Pughe, James Moffat, 1921-1984

George A. Pughe (1884-1960), born in Denver and raised on a farm east of Longmont, starred in football at the University of Colorado where he graduated with a law degree in 1909. He located in the frontier community of Craig on July 16, 1909. Craig had just incorporated the year before and Moffat County had yet to be separated from Routt County.

Mr. Pughe's adult life was identified with the growth of Craig and Moffat County. Through the years he occupied many positions of importance. He was the city attorney for Craig. He was the Moffat County attorney in 1913-15 and 1917-19. As a member of the Colorado House of Representatives in 1921 22 he sponsored the bills which created Colorado General Hospital and resulted in the construction of the Moffat Tunnel and the creation of the Moffat Tunnel Improvement District. For a number of years George Pughe was a member of the Colorado Water Conservation Board and Compact Commission and he negotiated the Little Snake River Compact with the State of Wyoming.

George Pughe married Mamie Weyand in 1914. They had two sons, George Arthur Pughe, Jr. and James Moffat Pughe and a daughter, Mary Elizabeth Pughe Van Hook. After Mamie Pughe's death in 1927 George Pughe married Alta Ely in 1929.

Mr. Pughe came to Northwest Colorado for its game, resources and promise. He remained a life long football fan and supporter of the University of Colorado. The University gave him a Distinguished Alumni Award at the Kansas State Football game in 1948. He obviously enjoyed the life style of Craig and Moffat County. He knew the area intimately through fifty years of legal practice and he always promoted the development of Northwestern Colorado. He went to his law office as usual on February 3, 1960. In the afternoon he took ill and died early the next morning.

James Moffat Pughe (1921-1984) attended Colorado School of Mines before receiving a B.A. in government from George Washington University. After serving in World War II he continued in the USMC Reserve. After he received his law degree from the University of Colorado in 1951 he served as a Legal Assistance Officer.

Late in 1953 James Pughe joined his father in the Craig law practice. James Pughe's occupations also included being Moffat County Veterans Service Officer; serving on the Moffat County School Board; being an executive committee member of the University of Colorado Associated Alumni; president of the Craig Chamber of Commerce in 1966 and president of the Colorado Bar Association in 1967 68. He also represented the West Craig Water and Sanitation District.

Like his father James M. Pughe was very interested in the resources and betterment of Northwest Colorado. He too was involved with the Colorado River serving on the Board of Directors of the Colorado River Water Conservation District (CRWCD) from 1969- 1984. In addition to the CRWCD James Pughe was attorney for the Pot Hook and Little Snake River Water Conservancy Districts and involved with the Savery Pot Hook Project. He was also attorney for the Juniper Water Conservancy District and involved with the Juniper Cross Mountain Project. James M. Pughe and his wife Barbara had three daughters; Nancy Diana, Debra Lynn and Margaret.

Both George A. Pughe and James M. Pughe were intimately concerned with the Colorado River and its drainage basin. They were concerned with the obligations which the Colorado River Compact of 1922 presented the State of Colorado. This was a compact between the states of Colorado, Arizona, Wyoming, Utah, California, Nevada and New Mexico that split the Colorado River and the Colorado River Basin between the states and presented certain rules as the damage made by transportation and other such provisions which the states followed to better the area around the Colorado river and those affected by it. They were concerned with how water could be made available to irrigate and develop the Western Slope. And they were very concerned with the increasing East Slope vs. West Slope confusion and confrontation as trans-mountain diversions moved Colorado River water east of the Continental Divide.

From the guide to the Pughe Papers, 1910-1984, (University of Colorado at Boulder Libraries. Archives Dept.)