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Dave Hinkle talks about coming to Western Colorado in the 1920’s, riding the rails in search of work, dealing with the railyard “bulls,” working the peach harvests in Palisade, and working for the railroad in ice cars packed with peaches. He recalls other jobs he held, including the Star mail route from Dragon Mountain to Somerset, ranch work for the D.R.C. Brown Ranch on Muddy Creek, and herding sheep on the Uncompahgre. He speaks about the...
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Former Grand Junction Fire Chief Frank Kreps describes living in a one-room log cabin on his parents’ Roan Creek homestead as a young boy in the 1910’s, the feeling of community among the scattered residents, and a sawmill that provided lumber to residents. He talks about his father’s career as a locomotive engineer for the Uintah Railway and the Denver & Rio Grande. He remembers having to split wood for all the sick families in Atchee during...
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Dudley Mitchell talks about the route of the Colorado Midland Railway, about the stations, towns and landmarks on its path, about different railroad accidents, and about the workings of the railroad. 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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Frank Wright talks about his career working for the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad in Gunnison and Grand Junction, 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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Gwendolyn McKee talks about the history of her family in Colorado, about working with her mother in Salida hotels, and about her education at Denver’s East High School and at the then Western State College in Gunnison, Colorado. She also discusses her father’s career on the railroad and the prominence of the railroad as an employer in Salida. The interview was conducted by the Mesa County Oral History Project, a collaboration of Mesa County Libraries,...
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Dudley Mitchell talks about the history of his family in Pitkin, Eagle, and Garfield Counties, and his acquaintance with Democratic politicians, including Ed Taylor. He also talks about his boyhood spent in Cardiff, Colorado, and about his career working on the railroad. 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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Dudley Mitchell discusses his political affiliation with the Democratic Party and his involvement campaigning for multiple Democratic nominees for the Fourth Congressional District. Dudley also discusses the fascinating political career of Wayne Aspinall and how he became the chairman of the House of Interior and Insular Affairs Committee. After talking politics, Dudley describes his experience with candy making as a young man at Miller’s Candy...
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During a lecture on the history of St. Mary’s Hospital (at a Mesa County Historical Society meeting), Pat LeMaster talks about the history of the St. Mary’s Hospital’s founding agency, the Sisters of Charity. She recalls the history of doctors in the Grand Valley and the conditions they dealt with. She tells the history of St. Mary’s from its inception in 1896 until 1983. She speaks about hospital services during the Great Depression. She...
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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 radio plays used interviews recorded by the Mesa County Oral History Project as inspiration. In this recording the listener will hear the play, The...
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Dudley Mitchell talks about the election campaigns of U.S. Representative Wayne Aspinall, and the campaign caravans they held in Western Colorado. Mitchell also discusses his work as the “ribbon candy expert” at the Miller Candy Factory in Grand Junction, the history of the Grand Valley’s Interurban line and the Grand Junction streetcar line, working at the Lyceum Theater on Main Street as a young man, and teenage escapades, such as causing...
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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 Wayne Aspinall: Scholar,...
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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 The Sheep War, about...
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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 The Big Snow, about...
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In a two-part interview carried out over two days, Howard Shults talks about his experiences as a rancher and auctioneer on Colorado’s Western Slope. In part one, he talks about the arrival of his parents in Mesa County in 1903, their teaching careers at Pear Park and in Fruita, and his father’s move to a career as an auctioneer. He speaks about his childhood in Grand Junction and Collbran, his graduation from Grand Junction High School in 1923,...
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In a general meeting of the Mesa County Historical Society, Armand de Beque describes the history of oil shale development in De Beque and the Piceance Basin, Colorado. He offers three stories for how it was discovered that oil shale can burn. He describes the founding of the Shale Oil Syndicate, an organization founded by his father, Dr. W.A.E. de Beque, William R. Warren, George Newton, and William Dinkel. He explains the lengthy process the Shale...
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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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Fannie Susman talks about her life managing department stores with her husband Rudy Susman, and about the fledgling Jewish communities they encountered in Durango and Grand Junction, Colorado. Rudy Susman then talks about his many community involvements in Grand Junction, including his role in organizing the Eagles Baseball Club. He also talks about establishing a Jewish congregation for worship with other Jewish families in town. The interview was...
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Charles "Frank" Moore discusses tensions between cattle and sheep ranchers before and after the passage of the Taylor Grazing Act, land management, and his career in the U.S. Grazing Service as the Regional Grazier for the area covering Eastern Utah and 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.
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James Franklin discusses his life as a cowboy in Mesa County, Garfield County, and elsewhere on Colorado’s Western Slope. Franklin touches on cooking over the campfire, means of travel, cures for ailments, training horses, the first rodeo in which he participated, a large flood that destroyed his mother’s farm, and dealing with inclement weather on the range. The interview was conducted by the Mesa County Oral History Project, a collaboration...
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Jennie Dixon describes her early life and family history, including interactions with Native Americans and her parents’ lives before living in Mesa County, Colorado. She discusses working as a professional printer for newspapers, and her short stint working at the Fair Store as a “floorwalker,” where she would shop undercover to catch shoplifters. Jennie also provides information on restaurants around Main Street in Grand Junction, local artist...