The Way it Was: A podpast

For nearly a century, Colorado State University's Old Main building stood as a stalwart reminder of the school's humble beginnings. Then one night, it was gone. Revisit the history of Old Main and the mystery that still surrounds its 1970 arson.

Whether you love geese or hate them, their presence in Northern Colorado is not Mother Nature's doing. That honor goes to Gurney Crawford, a longtime wildlife conservation officer and Fort Collins' "Father Goose."

What’s in a name? For Windsor High School, quite the story. In 1924, the school’s boys basketball team did the unimaginable when it won the National Interscholastic Basketball Championship in Chicago. Team members came home heroes, with their whirlwind year leading to a mascot name switch that’s stuck around in the century since. Here’s the story behind that 1924 championship team and its magical season.

For 135 years, the murder of Eva Howe and lynching of her husband, James, has captivated Fort Collins. But this story isn't about James or Eva. It's about their daughter, Gertrude — the little girl who became an orphan and footnote in one of Fort Collins' most infamous crimes overnight. Whatever happened to her? Nobody seems to know. Let's change that, shall we?

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.