Town file
Cortez, Colorado
Cortez, Colorado (Montezuma County, Colorado) is the town in one episode of Small Town Murder, the comedy true-crime podcast: episode 348, "The Undercover Idiot" (24 December 2022). Cortez sits in Montezuma County in south-western Colorado, near Four Corners and seven hours' drive from Denver.
- Town
- Cortez
- County
- Montezuma County
- State
- Colorado
- Country
- USA
- Episodes
- 348
- Approximate location
- 37.350, -108.577
Episode 348 / 24 December 2022 / 69 min / express
The Undercover Idiot
"We're going all the way to Cortez, Colorado; it's in southwestern Colorado near Four Corners." about 0:02:39
The case: Murders of Lawrence Robinson Sr, Lawrence Robinson Jr and Bert Fish (January 11, 1982). Read the case file.
The figures, as told in 2022
- Population
- 8,734
- Median household income
- about $39,141 a year
- Median home value
- $227,500
History, in brief
- Built in 1866 to provide housing for men working on the tunnels and irrigation ditches that diverted water out of the Dolores River into the Montezuma Valley. about 0:03:53
- About seven hours from Denver and roughly six hours from Phoenix and Albuquerque, near Wolf Creek Pass. about 0:03:02
- On August 3rd, 1959 a U-2 reconnaissance plane made a forced night landing at Cortez Municipal Airport after its engine flamed out at 70,000 feet; the flight had started at Laughlin Air Force Base in Texas and the pilot did not know the airport was there, aiming for its lighted runway. about 0:05:47
The reviews read out
5 stars
"Growing up in Cortez was a great experience and the reviewer wants to stay for education, a career and a family, but sees a need for job opportunities, business growth and public housing."about 0:06:52
4 stars
"Lived here 16 years; a beautiful place where half an hour one way is desert and another way mountains, small but with everything needed day to day; Durango is 35 miles away and some people commute, but there is not much well paid employment and many retirees live out their John Denver dreams."about 0:07:50
3 stars
"Extremely safe with nice, welcoming people and okay weather, but little to do, few doctors and even fewer good ones, a horribly dirty hospital and an unprofessional police department; the reviewer was harassed twice in two weeks, including over a dog leash at Denny Park, and plans to move."about 0:08:25
1 star
"The worst place the reviewer has lived in 18 US states: nothing of value, poor schools, undereducated people, beer and ATVs as the main activity, no good restaurants, culture or shopping, expensive groceries and fuel, and unreliable repairs and medical care."about 0:10:22
Nearest Small Town Murder towns
- Flora Vista, New Mexico46 miles
- Farmington, New Mexico47 miles
- Whitewater, Colorado114 miles
- Gunnison, Colorado122 miles
- Aspen, Colorado159 miles
- Chimayo, New Mexico173 miles
Everything here is as told in the episode, on the date it went out; figures and places may have changed since. Endings are covered: open an episode and use the spoiler switch to read them.