What do the Crazy Cowboys of Craig, Colorado Do for Fun?

Moffat County, Colorado, population 13,000, is advertised as "literally where the Old West comes to life."

It's in the far northwest part of the state, with Wyoming on the north and Utah on the west, and Denver 200 miles away.  70% of the population lives in Craig, the county seat, advertised as the "Elk Hunting Capital of the World."

The Old West and elks?  What more could you want?

Although there were ranches and farms in the area since the 1870s, Craig was founded in 1908, and named after one of its financial backers, the otherwise forgotten William Bayard Craig.

It's a long, flat town, 3 miles long and 1/2 mile wide, amid the endless brown scrub of the Wild West.  There are some cowboy-type businesses, like Murdoch's Ranch and Home Supply, but not many.

Restaurants: mostly chain, Wendy's and such. I'm interested in J.W. Snack's Gulf Coast Bar and Grill, which is nowhere near the gulf of anything, and doesn't feature any gulf coast cuisine.  According to one review, it has "the worst burgers in the world."

Doesn't look great.




City Hall, which is on a street next to Snyder and Counts Feed and Seed and the Goodrich Mud Company, is built in modern Brutopian style.  I was expecting Wild West Rococco.

There are 14 churches in town.  A lot of Catholic, Lutheran, Church of Christ, and Latter-Day Saints.  One interesting name: The Church of Destiny, which turns out to be generic fundamentalist, and not very big.

Two museums:

1. The Museum of Northwest Colorado, the only semi-attractive building in town, has one of the largest cowboy gun, leather, and spur collections in the world
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2. The Wyman Living History Museum: "the result of years of collecting beginning in 1949 when Lou wyman discovered an abandoned 1932 Lincoln automobile in Elk Springs, Colorado, while he was filling water barrels to take to his sheep herders. He paid $15.00 for it and has been collecting ever since."

But it's not nearly as campy as it sounds.  It's not really living history -- no costumed actors explaining the Wild West.  And the collection is not weird or unique.

What do the cowboys of Craig, Colorado do for fun besides eat bad burgers and look at old guns?

Moffat County High School, motto "I Choose," although I don't think you can really choose to go there, is the biggest building in town., so it must be the seat of culture.

Its activities include a "No Sugar Day," a rodeo, a jazz concert, the musical "Cinderella" in the fall and "You Can't Take It With You" in the spring.

Sports: football, baseball, basketball, soccer, wrestling, and...swimming.


LOTS of swimming.









Who knew that cowboys were such avid swimmers?













It may be hot outside, but it's cool by the pool.