DRIVE-THRU / CURBSIDE PICKUP

Passwords are now required to access your account. To create a password, select "Reset my Password" from the Login screen (email address required). For further assistance, please visit the Library Account Passwords FAQ page for instructions or call the library at 970-243-4442.

All library locations will be closed May 25, 26, 27 for Memorial Day weekend. View all holiday closures.


Showing 1 - 20 of 26 , query time: 0.03s
Cover Image
Format:
Compound
Nevada Burford discusses the history of her pioneering parents, who came to Grand Junction in 1882 and homesteaded in Kannah Creek. She also talks about the Handy Chapel and Grand Junction’s early African-American community. 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. *Transcript for Tape 2 of 4 only.
Cover Image
Format:
Voice Recording
Sisters Ana Mcginley and Mae Plunkett describe in detail their household life and childhood growing up on a homestead in the Hunter District of Mesa County, Colorado, with an account of household furnishings, chores, and leisure activities. They also talk about the growth of Grand Junction and of North Avenue as a main thoroughfare, time spent on the Colorado National Monument, Mesa County Fairs, and the Interurban rail line. The interview was conducted...
Cover Image
Format:
Compound
Bessie Jane Milholland talks about her childhood growing up on a ranch in Molina, Colorado and how her family earned a living selling butter and other dairy goods. She describes trips to Grand Junction in horse and buggy, trading and selling handmade goods, and her education at the rural Molina School. She talks about her eventual move to Grand Junction after marrying her husband, Danford Wheeler, their life there, and the tasks of a homemaker. She...
Cover Image
Format:
Compound
Mabel Hart Johnson talks about life in Meeker, Colorado in the early 1900’s, Teddy Roosevelt’s mountain lion hunting trip in the area, and what the life of a woman was like in Meeker. She also discusses her battle with the illness St. Vitus’s Dance, using scrip during the Great Depression, homesteading near the White River, raising a family in Grand Junction, and bowling. Her husband Murl Hazen Johnson talks about working as a truck driver for...
Cover Image
Format:
Compound
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...
Cover Image
Format:
Voice Recording
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.
Cover Image
Format:
Compound
Anna E. Craig discusses her upbringing in Mesa, Colorado, including her social experiences, her father’s life as one of the few doctors in the area, the Mesa County Fair, her holiday rituals, methods of preserving food, and what it was like to own a hotel in Mesa. She also talks about an instance in the 1890’s when hundreds of sheep were driven over a cliff by cattle ranchers on the Grand Mesa, and other strife between cattle and sheep ranchers....
Cover Image
Format:
Voice Recording
Mary talks about her early childhood in Kansas as one of nine children and her family's move to Colorado upon the death of her father. Mary details the train and its passengers during the move, including Russian immigrants coming to work the beet fields, and her mother's outreach. She mentions her mothers career training riding horses as a way to support the family. She talks about her relationships, children, and the struggle she faced trying to...
Cover Image
Format:
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...
Cover Image
Format:
Voice Recording
Ica Click talks about life on a homestead in the Kannah Creek area of Mesa County, Colorado in the early Twentieth century. She discusses going to the Purdy Mesa School, social activities, the people of Kannah Creek and Whitewater, homemaking, caring for animals, and home remedies. 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....
Cover Image
Format:
Voice Recording
Anna Cunningham describes her family’s journey out West from Connecticut, and their pioneer life living on a homestead near Meeker. She also talks about her life living 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.
Cover Image
Format:
Compound
Minnie Ann Roberts discusses moving from Iowa to a homestead in Montrose County, Colorado in the early 1900s. Minnie explains the social scene near Bedrock, memories of her wedding, hope chest, baby showers and shivarees. She also talks about canning meat, preserving other foods, doing the wash, making her own clothes, and taking care of her family at the homestead. This recording is made available via signed release by the Mesa County Oral History...
Cover Image
Format:
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...
Cover Image
Format:
Compound
Ruth Smith talks about her pioneering family in Whitewater, Colorado, and about frontier days in Mesa County. Agnes Wright talks about homemaking and other aspects of pioneer life and area history. 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.
Cover Image
Format:
Compound
Emma Nagel talks in detail about Christmas programs held at the Highpoint School near Fruita, Colorado and about Christmas traditions at home when she was a child. She also discusses her busy life as a homemaker, with information on butchering animals, grinding wheat and making bread, sewing and caring for clothes, caring for chickens and milking the cow. The interview was conducted by the Mesa County Oral History Project, a collaboration of Mesa...
Cover Image
Format:
Voice Recording
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...
Cover Image
Format:
Voice Recording
Al Look talks about his family and about his grandparents’ immigration from Germany. He speaks about life on the farm in Kansas and the important role of women as homemakers. He discusses travels in Colorado and New Mexico, encounters with Ute and Navajo people, and filing for a homestead in the Dove Creek area. The interview was conducted by the Mesa County Oral History Project, a collaboration of Mesa County Libraries and the Museums of Western...
Cover Image
Format:
Voice Recording
Anna Alstatt talks about her life as a young Swedish immigrant in Kansas, and about homesteading and homemaking in Mack, 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.
Cover Image
Format:
Voice Recording
Lizzy Click talks about her childhood in the 1890's and 1900's on a farm in the Appleton area of Mesa County, Colorado, and about life as a homemaker on a ranch in Kannah Creek. 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.
Cover Image
Format:
Compound
Joe, Mike and Ida Peep discuss their family’s Italian heritage, the history of their pioneer family in Fruita, and life as young people in Western Colorado. The interview was conducted by the Mesa County Oral History Project, a collaboration of Mesa County Libraries and the Museums of Western Colorado.