Home

Steamboat Springs — Despite the depth of his historical knowledge of Routt County, there are a few stories Jim Stanko can't confirm with official records or reports.

One of them is a yarn about how his great-uncle, Dr. Frederick Willett, won a 1920 race for mayor against Clay Monson.

"It was a dead tie, so they met at City Hall to try to figure out how to get by this without having a runoff, and so they decided to flip a coin. Clay Monson won, and he designated Willett the mayor of Steamboat Springs," Stanko said Friday, speaking to a lunchtime crowd at Tread of Pioneers Museum. The talk was the last of the summer in the museum's Brown Bag Lecture Series.

As a local historian, Jim Stanko would know the Stanko and Willett family stories even if he wasn't a part of them. The third-generation owner of a ranch that has been in his family for just more than 100 years, Stanko comes from a long tradition of community involvement.

Since his grandfather, Peter Stanko, moved to Steamboat Springs in 1907 and bought 160 acres of land from Logan Crawford, Jim Stanko's family has been a staple in the Routt County ranching community, playing a part in the formation of the Rural Electric Administration, holding political appointments and working as electricians, nurses, doctors and teachers. The breadth of that influence grew when Peter Stanko Jr. married Natalie Willett; her uncle Fred made a name as Steamboat's down-home doctor.

"Probably 75 percent of the babies born in a certain area from 1912 until he stopped practicing, Dr. Willett had something to do with it," Stanko said, explaining that his great-uncle hardly ever sent out bills for his innumerable medical services. Willett also founded a makeshift hospital in the Lincoln Avenue building that now houses Old Town Pub & Restaurant.

The Stanko family's consistent presence in community organizations and operations earned it a spot in Tread of Pioneers' Foundations of Steamboat room, said museum executive director Candice Lombardo.

"We basically go through and pick a family that contributed significantly to the heritage of our valley. Between Dr. Willett, Jim being a historian and the ranch being a centennial ranch, through all the generations they've been an essential part of the fabric of this community," Lombardo said.

"All of them (families) that we've featured have to be incredible stories to be able to dedicate a room to, but the Stankos and the Willetts have been especially interesting, with Dr. Willett and his role in the community for so many years," she said.

The exhibit, titled "The Stanko/Willett Family History," opens to the public Oct. 2 and will be on display through September 2009.