The Rocky of Jan. 24, 1973, gave readers what America, for years, had been clamoring for - the end of the Vietnam War.

"WASHINGTON (AP) - Agreement has been reached to end the Vietnam War - the longest in America's history - with a cease-fire effective Saturday night and complete U.S. withdrawal coinciding with release of all war prisoners, President Nixon told the nation Tuesday night.

"Nixon said it is a just and fair peace - an honorable way to end a nightmarish, decade-long war that left nearly 350,000 Americans killed and wounded and caused an unprecedented upheaval at home."

The Rocky's coverage seemed to reflect the nation's mood: spare, cheerless and reserved. There weren't a lot of local reaction stories or pages of celebratory coverage.

Colorado demonstrations

May 1970 marked some of the largest Vietnam War protests ever held on U.S. college campuses. Two demonstrations and an act of violence on Colorado campuses took over the front page for days.

In the first week of May, four students were killed at Kent State University during a protest. By the end of the week, thousands of students had gathered on campuses in Boulder and Denver.

(May 8)

10,000 join march at CU The accompanying photo was of CU President Frederick Thieme, appearing stunned and concerned as he looked over a sea of young faces. On the same day, about 300 students erected a plywood and canvas campsite they named "Woodstock West" on two quadrangles at DU.

(May 9) Two campus buildings at CSU are swept by flames

A fire, later found to be arson, destroyed Colorado State's 93-year-old Old Main building and another structure used by the campus ROTC. Beneath the banner headline, a photo showed more than 1,000 CU faculty members, with arms thrust upward, voting support of their students against the war.

(May 12) Governor weighs decision on sending troops to DU "Announcement of a decision on whether the National Guard will be called to restore order on the University of Denver campus will be made Tuesday, a spokesman for the governor's office said after a late night meeting between Gov. (John) Love, Police Chief George Seaton and Colorado National Guard Adjutant General Joe C. Moffitt."

The next day - the same day the Rocky reported that Denver had won the 1976 Winter Olympics - the second-play headline on Page 1:

Gov. Love pleads for peace on campus

DU students had re-erected Woodstock West. But troops never were called in and ultimately a confrontation was averted.

'Cold type' and hot ads

In the '70s, most of the newspaper industry converted from impression printing with lead type to photo imaging pages upon which stories and ads were pasted as "cold type." The printers who performed the paste-up voluntarily assumed another unassigned, yet not discouraged duty: spontaneously hand-drawing lacy underwear on some of the women appearing in ads for Denver's growing X-rated movie and live-show trade. Some of the printers were offended by the revealing ads; others simply enjoyed dabbling as the Lace Police.

Michael Madigan 150@RockyMountainNews.com