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He was born to John Witt Collier, a cattle rancher, and Margaret Almeria "Maggie" (Howell) Collier in Grand Junction, Colorado on a farm at 9th Street and Chipeta Avenue, across from the first Grand Junction High School. US Census records indicate that his father was from Tennessee and his mother from Iowa. His father was a farmer who sold hay and raised horses, and later became a cattle rancher. His mother was a homemaker. The family moved to...
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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 Rimrock Road: A Memorial,...
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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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William Ela talks about his family’s arrival in the Little Dolores River area of Mesa County in 1881 and their establishment of the 2-V Ranch. He tells stories about his grandfather, the pioneer rancher and Grand Junction town mayor William Phillips Ela. He remembers his grandfather’s horse Looney and his escapades. He speaks about the dangers of travel to and from Glade Park in the early days. He recalls stories passed down about his ancestors’...
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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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In this recording, Alta Nolan reads the memoirs of Cordelia Files. Files talks about the history of her parents and maternal grandparents who homesteaded in the Fruita, Colorado area in the 1890’s. She describes the fruit growing operation on the homestead. She recounts seeing the Ute people and Chipeta when they came in the fall to dry fruit from the orchard. She remembers early Fruita, with its dirt streets and plank sidewalks. She speaks about...
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News Archive #27: A KOTO Radio Newscast, in Telluride, Colorado, featuring newscaster Rita Robinson. See transcription for time stamps, to jump between tracks. 1.) Tailings coating (Johnson/TIE): 3/12/79 2. XYZ-TV programming (Sullivan): 4/12/79 3.) Town council: Summit meeting about ski area development (with Savath): 3/12/79 4.) Town of Telluride County Planning Committee about if Telluride should have festivals: 4/3/79 5.) Sunnyside development...
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Abandoned buildings, mine camps, and towns, oh my! Librarian Ike shares the secret past of Mesa County Ghost Towns. Librarian Noel discusses the re-initiation of the Oral History Project, a partnership with the Museums of Western Colorado, and the rich local history available at Mesa County Libraries!
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A KOTO newscast, from 09/23/1994 To 10/06/1994, featuring Jon Kovash and Eric Whitney. Here are the headlines: 09/23/1994: TelSki gets back in the development business, that story and more plus a weekend weather report and personal commentaries. 09/26/1994: A full plate of housing issues for council tomorrow. Jake, the canine, sniffs down a suspect in an attempted sexual assault. Club 20 will kick off three days of tourism talk in Telluride. We...
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In a lecture and panel discussion at the Palisade’s Taylor Elementary School, Evelyn Kyle speaks about the history of the Mesa County Oral History Project and its invaluable role in collecting local stories. An interview panel of Evelyn Kyle, Paula Buttolph, Mary Faye Hampton, and Luella Morgan speak about their lives, the lives of women in the area, and Western Slope history. This recording is made available via signed release by the Mesa County...
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In this remarkable oral history, Pete Seibert Jr. discusses the earliest days of Vail. As a youth, Seibert explored, fished, skied and generally "Huck Finned" it in the Gore Creek Valley. Seibert also discusses his father (Pete Seibert Sr.) and his father's New England youth, Camp Hale 10th Mountain Division training, war injuries, and contributions to Colorado's ski legacy and the world's ski culture. Pete Seibert Jr. is interviewed by Walter...
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In a recording made for his son, Don Rogers talks about his family’s cattle ranch on Pinon Mesa in the 1910’s, about getting lost in the wilderness at the age of six, about an expert tracker named Avery Burford who led the search party, and about being found the next morning after he spent the night alone on a sandbar of East Creek. He recalls a gunfight between cowboys Louis Stewart and Blue, a shooting by a man named Pete Lapham, and tensions...
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A KOTO newscast, from 11/16/1990 To 11/30/1990, featuring Jon Kovash, Deb Laity, Mavis Bennett, and Dominic Cross. Here are the headlines: 11/16/1990: Airport will stay closed until Tuesday. Still no decision on back country skier gate. Town park campers take low-key approach to eyesore complaint. Barb's traded by School of Mines professor and Idarado PR firm. And we've got today's weather report. 11/19/1990: Four lifts will open on Thanksgiving...
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Widge Ferguson discusses her life in 1960s Vail, the naming of Widge's Ridge in Sun-Up Bowl in Vail, and her family's quiet, yet profound, role in the history of skiing. Widge is interviewed by Tony Mauro, the "Voice of Vail," and joined by her daughters, Sandy Ferguson Fuller and Susie Ferguson Fuller, and granddaughter, Kim Fuller.
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Armand de Beque describes the early days of his father, W.A.E. De Beque, as one of the founders of De Beque, Colorado. He also talks about the cattle ranching business, local legends of the valley, oil rigs in the area, and sheep and cattle ranching wars. 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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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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Dorothy Tindall talks about the early days of Whitewater, Colorado as a rail center for cattle and stock. She speaks about the administrative organization of schools prior to the consolidation of Mesa County School District 51, her development of Mesa County’s first school hot lunch program at the Star School, games kids played at recess, about her work educating the children of migrant laborers who lived in La Colonia, and her role in the development...