Grand Junction, Mesa County, Colorado
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During a panel discussion of the Mesa County Historical Society, Kenneth Baird discusses the settlement and incorporation of Grand Junction, the creation of the Grand Junction Town Company, early city government, town building, and early municipal ordinances. Professor Don Mackendrick talks about James W. Bucklin’s draft of a new city charter in 1910, which established a commission form of government. He mentions progressive reforms that put the...
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Voice Recording
In the third of nine recordings, John Goulet, a former advertising salesman with the Daily Sentinel newspaper, relates his experiences and travels in Grand Junction and Western Colorado in the 1950’s and 1960’s. He talks about traveling to Black Canyon with his friend Al Look. He remembers many of the merchants that he met as an advertising salesman. He describes Grand Junction’s Diamond Jubilee celebration of its 75th anniversary as a city....
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Voice Recording
Dudley Mitchell discusses politicians involved in the early days of the railroad, the development of railroad labor laws, railroad wages, and the Ku Klux Klan in Grand Junction and Colorado. The interview was conducted by the Mesa County Oral History Project, a collaboration of Mesa County Libraries, the Museums of Western Colorado and the Mesa County Historical Society.
Format:
Voice Recording
Harold Zimmerman describes packing fruit during harvest time in the Clifton area, spraying for codling moths, the end of early apple farming in the valley, the train of wagons used to haul fruit on the Midland Trail at harvest time and about a flash flood that devastated Cross Orchards and destroyed 31 Road. He also talks about his career in bookkeeping for Mesa County Valley School District 51 and other organizations, the run on local banks during...
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Voice Recording
J.W. Latham describes his career of the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad near Grand Junction, Colorado, including the run from Grand Junction to Minturn, his work as fireman, and different steam engines used. He also talks about the pack of grey wolves that lived in the Bookcliffs near De Beque in the early 1920’s, and touches on the sheep and cattlemen wars. The interview was conducted by the Mesa County Oral History Project, a collaboration of Mesa...
Format:
Voice Recording
Al Look talks about the life of Grand Junction founder George Crawford. He speaks about Crawford’s youth in Pennsylvania, his career as a newspaperman, a politician, a town founder, and a business person. He discusses Crawford’s stance as an abolitionist and as part of the antislavery movement in Kansas prior to the Civil War. He describes Crawford’s founding of Ft. Scott and Emporia, Kansas, and of Grand Junction, Colorado. The interview was...
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Voice Recording
Warren Kiefer talks about his career as a fireman and engineer on the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad, and working the line between Grand Junction, Colorado and Salt Lake City. He gives specifics about the technical aspects of the fireman position on a steam locomotive. He speaks about the relationship between the fireman and the engineer, and tells stories about comical and contentious interactions between different workers. He explains the purpose...
Format:
Compound
Harry Sylvester Godby discusses his time spent working for and traveling with the Robinson Brothers Circus before moving to Grand Junction, Colorado. Harry also talks about his itinerant childhood moving from place to place, and the wide variety of jobs he worked throughout his life, including construction, mining, blacksmithing and potato farming, and how he was affected by the Great Depression. He shares his discovery of a large pile of boxes with...
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Voice Recording
A lecture given at Regis College by Al Look, a Mesa County historian and amateur paleontologist. Look discusses the geology of Grand Junction, the Grand Mesa, and surrounding area. He also describes the multitude of dinosaur fossils found in this area. This recording is made available via signed release by the Mesa County Oral History Project, a collaboration of Mesa County Libraries and the Museums of Western Colorado.
Format:
Compound
Siblings Ella O'Brien and Earl Foster talk about the demise of their family friend Henry "Indian Henry" Huff at the hands of their stepfather, and the events that followed. They discuss their living situation in Bull Canyon, mentioning the work their parents did for the mine, their chores, education, livestock, and farming. They speak of their move to Utah and their experiences there, including meeting Chipeta. They transition to talking about their...
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Voice Recording
Dwain Jackson talks about his family history and their arrival in Delta County in the 1880’s. He remembers taking the Grand Junction streetcar line and automobile rides in the 1920’s and 30’s. He speaks about living north of Cedaredge as a child and time spent fishing on the Grand Mesa. He talks about the reluctance of Delta County residents to adhere to new fish and game management laws in the early 1900’s, and tells the story of William...
Format:
Compound
Walter Flasche talks about his birth in Nebraska and moving to De Beque, Colorado with his parents via covered wagon around 1908. He remembers life in the Roan Creek area, severe drought and heavy snows. He recalls battles between cattle ranchers and sheep ranchers in the area. He speaks about his work as a logger and his work in the nascent oil shale industry. He describes how hard the life of a rancher and oil shale worker was, and how his wife...
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Voice Recording
Emmett Elizondo talks about his arrival in the United States from the Basque region of Spain and his first sheepherding job in Buffalo, Wyoming. He remembers building his own herds through a sheep leasing deal with a business partner in Salt Lake City. He recalls his move to Colorado’s Western Slope and eastern Utah, where he amassed a large sheep operation and owned 25,400 acres by 1980. He speaks about his community involvements, including his...
Format:
Compound
Jim Colman talks about his childhood in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, Grand Junction, and Salt Lake City. He describes taking officer’s training courses through correspondence school before receiving a commission as a reserve infantry lieutenant in 1937. He speaks about becoming a communications officer and headquarters company commander with the 57th Infantry in the Philippines in 1941. He describes the horses and mules used by officers in his unit,...
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Voice Recording
Alfred Alvine “Al” Look tells about his childhood growing up in Kansas. He talks about the theater productions his school put on and his role in those. He describes his education in journalism at the University of Nebraska, publishing a magazine called Ah Go On, and working in a store to help pay his tuition. He also talks about his contributions to the Mesa College library (now Colorado Mesa University). The interview was conducted by the Mesa...
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Voice Recording
Anna Foster talks about teaching at the Mesa School, beginning in 1908. She remembers some of the teachers and students at the school, and going sledding with them for fun. She speaks about the role of the Mesa’s Methodist church in providing community for people of all Christian faiths. She describes stagecoaches that delivered between towns, traveling the old Hogback Road from Palisade, and the building of the Plateau Canyon Road. She recalls...
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Voice Recording
Kelley R. Shockley and Bill McKelvie interview Dude Todd about his life in Routt County working in the Sheriffs Department.
Format:
Article
Carl Ramunno recounts his life and discusses coaching wrestling for Steamboat Springs High School.
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Voice Recording
Carl Ramunno talks about his time in the Army, and how he ended up in Steamboat Springs coaching high school wrestling and football.
Format:
Voice Recording
Judy Walden and Roger Reynolds talk about their experiences providing support for gifted children and adults with various learning abilities, as well as touch upon the students they mentor who are interested in the same field of work.
NOTE: Interview with Judy Walden repeats from 00:32:00 - 1:05:00.
