[2] Among its notable guests throughout its history are President Gerald Ford, Will Rogers, writer Louis L’Amour, the Grateful Dead, and astronauts from the Apollo missions.

[4] It was named a national literary historical landmark in 2012 by the Association of Library Trustees, Advocates, Friends and Foundations.

[5] The hotel's Diamond Belle bar saloon features bartenders and waitresses who are dressed in historic costume.

[6] During the Roaring Twenties, a group of Durango businessmen led by Earl A. Barker Sr. formed a consortium to buy the then aging hotel in 1926.

[6] Western author Louis L’Amour, who stayed in Durango with his family, always asked for room 222, located directly above the Diamond Belle Saloon; he said that the honky-tonk music helped set the mood for his novels of the Old West.