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Sisters Anna McGinley and Mae (McGinley) Plunkett discuss the pioneering history of their families in Fruita during the late Nineteenth century and early Twentieth century. 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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Charles and Catherine Moore discuss early days in the Glade Park area of Mesa County, and the murder of Catherine’s grandfather, Charles Sieber. 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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Chuck Lundy and interviewer Al Look talk about a Fremont Indian excavation in No Thoroughfare Canyon, about the archaeologist Hannah Marie Wormington and her work at the Turner-Look Site in Utah, and about Native American fossil finds on Glade Park, Colorado. They also speak about Colorado National Monument founder John Otto, about dinosaur fossils discovered by “Dinosaur Jim,” the paleontologist James Jensen, and about dinosaur bones found by...
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George “Vern” Wood discusses homesteading on Glade Park, and early Glade Park schools. The interview was conducted by the Mesa County Oral History Project, a collaboration of the Mesa County Public Library and the Museum of Western Colorado.
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Loyd Files talks about his early life in Kansas, moving to Colorado with his family via covered wagon in 1914, and the process of filing for a homestead. He remembers homesteading with his parents in Lamar, Colorado, and with his brother in Glade Park in 1920. He recalls working on the crew that built the Serpents Trail over the Colorado National Monument, meeting John Otto, and helping build Rimrock Drive over the Monument. He speaks about his marriage...
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James Brouse discusses moving and going to school in Glade Park, Colorado as a young boy in 1915. He tells tales of cowpunching in the canyons near Westwater, homesteading, the difficulties of dry farming, and the methods and difficulties of transportation into town from up on Glade Park. He also talks about local murders, sheep and cattlemen wars, and the history of different schools in the area. His wife Ellen (Morse) Brouse, longtime Mesa County...
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Early Mesa County resident Joseph John Egger describes his travels to the Grand Valley area, the Colorado National Monument, the differences he perceived between Utes and Navajos, and information about Chief Ouray and Chipeta. This recording is made available via signed release by the Mesa County Oral History Project, a collaboration of Mesa County Libraries and the Museums of Western Colorado.
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Kenneth Thompson describes his life growing up on a farm on Glade Park, Colorado during the early 1900s. Kenneth also discusses the working conditions while employed for the National Park Service during the early days of the Colorado National Monument, the slow pace of life and the social aspects of living on Glade Park, hunting and killing a bear, and stories of the Indians who lived in Mesa County. The interview was conducted by the Mesa County...
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Lucy Ela discusses John Otto, the Colorado National Monument, and the settlement of Glade Park. 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 1936 Grand Junction High School yearbook.
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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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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...
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Dr. Everett Munro discusses his service in the U.S. Army’s medical reserves during World War I, early vaccination campaigns in Grand Junction, life as a rural doctor doing house calls, and other aspects of early Mesa County history. 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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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 Overheard at the Cattle...
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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 New Girl in Town,...
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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 To Give or Exchange...
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Early settler Gladys Carnahan describes her life growing up in Grand Junction, Colorado, including horse and buggy excursions with her father, school and social activities with friends, and attending the Mesa County Fair. She talks about her early involvement in the First United Methodist Church. She also discusses becoming ill during the Spanish Flu pandemic, furnishings in her family’s home, and being forced to support her family on a teacher’s...
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Harold Stafford talks about coming to Western Colorado during the Great Depression to join the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). He describes working on the construction of Rim Rock Drive as part of the Colorado National Monument CCC camp. He discusses the Rim Rock Drive road-building disaster, in which nine men were killed by a mistimed blast. He speaks about Rod Day, the education coordinator in the camp, and a former newspaper man who had murdered...
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Jean and Benerita Dolores (Velazquez) Urruty discuss Jean’s immigrant experience, the life of a Basque sheepherder, Basque culture, and sheepherding 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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Jeanette LeBeau, an early Mesa County resident, talks about climbing Independence Monument with bare feet, Ute Indians who visited her grandparents in pioneer Fruita, summers spent at Leach’s cattle ranch in Pinon Mesa, means of transportation, law enforcement, and prejudice against Catholics in the Grand Valley. The interview was conducted by the Mesa County Oral History Project, a collaboration of Mesa County Libraries and the Museums of Western...
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Lawrence Aubert talks about his father’s immigration from France and his arrival on Pinon Mesa in 1926, where he homesteaded and ran sheep. He remembers changes in sheep ranching after the passage of the Taylor Grazing Act, sheep rustling, and friction between sheep and cattle ranchers. He discusses the effect of predatory animals on sheep herd size on Pinon Mesa. He talks about Basque and Mexican immigrants who came to herd sheep in Colorado and...