Marvel, CO

Marvel is a census-designated place and post office on the Southern Ute Indian Reservation in southwestern La Plata County, Colorado, United States. The 2020 census counted 68 residents. The CDP is a part of the Durango, CO Micropolitan Statistical Area. The Southern Ute Indian Reservation was created on November 9, 1878. A newcomer can read Marvel through the overlap of its older landmarks, surrounding geography, and current places. For a newcomer, Marvel comes into focus through those concrete links among its past, landscape, and current routines. The Marvel area was homesteaded in the late-1800s and early-1900s with ranching, farming, and oil extraction being the main economic drivers in the region.

ATTRPublic domain

The area around Marvel is very dry and the region becomes more and more arid as one travels towards the New Mexico border and further away from the La Plata mountains. While the town lies within the Reservation, the land within and around the town is owned by private landowners and the reservation proper only starts several miles to the South and East of Marvel.