Howsam Park
Bob Howsam was born February 28, 1918 in Denver, Colorado. His parents, Lee and Mary, moved the family to La Jara in 1926 to produce honey.
Bob was an All Valley basketball player for the La Jara Wildcats in 1936. He attended the University of Colorado and served in WWII as a Navy test and delivery pilot. He married Janet Johnson in 1939 and they raised two sons, Robert Jr. and Edwin, who were born in Alamosa.
Bob, Lee, and his brother Earl bought the Denver Bears in 1947. The Bears set Minor League records annually, even outdrawing several Major League teams.
Bob brought professional football to Denver in 1959 as a founding member of the American Football League. He sold the Broncos in 1961.
Bob was the General Manager of the St. Louis Cardinals when the team won the World Series in 1964. He was President and General Manager of the Cincinnati Reds when the The Big Red Machine won two consecutive World Series in 1975 and 1976.
He was inducted into the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame in 1971 and the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame in 2004.
Although Bob Howsams career took him far from La Jara, he never forgot his home in the
this page online
Erected 2004 by La Jara Rotary Club.
Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Industry & Commerce • Parks & Recreational Areas • Sports • War, World II. In addition, it is included in the Rotary International series list. A significant historical date for this entry is February 28, 1918.
Location. 37° 16.54′ N, 105° 57.627′ W. Marker is in La Jara, Colorado, in Conejos County. It is on Broadway Street just north of East Main Street, on the left when traveling north. The marker is near the center of La Jara town park. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 221 Broadway Street, La Jara CO 81140, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in Colorado’s San Juan Mountains and in the San Luis Valley. It is also in the American Mountain West. Globally, it is in North America, the Rocky Mountains, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 14 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: The La Jara Consolidated School (approx. 0.2 miles away); Morman Pioneers (approx. 7.2 miles away); The First Bed and Breakfasts (approx. 7.2 miles away); "The Manassa Mauler" (approx. 7.2 miles away); Pike's Stockade (approx. 8.3 miles away); Our Lady of Guadalupe Church (approx. 13.4 miles away); Fred "Lightning Heart" Haberlein (approx. 13.9 miles away); Los Seis de Boulder (approx. 13.9 miles away).
Also see . . . Bob Howsam (Wikipedia).
Excerpt: American professional sports executive and entrepreneur. In 1959, he played a key role in establishing two leagues the American Football League, which succeeded and merged with the National Football League, and baseball's Continental League, which never played a game but forced expansion of Major League Baseball (MLB) from 16 to 20 teams in 196162. Howsam then became a prominent MLB executive, primarily known as the general manager (GM) and club president of the Cincinnati Reds during the Big Red Machine dynasty from January 23, 1967, through February 15, 1978, when his team won four National League pennants and two World Series titles.(Submitted on March 5, 2026, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.)Howsam had taken on a large amount of debt in hopes of bringing the majors to Denver. However, there was little prospect of retiring it in the foreseeable future, as he was now saddled with a stadium far too big for a Triple-A team. He concluded the only way to get additional revenue was to extend his stadium's season by bringing in a football team.
Howsam first sought an expansion NFL team for Denver. When that bid was turned down, he met with Lamar Hunt in the lobby of The Brown Palace Hotel and founded the Denver Broncos one of the eight charter members of the American Football League. Howsam and the seven other original owners called themselves the Foolish Club for daring to take on the established NFL. The Broncos played in the AFL from 1960 to 1969 and then joined the NFL with completion of the NFL/AFL merger in 1970. After a disastrous 491 season in 1960, the Howsams sold controlling interest in the Broncos and Bears to Gerald and Alan Phipps in May 1961. The team would only get as high as .500 only three times its first 17 years, including when it joined the NFL in 1970.
Credits. This page was last revised on March 5, 2026. It was originally submitted on March 2, 2026, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida. This page has been viewed 37 times since then. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on March 5, 2026, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.
