A longtime archaeologist and former columnist for The Durango Herald had a trail dedicated in his honor Saturday at the Anasazi Heritage Center near Dolores.

Ian "Sandy" Thompson died two years ago from cancer, but was remembered as someone who could listen, hear, write and bring his ideas to fruition.

"Sandy was one of those persons who cause people to change their ideas about all sorts of things," said Roy Paul, whom Thompson brought to the Southwest in 1986 to lead Crow Canyon Archaeological Center into the computer age.

Thompson was a founder of the archaeological center near Cortez, mayor of Durango from 1982 to 1983, and author of more than 600 newspaper columns for the Herald and a half-dozen books about the Four Corners region.

The half-mile Escalante Trail starts at the Anasazi Heritage Center and goes to Escalante Pueblo. It is paved, with several sitting areas along the way and signs that identify different plants and shrubs.

At the beginning of the trail is a plaque that reads, "This trail is dedicated to Ian ‘Sandy’ Thompson who understood the relationship between people and the landscape better than anyone we know."

Family, friends and colleagues all turned out for the trail dedication Saturday afternoon.

Ruth Slickman, a friend and colleague of Thompson, said Thompson taught people about the Southwest landscape and the meaning of it.

"If anyone deserves a trail named for him, it is Sandy because he made trails in people’s minds," she said.

LouAnn Jacobson, director of the Anasazi Heritage Center, said Thompson was inspirational in getting the center funded. He set the tone for a video called "The Cultural Heritage of the Great Sage Plain," that was shown for the first time on Saturday at the center.

"Even now we try to think about how Sandy would have approached something on a project," Jacobson said. "Even now he is inspirational."

Mark Varien, research director at Crow Canyon Archaeological Center, said he and Thompson had a mutual interest in archaeology and enjoyed spending time together on the landscape.

Thompson’s sister, Charlotte Thompson, said the trail dedication was a fitting remembrance of her brother.