Railroads -- Colorado
Showing
1 - 20
of 54
, query time: 0.02s
Format:
Compound
Dudley Mitchell describes some difficult times working for the railroad, including a very serious accident that occurred in Grassy, Utah, when an eastbound train jumped the tracks and many people were killed. Dudley also discusses his daily tasks as a car distributor, including information about payroll, the terminals, filing systems, important job duties, and all the freight distributed by the railroad. The interview was conducted by the Mesa County...
Format:
Voice Recording
Dudley Mitchell talks about his jobs as car distributor, bill clerk and chief clerk for the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad. He also discusses Grand Junction’s local mines and mining-related railroads. 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.
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...
Format:
Compound
Dudley Mitchell discusses his childhood in Leadville during the early Twentieth century, and historic mines and railroads in the Leadville area. The interview was conducted by the Mesa County Oral History Project, a collaboration of Mesa County Libraries and the Museums of Western Colorado.
Format:
Voice Recording
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.
Format:
Voice Recording
Howard McMullin discusses the history of early Grand Junction businesses and buildings, and biographies of early Grand Junction business people. 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 1916 Grand Junction High School yearbook of Howard McMullin as a sophomore.
Format:
Voice Recording
Walter Dalby, founder of local accounting firm Dalby, Wendland and Company and flight enthusiast, talks about the history of the Grand Junction Regional Airport and about the companies and people involved in the local air travel industry, including: Clyde Davis, Walter Walker, and Eddie Drapela. He also talks about balloon rallies and airshows held in Grand Junction. The interview was conducted by the Mesa County Oral History Project, a collaboration...
Format:
Voice Recording
Warren Kiefer talks about his career as a fireman and engineer on the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad, and working the line between Grand Junction, Colorado and Salt Lake City. He gives specifics about the technical aspects of the fireman position on a steam locomotive. He speaks about the relationship between the fireman and the engineer, and tells stories about comical and contentious interactions between different workers. He explains the purpose...
Format:
Voice Recording
William Raber talks about his family’s ranch in the Kannah Creek area of Mesa County, Colorado, and about the development of reservoirs and water projects, beginning with the city of Grand Junction’s diversion of water from Kannah Creek around 1910. He also talks about traveling by train with cattle that he intended to sell in Los Angeles, and about discrimination that he experienced during World War I as the son of German immigrant. The interview...
Format:
Voice Recording
Bill Rump talks about his father Charlie Rump and his roll in developing the Redlands in Mesa County, Colorado as a member of the Redlands Company and the Redlands Water and Power Company. He recounts the efforts of those companies in creating orchards and other agricultural enterprises on the Redlands. He speaks about the Redlands School, roads, sports, youth activities, and other aspects of life on the Redlands and in Grand Junction. He remembers...
Format:
Compound
Al Look talks about doing publicity for The Daily Sentinel and about organizing events, such as a local basketball tournament, for the newspaper. He also talks about his role in creating both the Soup Eaters, an organization that provided charity to local children, and the Grand Junction Cancer Society. He details his experience selling advertising for newspapers, and his techniques for selling advertising. He talks about his wife, Margaret (Langen)...
Format:
Voice Recording
Dudley Mitchell discusses aspects of early Mesa County life, with an emphasis on the variety of jobs he worked for the railroad. He also discusses the change from locomotive steam engines to diesel engines, how trains were built, the way railroads advertised, and the changes railroads went through over the years. The interview was conducted by the Mesa County Oral History Project, a collaboration of Mesa County Libraries, the Museums of Western Colorado...
Format:
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. Authors of the plays used interviews recorded by the Mesa County Oral History Project as inspiration. This archival recording contains the play On the Road to Grand...
Format:
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. Authors of the plays used interviews recorded by the Mesa County Oral History Project as inspiration. This archival recording contains the play Roundhouse Days.
This...
Format:
Voice Recording
Alexander Guerrie talks about the life of his father Philip Guerrie, an Italian immigrant, pioneer and railroad worker in early Western Colorado. He also discusses his own railroad career and his immigrant family life. 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.
Format:
Voice Recording
Alex Bauer talks extensively about this history of his family, part of the German community of Morganthau in Russia. He recounts their immigration to the United States in the years before the Russian Revolution. He remembers his dad’s career as a machinist for Missouri Pacific Railroad and then the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad. He also recounts his own career as a machinist. He speaks about his parrallel career as the shop steward International...
Format:
Voice Recording
Charles Thomas, an early resident of Garfield County, discusses the history of the area, including Thompson Creek, and early ranching and mining activity. 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.
Format:
Voice Recording
Charlotte (Jackson) Claar describes growing up on a homestead in Cheyenne County, Colorado, where the family witched for water, built an adobe house, and held jack rabbit drives. She speaks about moving to Grand Valley, Colorado (now Parachute) in 1920. She talks about her 37-year career as a teacher and then principal in Grand Valley, at the Clifton School, and at the Fruitvale School. She discusses her father and husband’s careers on the railroad....
Format:
Voice Recording
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...
Format:
Voice Recording
Elizabeth Angus talks about teaching in Atchee, Colorado, now a ghost town, in the early 1920’s. She remembers the life and history of the company towns that served the Uintah Railway, a gilsonite mining enterprise. She speaks about the Ute people who would visit the general store in Mack, Colorado. She describes certain employees of the Uintah. She talks about Baxter Pass and the environment of the Bookcliffs. The interview was conducted by the...
