Most people in the Uncompahgre Valley turn on the tap, take showers, or water their lawn without giving much thought to where the water comes from. More than a century ago, however, the valley was a desert, and the idea that water could be brought here by tunneling through the Black Canyon was as ambitious as it was unlikely.
That story was the focus of the latest Montrose Lecture Series event at the Colorado Mesa University Montrose campus, featuring engineer and KVNF Community Radio program director Brody Wilson. Wilson is a Montrose local and spent two decades as a licensed mechanical engineer before returning to his hometown in 2023 to pursue a career in audio storytelling. His lifelong curiosity about water infrastructure inspired his presentation, Carving Hope from Stone: The Making of the Gunnison Tunnel.
Drawing from his four-part audio series The Gunnison Tunnel, Wilson traced the project’s origins back to 1901, when two men swam into the uncharted depths of the Black Canyon to prove that a tunnel could bring water to the Uncompahgre Valley. He described how immigrant laborers drilled and blasted through solid granite, and how engineers overcame technical challenges, setbacks and tragedy before the tunnel was completed in 1909.
“The story he told captures a time in the American West of dreams, tragedy and perseverance,” said Montrose Lecture Series Coordinator and English Instructor Rhonda Claridge. “Wilson is an inspiring speaker and a proud local.”
Wilson’s talk attracted an audience of students, faculty, staff and community members. For many in attendance, the presentation offered a new appreciation for a piece of local history that still shapes daily life in the valley.
The Montrose Lecture Series is a public program hosted by the CMU Montrose campus, featuring speakers from diverse disciplines, including local history, environmental science, health and wellness and more. Lectures in the series are free and open to the public.
To view upcoming events and lectures at CMU, CMU Montrose and CMU Tech, visit the CMU Event Calendar.