Art Hutchinson, on a rare history and the weight of legacy, changing times and preserving neutral ground

We Are Chaffee: Looking Upstream

Sep 20 2022 • 56 mins

Art Hutchinson joins Adam Williams, host of the We Are Chaffee: Looking Upstream podcast, to talk about a rare history and perspective in Chaffee County, Colorado.

The Hutchinson Homestead & Ranch is located along highway 50 between Salida and Poncha Springs, Colorado. The ranch has been a keystone in the community since before there even was a community, having been founded in the 1860s, soon after the Civil War. That’s before Colorado was a state, before nearby Salida was a town, before … well, nearly everything that’s come to be established in Chaffee County.

Art and Adam talk about that family history, about the weight of legacy, and about change and conservation. Art not only knows about that as part of the seven generations of Hutchinsons to have lived in the area, but he also served more than three decades in the National Park Service, including as superintendent of the nearby Great Sand Dunes National Park.

Now, in retirement, Art brings that experience – and a reasoned voice – back to Chaffee County.

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This episode of We Are Chaffee: Looking Upstream was recorded at KHEN radio (khen.org) in Salida, Colorado. We Are Chaffee (wearechaffee.org) also partners with KHEN for local radio broadcasting of the Looking Upstream podcast.

The We Are Chaffee: Looking Upstream podcast is a collaboration with the Chaffee County Departments of Public Health and Housing, and is supported by the Colorado Public Health & Environment: Office of Health Disparities.

You can see show notes, read the show transcript, and learn more about the Looking Upstream podcast (and related storytelling initiatives) at wearechaffee.org, and on Instagram and Facebook @wearechaffee.

Credits

Adam Williams, host; Jon Pray, engineer and producer; Heather Gorby, graphic and web design; Lisa Martin, producer and We Are Chaffee Community Advocacy Coordinator; Andrea Carlstrom, Director of Chaffee County Public Health and Environment, and Becky Gray, Director of the Chaffee Housing Authority.

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