of economic success that resulted in Durango's reputation as the "Denver of the Southwest." Photographer William Henry Jackson brought this moment in history to life. He is an essential player in the story of the narrow-gauge railway systems that crossed southwestern Colorado. He prepared many promotional photographs for the railroads. This coffee table book includes a dedicated chapter about Jackson's travel and history. • Amazing Storytelling– Each page of this coffee table book comes replete with high-quality images that tell the unique story of Durango. From antique prints, historical photos, old paper memorabilia, maps, and vintage postcards, you will learn so much about this railroad capital in the southwest of Colorado. • Perfect Gift For Railroad Lovers & Hobbyists – An eclectic assortment of graphics including antique prints, historical photos, old paper memorabilia, maps, and vintage postcards illustrate the history of the network of railways that connected the San Juan Basin. Learn more about the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad, a Registered Historical Landmark by the National Park Service. • See How History Guided Durango's Future– Otto Mears astounded the world with his network of narrow-gauge railways. He connected the mining communities to smelters in Durango, creating a Golden Future for residents. This easy-to-read, pictorial history is suitable for both children and adults. A SURPRISE GIFT AWAITS YOU INSIDE THE HARDCOVER –An extra: this book includes 18 postcards to pull out, send to friends, or share with your family so that they can share in the beauty and history of Durango. THE PERFECT ACCENT PIECE FOR YOUR COFFEE TABLE –If you are looking for a coffee table book for your home or vacation rental, this book will meet your expectations. You and your guests will not want to put this book down between the engaging historical text and unusual and playful graphic design. AN ENJOYABLE WAY TO LEARN ABOUT DURANGO –This photo book album is sure to engage and entertain readers. A PERFECT GIFT TO GIVE FOR ANY OCCASION – Appropriate for all ages, this coffee table book is a good gift choice for new homeowners, newlyweds, railroad enthusiasts, and history buffs. Between The Covers: Durango: A Silver Past, A Golden Future" Susan Viebrock. December 25, 2015. From age 12 until 99, William Henry Jackson was, ahem, focused on photography. After a tour of duty in the Civil War, Jackson headed West, eventually settling in Omaha, Nebraska, where he opened a portrait photography studio with his brother Edward. But staged images of predictable subjects proved not to be his thing. Photographer William Henry Jackson featured in Durango: A Silver Poast, A Golden Future, by Susan Dalton. Portrait photography never had any charms for me, so I sought my subjects from the house-tops, and finally from the hill-tops and about the surrounding country; the taste strengthening as my successes became greater in proportion to the failures, Jackson wrote. In 1870, Jackson accompanied geologist Ferdinand Vandiveer Hayden on an expedition across Wyoming, along the Green River, and eventually into the Yellowstone Lake region. His were the first published photographs of Yellowstone. Partly on the strength of that work, in March 1872, the area became America s first national park. On one of several independent expeditions that he headed, Jackson also became the first to photograph prehistoric Native American dwellings in Mesa Verde, Colorado. He finally settled in Denver, where he worked as a commercial landscape photographer and continued to publish his photographs as postcards. William Henry Jackson s story is a chapter in the second book of a series conceived by Susan Dalton that takes an unblinkered look at the colorful history of America s Southwest. The first book was a valentine to the author s home: Telluride: A Silver Past, A Golden Future. The second coffee table work wanders down the road a piece to the nearby town once known as the Denver of the Southwest, Durango. Like the Telluride book, Durango: A Silver Past, A Golden Future is as rich