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She was born to Louise Amelia Sieber and William H. Saxon in 1894, shortly after her parents’ marriage. Colorado records indicate that her parents divorced in 1901. 1900 US Census records show Catherine living with her mother and grandparents, Charles and Henrietta Sieber. Charles was a pioneer and owner of the S-Cross Cattle Company. Her mother remarried in 1902, to John Sleeper, and Catherine was raised by her stepfather.
She grew up on the...
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Person
Husband of Lucy (Ferril) Ela.
Wendell Dennett Ela was born at 640 Rood Avenue in Grand Junction, Colorado to Wendell Phillips Ela and Lucy Abby (Drake) Ela. His first childhood home, adjacent to the Excelsior Laundry, was later sold to the Daily Sentinel and torn down, although the pear tree the family had planted stayed alive for many years.
His father was an early pioneer of the Glade Park area, the mayor of Grand Junction, and a longtime...
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Voice Recording
Lawrence Aubert talks about his father’s immigration from France and his arrival on Pinon Mesa in 1926, where he homesteaded and ran sheep. He remembers changes in sheep ranching after the passage of the Taylor Grazing Act, sheep rustling, and friction between sheep and cattle ranchers. He discusses the effect of predatory animals on sheep herd size on Pinon Mesa. He talks about Basque and Mexican immigrants who came to herd sheep in Colorado and...
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Voice Recording
Chuck Lundy and interviewer Al Look talk about a Fremont Indian excavation in No Thoroughfare Canyon, about the archaeologist Hannah Marie Wormington and her work at the Turner-Look Site in Utah, and about Native American fossil finds on Glade Park, Colorado. They also speak about Colorado National Monument founder John Otto, about dinosaur fossils discovered by “Dinosaur Jim,” the paleontologist James Jensen, and about dinosaur bones found by...
85) Joe Pace
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Person
An old cowpuncher and early employer of James Brouse. According to oral history interviewee James Brouse, he ran about 1000 head of cattle near Westwater, Utah and on Pinon Mesa. He also worked for Charles Sieber on the S-Cross Ranch. He witnessed Sieber's shooting by Joe Harris in 1902, and eventually killed Harris in retaliation. He was a local town drunk, cattle rancher, and train conductor. One time he hijacked a train going across state lines,...
86) Lou Stuart
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Person
According to oral history interviewee James "Buzz" Brouse, Stuart was the owner of a sheepherding outfit who lived up near Pinon Mesa. Lou got upset about Jim Blue, a moonshiner, selling alcohol to his sheep herders and went to run him out of town. Lou ended up shooting and killing Jim during a heated argument. Lou was shot five times but survived.
According to oral history interviewee George "Vern" Wood, Stuart was the "mover" for a sheep rancher...
87) John Otto
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Person
John Otto was the primary advocate and force behind the creation of the Colorado National Monument. During the winter, he broke trails on the Monument. In the summer, he worked under the direction of Grand Mesa National Forest supervisor Ray Peck on the Grand Mesa, breaking the Wild Rose Trail and other trails. He also served as the Colorado National Monument's first park custodian, and was an acquaintance of George Vernon "Vern" Wood and Darwin...
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Compound
Charles “Frank” Moore discusses his participation in U.S. Government surveys in Western Utah, his interactions with Navajo Indians, and his career in the U.S. Grazing Service. 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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Compound
This interview features Joe Peep, an early Fruita farmer, homesteader, and horse enthusiast. He also worked as a cowboy on Albert Turner’s ranch, and won the horse riding competition at Fruita’s Cowpuncher’s Reunion. 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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Voice Recording
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 The New Girl in Town,...
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Compound
Mary Plaisted talks about early days in Mesa County, Colorado, her marriage to Thomas Pierce, a farmer in Loma, and the busy life of a homemaker on the farm. She discusses various locations and institutions around the Western Slope, including the Paradox Valley, the Cowpuncher’s Reunion, and the Little Book Cliff Railway. She speaks about her warm family life as a child in Kansas, and life in Western Colorado after her father’s death. She also...
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Voice Recording
Early settler Gladys Carnahan describes her life growing up in Grand Junction, Colorado, including horse and buggy excursions with her father, school and social activities with friends, and attending the Mesa County Fair. She talks about her early involvement in the First United Methodist Church. She also discusses becoming ill during the Spanish Flu pandemic, furnishings in her family’s home, and being forced to support her family on a teacher’s...
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Voice Recording
Early Mesa County resident Joseph John Egger describes his travels to the Grand Valley area, the Colorado National Monument, the differences he perceived between Utes and Navajos, and information about Chief Ouray and Chipeta. 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.
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Organization
The Mesa County Valley School District 51 was formed on November 27, 1950 from sixteen smaller school districts in Mesa County. These smaller districts, in turn, had formed as the result of prior consolidations. With the exception of De Beque and Plateau Valley, which formed their own school districts, every geographical area in the county became part of District 51. The District elected its first school board and appointed its first superintendent,...
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Voice Recording
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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Voice Recording
Anna McGinley talks about teaching at the Hunter School in early day Mesa County. She and her sister Mae Plunkett also talk about their school days and about the lives of their parents John and Theresa McGinley, who were immigrants and Mesa County pioneers. 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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Voice Recording
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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Compound
Glenn McFall talks about his various jobs around Mesa County and about witnessing the unveiling of Christo’s Valley Curtain installation in Rifle Gap. He also discusses fishing and battling snow storms on the Grand Mesa, the deer population around Mesa County, his experiences during childhood growing up in Clifton, the old Midland Trail automobile route, drinking and making bootleg whiskey, Italian-Americans making bootleg wine, the Book Cliff Railway,...
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Voice Recording
Jean and Benerita Dolores (Velazquez) Urruty discuss Jean’s immigrant experience, the life of a Basque sheepherder, Basque culture, and sheepherding in Mesa County. 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.
