St. Margaret Mary Church

As the Montelores Cluster, which includes Cortez, Rico, Dove Creek, Mancos and Dolores.

We, the Montelores Catholic Community, as part of the universal Church, by living our lives in Christ and Christ in us, are called to advance the Kingdom of God.  As a community that shares its faith most visibly at the Sunday Eucharist, we seek to love and encourage faith in service, evangelization and education.

The Navajos call Cortez, Tsaya-toh, which means “rock water.”

Cortez lies in the Montezuma Valley at the point where the San Juan Mountains meet the vast desserts of Arizona. Ute and Navajo Indians lived in the shadow of the Sleeping Ute Mountain for hundreds of years, and their cultures remain an essential part of the Cortez community. Named after the Spanish explorer, Hernando Cortez, the town was founded in 1886, during a project to divert the Dolores River to irrigate the arid Montezuma Valley. Ranching and farming became the town’s economic mainstay, and Cortez also became a major trading center for Native Americans. With the establishment of Mesa Verde National Park, the town was transformed into a favorite tourist destination.

The Catholics of Cortez were determined to practice their faith, and they did it wherever they could, in private homes, the Ertel Funeral Home and later, the Cortez Library. Instruction of religious education was organized by the priests who traveled from Mancos, and even those classes were attended in a parishioner’s home. This continued until 1943, when four lots were purchased on the corner of Montezuma and Market. Adjacent to the property was a partially completed house that was also purchased to serve as a rectory. The basement of the house was transformed into a chapel, and parishioners finally had their own place of worship. From that time forward, efforts to organize the parish and establish a new church were officially underway. Three years of earnest fundraising, (1946-49), and St. Margaret Mary was built for the cost of $29,382.24. The church was dedicated in 1950, and by 1958, the parish plant had steam heat, oak pews with padded kneelers, a Baldwin organ and a new altar; and it was debt free.