Frontier and pioneer life -- Colorado
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George Knowles talks about the history of his father’s carpentry and construction business in Fruita, about fighting as a soldier in World War I, and aspects of early Mesa County life. Esther Knowles discusses her family and early Twentieth century life in Plateau Valley. 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
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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Voice Recording
Ruby Luton discusses the history of Atchee, the Uintah Railway, and the early history of Fruita. 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
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.
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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...
Format:
Voice Recording
Don and Mary Roth discuss ranching on the Colorado National Monument and surrounding area, John Otto, and interactions with Ute Indians. 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
Morgan Goss describes his days as a cowboy, including daily tasks on a ranch, driving cattle long distances and bull riding. He also talks about his dating and social life, Fruita’s Cowpuncher’s Reunion, riding the Interurban, and farming during the Depression Era. 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
Emma Nagel, whose family came to the Highpoint area north of Fruita in 1894, talks about agricultural life on her family’s homestead, about badgers, wolves, and wildlife they encountered, and about the Highpoint community’s Christmas celebrations. 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. 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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Voice Recording
Lois Saunders talks about early life in Fruita, Loma, and Mack, Colorado, about life on a farm with her husband Roe Saunders, and about Colorado Mesa University’s Saunders Field House, which was named for her husband. 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
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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Voice Recording
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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Voice Recording
Emma Nagel discusses her family’s dairy business in rural Mesa County, Colorado, the butter making process, storing and selling butter, and changes brought to the home-butter business after the establishment of a local creamery. She also talks about participating in Mesa County Fairs, family activities, homemaking with her mother, an icehouse her father constructed, home luncheon visits, Fruita events, people and history, and her father’s job...
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Voice Recording
Sisters Dorothy (Raber) Beard and Marjorie (Raber) Likes talk about the history of their family in Fruita, Colorado. They speak about Will Minor, the goat herder and self-educated photographer, author, and amateur lepidopterist who discovered the butterfly Papilio Indra Minori on the Colorado National Monument. They discuss homesteads that the Beard family owned in the canyons that comprise the current day McInnis Canyons National Conservation Area....
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Voice Recording
Dorothy Beard discusses her career as a pharmacist (following the family trade), and talks about sheep ranching with her husband. 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.
*Photograph from the 1932 University of Colorado yearbook
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Voice Recording
Dorothy Beard discusses the Fruita Drug Store, and homesteading on land that became the Colorado National Monument and McInnis Canyons National Conservation Area. 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 1932 University of Colorado yearbook
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Voice Recording
Longtime Fruita residents and photographers Will Minor and Lee Warner discuss their experiences in the Colorado National Monument and the surrounding areas of Western Colorado and Eastern Utah. They also talk about meeting John Otto, and about Minor’s discovery of the rare Papilio Indra Minori butterfly on the Monument. The interview was conducted by the Mesa County Oral History Project, a collaboration of Mesa County Libraries and the Museums of...
