Bayfield Wolverine Football: A History of High School Football in La Plata County, Colorado

Bayfield, Colorado is in the southwest corner of the state, situated about 16 miles north of the New Mexico state line at 6900’ above sea level. The population is approaching 3,000. The area is known as the four corners, the only place in America where four states touch. This book is a history of high school football in the region, of how football started in earnest in 1923 and grew through the schools over the next 95 years. The emphasis is on the extensive history of the Bayfield Wolverines with many pictures and stories, but also includes records of schools in Durango, Ignacio, and Cortez. All except Cortez are in La Plata County, Colorado. A football enthusiast will enjoy progressing through history as a small town grew from a farming and ranching community that couldn’t field a team until after harvest was over, to a perennial power among the 2A schools in Colorado. The author has lived in Bayfield for almost 30 years and grew up in the area. He has been a fan, an announcer, a broadcaster, a clock operator, a writer of sports articles for the local paper, a parent of two players, and a school board member, always there as a Wolverine supporter. He is a retired banker living with his high school sweetheart Cyndee, entering their 49th year going to football games. The author has been publishing books on high school football and has been accumulating scores around the southwest since the 1970s. His work can be found on his website, www.danfordsports.net.