That morning as they reached the top of Monarch Pass, one of the coaches recalled the story of how, in 1950, the Western State football team had been traveling over the pass when their bus lost its brakes, and how everyone on the bus had shifted their positions, side to side, to keep the bus from tipping as it navigated the curves at more than 100 mph on its way down. He took a seat with the coaches near the front of the bus. Coaches were eager to see how he’d do as an offensive lineman, so it was decided that Noxon, the son of the new football coach at the town’s Western State College, would suit up for the JV game on Saturday. (Dean Krakel, Special to The Colorado Sun) “Beyond exciting to terrifying”īill Noxon was a 16-year-old newcomer to Gunnison High School, a promising defensive tackle who had played with the Cowboys varsity in their first game of the season the night before. MacIntosh survived the crash with a broken hip. Highway 50, killing eight of the players and their coach. The team was en route to a game in Salida on September 11, 1971, when the bus lost its brakes and rolled off of U.S. MacIntosh was a member of the Gunnison High School junior varsity football team. “What else can I do but talk to people?” Pat MacIntosh stands at the site of a fatal school bus crash 50 years ago on Monarch Pass near Garfield, Colorado, on August 4, 2021. “I guess I’ve wanted to be positive and put it out there and not be afraid to talk about it,” says MacIntosh, who was a 15-year-old lineman at the time of the accident. And like other survivors and teammates of those lost, he finds the 50th anniversary an opportunity to remember - and continue a long-dormant conversation. Partly, the purpose has been to advance the cause of the foundation and school bus safety, which took some significant steps forward in the wake of the incident.īut also he wants to honor the wish of a father of one of his lost teammates who simply didn’t want his son to be forgotten. He allows that some locals scratch their heads and wonder why. MacIntosh, who was thrown from the vehicle and suffered a broken hip, has joined some of his teammates in speaking out about the incident, recounting the day for students, reporters, anyone who wants to listen. One crash survivor, an avid cyclist, will pedal the 65-mile route from Salida to Gunnison to deliver the game ball as a fundraiser for the scholarships. That re-awakening also launched the foundation’s scholarship fund and, more recently, plans to honor the lost Cowboys on the 50th anniversary of the crash at the school’s homecoming game next month. It was 25 years before former GHS players launched a non-profit memorial foundation and the school retired the jerseys, and the coaching jacket, of those who died. Even venerable LIFE magazine published a story chronicling the sorrowful aftermath.Īnd yet, many of those impacted say they rarely confronted or talked about the devastating effects for years, as the community put a brave face on tragedy in an era before trauma counseling became standard procedure. The bus crash made headlines across the country. 11, 1971 - on the Gunnison community, for whom the simple mention of “9/11” conjured horrific memories decades before a 2001 terrorist attack gave it national significance. More than 20 were injured.Īnother thing hasn’t changed in the nearly 50 years since the crash: Rare is the occasion that MacIntosh can pass this way without recalling the loss of his friends and the enduring impact of that day - Sept. Nine people died: eight students and their 28-year-old head coach. Its metal sides tore apart as it tumbled and then landed on its roof, which collapsed to the level of the seat backs. The bus rolled two and a half times - ejecting most of its 48 passengers. Visions of a harrowing, out-of-control descent that hit 70 mph before a sudden swerve to avoid a downshifted flatbed semi and an approaching car. The grinding noise from frantic but futile efforts to engage the manual transmission. In some ways, though, the experience remains vivid. “These trees have grown up so much that you don’t see it the same way.” He points toward the forested ravine that drops off from what used to be the restaurant’s parking area. “A lot has changed,” says MacIntosh, 65 and weeks from retirement as fleet manager for Gunnison’s public works department. Fifty years ago, a deadly school bus crash shook Gunnison Close
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |