President John F. Kennedy came to Pueblo 60 years ago on Aug. 17, 1962, to celebrate the signing of the Fryingpan-Arkansas bill that has so shaped the water resources, economy, agricultural and environmental base of southeastern Colorado since then. He signed the bill the day prior in Washington D.C., before a group of Colorado elected office-holders, Pueblo community leaders and Department of Interior representatives in the Kennedy Administration. All lauded this landmark legislation that was in the making for decades and which they hoped would ameliorate the drought cycles that plagued that portion of the state since the 1930s.

The President was invited to Pueblo by then owner of the Pueblo Chieftain Robert Hoag, Jr. during a briefing on the project a few weeks earlier. President Kennedy immediately accepted the invitation, knowing the importance of water to the American west in general and southeastern Colorado in particular. Having campaigned in Pueblo several times during the 1960 election, he had been advised of the Fryingpan-Arkansas legislation and its importance. At the time, Pueblo was the second largest city in the state and there were political reasons to support this project as well. Having waited since the 1960 election for all the competing Colorado entities to resolve their differences, it was a relatively easy task for the president to support this important legislation. The legislation, in essence, created a Tennessee Valley Authority for southeastern Colorado and the Arkansas River Basin. Its importance to this region cannot be overstated.

Pueblo leaders spearheaded the drive for the transfer of water resources from the Western Slope since the 1930s, though the project benefited many other communities to include Colorado Springs and cities east of Pueblo, such as Fowler, Rocky Ford and La Junta. There was significant, and bipartisan, resistance from the Western Slope opposed to the transfer of any water to the Front Range. Presidents Harry Truman, Dwight Eisenhower and Kennedy would not, or could not, move forward on the project until the various parties within Colorado came to resolution. Compromise was reached on this internecine fight in the Spring of 1962 and President Kennedy and his team took the initiative to drive the matter to conclusion. Though the legislation was signed in 1962, the centerpiece of the bill, Pueblo Dam, was not completed until 1975. It is currently the largest outdoor attraction for a Colorado State Park and provides superb recreational amenities well beyond the water collection resource it was primarily intended to be.

On the day of his Pueblo visit, President Kennedy made three presidential stops across America. Celebrating the commencement of water resource projects from South Dakota to California, the Pueblo visit was the intermediary stop that day. All of these celebrated the importance of water to the West and the federal government’s commitment to proper stewardship of such resources for the benefit of the people; and to the interdependence of the United States. As the president said that day, “I hope that those of us who hold positions of public responsibility in 1962 are as far-seeing for the needs of their country in 1982 and 1992 as those men and women were 30 years ago who made this project possible.”

The Kennedy trip to Pueblo came at approximately the mid-point of his presidency. Behind him was the Bay of Pigs, the Berlin Wall and the steel industry strike. Within 60 days of the Pueblo visit would be the Cuban Missile Crisis. Later the Berlin “Ich bin ein Berliner” speech and a more visible and energetic civil rights movement.

But on this particular day, Pueblo hosted one of the more important figures of the 20th Century. Together, the president of the United States celebrated with the people most affected by the project, one of the most profound events in the region. Today, the citizens of Pueblo and southeastern Colorado continue to enjoy the many benefits of this far-sighted project. And for one “brief, shining moment” we were honored to have this most important person among us.

Jeff Chostner is the district attorney for the 10th Judicial District in Pueblo and has served in that post since 2013. He also served on Pueblo City Council and was a Pueblo County commissioner. He is a retired U.S. Air Force colonel and served 22years of active duty.