Railroads -- Colorado
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To mark the centennial celebration of the town of Grand Junction, Colorado in 1981, the Mesa County Oral History Project wrote and recorded several radio plays about local history. Beginning on September 26, 1981, local radio stations KSTR, KREX-AM, KREX-FM, and KMSA broadcast the plays. Authors of the plays used interviews recorded by the Mesa County Oral History Project as inspiration. This archival recording contains the play On the Road to Grand...
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In a lecture to the Grand Junction Lions Club, given just days before he died, prominent water law attorney Silmon Smith talks about his life and the history of Grand Junction (the lecture was broadcast hours later on KREX radio). He remembers his family’s arrival in the town in the 1890’s and early development in Grand Junction. He recalls a colorful Main Street filled with saloons. He speaks about his father Frank Smith’s respiratory illness,...
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To mark the centennial celebration of the town of Grand Junction, Colorado in 1981, the Mesa County Oral History Project wrote and recorded several radio plays about local history. Beginning on September 26, 1981, local radio stations KSTR, KREX-AM, KREX-FM, and KMSA broadcast the plays. Authors of the plays used interviews recorded by the Mesa County Oral History Project as inspiration. This archival recording contains the play Roundhouse Days.
This...
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In the second 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 playing the piano and touring the Western Slope with the Star Lighters, an orchestra from Grand Junction. He plays the piano piece, “Back in Your Own Backyard” and speaks about arranging music for other performers....
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Howard McMullin discusses the history of early Grand Junction businesses and buildings, and biographies of early Grand Junction business people. The interview was conducted by the Mesa County Oral History Project, a collaboration of Mesa County Libraries and the Museums of Western Colorado.
*Photograph from the 1916 Grand Junction High School yearbook of Howard McMullin as a sophomore.
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Rufus Hirons talks about his education in Grand Junction schools, and about teachers and school district employees (including his father, Walter Hirons). He also touches on the Fruita to Grand Junction Interurban line, sheep ranching with his grandfather, and local Italian Americans. 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...
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In a program of the Museums of Western Colorado, William McGuire and Charles Teed talk about the history of Mesa County's Interurban line, which transported people and produce between Grand junction and Fruita, with stops in between. They also discuss the history of the Uintah Railway. This recording is provided by the Mesa County Oral History Project, a collaboration of Mesa County Libraries and the Museums of Western Colorado.
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Eugene Perry talks about his childhood in Grand Junction’s Riverside neighborhood. He speaks about working for the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad from the time he was thirteen years old, his career building track as a section foreman, and the history of D&RG in Grand Junction. He discusses landmarks such as Bowman’s slaughterhouse, the Pest House, and the town’s ice houses. He reminisces about a youth curfew that was in place in Grand Junction...
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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.
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Gilbert Limberg talks about growing up in Grand Junction, Colorado in a boarding house run by his mother, and later on a small farm on Old River Road. He also discusses his career as a boilermaker for the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad, his ownership of the Artesia Motel on Orchard Mesa, his work repairing machines that were used to first pave Grand Junction’s streets in 1925, and the Uintah Railway. His wife Loretta Limberg also offers her occasional...
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Bill Rump talks about his father Charlie Rump and his roll in developing the Redlands in Mesa County, Colorado as a member of the Redlands Company and the Redlands Water and Power Company. He recounts the efforts of those companies in creating orchards and other agricultural enterprises on the Redlands. He speaks about the Redlands School, roads, sports, youth activities, and other aspects of life on the Redlands and in Grand Junction. He remembers...
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Helen Johnson talks about the Hotchkiss family and their history in and around the town of Hotchkiss, Colorado. She compares the towns of Hotchkiss and Paonia in their early days. She speaks about moving to Grand Junction with her husband in 1923, living downtown, and her impressions of the town. A Rebekah and the wife of an Odd Fellow, she talks about the history of both organizations, recalls details of Rebekah and Odd Fellows membership, and remembers...
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Howard Hafey talks about his career as a locomotive engineer, including descriptions of steam engines, railroad flags and signs, and a discussion of bridge building. He also talks about his early life going to school in Grand Junction, Colorado and working in a pool hall. 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....
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Frank Simonetti Sr. talks about his arrival in the United States from southern Italy in 1914 and his eventual arrival in Grand Junction, Colorado in 1918, where he began a long career with the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad. He remembers a fire that burnt down the D&RG icehouse, the railroad shop strike in 1922, and working a seven-day work week for thirty years. He recalls different kinds of locomotives. Angela Simonetti recalls growing up in the...
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Raymond Myers gives an eyewitness account of the Grand Junction train depot fire of June 27, 1943. Myers talks about repairing a hotbox (overheated axle) on the westbound Denver and Rio Grande ammunition train prior to the fire, about the fire itself, and the munitions that exploded over Grand Junction as a result of the fire. The interview was conducted by the Mesa County Oral History Project, a collaboration of Mesa County Libraries and the Museums...
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Ruth Smith and Isabella Cunningham, former reporters for The Daily Sentinel, recall their careers at the newspaper during the 1920’s through 1940’s. Cunningham talks about covering railroad news and events, including the institution of a sixteen-hour-day law for workers. They remember two young children that were killed when playing with dynamite in Fruitvale. They describe the annual Christmas party for needy children that was put on each year...
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Frank Mancuso talks about his early life in the Riverside neighborhood of Grand Junction, Colorado after immigrating from Italy, and about Grand Junction’s Italian American community. He also discusses his long-time employment working for the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad, fires to the ice house, D&RG roundhouse and the freight depot, playing baseball under the Fifth Street viaduct, several local people and buildings, and other aspects of area...
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Dudley Mitchell talks about his jobs as car distributor, bill clerk and chief clerk for the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad. He also discusses Grand Junction’s local mines and mining-related railroads. 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.
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Walter Dalby, founder of local accounting firm Dalby, Wendland and Company and flight enthusiast, talks about the history of the Grand Junction Regional Airport and about the companies and people involved in the local air travel industry, including: Clyde Davis, Walter Walker, and Eddie Drapela. He also talks about balloon rallies and airshows held in Grand Junction. The interview was conducted by the Mesa County Oral History Project, a collaboration...
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Veda McBeth talks about people and places of Mack, Colorado, where her family owned and operated the general store in the early Twentieth century. She describes in detail the colorful hobos that she encountered along the railroad, the thousands of sheep in the Mack stockyards, and large sheep drives to Grand Junction. She also speaks about catching the Denver Rio Grande train from Mack to Grand Junction, the Uintah Railway, and the loneliness of homestead...
