Las Animas Updates
Around Town

Thank you Jerry Bryant for sending this!

Las Animas ByJon E. Yunt

Special to The Denver Post

Jon E. Yunt, Special to The Denver Post
Tuesday, February 12, 2002 - o-called big schools of the Arkansas Valley is Las Animas, a school and town rich with history, some notable alums and a resurgent athletic program that is doing its part to draw a dormant fan base that has had little to get excited about for years.

"That's one thing I think our kids today don't realize," baseball coach Carl Lindauer said, referring to the rich history and some of the names that have passed through the halls of the Bent County school.

Established in 1913 as Bent County High School, the school enjoyed many of its glory years in the '40s and '50s. Drawing students from McClave and many of the smaller surrounding communities, there were so many that classes had to start at two separate times, and for at least one year school didn't get out until 4 p.m.

After all the districts split up in 1961, Bent County High School officially became Las Animas High School (translated the souls or the spirits), and in '68 the current school opened.

"There have just been so many changes in our little town," said Katy Riggs, a 1938 graduate of Bent County who worked as a secretary at the school. "But there is just something about it. It's a very comfortable place, a nice little town and the kids are all great."

Las Animas has the distinction of the longest-running student council activity in the nation. On the third Friday in April, students host Santa Fe Trail Day, a celebration of the pioneers who helped establish the area. The day starts in the morning with a parade, followed by events such as a square-dance competition, a demolition derby and the naming of the Trail Day Queen, which is bigger than homecoming queen.

"It really brings a lot of people to the community," football coach Greg Koenig said. "We are fairly typical of a rural community, but for a while there we lost that small school focus you so often see."

But with the resurgence of the Trojans' athletic teams, the community once again is beginning to take notice. The football team, which won the school's most recent state title, in 1975, advanced to the quarterfinals of the 2001 state playoffs while the boys basketball team also is enjoying success.

"It is the focal point of the town, and a lot of it has to do with athletic success," said Lindauer, who was among the many at a packed house Saturday night for a big win over Swink. "We live and die by particular classes, and it seems when the athletic programs are up, the academics are way up, too."

In 1941, then-Bent County and La Junta squared off in the lowest-scoring basketball game in state history, a 2-0 overtime victory for Bent County in a district game at Rocky Ford High School. In the days when a jump ball was required after every made shot, La Junta would win the tap and hold the ball.

The list of Las Animas alumni is a veritable who's who of actors, politicians and other notables. Probably the best known is actor Ken Curtis, who played Festus on "Gunsmoke."

On the political front, Colorado Secretary of State Donetta Davidson, political activist Dick Wadhams and former Ambassador Llewelyn Thompson are former Trojans.

Las Animas also has produced Boettcher Scholars, the most recent being Shad Thaxton.

"This school has just always served a diverse body of students and provided a good education regardless of background," elementary school principal and Las Animas native Joe Tanner said.


About Las Animas
Address 301 Grove Ave., Las Animas
Established 1913 (current building opened in '68)
Enrollment 198
Mascot Trojans
Affiliation Class 2A Santa Fe League (1A for football)
State titles Eight

Notable alumni
Bob Blackburn, judge
Ken Curtis actor, played Festus on "Gunsmoke"
Donetta Davidson, Colorado Secretary of State
Bob Deal, retired Fort Collins baseball coach
Elsie Lacy, Colorado congresswoman
Rick Lopez, attorney
Robert Rawlings, owner of the Pueblo Chieftain newspaper
Llewelyn Thompson, U.S. Ambassador (notably to Russia during Cuban missile crisis)
Dick Wadhams, political activist


Check Bobbi Walker Smith's Football archives:

November 10, 2001
November 3, 2001
October 27, 2001
October 20, 2001
October 13, 2001