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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. The plays’ authors used interviews recorded by the Mesa County Oral History Project as inspiration. In this recording the listener will hear the play Charlie Glass:...
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Marie Nowlan discusses the history of her family in Grand Junction, including her father’s employment as a conductor for the Interurban route, her brother Joey’s involvement as a player for and manager of the Grand Junction Baseball Team, and her memories of the Mesa County Fair. 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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Craig B. Aupperle discusses cattle ranching in the Grand Valley, the location of the first apple and fruit orchards in Mesa County and Parachute, Colorado, and the Grand Junction Fruit Growers Association. 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. *This recording suffers from poor sound quality.
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William and Maybl Chapman talk about their early lives in Grand Junction and Fruita, 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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Mary Corcoran talks about her parents and grandparents, pioneers in Mesa County and Eastern Utah. She also talks about her early life in Grand Junction, Colorado, and about ranch life above De Beque on the Grand Mesa. 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 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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Rose and Morgan Goss discuss the early settlement of Grand Junction and Fruita, Colorado, and agricultural life in the Appleton area. 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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Joseph Egger talks about life in the Grand Valley when he arrived in 1891. He describes the lack of a bridge over the Colorado River between Grand Junction and De Beque, and the ferry that crossed the river in Palisade. He discusses soil quality and the history of agriculture in different parts of the valley, and traces early agriculture in the eastern end of the valley to coal miners. He also talks about the Taylor Grazing Act, trying to sell butter...
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David Combs talks about growing up in a diverse neighborhood in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He discusses school segregation, and the difficulties he and other African-Americans faced in securing a good education at the high school level. He speaks about attending the University of South Dakota on a football scholarship, his experience as a Black person in a place with few other African-Americans, and stereotypes about Black athletes that he encountered...
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Bertha Schlegel discusses growing up in Loma, Colorado and helping her family raise beets for Holly Sugar, and making sauerkraut, pickled apples, pickled watermelon and other ethnic food with her mother, who was a German immigrant from Russia. She also remembers her education and school activities throughout her childhood, including field days at the Fruita Central School and Grand Junction High School. She talks about obtaining a teaching degree,...
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An interview with Howard Shults, a longtime resident of Mesa County who worked as an auctioneer, farmer, and member of the state land commission. He discusses the business of corralling horses, horse trading, racing horses for money, the Cross Ranch, and social events such as rodeos, fairs, and dances. He also talks about hauling coal in a horse-drawn wagon and the history of coal mines in the valley, about the history of the old fairgrounds at Lincoln...
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Cordelia Files talks about the history of her family as early homesteaders in Mesa County, Colorado. She remembers life in Fruita in the early Twentieth century. She recalls working on a ranch near De Beque for her first job at the age of fifteen. She speaks about her life as a teacher instructing all eight grades in a one-room school house, about different episodes from her career in education (including the time a cat came to school), and about...
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Evelyn Kyle, the first coordinator of the Mesa County Oral History Project, discusses her role in expanding the program shortly after its inception in 1976, and describes colorful personalities that she met through the project. She also talks about her life in the performing arts, establishing and acting in community theaters around Western Colorado, about her experiences during the Dust Bowl and World War II, and about her marriage to Jim Kyle and...
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Albert William Karp talks about the incident that handicapped him as a young man and how it affected the rest of his life. He mentions his addiction and mental health issues. He describes his first guide dog and the process for getting one. Lastly, he explains how he came to be a volunteer for Alcoholics Anonymous and other notable charities. The interview was conducted by the Mesa County Oral History Project, a collaboration of Mesa County Libraries...
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Marie Young talks about discrimination that her German American family faced during World Wars I and II. She also talks about her many tasks as a homemaker on a ranch, about helping with the cattle, and doing other ranch work. 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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Jeanette LeBeau, an early Mesa County resident, talks about climbing Independence Monument with bare feet, Ute Indians who visited her grandparents in pioneer Fruita, summers spent at Leach’s cattle ranch in Pinon Mesa, means of transportation, law enforcement, and prejudice against Catholics in the Grand Valley. The interview was conducted by the Mesa County Oral History Project, a collaboration of Mesa County Libraries and the Museums of Western...
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In this recording, Alta Nolan reads the memoirs of Cordelia Files. Files talks about the history of her parents and maternal grandparents who homesteaded in the Fruita, Colorado area in the 1890’s. She describes the fruit growing operation on the homestead. She recounts seeing the Ute people and Chipeta when they came in the fall to dry fruit from the orchard. She remembers early Fruita, with its dirt streets and plank sidewalks. She speaks about...
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Sisters Anna McGinley and Mae (McGinley) Plunkett discuss the pioneering history of their families in Fruita during the late Nineteenth century and early Twentieth century. 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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Lucille Mahannah, an early education and civic leader in Mesa County, describes her early life on the Hunter Ranch, a ranch established by her family in what later became the Hunter District. She also talks about her career in education as a teacher and as the Mesa County Superintendent of Schools. The interview was conducted by the Mesa County Oral History Project, a collaboration of Mesa County Libraries and the Museums of Western Colorado. Note:...
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John Sylvester Long discusses the religious life and customs in the Church of the Brethren, and the early Twentieth century history of Fruita and Loma, Colorado. The interview was conducted by the Mesa County Oral History Project, a collaboration of Mesa County Libraries and the Museums of Western Colorado.