Grand Junction (Colo.) -- History
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Mary Corcoran talks about her parents and grandparents, pioneers in Mesa County and Eastern Utah. She also talks about her early life in Grand Junction, Colorado, and about ranch life above De Beque on the Grand Mesa. 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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Thelma Moore talks about her youth on a fruit farm in Pear Park, life in early Grand Junction, her involvement in 4-H clubs, the Locust Ranch fruit growing operation in Clifton, and the other members of the Kettle family to settle in that area. She discusses her career as a seamstress and work making drapes, county extension work with quilters, craft competitions at the Mesa County Fair, and chautauquas and variety shows. She also goes into her life...
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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...
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Lorene Roice talks about her childhood growing up on a farm in Kansas, childhood chores, music, dances, dating, holiday celebrations, and her involvement in 4-H. She also discusses her life in Grand Junction, Colorado, her husband Joe Roice, and their cofounding of the Roice-Hurst Humane Society, Grand Junction’s first animal shelter. The interview was conducted by the Mesa County Oral History Project, a collaboration of Mesa County Libraries and...
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Marie Treece describes running Grand Junction, Colorado’s community concert series and the many famous musicians who visited Grand Junction during the early to mid-1900’s. She recalls the difficulty that African-American musicians, such as Roland Hayes, had in finding a place to stay. She talks about her experiences teaching and travelling with a Mesa College choral troop. She discusses directing a choir in one of the area’s CCC camps, hosting...
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Mary Cox talks about her education at the Bryant School and elsewhere in Grand Junction, about corsets and other aspects of school fashion, the history of the Riverside Neighborhood, attending community dances and Glenwood Springs’ Strawberry Days, and boys swimming in the Colorado River. She also discusses old downtown businesses, going to movies at the Majestic Theater, a brothel that advertised at the Mesa County Fairgrounds during a baseball...
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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....
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Al look talks about the many books he authored, the many speeches he gave, and his techniques for public speaking. He speaks about his endeavors in paleontology, the many places he visited during his travels, and his written contributions to local history. 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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Al Look talks about taking groups of teachers on tours of the Colorado National Monument and about the history of Grand Junction’s Avalon Theater. He describes the Biltmore, a gambling hall on Main Street owned by J.W. “Big Kid” Eames, and the murder of Eames by dance hall owner and would-be robber Fern “Bubbles” Sadler. He also discusses Pretty Boy Floyd’s brief stay at the Yellow Jacket in Delta, Colorado and his frequenting of Grand...
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Al Look talks about geologic formations in De Beque Canyon and about the first aerial photographs taken of the Grand Mesa. Margaret (Langen) Look speaks about air travel to Boulder, Colorado in the 1920’s. Al Look speaks about the publication of his book, Hopi Snake Dance, and about the return of his son from World War II. He describes his work with different people on archaeological and paleontological digs, and touches on the vandalism of certain...
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Levi Morse discusses the history of Mesa County, Colorado, including fruit growing, drinking water from the Gunnison River and its link to typhoid fever, the YMCA, and the creamery business. He also talks extensively about social events such as the Mesa County Fair, and gives a firsthand account of the first motion picture showing in Grand Junction. June Morse talks about teaching at Fruitvale High School, community organizations and social gatherings....
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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...
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Sarah Monnahan describes the instability of her young life, with her father leaving the family when she was two, being left to live with grandparents, great-grandparents and strangers in several different towns and states during her mother’s three marriages, and a house fire that singed her hair and clothes before destroying all of her belongings. She finally found something like a normal life when she was sent to live with her grandmother and uncle...
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Susie Mendicelli talks about the life of her Italian-American family in Grand Junction, Colorado, the Mendicelli Bakery, canning and preserving at home, and making sausage and head cheese. She also discusses other Italian-American people and businesses, the history of Grand Junction and the changes she saw in town, and the history of Pitkin Avenue. This recording is made available via signed release by the Mesa County Oral History Project, a collaboration...
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Nellie Robbins describes the hardships she and her family faced when moving to Grand Junction, Colorado in 1931, and her longtime employment working with the Salvation Army. She also talks about the different charities served by the Grand Junction Salvation Army, its organizational structure, local people involved in the organization, and events it put on. This recording is made available via signed release by the Mesa County Oral History Project,...
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Glenn McFall talks about his various jobs around Mesa County and about witnessing the unveiling of Christo’s Valley Curtain installation in Rifle Gap. He also discusses fishing and battling snow storms on the Grand Mesa, the deer population around Mesa County, his experiences during childhood growing up in Clifton, the old Midland Trail automobile route, drinking and making bootleg whiskey, Italian-Americans making bootleg wine, the Book Cliff Railway,...
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Bertha Schlegel discusses growing up in Loma, Colorado and helping her family raise beets for Holly Sugar, and making sauerkraut, pickled apples, pickled watermelon and other ethnic food with her mother, who was a German immigrant from Russia. She also remembers her education and school activities throughout her childhood, including field days at the Fruita Central School and Grand Junction High School. She talks about obtaining a teaching degree,...
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Dorothy Ottman discusses her childhood in Grand Junction, fruit growing and agricultural industry in Mesa County, and the social life and customs of women, youth, and others in the Grand Junction area. 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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Rose and Morgan Goss discuss the early settlement of Grand Junction and Fruita, Colorado, and agricultural life in the Appleton area. 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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Patrick Metoyer talks about negotiating with the Veterans Administration Hospital on his father's behalf and how this led to his cofounding of the National Alliance on Mental Illness Veterans Network, to his broader work as a veterans' mental health activist in Mesa County and nationally, and to his father's eventual turnaround. He also reads some of his poetry, discusses his beginnings as an artist and a poet, and goes into his participation in the...
