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Helen and Clarence Swanson discuss the history of their families in early Fruita, and Fruita buildings and organizations. 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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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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In a planning meeting for a Mesa County Historical Society panel discussion, Eyrealynne Barcus and others speak about Glade Park, Colorado history. This recording is made available via signed release 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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Marie (Becker) Young talks about her experience living in Germany for a year, and the early days of fruit farming in Mesa County, Colorado. Marie also discusses the early history of Orchard Mesa, her social and work life as a teenager, the business of cattle driving and roundups with her husband in Utah, and her life as a homemaker. The interview was conducted by the Mesa County Oral History Project, a collaboration of Mesa County Libraries, the...
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Irene (Strimple) Gramlich talks about her early life in Cedaredge and Delta, Colorado. She also touches on the economic downturn that effected fruit growers and employment prospects in Cedaredge in 1913, and discusses her teaching career. 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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Reuben A. Pitts talks about wars between cattle and sheep ranchers, about rural school life in Plateau Valley, Colorado, and about the Big Creek Reservoir flood. He also discusses his job as a typesetter for his father’s newspaper, The Plateau Valley Voice, in Collbran. 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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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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Charlotte (Jackson) Claar describes growing up on a homestead in Cheyenne County, Colorado, where the family witched for water, built an adobe house, and held jack rabbit drives. She speaks about moving to Grand Valley, Colorado (now Parachute) in 1920. She talks about her 37-year career as a teacher and then principal in Grand Valley, at the Clifton School, and at the Fruitvale School. She discusses her father and husband’s careers on the railroad....
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Dudley W. Mitchell discusses his family history, early Colorado mining days, and his various jobs working for the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad over fifty years. 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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Eva Wood Leslie discusses her family’s farm life on Pinon Mesa, Colorado, sheep farming, chores done around the home, and school teaching 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.
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Vern Wood discusses his life as an early Mesa County resident, homesteader in Pinon Mesa, and cattle rancher on Glade Park. Wood and his wife Bernice also discuss the building of the Serpent’s Trail on the Colorado National Monument, life at local schools, country dances on Glade Park, transportation methods, and murder scandals that occurred around Glade Park. The interview was conducted by the Mesa County Oral History Project, a collaboration...
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Dr. Andrew Gulliford, head of The Country School Legacy Project (a survey of rural schools over eight states, funded by the National Endowment of the Humanities) presents information from the project in a lecture at the Museum of Western Colorado. The lecture includes reflections from rural school teachers in Colorado, including teaching techniques, discipline problems, infectious diseases, and issues with poorly constructed buildings. Teachers also...
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Frieda Miller talks about her pioneer ranching family’s arrival in Palisade, Colorado, and about the exploits of her colorful father, Eben “Mac” Miller. She speaks about her school days in Palisade and Grand Junction, and about childhood games she played (such as Duck on a Rock). She discusses her later life and marriage with farmer and carpenter George Weaver, and her long period as a vegetarian. The interview was conducted by the Mesa County...
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Emma (Hollett) Nicolay discusses her parent's journey to Colorado by covered wagon, how she kept busy growing up on a homestead near Norwood, Colorado and her schooling to become a dietitian. She also talks about her work in US Army hospitals as a dietitian during World War ll, and her later work in hospitals in Denver and California. This recording is made available via signed release by the Mesa County Oral History Project, a collaboration of Mesa...
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Gertrude Rader talks about the New Deal and its effect on her farm in Loma, Colorado. She then describes at length the migration of Ute tribal members from the Ouray/Silverton area to Eastern Utah every fall in the early Twentieth century, their camping near Rader's childhood home in Kannah Creek, and her observations of the Ute people. She also discusses her family's pioneer history in the Whitewater/Kannah Creek area, her time teaching in rural...
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Karl and Nellie Linn discuss the history of their pioneer family in Plateau Valley, cattle ranching in the area, and local people. 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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James Brouse discusses moving and going to school in Glade Park, Colorado as a young boy in 1915. He tells tales of cowpunching in the canyons near Westwater, homesteading, the difficulties of dry farming, and the methods and difficulties of transportation into town from up on Glade Park. He also talks about local murders, sheep and cattlemen wars, and the history of different schools in the area. His wife Ellen (Morse) Brouse, longtime Mesa County...
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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 First School, about...
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Vesta Fitzpatrick talks about growing up in Buena Vista, New Castle, and De Beque, Colorado. She remembers the family’s homestead and life in De Beque, and her role as a homemaker from an early age due to her mother’s illness. She speaks about country school life. She details the dances that took place, including costume, masquerade, and “hard time” dances. She recalls living in Uravan during World War II, where her grandchildren played in...
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Winifred Bull discusses her education in Grand Junction’s schools, her career teaching Latin at Grand Junction High School, the medical career of her father, Dr. Heman R. Bull, the life of her uncle Edwin Price (founder of Grand Junction’s first newspaper), and the Spanish Flu epidemic of 1918-19. The interview was conducted by the Mesa County Oral History Project, a collaboration of Mesa County Libraries, the Museums of Western Colorado and the...