Wild West gangs, just like the movies

Photo courtesy John M. Motter
This bar is typical of many located in Pagosa Springs during the early days. In those times, the town budget was mostly supported by money paid to the town in exchange for liquor licenses.

We’ve been writing about the Wild West days of Pagosa’s history, circa 1881. Everything you ever saw in western movies was really happening in Pagosa Country, including shootouts in bars, stage holdups, and, yes, even an outlaw gang.

A self-styled gang of desperados headed by Charley Allison set up tents on the outskirts of Amargo and proceeded to terrorize the countryside.

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