On a blustery March day in 1873, a wagon loaded with a hand-run printing press pulled into Fort Collins. The next month the first edition of the city's first newspaper would roll off it, setting into motion a century and a half of advancements, change and - most importantly - local journalism.

Telegraphs to teletype: The Coloradoan looks back on 150 years

As the sale of his final slice of Timnath farmland neared, Swetsville Zoo founder Bill Swets traced its 80-year history in his family and the tragedy from which his wacky sculpture park bloomed.

The Swetsville Zoo Story

In the early morning hours of June 30, 1951, a four-engine luxury airliner flew off course and slammed into Crystal Mountain, killing all 50 people on board. To this day, more than 70 years later, it remains the deadliest commercial airline disaster in Colorado history. On a rocky mountain slope west of Fort Collins, signs of its devastation still linger.

The crash on Crystal Mountain

In the summer of 1862, U.S. soldiers trekked along the Cache la Poudre River to find a home for a new military outpost called Camp Collins. But they were not the first people to live in Northern Colorado - not even close. In this episode, host Erin Udell dives back thousands of years to learn about the Native American history of the area.

'Fort Collins didn't start with Fort Collins'

A hat box of Mattie Lyle's old photographs sat in a garage for years. It wasn't until 2020 that they got their day in the sun - showcasing the little-told stories of Black life in early Fort Collins.

Unearthing the invisible Black history of old Fort Collins

From its earliest streams of colorful electric lights to the thousands of LED-lit strings that now adorn Old Town Fort Collins' streets each winter, learn about the evolution of Fort Collins' sweet holiday lights  tradition.

The history of Old Town's holiday lights

On Aug. 24, 1996, the bodies of two unidentified newborn girls were pulled from a river and reservoir about 180 miles apart in Colorado. While not related by blood, their homicide cases remained oddly in step with each other, all the way to the end when genetic genealogy helped close their homicide cases within just months, 23 years later. This is the story of Hope and Faith.

Hope and Faith

Nellie Tayloe Ross

In the span of three months in fall 1924, Nellie Tayloe Ross became a widow, single mother and the first woman elected governor in the United States. But her journey to the Wyoming governor's office and, later, Washington D.C. started well before the 1920s.

Nellie Tayloe Ross: First lady to first lady governor

He was a father, a farmer, a family man and natural handyman. When he wasn't trimming trees or slinging cement bags in faded overalls, he was decked in a suit and tie - off to another committee meeting or voter registration drive. You've heard his name. You've probably even been to his beloved Fort Collins park. But do you know about the legacy of Lee Martinez?

The Life of Lee Martinez

In the fall of 1918, a mysterious and deadly flu arrived in Fort Collins. The small college town battled the virus with makeshift hospitals, school and business closures and social distancing. But the flu still targeted its young students and soldiers. More than a century later, here's what Colorado learned from the Spanish flu.

'The mother of all pandemics'

Step back in time with stories from Fort Collins’ past, from the cute and quirky to the dark and mysterious.

I was born and raised in Denver and currently reside in Arvada. I really appreciate this podcast, the details and interviews that are provided.  I love learning about the history of all of Colorado and appreciate this podcasts focus of Northern Colorado. The recent Matthew Shepard podcast was very moving. Thank you for continuing to shed light on local and national topics that mean so much to some of us that grew up here. Being a Coloradoan means a lot to me and my family. I always learn something new or am reminded of how wonderful our community is after I listen.

I love Colorado

Annie’s story is one of the reasons that Fort Collins is such a great city.

Annie

The Way it Was: A podpast

On April 29, 1978, hunters driving along a rural Colorado canyon road came across the bodies of two young women. Forty years later, we revisit the case, known its twists, turns and - to this day - questions.

Inside the Mata murders: Part I

Almost eight months after sisters Rosemary and Julia Mata are killed on a remote Colorado road, an arrest is made in the case. Years later, there's a conviction. So why do some still see the case as unresolved?

Inside the Mata murders: Part II

Gary Hinman wasn't a celebrity. He wasn't a young Hollywood type. He was a boy from Fort Collins. And, in the summer of 1969, he became the Manson family's first victim.

Fort Collins' forgotten Manson family victim

Polly Brinkhoff

For more than 40 years - until 1999 - Poudre Canyon mountain woman Polly Brinkhoff lived without running water, electricity or plumbing. She had a pet mountain lion, kept her food in a cave and once nearly sliced her bunion off with a chainsaw. More than 20 years after her death, Polly's grandson recalls what exactly made her the last of a dying breed and larger than the no-frills life she so proudly clung to.

The unusual life and trying times of Polly Brinkhoff

As the nations demands for sugar beets grew, so did the need for more labor in Northern Colorado's vast beet fields. But what did that mean for the children of the poor, hardworking, migrant families willing to take on the backbreaking work? Life was far from sweet.

The bitter side to Colorado's sugar beet boom

In this special, three-part podcast, Way it Was host Erin Udell digs into Ted Bundy's notorious 1970s killing spree. An estimated 30 women and girls were abducted and murdered by Bundy across four years and six states. But could it have stopped cold in Colorado? Find "Hunted" on Apple Podcasts or Soundcloud.

Introducing "Hunted: Inside Ted Bundy's Trail of Terror"

Joe Halpern

On August 15, 1933, a 22-year-old graduate student went for a hike in Colorado's Rocky Mountain National Park. He was never seen again. More than eight decades later, the disappearance nags at Joe's nephew, who's still trying to figure out if Joe's remains rest somewhere in Rocky or if the family rumors are true...

Into thin air: The curious disappearance of Joe Halpern

Coloradoan reporter Jake Laxen sits down with Odell Brewing founders Doug, Wynne and Corkie Odell for this special guest episode about the history of one of Fort Collins' first breweries.

Odell, not O'Doul's: 30 years of local brewing history

In 1934, a group of railroad workers found a pregnant border collie mix shivering outside a blacksmith shop. More than 80 years later, her legacy remains as an entire town's adopted pet.

The tale of Annie the railroad dog

In December 1955, the menacing red phone on Air Force Col. Harry Shoup’s desk rang. But it wasn’t the Pentagon – no four-star general either. It was a tiny voice asking for Santa Claus. What happened next would kick off one of Colorado’s most-beloved Christmas traditions.

The colonel who saved Christmas

Matthew Shepard

In October 1998, the hate crime murder of a gay Wyoming student shook the world. After 20 years, we revisit the life and tragic death of Matthew Shepard.

20 years later: The murder of Matthew Shepard

On a moonlit night in late September 1945, Nazi prisoner of war Georg Gaertner slipped out of his New Mexico prison camp and into American life. As the years ticked by, he would become the last fugitive German POW hunted by U.S. authorities. Or, as he'd put it in his memoir more four decades later, "Hitler's last soldier in America."

Hitler's last soldier

Hearts are strewn from its light poles, businesses build their brands around its "sweet" nickname and, every February, valentines pour into the city from all around the world. So what, or who, made Loveland, Colorado the nation's "Sweetheart City"?

Inside Loveland's sweetheart history

When you hear Sonny Lubick's name, you think Colorado State University football. So more than ten years after the longtime coach's tenure ended, Coloradoan reporter Jacob Laxen sits down with Lubick for a behind-the-scenes chat on football, life and becoming a local legend.

The legend of Lubick

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