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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 Mesa County Minerals. This...
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Frosty Tilton describes his career as a banker in Palisade and Grand Junction, Colorado. He talks about bank closures and runs on banks during the Great Depression, the economic impact of the peach industry, and the history of local fruit grower cooperatives. 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. *Photo...
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Ann Stokes talks about homesteading on East Orchard Mesa after her family moved to Mesa County, Colorado in 1904. She remembers her father working on the “fancy” masonry for the Grand Junction train station. She recalls living in a one-room log cabin and sharing that cabin with a horse for an evening. She speaks about the development of irrigation on East Orchard Mesa and her father’s peach orchard. She describes walking with her siblings four...
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Ann Stokes talks about her father-in-law Walter Stokes and his involvement in Nineteenth century labor strife as a union coal miner in Colorado. She describes his establishment of the Stokes Mine after he moved to Mesa County and describes the mine’s operations. She speaks about early phone service in Palisade. She discusses her mom’s job as a nurse in rural areas, which included tasks like housecleaning, cooking, and sewing baby clothes for new...
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Lucille Mahannah talks about her service as the first female caseworker in the U.S. Army. She also touches on her husband’s military service during World War I, on managing the Hunter Coal Mine for her father, and her time as the Public Welfare Director for the Civilian Conservation Corps. 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...
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Emma (Berg) Nagel discusses life in early Fruita as a student turned school teacher, and talks about the farm life of her family (her parents were immigrants from Sweden who settled in Western Colorado), with an extended description of her mother’s homemaking tasks. The interview was conducted by the Mesa County Oral History Project, a collaboration of Mesa County Libraries and the Museums of Western Colorado.
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Vesta Fitzpatrick talks about her mother’s skill as a seemstress and how she made the family’s clothes. She remembers family life and entertainment during her youth, her parents reciting poems, and her father’s storytelling abilities. She recalls taking care of the family from a young age after her mother became ill. She speaks about seeing Buffalo Bill’s wild West show in Lincoln Park and going to chautauquas in Collbran. She remembers the...
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Walt Simineo talks about growing up on a ranch in Whitewater, Colorado, his father’s homestead there, and describes the town in the early Twentieth century. He speaks about working as a coal miner in Whitewater and about mining operations there. He discusses the evolution of soil amendments used in farming and the changes in area ranching practices. The interview was conducted by the Mesa County Oral History Project, a collaboration of Mesa County...
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Jene Hicks tells the story of his father’s work as a barber and coal miner, and his mother’s work as a school teacher in early Twentieth century Mesa County, Colorado. He also gives a history of the Cameo Mine and other coal mines in the Bookcliffs. The interview was conducted by the Mesa County Oral History Project, a collaboration of Mesa County Libraries and the Museums of Western Colorado.
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Dudley Mitchell talks about the history of his family in Pitkin, Eagle, and Garfield Counties, and his acquaintance with Democratic politicians, including Ed Taylor. He also talks about his boyhood spent in Cardiff, Colorado, and about his career working on the railroad. 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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In an event at the Museums of Western Colorado, Sylvia Ruland lectures about the Ludlow Massacre: the killing of striking mine workers and their families, including women and children, by the Colorado National Guard and hired strike breakers on April 20, 1914. She describes the poor working conditions for coal miners and the mistreatment of immigrants that led to a coal strike in Colorado in 1913-14. She talks about the men who owned mining interests...
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Harold Kissell talks about being born in a coal camp near New Castle, Colorado, his career working as a coal miner and foreman in Cameo, and his father’s career as a coal miner for the Colorado Fuel and Iron company. He tells the story of the Vulcan Mine and the mine explosions that killed many men. He recounts the superstition that women inside a mine brought bad luck. He speaks of the diverse workforce in local coal mines, including African-Americans...
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Virgil Hickman and his wife discuss their lives growing up around Mesa County. Virgil’s grandfather began as a miner in Palisade and Cameo, Colorado, and his family turned to fruit farming. Hickman describes planting the first fruit orchard on East Orchard Mesa, the labor involved with peach growing, and the development of the area. He touches on the businesses, social scene, and Christmas celebrations in Palisade during the early 1900s. The interview...