Louis L’Amour was supposedly creating a Western town, Shalako, similar to those he wrote about. Did he get it done?

Louis L’Amour was supposedly creating a Western town, Shalako, similar to those he wrote about. Did he get it done?

James Denney

Sedalia, Missouri

L’Amour did dream of building an Old West town as a tourist attraction. My friend Jim Dunham tells me, “I got to meet Louis L’Amour on several occasions in Durango, Colorado, and he told me he had abandoned his plan to build a Western town called ‘Shalako’ on land he owned in the Four Corners area. Research showed it would cost millions and never reap a profit. He was probably right about that.”

Today, you’ll find a vacation resort about five miles from Mancos called Shalako House. I’m guessing the old L’Amour property was sold and somebody built a resort on it. Perhaps one of our True West readers from the Durango area will fill us in on the rest of the story.