Mesa County Oral History Project
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Voice Recording
Anna Foster talks about teaching at the Mesa School, beginning in 1908. She remembers some of the teachers and students at the school, and going sledding with them for fun. She speaks about the role of the Mesa’s Methodist church in providing community for people of all Christian faiths. She describes stagecoaches that delivered between towns, traveling the old Hogback Road from Palisade, and the building of the Plateau Canyon Road. She recalls...
Format:
Voice Recording
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...
Format:
Compound
Walter Flasche talks about his birth in Nebraska and moving to De Beque, Colorado with his parents via covered wagon around 1908. He remembers life in the Roan Creek area, severe drought and heavy snows. He recalls battles between cattle ranchers and sheep ranchers in the area. He speaks about his work as a logger and his work in the nascent oil shale industry. He describes how hard the life of a rancher and oil shale worker was, and how his wife...
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...
Format:
Compound
During a panel discussion of the Mesa County Historical Society, Kenneth Baird discusses the settlement and incorporation of Grand Junction, the creation of the Grand Junction Town Company, early city government, town building, and early municipal ordinances. Professor Don Mackendrick talks about James W. Bucklin’s draft of a new city charter in 1910, which established a commission form of government. He mentions progressive reforms that put the...
